Saturday, December 29, 2012

Comparison: Revlon Nearly Naked vs. Urban Decay Naked Skin

Foundation Comparison:

About a week ago, I purchased Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation & reviewed it (here). I have been testing it out for a week and I really like the wear of it. It does not have full coverage, but it is very lightweight, which is what I love about Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation. Today, I purchased the Nearly Naked in Warm Beige since I felt that Medium Beige was a bit light on me without bronzer. Warm beige would be a nice foundation to use without looking pale when I am not using bronzer.
Both Revlon's and Urban Decay's foundation are 1 oz in size. Revlon's bottle is more glass-like, while Urban Decay's is plastic.
From left to right:
Urban Decay 5.0, Revlon Medium Beige, Revlon Warm Beige & Urban Decay 6.0

When it is not blended out, Urban Decay's 5.0 looks exactly like Revlon's Medium Beige. When comparing Warm Beige and 6.0, Warm Beige looks a lot more orange, while 6.0 looks more brown.
When blended out, they all look very similar. I could not capture it on the camera, but 5.0 and Medium Beige definitely look a bit lighter than Warm Beige and 6.0 does. Although Warm Beige looked a bit more orange when it was not blended, it looks very similar to Urban Decay's 6.0 foundation when blended. I blended the foundations over the orange writing on my arm and you can see that it is not full-coverage. However, if you add another layer, there would be a bit more coverage.

Both of these foundations are lightweight, but like I stated many times, they are not full-coverage. I have previously reviewed both of them in the past (Revlon, Urban Decay). I think Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation is a good drugstore alternative to Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation because they are the same size and both are very similar to each other. Urban Decay's Naked Skin retails for $38, and I purchased my Nearly Naked for $9.99 at Rite Aid. For the Nearly Naked, the price may vary by the location and store because when I went to Target today, they had it for $7.49 instead of $9.99 at Rite Aid's & CVS, but it is still not a bad deal.

The only thing I do not like about Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation is that is does not have a pump or a spatula, you basically have to pour it out, which is quite inconvenient. Urban Decay's Naked Skin has a pump, which makes it easier to know how much product you are getting. I usually use one pump, but with two pumps, you get better coverage. However, Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation does not have SPF, which is the downside to it and Revlon's Nearly Naked has SPF 20.

What do you think about these? Which would you choose? Have you tried any of the two before?

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Lorac Pro Palette

Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas & spent it with your loved ones! I have not been posting because I actually went on vacation with my family this past week for Christmas. Anyway, I have been tempted to get the Lorac Pro Palette for a while now. Since it has been sold out at many locations, I decided to just get it when it was back in stock last week when it was in stock. Since I went shopping with my boyfriend, he purchased this for me.
The Lorac Pro palette is a neutral palette. I already own a lot of neutral palettes (All of Urban Decay's NAKED palettes, theBalm Nude'tude, etc..), but I had to get this because it has a good combination of mattes and shimmers.
This palette consists of 16 shades. Half of the shades are matte, and half are shimmery.
The top row is all matte shades.
White: Matte white. To me, this was not really matte, but it kind of has a semi-satin finish. This was kind of powdery & does not show up well on my skin.
Cream: Matte cream. Similar to White, but it shows up on my skin better than White. It is powdery, but more pigmented than White.
Taupe: Matte taupe. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Light Pink: Matte light pink. Doesn't show up on my skin much, but it was very smooth.
Mauve: Matte light brown. This does not look very "mauve" to me, but this was very smooth and pigmented.
Sable: Matte medium brown. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Espresso: Matte dark brown. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Black: Matte black. This was smooth, but it was not very pigmented. It took about three swipes to show up in my swatches.
The bottom row all has a shimmery finish.
Nude: Shimmery cream. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Champagne: Shimmery champagne. This was very smooth and pigmented. Has slight fallout.
Gold: Shimmery gold. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Light Bronze: Shimmery light bronze. This was similar to champagne, and did not show much bronze in the swatch. Applied smoothly.
Pewter: Shimmery medium brown. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Garnet: Shimmery red-brown. This was very smooth and pigmented.
Deep Purple: Shimmery dark eggplant purple. This looks more of a dark brown with slight hints of purple to me. This was very smooth and pigmented, though it has some fallout.
Slate: Shimmery grey. This has slight fallout, but was smooth and pigmented.

