Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette Review and Swatches

The Too Faced Boudoir Eyes is in no way new but these tiny palettes have intrigued me for far too long for me to never try them. This is the first out of the tiny palettes that I tried and one of 4 palettes that I got recently. (Lorac Unzipped Palette review is already up and two are to come) That being said this is by far my favorite out of the lot.

($36.00 at Sephora.com, Ulta.com and TooFaced.com)

All products are cruelty free.

The container is small but a metal material. Think something like the Naked 2 & 3 palettes from Urban Decay. However, this in no way feels as though it closes as secure as the others. It hasn't opened on me yet though.

The palette comes with 9 shadows and a mirror. The palette is fairly small so don't expect that big of a mirror. It also comes with a set of instructions on how to make a look using the three suggested color combinations.

Day:

In the Buff

In the buff is a matte white/slightly off white color. It's buttery and pigmented, and looks as though it contains a sheen/satin finish in the palette but comes off matte on my eyes.

Fuzzy Handcuffs

Fuzzy handcuffs comes off white a slight shimmer and is a champagne color. It's a very neutral light color that can be used for a simple nude look. Think my eyes but better.

Voulez-Vous

This is a lovely color, in fact it's my favorite color. It's a purple satin with a slight golden dou-chrome finish. It can be used as an all over lid color for a more smokey look or as a crease color for a soft definition that is really interesting considering it's not a brown but a purple.

Classic:

Satin Sheets

Satin sheets isn't shimmery but more of a pearl color in every sense of the word. It has a sheen that catches the light perfectly and came off a little more golden than it really is in person. In my opinion it's too shiny for a highlight but really nice for a simple all over lid color, that doesn't look simple at all.

Sugar Walls

Sugar walls is a complicated color, it looks exactly as it does in the swatch. It has a hint of lavender and gold pearly finish and is gorgeous. 

Garter Belt

Garter belt is your final matte shade. It's a matte light grey color that blends like a dream. I recently got into the habit of blending out my smokey eye looks with a brown and a grey color and this shade is perfect. It doesn't take away from the intensity of colors and doesn't add too much more harshness to any look. It's amazing.

Fashion:

Birthday Suit

Birthday suit is a pearly champagne shade that is simple but I think is still too much for a highlight. ( I prefer matte shades for my brow bone)

Lap Dance

Lap dance is a grey-ish hint of lavender pearl finish.

French Tickler

French Tickler is a black with golden glitter. This is the only shade with glitter in it and if I had to make a bet I'm pretty sure it's really similar to the black shade in the Wet n Wild Color Icon Trio in Silent Treatment. It comes off as matte unless you pack it on intensely enough, which I don't. I use it in the corner of the crease and blend it to make a darker look. It's super blendable but pigmented so be careful.

Overall, I love this palette. It was my favorite that I bought/was given for valentines day. I'm super excited to try more of them if they are of the same quality as this tiny palette. If you are interested in any of these colors (I'd say multiple colors) then give it a go, the quality is fantastic.

The Balm Nude'Tude Palette Review and Swatches

Recently The Balm Cosmetics had a 24 hour flash sale where everything was 50% off on the entire website and the proceeds went to charity. In case you haven't heard of The Balm since you cannot get them at Sephora or Ulta they are a brand of cosmetics that in my opinion has some of the cutest most 1950's esq. packaging ever.

 (Nude 'tude palette $36.00 at TheBalm.com)

Nude 'tude comes in two different pallet forms, you can get the Naughty Palette which has the cute nude pin ups. (Get it NUDE 'Tude? eh? eh? okay I'll stop ^-^) or the Nice Palette which just has the same image as the front on the inside in case the girls aren't your cup of tea. I personally think they add personality and are super cute. 

The palette comes with 12 shadows, a large mirror, and a tiny two sided brush.

As you can see the palette isn't built anything like the Naked palettes. You get a large range of colors that don't all have the same underlying base color like the Urban Decay palettes do. This is highly appreciated by me because every now and again a good burgundy/wine color makes for a good crease color.

(Left to Right: Sassy, Stubborn, Selfish, Sophisticated, Sexy, and Stubborn)

Sexy-

Sexy is a white pearl that is super rich and pigmented. It makes a nice sheered out highlight or a good concentrated lid color.

