Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Medley

I heard about some limited edition sets that Wet n Wild was coming out with for the Spring. I searched high and low to find something, and then finally, at the FIFTH drugstore I went to, I found something. I was still not able to find the 8-pan palettes I was searching for, which I will continue to hope and pray that I find, but instead I found the "Medley" palettes. I decided to get the one with the blue because I like matte navy colors.

 

Overall, the quality of the shadows is on par with what WnW has been putting out lately, however, the top three shades are very sheer. I'm pretty sure that is because they are just supposed to be used as an overlay on top of the other shadows. I was very pleased by the bottom matte shades as well as the center copper color. You also get a black liquid liner in the set and I like the brush and the formulation. There is another palette with a similar set up, but has more neutral tones I believe. They retail for $4.99 and are exclusive to Walgreens.

 

Also, keep your eye out for the LE 8-pan palettes because those shadows from swatches I have seen online, are gorgeous. The nearest place to have them from me as far as I know, is a 20 minute drive, so hopefully we will get some out this way *fingers crossed*.

 

Happy hunting ladies!

the Balm

 

I was online last week and I saw that the Balm was having a huge sale online in order to launch their new website. Everything was 50% off for 24hrs. I had been eyeing a few things, so I jumped on the chance to make my birthday just a little bit sweeter.

 

I only bought three things because I didn't want to get too carried away. I picked up the "Nude'tude" Palette in "Naughty", "Mary-Lou Manizer" which is a beautiful highlighter, as well as an Overshadow in "You Buy, I'll Fly".

 

I am in love with the Balm's packaging and just their overall company vision and I am VERY happy with my purchases. I literally got my package today, and I am already posting my overall take on what I got.

 

Let's start off with the highlighter and "overshadow".

 

You Buy, I'll Fly (left), Mary-Lou Manizer (right)-with flash

 

No Flash so that you can see the sparkle in the overshadow.

 

Again, I am in love with the packaging! Also, I know everyone has talked about this highlighter, but it is absolutely gorgeous. Below is a picture so that you can see it on the cheeks.

 

The shadow is also sparkly and can work well on its own, over another shadow, or foiled.

 

Next up, the "Nude 'tude Palette"

From Left to Right: Sassy, Snobby, Stubborn, Stand-offish, Selfish, Sultry, Sophisticated, Seductive, Sexy, Silly, Serious, Sleek

(Here is a really quick look that I did with Stand-Offish on the lid and Selfish, Sophisticated and Sexy in the crease.)

 

(Back of the packaging)

 

I don't think that ANY palette has been made to compliment me more. I love golds and taupes, however, I have recently been fiending for burgundy colors, and "Sexy" and "Silly" satisfy that need completely. I also love how all the names are adjectives that begin with "S", and I feel that each describes me ;) "Sassy" also surprised me because it is beautiful in the inner corner. For some reason I thought it was going to be matte, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was frosty.

 

This palette does come with a double-sided brush, but I have yet to try that out. The liner side seems as thought it would be a good brush, but the shadow brush does not have densely packed bristles, so I was a little scared to use it.

 

You can find everything mentioned here on thebalm.com. The eyeshadow palette is normally $36, the highlighter is $24, and all of the overshadows are $15. I know that most of this is on the more pricey side of things, but hautelook.com is always having sales for the Balm, so I would suggest keeping an eye out when they have deals there.

 

 

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything posted here.

 

I Never Thought This Day Would Come: NYX is Coming to a Target Near You

I was just checking some of my blog subscriptions, and one in particular stood out to me. I saw a post here that had a picture of a NYX display in a Target. Be sure to check out the post for more info, but this is exciting news to say the least. At this moment, the only place I can really buy NYX is at Ulta or on their main webiste.

So, keep and eye out, and you can bet I wil be doing the same. If I spot anything, you will all be the first to know!

Top 3 Favorite Mascaras

I have tried A  LOT of mascaras over the last few years. There are some that have been so so, but this post is about the one's that I feel are must buys! The following mascaras are tried and true and I have repurchased all of them.

I do try my best to purchase cruelty free when I can. Unfortunately, I have yet to find an amazing mascara that is CF. I know that there are some high end CF mascara's, but I don't buy high-end mascara because I feel like drugstore can do the same job for less.

*There is one brand that is CF and makes some good mascara, which is Essence. I have tried a few of their mascaras and all of them work really well, the only down side is that they dry out fairly quickly. The best part is that none of their mascaras are over $5, which is a great deal.

That being said, here are my top three favorite mascaras!

1) Rimmel Glam Eyes- This is a lengthening mascara. I use it for my bottom lashes because the brush is so thin and small. I also put this on top of any other mascara I use in order to separate my lashes. I have repurchased this several times, and will continue to buy it until I either find something better, or they discontinue it.

2) Almay Get up and Grow- This mascara is amazing. It helps your lashes be stronger (supposedly), although I have seen an improvement with my lashes. It volumizes and coats wonderfully. The formula is not wet at all, but not too dry either. It lasts for a long time, it does not dry out quickly, and does not flake throughout the day. Both the water-proof and non water-proof version are great.

3) The last mascara is kind of a brand. Loreal makes some of the best mascaras ever. Voluminous is always a win, but currently I am really loving the Extra Volume Collagen mascara. It coats really well, and you almost don't need anything else to help it along (again, I use "Glam Eyes", to finish every mascara, but it is really unnecessary with this mascara).

