Review-New Milani Bella Eyes Gel-Powder Eyeshadows

These new Milani eyeshadows have been getting a lot of hype on Youtube and blogs lately so I decided to try them out for myself. I wouldn't normally go out and buy 6 new eyeshadows I'd never tried before, but I'd heard such great things I went for it. I purchased these at CVS for $4.69 a piece but they are listed on the Milani website for $3.99. 

I love that Milani shrink wraps all their products in compacts because my biggest pet peeve is seeing touched makeup at the drugstore. They also tell you the finish of the shadow as well which is very helpful.

The shades I got are (From left to right, top to bottom) Bella Black, Bella White, Bella Purple, Bella Mandarin, Bella Rouge, and Bella Navy

I was really impressed by the color selection on the Milani website which includes 30 shades, but CVS only seemed to have around 15-20 I'm not positive because when I picked these up they weren't even in a display yet they were in a bin.

(Swatches with no primer) Bella Black (Satin Matte), Bella White(Satin Matte), Bella Purple(Satin Matte) 

Bella Mandarin (Satin Matte), Bella Rouge(Metallic), Bella Navy(Satin Matte)

First let me point out that these are powder shadows. I am really impressed with the pigmentation, I don't know if that is the "gel" or what. The finish descriptions are quite accurate because the satin mattes have a matte base with a sheen, and the metallic is actually metallic (WOW! Captain Obvious). After testing these out and swatching them I was surprised at how sheer they applied to the eyes. I first tried with no primer and a normal shader brush, which gave a sheer patchy application. Then I switched brushes to a shorter-bristled denser brush which applied more color that wasn't as patchy, but still not as intense as the swatch. Then I tried them over the NYX HD eyeshadow base which I think is a necessity with these shadows (because it stays tacky which allows the shadows to stick better). But I have found the best application method is with your fingers (if possible, I know you can't be very precise, but for areas like your lid and inner corner it helps a lot with pigmentation). The wear is not different from any normal eyeshadow with a primer, they last around 6 hours before I notice some creasing. They are in no way long wearing, but they aren't marketed as such so I wasn't expecting them to be.

Overall these didn't live up to the hype like I thought, they swatch beautifully but apply sub par unless you work with them a lot. So would I go out and purchase more, no.

Dorco Shai Soft Touch 6 Blade System Review

Dorco was kind enough to send me this razor for review and along with it they sent me a very nice note. The most unique thing about these razors is the price,compared to razors you can find at the drugstore. This kit which include the razor and an extra blade costs $5.75 compared to one you would find at the drugstore that would cost you anywhere from $10-$15. You can order the Shai system mentioned here and a variety of other systems for both men and women at www.dorcousa.com . I have a 15% off discount code for all my readers which is IEGW7SIVZB unfortunately this code expires 2/28/2014 so if you want to order I would do so as soon as possible. But back to the actual review, these razors preform just as well as any mainstream brand razor I've ever tried. I've used the original blade for about 10 full uses and I feel I could still get at least 5 more before changing the blade. I haven't experienced any nicks,cuts or irritation while using this razor and overall think that it is almost identical to any other razor out there and you'll save some money too.

Sally Hanson Big Matte Top Coat Review

Today I'll be reviewing the Sally Hanson Big Matte Top Coat, this product was released in the recent I Heart Nail Art collection from Sally Hanson with a variety of other "Big" top coats. They have a Big Shiny Top Coat, Big Glitter Top Coat, Big Smokey Top Coat, Big Shimmer Top Coat, and a Big Crackle Top Coat. The only other one I am curious about trying is the smokey top coat, I've never seen or heard of another product that is a smokey top coat. But the display I saw at my local CVS only had the matte and shiny top coats still in it, if I had the option I would've picked that one up too. I know Sally Hanson makes some amazing top coats and that made me confident enough to pick this one up because it was a total impulse buy.

Two coats of Revlon Colorstay Bold Sangria with one coat of the Big Matte Top Coat

 As you can see one coat totally mattifies the polish and I left a sliver of polish without the top coat to show the contrast. 

