Thursday, April 23, 2015

Ipsy Glam Bag April 2015 Review!


My goodies!

So, this was my first month getting the Ipsy Glambag.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, Ipsy is a $10/month surprise bag filled with makeup samples and sometimes even full-sized products.  It's about exploring new brands and things, and $10 is pretty cheap, so I decided I'd give it a go.

THE BAG.  It's actually really cute.

The bag itself is surprisingly well put-together--I was expecting something really flimsy and made of cheap plastic. 

I was pretty upset about two of my items:  The fragrance and the cleanser.  I have really sensitive face issues and I have my skincare regimen down, so I refused to try the cleanser (at the risk of having a blowout) and will just give it to a friend.  I gave it an abysmal review (Sorry, Hey Honey!) so that I won't get skincare products ever again.  I also sent Ipsy a scathing email about receiving something I made sure to avoid in my "Profile," and they sent a really kind, professional reply, so I'm happy with that.  Their suggestion, which is echoed by my friends who also use the bag, is to make sure I review all my product contents.  Eventually the algorithm or whatever they use will figure out to never, ever give me skincare products.

Or fragrance.  I stupidly said I liked fragrance in my profile, and I've changed it.  The fragrance I got in my bag smelled like your standard floral, old lady something-or-other, but I'm sure other people would be thrilled to get such a large fragrance in a bag!
Now HERE we go


Everyone got a theBalm Cosmetics eyeshadow sample in their bag, which is super exciting, because I've heard great things about the brand and have been wanting to try them!  This shadow met my expectations, having great pigmentation and applying as I would expect a high-quality eyeshadow to apply.  I'm sad I got the "white bread" color, though--other people got a purple one! D:

Have a really bad photo of it on my eyeball using Fit!

A sorta "meh" item for me was the Starlooks lipgloss.  I mean, it's fine, it's a lipgloss, it's got this retro 90's frost thing going for it, but I have other lipglosses.  I will use this one.  It didn't shatter my world (like the MUFE Plexigloss, which I'll tell you aaall about tomorrow!).

Please ignore my awful thumb, kthx.

Bad swatch is bad--my camera felt rebellious today.
I wore KVD Studded lipstick in Cathedral under the gloss.


 Now, the main item in my bag was a Hikari Cosmetics blush in "Tango."  At first I rolled my eyes and was like, "Oh.  Blush.  Yay./sarcasm,"  but it's actually rather good.  The color is a lot more flattering blended out than it appears in the pan, and it's a full-sized product!  At $15, it more than pays for the cost of the bag, which is pretty cool.

Full-sized blush, ooooh!
Click to embiggen.  It's actually quite pretty!

So, overall, I'm satisfied.  Initially I was pissed about the skincare and the fragrance, because other people got fancy lipsticks, but you really do get a good value out of the bag.  I'll see where the next few months take me!  If you decide you want to try the Glam Bag out, please use my referral link ;) 

Full face of my Ipsy products!

Friday, April 10, 2015

Sugarpill Chromalust Loose Eyeshadow Asylum Review!


I loveloveLOVE Sugarpill's Chromalust loose eyeshadows!  This post will focus on the red one, Asylum, because it's the best.  It's super sparkly, yet metallic, and is pure love.  I use Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy as a base, then pack Asylum on over it.  A little goes a really long way, ao I think one jar will last approximately forever.

Forreeevverrrrr.
So gorgeous.  Click to embiggen!
There's no primer there.  Yup.

There's really not much else that can be said about this product.  It's just a solid product.  I even chose it as my eyeshadow of choice for my wedding makeup, and practically everyone commented on how beautiful it was!  I'm sorry I have no more words, but seriously, this is the shit.  You know how there are some things that you just put them on and you think, "Yeah.  This is It."?

This it It.

But enough about that, have a look at Asylum IN ACTION:

Sugarpill Bulletproof and Concrete Minerals Black Metal in the outer crease.

It's seriously the best red I have.





So, what are you waiting for?  GET ASYLUM NOOOOOWWW.  Or any of the other colors, really.  All of them, in fact. 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Sugarpill Sparkle Baby Palette Swatches and Thoughts

I've had the Sparkle Baby palette for quite some time now, and was practically salivating for months until I finally got it.  It has gorgeous colors, a kitten on the front, and that's just what dreams are made of, right?!

Kittens!

Well, mostly.  I already have the Kat Von D Esperanza palette, and they're praaactically identical, except the KVD palette has one of the best purples of my life and a few more shades, so I was kindof bummed.

Close-up of the goods!

This is SO PRETTY, and the name omg!

 I have problems getting this one to work on my eyeball :(

Frosty minty color, woot woot.

This one had the best color payoff for me, which is the opposite of everyone else's experience??




My eyeballs also don't show these kinds of pastel colors very well at all, even with a white sticky base.  So, either I'm doing something wrong, or people Photoshop the fuck out of their looks using these colors, or maybe I'm just not packing on enough color.  But I PACK IT ON SO MUCH, GAIZ. 

Anyway, before I wax poetic any further, here's the swatch:

They're so hard to see. And I used primer, even!
And I've tried So. Many. Times to use this on my face to show you for a review, but it just will NOT photograph.  It looks pretty enough in person, but just will not pick up in a photo.  It's a pity, especially the Frostine shade, because it's actually got a pink chrome shift to it that you can see in the pan, but never shows up on the eyeball.  Again, it might be user error, buuut I dunno.  Honestly, after all done, the only color that really stands out is Hotsy Totsy, which a lot of beauty bloggers said was the problem shade of the palette!  So I'm clearly just backwards or something.

Here's the best I could do.  I used ALL the colors.  A lot.

So, there you have it!  It's not really a palette I reach for often, but Spring is upon us and I'll be reaching for these kinds of shades more.  I think I'll try mixing it with the Esperanza palette and see what happens!