Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer Review

Hello lovelies, it’s time for another bronzer review this time from Benefit called Hoola.  I’ve been on a bit of a bronzer kick lately especially for mattes that I can double for contouring because I have a round face that comes off flat but this irk is a quick fix with the right bronzer.       Benefit’s Hoola retails for $28 USD for 0.28 oz of product.  It’s priced very well for the quantity and quality.  A Nars bronzer will usually be about $36 USD for 0.28 oz and most Too Faced bronzers will run you $30 for 0.35 oz so it’s in that ballpark for comparison.  You can find Hoola on Benefit’s main site and in-stores at Macy, Sephora, Ulta, Bloomingdales, etc.  Throw a rock in a direction and you’re bound to find a mall or department store that sells it.  I know Benefit flagship stores exist but I think there are like…40-ish in the entire world?  I saw one in London once and had that “Oh my god, they do exist” moment of awe.

Packaging is a cute little box with a magnetic closure.  It’s a bit of an unusual container if you’re not familiar with Benefit’s boxes because it’s just a cardboard box with a tiny little mirror and wooden paddle brush.  Most other companies package their bronzers in some sort of compact so you can toss in a bag and go while this is more setup for sitting on your counter.  You CAN keep it in your purse or makeup bag, it’s sturdy enough for travel but you might ding your perfect corners a little and any liquids will be a deterioration risk on the cardboard, and again, risk scratching that cardboard surface as well.

The paddle brush comes off small.  I mean, it’s tiny looking and almost looks too tiny for application but the bristles are extremely soft so they spread out during application for a wider coverage that doesn’t carry heavily across your face.  You can check out swatches later for what I mean.  There is some minor initial shedding out of the box but nothing so drastic that you’ll get tiny hairs all over your face after that.  I tend to prefer an angled contour brush for better control but this is a nice addition to the box and in a pinch does the trick.

The bronzer is a finely milled pressed powder and feels soft and velvety smooth on your skin.  It does not feel powdery or dry.  The shade itself is close but definitely not as dark as Too Faced Chocolate Soleil with a cool undertone and no fragrance whatsoever.  It’s a VERY flattering matte contour color.  No glitter, no shimmer, no funky orange undertones…it’s phenomenal and comes off for day application much more natural and cooler in undertone than my other bronzers.  If bronzers could talk then I’m pretty sure my Chocolate Soleil is calling me a cheating harlot right now

Here are my swatches.  I did two things with this.  The upper bar was my sweep with the makeup brush that came with the box brushed sideways for originally a narrow stroke but the soft bristles spread out WIDER than I anticipated during application.  A gentler touch would make that line narrower but at least there’s a visual of just how wide and soft a coverage you can get with the packaged brush.  The lower bar is with my finger so it’s more concentrated than the the softer line above.  Overall awesome pigmentation where a little goes a long way with buildable color straight from that cute powder box.  Dark skin tones may find it too light but would work very well for light to medium with it looking softer on medium, of course.  I found it easier to blend out with one of my rounded powder brushes than with my fingertips.

Well, my lovelies, that’s Benefit’s Hoola bronzer in a nutshell and it is superb.  I love it and would definitely rebuy this baby if I ever ran out.  If you’ve tried this comment or have a favorite bronzer recommendation feel free to comment below.  🙂

Aqualillies for Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eye and Cheek Palette Review

Hello lovelies and here is another review with Tarte’s new limited edition waterproof eye and cheek palette called Aqualillies just in time for wallowing by your local poolside with vibrant colors.             

This palette slipped under my radar the first time around because I got gobsmacked by shinier things (Too Faced Loves Sephora palette) but now that my head is cleared I was able to give this lovely palette the love it deserves…and it is quite lovely indeed.

This is a very summery palette built with a waterproof formula to tide you over while you’re at the pool with a color wheel array of 6×0.04 oz eyeshadow, 0.23 oz of blush, 0.14 oz shimmery highlight powder, and 0.13 oz mineral bronzer.  All formulated with Tarte’s infamous Amazonian clay without parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and not a touch of animal testing.  All packaged in one strikingly beautiful gold, teal, and red plastic palette with a gigantic mirror.

Everything is so soft and pretty with the most perfectly balanced, complimentary selection of summer colors.  Even if the eyeshadow shades look a tad on the “safe” side of being classic and feminine, I highly suggest giving this palette a look over at least for the blush and bronzer.

The blush is so fab.  Called Captivating, its perfectly coral making it an easy wear for most skin-types for that gorgeous summer flush.  Let’s explore now in swatches!