Overall, I like how this palette has an even amount of mattes to shimmers. The shimmery finish eyeshadows are very pigmented and gave me no problems at all, however, I have mixed feelings with the matte finished shades. Some of the shades are not as pigmented, but they are definitely buildable. Some of the matte shades are also a bit powdery, but tapping the brush before applying may help with the fallout from the powdery shadows. Although some did not swatch that well on my arms, such as White, it applied better on the eyes. If you already have a lot of neutrals, this is definitely not needed, but if you like to hoard neutral palettes like I do, this will be a good choice!

What do you think about Lorac's Pro Palette? Do you have it? What is your favorite Lorac product?

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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Revlon Girly Nail Polish

Swatches & Review

When I went to purchase Revlon's new Nearly Naked foundation, I also found their new line of nail polishes right next to the foundations. I was super excited when I saw the nail polishes because I have been looking for them as well. Girly is a purple, pink & magenta glitter in a creamy, jelly pink base.
Girly is similar to Whimsical, which is sheer. On the first coat, you can definitely still see the nail line, but it is build-able. Since my nails were already painted, my boyfriend actually let me paint his nails so that I can blog it :)
Middle finger: Three Coats
Ring finger: Two Coats
Pinky: One Coat

The swatches of Girly reminds me of Candy Shop from Claire's, but it has purple, pink & magenta glitter instead of rainbow. This would be a nice nail polish to use as layering.

What do you think about this nail polish? Do you like glitters with sheer jelly bases? (It's a Trap-eze, Whimsical, etc..)
Here is a picture of my amazing boyfriend, who let me swatch Girly on his fingers! It's been raining really hard all day in my area & I heard it's been cold in many places, so stay warm everyone & happy holidays! :)

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Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation: Medium Beige

Swatches & Review

When I heard about Revlon's new Nearly Naked foundation, I decided to look for it to try it. For a while now, I have been using Urban Decay's Naked Skin Foundation and I am almost out of it. Since hearing about Revlon's new foundation, I decided to try it because it is a lot more affordable than Urban Decay's ($9.99 vs $38). I went to about three drugstores and finally found it at the third one, except the display was so high, I had to find someone to help me look for the shade I wanted.
Before looking for it, I went online and looked up my match. The online match matched me as Medium Beige, which is the color I purchased.
On the left, I have no foundation on. On the right, it is with Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation.

Without the foundation, you can see the redness and some acne scars on my cheeks. The foundation covers up the redness and some acne scars well. The coverage of this is not full-coverage, but a sheer coverage that is build-able.
Along with the foundation, I also purchased their Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in Medium.
The powder matched well with the foundation and my skin, but I felt like it looked a bit cakey on the face after applying it (which is what normally happens with pressed powder for me). With the pressed powder, it shows some of the dry patches on my skin, so I could definitely do without the pressed powder.

Overall, I like the foundation. It is lightweight, but like Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation, it is not full-coverage so if you are looking for that, this is not for you. This also has SPF 20, which is also a plus because Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation does not have any SPF in it at all. I feel that Medium Beige is a bit light for me so if I were to purchase this again, I would go with Warm Beige. The powder was okay, but not needed for me since I prefer to use Urban Decay's All-Nighter spray to set my makeup. Both the Nearly Naked Foundation and Pressed Powder retail for $9.99 each and I purchased mine at Rite Aid.
This is with some blush and bronzer on so my face would not look as pale as it did with only foundation & powder.

What do you think about Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation? Are you thinking about trying it? What do you look for in foundations?

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Friday, December 21, 2012

Tarte Amazonian 12-Hour Clay Blush: Amused

Swatches & Review

After my last haul, I told myself I was not going to buy anymore makeup, but that was definitely a fail. Yesterday when I went to the mall, I picked up Tarte's Amused blush. At first, I was not sure if I wanted it, but after trying it on in the store, I wanted it so my boyfriend bought me it. Amused is a bright pink blush.
Like always, the Tarte blushes packaging is the color of what the blush is supposed to be like.
Since it has been raining all day in the Bay Area, it was kind of hard to capture how bright this blush is. On the left, you can see the pink glowing from the pan. It is a bright pink!
I swatched it over two different lighting's. Even when it is a bit dim in the room, you can definitely see the pink glowing off my skin.

Amused is a bright cool-toned pink. It is very smooth and pigmented so this blush can be easily overdone. With a light-hand, this blush gives a very nice flush to the cheeks, which I really like.

