Natural Smoky Eye and Purple Lip Using BA Star
I was recently sent a 5 pan shadow palette from the brand BA Star. This brand specializes in makeup for Dancers, Cheerleaders and other competitors. The products are reasonably priced and you can create your own kits with a discount for bulk orders. I recieved the Natural Shadow palette which came with 3 shimmer shadows plus 2 gel glitters. The packaging was surprisigly sturdy and I liked that the palette came with shadows plus glitters. The shadows applied slightly patchy without a primer, but over a base these had nice pigmentation and blendability. For this post, I applied the shadow without a primer so you could see the color payoff of the actual product. I applied the darkest shade from lash to crease and then applied the medium shade in my actual crease. I blended with a fluffy brush and then applied a small amount of the clear glitter over my lids. I didn’t want to go with a typical nude lip so I applied a smashbox lip gloss in the shade mulberry. If you’d like to try this palette you can check them out here I also have a 50% discount code you can use, just enter the word BBSMOKY when you order!
Disclosure: This product was sent to me. I do not receive any compensation if you click any of the links above. My opinions are honest as always!
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Wearable Turquoise Navy Eye + Bronze Gold Cheeks
What I Used:
Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation
Revlon ColorStay Quad in 540 Inspired (see my review here)
Urban Decay Sustainable Shadow Box
Benefit Cosmetics They’Re Real! Mascara
Maybelline Rocket Volum’ Mascara
MILANI Baked Bronzer in Golden
love & Beauty Bronzer (see my review here)
Revlon Colorstay Lipstick in Soft Nude
Revlon Lipgloss in Peach Petal
NYX Slide on Pencil in Sunrise Blue
I have a hard time wearing color on my lids but I wanted to find a way to wear this spring’s turqouise trend on my eyes. I came up with this simple smokey eye that’s subtle enough for me to wear but still has a pop color.
1. Apply Foundation and eyelid primer
2. Apply shade 2 of Revlon Quad from lashline to crease
3. Intensify color using Urban Decay’s Flipside shadow
4. Apply shade 4 from Revlon Quad into crease. Blend.
5. Apply a small amount of love & beauty bronzer to the center of your lid for added depth
6. Using NYX slide on pencil smudge under lower lashline and onto lower water line
7. Smudge love & beauty bronzer underneath lashline and apply to tear duct
8. Add lots of both Mascaras for a dark and defined lashline
9. Contour with the Milani Bronzer and then blend out as a blusher
10. Use the love & beauty bronzer as a higlight along the tops of your cheek bones
11. Apply lipstick and gloss
Shop Below:
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Day and Night with Lorac Pro Palette
Over Christmas I was able to get my hands on the Lorac Pro Palette. This is an amazing collection of shimmer and matte shades and probably the most versatile grouping of shadows I own. The texture of this product is buttery, pigmented with little fall out, even when using the darker shades. There isn’t one color that I don’t enjoy or was disappointed with. In a humble attempt to show the wide range of looks you can create with this palette I’ve put together a day and and night look using only these shadows.
DAY:
For this look I applied the shade cream all over my lid and deepened and defined my crease with Taupe. I took sable and smudged it beneath my lower lash line to add a bit more dimension. I used L’oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense liquid line to create a quick cat eye and lined my lower water line with NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. I finished off my lashes with a quick coat of Benefit’s They’re Real Mascara. I used Revlon’s Soft Nude on my lips and Tarte Flushed on my cheeks.
NIGHT:
This look only requires 2 shadows and takes about 2 seconds to complete. I swept the shade pewter all over the lid, staying below my crease. Then for some definition I took the matte shade black and concentrating the color at the outer v of my lid blended out the shadow, then I took whatever was left on my brush and deepened my crease. Taking a pencil brush I then applied black under my lash line and finished everything off with a few coats of Maybelline’s new Rocket Volum Express mascara. Pewter is such a pretty and unique shade and gives you such a rich smokey look without looking too harsh. On my cheeks I wore Tarte’s Amused blush and I added a quick layer of L’oreals Color Riche Caresse lipstick in Merino Mauve.
