Tuesday, June 10, 2014

June 2014 Ipsy Unboxing - Pretty in paradise

What a relief to have some cosmetics to try out since the last glam bag! Phew! I have used up most of my Hang Ten sunscreen, and the moisturizer is wonderful. The brush works despot it's stiffness. But man I am so excited to try the liner and the BB cushion. 
My photogenic dog is also excited. 

Be a Bombshell
Lash Out Mascara
Full size retail: $15 9g
From what I heard, this smells like burnt plastic in a nail salon. It certainly smells weird. 

Since I do not generally have sensitive eyes, I tried it out. While this is absolutely the least clumpy mascara I have ever used, it does little for volume. 
Additionally the mascara feels drying, as it does dry quickly on the lashes. The formula definitely could have used improvement. I am completely on the fence with this one. It's okay visibly, but the smell and the worry that it is going to burn my eyes is ever present. Perhaps this should just go in the garbage. A wipe will be taken to these after five minutes; how could I go a day?

Marc Anthony
Dream Waves Beach Spray
Full size retail: $8.79 4.2 oz
1.52 oz
Adjusted: $3.18

This is a decent size. I have a hair spray travel sized, and it's great. I am excited to try this. 

Beach waves were always a hair style if have pined to rock. Perhaps before my hair was cut, I would have died from sheer excited. Instead my past the shoulders hair would have to do. 

My hair is straight. Very straight. Waves appear when my hair dries over my shoulders and that is it. 

Nicka K New York
Shimmer Eyeliner in Green
Full size retail: $4.99 .1 oz
Thankfully I received green. I already have a blue liner, so this is great. 

Nyx
Butter Gloss in Creme Brûlée 
Full size retail: $5 8ml
The color is very pretty on, and it seriously smells like some sort of confectionary. It's sweet and not overpowing. As goes this name, this gloss is very smooth. It's not overly sticky either. Mostly it's comfortable and one that will be great to were when I am not around dust. 

Honestly, I think this color is just peachy enough that anyone could wear it. One swipe with the doe foot provides a sheer gloss, lightly tinted. Another coat gives color fairly close to the packaging.   

Laneige
BB Cushion in light, medium, and dark. 
Full size retail: $34 .5 oz
.21 oz (for 3 samples) 
Adjusted: $14.28

For kicks I used the dark puff on my face. It does feel soothing, and then a slight prickling. It's like I am wearing some sort if mint? It feels nice for sure. It smells nice and a little goes an incredibly long way.
 I covered half of my face with two presses. (What do I call it?)

The product also soaks into your skin quickly and does not transfer after it's finished. It borders on matte and dewy. As a bonus, this BB cream does a lovely job evening the skin and hiding a few blemishes. 

Now as nice of a product as this is, the so-called dark is not too far off from my face. It's far, but not on the actual end of the dark spectrum. 
See? It's totally orangey, but if you have any skin tone outside of a summer tan, bronze you  are SOL. 

Now I forgive the packaging of the sponge for its size; it's a sample. I would buy the full size. 
Total bag value: $42.45/$10

GlamRoom Reveal

Waiting for this danged thing to update all day, I was super excited about the NYX. I wanted any of the liners EXCEPT the Ofra. Score. And I wanted to try that Laneige bb cushion. I have wanted to try it for months now. This is joyful. 

Mascara I am not upset or elated. I love trying new (partial lie. I hate my UD mascara. That was new and not Maybelliene.) it can always go into my cache. I will use it in a century. 

The hair stuff had my heart sink, until I realized it was beach spray. Maybe. Just maybe we can style our hair less than crappy. So yeah, I am actually thrilled about that. 

I am satisfied like a hog eating corn. Win. 

Monday, June 9, 2014

So Revealing


Gosh, title puns about this palette are going to get so tired I bet?

My friend has the first Revealed palette from Coastal Scents. Nice dupe for Naked and Naked 2 right? Last week when my Facebook makeup group had posted Revealed 2 on sale for $9.95, I ordered immediately. Likely a billion other women followed suit. 

