The Holy Grail of Sharpeners

Now maybe I'm last to this party but when I saw beauty blogger/beauty guru xsparkage talk about the Grindhouse sharpener from Urban Decay and how it came with the Loco Ocho 2 bundle and how amazing it was I got curious. Curious enough to look it up, see it was $10 and say "NOPE!" since you can get at least one sharpener for $1 at most dollar stores. 

Now, my Ulta haul was a total bust. I went and bought a tiny Ulta eyeshadow pallet for $8 and a new NYX pallet for $20+ and when I got them home I was super disappointed. My Ulta pallet had been opened already and was dirty, used and abused. Now I know how to clean and sanitize products so that didn't make me too wary, it was the NYX pallet that threw me over the edge. It's a pallet with a top compartment with all neutral eyeshadows and a bottom part with blush and highlight. I opened the top part and one of the eyeshadows was broken, which wasn't too bad because it's fixable with alcohol, tissue paper and a quarter. What got me was that I couldn't open the second compartment to fix the highlight that was also broken and spilling EVERYWHERE! 

Out of frustration I put everything back and went to Ulta today to exchange my stuff. One of the things I decided to pick up on a whim was the Grindhouse sharpener. (I know, long story, little pay off)

Grindhouse as I mentioned is $10 and can be bought at Ulta.com - Sephora.com - or UrbanDecay.com

It is double barreled, super sharp blades, has a removable top and bottom chamber for easy cleaning, and comes with a tiny scrapper stick. 

(I would have taken a picture but I didn't think about it until I used it so it's dirty and that seems unprofessional to me)

At first I have to admit I was a little impressed. Turning the pencil felt smooth and super easy. I turned it twice, pulled out the pencil and it looked almost NEW! I thought maybe it was a fluke so I tried it again.

Then I tried it on a lip pencil, realizing how important it is to have a good sharpened pencil when doing a darker lip outline. You don't want your pencil dull, making mistakes something easier to accomplish. And sure enough it looked as though I had never touched it. 

The worst pencils for my to sharpen are my NYX Jumbo Pencils. Even with most double barrel sharpeners I can never really get these to sharpen well. After doing this pencil I was sold. 

All in all, if you are an avid makeup user and have an extra $10 in your pocket I say go for it. In fact I may just go out and get myself another one for just lip pencils. It's amazing and totally lives up to hype but if you have a sharpener that does all that for you and is cheaper let me know in the comments section.

Thanks for reading.

XOXO

Beauty Noobz Guide to Beaty (Part Four- Eye Shadow Bases)

If you're new to the make up world the idea of an eye shadow base may be kind of confusing. What's it for? What about the different colored bases? What kind should you buy? etc.

Here are the answers to any of the questions you may have, also putting a high end shadow base against a dollar base. 

What is an eye shadow base for?

Eye shadow bases (a.k.a. eye primers) are used to prepare a base for your eye shadow. They help them last longer, look more vivid, help guard against creasing and some new bases even claim to have anti-aging benefits.

What about the different color bases?

A new big trend with primers/bases is to add different dimension or color to them and that means that your eye shadows may show up a bit differently.

Black Bases- You can achieve a black base by using any black pencil liner or gel liner, but when doing this be very careful to smudge out the liner before applying the eye shadow if not the black may over power your eye shadow. A good tip I learned in school was to first apply a light wash of a light brown shadow to the crease so that you don't smudge your liner too far.

White bases- White bases are supposed to present you with a perfectly blank canvas, making your shadow present itself as vivid as possible. It doesn't have to compete with your natural eye color or any color. Keep in mind that when speaking art terms White is the Lack of Color which is why your colors will be more vibrant.

Skin Toned bases- Skin toned bases are meant to be more natural, something to adjust the color of your eyelids. Some eye lids are more naturally red than others so by adjusting the color on your lids you make it easier for your eye shadow to be as pure a color as possible.

What kind of base should you buy?

Most people use money and reputation of a brand to decide what base they should buy. Too Faced Shadow Insurance and Urban Decays Primer Potion are two very popular eye primers that are also kind of pricey. However, there are so many types and tricks for things you might already have in your collection that you don't necessarily need to go out and buy an expensive one. So lets expand on this question with some swatches shall we?

