Maybelline Color Tattoo Metal 24 Hour Eyeshadow in 'Inked in Pink'

A couple days ago in my review of the Smashbox cream eyeshadow in 'Quartz,' I mentioned I was looking for a good base to make my rosey Naked3 shadows pop. I have found yet another awesome option to achieve this with Maybelline's Color Tattoo Metal cream eyeshadow in 'Inked in Pink:'

This cream eyeshadow isn't just pinkish in hue, it is PIIIIIINK! I saw this and figured it would be absolutely perfect to layer under an eyeshadow I'm finding particularly difficult, the glittery color 'Dust.'

The creamy shadow is so buttery soft to the touch. I find it to be even softer than another color tattoo I have in the color 'Tough as Taupe.'

Swatchy swatch on my alabaster skin... as you can see this color shows up as bright as it appears in the pan. If the bright pink is what you're looking for then this is it! If you want something a little more muted, then I would pass unless you wanted to tone this down with a beige or champagne shadow layered on top.

L to R: Dust, Dust over Inked in Pink, Burnout, Burnout over Inked in Pink

Ahhhhh and here's the test I was looking to do! The very light color on the left (can you even see it???) is 'Dust' from the Naked 3 palette with no primer. The second color is Dust layered on top of Inked in Pink! The third color is Burnout on its own, and the last color is Burnout layered on top of Inked in Pink. Ladies and gentleman we have an eyeshadow miracle on our hands (literally... it's on my hand. And as I'm typing this, it's STILL on my hand. **Confessions of a beauty blogger***).

Overall, I'm loving this creamy eyeshadow. It is succeeding in exactly what I wanted to do which is make my pink shadows pop. I don't think this completely replaces the Smasbox shadow I reviewed a short while ago as that color remains more versatile than this bright pink. However, as far as getting pinks to show up nice and bright, Inked in Pink does the trick!

This cream eyeshadow goes for about $6 and can be found at multiple drugstores and Ulta. It tends to be sold out so if you see it don't hesitate to grab it before its gone!

xxSJ

Review: L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner in 'Black Mica'

I have recently fallen in love with a liquid eyeliner....an eyeliner this post is not going to be about. Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner is so amazing and it was all I could use over the summer. Unfortunately, my miracle marker gasped its last little dying breath a week ago so I had to find a replacement... on the pursuit for a cheaper alternative to the Stila $20 pricetag, I picked up the heavily recommended L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner in the color 'Black Mica:'

I like the look of the packaging as there is no brand on the container whatsoever! That's kind of nice as it gives the product a rather sleek finish. The product is very lightweight and made of plastic, however, so it doesn't necessarily feel as luxurious as it looks.

There is the little felt tip. Something to note is that you do have to re-dip the applicator into the tube to get more product (like a quill and ink!) and for me, there is not enough product in one dip to complete both eyes.

The tip is very flexible as you can see in the above picture from me bending this guy against the lid. This is rather nice because stiff applicators can create a rather wobbly looking line on your eye and they are not quite as forgiving if you make a mistake, which, let's be real, no body's perfect! The flexible tip is definitely a plus.

Here is the color on my hand done in one, rather wobbly, stroke.  The color glides on very smoothly and there are not any transparent spots. I like the application quite a bit! I wanted to compare to some other eyeliners:

The left is the L'Oreal Lineur Intense, the middle is the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof liner, and the right is Urban Decay's Perversion pencil liner. Perversion definitely takes the cake for pigment, but it appeared that the L'Oreal and the Stila liners were actually quite comparable! Could I have found the perfect replacement? Weeeeeelllllll.... not exactly.
I haven't quite gotten used to the applicator tip not being as fine as the Stila marker was, so I find the wing of my eyeliner isn't quite as precise as I would prefer. Perhaps that would take some practice? Additionally, I find when this liner is applied on top of eyeshadow, it takes on a rather gray tinge instead of a pure black pigment... disappointment!

I will say that the liner definitely lasts all day with no flaking so thats great and I will definitely continue to use this product until I find a better replacement...or perhaps I'll bite the $20 bullet and revert back to my Stila ways...either way I'll keep you posted!

Review: Smashbox Limitless 15 Hour Wear Cream Eyeshadow in 'Quartz'

Today's review is of a product that I bought on a bit of a whim and with very little research done prior! Rarely do I buy something with out looking into the product first to make sure I'm not wasting my money, but I went ahead and let myself purchase the Smashbox Limitless 15 Hour Wear Cream Eyeshadow in the color 'Quartz' after falling in love with the swatch in store:

The cream shadow comes in a little glass pot with a matte black lid on top. These are breakable so make sure to not drop or mishandle these little jars! Compared next to a MAC paint pot, you can see that the little jars the product comes in are exactly the same! The only difference between the two is the shape of the lid:

The color I chose is 'Quartz,' a shimmery rose gold color:

The color shows up more beigey peach in certain lighting and more pink in others but trust me, this is a pink color and will show up as such on your lids!