I’ve taken from left to right swatches of this palette’s Captivating blush, Park Avenue Princess bronzer, and Champagne shimmer.  Captivating is as its name and blends like a dream.  I love Tarte’s blushes because they give me a good day’s worth of lasting power without fading but this shade is just so beautifully flattering and easy to lay without looking overpowering.  One very foolproof blush.  Park Avenue Princess is also a lovely matte brown bronzer and is VERY similar to Chocolate Soleil but without the chocolate fragrance.  As such, this palette might very well intrigue some bronze hunters who might otherwise abhor fragrance in their makeup.  Champagne is much like its namesake with a classically soft shimmer that glistens across your cheeks with nary a sparkle or shed of glitter in sight to attack your pores.  It’s just one awesome highlight that I’m on the fence if I like this over my Watt’s Up! highlighter because it’s just as flattering in a straight-up powder format so it’s a less dewy, drier finished version of the Benefit highlighter and lasts me a hours.  I feel like this highlight is going to be used a lot over the summer from me.

The eyeshadow is a delight.  Left to right in order:  Hammock, Bikini, Barefoot, Parasol, Sundeck, and Poolside.  Soft and shimmery for the most part and no glitter.  Most likely for the best to have no glitter as this is intended for poolside wear and I shudder to think of glitter being summer-friendly with sweat and water moving it all around your face.  The formula itself goes on soft and smooth, goes on a lot better than previous Tarte shadows I’ve played with in the past.

First set of up-close swatches with Hammock, Bikini, and Barefoot.  Hammock is a deep, dark coffee brown.  Bikini is a duo-chrome golden sand with pinky undertones as light reflects off it.  Barefoot is also a sandy champagne beige.

Here are the second set of up-close swatches with Parasol, Sundeck, and Poolside.  Parasol is a pale white shimmer.  Sundeck is a matte terracotta brown.  Poolside is a soft teal.

As for waterproof?  Well, that’s the palette’s claim so I took my swatches in the shower and gave it a whirl with my basic morning shower routine.  Sure, to be fair it’s hot water and with some soapy risks but if it can last on my arms with that much exposure then it’ll last some dunks in the pool with chlorine, right?

Here are my results post-shower.  Left arm had my blush, bronzer, and shimmer.  Right arm had the 6 shadows set across like in previous swatches.  There were mild fading across the board but not so much that you’d have to reapply entirely, and again, these tests were done in hot water so cool water will be less harsh.  I wouldn’t say these were “waterproof” so much as “water-resistant” though and at least when it fades it does so evenly rather than in patches like some shadows are likely to do so it still looks flattering albeit lighter.

Overall lovelies, that’s Aqualillies in a nutshell.  It’s a pretty palette worth a peek that will have a place in your summer stash.  The bronzer, blush, and highlight are gorgeous and reason enough to pick this up and the eyeshadow are flattering across the board.  If you’ve used this palette before or palette suggestions please let me know what you think in the comments below!

Too Faced Loves Sephora 15 Years of Beauty Palette Review

Hello lovelies! May is here and Too Faced just released recently a few weeks ago their Too Faced Loves Sephora 15 Years of Beauty Palette as a new limited edition exclusive to Sephora.  Phew, that’s a mouthful of a name for a palette! I was so excited about seeing this that I knew it had to be mine.

          

This little bad boy has $245 USD worth of product for a smooth $52 USD.  Numbers are just numbers so let me count the number of goodies this palette contains in its slim case adorably modeled after Sephora’s recognizable black and white stripes.  You might have to sit down for this because this palette smorgasbord has ten full-sized 0.06 oz of eyeshadow, two 0.14 oz bronzers in Chocolate Soleil and Sun Bunny, 0.14 oz of Who’s Your Poppy blush, a 0.11 oz travel-sized tube of Shadow Insurance Primer, an adorable travel-sized flat kabuki brush, and an instructional Glamour Guide booklet with 15 different looks using this palette.  Too Faced truly does love Sephora.  This, I warn you, is going to be a swatch-tastic review of epic proportions.

Be still my beating heart, look at all that product in a streamlined metal palette.  It’s all cruelty-free and formulated without parabens for the conscientious user. This is not as BIG as Too Faced’s 2012 holiday Sweet Indulgence palette that I reviewed a while back but it’s still worth every penny and more from all the goodies Too Faced snuck into this slim metal case making this a much more travel-friendly palette built with literally all you need aside from your foundation for a trip.

