ColourPop Haul: Swatches and first impressions.

This post is image heavy. Hope you enjoy :) Halfway through, I realized my macro wasn't on, therefore the pictures weren't as great. You can definitely see when I was able to get it to work.

Let me begin by saying that if you have never felt the consistency, you must do so. It's very difficult to explain, but I find it a mousey, creamy consistency. It's important to store them by completely closing the lid, and keeping them in the original packaging (I do NOT recommend depotting, due to the texture of these items. They will certainly dry out). My only con about these products are that they are quite bulky, but I can deal. I really do love these products, and I called last year that they would blow up. I'm glad I was right! They are affordable ($5 a shadow!), and come in a wonderful variety of colors. They're on trend, allowing you to pick up multiple items that perform as good as, or better than, some higher end brands. With that said, let us begin the review.

My pick up:

The following colors I picked up are: Bites, Roulette and Jet, as well as the Mondays in Malibu kit (I am not including the limited edition shadow, Birthday Girl, because it is no longer available. Just wanted to show they do really cute promos with their products!)

The first shade is Bites. This is a purely matte, white color. This is perfect for putting over a primer, but under a vibrant color to make the color stand out more. It's weird to say, but I don't think I have a purely matte single shadow. I am really happy to add this baby to my collection!

Look at the beautiful details of the product. The only part that sucks about digging in is messing up the original design! However, totally #WorthIt

Next is the Rumor Has It (a collabration with Rumor Willis) shade in Jet.

I am so endlessly in love with this color. I can't even begin to explain how gorgeous this shade is, how complimentary it'll be with ANY shade. I cannot think of a combo that wouldn't work with this shadow. This is me barely picking up the shade on one finger, and swatching it out on my arm. This color is NOT matte. It has shimmers in it, detected in the following video. Overall, one of my favorite shades in this haul, and certainly in my entire collection.

The final single shade I picked up is Roulette. I needed a single shadow that was entirely matte, as I find it is hard to pick up a shade that doesn't have ANY sort of satin or glitter to it. It's perfect. Reminiscent of any matte black (think: carbon from Mac), this shade is so dark and pure, it will be PERFECT for a nice, smokey look. Truthfully, I love this a million times more than Mac's Carbon. Here is a photo from a dupe blog (that I happen to follow and LOVE) that compares this black to the cult favorite that is Carbon.

Here are my swatch:

The next colors are a part of a kit, Mondays in Malibu. The colors are lovely, and it was yet another kit that I found I could use all of the colors. This has to be my favorite kit, from Colourpop TO DATE.

The first shade, is the pink shimmer shade in Sand Swoon. It is described as a satin luxe shadow. I would agree. It's a beautiful, soft shimmery salmon color. It is build-able, but on my pale skin it doesn't show up that clearly on the picture. Trust me, it's fantastic in person. I don't have anything like this in my kit, at all. There is a ton of shimmers in this color.

(I am so sorry for this terrible picture. D'oh.)

The next shadow is the beautiful Snakebite. I can't even. Just look.

Such a beautiful, sandy tone metallic. Yet another shade I have NOTHING similar to in my entire collection. I love this one, so much.

This is Gecko:

Sorry I keep calling these colors beautiful, but nothing disappoints me from this collection (I promise, I am a real stickler when it comes to my makeup!) This color first appears to be a steel colored gray, but it has hints of purple and blue to it.

Like. WHAT? HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THIS COPPER. This is Hot Tamale, a highly pigmented rusty copper tone. So gorgeous, so easily blendable AND so incredibly pigmented. One of my biggest characteristics that I look for in eye shadows is it's ability to mesh with others, as well as how long it will stay on my lids. This color was honestly staining my skin underneath after I went to take it off (nothing at all to worry about, it came off with just a little extra attention). So much fun, and so pretty.

 This is Mirage:

I would lie if I told you I was over the top thrilled with this color, as I am with the rest. I like it, but I think this would look a lot better under another shadow, as opposed to by itself (think: it under a black). It's pretty and all, I just think the other colors were more standout and unique! Obviously very shimmery.

Lastly is Prickly Pear.

Oh man. This color is friggen amazing. It's a rusty, Rose Gold that everyone is in love with. I definitely love it. Again, very shimmery. I would certainly say another unique color in my collection! Woo!

OVERALL: I seriously love everything I picked up. The single shades were a hit. I am head over heels in love with Jet, and would HIGHLY recommend. If I were to recommend one color, it would be that! The kit is fabulous, I am not disappointed at ALL with the shades they included. I love how everything will work with one another. While there isn't any matte shades included, it will take a simple transition shade to really complete the look. I love it. I would HIGHLY recommend heading over to Colourpop.com and picking out some lovely shades!

Over and out.

