Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel

     Brows are probably my weakest area cosmetics-wise. I was born with big bushy brows, plucked (and cut with scissors - I cringe thinking about that) them down to virtually nothing, and had to let them grow back. I now have very big, dark, bold brows - and I love them. When the big brow came back, it was probably the best makeup trend that could have ever happened to me. I no longer have to pluck my brows everyday to maintain them, and can basically let them do what they want. They need minimal to no filling, but I do have a problem with long scraggly hairs. I recently bought one of the MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Sets and it felt like I had put plastic spackle on my brows, so I returned it. My experience with both clear and colored brow gels and waxes is that they either do nothing, or feel so fake that I can barely stand it. Browsing through my local Sephora and talking to one of the women there, she pointed me toward the Anastasia Beverley Hills Tinted Brow Gels. In the past, I've veered away from these because of the noticeable shimmer, but she assured me that it couldn't be seen once applied (announcement: she was right).

   She picked out the color Caramel for me, and I know what you're thinking 'Sarah! Your brows are essentially black! Won't it look stupid to have such a light, almost blonde brow gel?' and I thought the same thing. The great thing about this brow gel is that it has enough hold to keep my (insanely wild) brows in place, but the color and  formula isn't as firm and spackle-like as the MAC one and some others, and with the pigmentation really being more of a tint (like it says, duh). When I apply it to my very dark brows, it makes them look more like natural highlights, than coloring over my brows.

   The packaging is nice and simple, very sturdy and good to travel, or for touch ups on the go. I do really like the spooly applicator that it comes with, but more for laying down the color. I run it through my brows, and then take a clean disposable spooly and run it through the product to evenly distribute it though my brows and make it look a little more natural. 

   Overall, the best brow gel I have ever used, hands down. I recommend this to everyone. It is so amazing, lasts all day. Although, I do touch up if I sweat; speaking of sweat, if you do sweat, you won't get weird streaks of color running down your face from the tint, which is just A+.

Rating: 10/10

Naked2 Palette (and Dupes!)

   So I don't think that I could be any later to the game on this one. This palette literally came out years ago, I have the Naked1 and the Naked3, but I just never thought that I needed the Naked2. As discussed in one of my previous posts, I have a lot of neutral eyeshadows. It's kind of a problem. But I have been seeing this palette everywhere, I even had a dream about it. And if that isn't a reason to buy it, I don't know what is.
   The Urban Decay Naked Palettes are amazing, everyone knows that. They are great for making looks for all occasions, from a simple day time look to intense smokey eye for night, all of the palettes in the range are amazingly versatile, and there are enough of them with enough differences between them that there is one for everyone.

   I love the packaging of this palette, there are some people who aren't such big fans, and enjoyed the cardboard and felt packaging of the Naked1 much better because it is lightweight, but I found that it got dirty really fast and I was constantly afraid to travel with it because if it drops it has virtually no protection. The packaging of the Naked2 and the Naked3 is rather hefty and metal, it clicks shut, rather than the (weak) magnet of the Naked1, and that makes me feel much more comfortable carrying it around because I don't worry about it opening and with the hefty metal packaging, it can take a beating. I don't worry about dropping it and all of the wonderful shadows breaking. The mirror is another huge upgrade, it is bigger and it is no where near as fuzzy looking. Given my Naked1 is old and worn down, so the mirror might not have always been this bad, but it is still very small, and there isn't much room to see your face other than your eyes. I don't like the brush, there I said it. Everyone seems to love the brush that comes with this palette, and the same one came with the Naked3 and I hate it. The flat-stiff side isn't as soft as the one that came with the Naked1 and the fluffy blending side wasn't that soft either, it was pokey and I felt like I was scratching my eyelid trying to blend with it. I have better blending brushes from the drug store. But that's just me, everyone else seems to like it, so you give it a try and see how you feel about it.

