Drugstore Gem: Maybelline Expertwear Eyeshadow Palette in Sunbaked Neutrals

       I picked this up after hearing someone include it in their favorite eyeshadow palette selections (sorry, can't remember who!), and as eyeshadow palettes are my main weakness along with blushes, I decided to pick it up when I was at Bed, Bath, and Beyond last weekend, since with my 20% off discount it came to a whopping $5.03 for 8 eyeshadows (!) How could I not?! And I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised! It comes with eight wearable shades, in a variety of textures and finishes. It includes: a shimmery champagne, a matte medium brown, a shimmery orange/copper, a light satin green, a dark brown with gold sparkle, a shimmery bronze, a frosty white, and a deep satin olive green.

        As far as the quality and pigmentation goes, these are, with one notable exception, quite nice shadows. These are creamy, pigmented, and have left me fairly surprised, as I am not a huge fan of Maybelline shadows in general.  I usually stick to Wet N Wild and L'oreal HIP for powder eyeshadows from the drugstore, and while I still think those aforementioned brands do come slightly ahead in terms of quality and pigment, these are still a great option.

       That being said, I do have a couple of disappointments with this product. First being, the copper shade in the top row is basically unusable, in my opinion. Rough texture, poor color payoff, chunky deposits of color, it pretty much embodies what I remember Maybelline shadows to be like back in the day. My other complaint is that I feel like this palette is missing a good all over the lid shade which keeps it from being the perfect travel companion. Most of the colors in this are either what I would use as a highlighter or a crease/outer corner shade. That being said, I think the main advantage to this product is the size; it is absolutely tiny! It fits in the palm of my hand, and is absolutely dwarfed by any other palette containing a comparable amount of colors. I think this is a great palette to travel with, especially if you are going on a weekend trip. I personally don’t like to travel with expensive makeup, because I am always afraid it will either get lost or break, so this is an excellent alternative.

       Overall, I would say definitely pick this up at the drugstore next time you spot it. You probably have similar colors in your collection already, as they are essentially basic neutral shadows, but the size, portability, and price are what make this product standout. I really am impressed, if you couldn't already tell.

Seven Deadly Sins of Beauty Tag

I saw this tag making its way across the blogosphere, and thought I would take a stab at it, as I actually found the questions and the other posts/videos I have watched on this quite interesting.

Here are the questions:

Greed: What is your most inexpensive beauty product? What is your most expensive beauty product?

  My choices for most inexpensive products are Wet N Wild Color Icon Single in Crème Brulee, tied with Jordana Fabuliner in Brown. I am not sure if these are the cheapest products I have ever bought, but I am pretty sure they are both under two dollars, and I use them ALL THE TIME. The eyeshadow is supposedly a dead-on dupe for Mac Brulee, but from what I can tell it is more pigmented. I use this all the time as a highlight shade and to blend out my shadows. Fabuliner is my HG drugstore eyeliner: super cheap, never seems to dry out (I’ve had mine for a year at least), and extremely opaque. As for the opposite end of the spectrum, I might have palettes that are more expensive than this, but I interpreted this to be the most expensive for what it is (if that makes any sense.) This has to be my By Terry Baume de Rose. What this is a $59 lip balm. And no, it is not worth it.  I plead temporary insanity for purchasing this. Moving on, as it is a bit of a sore subject for me.

Wrath: What beauty product do you have a love/hate relationship with? What product has been the hardest to get?

 My love/hate is matte eyeshadows. I love the idea of them, and love to use one as a crease color almost every time I apply eyeshadow, especially as I usually like to wear a shimmery shadow on the lid, and like to use a subdued matte shade to balance the look out. I think they are incredibly versatile, but it is so hard to find ones with great color payoff that blend easily. I find even my high end matte shadows (Nars, I am looking at you) difficult to blend. Let me know if you have any reccs! As for the hardest to find products for me, my answer has to be some of the Wet N Wild limited edition releases. I don’t know why they don’t make them easier to find, since there is always a lot of buzz surrounding the new releases, but yet they are so hard to locate in my area! In my particular, the trio from last summer, The Gilded Age, was impossible to find, but my sister spotted it in her area and sent it my way. Currently, I am having a really hard time tracking down the Loreal Infalliable Summer 2012 shades!

Gluttony: What are your most delicious beauty products?

Lush Lip Scrub in Bubblegum and Bonne Bell LipLite in Strawberry Parfait are my most delicious products. Not really much to say on this…they both just taste really great. 

Sloth: What beauty product do you neglect due to laziness?

 Highlighter is the step I will skip due to laziness. If I am running late on time, I will definitely skip highlighter, especially an inner corner highlight. I don’t know why, but I often forget this step. I love the effect, just don’t think it is absolutely necessary.

Pride: What beauty product gives you the most self-confidence?

My choice for  what gives me the most confidence is concealer. This was the easiest question for me. If you had asked me this a year ago, I am not sure what I would have said, but since I have been battling acne and scarring since last fall, this is an obvious choice for me. If I can only leave the house with one product, this is it. I feel my confidence buoyed immensely when I cover up my blemishes and scarring.

