Review & Swatches: Colourpop Super Shock Eyeshadows in Amaze, Mooning, and Sugar

Colourpop has been super popular lately and I decided to finally review Amaze, Mooning, and Sugar! I actually bought these a few months ago, but put them aside. I forget about these photos until I went through my drafts and started using them again. The Super Shock Shadows have a very unique texture in that it feels like very soft and almost wet. They're very malleable in the pot and the pattern goes away with one use. Each shadow retails for $5 and come in multiple finishes. 

This review is picture heavy. Since the texture, pigmentation, and wear is similar for all three shades, most of the text under the pictures are concise descriptions of the colors and the rest will be at the end. 

Review & Swatches: Soothing Sista XO Memebox Eyeshadow Quad in #Eyelove SF

The Soothing Sista XO Memebox #Eyelove SF Palette is an eyeshadow quad made up of neutral rosey brown shades. They're supposed to have double-coated pigment technology for long lasting color. If you don't know, Soothing Sista aka Stephanie Vila is a YouTuber that mostly does fashion and beauty videos. She created this palette and named it with a Bay Area / San Francisco theme. The palette contains 4 grams / 0.141 ounces of product and retails for $17. Each pan is about the size of a quarter. 

The names of the shades are on a plastic insert. I prefer the shades to be printed next to the individual shadows, but it's not a huge problem. I originally thought the pans were magnetic, but they were all held down by some glue. They are easy to remove to put into customizable magnetic palettes though.

Here are the initial arm swatches! I used a color dropper to match the text color with the eyeshadow color. 

Sutro is described as a "light dusty rose matte." In the pan, it looks more brown but swatches to a nice subtle dusty rose. 

Valencia is described as a "medium pinky-brown matte." It is basically like a darker version of Sutro with more pinky to it. 

Surprisingly, the mattes are amazing. They're soft and even have a nice creamy feel to them. Sutro is a bit too light to show up as a pigmented shade on my skin tone. Since Sutro and Valencia are both so similar, I would've liked a cream highlight kind of color instead. 

The mattes are hands down the best out of the quad. For both of these shades, you don't have to use a primer if you don't want to if you have normal lids. The colors show up fine even without any help. 

Candy Rain is described as a "metallic rose shimmer with silver micro-glitter." I don't see the silver micro-glitter, but it is a pretty metallic burgundy rose shade. 

Bae Area is described as a "metallic pink shimmer with iridescent glitter." This is a full on pinky gold glittery shade.

Candy Rain is harder than the mattes and so it does take more work to build up color. Once it's on the lids, it is pretty but not the best burgundy shade I've worked with. I would use a primer with this shade so that it's easier to build up color.

Bae Area is the worst out of the palette. It has chunky glitter that just falls all over the face if you don't use a super tacky base. The base color of the eyeshadow is pink and the shimmer/glitter is more golden to create a pretty color when swatched though. It is very similar to Maybelline Expert Wear Eyeshadow in Pink Wink (review here) in that they're both a pinky gold with chunky glitter. 

Here is Bae Area in another light. In indirect light, the pinky base is more apparent. 

Here is an eye look using the palette. 

Sutro on the inner third of the lid

Valencia in the crease and on the outer third of the lid

Candy Rain on the outer half of the lower lash line and a bit in the outer third of the lid

Bae Area on the center of the lid, but applied with LASplash Splashproof Sealer Eyeshadow Base

I was wearing this out and I can't stand having glitter all over my face. Even so, there was still a bit of fall out but less than if I hadn't used the sticky base. 

Final thoughts: If you're a fan of the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette but don't want that many shades or pay that much, you might want to look into the #Eyelove SF palette. The matte shades fall in line with Limit and Nooner too. Candy Rain is decent, but I have an eyeshadow from theBalm Balm Jovi that is so much better. Bae Area is really disappointing and if you're only interested in this shade, it's better to just get the Maybelline eyeshadow I mentioned in this review. I do sometimes take this palette for a weekend away to use the three decent shades though. It's definitely not my favorite palette to use though since I have the Naked 3 plus other rosey browns / nudes shades I've accumulated this past year. 