It is frigging gorgeous. Not perfect, but gorgeous. 
It looks like Naked 3, which of course I own not. I hear it acts as a fabulous dupe to 11/12 N3 colors. 

Finally after having it for two days I pulled the bugger out at 11:30pm to work on a quick look. With this 20 color palette you can go matte, shimmer, pink, nude, or full on gothed red. It's kind of perfect in the range of possibilities. 

Pink look on one eye. The phone camera is not the best, but this one relies on more of the light shimmer shades. 
And a darker look with more browns. 

Over the next few days I will be using this palette more exclusively to test it's versatility. Eventually I need to review my Glinda palette and do something with my Ammo. 

And here. Have both. 
Sounds totally perfect? Well it's not. 

The cons are minimal, but they exist. 
Firstly the palette has a distinct powder smell. It is not irritating, but it's curious. 
The second con involves texture of a few shades. Primarily I have been using my Bare. Minerals flat brush. It's big and soft, but it has revealed some super chunks in about three shades. While the shadows apply smooth from a finger's touch, they work a bit less well via brush. 
The final con is that they seem to fade even with a primer. You still get a full days of color from them, but working in a greenhouse upwards 9 hours (slowing down for the season) may play a factor in the less color. 

Regardless of this flaws, I really like this grouping of colors. I will repeat - this is not Urban Decay quality, but if you could ever find a drugstore makeup with half the quality for twice the price you will be lucky. 

Friday, June 6, 2014

Sales

No hide, nor hair for a while eh?

Barring the details, we had a death in the family and it hit pretty hard as the finality to a generation. Among the other issues going around, let me just say I am breathing easier knowing how far I have progressed with my schooling. I even made contacts with a partner and the head funeral director/embalmer for a potential internship/job shadow. 

Also my other dilemma is to complete the  full year program in a year (as 19,18, and 18 credit hours per semester versus 10,7,11,8... So on) have to make that decision. 

Additionally the closing of May is the busiest time of year. Much work and sales. 

Enough about me though, let's get on to the makeup! Around Memorial weekend, BareMinerals and Urban Decay both offered flash sales. I had to take advantage of it! From. Bare Minerals I gleaned one of their 8.0 palettes that I have lusted for. It came in a set with a loose powder blush, flathead eyeshadow brush, and a full sized Mascara. Also some sample packets of Marvelous Moxie gloss and a lipstick I already own and love. In addition a sample of the Bare Skin serum. Already having 03 Bare Linen, I elected for 04 Bare Ivory. I am curious if it will match or mud, as I do not remember if we tested that one I shade matching. 01 Bare Porcelain matched very well though. 

Onto the September Issue. 
Regularly this bad boy is $40, when it was in stock. Likely the sale was to clear out some overstocked product. I am not offended. The receipt of my transaction gave this a $10 value. The other products had various under $5 values. 

About the shades, each is beautiful. My favorite is surprisingly Glitterati, as it's peachy with a soft baby pink reflection. It's very pigmented. 
This photo is not an exclusive set of swatches. It also includes my four other Urban Decay palettes. 

While each shade does lean towards buttery, the shimmer shades tend to give more color to skin. I found a few shades inching on the less than opaque after applying them to my arm. Regardless, the registered beautiful for the looks I sought out. I had to dump my camera to my computer so I can post a few looks I have done. 

My biggest excitement with the palette is that there is no fallout, and if there is it's negligible. Fallout never really bothers me, as I can clean it up easily before leaving the house. Not having to do that though is pretty awesome. 

With primer the colors will stay all day, and I tested yesterday that on hot days without primer it will crease. I am not sure when it started to crease, but at the end of a sweaty ten hour day it was creased. Greenhouse work man. 

The blush is lovely, and softens up a face nicely. The mascara went into my cache of samples that I've acquired. Finally the brush works great for the crease. It's big. 

I will save the UD haul for another post.