Overall, I really like this blush. This blush kind of reminds me of NARS Gaiety & Desire, but Gaiety is a bit cooler and Desire is a bit pinker. It stayed on my for about 6-hours before seeing it noticeably fading from my cheeks. Although Tarte claims these to last 12-hours, the ones that I have tried has not lasted over 6 hours without fading. However, I am loving Tarte blushes, I'm becoming a Tartelette! In the beginning of the year, the only blushes I had were NARS, MAC, Urban Decay, Milani, Tarina Tarantino & theBalm, but now that it's the end of the year, I have about 9 Tarte blushes!

What do you think about Amused? Have you tried Tarte's Amazonian 12-hour Clay Blushes? What is your favorite Tarte blush?

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Sephora Birthday Gift 2013

Sephora Beauty Insider News:

It has been a stressful few days for me so today since my boyfriend is off, he took me out shopping. When I went to Sephora (I can never not make a Sephora stop), I noticed them putting up a new birthday gift since it is the end of December and Sephora has new gifts for their Beauty Insiders/VIBs every year. This year was FRESH's Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo & next year, it will be.....
From Benefit Cosmetics!

The birthday gift in 2013 will include Benefit's mini They're Real Mascara & a mini Watts Up Luminizer/Highlighter. This set is called Real Birthday Turn-Ons, how cute is the packaging & the items itself? If you have a BI/VIB account, your birthday should be on the account and you can redeem the items the month of your birthday.

Personally, I like how Sephora has been included brands carried in their store as gifts in recent years because the years before Philosophy, it has usually been Sephora brand items (mini eye set from 2010, mini lip gloss set from 2009).

What do you think about this? Do you like the Benefit items Sephora chose for next year? Were you able to get the Sugar Lip Duos from this year?

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Milani Baked Blush: Luminoso

Swatches & Review

About a month ago, I entered Milani's 10 10 10 Facebook and Twitter giveaway. One of the days that I entered, I was actually randomly selected as one of their 10 daily winners on twitter. The prize came about two weeks ago and their Luminoso Baked Blush was one of them.

The only blushes I have tried from Milani was their old pressed powder blush that was discontinued about a year ago, but I have been wanting to try their baked blush so this was perfect!
In the pan, it looks like a peachy shade with slight silver swirls around it. It looks like a *pink* galaxy. Since it is baked, it slightly rises up.
Under the blush itself, there is a mirror and a small brush. I am not a fan of the brush because it is pretty stiff/scratchy & it sheds.
When swatched, it is a peachy-apricot shade with slight shimmer. The shimmer is not very noticeable unless you look very closely. The color is light for me, but it is incredibly pigmented. For my swatch, I swiped my finger onto the blush once and onto my skin once & it was not patchy at all. It blended out very easily as well.

Overall, I like this blush. It is subtle, but it gives a nice flush onto the cheeks without looking like it is overdone. The only thing I do not like is the packaging because it feels very flimsy. I dropped it to test it out lid popped opem immediately. The brush and the mirror is a nice addition, but it is definitely not needed, and I think without it, the packaging for it would not be as bulky. The blush itself is great, but the packaging, not so much.

What do you think about this blush? Have you tried any other Milani blushes?

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Zoya Spring 2013: Lovely

Press Release:

When Zoya sent me the information about their Spring Lovely collection, I was super excited because some of the shades were previously released as limited editions. The shades seem to be all pastel, which is perfect for spring!
Zoya Lovely
Beauty is a lovely state of mind


The Spring collection will have six shades.

Piaf (ZP652) - Fresh Forsythia Yellow Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Fashion Designer Zang Toi)

GeiGei (ZP651) - Blushing Cherry Blossom Pink Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).

Julie (ZP650) - Soft Wisteria Purple Metallic - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Zang Toi/SS13).

Blu (ZP653) - Lucky Hyacinth Blue Cream - Full Coverage

Neely (ZP655) - Earliest Spring Green Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13).

Jacqueline (ZP654) - Perfect Magnolia Nude Cream - Full Coverage (Originally designed for Peter Som/SS13)

These will start shipping January 1, 2013.

Ultra long-wearing, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Zoya Lovely $8 (US)
Follow the Zoya Nail Polish and Treatments Blog and stay tuned on Twitter (@Zoyanailpolish) and Facebook for release date updates.
Hashtags: #ZoyaLovely and #nailpolish.

