swatches – Beyond the Swatch

Product Review, Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me, Swatches

Perfect Drugstore Palette for Daytime to Nighttime!

October 25, 2016 No Comments

Wet n Wild 10 Pan Studio Eye Shadow Palette in Quartz Center $6.99

There’s something so nostalgic for me when I think of Wet n Wild. I remember their 99 cent lip gloss and nail polish that I used to love as a kid! And here I am, at 27 years old, revisiting one of the very first makeup brands that I ever tried in my life, and finding that I still love it! With an exception of their Glitter Eyeshadow (see one of my previous posts with my open letter to this eye shadow explaining how disappointed I was with it and that it just was not going to work out between us), every Wet n Wild product that I’ve tried lately has received a major thumbs up from me. This palette below is no exception!

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Swatches: Natural light (in the shade) vs in direct sunlight

My favorite part about this palette is that the colors range from lighter daytime shades to dark sultry shades, which makes it just as perfect for spring/summer as it is for fall/winter!

On the lighter end of the palette, you get 2 shimmery lighter neutral colors, plus 3 different variations of purple. On the darker end of the palette, you get 1 chocolately brown, and 4 variations of sparkly grays. The one thing I will point out is that the 4 shades of gray are very similar to one another.

The pigmentation and color payout of these eye shadows is pretty impressive. Check out the gorgeous swatches below! These swatches were applied by using my fingers.

In natural light (in the shade), the eye shadows look matte with a little bit of sparkle. In direct sunlight, you can really see the multi colored glitter flecks mixed in throughout the shades. You can also see that the colors change depending on the light source both in the pan and swatched on my arm.

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Overall I highly recommend this palette! There is also a neutral version of this palette, Coming in Latte. We can only hope that Wet n Wild will come out with more palettes with additional colors! Palettes like these are perfect for traveling because it is super compact and lightweight and you get a range of light to dark shadows in 1 palette!

Let me know what you think! Have you tried this palette?

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Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me

Perfect Purple for Summer and Fall!

October 2, 2016 No Comments

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: Amethyst. Described 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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Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me

NYX Baked Eyeshadow Swatches!

September 25, 2016 2 Comments

Sunday Swatches!

NYX Baked Eyeshadow ($6 each)

I went to a NYX store for the first time the other day and I loved it! I loved being able to swatch the products, get expert advice, and get all the benefits of buying makeup at the counter with a drugstore brand.

Check out my mini haul below! I’ll be swatching the products found on the top of the picture: NYX Baked Eyeshadow!

Picture below: Left: Ambrosia Right: Mademoiselle

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Swatches!

Today’s swatches will be focused on how a shade changes depending on the application technique. I’ll be discussing how these shades look when applied with a dry eyeshadow brush, with my fingers, and with a damp brush!

A little backstory of my experience with this product: I had very high expectations of these eye shadows, and unfortunately, it took a little more effort for me to make this product work!

I got little to no product when I tried to pick up this shadow with a dry brush. The most successful way I was able to use this product was by applying it using my fingers. I was also able to make this product more pigmented and easier to apply by using a damp eye shadow brush.

As you can see in the quick swatches I did below, the product has a very light color payout. The bottom swatch is 1-2 layers of the shade applied with my finger, and the top shade is 3-4 layers of the product. I skipped showing how the shadows look when applied with a brush because it literally didn’t show up on my skin at all.

quick-swatches

NYX Baked Eye Shadow in Mademoiselle

Impression of the shade in the pan: Plummy, wine shade with a shiny finish and deep burgundy undertone.

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How the shade looks swatched on my wrist:

In order to get this shade to look as pigmented as it does on the swatch on the left, I had to swirl my pointer finger in small circles around the pan 5-6 times and then packed about 5 layers of the on the shade on my wrist.

This shade looks like a wine red with a brown/orange undertone when applied with my finger. When applied with a damp eye shadow brush, the shade turns into a shiny, metallic red wine color. The shade was definitely less plum colored when swatched on my skin tone versus how it looks in the pan.

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NYX Baked Eye shadow in Ambrosia

Impression of this shade in the pan: Bright, light, sparkly gold!

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How the shade looks swatched on my wrist:

When swatched on my wrist, this shade looked like a light and pretty champagney gold shade. It’s a flatter, darker shade of brownish/gold when swatched with my finger. And metallic, shiny, light gold when applied with a damp eye shadow brush. I think this shade would work well as a subtle highlight on your cheekbones or in the corner of your eyes because the shade is so light and luminous.