Lorac Contour Palette---- First Impression!!! (Swatches/review!!!!!!)

Hi all!

I was so excited when Lorac announced they were making a contour palette. As we all know, contouring is the hot trend and every product is promised to be the next big thing. I had to snatch this baby up. I ordered mine from Ulta.

The lorac palette is sleek and light. Automatically makes her awesome for travel. 

The colors are gorgeous. I'm happy they made the medium shade the largest pan for the contour!

Let's begin with the highlights.

The first is the "Beige Highlight". "There's product there!?" Yes, yes there is. And I love that it is a beige color. Although I am extremely pale and pasty, the color would serve as a beautiful, under eye, brightening setting powder. That is definitely how I plan to use this baby. The finish is satin. For those of you who are darker than I (probably a good 99% of you), I would recommend this shade as a highlight for when you are going for a bronzey/warm look. It definitely has the beige undertones that peek out much more yellow. 

Nexxxxt is "Yellow Highlight". This shade casts a yellow undertone as well, certainly more prominent than the beige highlight. I'm not as crazy for this shade, as it doesn't blend as effortlessly into my skin as the beige did, but that's OK. It's still a beautiful texture, and I will be able to use this under my brow bone, and on my cupids bow. I'm curious to see how this will look against my freckles.

The "Shimmer Highlight". Disclaimer: I love all things glowy and glitzy. This is beautiful, holy grail status for me. I LOVE the buttery texture of it. It's reminiscent of the consistency of all other Lorac powders (I.E Pro Palette Eyeshadows). Maybe even more buttery. I am so in love with this shade. It's a perfect shimmery shade.

OVERALL: I enjoy the fact that the first two have a matte finish. I think a lot of ladies will enjoy that, with the matte craze. It's going to be more flattering for more mature skin. However, I think the winner is the one shimmer shade. I am so in love with the consistency. It's a pretty shade, that looks like it would be a standard "run of the mill" white highlight. It's not. I can't explain just what I love about this baby, but it's my personal favorite.

Here comes the bronze, do-do-doo-do. This is the "Light Contour" on me. I need to see this one on my face, because from first inspection it look a tad too murky. It seems to have a slight hint of a cooper feel to it, with more of a orangy-yellow undertone than the greys that I typically gravitate towards. I will need to play with this one more, since this will be the color I use more. I think this will deem more useful for a an all over, LIGHT, bronze (would not use a heavy hand with this one).

"Deep Contour". This is certainly more deep than the light. I think it takes a large jump from the first color. I really hope this color works for my ladies of a deeper skin tone, because upon first glance, it has that richer coca that seemingly would blend into the skin. For me, this will only work if I get a lotttt darker, or for photos. I do love the depth, I think it's going to be unique in my collection

The "Medium Contour" Shade. It is so lovely. It has a bronzey undertone, which I am a little apprehensive about, but it's gorgeous. This is the largest color in the pan for the contours. I think it will be more versatile for everyone.

Overall:The contour shades deem interesting. I'm glad that I find them different than the usual colors I seem to see in these contour palettes. I'm impressed that I feel that all three shades have a different undertone. I think it's highly versatile for all different skin tones. Definitely a pick up for make up artists that will work on tones of different skin. BTW, ALL MATTE SHADES!!! WOO!!!!!!

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Going down my arm, the Medium, the Deep, and the Light contour.

Highlights.

OVERALL OVERVIEW: I am impressed with the shades. I think the contour colors are a little different than what I'm used to, but it makes it more valuable in my collection. While I think the deep is almost unusable for my skin tone, with a light hand, it can be deepened in the cheekbones for PHOTOS. I love the highlights in this kit. I am deeply impressed with the range. I find it extremely unique from what I already have. These colors seem like they aren't very special, but they come off on the skin, at least mine, with a sense of complexity I am not used to. The shades in the contours are ALL MATTE, and there is only one shimmer in the entire kit. I LOVE that. This kit is friendly for all skin tones and textures.

happy valentine's day :) off to dinner with my one and only.

It's so awesome

It feels so amazing to really be pursing my dreams. I'm not letting anyone stop me, and I KNOW my mom would be proud. Most importantly, I'm doing this for myself. Like I've been saying, I'm no where near where I'd like to be, but I'm on the journey and I'm learning so, so much on my way there. I'm so thankful for being a student at Bobbi Brown because I know that it's definitely contributed to my progress. I can't wait to keep learning!

Anyway, here's my look of today! My first ever cut crease. I'm really upset I don't have a better quality camera, when I try and take a close up it looks extremely muddy and grainy. I will be getting a better camera in the near future to document my progress, but, here's a few pictures just of my overall look.

Disclaimer: PLEASE ignore my hair. It was up, then I took it down, and just...no. Sorry :P