Review & Swatches: Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita (February 2015 Version)

Liquid lipsticks have been all the rage lately and Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks have probably been one of the more popular ranges. The shade I'll be reviewing is Lolita, but is the February 2015 version of the color. It was reformulated 2-3 times, but still continues to be one of the more popular colors and is always out of stock. Lolita is described as "dusty rose" and retails for $20.

Review & Swatches: Etude House Give Me Chocolate Eyeshadows in Salted Caramel and Cherry Truffle

Etude House recently came out with their Give Me Chocolate collection and I bought two of their limited edition shadow palettes - Salted Caramel and Cherry Truffle! There was a third palette, but it wasn't as appealing to me. I bought these products on eBay for around $9, but the price varies depending on what seller you buy them from. 

The Rosey Nude Blush Battle!! ft. NARS Douceur, Milani Romantic Rose, and Tarte Exposed

For full reviews of NARS Blush in Douceur and Milani Rose Powder Blush in Romantic Rose, click here and here respectively. Douceur has sadly been discontinued and since Exposed has often been tooted for a close dupe, I wanted to make a comparison post. I also initially wanted to include Benefit Rockateur as well, but that is way too pink and Romantic Rose is already verging on too pink compared to Douceur. I would also say that Rockateur is a nudey rose blush instead of a rosey nude blush if that makes sense. 

COLOR: All three blushes are muted natural rosey brown shades, but have varying tones of rose to them. I would say Douceur has the most brown/plum to it. Exposed is more pinky with Romantic Rose being the most pink. In the pan, Romantic Rose also looks a lot more brown/nude and then swatches more pink. Douceur also turns a bit more pink when swatches and Exposed is true to pan.

TEXTURE: Romantic Rose is the softest and most pigmented initially out of the three blushes. Douceur is harder and more sheer, but it helps build up the color nicely to the desired opacity. Exposed is the hardest out of the three and it's so hard to get any pigment out of it. The only reason I was able to hit pan is because I needed to use so much of it to get even a bit of color on my face. I've tried every brush in my collection and the end result has always been meh for me. I sometimes use it as a base blush color for similar shades to make it last longer though. 

LONGEVITY: Once I get some color from Exposed on my face, it does last a long time. They have a 12 hour long-wear claim and so that makes sense. The other two blushes also last a long time on my cheeks, but they might fade a tiny bit sooner than Exposed. 

Personally, I love Douceur and Romantic Rose a lot more than Exposed but Douceur has now been discontinued. Romantic Rose isn't a 100% dupe of Douceur, but it is a nice pinkier version of it. If you're interested in Exposed, I would recommend Romantic Rose over it instead because the texture and pigmentation is better. 

Which one is your favorite? Do you like rosey nude blushes?

Review & Swatches: Milani Rose Powder Blush in Romantic Rose

Milani Rose Powder Blush in Romantic Rose is a matte rosey nude toned blush that has a gorgeous rose pattern embossed on it. The color fits in the same family as NARS Douceur and Tarte Exposed (a comparison post of this claim will be up soon!) and it is one of those universally flattering shades. There is 0.60 ounces / 17 grams of product and retails around $8 depending on where you buy it from. 

Review & Swatches: Darling Girl Cosmetics Glitter Glue and Eyeshadows in Jeweled Taupe, Mexican Radio, and I'm Fabulous

I made a Darling Girl Cosmetics' order a few weeks ago and I ordered the Glitter Glue and Eyeshadows in Jeweled Taupe and Mexican Radio in the petite sizes. I also got I'm Fabulous as a gift with purchase and the packaging was the same size as the petite shadows. Most of the petites retail for $2.50 while the full sizes retail for $5.90. The Glitter Glue retails for $6.75 and works for loose glitters and pigments, but doesn't play as well with matte shadows. It really helps bring out the shimmer and duochrome qualities in pigments. 

If you haven't heard of Darling Girl Cosmetics before, they are an independent makeup company run by the wonderful Susan. They stock petite and full sized shadows, but also a limit of 5 sample baggies to try out their products. Their turn around time is about a month, but it's to be expected since it's mostly one person making the products. 

