Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette Swatches and Review

I bought this palette along with a few other Tarina Tarantino items when I first found out that they were 40% off. This palette had been on my wishlist since I saw Phyrra and Temptalia post about it. For $36 I was never quite willing to pull the trigger. But for $22, there were no second guesses.

I don’t know if the quality of the shadows in this palette is indicative of Tarina Tarantino’s shadows across the board, but I certainly hope so as these are AMAZING. I think I may like the formula better even than Urban Decay’s. The shadows, even the matte brown, are smooth, almost buttery but not too soft that they're powdery, and uber pigmented. There is no fallout and they apply easily and exactly where you want them to go. I know it is a bit of a cliché to say something practically applies itself, but that definitely fits here.

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

 I know quite a few people have complained about it, but this palette is HUGE. Here is is compared to my hand and I have quite large hands.

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

This was taken indoors with the flash so the colors are a little washed out.

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

This was taken in weak sunlight.

Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

The swatches are dry over bare skin. You can see how nicely they apply just in the swatches. My swatches are usually incredibly messy and these are smooth and even. They may not be the most unique colors, but they are really pretty and the formula is amazing.

I think I used all the shadows but the matte brown here. The eyeliner is MAC Undercurrant.

I HIGHLY recommend this palette. The colors are beautiful, work well together, and the formula is one of the best, if not THE best I have ever used. You would be doing yourself a disservice not to purchase this palette. As of right now it is still available on Sephora’s website, but I’m not sure for how much longer. So don’t wait!

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette Swatches and Review

This was my first high end makeup purchase in a loooooong time. I'll tell you how much I wanted this palette. I currently work at an Estee Lauder counter, but since the store I work at isn't Nordstrom (the Violet Underground collection is exclusive to Nordstrom and the Estee Lauder website) I actually bought it at a counter that wasn't my own and WITHOUT my employee discount. *GASP* Haha. At least I can say I was a fan of Estee Lauder before my job and still am that much of a fan I go out of my way to buy the products.

This will be my longest and most pic-heavy post in awhile so lets get right to it.

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette

 While I am more than happy with my purchase and the value I got for my money, I just noticed that a year and a half ago (January 2011) the 5 pan palettes were only $42. Then they jumped to $45 and now to $48. A $6 price increase in 2 years seems like a lot to me.

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette

 None of the shades have names, which always bothers me for some reason! Haha. Also this palette only contains .15oz while the regular powder eyeshadow palettes contain .27oz, almost twice as much product. I would never use up a whole palette anyway, but I just wanted to note that.

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette

The regular 5-pan palettes are gold, while this one is a blackened violet purple. And yes, I did set my palette in the grass to take this picture. ;)

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette

I don't think the colors in the palette are the most intuitive and easy to figure out as far as where to wear them on your eyes, but I think they are bold, edgy, fun, and a departure from what many expect from Estee Lauder. I knew from the first promo image I would have to have this palette even though I rarely buy anything without seeing many reviews first.

This palette has gelee eyeshadows instead of the regular powder ones. The texture is still a powder, but similar to Armani's Eyes To Kill or L'Oreal's Infallible shadows. According to Estee Lauder it is supposed to be a combination of a gel, powder, and liquid. I really like this eyeshadow formula. (Side Note- If anyone has one of the Bronze Sands palettes from Estee Lauder they aren't using I would totally buy it from you. It was LE and also the gelee formula and I'm so sad I missed it.)

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette swatches

 These are swatched dry over bare skin. They're smooth, nuanced, and not patchy in the least.

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette swatches

These are swatched dry over a sticky base. The highlight shade is absolutely gorgeous. I try to go through and pick my favorite color and it changes every time. Even the black is smooth and pigmented.

Estee Lauder Violet Underground Palette swatches

Here is a comparison between the two swatch types.

My one caveat is that I think you need primer as I noticed a little bit of fading when testing on my eye without primer. And I think the shadows apply and look better being patted on versus roughly sweeped across the lids due to the texture. They apply beautifully wet and over a sticky base as just using them dry tends to cause a little fallout. But after applying there is no fallout throughout the day like you would get from glittery shadows.

