Zoya Naturel Collection

Swatches & Review

For their Winter collection, Zoya has released six rose tone neutral shades called the Naturel collection. In the past, Zoya has released neutral collections, such as the Feel collection & the Touch nude collection.

The Naturel collection consists of six creme shades.
From left to right, the shades are: Chantal, Taylor, Rue, Brigitte, Odette & Normani.

Chantal: French vanilla creme. This was very thin and watery, which applied sheer and streaky. You have to wait for the first layer to completely dry before adding on the second layer because will drag and create bald spots on the nails. I used three coats for Chantal.

Taylor: Light beige nude creme. Like Chantal, this was very watery, however, this applied better than Chantal. I used two coats for Taylor.

Rue: Light mauve creme. The formula on this was perfect. It was applied smoothly & evenly. I used two coats for Rue.

Brigitte: Mauve creme. This feels like a darker version of Rue. This also applied very nicely. I used two coats for Brigitte.

Odette: Dusty purple creme. This was very pigmented & applied evenly. I used two coats for the swatches.

Normani: Although Zoya describes this as a taupe, I feel like this is more of a dusty taupe. This was also very pigmented & applied nicely.

Although the darker shades in this collection do not seem very "naturel", it really does fit with the theme because they are very soft looking on the nails. Chantal & Taylor were harder to apply, but the rest of the collection applied very nicely. The dry time is a bit long, which is similar to other Zoya's, but I feel that Rue actually dried a bit fast on me compared to the rest. My favorites in the collection is Rue and Brigitte.

This collection is available now and it retails for $9 a bottle on Zoya.com(Non-affilicated).

What do you think about the Naturel collection? Have you purchased any shades from this collection? :)

**The products in this post were provided to me for my honest opinion/review. I was not paid nor compensated for the review.

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Maybelline ColorSensational The Buffs: Maple Kiss (925)

Swatches & Review

Maple Kiss is one of the ten shades from Maybelline's new ColorSensational The Buffs collection. Maple Kiss is supposed to be one of the lighter shades, but it has more color than the usual "nude" lipstick, which makes it very wearable to many skintones.

From the tube, the lipstick looks like it has a shimmer in it. The color from the tube really makes me think of maple syrup!

When swatched on my lips, it looks kind of like a copper shade, which I actually like. The shimmer does not show up once applied either.

Like the last shade I reviewed, Maple Kiss applied evenly & smooth. The formula of this was not very slippery, so I did not see any unevenness on my lips. Since the finish of these are kind of glossy, this does transfer, but it does last a while on the lips. Like all of the Maybelline ColorSensational lipsticks, this has a sweet honey scent to it, but the scent fades quickly after applying. I would not really call this a "nude", but it definitely is a lip color that is easy to wear.

What do you think about Maple Kiss? Which color from the three that I have reviewed do you prefer?

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Maybelline ColorSensational The Buffs: Touchable Taupe (940)

Swatches & Review

The other day, I reviewed Untainted Spice from Maybelline's ColorSensational The Buffs collection and today, I have Touchable Taupe for you! Touchable Taupe is one of the lightest shades from the four that I purchased, but there are definitely ones lighter from the display that I did not purchase.

Like the name, this applied like a taupe, but not one that is too light for me. It ended up being a nude that I can wear that is not too light or too dark for me.

Touchable Taupe applied very creamy & evenly. I did not see my natural lip color with two swipes and that's pretty good since nudes sometimes end up applying unevenly, which normally does not look too natural for me. Before trying it, I was kind of worried that Touchable Taupe might be a bit light for me, but it turned out to me my favorite so far, and it might be one of the favorite nudes that I own. Like all of the Maybelline ColorSensational lipsticks, this has a sweet honey scent to it, but the scent fades quickly after applying. I felt like this was moisturizing, but after about three hours, it started fading, but I'm not surprised since it was so creamy and it is a nude, so you would need to re-apply it after eating or drinking. I would actually buy a back-up of this because I feel like this would be a nice everyday color for me and it is not often that I am able to find a nude that works for me.

What do you think about Touchable Taupe? Have you seen the shades offered in The Buffs collection? What color do you think will suit you best?

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It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Matte Luxe Eyeshadow Palette

Swatches & Review

Since matte eyeshadows are my favorite finish, I had to purchase It Cosmetic's Matte eyeshadow palette. I purchased this when they had their 25% off friends & family sale and finally got around to trying it. The Naturally Pretty Matte Luxe Eyeshadow Palette Vol. 1 comes with fifteen shades. Fourteen of the shades are supposed to be matte and one of them is a transforming pearl shade, which you can layer over the matte shades for a pearl finish, or used alone.

