Wet n Wild Color Icon Glitter Singles

Dear Wet N Wild Color Icon Singles,

You were so enticing in the store, looking stunningly glittery in the pan. Apparently I am easily distracted by pretty little sparkly things, and with you being a pretty little sparkly thing for only 99 cents? I couldn’t really pass you up now could I? I mean, look at you!!

Please note that even though I’m speaking specifically to the Brass shade (pictured below), this could easily be applicable to all 7 of your shades– yes including the red, purple, pink, blue, white and silver shades!

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The Wet n Wild website had wonderful things to say about you! Crease resistant, no fallout, infused with aloe and coconut oil, moisturizing, easy to apply, long wearing… all super positive things!

All I wanted was to try the glitter trend I’ve been seeing all over Instagram and Youtube, and sadly, looks like I won’t be able to try this trend with you. Overall, you were not at all what I expected after I first swatched you on my wrist.

In the pan, your solid brick of glitter looked absolutely gorgeous. But when I swatched you on my wrist, it looked like a clear base layer with random clumps of glitter…a messy flurry of gold, white, silver, and bronze glitter flakes on top of a sticky layer of clear film. Your glitter flakes were very difficult to spread evenly. I had some luck applying this product with my finger, and had absolutely zero luck trying to apply it with a brush.

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One of the biggest things that worries me about you, is that there is so much fallout, which means your beautiful glittery particles could easily make their way inside my eyes and potentially scratch them- ouch!!

Wet n Wild Color Icon Glitter Single, I feel like I’ve been a little harsh, but I promise I won’t completely count you out. With Halloween and the Holidays coming up, adding a little bit of sparkle and glitter to my makeup looks would be really fun! If I applied you with some type of adhesive like glitter glue or a thin layer of eyelash glue, this could help you stick to my eyelids better!

I also made the mistake of assuming that I could use you a solid glitter eye shadow, when it looks like you would be better layered on top of a base eye shadow instead!

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Overall, for 99 cents, I don’t regret purchasing you. I’ve seen a few beauty gurus use all of your shades in their make looks, and they look gorgeous!  With a little extra effort and a little creativity, I think I could make you work! 😉

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See the glitter trend in action below:

Vogue-10 Make Up Trends for Fall/Winter 2016-2017

Marie Claire-Summer Makeup Trends 2016

You Tube Tutorials using this product:

 

Check out a couple of my favorite metallic/glittery eye shadow shades:

ColourPop Eye Shadow in Get Lucky. ($5)

Colourpop Eye Shadow in Nillionaire. ($5)

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Mac Selena!

I wish I was in Corpus Cristi, Texas today! Specifically, at the American Bank Center for the Mac Selena Event! Early access to the Mac Selena line, live DJ’s, guest performers, and a special presentation from the Quintanilla family, are only some of the exciting things attendees are experiencing today! (Lucky duckies!)

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Selena and her legacy until I watched Jennifer Lopez portray her in the movie Selena when I was 9 years old. I watched this movie once and I was hooked. I was drawn to Selana’s confidence, her beauty, her talent (especially her dancing skills), and completely moved by the love from her family, her husband, and her fans. I remember buying the Selena soundtrack CD and listening to it non-stop with my mom and sister. Our family has our fair share of home videos of my sister and I dancing and singing to Selena’s songs. My admiration for her continued over the years.  I read her husband Chris Perez’s book, To Selena, with Love as soon as it came out and loved how he spoke about her with such love and adoration even 20 years later.  Just the other day “Como la Flor” came on the radio at a restaurant I couldn’t help but sing along and dancing in my seat a little bit. And now, I am thrilled that Mac is honoring her memory by launching the Mac Selena line!

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Picture Credit: Facebook MACSelena

The MAC Selena line launches in stores on October 6th! I stopped by a Mac store the other day  to get some details about the launch and found out they are holding free classes on Saturday October 10th-Sunday October 12th where attendees will get to learn how to achieve one of Selena’s iconic looks! Best believe that I’ll be there! I’m not sure if all Mac Stores are holding an event like this or if department stores such as Nordstrom or Macy’s will either, so be sure to contact your local Mac Store to see if they will be offering these classes too!