What do you think about this collection? Are there any colors you think you might be interested in? For me, I am interested in Piaf, GeiGei, Neely & Blu! :)

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

theBalm: Shady Lady Vol. 2

Swatches & Review

Since my last final was today, I was able to go through some folders of swatches that I still had to review. It's currently around 50 degrees in San Jose right now & my feet/hands are freezing, but I don't like wearing socks so.. :( Anyway, theBalm has three Shady Lady palettes and out of the three, I liked the color choices in Volume 2 the most, though I liked the giraffe print from Volume 3 (Giraffes are my favorite animals). My boyfriend bought me this last Christmas, but I never actually used it until a few weeks ago.
Shady Lady Volume 2 has shades that go from dark, to light. All of them seem to have either a frosty/shimmery or glitter finish.
Caught in the Act Courtney: Dark brown with bronze glitter. This applied patchy.
Feisty Felicia: Dark purple with purple glitter. This also applied patchy and was not as smooth as the others.
Insane Jane: Frosty taupe. This was very smooth and was very pigmented.
Bossy Bobbi: Frosty medium blue. This was very smooth & pigmented.
Makeout Mary: Frosty light green. This was very smooth & pigmented.
Just This Once Jamie: Frosty light purpleish-pink. This was very smooth & pigmented
Mischievous Marissa: Frosty orange. This was very smooth & pigmented.
Tempting Tara: Frosty white. This is like a more pigmented version of Metal-ica, which was in the Balm Jovi palette.
Devilish Danielle: Frosty beige. This was very smooth & pigmented.

Overall, most of the shades in this palette were consistent in texture (all the frosty ones). The two with glitter finishes are a bit dry and kind of hard to apply, but tapping it instead of swiping it would help. I like how all the Shady Lady palettes have names of people who actually work for theBalm cosmetics! The palette itself is small so it is very travel-friendly. This retails for $39.50 and can be purchased from thebalm.com & nordstrom.com.

What do you think about this palette? Do you own the other Shady Lady palettes?

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theBalm: Balm Jovi Face Palette

Swatches & Review

When theBalm was on Hautelook on Thanksgiving, I purchased two items. One was the Nude'Tude palette, which I have reviewed (here) & the other was their Holiday Balm Jovi face palette. The packaging on it was so cute, I had to get it.
The Balm Jovi palette includes twelve eyeshadows, one highlighter, one blush, and two lip colors. The colors are divided into three music genre's: Heavy Metal, Classical, & Alternative.
The first genre is Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal consists shades that have a frosty finish to it.

Metal-ica: Frosty white. Kind of powdery & applied sheer.
Iron Maid-in: Metallic gold. Like Metal-ica, it applied sheer, but it is build-able.
Lead Zeppelin: Dark olive green with gold glitter. Kind of dry.
Alice Copper: Frosty burgundy-red. Really smooth and pigmented.
The next genre is Classical. In this genre, all the shades have a matte finish.

Adagio: Matte pale beige. Very soft and not powdery. Had a little bit of fallout, but the color payoff was good.
Allegro: Matte medium brown. It's soft, but it applied patchy on the first swipe. The color builds into a gorgeous brown.
Moderato: Matte eggplant purple. Kind of dry & applied patchy.
Presto: Matte dark brown. Kind of dry and hard to apply & blend.
The last genre is Alternative. It has one matte shade while all the others are shimmery/frosty.

Blink 1982: Shimmery plum-bronze. Was very soft and pigmented.
The Stroke: Matte dark navy blue. It was soft and pigmented.
rem: Shimmery golden-purple. Was kind of patchy, but buildable.
Third Eye Blinded: Frosty light peach. The texture was soft and easy to blend.
Solid Gold: Shimmery highlighter.
Don't You Want Me?: Matte pink blush.
Solid Gold: Frosty champagne. It is supposed to be their Mary-Lou Manizer. When compared to the full-sized, it seems that Solid Gold in the palette is not as smooth as the individual Mary Lou-Manizer.
Don't You Want Me?: Matte pink blush. This is smooth and is easily blend-able. It is supposed to be theBalm's FratBoy blush, but when compared to FratBoy, FratBoy seems more of a peachy-pink while Don't You Want Me? is more of a bubblegum pink. The texture on it is really good.

Overall, this is a good palette. There were a few shades that were not as smooth and as easily blend-able as others, but they are workable. My favorite shades from this is Alice Copper, Adagio, Allegro & Blink 1982 because they were the smoothest and the easiest to work with. I wish they included another blush in there instead of FratBoy though. FratBoy is my go-to blush, but I already have too full-sized versions of it, but I guess it is okay since it is a bit pinker? I really hope that theBalm will come out with a matte dusty-mauve blush someday because their blushes are really nice. I like how there is a variety of matte and shimmery/frosty shades in this palette because I like to mix and match finishes when I use them. I did not include swatches of the lip shades because I normally do not use them so I do not plan on touching them anytime soon. I really like theBalm's packaging because they also have a separate flap for lip/cream items so that powder will not get into it. This palette retails for $39.50 and can be purchased on thebalm.com, though it appears on Hautelook pretty frequently.