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Review: Rimmel Glam’Eyes Trio in Orion
This trio has become my favorite go-to eyeshadow for a quick everyday neutral eye. I wear these colors a few different ways:
1. With the light brown shade all over my lid and then the dark brown as a liner along my upper and lower lash line. I use the cream as my brow highlight.
2. With the darkest brown all over my lid and then the light brown shade as a blending color in my crease. Then a little of the dark brown along my lower lashline.
3. With the dark brown shade in my outer v area and then the highlight shade in the center and inner corner of my eye.
The color payoff of these is actually alot better than what appears in the swatches. I find I can skip eyeliner and just use the darkest shade when I want to define my lash line. These blend so easily and have little to no fall out when I use them. The packaging says these shades work best for blue eyes but I think the browns really highlight the green in my eyes. This is my second time purchasing this trio so I really recommend it.
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Revlon ColorStay Quad: Inspire (540) Review and Swatches
It isn’t everyday I get excited about a drugstore eyeshadow quad but I was really impressed with this Revlon ColorStay palette. I picked this up from Ulta’s a few weeks ago and it sat in my new product basket for awhile because these colors are really outside of my normally neutral comfort zone. I chose this quad because it reminded me of the Dior Spring 2012 garden collection palette. This was also my first time trying a Revlon ColorStay Quad.
While I initially thought these colors would be to hard to wear in an everyday daytime look I was pleasantly surprised when I finally started experimenting with it. The colors are bright and decently pigmented but they don’t look outrageous on the eye. The dark blue/navy shade looks gorgeous when used to line the upper and lower lashes and makes a gorgeous look all by itself. As I got more courageous though I added the mint green all over the lid (but not going above the crease) and then darkened the outer v with the turquoise blue. Add the cream color as a higlight and you have a wearable daytime eye. Initially I thought this palette needed a brown shade to anchor it but once I started using it I stopped worrying about having a neutral to play with.
The package states that these shades should last 16 hours. Without a primer I got a good 10 hours of wear from these, but I did have some considerable creasing with the lighter shades after a few hours. However, if you use the navy shade as a liner it will last all day.
When I used a primer these didn’t crease at all and lasted until I took my makeup off.
The cream shade had the best texture out of the 4 colors but all applied easily and blended without any problems. The brighter colors go on a bit sheer at first but are easy to build up. These do have a bit of shimmer to them but nothing overly glittery. I also had minimum fall out.
Things To Know:
1. These colors look intimidating at first but are actually easy to wear. Don’t pass this quad up just because you are afraid of color!
2. There are no matte shades in the quad but the glitter isn’t overly noticeable on the eye
3. I find I got the best wear out of these when I used a primer
4. The navy makes a gorgeous liner! I wear this around the upper and lower lash line and then apply a bronze eye pencil to my waterline. It’s gorgeous!
I really loved this palette and the formula of this Colorstay quad. I’m definitely going to be checking out the rest of the quads available in this line!
To view a recent eye look using this quad you can click here
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Lorac: Naked Lace Eye, Lip, Cheek Collection
Just a quick review on another value set I purchased recently. This one is from Lorac and I mainly purchased it to try out the mini lip glosses that it came with. I’ve been hit or miss with Lorac eye shadows but the ones that came with this set are amazing! The baked Lorac eyeshadows that I tried were super chalky and the ones that I had in a palette broke right away. However, this set came with little shadow pots and I can’t say enough good things about them.