This collection is only available for a limited time until November 17th! Which gives us about a month a half to get our hands on these products!!

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Picture Credit: Facebook MACSelena

Quick breakdown of the product line! Check them all out here.

  • Selena Eyeshadow- 5 shades ($17)
  • Selena Lip Stick- 3 shades ($18)
  • Powder Blush Duo- 2 Shades ($29)
  • Selena Liquid Eyeliner ($21)
  • Mascara ($18)
  • Selena Lipglass ($17)
  • Powder brush- 129 SH  ($35)

Check out swatches of the products on Selena’s sister Suzette Quintanilla’s Instagram Account!

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Make time to do what you love…

Hi everyone!

There are many reasons why I haven’t had time to write articles as often as I want to, some of the main reasons being the following:

1) Working full time

2) Spending a LOT of time with family! (the best reason to be distracted so no shame with this one!)

3)Getting wrapped up in reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (almost finished)!  I feel like I haven’t read a book for pleasure in a very, very long time!

4)Shamelessly binge-watching Orange is the New Black with my boyfriend, Chris. Yes we’re super late to the party and just started this series a few weeks ago! We’re on Season 3 now- woo hoo!

5)Normal adulting and trying to get through my late 20’s crisis.I feel like I haven’t even gotten over my mid-20’s crisis and then BAM, my late 20s snuck up on me!

Ok ok… some of those reasons are definitely more valid than others. But a friend of mine at work told me something that really resonated with me:

If you love and care about something, you’ll find time for it. 

And he is absolutely right. I love this blog, I love writing, I love make up, and I NEED to make the commitment to write more! If I had it my way, I’d be writing and swatching makeup all day. But of course, that dream can’t come true at the moment.

So in order to fix this, I’ve developed a writing plan/calendar for my posts! 🙂

Sunday Swatches– On Sundays I’ll be posting swatches and swatch comparisons! This will include “Swatch with Me” articles where I’ll swatch make up with friends, family members, bloggers, and other makeup enthusiasts. I’ll also continue to post swatch comparisons of make up on different skin tones, under different light sources, etc!

 

 

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Friday Features and Friday Favorites- Friday posts will be focused featuring a brand, makeup artist, blogger, Instagram or Yoube account focused on diversity and also sharing industry news! I’ll also be sharing some of my newest or oldest makeup favorites!

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Wednesdays-  (I have yet to come up with an alliteration for Wednesday, so for now, it’s simply “Wednesdays” 😉

On Wednesdays, I’ll write quick personal posts to help everyone get to know the voice behind the blog and give myself a chance to get to know all of you better as well! This will include fun facts, stories about my makeup/blogging journey, random blurbs, etc!

Any other posts such as product reviews, lists, or any other topics I come up with or any that you suggest or request for  me to write about, will be mixed in throughout the week!

I’m super excited to get started and stick with this blogging calendar! I may tweak the calendar after trying it out for a little bit, but in the meantime, thank you very much for being here and reading my posts! That means the world to me!

Before I end this post, I wanted to take a moment to reflect and remember all of the lives that were tragically lost on September 11th 2001. It’s been 15 years and we will never forget….

 

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Image credit here

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3 Universally Flattering Drugstore Lipstick Colors!

I think any makeup lover like myself has gone through this exact situation or something incredibly similar: you see a GORGEOUS makeup shade on someone else but then when you try it on yourself, you quickly realize the shade looks completely different!  For the last few months I’ve been researching and collecting a list of make up shades that are said to be universally flattering on every skin tone. This past week I had a little swatch party with two of my friends to test 3 drug store lipsticks to see how they looked on each of our different skin tones!  (Thank you Angela and Tie for swatching with me!)

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1) Revlon Color Stay Ultimate Suede in Muse ($9.99)

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How the shade looks in the package: Hot, bright pink!