I have a few mascaras that I am waiting to try, and I will write a review when I get to them, but I have a few mascaras I am trying to finish before I open another one.

Hope this was helpful. Please comment if you have any questions!

FOTD: Sweet Indulgence

I decided to get creative on Friday and play with my Too Faced Sweet Indulgence pallette, and I really loved the look I came up with.

All eyeshadows are colors from the Sweet Indulgence Pallette.

Eyebrows: NYX eyebrow cake powder (CF)

Mascara: PF "Fake Out" (CF)

Foundation: Revlon Nearly Naked

Blush: ELF "Mellow Mauve"(CF), NYX's "Taupe"(CF)

Lips: Milani "Fruit Punch" (CF)

Eyes: Milani Liquf"eye" (CF), PF Eye Booster

NYX Haul!

I was browsing the Internet about a week ago, and I saw that there was a deal where you spend $30 on a website, and then you get an e-coupon to use on NYX's Site to get $60 worth of product. I immediately jumped on the deal because there have been a couple products I have been wanting to try, but every time I go to Ulta, they are sold out. I also asked one of my friends if she wanted anything since she seemed interested when I posted my post about NYX's Soft Matte Lip Creams. She said that she wanted Amsterdam and also a lip pencil, which I was happy to order for her.

I only got a few things since some of what I wanted is more expensive than I am used to spending on NYX.

So, let's check out what I got.

WARNING: This post will be longer than normally because I want to give you a little review about each product :)

 

 

Above ("Stay Matte But Not Flat HD Powder", lip gloss in "Beige", Eyebrow Cake Powder, Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in "Snow White" and "Louisiana", Soft Matte Lip Cream in "Addis Ababa", and the Wonder Pencil in "Light")

 

I will start with the lip products since I was able to swatch them.



 

From top to bottom: Beige, Louisiana, Snow White, Addis Ababa (The mark on the left is a swatch of the Wonder Pencil)

 



Lip gloss: Beautiful color, and it wears for a while. It feels nice and smooth on the lips, not too thick, or too thin.

Lipsticks: I like "Louisiana" more than I thought I would. I originally just bought it for the name, but the color is amazing, and very moisturizing. "Snow White" is still a color that I am on the fence about. I have a lot of reds, and I want to try this one out a few more times before I reach a verdict. As of right now, the texture is smooth and moisturizing, but I want to see what the staying power is really like.

Soft Matte Lip Cream. Again, these are wonderful, and I want all of them! The color is vibrant and right up my alley.

Wonder Pencil: This pencil is supposed to be multi-functional. It can act as a concealer, eye liner, and reverse lip liner. I bought it because I like putting light pencils on the water-line to make them appear bigger, but I could never find one that worked well for me, so I decided to give this a try. So far so good. I mean, I don't feel it's a life changing product, but it does its job.

Stay Matte Not Flat: This has to be THE BEST face powder I have ever used. There are some that come close, but this is the best. I have combination skin; my forehead is an oil slick, and my nose, chin, and sometimes cheeks, are flaky and dry. In order to tame things, I HAVE to set my liquid with a powder. What tends to happen is that in some areas it will be patchy, cakey, or disappear when the oil starts to show. I purposely used this powder with Wet N' Wild's "Coverall" Foundation because I knew that it has a matte finish everywhere except my T-Zone. I wanted to see if it kept things from melting, and from caking. This powder lived up to its claim about not being flat. I had dimension to my face even though it was matte. It also did not cake, and did a wonderful job of keeping my oily forehead at bay. Simply amazing stuff!

Eyebrow Cake Powder: This comes with a wax and two different shades of powder. The wax is amazing because, unlike most waxes that warm up when they hit your skin , this stayed sticky and kept my hairs from being unruly. Since the hairs were in place, I was able to have more control over the arch and overall shape. The package also contains a mini spoolie and angle brush. I would definitely repurchase it.

The last thing I got which is not pictured is a backup of a product that I am in love with. It is the "Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer" in "Yellow". It is definitely full coverage, a little goes a long way, and it is also creaseless. Now, with concealer, it typically always creases on me, but this concealer has yet to do so. I also have very dark under eye circles and not many concealers can cover them, and last. This concealer covers them, and helps brighten up the area. They have various correcting colors, as well as your regular concealer shades. I highly recommend it of you are looking for a new concealer, or have had trouble finding a good one.

I hope this was helpful.

My next post will more than likely be my favorite cruelty free products, so stay tuned!

*To the best of my knowledge, all of NYX's products are cruelty free.

**One of my friends recently asked me about cruelty free products, which I try and buy more than not. I told her that I would make a list of come companies that I know to be cruelty free. Now, sometimes there are loopholes that companies can take to make it appear that they are CF, but in fact, are not. From here on out, if a product is cruelty free (to the best of my knowledge), I will denote it with "CF". Again, I am not an expert, I just post what I have learned, or seen, so educate yourselves too. You can go to leapingbunny.org for a comprehensive list of CF companies.

NYX Cosmetics

I recently made a purchase from NYX Cosmetics, and I cannot wait to try some of the stuff I got. I will make a post when I receive my purchase, so stay tuned!