Quick Thoughts: Palettes Edition

Hello beauty world,

I've been wanting to blog about something lately but I just couldn't seem to find the time or energy to sit down and write it down. I've been having a stressful/busy life lately. Anyways, decided to give a quick thoughts on my 4 most recent palettes that i've acquired in the past 4 to 5 months. I am not going to do swatches because they have been overly reviewed on the internet, so pictures of swatches are everywhere for you to take a look at them (sorry, being lazy here lol) Let's get down to it...

Let's begin with the infamous Naked 3 from Urban Decay. When I first found out about this palette, I was over the moon with excitement. It seemed quite promising and loved the fact that it was rose hues. As soon as it was available at Sephora.com I was all over it and placed my order immediately. I could not wait to get it in the mail and play with it. All that excitement lasted about a week after I received it. Don't get me wrong, the colors are beautiful but when it comes to eyeshadows I am extremely picky on how pigmented they are. This palette has a few shades that are just not good enough for me to love the palette as a whole. In order for me to say: "yes, i recommend it, it's a must buy" the palette as a whole has to be very pigmented. I love Urban Decay and i don't have a problem with the other palettes that I own from them but this one is just not my favorite and I do not find myself reaching for it. The shades that I am not completely happy with and wish that could be better: Dust, Burnout, Nooner, Buzz, and Limit. That is almost half the palette! All in all, if you're not as picky with the performance of a palette as a whole and want to add rose hues to your collection, I say give it a try but it is NOT a must for me.

Now that I got the bad sheep out the way let's go into a palette that I am LOVING!!! You have no idea how many times I went back and forth fighting myself not to buy it because I already have enough neutral palettes. But all of a sudden ulta came out with their Rockin' Red something something set that was $39 and I knew I could not pass up on it. That set included the Pro Palette and a pen liner, which I also like a lot. The is a well put together and a greatly executed product. I've never tried anything Lorac until I purchased this. The pigmentation of the shadows is AMAZING!!! Usually a matte finish is very difficult to come by in terms of blending once it's on the eyes but the 8 matte shadows on this palette are so silky smooth and blend beautifully with one another. Of course shimmery shadows are much easier to blend and the smooth texture combined with the amount of shimmer that these shadows have make it so much easier to achieve a flawless look each time. This is definitely my go to palette for my signature semi  brown smokey eye look that I usually do as an everyday look and I've noticed that i've already made a significant dent on the first two colors on the top (White & Cream) and the first two colors from the bottom row (Nude & Champagne). Lorac needs to make those two colors in full size (or do they already have them?? don't know, i haven't looked into the brand in depth) Though, I love the quality of all shadows and the color selection, the only color I wish could be a little more gold is the shade "Gold" I feel like it's a bit too dark to be a gold. I gravitate towards golds a lot but I can't seem to like this one very much :/ Anyways, if you don't own any nude palettes or you just want neutral earthy tones to add to your collection...this is a must! Side note: these are warm tones so if you don't like warm tones on you, this is not the palette for you and I suggest you get the naked 2 instead.

After Loving the Pro Palette, my coworker suggested I look into the Pro to Go Palette that had your basic neutral shades plus bronzer and two blushes. At that time I was content with just owning the Pro Palette and didn't think this was a must to get as well. But then Sephora was on a cleansing from all Lorac products and saw that they were $8 dollars off from their original price and decided to buy it since I love the quality of the shadows already. I wasn't too sure about the Bronzer and Blush quality but I liked that they were matte. This is a great palette to have for traveling. You can definitely do day and night looks and have the other basic essentials for a complete face look. Though I don't have anything bad to say about it, I can't say that this is something that you need in your collection. If you have the Pro Palette, that should be enough. The blushes are very pretty and silky smooth and have a great lasting power but I cannot say the same about the bronzer. I absolutely love that they are matte finishes but the bronzer is a bit too light for me. This palette is a maybe, you should get it if you don't want to try the other Pro Palette. I don't find myself reaching for this one that much.