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Overall impression: The swatches of this shade looked completely different on all 3 skin tones! The shade was bright wine purple with a hot pink undertone when applied on the lighter skin tone. On a tan skin tone, this shade looked more purple/fuchsia.  The shade looked the most like it does in the package when swatched on a darker skin tone-bright pink!  All these shades were different, but all beautiful! Definitely recommend this lipstick. It’s creamy, pigmented and the color is buildable.  Click here to see pictures of this lip color applied on women of different skin tones on Revlon’s website!

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2)Maybelline Color Sensational Lipcolor in Red Revival ($7.49) 

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How the shade looks in the package: Deep, true red.

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Overall impression: This lipstick is extremely pigmented and took on different variations of deep red on all of our skin tones. The shade was a bright red on the lightest skin tone compared to the darker skin tones. The shade takes on a more maroon shade when applied on the darker skin tones. Overall, I was very impressed with this lipstick! Definitely a high quality drug store product.

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3) L’Oréal Infallible 8 Hour Pro Gloss in Sangria ($9.99)

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How the shade looks in the package: Orangey-brown with hint of mauvey red with glitter

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Overall impression: There is a huge difference between how this shade looks in the tube as it does swatched. The shade looks more orangey-brown with a red/mauve undertone in the tube, and it surprisingly transformed to a pink/mauve shade when swatched. Overall, this shade is lightly pigmented and applies on very sheer. The shade would serve more as a tint for your lips instead of a solid color. This lipgloss comes with a soft bristled, triangle shaped brush.

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In conclusion!: There is an endless amount of different skin tones in the world- every single one of them beautiful!  It’s amazing to think about how a make up shade can completely transform when applied on different skin tones. Overall, I think that sometimes it’s good to have some guidance on what shades look flattering on your skin tone, but overall- there shouldn’t be any rules on what shades you should wear! If you try on a shade that makes you feel confident, beautiful, and HAPPY, that’s all that matters.

Now I want to hear from you! :

Have you tried any of these shades? Send me your swatches!

Are there any shades that you believe are universally flattering?

What are your favorite shades to wear?

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Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick Review!

Happy Friday, everyone!! I’m excited to review this product for you today!

Here are my thoughts on Hourglass Cosmetics Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick (wow that was a mouthful)!

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One of the biggest reasons I was enticed by this product was the impressive range of shades that are available (26 total!).  I’ve been seeing more and more cosmetic companies expanding their range of foundation and concealer shades to accommodate more skin tones and I’m LOVING it. Kudos to Hourglass Cosmetics for embracing the diversity of their customers! Check out all of the shades here.

Here are swatches of the lightest shade (Blanc), medium shade (Golden), and darkest shade (Espresso). At first swatch, this foundation felt super creamy and was impressively pigmented!

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First Impression

I have to admit, it was intimidating finding the right shade for myself because there were so many to choose from.  One thing I like the most about the shades is that they take into consideration not just skintone but also undertone. For example, shade Ivory is described as “light medium, with a cool undertone” and shade Nude is a “light medium, with a neutral undertone”.

After receiving some advice from a Sephora beauty expert, I chose the shade Golden Tan (medium beige, warm undertone) which blended perfectly with my neck after we swatched it on my chin.

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The product comes in shiny a triangle shaped tube and this is how much product you get (about 2-2.5 inches).

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Application

You can use the Vanish Foundation Blush ($46) which is a soft bristled, tapered brush, about the size of a half dollar, or a damp beauty blender to apply this product.

Overall, this foundation was super easy to apply and I found that a little bit of product goes a long way!

I drew 2 lines across both my cheeks, one across my forehead, one down the bridge of my nose, and little dot on top of my lips, and a small line on my chin. And then blended this all out with a damp beauty blender.

My first impression after applying this on my face was a positive one!  This foundation felt light, sheer, and really did seem to “vanish” as it blended in with my natural skintone.  A lot of bloggers have mentioned that this foundation made their skin look airbrushed and flawless. 