First, the lace clutch this came with is so pretty. I love anything with black lace and nude color so I instantly liked this. This doesn’t feel low quality at all and I could see myself using this as an actual clutch for a night out. Packaging gets an A+
Next, the lip glosses!!! I’m obsessed! The colors this came with are Vintage, which is a true nude shade, Trend setter which is a peachy pink with a slightly shimmery look but no actual glitter, and last Muse which is a great nudey pink. These are available to purchase in full-size outside of the set and I have to buy them. The smell of these are amazing. It’s like a cinnamon marshmallow? Haha I don’t know it’s hard to describe, but if you’ve used the Lorac Tantalizer Bronzing lotion it is the exact same smell. These are very creamy and do have some opaqueness to them. While they are thick enough to be pigmented they don’t feel sticky. I need to buy Vintage and Muse, they are so pretty and perfect colors on me. I’ve been wearing these alone and over lipsticks and they work great either way.
From Left: Vintage, Trendsetter, Muse, Negligee, Boudouir, Rendezvous
These eyeshadows are great everyday shades. The texture is very creamy and they blend like butter. If you aren’t very good with eyeshadows these would be very easy for you to use. While these colors are not available outside of this set I believe these are the same formula and packaging as Lorac’s normal single eyeshadows. Boudouir is actually a more taupey plum than in this swatch and it makes a perfect crease color. Negligee is a champage cream color and makes a great highlight because it isn’t overly shimmery but I also have been wearing this all over my lid or in my inner eye. They are just great, easy to use shades.
The blush is a great classic peachy pink called Rendezvous. It works really well with the other items in this collection and just gives my cheeks a nice natural flush. It’s not matte but the shimmer in it is still wearable everyday.
Overall I think everything in this set is great quality and it’s a great neutral collection to have. You can wear everything and look super natural but you can also use boudoir to smoke out your eye and easily transition to an evening look. I think this is an excellent group of items to keep in your purse for fast touch-ups at work and to take you from a day to night look. I’m really pleased I didn’t miss out on this ( I got it during a sale on hautelook) so if you see it for sale online or at a store grab it!
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TheBalm: Nude ‘tude Eyeshadow Palette
I picked this lovely palette up on hautelook a few weeks ago and I’ve been so excited to try it. I got also got a Thebalm blush, bronzer and lipstick as well but I’ll review those separately. This is my first experience with this brand and while I’ve heard amazing thing about the blushes I hadn’t seen many reviews on the eyeshadows. I was very happy with this, and while I paid a discounted price by purchasing it on hautelook, I do think this would be worth the full retail value of 36 dollars and would make a great alternative to the Naked Palette if you don’t have the 50 dollars to shell out on Urban Decay.
The first thing I will say about this brand is the packaging is awesome. Everything comes in really cute kitschy boxes and the palette itself is slim but sturdy. The lid is magnetic so I feel like you could travel with this easily. So definitely an A+ on packaging. This palette also came with a brush but I’m not a huge fan of it. The bristles aren’t very soft and I probably wouldn’t reach for it ever.
The shadows themselves are very nice quality. They aren’t quite as buttery as Urban Decay shadows but they had minimum fall out and the colors were decently pigmented. You get a mix of matte and shimmer shades which is great and I appreciate that even though this is a nude palette they included a good selection of darker shades. I’ve actually been using this mostly for darker smokey looks than a neutral eye. Not because the lighter shades aren’t pretty but I just really love the dark colors this comes with.
The top shades from dark to light:
Serious, Sexy, Sophisticated, Selfish, Stubborn, Sassy
Serious is actually a pretty pigmented black but it wasn’t swatching that well on my arm. I’ve mostly been using it to line my eyes and you can get a very dark concentrated line with this shade. My favorite colors from the top row are Serious, Sexy and Selfish. Sassy which is the white shade is a pigmented shimmer white and works well in the tear duct.
Bottom Shades from dark to light:
Sleek, Silly, Schitzo, Sultry, Stand-Offish, Snobby
My favorite colors from these are Sleek which is a dark chocolate brown and Sultry which is a great matte mid-tone brown. If you own the Wet n Wild Vanity palette Sultry is very similar to the medium brown shade in that palette. I also really like Snobby which is a yellow gold that looks great in the inner corner of the eye.