So much shadow-lisciousness in one tin.  These shadows came out awesome in swatching.  Here are all the lovelies laid out in a row left to right: Piano Keys, So Cal, TF Hearts The Cast, Jer Jer, 525 Market, Beyond the Counter, Soho, Envy, David & Marg, and 1998.  I couldn’t resist swatching these a couple of times and taking pictures outside so you can see just how the light reflects on these powerfully pigmented shades varying from soft satin finishes to frosty shimmer delights but no true mattes in this palette.  They all have that silky smooth texture and wear amazingly well for a full 8-hour day over primer with no creasing or fading much like what you would expect from Too Faced with no noticeable fallout.  Let’s explore these colors further!

Here I have swatched left to right in chunks: Piano Keys, So Cal, Behind the Counter, and Soho.  Piano Keys is a lovely beige colored highlight that I THOUGHT would be matte but closer inspection I saw little flecks of glitter that give this a velvet finish.  Definitely beautiful and subtle without looking like a glitter bomb.  So Cal appears as a soft blushing pink with a pearl luster.  Behind the Counter is a taupe with a satin finish.  Finally Soho is a frosted mauve. 

Second set of eyeshadow swatches are: TF Heart’s The Cast, Jer Jer, and 525 Market.  TF Heart’s The Cast is a metallic gold but not in a traditional golden shade…it comes off to me like raw gold ore where it’s not the shade you find in processed, pure gold.  It’s an awkward explanation but the way light hits it outside in natural lighting gives it an unprocessed ore look that washes out the gold making it almost come out like a metallic graphite but indoor lighting brought out the pale gold undertones that you see in the pan.  Jer Jer is more straightforward shade in a bold metallic coppery-gold.  525 Market is another bold mettalic in a pure reddish copper.

Third set is Envy, David & Marg, and 1998.  Envy is a glam dark purple with a shimmer finish.  David & Marg is a bright metallic teal.  I just want to line my lids in that blue, it’s so hot.  1998 is a hot pink with glitter.

Next up are Too Faced’s amazing blush and bronzer set.  Left to right in swatching is Chocolate Soleil, Sun Bunny split into the upper light shade, the lower dark shade, and a blended swatch of both colors.  The fifth and final one is a swatch of Who’s Your Poppy blush.  As soon as I opened up my tin I was hit with that yummy smell of Chocolate Soleil and unlike my deluxe sample compact, the fragrance lingers longer on my skin.  It’s amazing but some folks may find scented products a turn-off.  I love Chocolate Soleil not just for its amazing scent but because it’s the perfect brown matte bronzer shade for contouring as well as giving you a natural summer glow with no orange undertones.  Very pigmented as it is, just use a light touch to make this perfect for both fair to medium skin tones.  Sun Bunny is a shimmer bronze with some orange undertone so fair skin tones may prefer to use the lighter shade by itself (second swatch) versus the darker half (third swatch) which is better suited for medium tones.  You can blend both for a strong, coppery tone (fourth swatch) but use lightly and tap off excess on your brush or you may come out too orange.

Finally, Who’s Your Poppy is a beautiful blush on the fifth swatch bar that is VERY close to Nars Orgasm but just a touch more of a natural peach flush that it looks very flattering.  It’s a rare comparison that I make to Nars Orgasm because I’m in that rare camp that Orgasm appears a little unflattering or unnatural on my medium skin tone.  I know, it’s unfair but I can deal.  Who’s Your Poppy just happens to be that right shade that has the same effect on my skin tone that I envied in how awesome Orgasm appeared on other women.  It’s like I finally get to enjoy the shade that everyone else gets to but just for a wee bit less on my pocket book.  Again, this I can deal.  😀

The final bits of the palette is the flat kabuki brush and the mini eyeshadow primer in Shadow Insurance.  The brush is a cute addition and the bristles are very, very soft.  It’s made with Too Faced’s infamous “Teddy Bear Hair” synthetic bristles.  I prefer my brushes a little stiffer for blush and bronzer application but it’s a nice addition even if it may not get a lot of use from me.  The primer is a very solid addition to round out this bad boy and will give you the same coverage as say Urban Decay’s Primer Potion.  It’s one of those “po-TAY-to po-TA-to” deals as far as eyeshadow primers go that both Shadow Insurance and Primer Potion work similar enough that it becomes an intense debate among primer fan camps.

In addition to the other goodies above, Too Faced includes a dual-sided Glamour Guide booklet of 15 different looks front to back so this gives you a plethora of styles to pick from if you’re not sure how to use this palette.  You’ll find there is a lot to choose with everything under the sun you can do from soft, neutral day looks to some playful dabbling in colors before going all out with some sultry hot smokey eyes and daring glam rocker looks.  Seriously, if you have no idea what to do with these or wondered how to do a certain look, Too Faced walks you by the hand making sure you enjoy the heck out of this palette or at least inspire you to try something different with your look so nothing goes to waste.

