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Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Essentially these are just a more sophisticated version of a glitter eyeshadow. But the formula Urban Decay uses feels silky to the touch and makes these a joy to use. The glitter itself is more finely milled and the effect is sparkly, but not disco ball level. At $20 each, they're not a necessity (I waited for a sale before purchasing) but they are a nice addition to a standard eyeshadow collection.

Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows in Stargazer and Space Cowboy.

Although I only purchased 2 of these, I did swatch the entire collection (forgot to take pics, boo!) and they all swatch more like the color "Space Cowboy." Meaning they're more on the sheer side, but can be layered over themselves or another eyeshadow to intensify the color. "Stargazer" was the only color that looked more opaque on its own to me.

Overall, these are not a must have. They're fun, but not super practical for everyday use. Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows can be found at Ulta, Sephora and most department stores.

Underwhelming. Thats the nicest thing I can say about Bioderma Sensibo. I really wanted to love this stuff. Afterall, it's been raved about by some top-notch beauty bloggers and pro makeup artists (Lisa Eldridge, Pixiwoo, etc.) 

As you can see from the pic, I brought not one but 2 large bottles thinking this would be the only makeup remover I'd need from now on. Hah! This stuff was mediocre at best. Yes it removed most of my makeup, but I'd have to soak a minimum of 2 cotton squares to get the job done. 

One of features of Bioderma that I've heard mentioned again and again is that you don't need to wash your face after using it. I totally disagree with that. In addition to leaving makeup residue on my face, it also left my skin feeling sticky and unclean. At $28 (this was the price on Amazon when I ordered mine) per bottle, I need it to do a lot better than that. 

I've had better luck with cheaper cleansing waters such as the Boot's No.7 Beautiful Skin water (I'm on my second bottle of this stuff ) available at Target. It also has a convenient pump dispenser great for one-handed use! Also Nars Makeup Removing Water is just hands down fantastic!

Boot's No. 7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water and Nars Makeup Removing Water (the top has mysteriously disappeared)

Overall, Bioderma is mostly hype. It does an okay job, but is way overpriced. There are much better cleansing water alternatives out there.


This set comes with 15 eyeshadows, a black pencil eyeliner, deluxe sized Too Faced Shadow Insurance eye primer and 3 cards with detailed instructions on how to create specific eyeshadow looks. However I'm only going to review the palette (feeling lazy today)

The palette case is a very sturdy hard plastic with a mirror inside and a slot for the eyeshadow look cards to slide behind the mirror. This is a very handy feature for keeping the cards close at hand, but out of the way. The case snaps closed securely and in the short time I've had it, I've already dropped it several times, but nothing inside has cracked. 

All of the shadows in this palette are shimmery with the exception of the shade "pink diamond" They're all soft and silky in texture, but also have an annoying amount of fall out when used without a primer. However the colors are so gorgeously pigmented that I'm willing to overlook the fall out, lol. 
The eyeshadows in this palette are broken up into sections (The Bombshell, The Icon and The Ingenue) with each section containing a certain "color story" All of the shadows were swatched without primer.


Overall The Return of Sexy set is a great value for the amount/quality of the eyeshadows, the eyeliner and eye shadow primer. It retails for $49 and is available at Sephora!



I was so excited when I came across this kit at Nordstrom Rack for the bargain price of $11.97, less than half of its usual $34 price tag! Sadly my excitement was short lived once I got home and actually tried this kit on my brows...

First the good: This kit comes fully loaded with 2 brow powders (Blonde and Brunette, you're supposed to mix them to create your perfect shade) a brow wax, highlighting powder for under the brow, mini tweezers, mini spoolie brush, mini angled liner brush, mini reddish-brown brow pencil, 4 reusable stencils and step-by-step instructions on how to shape/fill/pluck and set your brows to perfection all packaged in one purse-ready kit (whew!)