Things To Know About This Palette:
1. This is a great cheaper alternative to the Naked Palette
2. You’ll get a nice mix of matte and shimmery shades, the only one that seems to have glitter is silly but it has little fall out.
3. This has enough variety of light, midtone and dark shades that you could use this as an all in one palette on a trip
4. My favorite way to wear this palette so far is wearing sultry all over the lid and using a mix of sleek and serious to smoke out my upper and lower lashes
5. The packaging for this palette is super cute, sturdy and fun to display
If you need an invite to hautelook you can click here
Let me know if you’ve used this palette and your favorite way to wear these shades! 
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Tarte NeutralEYES Volume II Palette
The Tarte NeutralEYES Volume II Palette is a 10 shadow palette with colors ranging from pale pink to a a milk chocolate brown. This palette comes with a Tarte emphasEYES brown eyeliner, a dual shadow brush, and a sample of their eye primer. I think it also came with a card with some ways to use the palette but I lost it. I bought mine from ULTA for $44.00. I’ve had about a month to play with it and I have some good and bad things to say.
I’ll start with the packaging:
The case is pretty sturdy and the lid is magnetic so it snaps into place. I feel like this would work really well for travel. It’s not too bulky or large and you could easily throw it in a suitcase and not worry about it shattering everywhere.
Next the eyeshadows themselves:
You get an even mix of matte and shimmer shades with the palette. The top 5 colors are matte and the bottom 5 are shimmer. None contain any noticeable glitter which is great because I hate glitter fallout. The colors themselves look nice in the pan but I find that the colors themselves don’t have the best payoff. The first 2 top shades and first 2 bottom shades had the least color payoff for me. When I swatched them on my arm you could barely even seem them. I also found that the 4th bottom shade also shows up very light. Considering I spent 44 dollars on this set I was a little disappointed that almost half the shades didn’t show up against my skin. However, the buttercream shade (third in the top row) and the two brown shimmer shades on the bottom have great payoff and I love wearing them. The brown shimmer shades both remind me of cooler toned versions of Urban Decay’s smolder. I also think the grey shade in the top row looks nice paired over Maybelline’s Tough as Taupe Color Tattoo. Here are the colors swatched on my arm:
The feel of these varies, the matte shades are a little more powdery while the shimmer colors are pretty creamy. One huge plus is these colors literally last ALL day on me. Tarte products always have amazing staying power for me these are no exception.
The freebies that come with this are great. The eyeliner is such a crazy consistency. Its an aqua-gel liner in pencil form, it’s so soft it almost feels like a liquid when you are applying it. The only problem is that since it’s so soft you could blow through this pencil in 2 weeks if you used it as an everyday liner and I’m pretty sure they retail for $22 so that would be a big budget buster. The brush is great and I enjoyed the primer as well.
Things You Need To Know:
1. The color payoff isn’t great on some of these shades but the lasting power is unbeatable.
2. My favorite way to wear this palette is to apply the buttercream shade all over my lid and then mix the 2 shimmer brown shades into my crease.
3. This palette has a good mix of matte and shimmer shades and avoids chunky glitter
4. Be careful when you apply the eyeliner to your waterline, it melts into a liquid and I’m always getting it in my eye which burns like crazy for the first 10 seconds. (However the staying power is great so I still use it, I’m just very careful)
5. I use these with a primer to get the most color payoff
Overall I feel like this palette was more a miss than a hit for me. I definitely can find ways to wear it and the eyeliner it came with was awesome but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone on a budget. This was kind of an impulse buy for me and I wish I had done a little more research and swatched the colors in the store. While I still love Tarte products this just didn’t impress me very much.