Overall this is an awesome limited edition palette that I highly recommend picking up. Its overall value alone combined with its flattering selection of products make this phenomenal across the board for a variety of skin types.  The blush is just universally flattering in a shimmery peach.  I love that they gave you both a classic brown matte bronzer which works so well for contouring and is so very flattering.  The dual shimmer bronzer is also nice by giving you both tri-fold shimmer options with the light/dark halves or the choice to blend both together so this bronzer is very flexible for most skin types.  Combine that with an amazing selection of silky smooth eyeshadow, I couldn’t find a dud among them and didn’t find any fallout problems.  They’re just such gorgeous colors and nothing is overwhelming with your Glamour Guide at your side to ease you in to all there is to play with in this palette.

That is all, my lovelies!  I hope you folks get to play with this palette and let me know what you thought of this new palette in the comments below.

Charlotte Ronson goes Bye-Bye!

Well, lovelies…I recently when a-hauling last week Thursday at Sephora and picked up a number of goodies with their special 15% off discount for VIBs and the cute Sephora bag of samples galore!  Finally, I cowed down and picked up the Urban Decay Theodora palette.  My inner evil witch cravings had to be satiated after all these months since I got the Glinda palette but I’ll save a Theodora review for later.

In any case, while I went a-hauling I noticed that the Charlotte Ronson line was being discounted for “a limited time” by a number of signs in-store but after some prying it seems like the brand is permanently on the out and out by autumn.  So, if anyone was a fan of Charlotte Ronson’s makeup line at Sephora then now is the time to stock up on your favorites while the prices are hot before the line goes bye-bye for good.  Now, if you’re like I was, you prolly walked past the Charlotte Ronson products at Sephora and never gave it a go and are skeptical about buying anything when there were other goodies nearby.  I bit the bullet and picked up a boxed kit of Charlotte Ronson’s On-the-Glow because it was 30% discounted plus my 15% and it had a ton of full-sized products kitted together for less than if you bought the products individually.  This review is gonna be big and picture-heavy.

Overall it came with an All Eye Need Eye Shadow palette in Nicole, All Eye Want Eye Liner pencil in Ali, A Perfect Kiss Lip Gloss in Eleanor, and 3x Charm Luminizer, Blush, Bronzer in Shoshanna.  All are full-sized products so  if you don’t care for the set you can pick up the individual pieces by themselves and in different colors with some exception of the pencil liner comes only in a giant eye pencil kit.  If you can tell, almost all of the colors are named after one of Charlotte Ronsons’s friends so the names aren’t going to be a big clue as to the colors without some swatching.  So far a lot of product to go through all at once but let’s get cracking!

Let’s start with the Nicole eyeshadow because I heart eyeshadow.  The palette comes with four colors each 0.08 oz worth per shade.  Checking the Sephora website, the product is named after Nicole Richie supposedly after her “natural glow.”  I didn’t make it up!  All the colors have one little blurb or another about Charlotte’s friends that she named her products after which I could take or leave but it doesn’t tell me much of the palette in-store unless I looked up online which Dani, Nicole, Henrietta she’s talking about but I digress, I’m still giggling about one of Kat Von D’s eyeshadows named the “Violator.”  As you can see, the palette is a summery set of golden undertones and glowing coppers and browns.

In swatching, they are pretty darn close to pan shade.  It’s very orange-ish and shimmery in the coppers and not everyone is going to dig that much orange or that much shimmer but they are definitely fun, youthful colors if you wanted to buy the palette indvidually discounted at $15 USD.   Colors have decent pigmentation and the wear time was suitable for an evening with a good primer.  I was only disappointed by the yellow…I just wanted it a bit more saturated.

Drum roll please and now we have 3x Charm Luminizer, Blush, Bronzer in Shoshanna with 0.29 oz of product per pan.  At first I thought, hey, a luminzer, blush, and bronzer all in one palette that doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg?  Overall I was the least impressed by this product.  Oh, sure, the colors you see above look pigmented enough in swatches and they do blend well and have a modest amount of shimmer to them but in all honesty their lasting power was…non-existent.  After 2-3 hours it was very faded, 4 hours and they were gone.  My makeup pet peeve is staying power and the last thing I recommend is stuff disappearing after a few hours so this is a fail.