Stubborn-

Stubborn is a beige pearl shade. This shade like the rest of the palette are very pigmented, soft, and buttery. 

Selfish-

Selfish is a light taupe-y brown pearl with micro glitter that does look like it would be straight out of the Naked (one) palette.

Sophisticated-

Sophisticated is a nice mid-range brown with golden micro glitter. Also very reminiscent of the Naked (one) palette.

Sexy-

Sexy is my perfect matte wine color. It's so smooth and works perfectly as a crease shade for me to smoke out a lot of the darker shades in this palette or any of my other palettes just in case I don't want to stick to browns, blacks, or my new go to shade grey.

Serious-

Serious is a nice buttery matte black. Like jet black. A little goes a long way guys and gals so be careful with this shade. It can be applied as softly or intense as you see fit. 

(Left to Right: Snobby, Stand-offish, Sultry, Seductive, Silly, and Sleek)

Snobby-

Snobby is a crazy color to me and honestly maybe the most interesting. It isn't gold, it's a yellow with micro glitter. Like a canary yellow with glitter guys! AND it's completely wearable! I'm super impressed by this color.

Stand-offish-

Stand-offish is a champagne color with so much shimmer! It's pretty, nothing crazy out of this world but really pretty none-the-less.

Sultry-

Sultry is a matte mid toned brown that works wonderfully at blending or as an all over lid color. It's buttery and perfect.

Seductive-

Seductive is a golden brown with tiny glitters again. The color yet again is perfect but I'm sure I have something similar to this in my collection.

Silly-

Silly is a dark brown with reddish, gold micro glitter. It's like the shade Blackheart from The Naked 3 Palette only unlike Blackheart you can actually see the glitter when you apply it. However, it is also less pigmented than Blackheart. (I just swatched them side by side to check)

Sleek-

Sleek is a dark almost blackish matte brown. Really blendable and awesome. 

Overall:

I was iffy about this palette when I got it, but after playing with it for a while I really came to enjoy it a lot. It's really versatile and can give you a basic look or a very smoke dramatic look. The brush is really stiff but I found it good for applying the shadows as liner for the bottom or top lash line. It's thin and has a magnetic closing. I can't find any downside to it besides having to order it online because none of the normal high end make up retailers sell it. All in all if you ever find them having a good sale (they are on Hautelook very often) try it. 

Lorac Unzipped palette review and swatches

The Lorac Unzipped pallet isn't exactly the newest thing on the market but it was something that I was super curious about it because of the rose gold trend that was started up thanks to the Naked 3 that came out late last year. 

The pallet is sold at Sephora, Ulta, and on the Lorac website.

($40 on lorac cosmetics website)

This palette comes with five large shadows and an eye shadow primer and also has a large mirror. The palette is small and really easy to travel with. It also has really cute cleaver names.

Undercover

Is a shimmery very pale beige. It's super subtle and contains no glitter, just a soft shimmer to it. It's super soft and pigmented.

Unbelievable

Is also a shimmer that contains several rose undertones with gold shimmer and is absolutely stunning!

Unattainable

is less of a rose color and very much more of a darker more sunset gold color.

Unconditional

This shade is a matte rosy brown that reminds me a lot of Nooner in the Naked 3 pallet. However, Unconditional is a lighter less intense shade than Nooner. 

Unbridled

Is also a rosy brown matte shade. However, Unbridled is darker and a lot more brown than rosy.

(The matte shades are pigmented and really easy to blend just fyi)

Undiscovered

Undiscovered would be the shade that I would have figured would have been like Half Baked from the Naked 1 & 2 palettes but this shimmery gold is like sunshine in an eye shadow. It's beautiful and a shade lighter than Unattainable.

Unreal

This shade is like a classic shimmery beige, nothing too impressive about it honestly.

Uncensored

Is a shimmery brown with rosy/gold shimmer. In the swatch it definitely looked more golden and like Smog from the Naked 1 palette.

Unspoken

Is the perfect midtone shade of matte brown. It's just matte brown though, there are no hints of rose or gold in this shade and works perfectly as a blending shade. 