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Lasting Impression:

Overall, these shades were pretty, but the quality of the product was disappointing. Even after being able to increase the pigmentation of the shadow by applying it with a damp eye shadow brush, I found that the product doesn’t last throughout the day anyway. I used these shades the other day and after checking my eyes after a few hours, the shadow was completely faded. I also found that even though this product was buildable, the more layers you added, the easier those layers wipe or flake off throughout the day. The product was also not easy to blend which made it nearly impossible to work with.

Lesson learned though-always get creative with makeup before completely giving up on it! Try different application techniques, applying various layers of the product, mix different shades together, try different base layers such as moisturizers and primers! Sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome and sometimes not, but at least you gave it your all. 🙂

Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried this product? What do you think?

What are you favorite NYX products?

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Personal, Product Review, Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me

ColourPop Ultra Satin Lip in Alyssa!

September 18, 2016 No Comments

Colour Pop Ultra Satin Lip in shade Alyssa

For this week’s Sunday Swatches, I’m giving you a little combo platter: a product review of a favorite makeup product, plus a personal story, AND a swatch comparison!

This shade is part of Kathleen Light’s most recent collaboration with ColourPop. This is one of my favorite cosmetic brands working with one of my favorite makeup gurus!

The biggest reason I wanted this shade was because we’re name twinsies! Alyssa!

One of my best friends came to visit me a couple weekends ago with her little family (including my adorable baby nephew!) It only felt right to wait for her to swatch this lip color because her name is Alyssa as well! Yup, we are two best friends both named Alyssa. If we had a dollar for every time a bartender checked both of our ID’s and said “hey both of your names are Alyssa??” we’d have…a lot of dollars. 😉

Product Review:
The product feels like a light and wet formula when you first apply it, with a little bit of shine. After about 2-3 minutes, the formula starts to dry out and becomes a flat matte shade. Like most matte liquid lipsticks, the formula feels a little dry on your lips, but I found that this lipstick wasn’t overly drying and didn’t made your lips feel tight. So that’s a definite plus for me personally. This product is super pigmented, so you only need to apply a thin layer, which makes it feel light on your lips, although a little dry. I have tried using a base layer of chap stick with no tint which makes the formula feel a little more moisturizing but unfortunately, this makes the lip color much easier to smudge and wipe off. The website recommends using Lippie Primer ($5.00) as a base.

Swatch Comparison: 2 different skin tones!

Here are swatches of the product that my best friend and I took at our favorite Wine Bar in San Francisco on both of our skin tones! This shade is described on ColourPop’s website as a “neutral dusty pink”. I found that this shade was slightly darker in person than the picture on the website.

When swatched on our wrists, the shade looked slightly different on our skin tones. The shade looked like a lighter, neutral pink on the lighter skin tone, and a slightly darker mauve shade on the tanner skin tone.

Alyssa D (my bff) on the left, and Alyssa P on the right (me!)

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Swatch Comparison: Swatched on wrist vs on the lips & indoor lighting vs outdoor lighting!

The shade looked different after applying it on my lips than it did when swatched on my wrist. When I applied this shade on my lips, the shade looks more of a nude with a hint of light pink under indoor lighting, and more of a mauvey, dusty light pink in natural light.

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Overall Impression:

Overall, I love this shade! This does go to show that the true shade of a makeup product can change from how it looks on the website, in the package, swatched on your wrist, applied on your lips, under different light sources, and on different skin tones. I highly recommend ColourPop’s Ultra Satin lipsticks!! Good quality, amazing range of shades, and for only $6!

Check out more Ultra Satin lip colors here.

Check out more from Kathleen Lights Collection here.

Now I want to hear from you!

Have your tried ColourPop’s Ultra Satin Lip Colors? Which one is your favorite?

Send me swatches of you wearing Alyssa! I’d love to see!

Do you wear chap stick as a base when using liquid lipstick?

Bonus story!

Fun fact- my bff featured in this article and I are both named after Alyssa Milano! A few years ago on a magical day in Los Angeles, we both got to meet the one and only Alyssa Milano and tell her that we are a couple of best friends both named Alyssa because of her!! This will always be one of the biggest highlights of my life. 🙂

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Lists, Product Review, Swatch Comparison, Swatch with me

3 Universally Flattering Drugstore Lipstick Colors!

September 9, 2016 No Comments

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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Lists, Shopping

Ulta Window Shopping!