Now, as for the shades themselves, the bronzer is a little orangey for pale skin tones.  If you are lucky enough to be able to work orange bronzer (bless your heart) then the next problem you have is this won’t last you half the day.  The blush is an adorably cute pink shade but little lasting power just nixes this for me when I have drugstore brand blushes that last longer than this.  I LOVE the shade of the blush but…it just doesn’t last at all on me, phooey!  As for the luminizer?  It’s not enough to save this palette.  It’s nice blended out for a decent highlighter but there are so many better ones on the market and if you’re not careful it will come out like chalk on some skin tones.

The A Perfect Kiss Lip Gloss in Eleanor is next containing 0.08 oz of product.  It’s a sheer pink gloss which looks alright swatched on my arm but the color is too sheer even when layered to appear on my lips.  This is a skip unless your lips are paler than Eleanor but even if darker I’m just not uber-excited about the gloss but it does apply smooth with no tacky texture.

Finally All Eye Want Eye Liner pencil in Ali.  It is 0.04 oz of product and comes off as a gold.  The pencil comes with a smudger on one end so in swatches I have on left the bold line to show off color, middle line showing it blended, and right line to show just how it comes off in one stroke.  It goes on smooth but overall it didn’t last as long on my eyes as I would have liked and it faded after a few hours.  Couple this with the fact you can’t buy the shade individually even if you wanted to means you’ll have to buy the full pencil set as of right now $34 USD on discount.  This makes for one unhappy camper.  Not a good recommendation.

Alright lovelies, that’s my take on some of Charlotte Ronson’s products in a nutshell.  I think the eyeshadow palettes are worth looking into if you have a chance but otherwise I was either disappointed or not blown away by the other products.  Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and have better results than I did! 😦

Too Faced Sweet Indulgence Palette Review

Hello Lovelies!  Packing and getting ready for Pax this weekend so today I went back through my stash and found a solid goodie to put on review: Too Faced’s Sweet Indulgence Palette.  This is a not-so-new palette released during the 2012 holiday season that I bought as a holiday “indulgence” for myself but I’m back to this palette again because I saw it on clearance this past week both online and in-stores at Sephora from $52 down to $39USD (apologies in advance to future readers who see this post after it’s already been sold out online/in-store).  For some folks who may have been reluctant to pick it up during the holiday season because of the price stamp, you may seriously want to reconsider getting it now.  It has a lot of products inside even at the original price and the quality is solid.

I no longer have the original cardboard outer box but it’s not too hard to find the palette in-store or online.  This is a gorgeous pink tin with golden lettering.  Knowing my love for Too Faced’s transition to tins with Boudoir Eyes, you already know I love this reusable container.

Pop open the tin and you get a dual layer of lovely palettes.  The first palette layer contains sixteen 0.06 oz eyeshadows.  The second palette layer contains a full-sized 0.35 oz tube of Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer, two 0.14 oz bronzers in Exclusive Bronzer and Sunny Bunny Light, two 0.14 oz blushes in La Vie en Rose and Papa Don’t Peach, one 0.14 oz highlight in Candlelight Glow, 3 instructional cards, and a double-ended brush.  Overall you get a LOT of product in this tin.  Something to note, if you have a lot of Too Faced products and palettes then you’ll notice that the shadows and other colors are repeats from previous releases making this more a “favorites collections” rather than a brand-new never before seen palette collection.

Left to Right: In the Buff, Peach Fuzz, Marshmallow, and Lovey Dovey

Let’s explore some swatches now.  In the Buff is a nice matte highlight color and is also found in the new Boudoir Eyes palette.  Peach Fuzz is a matte pale pink with sparkles that you can also find in Too Faced’s Bonbon palette and was also released a few years back as a duo-shade.  Marshmallow is a shimmery white that I could just eat up as a highlight.  Lovey Dovey is a shimmery warm, cocoa brown that also made an appearance in the Bonbon palette.

Left to Right:Copper Peony, Teddy Bear, Gum Drop, Malted Milk Ball

The next row is just as lovely as the first.  Copper Peony is as the name implies, a shimmery copper.  It applies smooth as butter but then again pretty much all of the shadows apply silky smooth but this one just stood out as extra soft and rich to me.  Teddy Bear is a matte cocoa brown that was originally released as a duo shadow.  I have a soft spot for Gum Drop as this is a cute, shimmery pink that I don’t recognize from older releases.  Malted Milk Ball is also new to me and is a nice shimmery bronze.

