Have you discovered a brand you wouldn’t have tried had you not seen swatches? Share!
Rescue Beauty Lounge, Becca, Cle de Peau, Nubar — usually, pricier products I’m less willing to purchase sight unseen, but if there are good photos/swatches, it can boost confidence enough to push me to try.
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theBalm! I’m pretty sure you put them on the MAP! Just something about them made me go “eh…whatever…” then I saw your swatches and read your reviews so I had to try them out!
Maybe Zoya on the list also. I’m still wary of paying more than like $4 for a bottle of nail polish, but saw Zoya swatches and needed some!!
Oh, I hope you ended up liking theBalm!
I was thinking theBalm too! Now I’m in love with their eyeshadows!
Chanel, Butter London, Glitter Gal and Lancome – the first three for nail polish, the latter for blush. Before swatches I stuck to $10 bottle, tops. Now I’ll occasionally veer out of that comfort zone if the color/formula is right, but even then I’ll still check out multiple blogs I follow to double check 🙂
i would have never tried thebalm expecially scine its sold at tjmax and i feel like its on sale because it sucks but scine the muppet pallets got such good swatches i know love the balm shadows!
I’d like to buy some Inglot and Sugarpill products based on swatches I’ve seen, but I need to eat.
INGLOT!
Consider I’m at least a 10 hour drive from the closest Inglot store I had to rely on swatches to order my palettes. o__O
L.A. Girl Cosmetics 🙂 I was asking an attendant in our lcoal drustore on where I can find the Wet n Wild counter. I noticed this super cute lipstick swatch at the abck of her hand and asked her about it. She handed me a tester of the lipstick, swatched it (with a q-tip, of course) and I fell so in love I forgot about the Wet N Wild lippie I was supposed to get. 😀
Just in case anyone asks, i bought the lippie in LC540 “Last Night” shade. Its a bright pink color. Opaque and in a semi-matte finish. 🙂
Makeup Academy.
Wow, so many! After discovering temptalia, I started to order some products online / there are many brands we do not have here, like China Glaze, Laura Mercier, Nars, Illamasqua…and I would never have taken that risk if not for your amazing reviews!
Thank you, Ana!
Hmm…Benefit comes to mind. I have to agree with what you said, but I tend to base my purchases off of swatches in general, anyway (which is why I love your site so much! <3).
I would never have heard of Illamasqua before reading your blog Christine!
Oh yes! The Balm! I’d never even heard of the line at all til I read about it here. It’s such a terrific line of cosmetics, though not well-known at all in Canada so if it hadn’t been for your reviews of their eyeshadows, Christine, I’d never even have known they existed.
They sell it at all the London Drugs I’ve been to (BC), just in case you haven’t found it around.
I was hesitant to give cheek stain a try, but saw swatches of Tarte’s True Blood stain on a message board and immediately went out to buy it.
Not online swatches. Even though I find the color extremely helpful after I have familiarized myself with the brand, I still always check the quality of a brand in person before I buy it. There are some formulas (theBalm) that have beautiful swatches however I generally dislike their… buttery powderness of their eyeshadows because they get used up so quicky (even though theBalm is awesome in every other way!!!)
This philosophy was based on Stila! No company makes me more mad than Stila. I feel that they maliciously masquerade as a high end brand, however their products are very low quality when compared to similarily priced brands. When I just started getting into makeup, I saw a whole bunch of Stila swatches and I mass purchased. Big mistake!
Stila’s quality has definitely sunken over the years. I wouldn’t buy anything from them now except their concealer and their waterproof twist-up eyeliners, both of which I think are tremendous. Fortunately, I’ve got a lot of shadow pans from when they first launched (with Jeannie Lobell at the helm) and they are right up there with Chanel and Inglot as far as color and quality.
Inglot, for sure! I did swatch research for like a month before I finally placed my order, LOL!
Guerlain because my Sephora doesn’t stock it.
Also, mineral makeup companies like Shiro, Fyrinnae and Darling Girl.
I honestly have always researched brands because I only got into makeup because of the shade variety found in online mineral makeup companies! They understood that a pale girl is not just only pink toned skin. ^_^
Inglot is definitely one. I would never have known about them if I hadn’t seen them online. Turned out to be quite timely as I was able to get some stuff when my hubby was in Poland and your swatches were invaluable. Thanks Christine!
all the brands that are not available in Italy and I purchased online!
Definitely! Brands that aren’t readily available in department stores or drugstores, such as Inglot, which I love! Also my Sephora is a hour away so when I can’t get out to do my own swatches, blogs become very useful. I made my first Armani eyes to kill purchase after seeing your swatches. I’d have never bought wet n wild eye shadows again since they were such a dud back in the 80’s but lately I’ve changed my mind about them from online reviews. Quality, uniqueness, pigmentation, price point, and in depth reviews really have helped me to branch out and try different brands that I’d never have thought to in the past.