Untamed

Is a shimmery darker brown. It has a tiny bit of gold to it but nothing insane. This is the darkest shade in the pallet and can be built to add more intensity and darkness.

Overall:

I really enjoyed this pallet, it's cheaper than most of the other palettes (I also got it with my professional discount so I got it super cheap) and Lorac makes great quality eye shadow. I think it's worth it if you like these type of colors, don't have any of these shades in your collection or are just interested in something that could really just be a basic palette in your collection. I love it and would really love to try out more Lorac palettes. 

Eyes Lips Face (ELF) Mineral Eyeshadow Review and Swatches

I should have most likely started off my blogs with these because I have had them for so long and you know everyone is always love/hate with ELF because it's inexpensive AND has hits and misses. I point out that AND because I don't think that since it's inexpensive it should be awful quality. 

ELF Mineral Eyeshadows $3.00 each at eyeslipsface.com

They have a mixture of matte and shimmer shades in 26 different shades total. At $3 a piece and how often they have website sales these eyeshadows are a good deal in general but lets go over the 8 eyeshadows I have.

"Wild"

Wild is a nice true brown with gold sparkle in it. 

 (Left No Primer, Right Primer) 

With these eyeshadows a primer makes all the difference. Also not being afraid to layer the color until you get the intensity you want helps. This shade is one of the most pigmented of the bunch and even then I like to add two coats in order to make the color pop! The sparkle is more intense with primer but either way this shade is beautiful.

"Royal"

Royal is a nice dark purple shimmer.

(Left No Primer, Right Primer)

Yet again this shade is really pretty to me. I can't help but love it and use it as an accent color or for a smokey eye. Pigments in general to me don't seem to go on full color, but they are easy to layer because of how finely milled they all are. With flash this shade does become a mid-range purple.

 "Sweet"

Sweet is a pink with gold sparkle in it.

(Left No Primer, Right Primer)

This shade is a little bit too barbie for me personally but I have used this as a lip color and it looks really nice because of the golden sparkles. (Yeah I know it's too barbie for my eyes but not too barbie for my lips? I'm weird don't mind me.) It's a cute color, I don't think it would look good as blush since it has so much shimmer but using it as a lip color is something worth trying.

 "Elegant"

Elegant is completely the epitome of eggshell shimmer.

(Left No Primer, Right Primer)

Eggshell in general isn't a very pigmented color on my skin tone but this color would be completely lovely with a simple, updated vintage look. (Since all vintage looks are done with matte shades) You put this eggshell shimmer on the eyelid add a nice brown crease with a winged liner and a red lip. Perfect.  

 "Temptress"

Temptress is a very light matte pinky-taupe.

 (Left No Primer, Right Primer)

This shade is definitively the least pigmented (on me at least) of the bunch. I have to wonder how much better it would look wet because it really isn't pigmented dry, even over primer which is super disappointing, I love the idea of the color.

"Partier"

Partier is a matte blue/grey.

(Left No Primer, Right Primer)

As you can see this eyeshadow is non-existent without primer, however over primer it's completely pigmented and actually a good smokey eye base. I wore this one today under a couple of purple Urban Decay eyeshadows from the Vice 2 pallet and I really like the outcome. 

(Excuse my eyebrows I need to go get them threaded again)

See? Not too shabby.

"Socialite"

Socialite is a dark brown/taupe color that is less sparkle more sheen.

 (Left No Primer, Right Primer)

This shade may very well be my favorite of the bunch. It makes the perfect smokey eye for me. It's buildable, blendable, and just beautiful. However, the swatch on the website and how it looks in person is completely different. I have no idea why, but I couldn't even recognize the thumbnail when I was looking for it. It's a really lovely color though, completely worth the $3.

"Glamorous"

Glamorous is a muave shimmer.

(Left No Primer, Right Primer)

This one is really not too pigmented without a primer but does pack a nice punch over primer. With shades like this one you have to be careful you don't end up looking dead, since the shade can drown you out but you can use it as a lip color and I'm betting wet it would take on a whole new dimension that would be fabulous.

Anyway, my overall conclusion is I like them a lot. I do think that NYX has loose eyeshadow that is more pigmented and needs less layers but the packaging in these is more convenient. Not exactly the best pigment on the market but I do love these a lot and a few of the shades really stand out from other things in my collection. Hope that helped. 

