bareMinerals Goodies: a blush, shadow, liner, and lipgloss, oh my!

My mom gave me a little kit full of bareMinerals goodies and I was so excited to try some stuff out from this brand! I love their pressed eyeshadows so was eager to try out some different products. This kit came with a blush, an eyeshadow, an eyeliner, and a lipgloss.

The eyeliner is called the 'Round the Clock 7PM Intense Cream-Glide Eyeliner waterproof.' This liner is a warm chocolate brown and has a very creamy consistency. I find it does have some nice staying power and is easy to apply, though I still find myself reaching for my brown Smashbox always sharp liner when I'm in the mood for brown...more on that later!  The lipgloss is called the 'Marvelous Moxie' lipgloss in 'Smarty Pants.' It is a nude peach color with gold shimmer through out. I LOVE this lipgloss. It smells minty and gives a plumping, tingling sensation to the lips. I feel like it makes your lips look luscious and supple! 

Here are the eyeliner and lipgloss swatched next to other popular brands. The eyeliner is much warmer and redder compared to the Smashbox always sharp brown eyeliner and Urban Decay's 'Demolition.' It has a similar consistency but I definitely prefer the deeper toned browns.  The lipgloss is actually really unique compared to other lipglosses I thought would be similar. It is peachier and more nude than NARS Orgasm and MAC Nymphette and more peachy and less sparkly than Stila's Apricot. 

The two loose products included were a blush and an eyeshadow and are the first loose powder products I have ever tried!

The products come housed in little plastic pots with screw on caps. 

The eyeshadow is in the color 'Sex Kitten' and the blush is in the color 'Sunkissed.' The instructions for the eyeshadow are to just pick up some product that has come through the sifter and tap off excess then begin applying to the eye. The blush instructions are to open the sifter, pour some product into the cap and swirl your blush brush into the product until it is all deposited into the brush. Then buff it onto your cheeks. 

Kitten is a medium brown color with golden sparkle. Sunkissed is a nude, warm peach shade.  Here's how I wore 'Sex Kitten' eyeshadow on my eyes:

I have Urban Decay's 'Combust' eyeshadow in my crease and then 'Sex Kitten' blended all over my lid and into the crease. I thought this shadow created a warm, toned-down, brown smokey eye.

You can see how nice the blush looks in the photo above! I found it easy to blend and very natural looking. It reminded me a lot of MAC Melba blush.

Overall I really enjoy these bareMinerals products! The blush was definitely my favorite from the bunch.

What are your favorite bareMinerals products?
My review of bareMinerals quad in 'The Truth' HERE!
My review of bareMinerals quad in 'The Happy Place'

xxSJ

My Boyfriend Picks Out My Makeup! Featuring MAC Patisserie Lipstick and Floating Lotus Lipgloss

In an attempt to include my boyfriend, Lucas, in my hobby (...okay, obsession) with all things makeup related, I decided to do something fun! Well, at least I thought it was going to be fun... I gave Lucas enough cash for a MAC lipstick and asked him to go in to the store and pick out a lipstick for me to wear on our date Saturday night. I told him what my favorite finish was (lustre) and the name of 3 lipsticks to avoid as I have brand new tubes of them.  Lucas agreed and hesitantly wandered in.  He walked out with the lipstick 'Patisserie,' a soft muted pink that I had never heard of before! He also surprised me with a Cremesheen Glass (my favorite gloss!) in the color 'Floating Lotus.'

'Floating Lotus' is seriously gorgeous.  It is a bright peachy pink with a ton of shimmer running through it. It's a gloss I've had my eye on for years but have never just gone out and purchased!

'Patisserie' was such a surprise to me! I have never heard any hype around this lipstick but it has quickly become my favorite color.  It's one of those perfect colors that you don't need a mirror to apply since it is so neutral, but it bumps your lips up a notch on days where you don't feel like wearing a bright color. It is an awesome everyday color.

I was worried at first that 'Floating Lotus' might not look great paired with 'Patisserie' since it looks so bright in the tube, but after swatching them I can see that they so clearly belong together! Go Lucas! They both have a soft pink, mauvey tone to them that makes them complimentary.  

Blank lips on top, lips with Floating Lotus on bottom

Blank lips on top, Patisserie lipstick on bottom

Floating Lotus layered on Patisserie lipstick

Overall, Lucas managed to pick out such a beautiful lipstick and lipgloss combination! Unfortunately, there's some bad news to this otherwise charming tale. The girls at MAC were apparently not very friendly to Lucas which made me feel like I threw him to the wolves!!  I thought that when the MAC girls saw a guy walk in they would immediately go over to help him out but instead, he was completely ignored when he first walked in followed by berated when he started touching and swatching the lipsticks.

 I'm so letdown by MAC!  What was supposed to be a fun activity ended up being an awkward and uncomfortable experience...but at the end of the day it leaves me all the more surprised and impressed that Lucas managed to pick out such beautiful colors with out any help! Who needs help anyhow?? Apparently after the berating, another employee tried to jump in to help Lucas apologizing for the other employee's behavior, and Lucas basically just said 'nah, I got this. Don't need your help.'

