e.l.f. Aqua Beauty Blush & Bronzer!

e.l.f. Cosmetics Aqua Beauty Blush & Bronzer! $6

I’ve said it before and I will say it again…e.l.f. Cosmetics is hands down one of my all-time fave drugstore makeup brands! This new product caught my eye the other day and I just had to have it (I know ya’ll know the feeling). I get excited whenever I see any new e.l.f.products come out and because of the affordable price point, I usually don’t have to second guess purchasing it even it’s just for curiosity’s sake.

The blush and bronzer duo that I’m featuring today is part of e.l.f.’s Aqua Beauty line, which includes a new mist primer, liquid eyeshadows and lipstains that you can check out here!

This blush & bronzer duo comes in 3 different shade combos. The one I bought was Bronzed Violet. The new teal packaging of these products mixed in with the black and white packaging of the other e.l.f. products caught my attention right away, but what really kept my attention was the super bright hot pink shade of the blush! I mean look at it! That is one heck of a pink! Check out the rest of the shades here.

Quick facts about the product:
-Super creamy formula. The texture and feel of the product is similar to how Colour Pop products feel.

-The packaging says that this “cushiony color” is “infused with purified water and vitamin E.”  Fancy!

-The directions recommend applying this product with your fingertips or a small stipple brush. I found that using my fingers to swatch this product worked well, but I would recommend a small stipple brush when applying to your cheeks to blend.

-Definitely has a dewy, hydrating finish when swatched.

-A very important thing to note… after this product dries on your skin, it stays put. I tried smearing the product after swatching it on my wrists once it dried and it didn’t smudge away at all. Impressive staying power! However, this also means that you have to blend it right away to the amount of sheerness you want before it dries, or it will be difficult to fix after the fact.

Swatches!

Overall, I thought this product swatched very nicely! The product is easy to apply and is blendable. The pigmentation applies on lightly at first but is buildable, as promised on the packaging. There is a light shimmer in the shades as well which gives the product a dewy & hydrated look.

Here are some swatches on 2 different skintones. Overall, the brightness of the pink definitely toned down once applied to both skintones. This shade looked like a bubblegum pink on a lighter skin tone and rosey pink with hints of coral on the tanner skintone. The bronzer, which looked like a dark chocolate shade in the pan, applied on as lighter tan shade on both skintones. The color is buildable and you can add more layers of both for a more intense or bright look.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this purchase and will definitely be checking out more of Elf’s Aqua Beauty products! Even though this shade of blush is a little darker and brighter than I typically use for my tanner skintone, the product blends out nicely and gives a sheer, flushed look when I apply just a little bit of product to the apples of my cheeks. The bronzer works well to use as a cream contour shade for my skin tone.

Have you tried this product?? What are your thoughts??

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Perfect Purple for Summer and Fall!

NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipsticks are AMAZING. This line is hands down one of the most pigmented drug store liquid lipsticks that I’ve come across. Check out all 24 shades here! ($6.99).

The shade that I’m sharing with you all today is this gorgeous one below: AmethystDescribed as “deep neon purple” on NYX’s website and noted as a fan favorite on Ulta’s website!

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Swatches!

This product was highly recommended to me by one of my high school friends (and fellow makeup enthusiasts) and since then I’ve been recommending this shade for anyone who is on the hunt for a true purple lip color! One of my friend’s jaw damn near dropped when I swatched this shade for her for the first time. (You’ll see why in a second!)

Swatched under natural light, in the sun: Sparkly/dewy bright purple with a navy blue undertone.

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Swatched in natural light, in the shade:   Dark periwinkle with a blue undertone. (Less bright than how it looks in the sun, but vibrant nonetheless!)

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Swatched indoors, with flash: Deep, vibrant purple with a deep blue undertone. (Deeper and darker compared to the swatches taken in natural light).

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Swatched on 3 different skintones!

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See the differences in the shade when swatched on different skin tones? Me neither! 😉 This shade is so beautifully pigmented that it stays pretty consistent on each skin tone.

Final thoughts:

Overall, if you’re looking for a bright, fun, purple lipstick that stays true to it’s purple-ness, I highly recommend this one. Most purple lipsticks turn into a different shade then expected when mixed with someone’s unique skin tone and natural lip color, but this one stays a true purple like it does in the package. This shade is fun and bright enough for summer and deep enough to carry into fall!

This product comes with a soft bristled triangle shaped brush and applies on easily. I personally feel like this product doesn’t dry your lips out like most liquid lipsticks do. Check out the video below to see this gorgeous shade on @MakeupShayla!

What do you all think? Have you tried this shade before? Send me your swatches!

What are your favorite drugstore lipsticks?

What are you favorite fall shades?

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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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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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