Lasting Impression

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This product is said to be a long wearing and waterproof foundation, lasting 12 hours. I’ve been using this foundation for about a week now and have been testing out it’s durability througout a mellow day (mostly indoors around the office and lounging at home), and it’s durability throughout a more hectic day (5 hours outdoors in the hot sun and the rest indoors).

Overall, the staying power of this foundation is impressive! The foundation unfortunately did start to fade on the oilier parts of my face (such as my nose) after about 5 hours. But any part of my face that I set with powder stayed pretty well throughout the day and upheld it’s seamless, satin finish.

However (yes unfortunately there is a “however”), I felt like the satin finish of the foundation made my skintone look flat and almost dry. I typically like a more of a dewy, hydrating look for all over my face.

I also found that this foundation was not buildable. It started to get a little cakey after I tried applying 2-3 more layers. I personally believe this would be best used as 1 sheer layer.

Conclusions

Pros

  • Range of 26 shades
  • Considers undertone
  • Easy to blend
  • Little product goes a long way
  • Seamless, airbrushed look
  • Lasts throughout the day when set with powder

Cons

  • A little pricey at $46
  • Not a lot of product
  • Not buildable
  • Product doesn’t last on oily parts of your face
  • Velvety finish can make your skin look flat

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Would I buy it again?

Overall, the seamless look that you can achieve when using this product is really impressive, but I still prefer using liquid foundation over stick foundation. I personally think that this product would be great for contouring instead of applying it on your entire face. I would love to eventually buy a darker shade and use it to contour!

You can also use a hydrating liquid serum or primer like Ren Instant Firming Beauty Shot to mix with the product to change it’s consistency to feel more like a liquid foundation.

Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried this foundation? What do you think?

Do you prefer liquid foundation or stick foundation? Why?

Are there any other foundations or concealers that you’ve seen have impressive range of shades?

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Top 7 things you need to take pictures for your Makeup Blog and Instagram!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend!!

Where will you find me on a typical Saturday or Sunday morning?? Sitting on the sidewalk & grass area outside my apartment in my PJ’s, with a bag full of makeup, ready to spend the next couple hours under the gorgeous California morning sunshine, swatching makeup and taking pictures for my blog and Instagram! 😉

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This post is for anyone who is interested in starting a beauty blog or Instagram account! Keep reading below for a list of the top 7 items I use to take flatlays and pictures of swatches!

1) Simple Background

I’ve researched all the different backgrounds that bloggers use for their pictures & flatlays and they all have one common piece of advice: keep it simple! 

I’ve tried a few different backgrounds and I found that a plain white foamboard works really well when taking pictures in natural light, which is my preferred choice of light to take pictures in! The board I use is Elmer’s White Foamboard from Michael’s.

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Other backgrounds I’ve used for flatlays include bedsheets, rugs or fabric with interesting textures (I use small swatches of fabric from the craft store), scrapbook paper, decorative boxes, or anything in nature such as grass, flowers, trees etc!

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2) Camera of choice

I’m currently using an LG G4 phone for my camera and I LOVE the quality of phots I get.  I tried using a point & shoot camera to take pictures of swatches but I personally found that the camera on my phone most accurately captures the way shade of makeup looks and it makes it easy for me to upload directly on IG or my blog. I suggest trying out different cameras to see what your favorite one to use and what works best for your blog and purpose 🙂

3) Tape!

It’s amazing how good ol’ Scotch tape makes such a big difference when taking pictures of makeup swatches on your arm/hand! There are a lot of times that I spontaneously swatch makeup on my arm and in these cases, I won’t take the time to use tape to frame the swatches. But, I find that using tape when swatching makeup makes the edges much cleaner and helps space the swatches evenly on your arm. See the difference below between swatches done freehand and swatches done using tape.

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(makeup swatches done freehand)

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(using tape to frame the makeup swatches)

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4) Makeup Wipes.

Makeup wipes are a must-have to clean in between swatching different makeup products and can also be used to clean your products so that they’re photo ready. I typically use Target’s Up&Up make up wipes to erase makeup swatches on my arm. These wipes work well, smell great, and are super affordable at 50 wipes for $3.59! I save my Neutrogena makeup remover wipes to use on my face or for harder to remove makeup swatches. Other good items to have around for cleaning your makeup/swatches are paper towels, water, and hand sanitizer!