   The formulas of the eyeshadows are either hit or miss for me, but the overwhelming (and I mean overwhelming) majority of them are hit, a very very high hit. Seeing as this palette does have twelve eyeshadows, I think that it warrants each individual eyeshadow get it's own mini-review, also I know that some of you might not want to fork over $54.00 (I swear every time I buy a new Naked palette it costs $2.00 more) for an eyeshadow palette that you might only like a few of the eyeshadows in, so I scoured my stash and the internet for dupes of all of these shadows (mostly MAC dupes, just because they are rather universally easy to find), and not all of them are exact dupes, but as close as I could find.

Foxy: A matte yellow-toned cream/beige. It is rather sheer, but can be built up. I'm a bit pale for it to be a highlight for me, but it does work as a nice all over lid color, for people with a medium/light to medium/dark skin tones it would work though. A good dupe is MAC Ricepaper, however Ricepaper does have a shimmer.


Half Baked: A yellow-toned coppery gold with a heavy frost. It's in the Naked1, why do I need it here? It's great for people with warm skin tones, and gold smokey eyes but it didn't warrant being in both palettes. Two good dupes are MAC Amber Lights and MAC Woodwinked (Woodwinked is slightly warmer and less yellow-toned).


Booty Call: A peach tinged champagne color, and my favorite highlight out of all three palettes. Great pigmentation, easy to work with and blend, and would work well on all skin tonesGood dupes are MAC Baby, It's Cold... (if you happen to have it or can find it) and MAC Shroom.

Chopper: An orange/red with chunky copper glitter. The same texture as Dust in the Naked3, but with a better color payoff, and tons of fallout. My least favorite color in the palette. I probably won't use it much, I just can't stand the chunky glitter texture. I couldn't find a good MAC dupe, but a (in my opinion) better dupe is a sheered out Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in #12, it has the color payoff and none of the fallout.

Tease: A matte plum-toned mauve brown, one of the three mattes in the palette. Like foxy, it goes on sheer, but it is a lot more buildable than Foxy. It does take some effort to get it to be very opaque, but I prefer that for crease/transition colors, just because I prefer to build them up, rather than have too much at once. Good dupes are MAC Malt and MAC Quarry.

Snakebite: A dark bronze, with a dark gold shimmer. Great color payoff and blendability. A good dupe is MAC's Tempting, however Snakebite is slightly darker. There is also Urban Decay Deeper (was limited edition, but a really good dupe, so if you can find it, it's a really good one), and BareMinerals Ritzy.

Suspect: A frosted and slightly metallic light bronzy brown, it swatches and applies beautifully. Soft and easily blended. MAC Patina is a great dupe.

Pistol: A frosted brown-tinged grey, so gorgeous. Soft and smooth, just like all of the other shadows. Good dupes are MAC Smoke and Diamonds (if you can find it) and a mix of MAC Knight Divine and MAC All That Glitters.

Verve: A very pale shimmery pink champagne tinted grey. One my favorites in the whole palette. A good dupe is a mix between MAC Electra and MAC All That Glitters.

YDK: MY FAVORITE COLOR IN ALL THREE PALETTES!!! This color is just... uhf so much love. Its a frosted warm, pink toned coppery reddish brown, and it reminds me of jewels in the best of ways and I want it everywhere for forever. Dupes include: MAC Satin Taupe, Inglot Pearl 402, Urban Decay Bust, and Urban Decay Stray Dog

Busted: A frosted deep burgundy brown with a gold shimmer. Very similar to Hustle from Naked1. A good dupe is MAC Mystery.

Blackout: A deep dark matte true black. It blends beautifully, and doesn't have that weird purple tinge that some matte black shadows have (cough Kat Von D Lucifer cough). It isn't just a very dark grey (cough new formula MAC Carbon cough). It is a true black, which I find very hard to find in a matte formula. It is also impressively smooth, great for lining the eyes, and blending into other colors. There are only two dupes that I can truly say match the quality of this matte black and those are: Make Up Geek Corrupt (the best out of all of them) and Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow in #4.

   The Naked2 is a truly outstanding palette, and at least for me the clear best of show in the Naked palette line. With my coloring, it just has the most colors that I will wear on a day to day basis, and a good range that I can play with and experiment with as well.