(left to right: Color Tattoo -Barely Beige, Covergirl + Olay concealer balm, NYX Eyeshadow Base, ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer, Too Faced Perfect Eyes liner, Cherimoya liner, and Urban Decay Primer Potion)

As you can see the so called "primers" come in all different colors, textures, and some aren't even primers. Concealer is a good option for a primer and something that most of us already have in our collection. The creamier the concealer the more likely it is to crease.

Let's see how these bad boys preform now.

As you can see the different colored bases make for a different finish to the same eye shadow. A shimmer base like the Color Tattoo does add an extra amount of sparkle that shows up through the shadow. That means if you are going for a Matte look I wouldn't recommend a cream eyeshadow with shimmer as your base. So, does expensive technically mean better? No. I use ELF primer (which is $1) all the time and have no problems. But as you can tell ANY base is better than NO base. 

So go out there, try a primer/base of some sort, just keep in mind that moderation should be used on whichever you pick, also for a smokey eye It's always pick a black base (smoked out and in moderation). 

Hope that helped.

Urban Decay Vice 2 and Anarchy Pallet Swatches and Reviews

The much anticipated holiday pallets are making their way into stores rather quickly. The company that caught my eye the most though? Urban Decay with their Vice 2 pallet and their Face Cases. I personally have come to the conclusion that my collection of make up has enough browns in every finish so I get super excited when something is released  with some really fun colors. Plus ladies, Halloween is approaching quickly and some of these colors in Vice 2 are just what the doctor ordered. So lets get on with it. 

Vice 2

Retails $59.00 at Sephora and UrbanDecay.com

The pallet comes with 20 shadows, all new and exclusive to this Limited Edition pallet. You also receive a double sided brush with this pallet.

First Row

Smokeout is a dark black/grey "satin" that honestly has a hint of duo chrome to me actually with a hint of taupe. Lovesick is a black glitter (if you've ever tried their stardust shadows, it's basically that) that has silver micro-glitter. Shellshock is a beautiful true silver metallic with no glitter. Coax is a pink metallic with hints of gold shimmer. X-Rated is a baby pink shimmer.

Second Row

Prank (even though it looks purple) is a navy blue with green shimmer. Madness is a metallic blue. Strike is a metallic gold. Stash is an olive color with gold shimmer making it look duo chrome as well. Poison is charcoal color with silver glitter. 

Third Row

Radar is a Metallic brown with glitter. Damaged is an emerald green shimmer. Voodoo is a jewel toned purple with shimmer. Betrayal is a light purple with a blue shimmer to it (again very duo-chrome). Derailed is a metallic taupe shimmer.

Fourth Row

Dope is a champagne satin. Toxic is a rose gold shimmer with glitter. Habit is a nude matte shade. Ambush is a metallic brown. And Rewind is a medium brown matte shade.

All of these shadows are incredibly pigmented. Be very aware of the shades with glitter because those have some fall out. I really did enjoy the entire set up of this pallet. It came with a lot of fun shades to give you a bright look, enough dark shades to give you a smokey eye (not exactly a matte black smokey eye but you know) and enough neutrals to make a soft look with it. Not to mention the mirror is huge and stays up on it's own. The brush is nice, I personally wish the fluffy side was a bit more fluffy to allow better blending (like the naked 2 brush) but I'm happy with it over all. If you want to try using shimmers, colors, metallics, or glitters I say go for it. You won't find a dud in this puppy. 

Anarchy Face Case

Retails for $44.00 and I've only seen it sold at Sephora.com

This pallet comes with five shadows, two blushes, one highlight, a 24/7 travel size liner and a travel sized Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Scandal. Scandal isn't available in the normal line of Urban Decay products and is exclusive to this pallet. The five eyeshadows are also exclusive to this pallet. I think the darker blush used to be part of the line of blushes but has been discontinued (don't quote me on this) but the other blush, and the highlight are also exclusive to this pallet.

It also comes with two full sized mirrors.

The Shadows

Redemption is a charcoal satin with a hint of shimmer. Fray is a matte nude shade. Vaporize is a metallic taupe/grey shade. Provocateur is a metallic muave with chunky glitter. Revolt is a silver metallic with glitter.

