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

Random "Looks"

I wanted to compile pictures of some of the makeup looks i've done on myself in the past but once I started looking through my pictures, I decided not to do any chronological looks because I wasn't too happy with the pictures themselves. LOL, you know us girls are super picky when it comes to selecting a picture that we like so I am just going to put up my 6 favorites from oldest to newest. I'll keep in mind to take good pictures of future looks so I can start building a portfolio. :D Enjoy.

Turquoise is simply my most favorite color to wear, so I am sorry for the repetition.

Until Next Time,

Dannely

Drugstore Products "Show & Tell"

WHATTTTT??? B shopping for makeup at the drugstore? lol...yes, I am even surprised. As i've stated before, I have been let down many times by the quality of certain drugstore brands so I usually do not purchase anything from there. But I actually went into Walgreens to see the e.l.f. villains collection and walked out with one product which was from the Fergie collection put out by Wet n Wild. I then went in search for the L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense at CVS and I was out of luck, so from there I walked out with an Alway Liquid Liner and the Out the Door Top Coat (recommendation from MakeupbyTiffanyD). I then ended up at Target and did not find the friggin L'Oreal liner either. Since Ulta is literally next to it I went in to browse around. ARGHHH it was bad going to the prestige side, I really wanted to buy the Lorac Pro Palette but I opted out because I own too many neutral shades and I have both UD Naked Palettes. Didn't need anymore. Anyways I finally found the L'Oreal Liner I was looking for and saw an NYX eyeshadow in the clearance section that I liked so I totally got it :D
Coming back home, I researched a little more on the Fergie Collection and saw that it was only available at Walgreens. Going on the website I saw that all of the products were on SALE plus an they had an extra site wide 15% off! I decided to get 3 more products that looked interesting and took advantage of also ordering some e.l.f products that i've been meaning to try. Now I haven't used these products extensively (i received the order today ^_^) so I can't really say much on how they perform but I did do a smokey look with the Fergie Eyeshadows in "Dutchess Lounge" and the highlighter powder, along with the e.l.f cream blush. Picture at the end. So here are some pictures and swatches. I'll probably do a "Thoughts" blog on some of the products once I use them enough.

Redesigned MAC Pro Palettes

I found out about the current redesigned pro palette not too long ago. I went online to see what people were saying and found that a lot of people did not like it because it's bulky compared to the old palettes. Which is true but since I am a somewhat neat freak when it comes to keeping my makeup in order I decided to give the Pro Palette Duo first. Keep in mind that you now have the option of buying them without inserts. Each insert costs $2 while the bare palette costs $8. That is quite inexpensive compared to the original price of $14 for the old version. Though the Duo palettes are not very convenient  because you cannot see what is inside it BUT I was tired of opening and closing blushes/highlighters/bronzers from their individual containers. The duo palette was perfect to fit most of those products without any problems

The Duo palette has space on both sides with a clear divider in the middle to keep product from transferring to the other side. The neat thing is that the base of these palettes are magnetic, so all you have to do is place magnetic tape on whatever it is that you want in there and it'll stick. Now, I have everything that I need in one single palette and I am able to put all of them to use and not just reach for one like I used to do in their own containers. Another thing that I like is that they are deep, that means that if you have a dome shaped powder, blush or eyeshadow, it is going to fit!

After liking how my blushes/highlighters/bronzers fit, I was left with two Tarte palettes that were just too bulky and I never reached for them. So I decided to depot the shadows, which you can see that i did major damage to them because they were superglued to those packages like no other! :/ I lost a few Tarte shadows completely. I didn't feel like repressing them again, so I just threw them away. After I kinda went a little crazy depotting some single shadows that I had. By having them in one single palette, i am able to use them more often and not just have shadows sitting around in my little drawers.

After I first tried out the Duo Palette I went back to the MAC store and purchased the other duo palette where my Tarte shadows are and decided to get a Single Pro Palette. These are so neat because they are clear in the front, which allows you to see what is inside instead of having them color coded like I did with the old all black palettes. Yes, they are taller then the original slim ones, but in length they are a little smaller. I would of preferred them to be slimmer like the old ones but you cannot get a see through palette (besides the Z palette) for $8 a piece.

Old All black MAC palette

Left: New Single Palette                                   Right:Old

Top: Old Palette        Bottom: New Single Palette

Overall, I am happy with MAC's new design of the Pro Palette's. The only downsize is that they are a little bulkyer and as usual they get dirty so fast but for someone as OCD as me when it comes to having my makeup organized, they do a pretty good job and for the price, they are very much worth it. 

Until Next Time,

Dannely

Too Faced Loves Sephora Palette: Thoughts

I will never call a post a "review" for two reasons: a) I feel like a review is an affiliated product that was sent by a company to people for consideration b) the products that I have, are bought because I have liked them and given them a chance to test out how they work on me. So here are my thoughts on this beautiful palette.