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5) Notebook

One big piece of advice: take notes to keep track of what pictures you’re taking! It can be really difficult to distinguish the brand and shade of the makeup you took pictures of unless you take note of it.  The notebook also comes in handy to take down your thoughts on how the color looks, consistency, texture, your first impression of the product, and anything else that may be hard to remember after the fact.

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6) Props

I like to keep my pictures very minimal and simple but a few props are always good to have at hand. Some of my favorite props I recommend are: flowers (both real or fake), jewelry, ceramic bowls or plates, anything from the scrapbook section in a craftstore, and any little trinkets you have.

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Be sure to use all the beautiful and natural items you find outside! Flowers, trees, lakes, mountains, beaches, the sky, etc all make amazing backgrounds!

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7) Makeup!

And last but not least, makeup!! Old makeup, new makeup, anything you have! Just grab a handful from your stash and go swatch crazy! 🙂

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Someday I hope to have a beautiful makeup room to take pictures of my makeup and swatches, but for now, I love my little spot on the sidewalk outside my apartment.  🙂

Now I want to hear from you!

What are your favorite items to use when taking pictures for your blog?

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One of my biggest supporters has no interest in makeup!

This post is going to be a little different than my previous posts… it’ll give you a peak into my life outside of makeup and swatching!

Did you know that one of the biggest supporters of Beyond the Swatch has absolutely zero interest in makeup??

This person is none other than my wonderful and ever supportive boyfriend, Chris!! In honor of his birthday this past week, I wanted to take a second to recognize and thank him for everything he’s done to support my blog! 🙂

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Some of the many ways Chris has supported Beyond the Swatch!

  • When I first told him I wanted to start a makeup blog, he spent hours listening to my ideas, asking me questions, helping me map out my thoughts, and come up with ways to make my ideas better
  • He helped me research what type of camera and laptop is most recommended for an inspiring blogger
  • He researched how to build a photobox and built one for me to use
  • He is behind the scenes of almost every photo I take, helping me frame the picture, hold up a lamp so I can get the lighting just right, or by taking the pictures himself (here’s his hand, helping organize my makeup products for an instagram post!)

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  • He lets me talk endlessly about makeup and actively shows interest even though I know most of what I’m saying goes right over his handsome head 🙂
  • Anytime I doubt myself and have a million reasons why my ideas won’t work or that my dreams are stupid, he reassures me and counters my fears and encourages me to keep going
  • A blog post doesn’t get published until he’s proofread what I’ve written or listened to me read it outloud. Nothing makes my day more than when I’m reading one of my posts to him and I see him smile out of the corner of my eye or laugh at certain parts of the post
  • He is completely supportive/understanding when I randomly get the urge to swatch makeup i.e. at a baseball game, date night, vacation, literally anywhere
  • He patiently waits for me when I spend “just a couple minutes” in the makeup department 😉

In these ways, and so many more, Chris has been a huge motivation to starting this blog and to keep it going!

Chris and I have a lot of similar hobbies/obsessions (for example: Walking Dead, Pop Figures, Bob’s Burgers, puppies, turtles, and football).

It’s important to share some of the same interests with your partner, but to find someone who takes interest in something you love simply because they know how much it means to you, is pretty amazing. I feel so lucky every day that Chris invests and supports my dreams, no matter how big or small. 

So I challenge all of you today to take some interest in your loved one’s hobbies and passions, whether it’s blogging, makeup, starting their own business, football, knitting, reading, dancing, collecting spoons, art, traveling, music and even Pokemon Go! 

  • Ask them a question to learn about whatever it is that they are passionate about and actively listen to what they say
  • Spend time with them doing their hobby and trying it out for yourself
  • Do a little research on whatever topic they’re interested in, and spark a conversation based on what you’ve learned
  • Compliment something they’ve created or worked on lately
  • Get them a simple gift that shows your support
  • Speak highly of their dreams/ideas/hobbies with other people
  • Just show up! (to their games, performances, etc)
  • Know that you don’t have to fully understand or grasp why they enjoy what they’re doing, but just let them enjoy what they love!