After 3-4 days of wear

Unfortunately after a few days of wear time the completely flat matte turns into what I would call somewhere between a glossy matte and satin finish. It hasn't totally turned shiny, as you can see the sliver at the base of the nail is still a bit more shiny. If I wanted to I could re-apply and that would take away the shine, but I wanted to just stick with one for this review's sake. And since Revlon Colorstay polish is very long wearing I really can't say if this extended the wear of my polish at all even thought it didn't claim to. Because this is the only matte top coat I own I don't know if this fading is normal, but I intend on purchasing a "high-end" (OPI or Essie) matte top coat  for comparison and then I can possibly recommend or not recommend this product as I will mention in the haul when it is uploaded on Friday. When that video does go live you can view it by clicking the videos tab at the top of the page. And on a somewhat related note if you want to keep up to date with my posts you can follow me on Bloglovin or Google Friend Connect which are also at the top of the page.

Wet 'N Wild Fast Dry Nail Polish Gift Set Review and Swatches

First of all I would like to say a big thank you to my best friend in the whole entire world, Becca for gifting me this for Christmas this year and making this review possible. She said she got this set at Wegmans and I don't know if it's available anymore but all these colors are permanent in their regular line so you can still buy the full sizes of all 8. The full size polishes sell for $1.99 a piece if you were interested. All swatches were done without top or base coats. Also I am going to apologize for my inability to paint my nails and not get polish on my cuticles beforehand.

I love how these polishes are named after TV shows, and I'm glad they have names because numbers don't have any resonance with me. The first two are Everybody Loves Redmond and The Gold & the Beautiful. 

2 coats of Everybody Loves Redmond

Everybody Loves Redmond is a jelly red bordering on scarlet with no shimmer, and as you can see it is pretty opaque in 2 coats. 

3 coats of The Gold & the Beautiful

The Gold & the Beautiful is an orangy gold glitter, but the glitter isn't dense enough to be worn alone. As you can see above my nail is still visible through the polish.

1 coat of The Gold & the Beautiful over 2 coats of Buffy the Violet Slayer

It looks much better as a glitter top coat, and gives a nice even finish over the entire nail in one coat.

Now I realized I photographed them out of order...but  the next two I swatched were Silvivor and Saved by the Blue.

2 coats of Silvivor

Silvivor is your standard metallic silver foil polish, nothing special about it.

2 coats of Saved by the Blue

Saved by the Blue is a metallic royal blue, again pretty opaque in 2 coats but a third would make it solid.

The second to last group I swatched were SaGreena the Teenage Witch and Buffy the Violet Slayer

3 coats of SaGreena the Teenage Witch

SaGreena the Teenage Witch is a nice emerald green with shimmer. This polish was the only one I had application problems with, it was patchy and streaky on the first 2 coats abut the third evened it out.

2 coats of Buffy the Violet Slayer

Buffy the Violet Slayer is a royal purple with shimmer, and this is my favorite color from this set .

And the last two in the set are Party of Five Glitters and the Clear Coat

1 coat of Party of Five Glitters over 1 coat of Saved by the Blue

Party of Five Glitters has large silver, medium pink, blue, and green, and small red hexagonal glitter. If applied properly in one coat you can get good coverage across the whole nail. And the clear coat is nothing special, just a clear nail polish.

And now that we are done with swatches let's talk about the formula, wear time etc. This polish claims to dry in 60 seconds so I broke out the timer to test that.

And it did dry in under 60 seconds! Yay! But when wearing these polishes without a base coat but with the included top coat I see major chipping within 1 or 2 days. That can be easily fixed with a heavy duty base and top coat. A few of these shades are very unique and worth picking up like Everybody Loves Redmond, The Gold & the Beautiful, Party of Five Glitters, Buffy the Violet Slayer, and Saved by the Blue. The ones that aren't worth it are Silvivor because it's such a basic shade and you can find the same shade with a better formula for around the same price, SaGreena the Teenage Witch for the bad application and the Clear Coat because there are much better topcoats at the drugstore. If you do see this kit though I would recommend picking it up.
P.S. The file sucks don't even bother.

Coastal Scents Creative Me #1 Palette Swatches

Hey Guys, today I will be swatching on of my Christmas gifts this year; the Coastal Scents Creative Me #1 Palette. This palette retails for $14.95 on their website and contains 12   0.05 oz/1.5 g eyeshadows called hot pots which are removable and interchangeable with any of the other 240 hot pots in the line. 

The shades are Light Yellow, Bright Yellow, Light Tangerine, Bright Tangerine, Neon Red, Neon Bright Pink, Deep Grape, Magenta, Indigo, Electric Blue, Teal Green, Shamrock Green.

All of the colors in this palette are super vibrant and pigmented, but don't be intimidated by colors like these because they can be used in your everyday looks like I demonstrate below. 