XOXO

Shimmer & Shake Show-Stopping Collection Swatches and Review

Shimmer and Shake Show-Stopping Collection 

$59 at Sephora

For anyone who didn't read my previous post that included a review on one of these shades these lip glosses aren't exactly the most opaque formula. if you enjoy high shine, minty plumping, and a bit of stickyness that helps them stay longer this may be the perfect set for you. It comes with 15 mini glosses in 3 different finishes. So lets get started.

(L to R: Sandy-- Trixie-- Katie-- Dolly-- Sugar)

Sandy

A very pale pinky nude with tiny shimmers or "Pink Nude"

Trixie

 Corally pink also with tiny shimmers or "Golden Rose"

Katie

 Baby Pink with tiny shimmers or "Pale Pink

Dolly

 Mauve with a hint of lavender or "Muted Plum"

Sugar

Brown with a hint of pink undertones or "Rose Beige" 

These glosses have tiny shimmers to them however they do not have glitter chucks in them like the last five. These can be purchased individually in larger sizes for $19 exclusively at Sephora.

(L to R: Kir Royale-- Pink Lady-- White Russian-- Mudslide-- Cherry flip)

Kir Royale

 A glossy berry/plum or "Rich Wine"

Pink Lady

 A bubble gum pink or "Electric Pink"

White Russian

 A pink hued nude or "Nude Pink"

Mudslide

 A Mauve or "Petal Pink"

Cherry Flip

 Light Red/Coral or "Red Poppy"

These are a smidge more opaque and have no shimmer to them. These can be purchased individually for $19 (full size) exclusively at Sephora.

(L to R: Victoria--Olivia-- Amanda-- Lauren-- Rachel)

Victoria

 Dark Mauve with a lot of glitter.

Olivia

 Bright Pink with a lot of glitter.

Amanda

 Clear with a lot of glitter.

Lauren

 Coral with a lot of glitter.

Rachel

 Pinky Purple with a lot of glitter.

These are very transparent and remind me of the Urban Decay Stardust lip glosses. Lots of shine and glitter and not a lot of color pay off. These aren't sold at Sephora.

Hope you enjoyed

XOXO

Give Me More Lip Product Review

Give Me More Lip was a gift set that was sold exclusively at Sephora that contained 16 lip products. 4 in a nude shade, 4 in a red shade, 4 in a pink shade, and 4 in a more berry dark shade. Each product was made by a different high end company and came in an assortment of things including lipsticks, pencils, stains and glosses. 

The Reds

(L to R: Kat Von D Foil Love in Adora -- Hourglass Opaque Rogue in Icon -- Make Up For Ever Rogue Artist Natural in N45 -- Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Pomegrante)

The Kat Von D lipstick has a nice texture to it, is opaque but the amount of shimmer in it really kind of turns me off to it. I have a red lipstick from revlon that is about the same color and I NEVER wear it because of the amount of shimmer in the lipstick. I like shine in a lipstick, or matte lipsticks, shimmer lipsticks always seem to fade kind of funny on my mouth and cake up faster on the corners. Maybe it's just me talking too much that causes that though. 

*Full Size- $19 

Hourglass is a darker, deeper red. If you've ever tried a liptar, or velvetine this has the same basic formula. It starts off hydrating and then dries to a matte finish that becomes harder to remove than most lipsticks. That being said I have NEVER tried anything that doesn't budge when you kiss someone. Every lipstick that I've tried in every formula transfers at least a little so don't expect perfection. It does give a nice finish and last fairly long though. It lasted me through a night of drinking and a night of sleeping (tried it out of curiosity) only the inside of my lips, toward the center was bare when I woke up.

*Full Size- $28 *Travel Size- $10

Make Up For Ever was maybe the most disappointing product in the box. I expect a lot from this brand since I did use it in school and everything was super pigmented and rich feeling. This brand has always seemed to embody decadence to me, so you can imagine my surprise when I got this and it was so thin feeling and missing that oomph that I wanted from a MUFE red. It's pretty for a wash of red but really not worth it. For that buy a tinted lip balm.