Rating: 9.5/10

Extra Pics and Individual Swatches:

(Foxy Swatch)

(Half Baked Swatch)

(Booty Call Swatch)

(Chopper Swatch)

(Tease Swatch)

(Snakebite Swatch)

(Suspect Swatch)

(Pistol Swatch)

(Verve Swatch)

(YDK Swatch)

(Busted Swatch)

(Blackout Swatch)

(Foxy, Half Baked, Booty Call, Chopper, Tease, and Snakebite Swatches)

(Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, and Blackout Swatches)

(Back of Naked2 Box)

Revlon Colorburst in Coquette

   I admit that I am a bit of a sucker for a high end lipstick. I tend to buy more high end things than drugstore. For me to buy a drugstore product, it needs to have accumulated a lot of positive buzz, but I'm trying to change that. I want to explore drugstore cosmetics more. I know that there are mascaras there that I like, so when I was at CVS, I went to the next thing that I knew I would probably like, the Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balms. I already had one in the color Flirtatious Charmeuse, and the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Unapologetic, and I have gotten tons of use out of both of them. 

 I picked up the color Coquette because I don't have anything like it. At $8.99 plus tax, they are very reasonably priced. A very glossy, true pink. It has very nice pigmentation, not too overpowering, so very good for an on-the-go lip color, no lip brush required. It has very good staying power, obviously not as good as the Matte Balms, but a good three to four hours. It also has the minty smell that all of the other Colorbursts have, I am personally a fan of this, however you may not be. 

   It is a good product, there is not a doubt in my mind about that, and an amazing drugstore product, but in comparison to some of my higher end lip products, I'm just not sure if I'll be reaching for this that often. We'll just have to wait and see!

Mini NYX Haul

    My absolute favorite part of shopping at the drugstore is coupons, and recently CVS has truly delivered with the coupon wagon for me. Today I went in with a coupon for $4.50 in ExtraBucks, and got a coupon for $6 off any $12 cosmetic purchase. Then I saw that there was so many products in NYX that were buy one get one 50% off. I was doomed. Really, I had no choice, I had to buy these things. So, here is what I got!

   Cream shadows are one of my favorite makeup products, I have very dry skin so my eyelids don't get very oily, making cream shadows easy to wear. They tend not to crease on me, or move around the lid, which is great! I have bought some of the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in the past, and I only used them occasionally, they didn't have too many color options the last time I bought them, and the colors that they did have worked best as bases and not independently. Today looking through the NYX display I saw that they had added a bunch of colors, and they were gorgeous. I decided to go with four colors that would work as a base, and on their own. 

(from left to right: Sparkle Nude, Iced Mocha, Cashmere, Yogurt)

  It was really hard to pick these, there were so many fantastic shades! I can tell that I will be going back, and probably soon! They swatch so beautifully, smooth and creamy, I can't wait to see if the darker and matte shades work as well. I did wear Yogurt all over my lid today, and it lasted really well, I didn't wear it for the whole day, because I got these around 4:00PM, but I will be testing the staying power of these babies and reporting back! I have heard that they have great lasting power when layered under a powder shadow. They only cost $4.49 and they were buy one get one 50% off at CVS today, I very well may go back tomorrow and buy more.

   

  I also got one of the Butter Glosses in 05 Creme Brûlée. I have heard so many bloggers and vloggers talk about this color, and when I saw it I snatched it up. And the hype is well deserved. It is the perfect nude gloss. The packaging does look rather pink, but it is barely pink-tinged. It is very much a glossy my-lips-but-better color, and it smells like Skittles! Who doesn't love Skittles? Don't worry, the scent isn't over powering, you can't smell it when it is on the lips, only if you're a weirdo like me and like sniffing your lip gloss applicator.

 







    The lip gloss has a doe-foot applicator, and administers the perfect amount of gloss, unlike some others that I have encountered that barely get any out of the tube. It isn't overwhelmingly sticky, but it is a little sticky. Your hair might get stuck in it, but isn't that really a risk with any lipgloss? Either way, it is an amazing product for only $4.99!