In this look I mixed Indigo and Deep Grape and sheerly placed them in the crease, then I smudged Indigo on the lower lash line and put a little of Light Yellow in the inner corner. Overall I think this palette is a good quality, affordable, and unique product. And I would recommend it for anyone looking to expand their makeup collection with some fun colors or anyone who wants to add some pop to their everyday look.

Tarte Pure Delights LipSurgence Gift Set for Hoilday 2013

Hey Guys! Today I have another holiday gift set to review for you guys.  As I mentioned in my last post I was searching for this set in Sephora and Ulta stores and with no luck. So I broke down and ordered it online from Ulta.com . This set is perfect for any fall/winter gift or if your like me and love Tarte LipSurgences.

Matte Lip Tints From Left to Right Generous, Cheerful, Glee and Destined

This set comes with 8 mini LipSurgences; 4 matte and 4 original. They are all limited edition shades as well. So if you love one of the shades you might want to pick this kit up sooner than later.

Swatches From Left to Right Generous,Cheerful,Glee and Destined

First of all the matte lip tints are more dry and therefore more pigmented. But they don't feel like a matte lipstick, they are more balmy and moisturizing. The color Generous is a deep nude with brown undertones. Cheerful is a medium pink and the brightest shade in the set. Glee is a berry-red, the only gripe I have with this particular one is the deceiving packaging color, as you can see by my picture above the packaging is a light pink not even close to the actual color. Destined is the deepest color in the kit; a dark berry shade.

Natural Lip Tints From Left to Right Believe, Lovely, Enamored and Grateful

These are the original LipSurgence formula and that makes them sheerer than the matte ones. The color Believe is a bright berry toned pink. Lovely is light nude pink shade. Enamored is the brightest color in the kit; a true red and when you build the color you will have a really intense red. Grateful is a very sheer nude almost undetectable on my lips. Overall I do like the matte tints better just because of the color payoff and them being matte in general. 

Swatches From Left to Right Believe, Lovely, Enamored and Grateful

This kit is valued at $112 let's see...there are 8  0.06oz tints which is a little more than half of the product of the full size. Which amounts to a $115.20 value pretty accurate on their part.

Thanks for Reading!

Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip Set Review and Swatches

I went in to Sephora the other day looking for the new Tarte holiday lipsurgence 8-piece set and couldn't find it but I saw this instead. I saw Emilynoel83 mention this on her blog which influenced me to pick this up.Take a look at her post here where she did lip swatches of all these products.

From Left to Right- Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment, Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Pink, Buxom Full On Lip Polish in Dolly, Nars Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight, Bite Beauty High Pigment Matte Pencil in Rhubarb and Tarte LipSurgence Lip Luster in Glitzy

The outer sleeve comes off to reveal a rose gold box, then after opening the lid you see your six products in order from smallest to largest.

The  Fresh Sugar Rose Treatment is a lip balm/treatment with SPF 15 and has a tint to it. This feel very luxurious on and leaves your lips feeling very smooth. The scent of this is slightly floral and sweet definitely not overwhelming at all. This product is great for day wear because you should wear SPF everyday on your face and lips and having that built in is an added bonus.

The Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Pink is a light pink with a hint of peach. I love the formula of this gloss because it's not sticky and not too sheer. The scent of this gloss is sweet and has a hint of vanilla in it, quite pleasant. I think this would be a good lip gloss to top off any nude or light pick lipstick.

Buxom Full on Lip Polish in Dolly is a plumy mauve color with a shimmer. These do have a minty scent and make your lips feel tingly for about the first 10 minutes you have in on. Again not to sticky and the shimmer isn't too frosty. This color on me is slightly darker than my natural lips but I still would consider it a "my lips but better" color.

Nars Turkish Delight used to be a beauty cult favorite like 3 or 4 years ago maybe even longer. This is a milky baby pink shade and was coveted to be Kim Kardashian's favorite lip gloss. If I wear this alone it makes my lips look odd and like I have a film over them. But over any nude lipstick it looks really nice and gives a hint of pink and a lot of shine. These lip glosses have a slightly chemically scent but it isn't noticeable unless you stick your nose up to the tube. I don't find these are sticky at all either.

The Bite Beauty High Pigment Matte Pencil in Rhubarb is a dark rose shade. These are very matte so they are drying but if you put on a lip balm beforehand you won't experience much drying at all. I love matte lipsticks so I was excited to see this was in the kit. This shade is also so perfect for fall if you like vampy lips.

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Luster in Glitsy is the only full sized product in the kit. The Lip Luster formula is a sheer shimmery glossy balm. This color is a golden nude with a hint of pink. It feels like a balm on the lips and leaves your lips very soft and moisturized.