Face

Fetish is a mauve/pink with a hint of shimmer. Quickie is a bright barbie doll pink that's matte. Highlight which is the highlight shade is a golden metallic shade.

Pencils

Scandal is a berry colored, deeper pink shade and Perversion is a really dark matte black pencil. 

Does anyone remember getting the Naked pallet when it first came out and reaching into Sidecar and trying to apply it only to realize that was a horrible idea because of all of that chunky glitter fall out? That is exactly what happened when I reached into Provocateur which was super disappointing. Other than that as I said before the shimmers have a bit of fall out, nothing drastic. The colors aren't exactly something to bounce with joy over and they actually weren't the reason I bought the pallet. Work yourself a nice classic smokey eye or a soft romantic eye with this pallet. 

The blushes are really nice but be aware that Quickie is super pigmented so a little bit goes a long ways guys. You can go overboard really quickly with the blushes not to mention that highlight. It's nice that it's a golden color but a little goes a super long way. You don't want to light up like a light bulb.

Now for the reason I bought this pallet. I was super intrigued by this lip shade and as we go into fall/winter it's a perfect bight shade with a hint of darkness because of the berry shade. If you've never tried these lip pencils you do have to sharpen them, and they aren't very moisturizing either. They are pigmented (their lipsticks have better pigmentation) and the staying power is fair. Now Perversion is a really popular black pencil. It's super creamy, and really black. This pencil completely lives up to it's hype of being better than Zero (as someone who has owned zero before) in every way, shape, and form. I'm so happy they finally put it into a pallet.

If you are curious about the pencils like I am, do yourself the favor and just buy yourself the pencils, unless you are super curious about any of these shades it isn't worth the money. Then again I'm not super big on blushes to begin with so maybe that's why this pallet felt a little lacking to me. I'm still going to use the hell out of this pallet though.

Thanks for reading!

ELF Disney Villains Lookbooks (Review, Picture heavy)

Last year ELF teamed up with Disney to create look books that were sold exclusively at Walgreens based on four of our favorite lady villains, The Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil (anyone notice the interesting word play in her name?), Ursula, and Maleficent. Last years look book was very differently structured and you were given different products. You received an eyeshadow pallet (8 shadows), two mini lip pencils, a liquid eyeliner, an eyeshadow primer, and a pair of fake lashes. 

However, this year you get an eyeshadow pallet, a liquid and a pencil liner, an eyeshadow primer, a mascara, a lip gloss and an eyeshadow brush. The same four ladies are the basis of these pallets which retail for about $10 each.

(Side note: Walgreens is also carrying make up bags, nail art kits, hair ties, fake eyelash kits, and a box set of 12 mini polishes, each for about $10 also)

This year I was able to obtain all four look books and a nail polish box set (that I'll review soon) so lets get the ball rolling.

The first kit I got was the Evil Queen pallet.

I really enjoyed these pallets aesthetically. I feel as though a lot of thought and detail went into these pallets. I enjoyed their watercolor motif much more than I enjoyed the design last year. As you can semi see it does have a step by step guide on how to create a day time look and a night time look. 

Also for the record, since I won't have swatches of the eyeshadow brush I personally love it. I bought mine years ago, and it is still in perfect condition, doesn't shed, and I have been able to pack on color, blend, and apply soft washes of color with that one single brush. It's amazing, and I'm kind of excited that I have four now haha. 

(left to right: Dark Magic, Vanity, Witch, Majesty, Jealousy, Huntsman)

Dark Magic and Vanity were the duds in this pallet for me. Dark Magic, in the packaging looks like a beautiful dark purple with bright purple sparkles and once swatched it takes a few coats to get it that intensity. Vanity, like most of the other mattes were done kind of poorly, and don't show up as well as I'd like. However, Witch (which is a lovely matte dark gray), Majesty (a more green brown shimmer), Jealousy (a creamy lighter brown shimmer) and Huntsman (a cream colored shimmer) are pigmented and easy to blend. Just be a aware that most of these are shimmers and do have a tiny bit of fallout. 