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Ulta Window Shopping!

Hi lovelies!!!

I went to Ulta the other day with a gift card that’s been burning a hole in my wallet for a few months now! As as per usual, I went a little crazypants with the swatches but for the first time that I can remember, I left with absolutely no new makeup purchases. Unheard of!

My head went spinning with all the new makeup possibilities….Should I buy a bunch drugstore products, or splurge on 1-2 higher end items?? Ooo I like this lipstick, no Alyssa you don’t need more lipstick. But I always need more lipstick. I think I have this shade already, wait do I? Ok I have this narrowed down to 15 different choices. Should I restock on my faves or try something new?? Would I ever wear turquoise eyeliner? You never know. Ok I have this narrowed down to 10 different choices…

In the end, my indecisiveness got the best of me and I left empty handed with my arm covered in a collage of swatches of different makeup that I liked, loved, or didn’t care for!

See the damage below 😉

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Here’s a list of the top 10 brands/products that caught my eye during my little trip to Ulta!
This a mix of new and old products/brands, makeup that was featured in the store, and anything else that caught my attention!

  1. Benefit Magically Transforming Brow Collection
    There were a couple of end caps and displays featuring these products. The packaging is very interesting….almost intimidating! Looked like a mix of badass weaponry and scary equipment you find at the dentists office. The product line includes brow gel, eyebrow conditioning powder, 2 types of eyebrow pencils, and eyebrow cream all ranging from $24-$28. This is said to make shaping and filling in your brows super easy and “goof proof”!
  2.  Lorac Pro Palette 3, $44
    I have the Lorac Pro Palette 1 and I love everything about it! The quality is fantastic, the shades are gorgeous, and the color payout is amazing. Hence, I’ve been anxiously wanting to try the new Lorac Pro Palettes, both the #2 and #3!
    The Lorac Pro Palette 3 comes with 16 different colors. A majority of them are neutral/nude shades. I was most intrigued about the shades in the bottom row of the palette, specifically Amethyst, Dark Mocha and Truffle.
    *Just an FYI that these palettes are also sold at Kohl’s!
  3. Urban Decay Vice
    This display is definitely an attention grabber. I dare you to walk by it without stopping and marveling at it’s beauty. It beckons you to want to try all of the different colors, even the ones that are out of your normal make up preferences! I’ve seen a lot of beauty bloggers swatch and rave about this product, and I can see why! The lipsticks are super pigmented and you can trust that the color you see in the tube, is exactly the shade you’re gonna get! Not to mention that there are sooo many shades to try:
    Vice Lipstick- 39 shades
    Comfort Matte- 21 shades
    Metallized- 13 shades
    Sheer- 16 shades
    Sheer Shimmer- 5 colors
    Mega Matte- 6 colors
  4. Too Faced Chocolate Collection
    This collection totally won me over because I’m a sucker for cute and creative packaging. So you can imagine how giddy I was over this collection. Look how adorable!! The eyeshadow palettes come with 16 shades (mix of matte and shimmer).
  5. Ulta Brand Eyehadow Palettes $19.99
    I’m not sure why I’ve never come across these palettes before! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I swatched these and let me tell you, I was definitely pleasantly surprised with the quality! When I swatched these shades on my arm, they were pigmented, shimmery, and easy to blend! There were 5 palettes available with different combinations of shades: Prismatic, Miss Fabulous, Metals, Rose Gold and Gilded Gold. 
  6. NYX Vivid Brights Electro Liner and Liquid Liner
    This line was featured on a main endcap display in the drug store section of the store. So many fun and bright colors! Makes me want to break out of my normal black eyeliner routine and try a look completely out of my comfort zone! The liquid liner comes in 9 different shades from green, to purple, to blue to brown! How fun!
  7. Soap and Glory Brand
    The last time I saw this brand, it was a lotion brand with adorable pink packaging and witty product names like Hand food and Orangeasm! I was incredibly intrigued and enticed to try this new makeup brand! The packaging is girly and adorable. I wasn’t able to find the cosmetics products on Ulta’s website but check out these products on Soap & Glory’s website! Their lipsticks, cheek sticks and powders are what caught my attention the most!
  8. Honest Beauty
    I was excited to try this makeup line because I previously associated the Honest Brand with their baby product line. Hats off to the beautiful Jessica Alba for expanding her brand! I did a quick swatch of some of the products and there were a couple hits and a couple misses! The lip crayons (comes in 12 different shades) were SUPER pigmented. The cream foundation was super hard to spread when I swatched it on my arm, which makes me think that spreading the foundation all over my face would be even more difficult. The eyeshadows were pigmented and the shades were pretty!
  9. Buxom Customizable Palettes
    I love the idea of being able to customize an eyeshadow palette. Especially when I typically only use a few different shades in the palettes I own now.  You can customize a palette with 6 different shades for $40! There are 40 different shades to choose from.
  10. Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance PaletteI’ve seen so many bloggers rave about this palette so this was one of the first products I sought out on my Ulta trip. I’ve been huge fan of deep burgundy eyeshadow shades lately and this palette is chalk full of so many that I want to try! The shades that I swatched and love the most were Venetian Red and Lover Letter. This palette will definitely be MINE on my next trip no ifs ands or buts about it. I need this in my collection!