Now the reality: The kit is too big and bulky to realistically carry anywhere in anything other than a duffel bag (I'm exaggerating, but still) Next we have the brow powders with really poor pigmentation, or I should say only pigmented enough for folks with medium blonde/brown eyebrow hairs. Those of us with deeper brunette and raven-haired brows will find that all these "Brow Envy" powders do is make our brows look ashy. I never knew ashy brows were even possible until trying this kit, lol!

The brow powders are by far the weakest link in this kit. Now on to the rest!

The highlighting powder is surprisingly creamy and pigmented. I was worried the pinkish tone wouldn't work with my yellow skin undertones, but this matte powder looked extremely flattering on my brow bone. It also blends well.

The setting wax is harder than other brow waxes I've tried and is just okay. I had to really dig it out to get enough product on my brows.

The tweezers are great, I really love them. Sturdy and easy to handle they're a real standout in this kit.

Spoolie & angled brush: Both above average. I wasn't expecting much from either because let's be honest, in kits with multiple tools, parts and pieces things are often thrown in as "filler."

Brow pencil: as I mentioned before, it's more of a reddish brown color and would probably work really well for those with similar hair color. The pencil is not too dry and applied evenly on my brows.

The brow stencils I haven't actually used so...but they seem like they'd work well for those who have a hard time getting their brows to have a certain shape/style.

The step-by-step instructions: Great for beginners or for those growing out their brows. My brows are due for an overhaul and if I attempt to do them myself and not go to a pro (I live on the edge!), I'll be using the Brow Envy instructions as a guide.

Overall, even though I was super disappointed in the brow powders in The Too Faced Brow Envy kit, the other parts of this set kinda make up for it. However, I would not recommended paying full price for this! Not even half price.

**edit**
After I posted this review I received a super helpful suggestion to mix the "Brunette" Brow powder with the brow wax in this kit to create a more intense color. I tried it and I love the way it came out! No more ashy brows 😜
Much better than my original attempt at using the Too Faced Brow Envy Kit! 
The Tamanna palette from Anastasia Beverly Hills is a 10-shadow palette with a mix of both matte and shimmery shades (there are 3 mattes and 7 shimmers). The palette features a very nice color selection, even though some of them are easily dupeable, others are more unique. 
Included with this palette is a double-ended Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow brush and  5 "Get the Look" cards with step-by-step, detailed instructions printed on the back designed to help everyone from newcomers to pro's duplicate a specific eyeshadow look. Tamanna Roashan (a L.A. based makeup artist who the palette is named after) has a very distinctive makeup style, and even though I've been doing makeup for years, I found the instructions helpful in mimicking the "Tamanna" style.   
I found the shadows in this palette to have varying degrees of pigmentation, however none of them are duds. The color "chocolate" for example isn't as pigmented as the color "Gilded" but its still a decent matte chocolate brown great for using in the crease. "Noir" the matte black color puts many other makeup companies black eyeshadows to shame *cough*Mac Carbon*cough* Not only is it intensely black in color, its also very easy to blend. 

While all the shadows are soft and semi-creamy, I did find that swatching these shadows on my arm and applying them to my eyelids were two totally different things. On my lids they really needed a base to give me true-to-pan color whereas on my arm I didn't use any base before swatching. 

Out of all the colors "China Rose" and "Custom" are my favorites. "China Rose" is a gorgeous peach-pink-gold color that looks amazing on brown skin. It's what I hoped Mac "Melon" pigment would look like on me (I swear I'm not picking on Mac, lol) Instead "Melon" loses all the peachy-ness once I apply it and looks plain gold.
"Custom" is a taupe-mauve-gray color that doesn't look ashy or too silvery on me. Its a great everyday neutral with a really nice sheen. 

The brush included with this palette is also very good. The head isn't scratchy and does a decent job of blending the shadows. The pointed end is great for small crease work and more precise application. It won't replace any of my everyday brushes, but its great to have in a pinch.

