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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IMAN Cosmetics Lip Affair Lip Kit

Swatches & Review

For Fall, IMAN Cosmetics came out with a small lip palette to introduce new shades to their lipstick line coming in 2014. The IMAN Lip Affair Lip Kit is a fun little kit because it has bright, bold colors that will suit many skin-tones instead of a neutral, which is harder to use with different skin-tones.

The Lip Affair Kit is packaged in a small black plastic case. Inside of it, there are five lipstick shades. When I first saw this online, I immediately thought of Inglot's Colour Play lip pans, but these are a lot smaller. There is about 0.03 oz of product in each color. There is a lip brush included in this kit, but mine was very stiff and it smelled really bad so I did not use the lip brush provided.

Kinky Pink: Pink red. This was pretty sheer when I applied it with a lip brush.

Flirtatious: Light fuchsia pink. This was more pigmented when compared to Kinky Pink, but it took a few layers to get it like the shade in the pan.

Taboo: Purple. Although it looks like it has shimmer in the pan, the shimmer is not noticeable at all once it is on the lips. This was pigmented and creamy.

Scandalous: Red. This was one of the most pigmented shade in the palette.

Hot: Orange. This was also pigmented like Scandalous.

Pictures of four of the five shades on me. I tried these on when I did not have makeup on, so excuse the uneven skin-tone on my bare face. When I have foundation on, I am around NC 30 - 35 in MAC and 123 in MUFE if that helps!

Overall, I like that the lip colors in this palette has no scent or taste. I found that these shades apply a lot better when applied with your finger (and it stains your finger too), but I prefer using a lip brush. When using a lip brush, the color applies sheerer than when you would apply it with your fingers so it may require a bit more layers. These feel lightweight and comfortable on the lips. I did not see any feathering around the lips when tested without lip liner however, they do transfer easily since it is more of a glossy finish. Even though it requires more layers when used with a lip brush, this palette retails for $5, yes, FIVE DOLLARS, which is not bad at all if you want to try some bold shades to experiment with them, and there are five of them so you can see which shades you like the most when you are actually ready to buy a full tube of lipstick.

This is available now, but it is currently out of stock. However, it does pop in and out of stock on target.com once in a while, but drugstore.com has taken down its listing for it. From what I have heard, this palette should be released around November in stores such as Walgreens and Target locations who carry IMAN Cosmetics.

What do you think about this palette? Would you be picking it up for $5 if you are able to find it in your area?

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