Then there was Cruella De Vil

Cruella also has the amazing watercolor detail and a day and night guide on the inside. (brush not pictured because it is on my vanity =) 

(left to right: Stolen, Eccentric, Cruelty, Fur, Puppy Love, Maniac)

Stolen was the dud for me in this pallet it's a matte chocolate brown that really doesn't have good pigment at all. Eccentric ( an orange brown shimmer), Cruelty (a golden brown shimmer), Fur (a chocolate brown -almost gray- shimmer), and Maniac (another light cream shimmer) are all super buttery, pigmented and blendable. This pallet is perfect for a (shimmery) more neutral look. It doesn't exactly scream Cruella to me but it is the most wearable pallet. I just wish there was an actual dark shade to take your look into a more smoky night time feeling.

Onto Ursula.

 Yet again you get the amazing packaging and the say and night look guide.

(left to right: Bewitched, Triton, Kiss The Girl, Shell, Sea Witch, Coral)

This pallet was honestly the most disappointing for me. Maybe it was just that I wanted more from it because the colors look gorgeous all packaged together for this kit, and it SCREAMED Little Mermaid to me but gosh was I sorely disappointed. Bewitched, Triton, and Sea Witch are all mattes, and this is over primer and really trying hard to bring out the colors. Sea Witch even with a heavy hand doesn't produce good color pay off. Kiss the Girl (a nice brown shimmer), Shell (a pretty sea foam green shimmer) and Coral (a beautiful champagne shimmer) have good pigmentation but make me feel like this pallet almost isn't worth it unless you are a big fan of the Little Mermaid or you don't mind a challenge.

Lastly there is Maleficent.

You yet again get watercolor magic and a day and night make up guide.

(left to right: Raven Black, Thorns, Deep Sleep, Spell, Fauna, Flora)

This was honestly my favorite pallet. Yes there was a dud, Raven Black is matte and not so pigmented but it's like the grey in the Evil Queen pallet, it's good enough. The rest of the pallet is awesome though! Thorns (a dark brown/grayish shimmer), Deep Sleep (a silver shimmer), Spell (a forest green shimmer), Fauna (a light gray shimmer), Flora (another cream shimmer) are all pigmented and the mixture of the grays with that out of left field green was amazing. You end up with everything you need for a classic smokey eye in this little eye kit.

Now for the lippies.

(left to right: Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella, Evil Queen)

Maleficent is your classic red. Ursula a very bubblegum, barbie pink. Cruella is a orange-ish color. Evil Queen is a wine colored gloss. All of these glosses aren't exactly super pigmented. They aren't by any standard sheer though. The red gloss would look better and compliment a nice red lipstick or pencil. The pink gloss looks good alone, but would top a nice pink lipstick/pencil. The orange was the stand out for me here, it neutralized my natural lip color just enough that it gave me the perfect nude lip, so I love it alone. The wine color looks a little more fuchsia on my lips but would top wine colors beautifully or deepen fuchsias just a bit. The glosses have a sweet scent that is mixed with a hint of chemical scent. These aren't sticky on the lips while they retain color, right after I wiped off the swatches the skin became sticky so make of that what you will. 

The liners.

They are all black the liquid as you can see doesn't dry matte and the pencil is a bit dry, nothing major.

The mascara (not pictured) is a normal bristles smaller wand. The formula seemed really dry to me, and didn't cause clumping and added a little bit of length but added no volume. I thought it was a nice on my lower lashes, defining them without making them look spidery but I can do better on my top lashes. There was no smudging through out the day either. 

NYX Mortal Instruments Parallel Worlds Review (Espanol)

Ahora puedo seguir durante días y días sobre cómo leer todas las novelas de Cassandra Clare Instrumento Mortal dentro de dos semanas, cómo me encantan y lo contenta que estoy por el ultimo envio . También podria hablar sobre por qué estoy súper emocionada por la película y cómo el final puede hacer o romper la película para mí. Sin embargo, eso no es lo que pasa aqui, pero debería comenzar un blog club para adolescentes de literatura de libros porque me encanta leer .

De todos modos, parece como si NYX decidió colaborar con la película para crear el conjunto de caja de instrumentos mortales que se puede encontrar en su página web y en las tiendas Ulta y sitio web. La caja dispone de seis productos y es aproximadamente $25.00 pero Ulta siempre envía $3.50 a $10 que pasa del precio si lo compras por separado así que usted puede conseguir por sobre $21 el valor de todo .