I did not buy this palette the same day I saw it at Sephora. I swatched it and it was beautiful. I was amazed at the pigmentation that most of the shadows have. I have a habit of sometimes purchasing things out of impulse, so I double thought about it and came back home without. I did a little research on the brand quality (yes, it's high end but not all high end brands are impressive) because I don't own anything that is made by Too Faced. I've been wanting to try the Chocolate Soleil Bronzer for a while now, so in all honesty it was the bronzer that made me go back and buy it. Yes, the shadows colors are beautiful and all but when you have almost every color in the rainbow already, these aren't as unique. But I didn't mind having a few dupes.

This palette contains 10 eyeshadows (0.06 oz/each) total : 8 base colors in (So Cal, TG <3's The Cast, Jer Jer, 525 Market, SOHO, Envy, David & Marg and 1998) and 2 transitional colors in (Piano Keyes & Behind the Counter). 2 Bronzers (0.14 oz/each) : Chocolate Soleil and Sun Bunny. 1 Blush (0.14 oz): Who's Your Poppy?. 1 Flatbuki Brush and 1 sample of Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease Eye Shadow Primer/Base. Oh and I almost forgot the Glamorous Guide that has looks you can achieve but I am a rebel and never ever use them.

Piano Keys: Ivory-Beige with small silver sparkles. I find this shadow to be on the chalky side. As a swatch it has a strong finish but once you apply it, it's a bit more sheer. Which is understandable because it's purpose is to be a highlight color.
Behind the Counter: Matte Soft Brown. The pigmentation is okay, not too bad but not the greatest of the bunch. Can be used as a transition/blending out colors.

Both transitional colors are adequate. Although, I would of preferred Piano Keys without any glitter. I like using Behind the Counter as a outer creese color for a soft smokey look.

Top
So Cal: Soft Pinky coral.
TF <3's The Cast: Foily olive/gold

Bottom
SOHO: Soft Lavender
Envy: Deep Eggplant-ish Purple

*Sorry I swatched them in the wrong order as the pictures :D

Left to Right: 525 Market, Jer Jer, TF <3's The Cast, and So Cal.

-So Cal is a pretty soft coral-ly pink. It swatches and applies a little bit sheer but the pigmentation could of been a little stronger. I am not saying it's bad but it's not super amazing like it's neighbor TF <3's The Cast. 
-TF <3's The Cast is a color unlike any I own. I love love it. On the pan it looks sort of gold but swatched it has a olive tone. It's super pigmented and just beautiful.
-Jer Jer is a gold with a little hint of bronze in my view. It's super pigmented and applies beautifully. 
- 525 Market is a dark reddish brown. I know it swatches straight out dark brown but once it is on the lid you can see the subtle hints of red. 

Top
Jer Jer: Gold with a hint of bronze
525 Market: Deep Brown/red

Bottom
David & Marg: Light Turquoise *reminds me of MAC's Steamy
1998: Pink/Purple with silver glitter.

Left to Right: 1998, David & Marg, Envy and SOHO.
 -1998 is a really pretty color overall. I think this color was another reason I ended up buying this palette. I don't have a color that comes close to it. It applies somewhat smooth but you really have to pack it on in order to achieve its true color and another downside is that it can come of somewhat chalky and there is lots of fall off. 
- David & Marg is your standard light turquoise in my opinion. It's smooth, applies beautiful and super pigmented. 
- Envy in my opinion is not such a unique color either but its a pretty deep purple. Very pigmented and applies well. 
-SOHO is a light lavender. Very sheer and not really my favorite but it would look really nice on dark complexions. 

Left: Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Middle: Sun Bunny Bronzer

Right: Who's Your Poppy? Blush

Chocolate Soleil Bronzer has a matte finish. This is the product that drove me to buy this palette but I feel like it's a bit on the orangy side for my skin tone. I am not dissapointed with it but I am still on the hunt for my perfect bronzer to contour my face with. 

Sun Bunny Bronzer is such a pretty bronzer. The bottom portion of it is buildable and so is the top but I mean for contouring purposes.The top can be used as a highlight but it works as a bronzer too if you want to achieve a subtle finish. They are so smooth and super pigmented. If my face weren't so oily I would use it more often. Might be perfect in the winter for my skin type. 

Who's Your Poppy? is a pinky coral but on the pinker side. It has shimmer and it reminds me of NARS Orgasm but a shade or two lighter. It's sheer with one swipe but definitely buildable. Again, for me it'll work in the winter but not so much in the summer. 


As for the brush that is comes with, it sucks! But I am not surprised because most of the small sized brushes that palettes bring are horrible and useless, well except the ones that Urban Decay have. As for the shadow insurance primer. It's just a primer. Nothing special. Primers are good but I can't say that I have a favorite one.