The palette itself is packaged in a pink soft suede-like cover on the outside, and the inside is a reflective gold, which I actually do not like because the gold looks a bit tacky and the cover would easily get dirty and it would be hard to clean.

The format of it reminds me of LORAC's Pro Palette with 8 eyeshadows on the top, but the bottom of this palette has the Transforming Pearl shade that takes up two eyeshadow spaces.

First Row:

Sheer Joy: Pink-ish white with a slight sheen.
Soft Light: Matte light taupe
Warmth: Matte light/medium warm brown
Soulful: Light copper with a slight sheen
Mocha: Brown with a slight sheen
Violet: Demi-matte lavender
Midnight: Matte navy blue
Noir: Matte black, but chalky

With the Transforming Pearl over the eyeshadows:

Second Row:

Love: Champaign w/ a slight sheen
Sunrise: Copper with a slight sheen
Sunset: Reddish-orange with a slight sheen
All Heart: Pink-ish brown
Java: Matte dark brown. This applied chalky and was a bit dry
Iconic: Matte grey. This was also chalky and a bit dry
Transforming Pearl: Sheer white with a pearl finish

With the Transforming Pearl over the eyeshadows:

Although the matte is supposed to be a matte palette, some shades were not fully matte, but had a slight sheen to them. Most of the shades were buttery and applied smoothly, but I feel like some of the true matte shades applied pretty chalky because they were a bit dry (Noir, Java & Iconic). There is a bit of fall out with the eyeshadows because they were either too soft, or a bit powdery so I would recommend tapping your brush before applying. I just wish all of the shades were really matte instead of having a slight sheen to them.
When layered with the transforming pearl, the colors do lighten a bit, but the concept is pretty nice.

Even though this is not about the palette, I would like to say that they have amazing customer service. When I purchased this, they had a guaranteed delivery within 7 business days. Since I had free shipping, it was supposed to be delivered with standard ground shipping, but because they were backed up in processing, they upgraded my shipping to next-day air so I would get the palette within the time-frame free of charge. They were quick to respond to messages via e-mail and were super helpful, which is definitely a good thing about the company.

This palette retails for $42 and can be purchased from itcosmetics online (non-affiliated link) & Ulta locations that carry the brand.

What do you think about this palette? Do you like matte finish eyeshadows, or do you prefer other finishes?

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EM Cosmetics Creamy Color Matte Lipstick: Passion Berries

Swatches & Review

When EM Cosmetics had a 30% off promotion with Ipsy, I purchased Passion Berries because I have been wanting to try their lip products, but did not want to pay full-price. From the website itself, I purchased it because I thought it would be more of a deep purple berry color, but once it arrived, the shade was definitely lighter than I thought it was.

The lipsticks come in a glossy black & white box.

The lipstick itself is a bit more red than the purple berry color it shows on the website.

Swatched, Passion Berries is a pink-red berry. I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping it would be more of a purple-berry, but the color itself is not too bad. This definitely is not the most unique color though. For a matte lipstick, I found that it was pretty creamy and not too drying, but it definitely does emphasize dry spots on your lips so you would definitely need to exfoliate before using this. Because it is matte, it does not transfer a lot and it stays on the lips for a while. After about four hours of wear, I found that this started bleeding so I would recommend using a lip liner with this also. After removing, the color still stayed on my lip lines and it was super hard to get it off, so it was not very flattering because the stain lasted about a day and it wouldn't even come off when I exfoliated. This was a nice color, but not enough for me to actually want to pay full-price for this.

The EM Cosmetic's lipsticks retail for $16.50 and can be purchased from emcosmetics (non-affiliated link).

What do you think about EM Cosmetic's Michelle Phan's line? Have you tried anything from them? Is there anything you would like to try?

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Maybelline ColorSensational The Buffs: Untainted Spice (950)

Swatches & Review

Hi Everyone! It's been a while, but I just submitted my last final for the Fall semester so I will be back blogging during my break & I definitely have a lot to catch up on! Anyway, one of the newest lip collections out are the new Maybelline ColorSensational The Buff's lipsticks. These lipsticks are supposed to be part of the new lipstick collection for 2014 and it contains 10 brand-new, neutral/nude shades.

The Buffs lipstick line is packaged with a soft looking beige cap. I actually really like this tube compared to the orange from the Vivids because it is very soft-looking and just nice.. to me at least!