What do you think about this palette? Do you like theBalm cosmetics?

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Throwback Palette: Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. II

Swatches & Review

Urban Decay's Book of Shadows Volume II is my all-time favorite palette. It was one of my first few purchases from Urban Decay and the customer service I got from Urban Decay regarding this palette was what made me fall in love with Urban Decay. I remember back in 2009, I ordered this palette online with their current Friends and Family 30% offer, but after I made my order, I received an e-mail notifying me this palette was sold-out and would not be back in stock. I was pretty bummed because it was sold out everywhere! Three weeks after having my cancellation e-mail, I was contacted over the phone by a Urban Decay representative notifying me that the palette was in-stock, but it was very limited so since I have placed an order before, I was able to order it over the phone and they were able to honor 30% off I originally ordered for this palette. The person at that time was super nice and sweet, I wish I remembered his name. Anyway, this palette is no longer sold, but my top three favorite shades from this palette are still sold individually.
Like all the Book of Shadows, this consists of 16 shades. They were all mostly shimmery/metallic. It doesn't look like I used much of it, but believe me, I have used it a lot (I just don't use a lot so I wonder if I'll ever hit pan on anything!)
Perversion: Matte black w/ slight sparkle? This was a permanent shade, but Urban Decay has recently discontinued this and replaced it with Blackout.
Gunmetal: Frosty silver-grey with slight sparkle. This is currently sold individually.
Ecstacy: Medium purple with pink shimmer. This was permanent, but was recently discontinued.
AC/DC: Smoky purple w/ silver sheen. This is currently sold individually.
Nylon: Medium bronze w/ silver glitter. This was exclusive to this set
Sellout: Frosty champagne. This is currently sold individually.
Mushroom: Frosty taupe. This is currently sold individually.
Sphynx: Cotton candy pink with rainbow glitter. This was exclusive to this set.
Half Baked: Metallic light-bronze. This is currently sold individually.
Twice Baked: Satin brown w/ slight gold glitter. This is currently sold individually.
Midnight Cowboy Rides Again: Glittery taupe-champagne. This is currently sold individually.
YDK: Shimmery cool brown-bronze. This is currently sold individually.
Jinx: Bright medium-blue with silver sheen. This was exclusive to this set
Flipside: Turquoise with silver sheen. This was recently discontinued.
Homegrown: Bright green w/ golden sheen. This was exclusive to this set.
Misdemeanor: Dark black-green w/ green glitter. This was exclusive to this set.

It seems that half of the shades in the Book of Shadows 2 are currently shades in Urban Decay's permanent eyeshadow line. The three favorites of mine that are still available individually are AC/DC, Sellout, and Mushroom. Some favorites that are no longer sold is Jinx, Homegrown, and Misdemeanor. All of the shades were very pigmented with the exception of Nylon and Midnight Cowboy Rides Again. Both of those had chunky glitters in them, which made them a bit rough, but the color underneath it is gorgeous! It's been three years since I have had this palette, so it might be time for me to retire it soon, but I do not know if I should throw it away, or just keep it for the heck of it. This book of shadows is the only one that does not have pop-ups, but instead, it has a booklet inside with models wearing the color products from this palette.

Overall, I really really love this palette and the amazing customer service I received from Urban Decay with this palette. I wish Urban Decay would make a palette with discontinued shades and call it the "Throwback" or the "Flashback" palette with shades like Misdemeanor, Homegrown, Jinx, and even other shades not from this palette, such as Sting and Heat.

What is your favorite item from Urban Decay? What is your favorite make-up item in general?

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

bareMinerals: Moxie - Hot to Trot Lip Gloss Set

Swatches & Review

I have previously reviewed the other Moxie set, Cool as Ice. After trying out Cool as Ice for a while, I finally decided to get Hot to Trot as well. Hot to Trot is similar to Cool as Ice, but it has warmer shades than Cool as Ice does.
This lip gloss set contains six lip glosses that are almost half the size of full-sized Moxie lipglosses. Unlike Cool as Ice, all of the shades in this set are shimmery.
Maverick: Shimmery Mauve/Rose
Crowd Surfer: Shimmery Cotton Candy Pink
Smooth Talker: Slightly-shimmery Golden Pink
Smarty Pants: Shimmery Light Beige
Dreamer: Shimmery Golden-bronze
*I did not include Firecracker because I am planning to give it away to my friend.