Tienes la plataforma Smokey que solo se vende a $7.00

La plataforma viene con un color blanco, un brillante color taupe, un azul marino, una ciruela, negro suave y un brillo de color gris. Todos los colores son muy suaves y pigmentado, usted fácilmente puede mezclarse todo juntos. También hay suficiente variedad en esta plataforma que puede crear una mirada del ojo suave con un estallido de color (si quieres) o un muy intenso ojos ahumado con cualquiera de los colores.

Usted también consiguir uno de los lápices de ojos NYX Jumbo en Cachemira que generalmente se vende por $4.50

Cachemira es descrita como un brillante color champagne en el sitio web. El color es tan bonito como la base de un ojo, como una sombra en crema o como un delineador de ojos. Se desliza sobre y se pigmenta muy bien (como todos sus lápices jumbo ojo) ahora soy dueña de cinco de ellos y son todos tan suaves y sorprendente que les compraba todo si pudiera. Sin duda podrías usar esto como una sombra en crema, utilizar el topo de la paleta de smokey para definir el pliegue y luego usar el blanco como su punto culminante para un look más suave.

Sube el rimel Boudoir Le Frou Frou que se vende por $6.00.

Esta máscara se ha convertido en mi favorito rimel. No roce sobre mí (incluso cuando estoy cansada y sudorosa) y ayuda a alargar, rizo y no agrupan a mí mientras está espesando mis pestañas. Esto puede haber sido el mejor producto en la platforma para mí, pero como con las fundaciones algunas cosas que me encanta pueden no funcionar tan bien para ti. Es un poco de una fórmula más húmeda (que para mí significa que queda mojado ya en mis pestañas), así que ten cuidado cuando te pones el maquillage porque puede transferir a tu párpado. También tiene una varita del rimel normal, sin cerdas de goma complicadas aquí.

Usted también tiene el aclamado mate suave crema de labios en Estambul $6,00. Es descrito como un limpio rosado. Ahora éste fue un gran exito conmigo. La fórmula fue increíble. Me encantó que se sintió como una crema labial suave, no brillante, casi líqauido. No siente sequedad y no tenía lustre o brillo a él en absoluto que funciona bastante bien para mí. Cómodamente la llevé y era realmente mucho el tiempo que lo traje , duro unas cuatro horas antes de que comí y entonces quedo casi a la perfección a través de mi comida. Aunque lo malo fue el color para mí . No era lo bastante pálido o nude, no fuera lo suficientemente rosado al ser vivo. Me lavó horriblemente. Me encanta el producto es solo en mi tono de piel parecía absolutamente horrible pero funciona es que poner un brillo color encima.

Recibe un rubor en polvo $5,00.

Es descrito como un coral rosa con brillo de oro e iridiscencia. Este polvo es un poco polvoriento y por eso no pretendo decir lo obvio pero polvoriento como cómo habrá caerse una vez que se sumergir el cepillo en él. El color es altamente pigmentado y aunque es un poco un color increíble recorrer un largo camino con éste. Era capaz de llevarlo todo el día sin cualquier decoloración (que puede tener más que ver con mi decisión de Fundación) también seguía siendo apenas tan brillante. En mi opinión tenía cualidades más iridiscentes que glitter Oro. Dio de un resalte natural agadable a la sombra. No soy una gran fan de rubor, pero estoy seguro de que si lo fuera seguro que usaria este.

Por último obtienes un estudio Liner líquido en extremo negro $4,50. Este forro era mi menos favorito y puede tener más que ver con el cepillo que cualquier otra cosa. Me he vuelto muy acostumbrada a un cepillo/rotulador o un pincel para gel liner. Yo solía usar el liner líquido con una punta de pincel y se me olvidó cómo totalmente molestos son para mí. Mis pestañas al final rizar naturalmente (Sí, pobre de mi * sarcástico *) cuando trato de usar el liner líquido se pone en mis pestañas y se seca muy lento si no lo elimino se regara en todo mi parpado y si lo hago luego se prone en las manos. De todos modos, estoylo estoy pensando, estaba teniendo un enojo con el maquillage jaja allí, es sólo el revestimiento líquido negro básico. Tiene un cepillo corto y no seca mate. También no es contra el agua.