Untainted Spice looks kind of like a pink-ish medium brown. (It should a bit browner, but it showed up like this in most of the pictures. It looks like this when it is under a light indoors, but a bit browner when outdoors)

All of the pictures were taken outdoor except the lower right picture, which was taken indoor.

When I am outdoors, you can see that the lipstick is like a pink-brown, but once I am indoors, it looks darker and just a medium-brown. Untainted Spice is creamy with no shimmer, so it was not drying for the first three hours. It applied evenly and it was pretty pigmented. Because it is creamy, is does transfer, but it did not feather or bleed within the time that I tried it. It is a bit on the darker side so if your skin-tone is fair or light, this may actually look very dark on you instead of a "neutral". The scent of these are like the usual Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick scent, which is a bit sweet.

Overall, I like how there is a wide range of neutral shades so that many people would be able to find one that will work for them instead of washing them out. Like all other Maybelline lipsticks, I wish there was a safety seal on them because it has nothing, so people can easily just open these and test them without buying them, which makes it frustrating for those who do want to buy them.

I purchased mine at Rite Aid, and they retail for $9.49 at Rite Aid locations near me. The prices may vary depending on location, where it may be cheaper at Target & Walmart, but around the same price I paid for at CVS & Walgreens.

What do you think about Untainted Spice? Have you seen colors from The Buffs collection that you are interested in?

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LORAC Solid Gold Eyeshadow Palette

Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while, I have been loaded with school work, taking care of my family members as well as moving so I have not had much time to blog in a while. Anyway, LORAC has released two new 5-pan eyeshadow palettes that are limited edition and exclusive to Ulta. Since last year's black Friday, LORAC has released a total of five 5-pan eyeshadow palettes, which I like to call the $12 palettes because they were all priced at $12 whether it has been sold at Ulta or Nordstrom Rack. Solid Gold is one of the ones for the Holiday at Ulta and it has a semi-matte bronze packaging and neutral shades inside.

The colors seem like they would complement the other 5-pan palettes in Uptown Allure & Sweet Luxuries because it has neutral shades.

Like I have said in my previous posts about these palettes, I wish they were named.
1) Frosty white: This was smooth and pigmented.
2) Frosty beige: Although this leans a bit more yellow, it still looks very similar to the first shade. This was not as smooth and pigmented as the frosty white.
3) Metallic gold: It was stiff and hard to apply. I had high hopes for this because I feel like this palette was based off of this shade because it's a gold and normally, gold shadows apply super well for me, but this was not. It was hard to swatch with finger and it was hard for me to pick up any color with a brush.
4) Brown with slight sheen: This was also a bit hard to apply, but it was better than the metallic gold.
5) Matte black with gold glitter: This applied like the fourth shade, but the glitter does fall-out and does not stick to the lids so I would definitely recommend tapping your brush to get some glitter out.

Overall, I feel like this was pretty disappointing. I own many LORAC palettes I feel like this was also not up to LORAC's normal eyeshadow quality, like how Downtown Drama was. I was really hoping that it would be like Sweet Luxuries and Uptown Allure because I loved those. I also did not like that LORAC put two similar shades in this palette like they did with Uptown Allure because the Frosty White and Frosty Beige looks very similar to each other. I have heard from some people that theirs applied better than mine did so maybe there are some good ones, but there were inconsistent batches maybe? But this is definitely a skip for me.

This palette retails for $12 and each eyeshadow is about 0.06 oz in size (which pretty much a full-sized Urban Decay eyeshadow). This is limited edition and exclusive to Ulta in-stores and online.

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Wet n Wild Fergie BB Cream: Medium/Deep

Swatches & Review

Since I thought Wet n Wild's Coverall Foundation was a decent drugstore foundation that is super cheap, I decided to try their new BB Cream from the Fergie line. Unlike other BB Creams offered in the US, there are five shades in this line so I was able to find one that would fit my skintone better. I purchased this in Medium/Deep & I am NC 30 - NC 35 in MAC and 123 in MUFE foundations. This is supposed to be a 8 in 1 product, which is supposed to hydrate, brighten, prime, conceal, smooth, oil-control, even tone & have SPF 15.

The packaging of the BB Cream is similar to Wet n Wild's Coverall Foundation, and contains 1 fl. oz. of product.

The tube that dispenses the product is smaller when compared to the Coverall foundation, however, they are not sealed like the foundation is.

You can see that the opening for the BB Cream is smaller than the foundation so it is easier to control the amount of product that comes out.

