Showing posts with label ulta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ulta. Show all posts

Saturday, May 24, 2014

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.comUlta.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.

Monday, February 24, 2014

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.
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. 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

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

Thursday, November 14, 2013

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.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

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