   

  

YSL Rouge Pur Couture #10

   Yves Saint Laurent products are in a word, decadent. They are praised far and wide, and for a very good reason. They some of the only products I've come across that are really worth the hype. I have a very passionate love for their lip products in particular, I find they have amazing pigmentation, formulation, staying power, and texture. For all that I've formed long-term relationships with the Rouge Volupte Shines, Volupte Sheer Candy, Rouge Pur Couture Vernis A Levres Glossy Stain, and the Gloss Velupte, I've never tried the Rouge Pur Couture Lipsticks. Recently Sam from BatalashBeauty was absolutely raving about the Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in #10 Beige Tribute. I saw it at my local Sephora and had to have it. Now, this color isn't listed on the Sephora website, but if my itty bitty Sephora has it, I wager other ones do too.

And Sam wasn't joking, this lipstick is outstanding. First the packaging; Yves Saint Laurent knows good packaging, I mean even the brand name sounds fancy and expensive. The lipstick comes in a reflective gold cardboard box with the YSL logo in red. The lipstick tube is very similar to the box, reflective gold with the red YSL logo, it is heavy and just I feel fancy holding it.

And the product is no let down either, the bullet itself is a normal looking bullet, but like the higher end brands do, it has the company's logo imprinted on it. I don't feel like the swatch does the lipstick justice, it is really just so gorgeous. It applies smoothly and it doesn't settle into the lines of lips, and I had no problems with feathering or it slipping off or settling into the lines of my lips, no primer, no lipliner. I tend to have those problems with lipsticks, but this one doesn't stray, and I (without drink or eating) got it to last for a good four to five hours. The color is really amazing too, its just the perfect nude, a great mix of pink and flesh shades. I have really pale, pale, pale skin and most nudes are either way too dark or so light that they wash me out even more. I don't have that problem with this color. I have seen it on tan skin, pale skin, and dark skin with varying undertones and I have yet to see someone who couldn't rock this shade. This is currently my go to day-to-day lipstick and I have been pairing it with a very simple face; smoked out brown eyeliner, a little bronzer, blush and ready to go!

  Overall, I am in love with this lipstick, the tube is running down fast, and I can see that it will need to be repurchased. I get so many complements and questions about the color. Most of all, I love it because it is so hard to find a lipstick that works with my dry lips, and this one does it perfectly. YSL has yet to do me any wrong, and I love them for it. This lipstick does cost $35.00, so the price tag is a bit hefty, but like any other thing, if you have the money and this is what you want to spend it on, this is lipstick is truly outstanding, and I cannot wait to try other colors in the line.

Rating: 10/10

MAC Morange

   I'm having a lip product moment. Not the most unusual thing, but for some reason during summer I wear more daring colors, and lean more towards wearing a bold lip than wearing elaborate eye makeup. Recently I stopped by the MAC counter at Macy's and perused through the lipsticks. I have always shied away from orange lip products, because they can make teeth look rather yellow, but I have become rather bored with the pinks, purples, nudes and reds. After talking to the woman at the counter and trying on a few too many lipsticks, I went with Morange.



It is part of the MAC permanent lipstick collection, so it comes in the basic black cardboard box and is in the classic MAC lipstick packaging, which is beautiful, sleek and very easy to store, not too bulky.
   

   I am in love with this color. It is an amazing bright orange, it doesn't make my teeth look yellow (YAY!) and it isn't drying in the slightest. It is one of the amplified formulas, and I have noticed that a few of those have been too drying for my lips. The staying power is very good, I have been able to get up to 5-5 1/2 hours without having to touch up, but that was without drinking or eating. Every time I wear this lipstick I get complements, and people ask me about what color it is and where they can get it, and if that isn't the sign of a great product, I don't know what is.

  Overall, this is clearly going to be my main summer lipstick, and I can see that I will need to repurchase it before next year, which is saying a lot. I love it.

           Rating: 10/10