Urban Decay Naked Skin Color Correcting Fluid: Peach and Green Review

I got this great little sample of Urban Decay's Color Correcting Fluid and I was so excited to try these! Using color theory, these correctors aim to cancel out common skin imperfections.

I got the peach corrector meant for masking circles and spots and the green corrector for reducing redness. I have a lot of pink and red in my skin (and unfortunately quite a few blemishes currently) so I was especially excited about the green.

L: no makeup; Center: green applied to blemishes on chin, tip of nose, cheeks and forehead, Peach applied to undereyes; R: blended and foundation applied.

I think these color correctors did an amazing job at covering up my redness and my undereyes. I especially love the green for disguising my blemishes!

Full face of makeup applied

I would really like to try some of the other correctors in this line, but I really like the green one. With my foundation applied on top, there is no trace of the green and my redness is pretty well covered up. I'd definitely be interested in purchasing these correctors in the future when I have some more disposable income (so probably never...). I'd also be interested in the pink color for my under eyes for extra brightening. These correcting concealers sell for $28 for 0.05 oz. 

Check out the color correcting fluids on Sephora's web site HERE!

xxSJ

Clinique Beyond Perfecting foundation and concealer in 'Breeze'

My skin began acting crazy after spending a very humid Summer in NYC. My foundation was oiling up by the end of the day and yet my skin was breaking out while looking quite dry in some areas. I decided to splurge on a higher end foundation that would give me the coverage I need for my breakouts but was designed for my combination oily/dry skin. I went to Sephora and picked up the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer.

This foundation is your standard 1 fluid ounce and it is housed in a glass container. One interesting part of this foundation is the gigantic doe foot applicator. Some people think that this doe foot is not 'sanitary' for application directly the face, but I don't mind. I use one dip of the brush and put the foundation on my cheeks like wiskers, a stripe down my nose, and then a few dots on my forehead and chin. I've been using a beauty blender to blend this out which works beautifully. 

L: no makeup on at all!!!**GASP**, R: one coat of Clinique foundation applied with beauty blender

I got shade matched at Sephora to the lightest shade of this foundation which is the color 'Breeze' (0.5 VF-P). I noticed that this shade range is a little limited as far as lighter shades. A lot of the shades had quite a yellow undertone to them which on me makes me look a little sick. This color 'Breeze' was more pinky which is why I selected it. I think it might be a bit light for me but with blush and some bronzer it looks just fine. I find this foundation wears really well over an entire work day and does a beautiful job at evening out my skin tone while my freckles can still peek out to say hello. I find this foundation does well with a powder on top to set it and performs fine with products layered on top without caking up or emphasizing pores or fine lines. The finish of the foundation is quite natural (as in NOT MATTE) and allows for some light dewiness without making me look like an oil slick by day's end. 

This foundation costs $27 which is pricey compared to drugstore, but a very fair or even inexpensive price compared to other brands at Sephora. I am finding this foundation lasts quite a long time as well. I think I am only about 1/3 of the way finished and I have used it daily for 2 months. That is much better value than the L'Oreal cushion foundation (Click HERE for my review on this foundation!) which costs $15 but only lasts for a month...think about it. 

I'm all about this foundation, you guys, and I highly recommend it if you have similar skin to me. It just does what its supposed to do which is so refreshing. 

Check it out from Sephora HERE!

xxSJ

Burberry Eye Colour in 'Pale Barley'

Welp. It happened. I managed to get my hands on another makeup product I really have no business having. Burberry is a luxury brand of makeup with beautiful products with outrageous prices. I've been eyeing some of their products for a while and I was gifted one of the cult favorites from the brand: Burberry's 'Pale Barley' eyeshadow.

The shadow comes housed in this gorgeous linen colored box with old-fashioned type.

A velvet pouch with the infamous Burberry plaid houses the eyeshadow. When your products come in velvet pouches... you know you've reached luxury level. Its all completely unnecessary but so dang necessary all at once.

The shadow is in a super soft gunmetal square container. The container has some serious weight to it and has the Burberry plaid screened onto the top of the container.  'Burberry' is also screened onto the side the container opens.  The container opens and shuts via magnets so the compact is very sleek and smooth in appearance.