This palette may seem intimidating, but I actually think it's pretty versatile. Used dry (I always wear primer) the colors are softer and even the bold pink is surprisingly wearable. The picture above is just the shadows over primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance).

For a bolder look you can use the shadows wet or put them over a sticky base. I used a sticky base for the look above (LA Splash Eyeshadow Sealer/Base). This picture is a little washed out by the flash (you can tell by how much lighter my skin looks here than the above picture) but the colors really were a lot more vibrant applied this way.

Here is my whole face using the softer eye look.


So what do you guys think? Kind of a bold showing for Estee Lauder, hmm? I like this new direction the color cosmetics for the brand seem to be moving (Thanks to Tom Pecheux!). I'm more of an eyeshadow girl, but the purple lipstick and gloss from the collection are really tempting me...

A Makeup Haul for $4 From Dollar Tree With Swatches

Sorry if this post is semi-incoherent. I'm in the process of helping my parents move and I'm exhausted. I'll have to be without internet for a few days so I wanted to get a post up first.

No matter how much money I have nothing beats the feeling of getting a good bargain. Which is why I love Dollar Tree. Everything is, you guessed it, a dollar and they often have things like discontinued Sally Hansen nail polishes and other drugstore makeup. Some things are a bust (like the dried out Cover Girl pencils this time), but if so you're only out a dollar.  Three out of the four items I bought, which were all LA Colors brand, were great and I wanted to show some swatches to prove it.

So totally worth the $4, even though the Cover Girl pencils were too dried up to use. It's a shame, the colors were so pretty too. A bright rose pink with purple sheen and a champagne color with gold sheen.

La Colors Iris

The eyeshadows look extremely shimmery but it's actually just an overspray.  I was a little disappointed, but them not being SO shimmery makes them more wearable.

LA Colors Iris

The eyeshadows are a bit powdery, but they're soft and pigmented. These were swatched dry on bare skin. You can see they look pretty even and not patchy.

LA Colors Water Lily

LA Colors Water Lily

That darker teal color on the right is so pretty.

La Colors Bronze Glow

I barely have any bronzers because frankly, they scare me. Most of them make me look orange or like I have a dirty face. This one is perfect for my pale skinned brethren and It would be great on darker skin too as a highlighter-type thing.

La Colors Bronze Glow

It looks orangey in the swatch but I actually use it like it was a blush and it blends it nicely with the annoying pinkness of my cheeks.  It's also pigmented enough to be used as an eyeshadow. It might look scarily shimmery on my arm but on my face it gives a nice glow, and I'm one that hates glittery cheeks.

So, not bad for $1 each right? The Dollar Trees also usually have the LA Colors nail polishes (I posted about one here), which are pretty good.  Have you found any good bargains lately?

You Need These Limited Edition L'Oreal Infallible Shadows!

I have the most awesome friends. They have stuck with me through the years despite me not always being there and stepped right up to help me when I needed them. So the point is this. I was with one of my best friends at Walgreens yesterday picking up snacks (popcorn, candy, and cheap wine!) for our girls night when my friend caught me staring wistfully at the new limited edition summer collections from L'Oreal and Revlon (Nouveau Cheap shows the displays here and here). Since I'm on my own and currently jobless (but have some prospects, yay!), I'm flat broke. So what did my friend do? Bought a whole slew of pretties for me. Of course I refused but she also refused to back down. See? Don't I have the best friends? Even though I'm not sure what I did to deserve them!

I have extreme love for L'Oreal's Infallible eye shadows. They are every bit as amazing as I hoped they would be from hearing about them before they came to the US.  The three limited editions (Golden Sage is on the display but is not LE) from this summer's collection- "It's Gold Or Nothing At All"- are must haves.  Infallible shadows are one of the best products not just at the drugstore, but in the makeup world period. I'm prone to hyperbole, but not this time folks. I really love these. They're soft, not powdery, super pigmented, and last forever on my eyelids without creasing or fading. And this is WITHOUT primer. I know not everyone will experience that, but I still love 'em.