*Full Size- $20

Bite Beauty was really nice. I was expecting something were I would have to build up the color to a decent red color but these pencils pack in opaque color with the first swipe. It wasn't drying and just felt amazing on. It is a classic pin up red that is amazing feeling and true to color.

*Full Size- $24 *Gift Set of 4 Travel Size- $25

The Nudes

(L to R: Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Nylon Nude-- Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Naked-- Bare Minerals Buxom in White Russian-- Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in 02 Dolce)

Smashbox this nude has a nice feel to it and is pretty opaque but (keep in mind this may just be my lips) the color doesn't stick to certain parts of my lips, usually the parts that need to be better exfoliated, and therefore looks awful on me. If a lipstick sinks into your fine lines and refuses to cover you lip color equally all around it doesn't look cute it looks sloppy. Maybe if I were to exfoliate more it would help but me and nude lips have never been very close friends because of that problem. 

*Full Size- $20

Laura Mercier in Bare Naked was actually a pleasant surprise. Me and nude lipsticks don't work out, me and nude lipglosses are now best friends. This gloss was a little sparkly and smooth as butter. If you are a fan of glosses that don't feel sticky, have full color, and also don't feel greasy this one is perfect. This brand really nailed down what nude should look like to be flattering since (in my opinion) nudes with a pink hue are more universally flattering on skin tones than yellow based nudes which can make you look dead.

*Full Sized- $24 *Travel Size set of 4- $38

Bare Minerals Buxom in White Russian was my most shocking product of the bunch. I had previously read about this brand and how these lipglosses are minty (which I don't usually like) and sticky (which I despise) and sure enough when I tried it on it was both of those things. It was minty to help plump lips and sticky which I'm guessing made them think would stay longer. These were everything I thought I'd hate but when I tried them I fell in love. The minty feeling is something that doesn't bother me, it does last quiet a long time tingling. It isn't sticky enough to turn me off of these either. It is exactly as sticky as longer lasting glosses are (nothing has ever been as sticky as old NYC or Victoria Secret lip glosses) so these are a total win for me. If you know you can't look passed all of that don't bother though.

*Full Sized- $19 *Travel Size set of 6- $29 *Travel Size set of 15- $59 (review and swatches later)

Stila all day liquid lipstick doesn't last you all day. However, it is opaque and long lasting. When I used it, it never really dried to a matte finish but it did last me about half a day without needing to retouch. Dolce is a little on the brown side and ventures away from being a nude and walks more the line of being a brown, that being said it doesn't look bad, it makes it look a bit more fall/wintery in fact. 

*Full Size- $22

The Berries

(L to R: Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance 12 Hour Lipstick in Inspired-- Obessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Strumpet-- Bare Minerals Buxom Lipstick in Menace-- Stila Color Balm Stick in Sonya)

The Tarte Glamazon lipstick isn't exactly a berry shade. It's a mauve color that is a tiny bit sticky for a lip gloss but definitely won't last you 12 hours. It's your basic mauve lipstick guys. Nothing extraordinary about the color, feel or finish. It does feel nice, doesn't dry out your lips and if opaque.

*Full Size- $26

OCC Lip Tars are infamous. They come in tubes with a little lip brush start off like a gloss and dry matte. A little really goes a long way with these babies. AMAZINGLY you get a full sized lip tar in this kit (which some stores still have) and the color is just amazing. This is the perfect fall lip color, is long lasting (tiny bit of transfer), comes with it's own lip brush and can be utilized as face paint. 

*Full Size- $18 *Travel Size set of 12- $58

Stila is my other kind of dud in this kit. It's a berry tinted balm. It doesn't stain, doesn't last long, and isn't opaque at all. For a tinted lip balm I'd go to the drugstore not Sephora guys. Pretty color, nice on the lips.

*Full Sized- $22

The Pinks

(L to R: Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Never Say Never-- Too Faced Le Creme in Marshmallow Bunny-- Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Pout-- Kat Von D Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Backstage Bambi)

Marvelous Moxie lipstick has a nice feel, is really opaque and is the definition of HOT PINK. It has a hint of Fuchsia but is a bright pink none-the-less. It doesn't last super long or claim to either. This is a brand new item from Bare Minerals and I have to say the most interesting part of it for me was the packaging. The lipstick comes in a full body lid that will pop into place and not budge once there, which is perfect for the person on the go who worries about a top opening and ruining everything in your bag, including your lipstick.