Left to Right: Satins Sheets, Nice Stems!, Nice Ash, Cherry Cola

Here is another appearance from the Boudoir Eyes palette with Satin Sheets!  I can’t complain as I really love that shade, it’s soft and shimmery pink with gold undertones.  Nice Stems! is another fab favorite as a bright and cheery shimmer green that reminds me of springtime.  Nice Ash is a shimmery charcoal gray.   My picture doesn’t do Cherry Cola justice but it’s a deep burgundy with red sparkles and is altogether kind of different from the rest of my stash.

Left to Right: Honeymoon, Pastille, Cop a Teal, Black Sugar

Honeymoon is a gold shimmer that’s also found in the Romantic Eye palette.  Pastille is a shimmery deep evergreen.  Cop a Teal is an oddly named color because as you can tell from the swatch and in the pan, this is closer to a royal blue than a teal but is still lovely.  Finally Black Sugar is a matte black with sparkles.  Overall the color formula among all the shadows applies on buttery smooth without a hiccup and blend beautifully.

Left to Right: Exclusive Bronzer, Sun Bunny Light, Candelight Glow

On the second palette we’ll start with the bronzers and highlight shades.  These are great for fair to medium skin tones. The Exclusive is a warm brown followed by the lighter, more golden brown called Sun Bunny Light.  Both shades are shimmery.  They both give a nice glow but it would have been preferable to have just one of these be matte for optional contouring.  Candlelight is a shimmery champagne colored highlight.

Left to Right: La Vie en Rose and Papa Don’t Preach

Next are our blushes.  They apply on smooth and are easy to blend like the bronzers.  La Vie en Rose is a shimmery bright pink.  Papa Don’t Preach is a softer warm peach and is definitely a more natural alternative to La Vie en Rose’s bright pop of color on your cheeks.

The pull-out instructional go-to-look cards are precious and in the vein of previous Too Faced instructional looks.  They’re cute and brief covering only one side of the card despite that they cover a full face of makeup.  The opposite side is blank.

The dual ended brush is alright with a flat shadow brush on one end and a sponge tip on the opposite.  The flat eyeshadow brush end is nice but I wished they opted for a proper crease brush rather than a sponge on the opposite end.  In all honesty, I’d even be fine if they just made this a single head and chopped off the sponge entirely but at least it’s a higher quality sponge tip than what you find in most palettes.  Sadly, I just leave this brush in the tin rather than have it stored with my regular brushes for daily use just because of how turned off I am by the sponge applicator.

The Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer alone is worth half the palette while this palette is on clearance and is an amazing eyeshadow primer that rivals Urban Decay’s Primer Potion.  It goes on smooth and keeps your shadows looking good as the moment you applied for hours without creasing or budging.  A very, VERY good product to have on hand.  It comes out as a cream and blends in clear to provide a solid base for all your shadows.

All in all that’s the palette in a nutshell.  I definitely recommend this palette especially on clearance right now.  There is the one “downside” of this palette is it’s not travel friendly but then again it wasn’t meant to be the kind of item you just slip into your purse and I’m wary of taking this in my luggage because it seems more apt to sit pretty on my makeup table than go tossing and turning in the airport terminal.  Instead, this palette is more a giant smorgasborg of products to experience around the holidays and give you a taste of a variety of popular products under the Too Faced brand.

With that said, if you’re a person who hates redundancy and already has a vast collection of Too Faced then you might not like that there’s a number of products that are repeats from different palettes and singles both old and new with Sweet Indulgence.  Then again, I think you’re crazy if that’s the case because it’s already over a month of regular use and I’m burning a sizable dent in my Boudoir Eyes’ In the Buff alone that I welcome the dupe just to avoid hitting pan in my more travel friendly palette so early!

Well, lovelies, I hope you enjoyed this backtrack review on this clearance palette and hopefully can pick it up before it goes bye-bye!  If you have this palette already let me know in the comments below what you think of the palette and if its a nay or yay?  Until next time, stay lovely!

Too Faced Triple Threat

Hello lovelies!  Here’s to a little pre-St. Patrick’s Day reviewing.  Today I’m excited to be reviewing a cute little package I picked up pre-vacation.  If it’s not apparent, I love Too Faced eyeshadows a lot but haven’t played a lot with their other face products beyond what I got in their holiday-release Sweet Indulgence palette.  This time around I picked up Too Faced’s “The Triple Threat” pack from Ulta with deluxe sample sizes of three different products containing 0.5 oz Primed and Poreless Skin Smoothing Face Primer, 0.12 fl oz Glamour Gloss Volumizing Lip Gloss in Pillow Talk, and 0.14 oz Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder.  The matte bronzing powder was the same one I brought on my trip so it appeared in my travel review a while back giving me some time to play with it.