Lastly on the list is the Anarchy Face Case by Urban Decay. I initially did not care for it when it came out. I only bought it until Sephora had it on sale for $29 and I mostly bought it because I love the Highgloss Lip pencil that it comes with. The shadows are quite nice and as usual, Urban Decay does a great job with the color combinations and quality of their shadows except that rosy tone shadow. I have a hard time using that one because it's so sheer and extremely glittery. But I love the silver shade that this palette comes with. The blushes are kind of funky and I don't see myself wearing them that often, I'm not much of a blush person in the first place but the bright pink one is a bit too much for me. Aside from the funky colors of the blushes, I feel like they are not smooth enough to apply them evenly on my skin. I don't use them quite often. The highlighter is great though, I love that it gives you that accented shimmer on your cheekbones but it's not overpowering that you can see it right off the bat unless you are under a light. The perversion pencil, I could care less for it. I don't like UD eye pencils because they glide off me quite fast, so I am a MAC Smolder fan for life :D Overall, this palette is a good value at the price that I payed for. I wouldn't have paid full price for it. It's definitely fun and had everything you need for a complete look. Is it a must have? not at all, like i said I mostly purchased it because of the lip product, which is  full size :D

So there you have it, a quick glance on my most recent palettes that i've acquired. All in all, the Lorac Pro Palette is worth giving it a try if you haven't already done so. The rest are eh and could be passed on to better palettes but me being the eyeshadow junkie that I am I buy these things to try out and just have :D Thanks for reading...

Until Next Time,

Dannely

Beauty Essentuals: Respecting Your Skin

The key to beautiful skin (besides drinking a lot of water and eating properly) is how you take care of it. I've noticed that a lot of girls (and guys) are so damn lazy. Girls primarily, I don't care if you are too damn drunk to or too tired to take off your makeup at the end of the night, just do it. It's not a difficult process.  Every time you leave your makeup on overnight you aren't allowing your skin to rejuvenate and breathe. You're allowing your pores to eat away the remaining products that you placed that day sink deep into your skin. This applies even more when your skin is bad already. It makes it worst.

I have found that  a simple makeup wipe doesn't do the trick in clearing everything from your face. You must use a cleanser or exfoliate to get rid of all your makeup. I also suggest that you exfoliate your face at least twice a week. By doing this, you are clearing away your dead skin cells and making room for new ones.

My Face Routine

1. Take off all Makeup With makeup Wipe

2. Rinse your face with the hottest water you can take

3. Use a cleanser/scrubber to exfoliate your skin

4.Rinse with cold water to close your pores. 

5.Pat Dry

6. Apply Moisturizer or night cream.

As long as you follow these steps every time you wear makeup, your skin should look younger and healthier. Of course like I said above, you must eat a balanced meal and drink a lot water too. I cannot go to sleep without washing my face, the days that I don't wear makeup i use a cream or liquid cleanser to remove excess oil from throughout the day. Since I do exfoliate more then twice a week, I don't have the need to do any type or treatments like masks or the lemon scrub one which is harsher on your skin but leaves it sooooo smooth and squeaky clean.I do recommend doing some masks or treatments such as the lemon one once a week. You'll definitely see a huge improvement on your skins smoothness and glow.

Hope this helps just a little bit and that you wash your face on a daily basis even when you don't use makeup.

Xoxo,
Dannely

Sigma Brush: Synthetic Sigmax Face Kit

I am back with a super super late "My Thoughts" segment. I know that these brushes have been overly reviewed by many guru's/bloggers BUT I have found that almost all have been sent these brushes for consideration and that to me basically means "hey imma give you free stuff now say something good about us".  I know that some bloggers may be trusted/don't give in to the "fame" but when you have taken blogging as a full time job, you gotta do what you gotta do. 