Gettin' my swatch on.  The consistency of this cream eyeshadow is very similar to that of a paint pot. Definitely not thick by any means but a nice light cream that glides on the skin easily. Any thickness when applied will lead to creasing so a formula where you can avoid that is key!
I wanted a pinky base color for a specific purpose and that purpose was to tackle a problem I was having with my brand new Naked3 palette. The rose gold palette is beautiful but unfortunately I found some colors to have a lot of fallout and I didn't feel like I was getting the rose gold drama I was looking for. I thought this Quartz color would work as a fantastic base for the Naked3 shadows to bring out the pink tones and make the colors far more bright!

I was incredibly pleased with the result! The colors showed up on my lid vibrant as ever and, as promised, the colors stayed creaseless on top of the Smashbox cream eyeshadow. I did wear this on top of UD Primer Potion for safe measure (these oily lids of mine aren't very forgiving!) but I was still surprised and pleased by the wear time of the cream shadow.

Smashbox is a brand developed for professional photography settings so the products are formulated with long wear-time and lighting in mind. I'm relatively new to the brand but I'm loving what I've tried so far.

The Limitless 15 Hour Wear Cream Eyeshadows are $20 for 5g of product. I think the price is worth it as cream eyeshadows generally last a long time and the uniqueness of this pink color makes for a good addition to my collection.

xxSJ

Review: Maybelline Color Whisper in 'Lust For Blush'

Move over lip butters cuz this girls got a new lip fave!  Maybelline's Color Whisper lippies have dethroned my beloved Revlon Lip Butters and here's why:
-they are super creamy
-they apply a nice wash of color with pigmentation somewhere between a lipstick and a balm (a bit less sheer than the lip butters in my opinion)
-the packaging is sleek and adorbs (let's be honest, it kind of matters)

The clear packaging is in the shade of the lippie it holds inside. The cap pops on and off with a super satisfying 'snap' closure. 'Snap!' 'Pop!' Don't you just love onomatopoeias? 

The color I've been wearing lately is the pretty pink 'Lust For Blush:"

This medium pale pink is perfect for my paler complexion.  It is slightly peachy and I feel like it has both warm and cool tones to it...is that even possible? I don't know...but I think that is what makes this color so pretty! Time to get my swatch on....

Lovely! The lippie itself is super creamy and really pigmented for a light pink. I love how moisturizing this product is as well... I have quite dry lips so sometimes even satin finish lipsticks can appear dry on my flaked lips. Sad days :( This lippie has the capacity to smooth out my lip imperfections and is light enough not to settle in the wrinkles or cracked skin.  Hooray for a kissable mouth!
When I swatched this color and wore it a couple times, I couldn't help but notice it was VERY similar to one of my all time favorite MAC lipsticks, 'Angel.' Have a looksie:

I swatched the Maybelline Color Whisper, MAC's Angel, and MAC's Creme Cup so I could compare. Creme Cup is really not all that similar as it is a bit darker and more mauve. Angel and Lust For Blush are super similar though so I am pleased to find a dupe for a $15 lipstick!

Maybelline Color Whispers are about $5 and you can frequently find drugstore brands on discount or buy one get one 50% off! I can't wait to get my hands on some more of these Color Whispers... also can we talk about the name 'Color Whisper' for a sec? Cuz I kinda love it. It's like a hint or a whisper of color for your lips... I see what you did there Maybelline, you go Maybelline!

This is me gettin' my 'Lust For Blush' pout on.... well? Have you run out and bought yours yet?

xxSJ

Review: NARS Eyeshadow Duo 'Habanera'

Today's review is on an eyeshadow duo that's a bit less neutral than the colors that tend to attract me. It is the eyeshadow duo 'Habanera' by NARS. First let's start with the packaging:

NARS products come in a matte black rubberized casing with their logo boldly printed on the case. The rubberized container is beautiful but it attracts dust like no other! You can see little dust particles in the above picture even though this picture was taken seconds after I took this container, brand new, out of its container. Now for the pretty colors :)

One thing to note is the whole top of the container is a mirror! This is awesome for on the go application and touch-ups.

Habanera is an interesting combination that stole my attention because of the unexpectedly gorgeous color combo. The color on the left is a minty frosted teal color while the color on the right is a frosted plum. Seriously so beautiful.

Swatchy swatch.  The colors are just as gorgeous on the skin as they are in the pan. They are also buttery smooth, as I expected from a NARS eyeshadow. The minty teal definitely has a lot of shimmer in it on the skin, but the purple is a little more muted on the skin which is nice. It actually has quite a bit of brown in it.  I was concerned over the wearability of the mint shade but I think it'll create a wonderful Winter look. The mint on the lid with the purple blended into the crease should create a smokey look with some unexpected color.

NARS eyeshadow duos are $34 for 4g (0.14oz) of product, or 2g per eyeshadow. This may seem ridiculously expensive compared to other prestigious beauty brands such as MAC or Urban Decay until you break down the price by gram as I did in a previous post.