     

Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried any of these products/brands? What do you think??

What were your last purchases at Ulta? Share your hauls! 🙂

Do you want me to swatch/review any of the products above?

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Contour Kit Swatch Comparison! Drugstore vs Highend

Hello everyone! Happy 4th of July weekend!! 🙂

I am EXTREMELY excited about the swatch comparison that I’ll be sharing with you all today! Not only do I get to share with you an AMAZING drugstore product that I recently discovered, but I’m also doing a swatch comparison of this drug store product vs a high end luxury product!

Let me present to you these amazing Wet n Wild MegaGlo Contour Palettes that I found at Target for $4.99 each!!

Dulce de Leche (left) and Caramel Toffee (right)

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My overall thoughts on this product!

  • The formula feels super creamy and velvety to the touch which makes it easy to apply and blend
  • Impressive pigmentation and color pay out
  • The bigger sized pans make it easy to pick up the product with a brush
  • Buildable color
  • Overall an impressingly high quality product for $4.99!

Swatch breakdown of the 2 contour kits!

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Caramel Toffee (top picture), Dulce De Leche (bottom picture)

The color payout and pigmentation of both kits are very impressive! I recommend Caramel Toffee for tan/darker skintones like myself (I’m shade NC42 in Mac foundation) and Dulce De Leche will work beautifully for lighter skintones and complextions! 🙂

The highlight shade in Caramel Toffee is a yellow banana color and works great for setting my under eye concealer and blends well with the golden undertones of my complextion. The highlighting shade in Dulce de Leche is a light off-white shade which would work great as a setting powder for lighter skintones!

I was pleasantly surprised and impresssed with both of the contour shades in Caramel Toffee and Dulce de Leche. The shade in Caramel Toffee was pigmented enough to use as a contour shade on my tan skin! A lot of contour shades or bronzers are so similar to my natural skin tone that I can’t use them for contouring but this shade is absolutely perfect.

The contour shade in Dulce de Leche is nice lighter cool-toned tan shade. I could use this as a light bronzer on my skintone but this would work best as a contour on lighter skintones. These colors are buildable and easy to blend. I apply as many layers as I want depending on how intense I want to contour that day.

Overall, Caramel Toffee worked the best with my skintone! I LOVE the shades that come in this palette! I’ve been using this duo for the past few weeks ever since I bought it and it has easily become a staple in my makeup collection. I’ll definitely replenish this kit when I run out!

Now it’s time to compare these shades with my first contour kit that I ever bought!! 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit ($40.00) vs. Wet n Wild MegaGlo Contour kit ($4.99 each)

Here are swatches of the bronze contouring shades from the Anastasia Palette vs the contouring shades of the Wet n Wild palettes!