With my bare face, you can see my uneven skintone because my forehead is darker than the rest of my face and I have uneven rosy cheeks. After applying the BB Cream, it evened out my skintone. The coverage for the BB Cream is light to medium.

Okay so I would like to say that this product smells terrible. The scent was not too strong when I smelled it from the tube and when I smelled it from the product I placed on my hand because it just smelled like foundation, but once applied to my face, the odor was strong and pretty much stayed on my face the whole time I had the product on.

Compared to BB Creams I have tried from Korean brands, this feels more like a tinted moisturizer than a BB Cream, and I'm not surprised since most brands that have "BB Creams" are more like tinted moisturizers. The BB Creams I have (Etude House, Missha, Lioele) all have an SPF of 30 and over and this is only 15. This felt light on the face and the consistency was thin, whereas BB Creams are lightweight, but thick and creamy. Although this "BB Cream" claims to have oil-control, I was pretty shiny after applying this and even after using powder, I quickly became oily again so I would say that there is no oil-control on this at all, and the skin area around my lips dried and were flaky after wearing this, which is weird because this does not usually happen to me and this claimed to be hydrating, which it is also not, so wearing this made my skin greasy and dry at the same time? Sorry Wet n Wild, but I do not like this "BB Cream". I would rather stick to using the Coverall Foundation because it is cheaper, does not have a super strong odor, and it has a bit more coverage. The Wet n Wild Fergie BB Cream retails for $5.62 and can be purchased at Walmart locations that carry Wet n Wild.

What do you think about BB Creams? Have you tried one you really liked?

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NARS x Guy Bourdin: One Night Stand Cheek Palette

Swatches & Review

Two years ago, NARS came out with their first Cheek Palette that contains six cheek colors in them. They have always been the first to sell out so when I heard they were making one this year, I knew I had to get it. Unlike the two released in the past, the One Night Stand Cheek Palette has three exclusive limited edition shades. The Guy Bourdin One Night Stand palette is exclusively sold at Sephora for the Holiday season.

The box that this palette comes in.

The palette taken in natural daylight.

The palette taken indoor with light.

The six shades in this palette are:
Devotee, Laguna, Mistinguette, Deep Throat, Orgasm, and Goulue.

Devotee: Frosty highlighter with a slight pink sheen. Devotee is very pigmented and a little goes a long way. This is a nice highlighter to pair with matte shades.

Laguna: Bronzer with golden shimmer. In previous palette sets, Laguna applied patchy for me, however, this barely even showed up on me at all! This was stiff and a bit hard to apply. I used many layers before it actually showed up a bit. In my swatch, it does not look like anything is there, but it is.

Mistinguette is described as a bright pink, but on me, it is more like a pale light pink. This is the only matte shade in the palette and this was quite powdery and chalky for me when swatched. When applied with a blush brush, it is not as powdery, but it definitely emphasized the dry patches on my cheeks.

Deep Throat: Sheer peach with slight golden shimmer. If you compare this to Orgasm, you can definitely see that Deep Throat is more peachy, while Orgasm is more pink. I feel that the individual blush of Deep Throat is more pigmented and smooth compared to what is offered in this palette. However, it is still a nice subtle blush for a natural look.

Orgasm: Peachy-pink with golden shimmer. The shimmer in Orgasm is more noticeable than in Deep Throat. This also was not as pigmented and smooth when compared to the individual blush and the other Orgasms I own from other palettes, but the shade is buildable.

Goulue: Medium pink with subtle golden shimmer. This was the most pigmented shade in the whole palette. This was buttery smooth and a light-hand is definitely needed with this if you do not want to overdo it. This is my favorite shade in the palette.

Overall, I feel like this palette is a good value if you do not already have the shades that are permanent in here (Laguna, Deep Throat & Orgasm. NARS definitely needs to stop putting those shades in everything). Although they did not perform as well as they do individually, Deep Throat and Orgasm are build-able to achieve the color that is in the individual ones. Laguna just did not work for me at all, and Mistinguette is a bit too light for my liking, but I did really like Devotee, and Goulue, which are exclusive to this palette. Each blush contains 0.14 oz of product, while each blush sold individually contains 0.16 oz of product, so it is almost full-sized, and buying it for those two almost justifies the price (if you do not mind another Deep Throat, Orgasm or Laguna).

The One Night Stand palette retails for $65 and is exclusive to Sephora (Online & In-Stores although it is listed as "online only" on their website, it is not).

What do you think about this cheek palette? Would you buy it for the exclusive shades?

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