Red & Purple | Review

Today I was sifting through my makeup for an idea on what makeup products I wanted to talk about, review, etc., and I pulled out these two eyeshadow singles for no apparent reason. I thought about it for a second, and realized that to me, personally, both of these eyeshadows are very eye-catching. The packaging, the color, the little golden sheen in both - they're truly very beautiful, and I love them for that reason alone.

But, I decided to go a little deeper and review both of them. Eye-catching and beautiful doesn't always mean good. They can be chalky, not pigmented, so glittery that you get none of the color and all of the glitter. So, what about these two? Are they worth it? Let's check it out!

First up is a NAR's single in the color 'Strada.' This is one of the first eyeshadows I ever bought, and honestly I got it because it was gorgeous. It also swatched very prettily, as you can see - it's a dusky purple with gold glitter, and I was so taken with those gold glitters. I believe this cost about $20, maybe more, but after playing around with it at home I realized that I should have picked another shade (or been smart and checked the reviews!). While it swatches so prettily, it's SO difficult to work with on the eyes. If you pat it on the lid very thickly as the primary color, it will go on pretty well but it faded for me very fast, even with a primer, and mostly the glitter was left. If you blend it too much, it becomes rather muddy looking and it's practically unfixable. It's a very difficult shadow to work with, though I find it works best used sparingly, so it's not a total loss. I like to use it on the lower lid sometimes for a pop of subtle color. It's not terrible, but it's not great. Definitely better purples out there.

Now this one I actually ordered online. It's from Style Nanda's makeup brand, 3 Concept Eyes. This is the color 'Saturn.' I was intrigued by that vibrant red online, and when I got it in the package, I was so pleased with how it swatched. As you can see, it swatches a beautiful fiery golden-red color. It seems to have a gold duochrome in it, which is just beautiful. I was also very happy to find out it was pretty lovely to work with. Patting it all over my lid produces that gorgeous red color, which fades slightly throughout the day but still looks lovely. It's also a great lower lid accent if you want something more subtle. Overall, I was so happy with this eyeshadow, especially because reds can sometimes be a little disappointing. It costs 11,000 won, which is about $9.50.

I've really been getting into wearing more colorful eyeshadows lately, so hopefully I'll be able to review more for you guys soon!

Haul | Most Recent Items I've Purchased

I finally return to beauty! I suppose this is more of a collective haul, built up over the last two months or so. But, as they're recent enough, and I've got quite a few things, a haul post seemed in order! The picture quality isn't so great, and for that I apologize. The natural light was dying and I'm a bit out of practice. I'll probably do more in depth reviews on individual items as I progress in using them and get a better understanding of them, but for now, let's see what I've picked up!

-Nyx HD Finishing Powder in Mint Green

-MAC lipstick in 'Syrup

-MAC Viva Glam lipstick in Miley Cyrus

-Milani blushes in Tea Rose and Romantic Rose

-Nyx Micro Brow Pencil in Chocolate

-MUFE Step 1 Primer in the white 'Nourishing' tube

-NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly

-Kat Van D Tattoo liner in black

-MAC Mineralize liquid foundation in NW13

I've also collected a few bits and bobs from my Birchbox subscription but I won't include those here. I might do a few reviews on things from the boxes, though, if I get around to it. As it is, I have a lot of things to review!

NARS Sheer Glow | Review

Hello everybody! Today I decided to review a very popular item in the beauty world. The Nars Sheer Glow foundation has been passed through many beauty-hardened hands, and has a rather half-and-half reputation from what I've seen. Some people seem to swear by this foundation, some people say it absolutely didn't work for them and they don't get the hype.

So, why not offer my contribution to the multitude of opinions? For reference, I have the color Mont Blanc or Light 2, which is one of their palest colors and has somewhat warm tones to it. I'm not entirely sure if they have formulas based on warm or cool skin tones. In any case, the color suits me quite well and I have no problems with mismatching of color. 

I got the Sheer Glow instead of Matte because I have fairly dry skin, and I love a glowy look to my skin. This foundation is supposed to help those with dry skin as well as give a dewy finish. I have to say that the promised dewy finish is a little lacking, at least for my tastes. It goes on quite sheer, as the name implies, but is also buildable, and doesn't look streaky or cake-y on my face. I'm always a bit disappointed with the lack of a glowy finish, but I don't mind terribly. 

I will say this foundation doesn't offer anything outstanding, but it is a pretty decent foundation and I enjoy using it. I may not purchase it again, as it runs for a pretty penny, but it was a fun product to try out and use. I definitely wish it came with a pump, as I find pumps to be much more useful and less wasteful. For this one, you have to shake the bottle then open it up and apply. You have to be careful with pouring it out, as you can end up pouring too much (it's slightly runny, so watch for that). I love the packaging, it's gorgeous and feels like the high-end product that it is. 

I will also note that when my skin is particularly dry, it tends to cling to those dry patches and draw attention to them. That is also a bit of a skincare problem, and I'm still working out a flawless routine for those stubborn dry patches.

So, all in all, this foundation is pretty cool, but not THAT cool. You know what I mean? It does nothing beyond amazing for me, but it is a decent foundation that I like. I likely won't buy it again, and will move on to different foundations to try out and hope for the best.

Hope this review was helpful or insightful in some way! Thank you for reading. xx

Sephora & Ulta Haul

I went a little crazy in Sephora and Ulta recently and picked up quite a few things. So, I decided to share what I bought with you!