July 28, 2016 No Comments

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!

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”!
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!
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
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).
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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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Product Review, Swatch Comparison

Contour Kit Swatch Comparison! Drugstore vs Highend

July 3, 2016 2 Comments

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

Swatch Comparison

Double Swatch Comparison: Nude/Pink Lip Glosses!

June 4, 2016 No Comments

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

Swatch Comparison

Swatch Comparison: Purple Lipsticks!

May 31, 2016 2 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! I had a busy jam packed weekend- filled with friends, family, a graduation, a baseball game, basketball game, and a goodbye dinner! But I still had some time to play around with makeup! 🙂

My go-to makeup look for as long as I remember has always been smokey eye makeup paired with nude lips (inspired by the one and only JLO). It’s only been recently that I’ve branched out from my usual and started experimenting with different shades of lipstick!

A few months ago I was on the hunt for a purple lipstick, and let me tell you, this was no easy feat trying to find a purple shade that worked well with my natural lip color and skin tone.

Most purple lipsticks I would buy would look purple in the package and swatched on my arm but then as soon as I’d apply it to my lips, the shade would magically transform into either a pink, mauve, or burgundy shade, which is great in any other circumstance, but in this case, I had my mind set on having purple lips.

The three lipsticks/glosses that I’ve swatched today are from 3 different brands, price points and all had different results!

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Nyx Butter Gloss in Raspberry Tart ($4.99 at Target):

0530161001 - Edited I love NYX lip products! This was one of my first purple lip gloss purchases that I’ve made and I remember having really high hopes for it. As you can see from the pictures below, the product in the tube looks purple but then looks like a watermelon pink when swatched on my wrist. The shade looked light pink on my lips under natural light, and a darker mauvey pink with a hint of purple tint on my lips in indoor lighting. From purple to 3 different shades of pink! Like magic! 😉

Overall, I like this shade, but it wasn’t what I expected it to be. I would use this particular shade of lip gloss to add a little bit of tint to my natural lip color, but wouldn’t use this if I was trying to achieve a purple lip!

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Sephora Rouge Shine Lipstick in color #47 ($12.50)

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Sephora lipsticks are one of my absolute fave because there are sooo many different shades to choose from.

This lipstick looked like a bright eggplant purple color in the tube and to my surprise, the shade looked purple on my lips under natural light as well (yay!) However, when I’m inside under florescent lights, the lipstick shade changes and looks more pink than it does purple.

The lipstick applies very lightly and is very glossy/shiny. You can apply additional layers as needed to darken the purple shade, but due to it’s light consistency, the darkness of the shade won’t last very long. I’m curious to see how this shade would look on different skin tones seeing as it changes colors so easily on my skin tone!

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Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in shade L.U.V. ($20 at Sephora)

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

This line of matte liquid lipstick is stunning. The pigmentation of all the shades and color pay out will not disappoint. This is by far the best shade that I’ve found that helps me achieve the purple lip shade that I wanted! This lip color looks purple in both natural light and indoor lighting.

This shade is so pigmented that I believe it will transform into a range of beautiful purple shades on any skin tone.

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Final thoughts after my hunt for the perfect purple shade!

-If you have your mind set on a particular make up shade or you’re trying to replicate a specific look, play around with different shades and mix 2 different lipsticks or pair lipstick shades with lip liners to manipulate the color.

For example: If I’m going for a bright purple lip, I’ll mix a hot pink lipstick and layer a thin coat of purple lip gloss on top of it (like the NYX butter gloss shade I talked about in this post).

If I want a vampy dark purple lip shade, I’ll start with a darker, mauve/red lip liner like Mac Nightmoth, and layer a pigmented purple on top of it.

-Make sure you test how a shade looks in natural light and indoor lighting, because more than likely, the shade will change!

-Always good to check how a shade looks on camera, both with flash, no flash, and in outdoor lighting. Especially if you are wearing the shade to an event where pictures will be taken.

-In this case, a matte liquid lipstick was my best bet for achieving a purple lip look. Lip gloss or lip sticks with a glossy finish seemed to just add a tint of purple to my natural lip color, instead of showing up as a completely pigmented purple shade.

Now I want to hear from you!

What are your favorite purple lipstick shades?