Anyways, I was really skeptical to actually spend my own money on them and let them be crap just like some of the Crown brushes are. I was in dire need of face brushes for contouring, liquid makeup application (bc i hate hate the flat foundation brush) and a blush brush. Now, I don't own any professional brushes/kit but i know that there are less pricier brushes out there that do the same job or even better but these brushes, I got to say, are worth the money. They only come in a little bag with information about the brushes and how you should take care of them. The brand new smell is kinda nasty but once you wash them, you should be fine. They give you a free blending brush to try which isn't very good bc once I washed it became so fluffy but it helps with the blending a lot lol








F80- Flat Kabuki 

I mostly use this brush for blush but it can also be used as a contouring brush. The brittles are soft and dense enough to pick up product easily. It doesn't shed any hairs unless you are going to tug/pull on them.  


















F82- Round Kabuki
This one is great for my liquid foundation and I don't think I would use it for anything else then that. It blends foundation really well. Depending on the kinda of foundation you use, it must be blended fast because it can get streaky if you don't. The bristles are denser then the other two brushes which is suppose to hold liquid foundation on the tip of the brush instead of sicking in. I really don't see the difference that much bc it soaks in my foundation and I have to pump out more to cover my face. Not only that, it takes forevvvverrrr to dry since it's so compact. 




F84- Angled Kabuki 

I love love loveee this brush for contouring. I bought this kit primarily for this brush. the density of this brush is "medium". not too soft yet not as dense as the F82. This one is also a little difficult to dry because the bristles are more densely packed. I usually use a hair drier to dry them. haha i know, i know it's bad but w.e. it gets the job done.














Overall Thoughts
Like I said, I don't own any professional or pricier brushes and at first i thought they were expensive since the company was new in the market still and not as high end but to my surprise it lives up to its name of great quality brushes. The only thing that I have against them is that they don't dry that fast. Also, I believe that this specific kit i bought no longer exists, they have now added a tapered brush for about four more dollars, which is a pretty good deal. Another thing that I dislike about the company is their shipping. Shipping is expensive and they don't have a buy $50 or more and get free standard shipping which really sucks and makes me not wanna buy from them anymore. But in the future I am thinking of giving the professional kit a try and see how that goes. The price of this kit was $52 dollars, for 3 brushes in my mind is kind of expensive but once you get them and get a feel for them, they are worth every penny. 

Wet 'n Wild: Comfort Zone Palette (My Thoughts)

First Impressions: Wet 'n Wild

        

I have finally tried Wet 'n Wild Cosmetics! HALLLELUYAHH! hahahaha I know this brand has been around for so long but hey once you try MAC you can never go back. LOL. And if you aren't satisfied with the other drugstore brands such as Covergirl, Maybelline or Revlon eyeshadows then you are definitely not going to pick up a brand that their highest priced palettes are $4.99. Pshhh that's what I thought about all the time! But after hearing so much that they are supposedly the best drugstore brand when it comes to eyeshadows I gave in and decided to by the Comfort Zone palette. 

This palette has two different quads. One that is neutral and the other you have a green combination. 

As with every already made palette there is always some shadows that are not as great as the rest of the others.

Hits:

Definer Brown color from the Neutral Quad is amazing! It is extremely pigmented.

Crease Copper color from the Neutral Quad is great also. Love Love the color payoff.

Browbone Silverish Color from the Green Quad is Awesome. This one kind of reminds me of Mushroom from Urban Decay but this one feel so smooth and frosty instead of rough and chunky glitter. 

Miss: 

Eyelid Green color from the Green Quad has little color pigmentation. I really had to layered it. I think if you put a similar color base it would pop out a lot more. 

Browbone Champagne color from the neutral color is very light, I understand that a highlight color shouldn't be overpowering but this one is not so pigmented and if you rub it too much it disappears. 

Definer iridescent brown/green color from the green quad is too weird of a color for me, it is not true to color once you put it on you eyelid.  

The rest of the colors are in the OKAY range for me. The green quad is more of a miss in terms of pigmentation because I wasn't too happy with the color payoff. They weren't that true to color, opposed to the neutral side which was really pigmented and true to color. The formula feels very velvety smooth when you touch them, and the blending power is great. They don't stay on forever but they do last quiet a bit of time. 

Overall I give them a 3.5/5. I am not a super fan of them but I am not dissing them either. I definitely think that they are way better quality then the other drugstore brands that i've tried. I can definitely see myself buying more of their products :)