ColourPop Haul #2

Fall Collection

I love fall. I think we covered this in our last post, but it's ok. It's finally cooling down here in Ohio, and leaves are falling, and I'm just too happy for life. Then there's all the wonderful fall makeup. Vampy lips, smokey eyes, pale skin. It's all my favorite.
This post is long awaited. Long, long awaited. In my last ColourPop order, I bought 2 matte lippie stix, 4 eye shadows, and a highlighter. As I mentioned in the last haul, I'm just really impressed with the quality of these products when they're so affordable. The major drawback (to me) is that they're online only. I wish they were sold in stores, so I could swatch and see what I like. Luckily, I haven't disliked anything yet!

 Swatches

All swatches are one good swipe on an unprimed arm. 

Swatches in action

Below, I'm using I Spy on the center of the lid, and some of the red is Central Perk. I did blend in some of the red from the Coastal Scent's Revealed 2 palette in the darker parts. I Spy, in my opinion, applies better using your finger tip. It has a very creamy texture, but it's not a cream. Does that make sense? I love the colors here and think they're perfect for fall. If you follow my IG, you might have seen that I'm slightly obsessed with red shadows. I literally swatch every single one I see in stores. While Central Perk isn't super pigmented, I really like it as a transition for some of my more pigmented, darker reds, like the one in the Revealed 2 palette.

The lip color below is Nevermind. It's really a nice dark plum-y red. I dabbed a bit of the highlighter, Stole the Show, in the center of my lips to give it a bit more dimension! This is one of those that is the reason I wish ColourPop was sold in stores. While I really like the color, it's just so dark and I'm struggling to find a time to wear it. In all honesty, I could wear it with any neutral eye look, I'm just scared of the intensity. This is wayyy darker than my typical vamp shades, and I've just recently gotten into the purple lippies! This one is a burgundy-purple. Really pretty, but really dark.

Ignoring my ears (we went to a Renaissance Festival), I smoked out Plaid on my eyes and dabbed the highlighter, Stole the Show, in the center of my lids, and I have Grunge on my lips. Literally the perfect lip color for fall. I think I've worn Grunge every time I've worn lipstick in the past month. I can't get enough of it.
I'm really liking Plaid for an all-over smoky look. It's a good change from the typical black smoky eye. The color is what I think of when I think of traditional green plaid, and I love it!
Stole the Show has more glitter in it that Lunch Money does. If you're unaware, Lunch Money is the highlighter I bought in my last haul, which is a shimmery champagne. This one is white. Like, white, white. And glittery. Not sure how I feel about it as an actual highlighter, but I will certainly use it to dab on the middle of my lids or lips!

Everything in this haul if from their fall collection, and I'm in love. No complaints about anything, and I'm seriously contemplating ordering another Grunge so I don't run out anytime soon!

Ipsy Bag Review

September 2015

So, I recently switched from Birchbox to Ipsy. It had nothing to do with me being unhappy with the service. I was just starting to get some duplicates, and I wasn't really enjoying what I was receiving anymore! I definitely could have changed up my beauty profile, but the allure of getting something new was too much. So, I switched to Ipsy. I noticed they had more of the popular high-end brands, like Tarte, Too Faced, etc, which I liked. So, here we are...

This month, I got the Nyx shadow trio, argan oil, hand cream, brow gel, and a matte lip pencil!

Shadow Trio

ipsy x Nyx Shadow Trio: The black is matte, while the cream and brown shades are shimmery. Swatching this with my finger to my arm, I was certainly not impressed. The shades were not pigmented whatsoever. However, once I was using my brushes, some primer, and my lid, they showed up quite a bit better. Still not ridiculously pigmented, but it's definitely a nice little palette for fall.

Matte Lip Crayon

 tre'StiQue Matte Lip Crayon: Below, I have on the matte lip pencil and, obviously, the shadow. The lip color didn't really work for my skin tone. In person, it's a bit more peach, and I'm just not a fan. It didn't help that I had chapped up lips. Real cute!

Argan Oil

Octavio Molina Hair Argan Oil: I love argan oil. I'm that girl that takes a good hour doing her makeup, then typically doesn't even brush her hair. To be fair, doing makeup is almost therapeutic for me. I'm too lazy, and basically over it by the time I get to my hair. However, I have really long hair that I don't like cutting. Argan oil definitely helps my fried, crispy ends! This one doesn't smell nearly as good as some of my other ones, but it performs just as well!