The swatches of both kits were very similar in both color and pigmentation! Look at that! They’re like color twinsies. The top shades in these pictures are my favorites in both kits. This is a tie for me! All the shades in both palettes work really well with my skintone and the quality is excellent in both.

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Swatches of the highlighting shades in the Anastasia Contour Kit and the Wet N Wild MegaGlo Contour kits!

As you can see from the swatches below, the bottom 2 shades of the highlighting kit in the Anastasia palette show up extremely lightly on my skin. The bottom one is nearly invisible!  I have to blend both colors in order to make these shades work with my skintone to set my under eye concealer.  I personally feel that the hightlighting shades in the MegaGlo palettes have a significantly better color pay out on my skintone than the Anastasia shades.

I bought my Anastasia palette when there was only 1 kit available. Now there are 2 new kits for medium-dark skintones! I’m looking forward to trying these in the future!

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Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried these contour kits before?? Send me your thoughts and swatches to be featured in my upcoming blog posts!

Til next time!

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Check out the products that I featured in this post here!

http://www.anastasiabeverlyhills.com/

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kits

http://www.wetnwildbeauty.com/

WetnWild MegaGlo Contour Kits

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Double Swatch Comparison: Nude/Pink Lip Glosses!

Baseball games… a great time to soak up some sun, enjoy an overpriced but totally worth it hot dog, an ice cold drink, catch a foul ball, and swatch makeup?

Who swatches makeup in the middle of a baseball game?? This girl!!! 🙂

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I have a double swatch comparison for you all today of 2 nude/pink lip glosses!

1) Swatch comparison of a drugstore lip gloss retailing at $1.99 vs a luxury lip gloss, originally retailing at $24.00

2) Swatch comparison of how these shades look on my skin tone versus on of my bestest friends, Angela!

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Gerard Cosmetics: Lighted Lip Gloss in Butter Cream

NYC: Liquid Lipshine in Prospect Pink

1- Swatch comparison: Drug store gloss vs Luxury gloss 

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Both of the lip gloss shades look very similar in the tube but the differences in the 2 lip glosses can be seen after I swatched them on my arm.

The NYC lip gloss (top) has a much lighter consistency. This gloss looked like a slightly lighter shade when swatched on my arm versus how it looks in the tube.  Overall, the shade looked like a beautiful flurry of glitter mixed with a pink tint.

The Gerard Cosmetics lip gloss (bottom) has a thicker consistency and more color pigmentation.  In the tube, this lip gloss looks like a lighter pink/nude shade versus the slightly darker pink shade when applied on my arm.

Overall, I think that both of these shades are gorgeous!

2-Swatch comparison of these two lip glosses on myself and Angela:

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Both Butter Cream and Pink Prospect looked like pink shades on my darker skin tone while the glosses looked more like a nude/coral shade on Angela’s skin tone. All the swatches were beautiful and looked especially glittery under the natural brightness of the sun.

Take-away’s from these swatch comparisons! 

If you want your lip gloss to show up as a specific color, I definitely recommend trying the Gerard Cosmetics Lighted Lip Glosses because they are super pigmented and they come in so many gorgeous shades. Each tube has a mirror on the side and lights up when you take the lid off! (I still get excited every time I use it).

If you want to add a little bit of shine to your lips with a hint of color,  then I would recommend using NYC Liquid Lipshine glosses. They’re cheap and pretty (and they smell good too by the way).

So depending on what look you are going for, both of these lip glosses may work!  My favorite is still Gerard Cosmetics Buttercream 🙂

Now I want to hear from you!

Do you prefer matte lipsticks or shiny glosses?

What are your favorite drug store lip glosses?

What are your favorite high end/luxury glosses?

UPDATE!!! I just checked the website and it looks like Gerard Cosmetics Lighted Lipglosses are going for $10 right now! BRB… gotta buy some new glosses!

https://www.gerardcosmetics.com/color-your-smile-lighted-lip-gloss.html

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