I do have to make one small caveat.  The two more matte shades I tried, Endless Pearl and Sultry Smoke did not work as well and I actually ended up exchanging them for more shimmery colors.

Anyway, I wanted to get up swatches quickly because you need them and I want everyone to be able to get them before they disappear!

From left- Pink Sapphire, Gold Imperial, and Gleaming Bronze

From left- Pink Sapphire, Gold Imperial, and Gleaming Bronze

This is a terrible picture of Gleaming Bronze. It isn't actually brown. It's a gorgeous green tinged tarnished metal color and super pretty.

L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow Gleaming Bronze

From left- L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow Pink Sapphire, Gold Imperial, and Gleaming Bronze

There were swatched dry on bare skin. Pink Sapphire and Gold Imperial are extremely sparkly. Gleaming Bronze is shimmery, but the sparkly particles are smaller than the other two. If you only get one shadow from these three it should be Gleaming Bronze!

From left- L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow Pink Sapphire, Gold Imperial, and Gleaming Bronze

Slightly different lighting showing the greener side of Gleaming Bronze. It definitely isn't a duochrome but still has that chameleon-esque quality when it always seems to look different.

Left- Eternal Sunshine Right- Gold Imperial

Here is Gold Imperial compared to the permanent Infallible gold, Eternal Sunshine. Eternal sunshine is warmer, almost a beige-y gold while Gold Imperial is more of a cooler, brighter, more sparkly gold.  I tried to get a swatch picture comparing the two but all the shininess scared the camera.

Left- Gold Imperial Right- Eternal Sunshine (opposite of above)

The lighting in this picture is terrible, but you can tell how much brighter and more sparkly Gold Imperial (the LE color) is on the left. Eternal Sunshine looks more muted.

So I ended up posting again much sooner than I expected. I just can't leave you guys!  So what do you think? Do you plan on picking any of these up?

Benefit Creaseless Creams in Sippin n Dippin and My Dates My Brother

My love of cream shadows isn't exactly a secret. So when I found some discontinued Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadows on eBay for a good price, I had to buy them. I paid $11 each (they retail for $19) from this seller on eBay (and here are the listings for these shadows). I got my order quickly and it was packaged well.  They won me over when I opened the box and found each cream shadow wrapped in duochrome purple/green wrapping paper.

Look how cool-

I'm really happy with these. Sippin' n Dippin' is absolutely gorgeous and has that creamy smooth texture that makes the Creaseless Creams awesome. My Date's My Brother was a little drier in texture, but it still is really great.

Benefit Creaseless Creams in Sippin n Dippin and My Dates My Brother

Benefit Creaseless Creams in Sippin n Dippin and My Dates My Brother

Benefit Creaseless Creams in Sippin n Dippin and My Dates My Brother

Benefit Creaseless Creams in Sippin n Dippin and My Dates My Brother

Benefit Creaseless Creams in Sippin n Dippin and My Dates My Brother

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

The Only Skinny Jeans I Will Ever Fit In- Thanks to Benefit's Creaseless Cream Shadow

As much as I love Benefit's Creaseless Cream eyeshadows, I can't believe that I've never posted about them. They are one of my most used products in my makeup collection. I use them as a base for other eyeshadows, by themselves as a quick eye look, or depending on the color, as a liner or highlight shade.