Shop Tarte at the link below:
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Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Cream Gel Eyeshadow vs. L’oreal 24 Hour Infallible Eyeshadow
This past month Youtube has been flooded with reviews and tutorials on the new Maybelline 24 Hour Color Tattoo and L’oreal 24 hour Infallible Eyeshadows. While both products boast intense pigmentation, 24-hour long lasting power, and crease-resistant shades there are some differences between the two so instead of another blog with swatches you’ve already seen I thought I’d compare both eyeshadows. To be honest both are pretty great but if you don’t have a ton of money to spend to try both out here’s some things you might like to know before deciding which one to buy:
Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Cream Gel Eyeshadows: This line has 10 shades. I own Tough as Taupe, Pomegrante Punk, and Bad to the Bronze
1. These shadows are actual cream shadows. Most have shimmer finishes except Tough as Taupe
2. These have been called dupes for Mac Paint Pots. They work well as a shadow base but can be worn alone.
3. Without a primer these lasted about 8 hours on me before starting to fade out. I did not notice any major creasing with any of the colors I purchased.
4. While these can be worn on their own I felt I got the nicest look when I used these as a base. They are very pigmented when swatched but I felt on their own the eye look they created was a little too subtle for my taste
5. The packaging for these are great. They come in sturdy glass jars with twist off tops. I do not see these drying out.
6. I think these apply best with fingers, they are easy to blend and do not set too quickly.
7. I wish they had a black shade. I feel like while they have some nice neutrals and vibrant shades they lack some deeper shades.
L’oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eye Shadow: This line has 12 shades, I own Continuous Cocoa and Eternal Sunshine
1. These shadows are actually a powder that has been pressed into a cream like texture. When applied they finish more like a cream shadow then a powder
2. I find that the texture on these are a little harder to work with. Fingers work best for application, trying to pack the pigment on a shadow brush can be a little difficult.
3. These do not blend as easily as the Maybelline 24 hour shadows but I felt they were slightly more pigmented.
4. I got a good 8 hours of wear from these before fading and they did not crease.
5. I like how this line had some darker colors, you can create some really dramatic looks that will last all day without smudging or creasing.
6. These also had nice packaging. The shadow comes in a sturdy little jar with twist off lid. Don’t lose the little piece inside used to pack down the pigments!
Overall I have really liked both of these products. For a drugstore buy they really do what they say and are such a great alternative to higher end shadows.
If I had to choose one over the other I would probably spend the money on the L’oreal Infallible shadows only because I like wearing a darker smokier eye most days and the L’oreal line has a better selection for that. Honestly though I love combining these 2 products together if you can get your hands on both. My favorite look so far is using the Maybelline Bad tothe Bronze all over my lid and then lining and smoking my upper and lower lashline with the L’oreal Continuous Cocoa. I believe I spent about 7 bucks a piece on these so price isn’t really a big difference.
Hopefully this helps those of you who still haven’t had a chance to try these out, let me know your thoughts if you are already using them!
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My FAVORITE (and cheapest!) Neutral Eye Palette
Hi everyone!
For a long time I was skeptical of Wet n Wild makeup. It was a product I had used when I was in middle school and I had my doubts it could ever hold up against the pricier makeup I began purchasing as I got older. I was wrong!
The Wet n Wild Vanity Palette cost me $4.99 at CVS and is my absolute favorite collection of neutral eyeshadows. The set comes with three highly pigmented matte shades as well three frosted colors.
When I’m going for a fast neutral eye I take the middle shade on that matte side and use that in my crease and I’m all set! If I have a few more minutes I’ll use the lightest matte color all over and the middle beige shade in my crease. The lightest color on the shimmer side is a great highlight and inner corner shade. This past weekend I used the darkest matte shade on my outer V area and then lined both my top and bottom lashes with it to make my lash line more pronounced. It gave a great subtle smokey eye look.
I probably use this palette 3 times a week and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great neutral eye set of shadows. I reach for this over my NYX nude on nude palette all the time and its a fraction of the cost.
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