I’m so partial to deluxe sample packs so I can sample a number of products all at once without the larger commitment to a full size and generally the price for some of these bad boy packs are less for the quantity of products you get than if you got the full sized versions ounce for ounce.  Case in point, this pack ran me back $18 but contained $15 worth of the primer, $12 worth of the bronzer and the lipgloss was a full size so that would have been an extra $19 if bought separately.  Boom, baby!  Math is awesome.

The goods inside were pretty nice.  Pictured above are the swatches with the primer on first (if you can believe it) followed in order with the bronzer and the lip gloss.  The Primed and Poreless primer was pretty standard.  Too Faced also released this in a sensitive skin formula as well.  The primer went on smooth and blends easily with no additional color to your skin.  It just blended in easy-peasy but I actually didn’t care one way or the other with it under my usual makeup routine during face trial runs.  On the plus side, it felt nice on my face but it didn’t perform huge miracles on my visible pores.  It reduced *some* of their obviousness but not enough to warrant a rebuy in a full size.  Someday I’ll find that magic potion to make my giant pores disappear and when I do, you’ll be the first to know!

I loved the Chocolate Soliel bronzer.  It comes off dark here in the swatch because I really tried to layer the heck out of it.  Chocolate Soleil is a layerable type of matte bronzer which is wonderfully flattering if you’re anti-glitter/shimmer in your bronzers.  Freaking love this for contouring!  This is one of those near-foolproof products that you don’t have to worry about overdoing with one layer if you’ve never worked with bronzers before plus it smells kind of like cocoa when you’re applying that just puts me in a happy place.  If you don’t like fragrance in your products though, no worries, the smell goes away very quickly after application.

The Glamour Gloss was really nice and I guess it’s supposed to plump up my lips but it really just tingled and felt and tasted delicious!  It wasn’t tacky or sticky either.  I loved the color too; Pillow Talk is supposed to be a mauve shimmer but it comes off as a really amazing low-key neutral lip color on me which was classy.  I’m so partial to nudes or “my lips but better” colors paired up with a jazzy eyeshadow combo.

Overall I liked most of the products in the pack and I would definitely recommend the Triple Threat pack…if I could even find it post-purchase!  I tried relooking online and in-store and it seems like the little bugger is gone so my only hunch is this one of those leftover runts from the holiday season at my nearby Ulta which would explain why it was wedged on some backshelf too many shelves away from the actual Too Faced aisle.  Sorry folks but the full sizes of all these you can find on Too Faced’s website, Sephora, Ulta, Nordstroms, etc.

Despite that I can at least say I’d recommend the Chocolate Soleil if considering the full size as a good contouring bronzer as well as the Glamour Gloss in Pillow Talk for just a solid, classy lip gloss with a little bit of a tingle.  The Prime and Poreless wasn’t special if you’ve got large pores but it might make a good base for folks with less skin problems than myself who just want to smooth things over a wee bit.  Although on hindsight that kind of recommendation is likened to my friend who wears size 3 jeans but still wears spanks just to smooth out those…almost non-existent ripples. 

In any case, let me know if any of you have tried any of these three products and what you think!  Also, if you have recommendations for a primer poised to make pores disappear for me to try, pop in the comments below.  🙂

Disney Jasmine Storylook II Review

Good evening lovelies!

Here’s to a very late night review of Jasmine’s Storylook II palette.  I warn you, this is going to be a little photo intense!  Disney and Sephora know how to bring you one helluvah gorgeous collection.

The outer packaging for the palette is spectacular.  I love the genie lamps detailing on the back the different colors in the palette.  There’s even Aladdin’s cheeky quote along the upper flap, “You’re only in trouble if you get caught.”  It may not be Jasmine-specific but it certainly keeps in the flavor of the movie and gives this collection a different flavor from Cinderella’s collection themed around dreams and fairy tales coming true.

Open up the box and the fun just keeps getting better.  The palette’s box is a treat with black lattice revealing a golden enamel Jasmine taking center stage.  The inner drawer is a lush, satiny magenta housing the removable palette.  If you ever manage to use up all the makeup or are able to consolidate your removable Storylook palettes somewhere else, you can reuse the container as a keepsake box.

Total close-ups on what you’ll find inside.  Jasmine’s collection has fifteen different 0.035 oz eyeshadows, 0.12 oz blush in Thrilling Chase, and 0.14 oz bronzer in Golden Sands.  On to swatches!