Swatches from Left to Right- Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment, Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Pink, Buxom Full On Lip Polish in Dolly, Nars Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight, Bite Beauty High Pigment Matte Pencil in Rhubarb and Tarte LipSurgence Lip Luster in Glitzy.

This set in valued at $90... lets see if that's true.

 0.08 oz Fresh Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment , Full Size $22.50 for 0.15 oz = $12 value

0.10 oz Laura Mercier Lip Glacé in Bare Pink , Full Size $24 for 0.15 oz = $16 value 

 0.07 oz Buxom® Full-On™ Lip Polish in Dolly , Full Size $19 for 0.15 oz = $8.87 value

0.14 oz NARS Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight, Full Size $25 for 0.28 oz = $12.50 value 
0.05 oz Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb , Full Size $24 fro 0.09 oz = $13.33 value
0.10 oz Tarte LipSurgence™ Lip Luster in Glitzy , Full Size = $24 value

TOTAL VALUE= $86.70

Thanks for Reading!!!

Elf Studio Matte Lip Colors

Check out the video review here-http://youtu.be/IHGFNNJhqlo

From Top to Bottom (Nearly Nude, Natural, Tea Rose)

Elf's Description-This convenient jumbo sized lip pencil creates exact color application with twist up ease so you never have to sharpen. The pigment rich color glides on effortlessly and easily to provide long lasting matte color. The enriched Vitamin A, C & E formula moisturizes and hydrates lips for beautiful healthy looking lips.

The collection of these lip sticks has 6 colors mostly nude with one red. These don't have much product in them and they aren't jumbo sized. If you use them often you will run out of product quite quickly. These do dry out the lips but that's expected for mattes anyway. 

Nearly Nude, Natural, Tea Rose

 Nearly Nude is a peachy nude, Natural is a darker nude with a peachy undertone, and tea rose is a very cool toned nude almost purply color.

Overall I would recommend these as a good matte lip color. 

Elf Studio Lip Stain Review/Swatches

*Check out my video review on these too-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5bUziJI87k

*Elf's Description-Achieve full coverage that lasts for hours with this long-wear formula. Enjoy silky matte color or layer on the moisturizing clear gloss for a shiny look. With key Vitamins A & E your lips stay smooth all day long.

*Let me address these claims...these are nowhere near full coverage, these give little to no color. The brightest color gives the most color which isn't much at all. These take around 1 HOUR to dry! Definitely not practical as a lip stain. The clear gloss is good but doesn't come out on the applicator,therefore useless. Once on the lips and dried the color doesn't last either it fades in a few hours, not good for a lip stain. But they do have staining properties.

   The colors left to right Fashionista, First Date, Heartbreaker, Clear Gloss

The darker colors obviously are brighter and show up better on the lips, these do work as sort of a liquid lipstick if you play with them and not let them smear/transfer.

**Overall these aren't worth it at all, I wouldn't repurchase or recommend these.**

Ulta Automatic Eyeliner in Black

Ulta's Claims: Smooth, deep colors glide on effortlessly from the automatic tip of this eyeliner. Color is long-lasting and waterproof, for dramatic, attention-getting eyes. No sharpening is required.

I picked this eyeliner up when it was on sale for $1. Normally it retails for $8, for me it is not worth 8 dollars. You can pick up a NYX slide on pencil for $8 which are way better. It also doesn't last long at all. It is definantly NOT waterproof !

  It is retractable, a plus in my book because I don't always have a sharpener on hand.

 It does have a good texture and creaminess to it. The tip isn't super fine, but not super thick either. So this works for everyday eye looks. The color is quite black,but doesn't set and smudges like crazy. So the bottom line is it is smudgy,expensive,not waterproof, and not very long wearing. I would not recommend it!

  (Top-one pass Bottom-Built up)

NYX Stick Blush in Orchid

NYX's Claims-"Add a touch of color with our creamy and extremely pigmented Stick Blush!" I would tend to agree this blush is blendable and has very good pigmentation.

I have the shade orchid. It is described as a peachy pink with golden shimmer.

 I would say straight out of the stick it is almost metallic in finish. These do wear relatively well for a cream/stick blush setting it with a powder blush adds wear time. I apply this with my fingers to the cheeks and then blend it in. I find that applying this straight from the tube wipes away your foundation. The golden shimmer in this blush gives a warm dewy glow; great for spring and summer.

(Swatch with Flash)

(Swatch without Flash)