I like this set. I feel like this set is more neutral than Cool as Ice is since Cool as Ice has a bit more bold colors, but the formula is the same. When I smelled it, I originally thought of Cherry Coke, but now, I think they smell like Root Beer (something is wrong with my nose!). These have a slight tingling effect, but nothing like Buxom's tingling effect, which is a bit more intense. The only complaint I have for this set, like the other set, is that it gets sticky after a few hours of wear. When it is wearing off, it feels uncomfortable on the lips, so unless you reapply it, you would probably need some makeup remover for your lips to wipe it off.
This set retails for $25 for 6 lip glosses where each contain 0.07oz of product, which is a little less than half of a full-size Moxie. The Hot to Trot set is sold at Ulta (both online and in-store), Nordstrom Online & BareMinerals (both online and in-store).

What do you think about these lip glosses? Have you tried any of BareMinerals Moxie line?

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Monday, December 10, 2012

Urban Decay NAKED Basics

Swatches & Review

When I heard about the NAKED Basics over the summer, I was really excited for its release, but when the release date came for it, my excitement fell short because of the shades in the palette. When I went to Sephora this weekend and saw it, I had to buy it because it was so small, cute and was a good value considering it is $27 for 6 full-sized eyeshadows.
First off, I have a bit of a rant. This palette has been advertised as an "all-matte" neutral palette. While it seems like it is all-matte, it is 83% matte (with five out of six shades being matte). The first shade in this palette, Venus, is not a matte finish, it is a satin white. If you compare what they say on their website, it is considered as "6 Nakedly Matte Neutrals," however, when you look at the back of the box, it states, "...features both mattes and satins." Urban Decay should not have advertised this as "all-matte" when it is not, even though almost the whole palette it. You may disagree with me, but this is my opinion.
Image on the right found on Urbandecay.com

Okay, now onto the product
*note: the colors seem a bit washed out because my room is a bit bright right now
The six shades in the palette is: Venus, Foxy, Walk of Shame, Naked 2, Faint, and Crave. It is housed in a tiny compact with a rubbery feeling (kind of like NARS), so it is convenient to take it on the go.
Venus: A pearly creamy white. This was very soft, buttery and pigmented.
Foxy: Yellow-beige matte. This took a few swipes to show up on me. The first two swipes was no visible on my skin so I used about 4 swipes. This would be a nice shade for lighter skin-tones. This is soft, but applied sheer on me.
Walk of Shame: Matte pink-ish beige. This also took a few swipes to show up on my skin. Like Foxy, this applied sheer.
Naked 2: Matte soft-taupe. This was buttery soft and had great pigmentation.
Faint: Warm medium-brown with a matte finish. This kind of reminds me of Secret Service, but this may be a bit lighter. This was soft and was really pigmented.
*note: Faint came with the little scrapping on the bottom of it :(
Crave: Matte black-brown. Crave definitely looks more black than brown. This was rough and applied patchy for me. I heard it was smooth for others, but it just did not work out for me. I tried it with three different primers at different times as well, using Urban Decay Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance & Lorac Behind the Scenes primer.

Overall, the value of this palette is amazing. Each Urban Decay eyeshadow retails for $18 individually, which makes this a $108 value. If you have both the NAKED and NAKED2 palettes, this palette is not necessary since there are similar shades (not dupes) from the other palettes, but these matte shades will compliment the colors in the other palettes very well. I like using mattes with shimmer, which is what I usually do all the time because I do not like too much shimmer on my lids. My three favorite shades from this palette is Venus, Naked 2 & Faint, and I see myself using those the most. All the others ones are nice, but I can definitely do without them since they do not apply on me as well. I like that Urban Decay came out with an "all-matte" palettes (not all 6 are matte), but I was really hoping for a colorful matte because Urban Decay is supposed to be "Feminine, Dangerous, and Fun" and these shades are not really well.. fun. I also still wish Urban Decay named this palette as half-naked, because this is half the size of both their NAKED palettes.

This retails for $27 and is currently sold at urbandecay.com and Sephora stores (they do not have a display out yet,so you might have to ask them to take it out from the back).

What do you think about the NAKED basics? Are you going to get it? Which NAKED palette is your favorite?

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