Tinted Brow Gel

Elizabeth Mott Queen of the Fill Tinted Brow Gel: I really wasn't expecting to like this much, and I think I'm still up in the air about it. It only comes in two colors, either a blonde or brown. The blonde is a good color to tone down my slightly-darker-than-they-should-be brows, so that's a plus. I'm just used to my Dip Brow, so maybe I'm just biased. Anyone with black brows won't be able to use this, though, as it doesn't come in black!

Ultra Repair Cream

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream: If you're looking for something that smells pleasant, keep on looking. It's not that this stinks, but it sort of smells like baby cream. Like, baby butt cream, ya know what I'm talking about? But, I mean, if you're in need of some intense moisture and you don't mind the smell, go for it! It's extremely moisturizing. It took a while for it to absorb fully into the skin, but eventually it did. It wasn't too oily while it was absorbing, so that's a plus!

Sorry this is pretty short and lacking more photos!

What did you guys get in your bags or Birchboxes!? Let me know in the comments below!

ColourPop Haul #1

*Heart Eyes Emoji*

Have you ever bought something thinking, "this is going to look awful on me," but you just had to know? I can't tell you how many times I've done that. Especially when something is only online, and I can't swatch it. This also makes me just ridiculously nervous. Which is why I just now got around to trying out ColourPop products. 

Where have I been?!

If you haven't heard of them, let me give you a little run down. The site, ColourPop, offers a variety of products from liquid lipsticks, normal lipsticks and lip pencils to eye shadows, blushes, and highlights. All for under $8. No, that's not a typo. So, we're calling this "Haul #1" because I just got done ordering 7 more items from their fall line. Stay tuned for that.

Swatches

So, let's talk about these shadows for a minute. These are only $5, and they're quite pigmented and really good quality for that price! Envy comes out as a gray with purple glitter. I'll most likely be using these over black. Already have, and it looks wonderful! If you look at the photo two down, you can see how Envy looks in the pot.  I'll certainly be using Chipper as either an inner corner highlight or lid color. And, basically, Effect will pair really nice with Chipper, so that's exciting! Yay, coordination!

All the swatches are one good circle around the pot.

That highlighter. Guys, it is so buttery and creamy and just so soft. Like, so soft. It certainly has a more champaign tone. In the order I just did, I'm getting what looks like a pure white one. For the summer, this champaign highlight was perfect with my skin tone, but it's time to get pale! 

Orders come with personalized notes! There's nothing I love more than personalization. I'm sure they get tons of orders, and to write each person a note is just really cool. 

Liquid Lipsticks

Truth be told, I've been eyeing Anastasia's liquid lipsticks. I just haven't gotten around to buying one yet. These are only $6! Crazy!! They certainly stayed on for longer than 8 hours, and didn't budge. There was a small amount of feathering by the time I took them off, but nothing to get upset about. They are extremely drying, so moisturize those lips before you put them on!

Zipper

This is what I ordered and thought I'd look awful in! But, I feel like it certainly fits my more grungey side, and I love it.

Tulle

The bottle is certainly a bit deceiving. I feel like when it's applied, it's much darker than it looks, but I'm 100% ok with that. It's definitely a red with an almost brown undertone.

If you can't tell, I'm very pleased with the items I got from ColourPop. I'll definitely be getting some more liquid lipsticks sometime soon! 

Leave me some recommendations in the comments below if you have a favorite!

Anastasia Beverly Hills

Shadow Couture Palette Review

Hello, there! It's been a bit since we've spoken! We (the boyfriend and I) had a few personal things going on, and I needed to direct my attention to that. However, I'm certainly back, as I've been buying makeup like a madwoman.

I recently, on my lunch break, picked up this gorgeous palette. Ulta is literally too close for my wallet's safety. I was really close to becoming a platinum member, so clearly, I needed to get something. Right?! Isn't that how that works?

So, I picked up this palette, and I love it. It has some great shades, and a combination of matte and shimmer shades. Some of the shimmers are actually more like glittery, but I'm ok with it. When you spray your brush with a finishing spray, it looks so so pretty!