Final Thought: The overall value of this palette is great considering that the eyeshadows are full size. The bronzers & blush are less then half the full size but still a very good amount for the $52 prize tag. I am very impressed with the pigmentation of the shadows. The texture reminds me of MAC Veluxe Pearl finish, which I love because a little goes a long way and it's so velvety smooth. I am happy with the purchase. I can't say it's a MUST have but if you are starting out and want a colorful eyeshadows and try some of their bronzers and blush at the same time, go for it. It says that it is limited but for being a limited edition product it has been on the website for  quite  a few months now. I am not sure how long it will last but I believe in store they don't have it anymore. Hope you enjoyed and helped you a little to decide if you want to purchase it.

Until Next Time,

Dannely

Summer Blends Tutorial

Eye Products 
-Parfait Amour (Purple) [MAC]
-Swimming (Shimmer Green) [MAC]
-Humid (Dark Green) [MAC] 
-Naked (Beige) [Urban Decay]
-Frosty White [NYX] 
-Maybelline Gel Liner in Black
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner n Zero 
-Maybelline Falsies Mascara in Black

Face Products
 -MAC Pro Longwear in NC25 
-Physicians Formula Translucent Powder  
-MAC Mineralize Blush in Nuance
- Smashbox Soft Lights in Pearl   




Lip Products
-VS Cosmetics Lipstick in Tease  
-Stila Lip Liner in Contour No. 9  
-MAC Lipgloss in Baby Sparks   














Youtube Tutorial 

Haul-NUANCE by Salma Hayek

So I took a little trip to CVS today to buy some toiletries and came across the line that I was looking for. It was kind of hidden, so maybe that's why I had not been able to find it previously. I think they just started taking out the products because there were only a few in stock and not all of them were in stock. Since I was getting stuff that gave me Extra Bucks Back and had a few discount coupons, I decided to splurge a little bit.:)

Beautiful Blends Eye Quad Neutral 080: This is the packaging it comes with. It's very sleek and simple. I am really loving this quad. The colors are beautiful and the pigmentation is Amazing. 

Price in store:$9.29
Price Online:$8.49

Above ^ : That is the box that the quad comes in.


<--Below: Eye Quad Packaging. So Cute!! >_<

Info: Create the perfect natural look with neutral colors that shade, highlight and define. Combine the four complementary shades to highlight, contour and define for a complete look, or use separately to create multiple looks. Fine-milled pigments leave a light, velvety finish that spreads and blends easily. Rice lipids & vitamin E condition, nourish and protect lids. Paraben free. Fragrance free. Not tested on animals.

This is how it looks when two are popped out and when all the shadows are popped out.

To the Right: Swatches with a primer. (Left to Right) Frosted Blush, Champagne Gold, Shimmering Bronze and Toasted Almond.

To the Left: Swatches with the shadows without primer in the same order as above.

Rate: 5/5 :)

To the Right: Rose Petal Hydrating Balm. Really cute package but it was really small. Didn't find it worth keeping so I returned it.
Prince in Store: $7.99 
Price Online: $7.29

Info: Rose Petal Hydrating Balm Evening Primrose, rich in essential fatty acids, helps condition skin and ease irritation. Shea Butter helps provide long-lasting nourishment for soft, smooth skin. Paraben free. Not tested on animals.
 

<--Very Small. Was kind of disappointing.

--> But the color is really pretty..the smell...uhhh not so pretty. It has a very weird smell. Didn't Like it. I didn't want to touch it since I was returning it so I can't say anything about the consistency.



Rate: 1/5

 <-- Brow Kit in Brown: Contains brow powder, golden highlighter and grooming wax, plus an angled brow-defining brush perfect for shaping flawless arches. Fragrance free. Paraben free. Not tested on animals.

Price In Store: $10.99
Price Online:$9.99

(Left to Right): Wax, Shimmery Highlight Cream Color and Brown Powder.

My Thoughts: The brushes it comes with suck. I threw them away. The wax feels very weird and sticky but it does the job. I don't really like the highlight color...its really hard to get out or get any product on my fingers. The powder is really nice but I think it is a little to dark for my eyebrows or maybe just gotta get used to it. haha But i think i like my Smashbox one much more than this one.

Rate: 3.5/5

All the Products -->

Oh yeah forgot about the Skin primer.


Skin Primer: I really Like this one. It reminds me of the L'Oreal Studio Secrets Face Primer But has a lot more good stuff for your skin and doesn't feel oily. Sets in fast and my face feels sooo soft. 
Price in Store:$13.29
Prince Online:$11.99
Rate: 4.5/5
 Info: White lupin seeds & safflower seed oil help improve skin's firmness and elasticity. Pumpkin seedcake nourishes and delivers improved radiance. Soft-light diffusion technology helps create a healthy glow. Vitamin E nourishes and protects skin. Paraben free. Fragrance free.


Overall I am satisfied with all my purchases with the exception of the Hydrating Balm and I am looking forward to trying out other products from her line. I would check things out in the store and see what you would want to try & maybe order them online since they are less expensive than in store.  :)





-Dannely

"With a Sprinkle of Pixie Dust ;)"