Light Brown: Comparing Transition Shades

A transition shade is a color you place in and a bit above the crease of your eyelid to make blending easier and the transition between all your eyeshadows smoother. The most popular transition shade is a matte light brown color. That being said, there are SO many to choose from and so many that are proclaimed 'must-have' colors by makeup gurus and companies. With so many to choose from you'd think picking one would be easy but wading through all the choices can be a tad daunting! I thought I'd share all the matte light browns I have to give you an idea of how more popular ones compare and my thoughts on some of my faves!

Let's get started from left to right! First up are the two matte browns from the Naked 1 palette, Naked and Buck. These colors are great because they layer beautifully on top of one another, meaning you can dip your brush in both of these, buff them into your crease and effortlessly add some great dimension to your eye look. MAC's Soft Brown is the next color and is a great shade if you're looking for a warmer brown that leans peach. It is really similar to Makeup Geek's Creme Brulee and Stila's Wit (from Eyes are the Window 'Mind' palette).  I like these colors if I'm going for a warmer eye look. I think they all perform comparably to one another though I prefer MAC's Soft Brown slightly because I think it is slightly less powdery and blends with other colors a bit better because of its satiny feel.  Next I have the NARS eyeshadow duo in 'Portobello.' These colors are SO amazingly buttery and soft and yet don't kick up a bunch of product when you dip your brush in or are blending them. The color on the left is unique as it has a bit of green in it and the color on the right in the duo is so rich and adds gorgeous depth to any eye look. I highly recommend this little compact if you're looking for some unique and gorgeous colors for your collection that you can get a TON of use out of. Lastly I have the matte brown color from the Dior 5-Colour palette in Grege. Unfortunately I don't think Dior sells this palette anymore which is a shame because it is gorgeous (find my review of it HERE), but if you have it, here is how the rich matte brown in it compares with some other popular browns.

I hope this post was helpful for anyone looking for comparisons of these popular colors!

xxSJ

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows Review! And a little extra Z-Palette action...

I have recently been eyeing many a MAC eyeshadow to add to my matte neutrals collection, but before I made the big splurge, I watched a Youtube video in which Makeup Geek Eyeshadows were being absolutely raved about. Upon further investigation, I found that these eyeshadow pans are half the price of a MAC shadow at only $5.99 a pop and have very inexpensive shipping within the states. I thought I'd give them a shot!  They come packaged in a little cardboard slip, completely safe from dents or chips.

The colors I got were 'Cocoa Bear,' a red-toned warm dark brown; 'Creme Brulee,' a medium soft brown color; and 'Beaches & Cream,' a milky peach color. All of these colors were silky and buttery soft to the touch and swatched with awesome pigmentation. 

What I love most about these colors is how warm they are! They work beautifully together as a trio but will also work wonderfully to warm up other eye looks either in the crease or as a transition color.  The colors will work especially well as we transition into the Fall season!

I also bought a Z-Palette from Amazon to put these new shadows in and they fit like a dream! Z-Palettes are a really convenient way to mix and match your shadows and potted products to create your dream palette for everyday use or for travel.

The bottom of the Z-Palette is magnetized and the palette comes with magnetic stickers to put on the bottom of shadows you de-pot on your own.  Makeup Geek Eyeshadows come already magnetized, however, so they're ready to be popped right in!

I used only these three shadows to create an eye look displaying how warm these colors show up on the lid. They're simply gorgeous and they blend like a dream! I packed Beaches & Cream all over my lid, buffed Creme Brulee into my crease, then used Cocoa Bear to deepen up my outer corner.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about my experience with these eyeshadows.  The shipping was fast and cheap, the prices were inexpensive given the quality of the product, and the shadows were everything I was expecting and then some! Now comes the hard part...resisting the urge to go on the Makeup Geek Website and buy every single one of those shadows!!! We'll see how long I last until you see another post with new colors I've purchased....let's be real, I probably won't resist that hard.

You can check out the Makeup Geek shadows here: http://www.makeupgeek.com/
xxSJ

NYX Butter Glosses: Worth the Hype?

One of the newer products to hit the shelves and take the beauty community by storm are the NYX Butter Glosses, so I knew I had to get my hands on some of these during my last trip to Ulta. The selection was seriously picked over but I managed to get my hands on two colors: Creme Brulee and Eclair:

Creme Brulee and Eclair

The packaging of these glosses is very minimalist and I really like it. The tubes are clear...yes, that is indeed the matte, creamy gloss within the tube! The cap is in a matching plastic to the color of the gloss. The size of these are roughly the same size as a MAC lipglass.

The applicators are small  doe foot applicators and I find them to be a really nice size. This gloss is so creamy and pigmented that you do need at least a tiny bit of precision when applying it!

Creme Brulee (on the left) is a peachy pink color while Eclair is a blue toned baby pink. I just realized that the Revlon lipsticks I reviewed a couple days ago are these exact colors... whoops! Clearly I'm feelin' this color scheme!
The product is super soft and applies like a dream. I really like that these colors are completely matte with no shimmer or glitters. Definitely not a look I will opt for all the time, however they are something a little different from what is already in my collection.

Top: Creme Brulee, Bottom: Eclair

These colors are a bit similar on the lips on their own and since they are matte, they are a bit bland with out a lipstick on underneath. I can't speak for the darker colors in this collection, but I definitely wouldn't wear these glosses on their own as it could create a rather washed out effect on my pale skin as the matte creaminess almost makes these colors milky.
Overall, I understand the hype. These butter glosses literally melt on my lips when I put them on and they mask all of my wrinkles and imperfections. I have grossly dry lips (tmi...don't currrrrr) and so I have to be careful that lip products I choose don't highlight any flakes or nastiness that could be forming on my lippies. This gloss does the trick as far as mattifying and evening out my skin. :)

xxSJ