Tamanna Palette Bottom Row
Tamanna Palette Top Row
A double-ended Anastasia Beverly Hills brush is included in the Tamanna Palette. 
My Rating:
Quality = 4 Stars
Color Selection= 5 Stars
OVERALL - 4.5 stars

The Tamanna/Dress Your Face Palette from Anastasia Beverly Hills retails for $29 and can be purchased at both Sephora and Ulta!
I have a terrible brush addiction and absolutely did not need to add any more to my collection (at last count I had over 200, just shameful) I passed by this set at Target multiple times before I caved and these beauties finally came home with me (I blame the purple) This set is limited edition and apparently has sold out at many Targets across the country.
My favorite trio out of the set. Great for countouring/highlighting 
Super soft blush and face brush
Great variety of fluffy blending brushes
All of these are perfect for detailed eye work
Spoolie, foundation and small concealer brush.
The gorgeous dark purple handles match the purple synthetic brush heads while gold lettering and ferrules add a nice luxe touch and really make these brushes stand out from the usual drug store fare. These brushes are weighted nicely and feel really great in my hand. The brush heads are equal, if not better than the usual Sonia Kashuk brush quality. I've had my set for about 2 months and have experienced minimal shedding even after daily use and multiple washing. I was nervous about the purple dye in the brush heads running/staining with washing, but so far this hasn't been an issue at all.

The set is priced at $34.99 and features a very unique array of brush heads not found on typical drug store brushes. Although that seems pricey, when you break the cost down per brush its a really great deal. I do wish the set came with a brush roll or holder. Since it is so many brushes in this set, it would've been nice to have a way to store them all.

Overall this set is worth every penny wether you're just starting out or adding to an existing collection.
These have amazing pigmentation, a great smooth texture and apply very evenly. They feel lightweight on my lips and "adhere" well so they're long lasting as long as I'm not eating and drinking constantly.
Too Faced Melted Berry

Too Faced Melted Fig

Too Faced Melted Fuchsia 

Too Faced Melted Violet
I knew they'd be bright, but I was still shocked at how vibrant some of them were, especially Melted Fuchsia.

The one thing I really don't like is the applicator. Its a sponge tip and tends to look gross after only one use. Plus it makes these Melted lipsticks virtually un-shareable as there's no way to clean the applicator after each use.

The dreadful sponge-tip applicator in all its messy, germ filled glory!

Secret Brightening Powder applies semi opaque 

It blends in quickly and transparently leaving no white "cast" or residue behind
I've seen this little gem raved about by bloggers, makeup artists and youtubers but I could never find the shade #2 in stores to try it out for myself. The Secret Brightening Powder comes in 2 colors, #1 is a white powder ideal for fair skinned beauties and #2 has a yellow tint ideal for darker skinned beauties.

In any case I happened upon it at my local Laura Mercier counter and finally got to see what all the hype was about.

Secret Brightening Powder lives up to the "secret" part of its name. It brightens the skin in the most natural, undetectable way. Think of it as the anti-Banana Powder (which I also have and love)

SBP is nearly impossible to cake on. I've tried multiple layers and my skin maintained a smooth cake-free appearance.

I was also worried about this looking ashy, but that hasn't been the case at all. I've used it alone and over concealer with great results both ways. Of course on bare skin it won't completely cover dark circles on its own.

Overall this powder is perfect for daytime, work appropriate makeup. It will subtly brighten under eyes and make you look refreshed and more awake without the obvious reverse raccoon eyes heavier highlighting powders tend to create.
I have to be honest, the packaging is what sold me on getting this palette. But sadly it was a disappointment when I received it in the mail. The biggest let down is the plastic case. I was expecting a beautiful real wood case, instead I received a brown plastic case with a "wood" sticker thrown on top, lol
Plastic case aside, the Rainforest After Dark palette contains 6 eyeshadows (3 matters and 3 shimmers), a blush, bronzer and highlighter. All of them contain Tarte's signature Amazonian clay as an ingredient.

Unfortunately none of the eyeshadows in this palette have names.
All of the colors are wearable with varying degrees of pigmentation. I had to swatch all of them multiple times to get a true-to-pan color.