Hell yeah! I knew I picked a good one :)

I recommend this lipstick and lipgloss both separately and as a combo wholeheartedly and if you're thinking about doing something like this with your SO, I suggest going into the store with them to act as a buffer from potentially rude employees!

xxSJ

NARS Lipgloss: Tasmania

I just recently posted about my first experience with NARS' reformulated lip glosses. I got the mini gloss in 'Orgasm' to try out and see if these new glosses are something I'd like (read that review HERE). To sum up my feelings about the new NARS glosses:

Yea. I like em. I decided to splurge and buy another color from the line. I settled on the color 'Tasmania,' one of the newly formulated colors:

This color is described as a 'cantaloupe pink' and that hits the nail on the head! This gloss is a bright pink that is muted a bit by a peachy orange tint to it. Its gorgeous in the shiny acrylic container. 

The applicator is a really nice spongy doe-foot applicator that at first I was displeased with. This applicator does NOT allow you to get much product out of the tube as the opening is a tight fit for the wand. At first I thought 'what the hell, NARS? How am I supposed to get glossed up with out any product coming out?' but then after playing with this product for a bit I realized that the small amount you get on the wand is just enough to cover your entire bottom lip. Then you can press your lips together to transfer the right amount to your top lip, then dip the wand in again for touch ups. 

The color is not ultra-pigmented but I like that it comes across as a soft pink creme. Its perfect for days when you want to get the job done quickly and not fuss over a mirrored application. 

This gloss is pretty sheer on its own, though I like the juicy, plumping effect it gives my lips as well as the slight color tint. I find this gloss works great over light pink lipsticks to make the color pop a bit more and it actually works fantastic if you line your lips and fill them in a bit and then put the color over that. It makes this pretty cantaloupe color really stand out and allows the gloss to be the hero of your makeup look!

This lip gloss is a $26 gloss which is really steep. I get about 3 hours of wear time out of the gloss which I find is pretty good and it doesn't leave my lips feeling dry. This gloss has no scent (a perk of the reformulation) and is quite comfortable to wear. I find it to be far less sticky than MAC lipglasses and it doesn't settle into any fine lines or build up around the edges of your lips like the NYX butter glosses can. This is a luxury gloss that will feel luxurious on your lips. I don't know if I'll be splurging for another one of these babies anytime soon, but I am certainly happy with this color for now.

xxSJ

Shades of Orange

I am so excited for the warmer months coming up and its time to bust out the brighter makeup products! Inspired by the warmer times ahead I thought I'd share my favorite Orange-toned makeup products with you!

1. MAC blush in 'Peaches' $21: As you can see I've loved this blush to death. I've hit pan on it! This is the first MAC blush I ever owned and I love it now just as much as I did when I first bought it. This blush is the silkiest, smoothest blush ever which makes it so easy to wear and blend in. The orange tone looks so good for girls with the same complexion as me (fair with pink undertones and freckles!) and I think it would look gorgeous on olive-toned and darker skinned girls.

2. The Balm blush in 'Frat Boy' $20: This blush may not be as scary looking as Peaches since it has a little more pink in it but this blush is still pigmented! I did a full review on this blush here: http://sjspins.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-balm-blush-in-frat-boy.html

3. Urban Decay Eyeshadow in 'Freelove' $19: Brave enough to rock orange on your lid? Try this red-orange peach shade out! This shadow has a satiny and shimmery finish and can be really pretty on its own in the lid and crease with a highlight in the inner corner and brow bone. It's a favorite of mine in Summer as a way to rock some color in a bit of an unexpected way.

L to R: Peaches blush, Frat Boy blush, Freelove eyeshadow

4. MAC lipstick in 'Ravishing' $15: Looking for a bright coral to wear this Spring and Summer? THIS IS IT!! This is the prettiest coral color I have found that I am brave enough to wear! It has great vibrancy and still is super soft and comfortable to wear on the lips since it is a cremesheen formula. Try this color on the next time you go to a MAC counter or store. You may be surprised how universally flattering coral can be on so many skin tones!

5. MAC Cremesheen Glass in 'Richer, Lusher' $15: If you're hesitant to wear a bright coral lipstick, pop some orange-tinted lipgloss on over some nude or light pink lipstick to bump yourself in the coral direction. Cremesheens are so great because they feel soft on the lips and are less sticky than a standard lipgloss. Like all MAC lip products, the light vanilla scent is to die for making this gloss a Summer staple.

6. Revlon Lip Butter in 'Juicy Papaya' $6: A cheaper and even more comfortable way to wear an orange hue is by going for Revlon Lip Butters. These have plenty of pigment yet are so comfy to wear because of their hydrating, balm-like formula. Do yourself and your lips a favor and pick up some of these next time you're at the drugstore!  http://sjspins.blogspot.com/2014/04/revlon-lip-butters-wild-watermelon-and.html

L to R: Ravishing lipstick, Richer Lusher lipgloss, Juicy Papaya lip butter

6. Essie 'Tart Deco' nail polish $8: My favorite orange nail polish. This polish has a creamy formula that  makes this color so soft on the nails and pleasant to look at. Wear this for a beachy mani or if you're going to a Giants baseball game! Go Giants! Full review here: http://sjspins.blogspot.com/2014/04/notd-essie-tart-deco.html

What are your favorite orange shades to wear???
xxSJ