The container opens up to reveal the shadow inside. The Burberry plaid is stamped into the shadow and a full mirror (of very nice quality!) is included on the inside. A sponge tip applicator is included (meh) and 0.09oz of product is housed inside (larger than your average eyeshadow: Nars is 0.07oz, MAC is 0.04oz).

The color 'Pale Barley' is a golden taupe color that is the true goldilocks of neutrals. It is a cool leaning brown color with gold shimmer throughout making it a little bit almond colored, yet a little bit gray. This color almost looks a bit boring, and, to be honest, it kind of is...but, somehow in the best way possible. 

The majesty of this color resides in the fact that it is so effortlessly gorgeous on the lid. Its pigmentation is the perfect amount of color and shimmer while also being smooth to apply and blend. This silky shadow is a wet or dry formula, and though I have yet to test out this color wet, I am completely satisfied with its performance dry.

Above I'm wearing Urban Decay's 'Combust' in the crease and 'Pale Barley' all over the lid. That is IT for this really pretty and simple look. I'm a sucker for looks like these since in my profession, there is no need for smokey eyes or crazy colors during the week days. I want simple colors that will look pretty and professional and are easy to do quickly.

I have nothing bad to say about this eyeshadow other than the price. It is $29 for this bad boy. Granted, the packaging is superb and I can't say enough about the quality of the product, but that is A LOT for just one shadow. If you're thinking of trying this product out, I would say go for it if you have the money to spend. If you are like I was and lusting after this for months and months, maybe ask for it for a birthday or holiday so it can be something really special. I do think its worth it!

Check this eyeshadow out at Sephora HERE!

xxSJ

Lorac 'Unzipped' Palette

My boyfriend surprised me this Christmas by giving me the Lorac 'Unzipped' palette. I have never mentioned this palette to him (and my long term lusting after it), but he said after much research, he decided this palette was the most 'Steph.' So sweet :) The guy has got a point though! The Lorac Unzipped palette is a no-fuss palette filled with rosey and warm pinks, browns, and burgundies.

The packaging is sturdy cardboard which closes with magnets. The palette is super thin and includes the 10 shades with no wasted space for a brush I'll never use. My one gripe is I think the mirror inside the palette could be a bit bigger! 

Undercover is a matte white with pinky tones to it. It is really pigmented and easy to place all over the lid and as a brow highlight. 

Unbelievable is a deep satin rose gold with purple smoke to it.

Undiscovered is a pure pale gold that shows up great on the lid for some sparkle.

Unreal is a gorgeous shimmery pink.

Unattainable is a satin mauve color with a taupey hue to it.
Unconditional is a mauve matte color that I've been using mostly as my transition in the crease.
Uncensored is a satin brown color which is warmer on the skin than it looks in the pan.
Unspoken is a matte brown color, nice for deepening up the crease.

Unbridled is the superstar of the palette in my opinion. It is a deep matte burgundy with crazy pigmentation. 

Untamed is a satiny brown with purple undertones and lots of sparkle.

Swatched on my arm above are the colors from left to right, top row first, then bottom row. The colors all are buttery soft with excellent color payoff. 

Here's a look I did using only shadows from this palette.  This is a more dramatic eye with thick black eyeliner, but I also used this palette to create softer eyes and pushed 'Unbridled' into my lash line for some soft smokey liner.

This palette is so gorgeous and great for anyone looking for a pink-hued neutrals palette. I think it is similar to the Naked 3 palette but I find more inspiration when looking at this palette than I do at the Naked 3. This palette is $42 for 10 very wearable eye shadows and can be purchased on Amazon, at Kohl's, Ulta, or loraccosmetics.com.

Check it out on Amazon Here!!

xxSJ

Ardency Inn Modster Manuka Honey Enriched Pigment in 'Rose Gold'

The endless pursuit of the perfect rose gold shadow ends here, folks.  Rose gold has been hugely trendy for the past couple years and I've hopped right onto that train from my jewelry to makeup.  I think rose gold is a hard color to get perfect...it can lean too yellow/orange or too pink really easily and miss the happy medium we all lust after.  I saw swatches of Ardency Inn's modster shadow in 'Rose Gold' and knew they had captured the color perfectly.

