Tarte Aqualillies Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eye And Cheek Palette

Swatches & Review



For Summer 2013, Tarte has released their whole collection based on Aqualillies. One of the products in their summer collection is the Tarte Aqualillies Eye & Cheek palette, which is also waterproof. This palette consists of six eyeshadows, one bronzer, one highlighter, and one blush.

This is packaged in a plastic round case with the design printed onto it.


The eyeshadows, highlighter & bronzer form a circle around the blush.


From left to right:
Eyeshadows:
Hammock: Matte dark brown.
Bikini: Champagne with a satin finish.
Barefoot: Frosty light yellow-beige.
Parasol: Frosty white.
Sundeck: Matte light brown.
Poolside: Iridescent golden-blue.
Highlighter:
Champagne: Frosty champagne. This was pretty similar to the eyeshadow Bikini, which is also in this palette.
Bronzer:
Park Ave Princess: Matte light brown.
Blush:
Captivating: Matte coral.

I found that all of the eyeshadows were very smooth and pigmented and they are perfect to be used as an everyday eye color since it is mainly neutral. The highlighter was very similar to the eyeshadow Bikini, so I wish their highlighter was a bit different since there are some highlighters out there that lean a bit more yellow. The bronzer has a matte finish, so it is perfect for contouring, however, it applied kind of patchy for me (I have this problem with many bronzers). At first, I thought that the blush would be similar to Tipsy, but when I looked at it, Captivating seems to lean more orange than Tipsy.

I like that this palette is perfect to use for a full-face makeup because it comes with wearable eyeshadows, highlighter, bronzer, & blush. The thing that I do not really like about this is the packaging. The plastic packaging feels cheap and feels like it would easily break if it was dropped. When I bought this, it was SO HARD to open it, I kept breaking my nails trying to open it, but it was a lot easier to open it after I filed down the little plastic thing that keeps the product closed, but it was quite annoying. Another thing was that the bronze paint for my palette is already chipping off and I have only used it once. I have not dropped it or anything since I always keep the items in its original packaging, and the paint is just peeling off, which is kind of annoying as well. However, I was quite surprised at how well the eyeshadows were because with my past experiences with Tarte eyeshadows, they come off chalky & not pigmented.

This retails for $38 and the blush included in this palette is the size of their full-sized blush, which makes it a good deal considering the blush itself would retail for $26. This can be purchased at Sephora locations & tartecosmetics.com

What do you think about this palette? Is there a Tarte item that you love?

Click to read more!

Lorac GLOgetter Palette

Swatches & Review



Lorac's GLOgetter palette is part of their summer collection and is an Ulta exclusive. It has been online at Ulta for a while now, but it just recently started showing up in stores. I was able to pick this one up this past week & it was the last one at that location, but when I went to another location, they had about three more.

The GLOgetter palette is packaged in a plastic brown packaging with a gold colored frame around their brand name.
It comes with eight eyeshadows and two neutrals that can be used as a base, or highlighter.


These were swatched in order from left to right because the shades do not come with names.
The first shade is a matte medium brown.
The second shade is a shimmery bronze.
The third shade is a shimmery peach-orange.
The fourth shade is a shimmery turquoise.
The fifth shade is a periwinkle shimmer.
The sixth shade is a shimmery mauve-ish color.
The seventh shade is a iridescent golden mint shimmer.
The eighth shade is a purple with a blue sheen, it reminds me of Urban Decay's Asphyxia eyeliner.

The base/highter I swatched first was the one on the left side, which is a satin beige shade & the one on the right is a shimmery light beige shade.

All of these were swatched over Lorac's Behind The Scene primer. I found that all of these eyeshadows were smooth and pigmented. The golden mint shade is a very unique shade because I feel like it would look gorgeous when it is used over a darker shade since it has a duo-chrome effect to it. Lorac Cosmetics describes this as "colorful palette features a combination of 8 vibrant matte and shimmer shadows plus 2 over-sized neutral shadows for the perfect base color or highlighter." I was hoping there would be more matte shades, but there was only ONE, which is the first shade. However, the colors in this palette are definitely perfect for summer -- the peachy shade, the periwinkle & the golden mint. For $20, this is definitely a good deal because it definitely holds a lot of product in it as well. This is an Ulta exclusive so it can only be purchased online at Ulta.com & at Ulta locations.

Click to read more!

theBalm Cosmetics Instain Blush: Pinstripe

Swatches & Review



Earlier, I showed quick swatches of the blushes I recently purchased from theBalm Cosmetics. After the quick swatches, I started focusing on the blushes individually. Pinstripe is described as a plum shade from theBalm.


Like all of theBalm Cosmetic's products, it has a cardboard packaging and a slip on sleeve that is designed like the product itself. Each of the names are patterns that you will see on the inside of the packaging surrounding the pan of the blush. All of the blushes from the Instain line are designed like magazine covers. Three of the blushes say Spring on it and three of them says Fall on it, which I assume are blushes for the seasons.


When I posted the quick swatches, they were swatches applied from my fingers. In these swatches, the swatch on the left was applied with a sponge-tip applicator and the one on the right was applied with a brush.
Both of the swatches were applied with one swipe.
In the outdoor and the indoor in front of the window setting, the blush appears to be a berry-plum shade. When it is indoors and in the shade without being in front of the window, it shows more of a darker plum shade.
To me, Pinstripe is more than just plum, it is a berry-plum with a golden sheen. In the pan of the blush, it looks like it will be glittery-shimmer, but once applied, it looks very smooth and has a nice golden sheen to it. The finish reminds me of Hot Mama's finish.


In the close-up picture, you can see the golden sheen a bit more.

Pinstripe was very smooth and pigmented. It applied very easily & it shows a lot in just one swipe! However, I find it hard to blend because once it is on, it stays on, so it is important to be careful & use a light-hand with this to avoid having clown-cheeks. I was surprised at how much I actually liked this blush. When I ordered, I knew that this was not going to be matte from the picture that they have shown, but the swatch that they had on their website of Pinstripe looked very... terrifying to be put on the cheeks, however, this shade is one of my favorite shades from the five that I have purchased.

The Instain Blush line retails for $22 and can be purchased on thebalm.com & aveyou.com

What do you think about Pinstripe? Do you like your blushes matte, shimmery, glittery, or with a nice sheen?

Click to read more!

theBalm Cosmetics Instain Blush

Quick Swatches



Last week, theBalm Cosmetics were launching their new website. With the new website, they were offering 50% off for 24-hours. However, their site crashed almost immediately, so they are still working on it for the actual 24-hour 50% off deal. I was lucky enough to get an order through a bit after the initial launch time, so I ordered five of the six new Instain blushes.


The five shades I picked up are: Swiss Dot, Argyle, Toile, Lace & Pinstripe.


Swiss Dot: Matte coral.
Argyle: Matte baby pink.
Toile: Matte strawberry red-pink.
Lace: Matte bright pink.
Pinstripe: Plum with golden shimmer/sheen.

These are quick swatches because I will be reviewing the blushes individually.
These contain 0.2 oz of product & they retail for $22.

Which ones do you like from the quick swatches so far? :)

Click to read more!