The blush does show up on my nc45 skin, but it's just on the edge of being unflattering. The bronzer I can and do use as an all over face powder since its matte. The highlighter is very shimmery and can easily look like an ashy disco ball, but used sparingly it creates a soft champagne glow.

Overall, this palette is just ok. Nothing special, but useful if you want a full face in a single palette.



To be honest I hadn't heard of this collection until the day it was released online. Of course the items I wanted were sold out within a few hours. Thankfully the nationwide store release was still a week away and I was able to stalk my local MAC counter to get what I wanted! I came away with 4 items: Heavenly Hybrid ls, Snapdragon ls, Sassy Moss and Phlox Garden fluidlines.
The lipsticks are luster finishes which means they lean more towards the sheer side. But the good news is that both colors can be built up for more saturated look. Although they feel nice and moisturizing going on, in my experience with MAC lipsticks, the tend to dry my lips out quickly. I'd recommend using a lip balm first, then applying the lipstick. 

The fluidlines are very nicely pigmented and set quickly! However, they will stain your skin. Its been hours since I swatched them and my arm still has visible green and purple lines despite me scrubbing it until my skin was red :(
Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Core Brush Set, $15.99 at Ulta

I've been a longtime follower of the Pixiwoo sisters on youtube, so when Samantha announced her line of brushes called Real Techniques, I was excited to get my hands on them.  The brushes are color-coded for face, eyes etc. The set that I picked up is for the face.

When I first saw the packaging and long metal ferrules, I have to say I was disappointed. In my opinion, they looked kinda cheap. On the other hand, they are priced to be sold at a drugstore, so the packaging does fit a lower price point.
The "core" set that I have contains 4 face brushes: A foundation brush, buffer brush, contouring brush and detailer brush. It also comes with a black brush holder/stand all for $15.99. I believe these brushes are only available at Ulta and Ulta.com, the good thing though is Ulta always has weekly coupons which can be used on these brushes.

The brushes themselves are very soft, with densely packed synthetic fibers (think ecotools). The handles are neither long nor short, but fall somewhere in between. However, the heads of the brushes are rather small. I've included some comparison pics with other brushes I own to give you an idea of the sizing.

Foundation Brush: I feel like the Real Tech foundation brush is so small, that it would take forever to apply and blend liquid foundation, but I've used it for under eye and around the nose concealer and its worked great for those smaler areas. The tip is also very pointed so it gets into creases well. On the downside, it did poke the skin under my eyes a bit.

Detailer Brush: The detailer brush is also very, very small. It seems like this brush should have been included with a set of eye brushes, not face ones. I've used this to apply shadow to the inner corner and can't imagine what else it'd be good for. Unless you need pin-point precision to apply concealer to very tiny blemishes.

Buffer Brush: Compared to some other buffing brushes I have, the Real Tech buffer brush is also on the small side. Its super soft and dense. I've used it for liquid foundation and it was quick and efficient and didn't leave any streaks or stray fibers. Another plus was that I used less foundation and the brush really spread it around my face well. Its has a slightly rounded head as opposed to the typical flat-top buffer brushes that I own, and it gave all the foundations I tried it with a more matte finish, even though some of them always look dewy on me. I'm not sure how that would work for someone with drier skin.

Contouring Brush: I don't own any brush quite like the Real Tech contouring brush, so I don't have a photo comparing it to anything else. This brush reminds me of a much larger version of a fluffy eyeshadow crease brush (think a MAC 224 on lots of steroids, lol). Its unique, domed shape makes it perfect for depositing color directly into the hollows of your cheeks for almost foolproof contouring. On the downside, it picks up a LOT of color, so if you want light contouring, you'll have to be careful with this brush. Its also great for applying a highlight color directly onto the tops of the cheeks and I think this may be my favorite brush out of the set.

Overall, these brushes are good quality for a good price. I've washed the entire set once and haven't experienced any shedding or loss of softness. I'm happy to see Pixiwoo translating Youtube success into a global business. I plan to pick up the Real Tech eye set and kabuki brushes on my next trip to Ulta!