First of all, I love the shadow's packaging.  The shadow comes in a thin plastic container that is much flatter and sleeker than a MAC shadow. 'H' is printed on the top in a graphic pattern, I am assuming standing for the honey that is infused into the shadow blend.  The brand boasts that they are the first to use honey from the nectar of the Manuka tree in color shadows adding to their creaminess.  The lid opens and closes with a magnetic closure.

As you can see, the color is quite rosey in the pan.  The pan holds 0.06oz of product and will set you back $20. 

I love Rose Gold on me personally because it makes my blue eyes pop. If we chat about color theory for a sec, colors opposite to blue on the color wheel are your yellows and oranges--so for my blue-eyed babes out there, golds, coppers, ambers, and rose golds are what are really going to make your blue eyes pop! 

Above is me wearing this shadow pressed all over the lid and under my lower lash line with some soft warm brown buffed into my crease. My eyes look so blue and almost green!

I found that using your finger and pressing the shadow onto your lid gives much greater color payoff than using a brush. I don't mind this since I intend to use this as a lid color, but just a heads up to any girls out there that don't like kickin' it old school and using your fingers Kindergarten style.... but hey, kindergarteners can be cool as hell so I don't see an issue with it.

Check this color out if you're interested in that perfect rose gold shadow and don't mind dropping some hard earned cash for some quality product.  If you're interested, purchase it if you see it in stock! This particular shade sells out fast!

Check it out at Sephora here: Ardency Inn 'Rose Gold' eyeshadow at Sephora

xxSJ

MAC Powder Blush in 'Melba'

When I visit my sister and spend the night at her place, I always look forward to raiding her makeup stash in the morning. She has completely different tastes and products from me so I love exploring her treasure chest of makeup goodies! One of the items I always use and love the look of is this MAC blush. I finally purchased it for myself since I found myself missing it when I wasn't at my sister's place. The blush is Mac Melba, a matte soft coral peach blush that is perfectly neutral on my pale skin.

This blush is far different from the bright pinks, peaches, and glittery blushes I already have in my stash. I was on the prowl for a more professional color to wear on my clinicals and this one definitely fits the bill. It looks a bit brown and neutral in the pan but swatches with a nice warm coral tone to it.

MAC blushes are super soft and easy to work with. They build up really nicely and also blend out if you accidentally apply too much. They create a wonderful effortless look to a full face of makeup. I also found that this blush pairs really nicely with my Becca Pressed Powder in Rose Gold layered on top for when I want some extra shimmer and highlight! 

MAC blushes can be purchased from MAC cosmetics online or at counters nationwide. A blush in the pan costs $22.00 for 6g of product or $17.00 for just the refill pan.  Go check this blush out Here! if you're looking for a neutral blush for day to day! 

xxSJ

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder

The Body Shop is a brand I've never shopped from before but have heard a ton about. I've heard particularly great things about their Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder so I decided to try it out. 

The packaging is a brown plastic compact with the logo in gold on top. The logo rubs off really fast and this packaging broke really quickly for me. More on that later...

The bronzing powder inside has a honeycomb pattern reflecting the honey used in the formula. The powder isn't particularly smooth or soft to the touch, but it does apply smoothly with out any chalkiness. One of the main selling points for this bronzer that many rave about and initially attracted me to it is how light it is. This bronzer is great for light skinned girls because of its soft color and muted tone. I find the color really pleasant on days I'm wearing minimal makeup. 

The lightness of this color makes it great for beginners. I gave this bronzer to my sister since she's never worn bronzer before and I find the formula to be quite fool-proof. 

This product is $20 and you can purchase it off the Body Shop website Here.