First Row-Blue Oasis, Trust Me, Abu, Ali Ababwa, Sultana

All were swatched over a basic eyelid primer.  Friend Like Me is a matte powder blue and it swatches out just-okay with primer on my arm but if you want to make that pale blue really pop a little more on your lid, I find putting a white cream base underneath helps otherwise it loses that original color intensity layered over my lid.  I like using Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk 604 when fiddling with that piece but I don’t like that I NEED it to make this shade work at all.  Trust Me is kind of coppery in the swatch which is sort of surprising because I thought it would be pinker from the pan.  Abu is a cocoa brown with shimmer.  I know…it’s really, really hard to see Ali Ababwa and Sultana on my skin tone at all.  Despite the “disappearing act”, Ali Ababwa is a good, solid highlight on my darker eyelid versus how it vanished against my paler wrist.  Sultana is kind of a shimmery champagne.

Second Row-Friend Like Me, Master, Cosmic, Cave of Wonders, Sand in the Glass

This is my favorite row.  Friend Like Me is shimmery medium blue.  Master is a phenomenally dark, plummy purple.  Cosmic is a warm, sandy shimmer.  Cave of Wonders is a shimmery yellow and this makes me pretty darn happy to see this shade because I like yellows and rarely find this color in most palettes that come out as just really yellow…usually standard palettes go for like gold or sand-tone but rarely just a good, strong yellow.  I only have one yellow in my entire collection (courtesy of an unconventional Kat Von D palette) so this gives me more to fiddle with in general.  Finally in this row is Sand in the Glass which is another awesome highlight and this comes out much brighter against my skin tone than Ali Ababwa in the first row.

Third Row-Lapis, Mystical Wonder, Rajah, Arabian Sunset Bazaar

Third row is another treat.  Lapis is a matte blue which looks better in the swatch than it did when I tried to work with it on my lid.  Mystical Wonder is periwinkle which is nice but I have similar shades from the Cinderella palette so this didn’t excite me but if you don’t have the previous Storylook then this is a welcome cooler-toned addition to an otherwise warm palette.  I’ve a soft spot for Rajah, not only because of the tiger but because it’s a beautiful, shimmery orange.  I heart Arabian Sunset as well for being this soft, shimmery coral-pink with warm undertones.  Finally Bazaar makes for a lighter shimmer brown to Abu.

In any case, most of the eyeshadow colors are awesome like Cosmic, Master, Mystical Wonder, Sand in the Glass, and Rajah but there are a few duds in the bunch that are either a touch too powdery or just were a bit off in color from pan to swatch.  I tried working with the Blue Oasis, Friend Like Me, and Lapis on my lid but the blues didn’t have the punch they needed without some serious prep work just to make them look somewhat like they did in the pan beyond what just a basic eyelid primer could do (back to the white cream base).  I ended up tossing out trying to make my lid look a rich blue and just threw Master in the crease then blended out for a smokey purpley-blue look.

Blush-Thrilling Chase and Bronzer-Golden Sands

Finaly blush and bronzer!  These two are fiercely pigmented!  Not my cleanest swatch but you can tell these are jammed with pigmentation that I would like to use Thrilling Chase as a red eyeshadow unless I was very, very delicate with it as a blush and even then I’d blend this baby out.  Don’t let the picture scare you off though!  The blush just looks scary dark but it’s very blendable so I highly recommend tapping your brush gently into the product, don’t swirl, when applying and work your way up.  The bronzer has a touch of shimmer and is lovely to look at.  I think it’s kind of a nice touch that the brand cut out a fourth row of eyeshadow to include these two (Cinderella palette’s original fourth row was just eyeshadow).

Overall I like the set and it certainly adds a nice touch to my collection.  This palette definitely has more warm colors than Cinderella’s Storylook palette which is a plus for a little eyeshadow diversification on my end.  Something to note, however, the overall colors may not work for everyone because they do reach outside some folks’ “comfort zones” with bright reds, and oranges and to note, the blues are nothing to write home about but there’s plenty of safety to be had with the neutrals and the formula is smooth enough you can blend all the shades out for a softer look. Still, if you’re the kind of person who cringes at anything beyond neutrals then you may not get much use out of this palette. I still like this piece and it definitely is a welcome contrast to Cinderella’s color palette.

I’ll have plenty to play with for a while but to be honest, I’m jonesing to see what the Disney summer palette is going to bring!  I want Ariel next or possibly Aurora.  Tiana would also make for an interesting summer palette and depending on princess circle debates (is she/ isn’t she?) Mulan would be an interesting choice for an east Asian themed collection.  I see Belle or Snow White as possible holiday heavy hitters.  :3

Well, what do you think of the Jasmine palette?  Do you have princess predictions for the later seasons?

5/1/13 Update:  Tutorial Using This Palette Here.