(Too Much) Travel Makeup

For the past 3ish weeks, I've been home in the Bay Area and then went to San Diego for a couple of days to see my sister. I was going to be away fro my whole collection for a while and so I packed more than I usually would, but I ended up overpacking on the amount of makeup! I was behind on posts and so I did bring some stuff home just to test for future posts. I also bought things while at home, but I didn't include them in this post. 

At the end of the post, I'm also going to show the things I actually ended up using. It's wayyy less than the amount I did bring. Whoops!

Lip and most of the eye products - 

• Lorac Unzipped Palette
• Maybelline Volum' Express The Rocket Waterproof Mascara in Very Black
• Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer
• Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara in Deep Brown
• Wet 'n' Wild Take On The Day Eyeshadow Primer
• Mally Evercolor Shadow Stick in Saddle Shimmer and Rose Taupe
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Blacquer
• Clio Gelpresso Pencil Gel Liner Mini in Be Royal No. 17, Be Brave No. 19, and Be Classy No. 20
• It Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil in Universal Taupe*
• Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Wiz in Medium Brown
• MAC Lipstick in See Sheer
• Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita (Feb 2015 version)

Face and the rest of the eye products

• theBalm Bronzer in Bahama Mama
• Benefit Blush in Rockateur
• Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 PA+++ No. 27
• MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC35
• Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in #54
• Lioele Water Drop BB Cream
• Lancome La Base Pro Perfecting Makeup Primer Smoothing Effect*
• Benefit Fakeup Concealer in Medium*
• theBalm Eyeshadow in Sleek, Serious, and Sexy
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Virgin
• Makeup Geek Foild Eyeshadow in Grandstand
• Wet 'n' Wild Fergie Collection Shimmer Palette in Rose Champagne Glow
• Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure
• Milani Rose Powder Blush in Romantic Blush
• Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Pressed Powder
• Tarte Timeless Smoothing Primer*

Instead of 33 products, I mostly only used 14! I don't know what I was thinking when I brought 2 foundations in and 2 concealers. I normally only bring a contact lens container with a few pumps of foundation and maybe 2 pumps of the MAC concealer. Since I was being more relaxed on vacation, I didn't really care about making my face flawless and I really should've only brought one foundation. 

The Unzipped palette and the bronzey eyeshadow stick from Mally was really all I needed for colored eye products. I also don't wear blush that often and I didn't even bring the brush I use with blush - why did I bring two blushes though?! Bronzer and the pinky highlighter was definitely all I needed. 

I was given the Benefit Fakeup concealer recently and I actually quite like it under the eye area. I do need to set it because the formula is so creamy, but it works so well for my dry and fragile skin under my eyes. The Tarte face primer was also so amazing to use. It really gave my skin a more smooth appearance like Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, but felt thinner. 

I'm going back to the Bay Area in a month for a wedding and creating this post really helped me figure out what I need to bring. It's only going to be for a weekend, and so I definitely want to narrow down the products and tools down to fit it into the Charlotte Tilbury bag I used for this post.

What are your must have travel products? Also, what products do you like for wedding guest looks? I need some inspiration!

* These deluxe samples were given to me by former co-workers to try out and play with.

Review & Swatches: Physicians Formula Nude Wear Glowing Nude Bronzer in Light Bronzer and Glowing Nude Blush in Natural

I recently got a Physicians Formula kit from Target that included the Nude Wear Glowing Nude Bronzer in Light Bronzer, Glowing Nude Blush in Natural, and Touch of Glow Highlighting Concealer. The whole kit was $20 and I thought it was a great price and kit to let me try out some products from Physicians Formula. I will be reviewing the two powder products in this post because concealers take a bit longer for me to see if I like or not. The Nude Wear line is shimmery that adds a more natural glow to the face. The individual products range between $10-14 depending on where you buy it. 

Pictorial: Graphic Eyeliner on Hooded Eyes

I won't be doing a Look Of The Month for March because I barely wore any. If I did, it was very basic looks with some subtle changes. Instead, I'll be talking about the look above!