Wet n Wild. They are my go to palettes and I would have never tried them otherwise. Also their nail polish is amazing!
Definitely! I am a massive Rescue Beauty Lounge fan, not to mention my newly acquired Guerlain addiction. I am working on building my Rouge G collection – it is without a doubt the best lipstick I’ve ever used. OCC is another one I love and is a staple in my kit.
There are brands that I had tried- Fyrinnae and Sugar Pill and there are brands that I would not had tried- Inglot have I not see swatches here or somewhere else.
TheBalm~
I NEVER would have “gone” for it, as I WAS a MAC fiend, but I am now obsessed with stopping at every TJMaxx I see in search of TheBalm- thanks to you, Temptalia!
Illamasqua and Inglot! Both so very amazeballs and they never would have come into my life if not for you Christine!
I never purchase based on swatches and/or reviews(especially pricier items). I have to feel a product myself before I buy it. The only thing swatches/reviews do is help me decide if it’s worth going to check out in person. Fortunately, I live in a place where we do have access to most brands. We don’t have Le Metier de Beaute here and although I’ve been tempted by swatches, I’ve never actually purchased anything. I will say I broke my rule once. Lisa Eldridge always raves about Becca’s shimmering skin perfector in Pearl. And the only way I could get that was online. I hold LE in the highest regard and based on her opinion alone, I splurged and got it. It is unbelievably fantastic. So fantastic that I then went and purchased it in Opal as well.
I’m fighting the urge to buy some Illamasqua… after reading some of your reviews and then checking out their website, well not sure how long I can resist. I think the Freak gift set and a few other things may be on its way home to me. PS I live on one of the Hawaiian islands and we don’t even have a Sephora 🙁 so I have to take risks and order online quite often, but your reviews definitely help. Thanks!
Yes your swatches of drug store brands such as wet and wild. I would have never given them any notice because years ago I tried that brand and it fell way short of expectations. However, now they are good quality products.
China Glaze, Zoya, and NARS. Now I’m hooked on all three! I plan on buying Illamasqua Radium and butter LONDON Blagger and Wallis soon, so I guess I can add those two brands to the list too.
Yes! I am so grateful for beauty bloggers taking the time to swatch products. I always check online now for swatches before I buy anything. It saves me time and money.
The Balm. would’ve ignored them but for your mentions, swatches, A+ rating. Super great quality on the palette I got (muppets). Cle de peau. So many brands really. I rarely buy anything without a review and swatches. You hold a lot of power in my makeup world.
You’re probably not talking about yourself, but I do 2 to 4 hours of product research a night and always start out right here. Of the surprise shadows that I never would have purchased, but did because of your review, NARS California is by far the biggest surprise and delight. I bought it for my kit, thinking that I wouldn’t think much of it. I had a model in mind for it and the $8 price was too good to pass up. I saw it, fell in love, bought a replacement and that’s what’s in the kit.
Definitely. The Balm, Urban Decay, Benefit, Stila, Milani, Smashbox, MUFE. I use to be a loyal MAC girl, but your swatches changed all that.
GOSH Cosmetics, Urban Decay & MUFE! I was never that interested in going beyond my MAC counter as far as foundation and lipsticks but, seeing some of these brands on this website opened my mind to investigating other options. GOSH surprised me the most as it is a drugstore brand that is super affordable. Everything from their glosses to their eyeshadows and nail polishes have been amazing upon application. Staying power is not as strong as some brands but then again, I have a few higher priced brands that I wish I could return for that exact reason.
yes i think two faced for me, their products look cute and adoreable but for some reason i had always been drawn to urban decay instead but after doing some swatches of two faced on my hand i was in love. i use two faced all the time now
Actually, I just recently bought some MAC lip liner due to your recent swatches. I’m not really a fan of lipstick so I got them to use instead, then cover it up with chap-stick or gloss. I’m loving the MAC liner but I can’t figure out how to get it to advance. I’ve tried twisting the end but either they don’t twist at all or, like one of them, came completely off. I know there is more liner in the tube but can’t figure out how to advance it. Any advice? Thanks. 😀
Yes, I wouldn’t have purchased TheBalm Shady Lady 2 and 3 palettes if I hadn’t seen the swatches. Add Chanel to that list. The moment I saw the swatches of the Illuision D’Ombres I knew I had to get them…I wouldn’t normally take a chance and just buy something like that on a whim!
Chanel Lagons quad-never liked the blues before, Becca, paint pots by MAC…
aaaaand guerlain rouge G is mine thanks to TEMPTALIA, oh and armani eyes to kill lust red, as I wanted initially pulp fiction:)))