Swatches

 Here are some swatches of the palette. The shades match up with the palette. These are so pigmented. I do have a primer on my arm, but that's really just because I'm so pale, and I wanted the lighter shades to actually show up. Besides being extremely pigmented, they also have amazing stay power. My shadow didn't crease at all, not one bit. Let's be gross for a minute, I didn't take my eye makeup off before I went to bed, and guess what? I woke up with perfect makeup. The shadows had faded a bit, but they were still clearly there.

Let's be real here, Anastasia never disappoints.

In the picture below, I'm using Morocco and Fudge in the crease, Bellini and Chic on the lid.

I haven't been bold enough to use Azul yet, but I'm really excited to get into it and get out of my comfort zone. Definitely recommend this palette if you're looking for something new with fun colors! For $30, it is certainly worth it.

I'm debating on whether or not I want to start a YouTube channel. Would anyone even care if I did?! I don't think I have much of a "following."

Let me know in the comments below. (:

Makeup Haul

Ulta, Nordstrom Rack, and BirchBox

*Credit to the boyfriend for finding the perfect meme.

Ulta

Nyx Pristmatic Eye Shadow in Frostbite. This is my second of these shadows, and I just love it. It's this iridescent purple-y white. Ugh. The texture of this shadow is ridiculously silky. If you're ever perusing Ulta, touch them. They have crazy high pigment. I also have it in the shade Mermaid, but that has more of the shimmer/glitter texture. Not mad, because the color is gorgeous.

In the picture below, I have it on top of the next product.

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Lavender and Rust. So, the lavender is just that. A super soft purple that I bought solely because it brought out the purple tones in the Frostbite shadow. I seriously love the two together! I also bought the rust to go under a shadow as well. I've been loving red shadows. Is it fall yet? The pencils blend out really nicely, and they come in so many shades. My only problem is sharpening them. I've watched the little hacks, but I've yet to successfully sharpen it.

Left to right swatches: Lavender jumbo pencil, Rust jumbo pencil, Frostbite shadow from above.

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Transylvania. I wish I could convey how much I love a dark lip.  Like, a dark lip in fall with porcelain skin is my perfect look. I now have two of these, because I thought I lost the original that I scoured the Earth for. Literally, it was sold out for months. I also can't tell you how much I love these matte lip creams. I'm not a fan of glossy lips, so these are perfect. They last a good amount of time, but they're also easy to tuck in your purse and touch up when you need to.  So, Transylvania is a deep red with some purple undertones. It's actual perfection.
Here it is in all of it's glory:

Nordstrom Rack

Stila Coming Clean Revitalizing Gel Cleanser. Anyone else think of Hilary Duff's "Coming Clean" song? No... just me? There was a time when I got the Stila Face the Day moisturizer, and I was in love with it. Really liked it. So when I was browsing the make up at Nordstrom Rack, I saw this and just grabbed it. Let me just say that since I've starting using this, Tea Tree Water and 9 to 5 from LUSH, my skin has actually been looking clearer. Way less breakouts, guys, and that's important!


Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Revolver. So, this one, I just took a gamble on. It's a gunmetal color, which I love. However, it does have a metallic finish. I'm so-so on that so far. I've only tried it on a darker shadow look (you'll see below), but I think it would look way better on a lighter look. It definitely doesn't budge, though!

BirchBox

Leaving the best for last, because I got so many great things. *insert heart eyeballs emoji here*

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit in Light to Medium. I've been itching to get a contour kit for quite some time now, and I'm so glad I held out for it. The colors blend nicely, and they aren't too, too orange for a pale girl. I come across that a lot, and no thanks to the orange skin! I'm just overall really happy that I can do a more natural contour or a more dramatic one depending on how I'm feeling.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Taupe. Here's another product I just had to have. Basically everybody on YouTube uses this, and it always looks so flawless. Not only can you make your brows look really natural, but it also holds your them down and in place. I learned really quick that you only need the tiniest amount to get the whole brow done. It looked like a took a taupe sharpie to my face the first time. Not cute.

Coastal Scents Revealed 2 palette. This is the baby of the haul. I'm just so happy with it. Originally, I bought this for that deep red color in the bottom row. (4th in from the right) However, upon swatching, I'm literally in love with this palette. It's going to be a staple for fall, for sure. Tons of mauves, reds, browns, and golds. 

Here is that gorgeous red in action. Seriously, can you handle it? I can't. I've also got on the Urban Decay liner and contour palette, because it was all new, and I just had to play with it all!

What are some of your favorite recent purchases?!