De todos modos, gracias por leer, espero que sea informativo.

Gracias por leer xoxo

NYX Mortal Instruments Parallel Worlds Box Review

Now I can go on for days and days about how I read all of the Cassandra Clare Mortal Instrument novels in about two weeks, how I loved them and how excited I am for the last installment. I could also spoiler it up and talk about why I'm super excited for the movie and how the ending may make or break the movie for me. However, that isn't what this is about, but I should start a teen lit book club blog because I devour those books. 

Anyway, it seems as though NYX decided to collaborate with the movie to create the Mortal Instruments Box set which can be found on their website and at the Ulta stores and website. The box has six products and is about $25.00 but Ulta always sends out $3.50 off any $10 you spend so you can get it for about $21-ish.

You get the Smokey pallet which on it's own retails for $7.00.

The pallet comes with a white color, a brighter taupe color, a navy blue, a plum, a soft black, and a shimmer gray. All of the colors are really soft and pigmented, you can easily blend everything together. There is also enough variety in this pallet that you can create a soft eye look with a pop of color (if you want) or a really intense smokey eyes with any of the colors. 

You also get one of the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Cashmere which usually retails for $4.50.

Cashmere is described as a shimmery champagne color on the website. The color is so pretty as an eye base, as a cream shadow, or as an eye liner. It glides on and is pretty nicely pigmented (like all of their jumbo eye pencils are) I own about five of them now and they are all so soft and amazing that I'd buy them all if I could. You could definitely use this as a cream shadow, use the taupe from the smokey pallet to define the crease and then use the white as your highlight for a softer look.

You get the Boudoir Mascara in Le Frou Frou which retails for $6.00.

This mascara has become my go to mascara. It doesn't smudge on me (even when I'm gross and sweaty) and it helps to lengthen, curl, and doesn't clump up on me while it's thickening my lashes. This may have been the biggest stand out in the pallet to me, but like with foundations somethings that I love may not work as well for you. It's a bit of a wetter formula (which to me means it stays wet longer on my lashes) so beware when you are doing your make up because it may transfer to your eyelid. It also does have a normal mascara wand, no fancy rubber bristles here.

You also have the highly acclaimed Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul $6.00.

It's described as a clean pink. Now this one was hit and miss with me. The formula was amazing. I loved that it felt like a creamy soft, not glossy, almost liquid lipstick feel to it. It didn't feel drying and had no gloss or shimmer to it at all which works well enough for me. I comfortably wore it and it was really long wearing, lasting for about four hours before I ate, and then staying almost perfectly through my meal. The miss for me though was the color. It wasn't pale enough to be nude, it wasn't pink enough to be vivid. It washed me out horribly. So I love the product it's just on my skin tone it looked absolutely hideous but works is I put a colored gloss on top of it.

You receive a Powder Blush in Pinched $5.00.

It's described as a coral pink with gold glitter and iridescence. This powder is a little powdery and by that I do not mean to state the obvious but powdery like how there will be fall out once you dip your brush into it. The color is highly pigmented and while it's an amazing color a little does go a long way with this one. I was able to wear it all day without any fading (which may have more to do with my foundation choice) it also remained just as bright. It did have more iridescent qualities than gold glitter in my opinion. It gave off a nice natural highlight to the shade. I'm not a big fan of blush but I'm sure if I was I'd be raving about this one.

Lastly you get a Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Black $4.50.

This liner was my least favorite and it may have more to do with the brush than anything else. I've become very accustomed to a felt tip brush/pen or a gel liner brush. I used to use the liquid liner with a brush tip and I forgot how completely annoying they are to me. My lashes at the end curl naturally (yeah I know, poor me. *sarcastic*) so when I try to use the liquid liner it gets on my lashes and dries really slow so if I don't remove it will get all over my eye lid and if I do then it gets all over my hands. ANYWAY, I digress, I was having some make up rage there haha, it really is just your basic black liquid liner. It has a short brush, and does not dry matte. It's also not waterproof.

Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope that was informative. 

Thanks for reading xoxo