*Full Size $18

I really wanted to love the Too Faced lipstick, I really did but I had the same problem as I did with the Nude Smashbox lipstick that it just didn't cover my entire mouth with an even amount of opacity. It's a beautiful light pink that I think would flatter pale complexions in a princess sort of way. 

* Full Size- $21

Pout is a complete cotton candy shade, which I will tell you now doesn't look good on everyone. It seems semi transparent and is a little sticky. It'll last you a while longer on your lips since it is a bit goopy. I'm honestly not sure how "lip enhancing" this color really is though.

*Full Size- $19

Kat Von D completely outdoes herself with this shade/line. The packaging feels plastic and really cheap but the hot pink is so vivid and perfectly flattering for most skin tones that it's excusable. Like the Lip Tar, Velvetines (I have a blog post raving about them under my red lipsticks) and Hourglass lipsticks this starts off smooth and liquidy then dries to a matte finish. It does transfer a bit when dry but still won't budge without you trying to remove it. 

*Full Size- $19

You can catch almost everything (Not the Marvelous Moxie lipstick) at the Sephora website and since it is the holidays most of these are in little gift sets right now. Hope you enjoyed and it helped you decide what you wanted/needed and want/need to give. 

XOXO

Smashbox Wondervision Mega Palette review and swatches

The Wondervision Mega Palette by Smashbox is a new product that is (from what I can tell) exclusively sold at Ulta.

 The palette retails for $49.00

 It comes with 30 eyeshadows (8 of them matte) 3 blushes (1 with shimmer) and a matte bronzer. The colors seem fairly even when it comes to the amount of neutrals and brighter, bolder colors. Each one of the shades is very pigmented, bendable, and seem just amazing to me.

 You receive 4 cards that give you ideas on how to use the shadows and come with numbers on top so you know what shade should go where and which shades were designed to be used together.

It also comes with a half sized mirror and stays upright by itself.

The formula for the entire palette is the epitome of the word "rich" to me. They are super soft, buttery and amazingly textured. These shadows outshine even the best Urban Decay or MAC shadows I've tried, not to mention that it seems as though a lot of work and thought went into the making of this pallet. So let's start with the swatching. 

The first row is all neutrals with only one shade that isn't matte. All six shades are a dream to work with and Golden has a beautiful pearl finish. The top row alone makes a very wearable day or night look for girls who aren't always looking for big and bold.

The second row starts off with a shimmer shade. The rest of the row is a solid pearl finish row (as are most of the eyeshadows) This row reminds me of Fall completely. Also Umber is a dupe for MAC's Club, but takes less to get a good pigmentation for me.

This row starts off with a matte shade. Mint, Turquoise, and Green are both pearl finishes but Blue and Dark Blue both have more of a shimmer/glitter to them. This section completely makes me think of the ocean though.

These purples are what I wish most pallets would give you. You get a pearl finish with a hint of lavender, a pink with shimmer/glitter, a matte lavender, a pearl violet, a shimmer/glitter purple and a matte black. You can give yourself an impressive purple based smokey eye with just this section (As you could with all of the other sections though) and you can get it in any finish you want.

Last but not least (for the eyeshadows) you get this line of smokey shadows that has 4 pearl finishes and 2 shimmer/glitter finishes that my best friend describes as space. Don't be fooled by the swatch of Pewter it's a lot more taupe than it seems. I am glad that you have your matte browns and black while you also have a shimmer/glitter brown and black.

All three blushes are wearable, even glow which seems to have scary-ish amounts of sparkle in it before you apply it. These shades like the shadows are really pigmented so a little will go a long way. The bronzer was also flawless for my skin but I could see it being too light for medium to dark skin tones. 

No matter how I look at this pallet, I found no duds in it and I am completely happy that I made this purchase. No regrets at all. However, if you aren't in the market for bright colors or shimmers you might want to stay away from this one. You don't get enough matte shadows to warrant a pallet for this price or enough neutrals either. 

Hope you enjoyed.