First I'll go over my Ulta purchases, since I only bought a couple of things from there.

I picked up one of the Melted lipsticks from Too Faced. I've been dying to try these out, especially as they're coming out with eight new shades in a couple of days. I picked up the color Melted Fig, which is a beautiful dusky purple color. I'm absolutely in love with it. It also smells like candy, which is an added bonus. I really want to get a few more shades (I've got my eye on Berry), and I also can't wait to see the new shades. 

Finally I got two Nyx blushes, as they were having a buy-one-get-one sale on some Nyx products. I got Apricot, which is the light pinky color. It's very pretty, and has tiny little shimmers. I also got Terra Cotta, which is a beautiful gold/light bronze color, and also shimmery. I plan to try it out as a bronzer and see how that goes.

I also got the Vice 3 palette from Urban Decay. I'm so happy about this palette! I know that it's been out a couple of months so it's nothing brand new, but I'm in love with it. The colors are gorgeous. I also love the giant mirror it comes with. I'll try and maybe photograph some looks that I use this palette with.

I picked up Nars' Dolce Vita blush, which I'd heard some good things about. I also didn't have such a dark, wintry looking shade so I was dying to get it. The first Sephora I went to was completely sold out of it, I had to get it from another one. I'm so happy they had it, it's truly gorgeous.

I also got the full size Urban Decay primer potion. I really like this product, I got to try a sample of it and fell in love. My eyelids get pretty oily and this makes my eyeshadow stick like nothing else. It's a pretty standard, popular product and nothing new.

I also got the Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil. I've heard great things about it, and decided to try it out. 

Lastly, I got the YSL glossy stain lipstick in Rouge Laque. I put it on almost immediately after leaving the store, and let me just say this is an absolutely gorgeous lip product. I'm so in love with it. It's sleek, opaque, easy to use, and looks absolutely beautiful. Once it dries it stays on super well, as the "stain" in the name implies. It barely budges until I eat, and then some comes off. I'm so enamored with this! It's soooo so so pretty.

Wow, that's quite a lot...but so worth it. I'm happy with everything I got. I'm afraid that's all I've got for today! Much love xx

Top 5 Lipsticks

I decided to gather up my five favorite lipsticks, both drugstore an high-end, and write a little bit about each and why they're my favorite! I don't know about you, but lipsticks are one of my guilty pleasure products. I hoard lipsticks, and often have to restrain myself from buying more. I actually have this product with most makeup products...perhaps I'm just a makeup hoarder?

I have two high-end and three drugstore lipsticks here, and while they are some of my favorites, it's nice to have some of the affordable variety. Here we go, from left to right:

Milani Lipstick in Black Cherry - The Milani lipsticks are some of my favorite drugstore lip products in general. They come in a variety of textures (cream, matte, etc., just read the labels) and are extremely smooth and colorful. They also smell wonderful! Black Cherry is a dark purple-y red color, and looks gorgeous on pale skin (like mine). I believe Milani lipsticks run for about $6-7, and I buy mine at Walgreens.

NARS Audacious Lipstick in Annabella - The Audacious line is gorgeous in and of itself. Annabella is actually my first lip product from Nars, and I have to say I'm super impressed!! It's a super bright red that, again, looks gorgeous on pale skin. I'd naturally recommend a lip liner for this, or any red lipstick, as they can be difficult to work with, but it's so worth it. These run for about $35 a tube I believe. Quite expensive, but worth it in my opinion. And of course, there are always drugstore dupes to be found.

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Addis Ababa - I picked this color because it's a bright, almost hot pink/fuschia color, and I didn't have the color in my line up. But let me just say the soft matte creams from Nyx are AMAZING. I literally love every single color. They are so lovely. For a drugstore lip product, I highly recommend investing in these, or even their lip butters. I just love the way these smell, their texture, their color pay-off, their lasting power, everything. I'm highly impressed with these. Nyx is one of my fave drugstore brands anyway, but wow! I can't adequately express my love for these without rambling for ages. I literally want every single color. For those confused by the name, these lipsticks are a cream, but dry matte on the lips, and they don't dry your lips out at all. Which is great, because my lips get super dry. These run for about $5 I believe.

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in Pourpre Intouchable - Yet another high-end, these lipsticks run for about $32 at Sephora. I was drawn in by YSL's gorgeous packaging, but I have to say this lipstick quickly became a favorite. I'm not sure about their other colors, and would like to try them, but this one suits my skin tone particularly well. As a shine, it's a little sheer, but is buildable, and has tiny little glitters in it. It also smells like peaches, aka delightful. The tube feels weighty and expensive in my hand, which just sings to my inner makeup hoarder. I really love this lipstick, and plan to invest in a few more YSL colors in the future. 

Rimmel Lipstick in Bordeaux - I have many of the Kate Moss lipsticks from Rimmel, but this one beat them out just a bit. It's one of my oldest lippies in my collection, and an old favorite. It's a dark burgundy red, absolutely beautiful, and again it smells oddly nice (though the Kate Moss lippies smell even better). It really sticks to my lips, even on my long days, and doesn't cake up on my lips and make them look dry and cracked. It's one of those that I constantly reach for, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap, good lipstick. In fact, I'd recommend Rimmel in general! They're pretty great.

So, there you have it! My top five favorite lipsticks. I'm sure I'll do many more top five product posts, as I highly enjoyed making this and sharing what I love. As my collection grows, I may also make a separate drugstore faves & high-end faves! Who knows :)

See you around lovies xx