I was playing around with makeup a couple of nights ago with this graphic liner and posted a picture of it on Reddit. It got a lot of attention and so I decided to create a pictorial for it! It might not be that great since it is my first one and so please don't have that high of expectations for it. Even so, I do like how this turned out!

From the front, it doesn't look as extreme but it really shines from the side. You can see that I have hooded lids and so I created the top line to go just right above my crease. I am home right now and so I have a very limited amount of makeup (jk, I actually brought home way too much but it wasn't enough for this look apparently). 

I have hooded lids and they're also uneven. You can see that both eyes and makeup are not exactly even and so if you have eyes like mine, it helps to keep your eyes open while you map out the shape. 

The lip color is definitely changeable and I just used my mom's old bright coral red lipstick and a matte burgundy eyeshadow to create this color. 

The final eye look!

Eye products and brushes used - 

• Wet 'n' Wild Fergie Take On The Day Eye Shadow Primer
• Lorac Eyeshadow in Unspoken - Matte light brown eyeshadow
• theBalm Eye Shadow in Serious - Matte black eyeshadow
• Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Blackquer - Matte black eyeliner
• I would recommend a normal gel liner because this one dried too quickly
• Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadow in Grandstand - Metallic cool toned rose gold
• Mally Evercolor Shadow Stick in Rose Taupe - Shimmery purpley taupe that is slightly rosey
• Maybelline Volum' Express The Rocket Waterproof Mascara in Very Black
• Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer
• It Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil - Any brow pencil that fits your hair color
• Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara in Deep Brown
• (Not pictured) Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Pressed Finishing Powder - translucent powder
• Avon angled eyeliner brush that came with a gel liner that I threw away - An angled brush will work better to create sharper lines
• Ecotools Smudge Brush - Any small pencil brush will work to smudge out the shadow
• Anastasia Beverley Hills double ended brush (pointier end) from the Tamara Palette - Any brush to apply a shimmery color on the lids
• ELF Mechanical Lash Curler

Prime the lids and lightly brush over it with translucent powder so the lids aren't tacky

Groom the brows however you want. I just lightly filled them in with the brow pencil and set it with the brow gel.

I used the Avon brush and the matte light brown eye shadow to map out what shape I wanted. I did this so that it'll be easier to fix.

Once I liked the general shape, I went over it with a matte black eye shadow. I went for an elongated shape but had the wing/end point slightly turned up.

I then used the black eye shadow again to fill in the outer wing and to line the upper lash line. It's kind of hard to explain since it's easier to just see where I put the color. 

I used the gel pencil to fill in the areas you see above and blended it out using the Avon brush. I also applied the black shadow above the liner to set it and to make sure it was the blackest black possible. 

I applied the rose gold shadow (but any shimmery color of your choice could work) to the rest of the lid and used the Ecotools brush to blend where the two colors met. 

I then used the black pencil liner again to tightline the upper waterline and the outer half of the lower waterline. 

A shimmery eyeshadow stick was applied to the inner half of the lower waterline as a base for the rose gold shadow. The final touches was mascara on the upper and lower lashes. I also tried to bump up the volume by using a lash primer as well. 

Face and Lip Products

• Mally Beauty Face Defender - A silicone pore filling primer
• Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in #54
• MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC35 - Full coverage concealer concentrated on my red areas and acne marks
• Physicians Formula Nude Wear Concealer in Nude - Highlighting concealer for the under eye area
• Wet 'n' Wild Fergie Shimmer Palette in Rose Champagne Glow - A rosey champagne highlighter
• theBalm Bahama Mama - Medium brown bronzer used to contour
• Estee Lauder Lipstick - It's old and the label fell off, but it was a bright coral red
• Lorac Eyeshadow in Unbridled - Matte burgundy eyeshadow used to darken and and mute the brightness from the lipstick

Another full faced shot! If I had done this again, I would make the top line thinner, but I am glad at how it turned out.  

This photo was also the one on Reddit -

Also, fun story. iPhoto deleted all of the photos I took for this pictorial and day so that the photos I took for another product review was also deleted. Suppper fun :D Good thing the photos I had for this post was already on my desktop before iPhoto started to hate me.

Would you wear this look? How do you feel about graphic liner?