Have you had any trouble finding a particular shade to match with your natural lip color or skin tone?

Also, if you have a blog, please leave your URL below so that I can follow you!

Where to find these products:

NYX Butter Gloss:

http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/butter-gloss/NYX_089.html

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod5050009

http://www.target.com/p/nyx-butter-gloss/-/A-14723529

Sephora Rouge Shine Lipstick:

Kat Von D:

Aly Mae, swatching makeup since 2000

May 11, 2016 No Comments

Hello everyone!!

Wow my first blog post! Gimme a second to take that in… ahhhh… first blog post butterflies!

It feels amazing to finally get all my ideas out there and slowly see my dream and vision come to life (cheesy but true!)

I’ve loved make up for as long as I remember and according to my journal that I kept in 5th grade, I’ve been swatching makeup since August 19th 2000! 🙂 20160306_125023 (1)

One day a few months ago, I was feeling discouraged about starting this blog and started doubting myself and wondering why anyone in their right mind would be interested in anything I have to say about makeup.

And then right in the middle of throwing myself a pity party, I randomly came across my old red notebook that I used as a journal in 5th grade and found this entry I wrote talking about how I wanted to wear makeup to my mom’s reunion that my family and I were attending that night. And in the margins of my notebook, I smeared or “swatched” my mom’s make up that I wanted to wear!

This was exactly what I needed to keep me going and developing my blog. All I needed was the image of my 11 year old self “swatching” my mom’s lipstick and “eye-stuff” in my little red notebook to remind me that writing and makeup have always been a huge passion of mine. If there was ever a sign in my life showing me to just go and do something, regardless of my fears and doubts, this was it! (Thank you 11 year old Alyssa for the encouragement 😉 !)

This blog combines a lot of things that I love into one little package:

Makeup+writing+colors+family+friends+creativity+connecting with people who love the same things I do!

These last few months I’ve been researching universal makeup shades and how cosmetic companies are embracing diversity in their customers. I’ve been non-stop swatching makeup on myself and people around me and comparing how they look. Overall, this blog and my dream of coming up with a solution to provide the most accurate and genuine depiction of a makeup shade and perfecting the effectiveness of a swatch has seriously all I’ve been thinking about. For more info about Beyond the Swatch and what I plan to write in this blog, check out my about me page!

In the early stages of developing Beyond the Swatch, I sent out a survey to friends and family members asking them about their make up preferences. Here is a breakdown of my answers to give you all a little insight on my makeup preferences!

How often do you wear makeup? I wear makeup almost every day. I try to have at least one day in the week where I wear zero makeup to let my face breathe a little.

Here’s an aerial view of the makeup I currently use on the daily:

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How would you describe your skin tone? Medium/tan during fall/winter/spring and medium/dark during the summer

What is your current foundation? Loreal Lumi True Match Foundation in W6: Sand Beige

What struggles have you had finding a shade that looks good with your skin tone? Most bronzers that come in limited number of shades usually don’t work well with my skin tone because it just blends in. It took a while to find a bronzer in the right shade to contour with.

Cool toned eye shadows and blushes are hard to make work with my skin as well.

Name a few celebrities who are beauty inspirations for you: Jennifer Lopez, Ayesha Curry, Kardashians, Shay Mitchell (and realistically all of the pretty little liars), just to name a few! There’s too many to list.

Name your favorite beauty bloggers: Kathleen Lights, Jaclyn Hill, Temptalia, Jackie Riley, Patrick Starr, Jeffree Star….Ok this is impossible to list all my favorites because they’re all amazing and this list grows every single day. I love all of you!!

Favorite go to colors/shades that I believe work well with my skin-tone:

Eye shadow: Golds, neutrals, peach/coral tones, any shade of brown, anything with a hint of burgundy/auburn. I’m also a sucker for anything with glitter

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Lips: Nudes, subtle rose pinks, deep burgundy or reds with a purple undertone.

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Blush: Medium dark pinks with a coral undertone. Like Nars Orgasm and NYX

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Thank you for being here and taking the time to get to know me and my makeup preferences a little better! Now that you’ve learned a little about me, I’d like to hear from you!!

What shades of makeup do you think work best with your skin tone? What struggles have you had finding a shade to work with your skin tone? Comment below! I’d love to hear your answers 🙂

If you have a beauty blog, please leave your URL in the comments below so that I can follow you!

Love,

Aly Mae

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