Lust: What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?

Ummmm, this question is a stretch…next.

Envy: What product would you most like to receive as a gift?

I think I would say nail polish as the item I would most like to receive as a gift. I think this is the easiest beauty gift to buy someone, as you don’t really have to take into account skin tone or any other factors.

Spring 2012 Blush Favorites

I figured this was an appropriate first post to christen this new blog!

The blushes listed below are a few of the ones I have enjoyed wearing this Spring; I have countless others I wear as well, but the ones included are particularly “Springy” in my opinion.

Mac Blush in Full of Joy: Now, while I consider myself to be pretty immune to MAC, and find their incessant releases to be pretty tiresome, (I haven’t bought anything since Peacocky, which I believe was released towards the end of 2010 or early 2011; when you indulge in as much makeup as I do, that is quite a feat), I admit that I did feel a few heart palpitations when the photos were released of the Tres Cheek collection. I ended up only picking up one blush from this collection (gold star, I know!) partly because there was only one that I felt was truly unique and dissimilar from anything else I had, and largely because I got a little confused with the online release date, and when I remembered found most of the colors sold out, and was too lazy to drive to the mall to check it out in person.  

I ended up purchasing Full of Joy, which is the one described as a lavender frost by MAC. As soon as I saw the promo pics for this collection, I knew this one had to be coming home with me. I actually took a sharp intake of breath when I read the description, because I have been yearning for a lavender blush for so long now!  Initially, I was a little underwhelmed with this…I think the main reason for my disappointment was that I would not classify this as a lavender! It is cool toned, certainly, but I think I would describe it as a very cool toned pink with lavender undertones (nitpicky, I know, but when a company states that a product is going to look a certain way, I want it to live up to that!) That being said, it is still quite pretty, and unique to anything else in my collection. The other disappointment for me is I would say the texture is a tad bit chalky, but it is still pigmented, and is flattering on my cool, fair skin tone. Overall, despite some of my disparaging comments above, I am very glad I got this. I really don’t have anything else like it; I think it is a nice blush to have for Spring, and I loved pairing it with Revlon Lilac Pastelle Lip Gloss.

 Illamasqua Blusher in Katie: I picked this up last Spring, and I have to say this is my most quintessentially Spring blush. I don’t feel compelled to reach for this really any other time of the year, not because I don’t love it, but because it screams Easter, flowers, and all symbols of the season to me. It is an extremely light, matte, cool-toned baby pink, and is very pigmented. I hate to say this, but this is not a universal blush; if you are very fair like myself, this is great, otherwise steer clear as it is going to look chalky on you. I love baby pink blushes, but find that most turn red on me, since I already have so much pink in my skin. This is the closest I have found to showing up as a true pink on my skin. I love this applied liberally on the cheeks without any bronzer; it looks very doll-like, especially when paired with a baby pink lip like Rimmel Pink Blush lipstick.

Benefit Boxed Blush in Hervana: This one has garnered a lot of hype in the beauty community, and at first I couldn’t really see why. However, it has grown on me in a big way, and I now find myself reaching for it a great deal, especially when I am not sure what I am looking for.  It is hard to describe what color this is since it is one of those powders comprised of different shades that you are meant to swirl together. Those shades are a cream, a peach, a coral, and a plum. When I swatch it, it comes across as a mainly matte, neutral pink. When applied on the cheeks it imparts a subtle, healthy flush. It is not too shimmery, and also not completely matte, blends beautifully, and is overall a great everyday blush. I think this one I will continue to use all year round, because you can shift the color scheme based on which color you pick the most up with your brush.

Bobbi Brown Blush in Nude Peach 28: This was released with Bobbi Brown’s Neon and Nudes Collection this year, but it is going to be incorporated as a permanent part of her line. It’s color is pretty much what it’s name would suggest: a nudey peach. I like it because it is not really a peachy-pinky, which is what differentiates it from many other blushes on the market and in my collection. If anything, it has some slight bronzey undertones, which makes me think I will get a lot of use out of this in the Summer months as well. It is shimmery, but not frosty; it just enlivens your face with a bit of a sheen. The one caveat I with this product is that this, like Illamasqua Katie, is not a universal color, in my opinion.  I find I really have to pack it on to make it show up on my skin, which is quite shocking considering I am about a shade and a half away from being a full-fledged albino these days.  I don’t know, maybe it is just pretty close to my skin tone? I would be interested to hear if anyone with a darker skin tone has tried it, and what your opinion is!

 Anyways, let me know what you have been loving this Spring! I will try and get another post up with my Summer picks once we get into Summer. I know a lot of people group Spring and Summer products together, but personally I like to move away from the pastels once Summer hits, and gravitate towards brighter and bronzier shades.

Swatches From Left to Right on my pasty arm: Bobbi Brown Nude Peach, Mac Full of Joy, Illamasqua Katie, Benefit Hervana