The reason they are one of my holy grail products is because they don't crease on me even without primer, they don't fade, and they apply evenly and are build-able, and they're just simply pretty. I recently bought the color Skinny Jeans and I think it may be my favorite one yet. They formula is the most creamy Creaseless Cream eyedshadow I've ever used from Benefit (the formula reminds me of Estee Lauder's cream eyeshadow formula). The color is opaque but can be sheered out. I just wish that Benefit would come out with brighter, bolder colors as many in the line seem to be more muted or neutral.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans

The color looks a lot lighter in the pot than it does on my skin.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans

Available:

• Retails for $19 and can be found in Sephora stores, Sephora's website, and Benefit's website.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Evil Shades Cosmetics Swatches and Review

Well, this isn't much of a review because I absolutely love everything about Evil Shades. The owner, Andrea, is amazing, as is her makeup. I don't know why I waited so long to order from them! And why I've waited so long to post this review. Evil Shades is one of those dream Indie companies- the owner is accessible, listens to feedback, and will go out of her way to make customers happy. If you haven't ordered from Evil Shades, you must! Stick around for proof.

My order came inside this pretty hot pink drawstring bag.

I ordered a Large Gift Set for $23 ($30 value) that includes your choice of 3 eye shadows, 1 Hardcore lips, 1 Deviant lipstick and 1 Blush and a Blogger Review Set ($4, and an additional $4 for shipping, but you must include your blog/youtube channel to order) that included 4 eyeshadow samples, 2 blush samples, and 3 lip product samples.

Evil Shades Eyeshadows from left- Bittersweet Symphony, Heartless Queen, Nightshade, Phyrra's Fantasy, Reondite, Victorian Night, and Zombie

The eyeshadows are all very lovely and much more nuanced than you see in my pictures. They swatch well and wear well. I find the colors are pretty unique, or have an unexpected touch that makes them unique. You would think Phyrra's Fantasy is just your standard pink, but it has really pretty aqua shimmer.

The shadows are priced well at $1.25 for a 1 gram sample in a clam shell, $5 for a 5 gram jar with no sifter, and a pro size that is $9 for a 10 gram jar with a sifter. The only thing I wish is that there were swatches of each color on skin so I could get a better idea of what the color looks like!

Evil Shades Eyeshadows from left- Bittersweet Symphony, Heartless Queen, Nightshade, Phyrra's Fantasy, Reondite, Victorian Night, and Zombie

Evil Shades Blushes in Atomic, Day Dream, and Skön

I really love Evil Shades blushes. A lot of the times I find that indie blushes can be too sparkle for me and give me disco ball cheeks, but I didn't find that the case here. Even Atomic, which looks scary bright on my skin works for me. The only one that doesn't is Skön, which is sadly too dark for me, no matter how lightly I apply it. It makes for an absolutely gorgeous eyeshadow, though.

The blend well, aren't cakey or powdery, and last forever on my skin. Samples are $1.50 in a clamshell container, regular sizes are $6.50 in a 10 gram jar with sifter, and pro sizes are $12.50 for a 20 gram jar with sifter.

Evil Shades Deviant Lipstick in Devilista, Fearless, and Primrose Path; Evil Shades Harcore Lips in Féline's Kyss and Not Your Barbie

The lipstick formula is great. It's opaque, smooth, and creamy. While they don't feeling drying on my lips, I just had the teensiest issue with Primrose Path feeling a tad bit dry. I never mentioned it because it wasn't a huge deal, and I usually wear a lip gloss over it anyway. Samples are $1.25 for a clamshell container, while a full size in a .07 tube is $4.75.

The lipglosses are lovely as well. Féline's Kyss is the perfect gloss that will pair will any lipstick or goes with any makeup look, while Not Your Barbie is the most gorgeous bold, hot pink gloss ever. It's like the Fearless lipstick in a gloss form. I haven't tried it yet, but I bet they would look fabulous together. Samples are $1.50 in a snap tube that holds 1.5ML and full sizes are $5.75  for .20 fl oz in a tube with a doe-foot applicator.

Evil Shades Deviant Lipstick in Devilista

Evil Shades Deviant Lipstick in Fearless

Evil Shades Deviant Lipstick in Primrose Path

Evil Shades Hardcore Lips in Féline's Kyss

Evil Shades Hardcore Lips in Not Your Barbie

And a bonus-

Féline's Kyss over Primrose Path

I love, love, love Evil Shades. Head on over to their website and check them out!


Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!