MAC eyeshadows in the pot are $15 for 1.5g of product = $10 / g

Urban Decay shadows are $18 for 1.5 g of product = $12 / g

NARS eyeshadows in duos are $34 for 4g of product= $8.50 / g

There you have it!
xxSJ

Review: MAC Paint Pot in 'Bare Study'

Today's review is of a product I've been lusting after for a few years but simply hadn't gotten around to purchasing! It's MAC's 'Bare Study' paint pot:

I became obsessed with paint pots when I made my very first MAC purchase about 5 years ago. Let us reminisce! In that purchase were the following products:
-eyeshadows 'Woodwinked' and 'Mulch'
-'Angel' lipstick
-paint pot in 'Rubanesque'
I was hooked. Not only on MAC, but on that beautiful peachy color 'Rubanesque.'  It made eyeshadows I put on top of it look phenomenal and my eyeshadows stayed crease free all day long (a new feeling and look for my uber oily eyelids!). Since then I have repurchased the color Rubanesque but have also gotten hooked on UD Primer Potion as a primer so I have strayed from my paint pot lovin' ways. Until now.....

I love how paint pots come in this little jar! So cute! The jar is glass and the lid is breakable so be careful to not drop this lil guy!  Unscrew the cap, and....

Gahhh so pretty :) Bare Study is a nude beige color with a golden sparkle. In other words, it's a champagne color. It's gorgeous. I like to simple dip my phalanges right into paint pots but if you're not down with the germs and bacteria you might want to consider using a brush to apply.

The paint pots are a creamy consistency but dry to a nice and vibrant finish. When they do dry, you can put eyeshadows on top of them and the paint pot will act as a primer. Just make sure the layer you put on your eyelid is nice and thin otherwise you may have a creasing issue as this is a creamy product. What's awesome about paint pots is not only are they priming your eyes for some shadow, but they can also add some definition and fun to the eyeshadows you put on top! Behold the magic:

Here we go folks: The color on the left is a matte brown from NARS Portobello eyeshado duo. The color right next to it is the same matte brown but on top of the Bare Study paint pot. You see how now it has some nice shimmer to it? Pretty cool, eh? That pretty blue shade is a shadow from NARS Habanera eyeshadow duo. The color on the farthese right is that same blue shadow on top of Bare Study paint pot. The color is a bit more sea foam green when its on top of the paint pot color! Pretttyyyyy.

MAC paint pots retail for $20 for 5g of product. This stuff lasts a long time too! I've had my newest Rubanesque paint pot for over a year and it has just now begun to dry up. Because of the creamy consistency, these won't last forever, but it takes so long to use em that you'll get lengthy use out of 'em.
I think the $20 price tag is well worth the product you get. A beautiful pigment with priming capabilities and did I mention you can wear this on its own as a gorgeous lid shade? Cuz you can :)

xxSJ

Review: NARS Eyeshadow Duo in 'Portobello'

After much hemming and hawing, I finally got my hands on a couple more NARS eyeshadow duos. I love NARS eyeshadows so much... buttery soft with impeccable pigmentation.  The only point of uncertainty when purchasing these products for me is the price tag! NARS is certainly a luxury makeup brand, however, the delightful and sleek packaging mixed with the fantastic quality of the products creates good reason for a splurge:

NARS eyeshadows come in ultra sleek matte black rubberized packaging with the NARS logo boldly displayed in white on top.  I love the way this looks but be warned, the rubberized container attracts dust and dirt like nothing else! This will get dirty!

Opening up the container we see the two eyeshadows separated by a divider. Something to note is that the entire top half of the container has a mirror! Awesome for applying eyeshadows or touching up on the go. 

Now for the colors! 'Portobello' is an eyeshadow duo housing two matte brown shadows. The color on the left is a very warm brown with orange hues in it. It reminds me a lot of MAC's Soft Brown. The color on the right is a bit cooler toned and more chocolatey. Together, I thought these colors would make awesome crease and blending colors. My reasoning behind wanting this duo was that I have used the two matte colors in the Naked 1 palette to death (Buck and Naked) and I needed a quick replacement. I thought this duo would do just the trick!

Here are the colors swatched on my arm. These colors are extremely buttery soft and pigmented so be warned that a little goes a long way. These can easily overwhelm an eye look if you're just trying to add a small amount for a crease color so try and be light handed with these if that's what you're going for.

NARS eyeshadow duos are $34 for 4g (0.14oz) of product, or 2g per eyeshadow. This may seem ridiculously expensive compared to other prestigious beauty brands such as MAC or Urban Decay until you break down the price by gram:

MAC eyeshadows in the pot are $15 for 1.5g of product = $10 / g

Urban Decay shadows are $18 for 1.5 g of product = $12 / g

NARS eyeshadows in duos are $34 for 4g of product= $8.50 / g

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! What did I just discover? NARS eyeshadow duos are actually cheaper per gram than some of my other favorite eyeshadows. Very interesting and something to keep in mind when making future purchases. 

xxSJ