Now for the bad: this product's packaging broke within a month of me using it. The hinge of the compact completely broke off making the lid not stay on the bronzer reliably. This means that I could not take the bronzer anywhere with me in fear that it would open and crack the powder or get all over everything in my makeup bag or purse. I also found myself not wanting to grab for it over my other bronzers since I found the lid now very annoying to carefully line up and take on and off rather than simply flip the compact open. I contacted The Body Shop explaining my disappointment in their product outlining my issues with the broken packaging I listed above. I wholeheartedly believe that when a customer goes out of their way to contact a company about a legitimate issue with their product (in this case the flimsy packaging affecting my use of it), the company should do right by the customer. I think the Body Shop should have offered me a refund for the product, sent me a new one (as I did say I enjoyed the product), or given me a credit toward their store. Instead, the Body Shop simply responded with 'sorry, we'll tell our product team about your complaint so maybe they can improve the packaging.' Now, let it be clear that I'm not looking for hand outs. I'm someone that doesn't do a lot of returns or exchanges on makeup because I know how wasteful it can be and there are some people out there who take advantage of the system. However, I appreciate companies that take care of their customers and own up to faulty products. I take care of my makeup and there is no reason the compact should have broke. To make the powder usable and not at risk for breaking, I had to purchase a Z-palette and depot the bronzer to use it. I will not be purchasing products from the Body Shop again since I don't think they have the integrity to stand behind their product. 

The Body Shop has officially lost a customer for life. I think the bronzer itself is a fine product, however I can't give my money to a brand that doesn't respect me as a customer. 

xxSJ

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in 'East End Snob' and 'Red Diva'

Whoa.... I found a new favorite lip liner and its from the drugstore.  Now I don't consider myself a makeup snob by any means... I love drugstore makeup and have found plenty of high quality products there. I don't discriminate! However, in the lip liner department, over the years I thought the drugstore options were a little lacking. I found pencils were either way too hard and tugged at my lips, or they were soft and creamy but had the staying power of a one night stand (see ya).  My drugstore lip liner woes have been solved now that I have discovered the Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liners.

These twist up liners are so wonderfully creamy that they glide on the lips with ease and they come with this angled tip that makes it so easy to apply--I would definitely recommend these to a beginner!  They also have fantastic staying power and lasted me through drinking, meals, and kept my lipstick from feathering. 

I picked up the colors 'East End Snob,' a pinky nude, and 'Red Diva,' a blue toned red.

These lip liners make my lips look full, luscious, and healthy and their creaminess means they're so easy to blend with whatever lip product you're wearing on top. I don't recommend wearing these on their own because they can be a bit patchy when you try and fill your whole lip in. Everything evens out when you put lipstick on top of them though.

I got these lipliners for about $7 each and they were buy one get one half off. I think these are outstanding particularly East End Snob (which is a dupe for Charlotte Tilbury's lip liner in 'Pillow Talk'). I've been wearing that one non-stop since I purchased it.

xxSJ

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

Today's review is of a product I've been trying out for the past couple of weeks. My biggest problem area in regards to makeup is finding a good concealer to cover my under eye circles. I have deep purple under eye circles that I have yet to find a product to hide them. I've heard fantastic things about the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer so I decided to give it a shot.

The packaging is very sleek and seems to be similar to the larger than life lip gloss packaging with the see through acrylic tube and matte rubberized black cap.  The cap comes off to show a wand with a doe foot type applicator inside.

I chose the color Vanilla which is the second to the lightest color. I liked it because it was a bit less yellow than some of the other light options.

The way I chose to apply this is by putting some dots of concealer on my under eye area and then using a MAC 224 fluffy brush to blend the product in. This product has a thicky, creamy consistency and manages to set up really nicely on the skin. It doesn't cake up at all and is quite moisturizing which leads me to believe that this would be a great concealer for blemishes as well as the under eye.
Here is a before and after of my eyes:

As you can see, the concealer sets to a semi-matte finish and doesn't require a powder to set it. The concealer is also full coverage and covers my dark circles well. It lasts for a full day with out requiring touch ups which is really important to me. I kind of sweat in my under eye area (weird, huh?) and so I am used to constantly checking for makeup smearage throughout the day. This stuff keeps me clear though!

The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is $30 for .22oz of product. I think the price is right with this product because it is a quality product that gets the job done and I think will last a while as a little of this goes a long way!

Let me know your thoughts on this NARS cult favorite!

xxSJ