Written Reviews

This was recommended to me by my nail tech -_- who usually uses gel polish so I should have known better than to take this recommendation but I tried it. After using Seche Vite, nothing can really compare, definitely not this. I felt like this made my polish chip faster, not a bad thing for the chronic manicurist but still, it didn't seal the polish or protect it. It did, however, keep my polish glossy but that's about all it did. Oh and this peels too, so a chip can lead to peeling polish 🙁 Sticking with Seche Vite despite the shrinkage.

You can't go wrong with neutrals! First, the bad... I was disappointed to see a handful of matte shades but shimmery ones are more my type anyways. I LOVE NEUTRALS! My absolute favorites that I keep reaching for are: Stubborn (shimmery peach), Stand-offish (frosty peach), Sulty (matte tan - favorite!), Sophisticated (warm brownie shade with gold shimmer), and Schitzo (shimmery tan). I hardly ever use the super light shades except in cases where I decide to highlight or the super dark shades except in cases that I want to contour for a night out dramatic look. I still use the Shady Lady Vol 1 & 2 more than this palette.

Lust is a mid-tone purple shade, from what I've seen it look pretty pigmented on other people but it hardly came through for me. Everytime I did put it on, it would fade after a few hours. Mine got dry and hard really fast. I'd stay away from this shade in particular, other UD eye liners seem better than this one.

I had just gotten my hair done (it was a pretty bright red shade) and I was at the mall wearing my date night dress for later that evening when a MUA at the UD counter stopped me asked to put some lipstick on me. I got suckered into buying the red lipstick, lipliner and eyeliner. I have so many great memories of using this eye liner, it's a beautiful warm brown with gold sparkles, perfect for brown eyes without looking harsh. Lasts forever and has just the right amount of emphasis on the eyes without overwhelming other key features. My only con is that this can get pretty malleable, too soft and crumbles sometimes, makes sharpening hard.

Received this in a Birchbox, it's a sheer lip&cheek gel tint, similar to Benetint. On the lips, it leaves a pretty bright pink stain but my lips got incredibly dry after using this (even with a nourishing lip balm). On the cheeks, it's either hardly detectable or obnoxiously bright. All this could be caused by user error but I decided to leave it alone and stick to my favorite, tried & true lip shades & blushes. I'm just not into it.

This is probably my least favorite out of the 3 palettes but I still use it quite a bit! My favorite shades out of this palette are: Envious Erin (a creamy shimmer great for brow highlight), Safe Bet Annette (frosty pink, for the light part of a gradient to a dark pink or red), and the whole bottom row (the teal-y blue shade is super pigmented and bright, I love deep purples and I finally own a black shade!) Overall, this is a great deal, I'd stick with the first 2 volumes but if you score the 3 for 1 on theBalm's website, its worth it. All of them have a large mirror on the side opposite to the shadows and the pots seem to last forever! I haven't had a crumbling problem with these either despite all the traveling they've done.

The peanut butter to my banana! I love using Betty-Lou & Mary-Lou together, especially on my eye lids. If using this as a bronzer, make sure to use a light hand as this is pretty pigmented and shimmery and can make you look like a muddy disco ball if used too much. Mine started to crack near the hinge but it's been through a lot and still going strong. I purchased mine on Hautelook and it's been worth every penny. As I said before, this makes for an easy and fast eye shadow, it's hard to go wrong with it.

I travel with all 3 volumes of Shady Lady. I purchased mine through theBalm site when they had the 3 for 1. My favorite shade in this is Bossy Bobbi, it's a shimmery very pigmented teal blue, although I don't wear this shade a lot. I like to stick with neutrals and the combination of Mischevious Marissa (copper) & Devilish Danielle (peach) look amazing for everyday wear. I love the large mirror in the compact/palette.

If you blend this out, it looks great but you really have to blend it out because there is so much shimmer. My favorite use of this is as eyeshadow, I use this and the Betty Lou Manizer to contour my eyes; the combination of the two results in a great neutral everyday look. I love how large the compact is, I can use this product liberally with no fear of running out. Although be careful with it, my Betty Lou started to crack near the hinge. I would say this is a powder version to a yellow toned champagne-y highlighter that Benefit would have.

I purchased this twice; the first time I really wanted it, the second time, it came in a set with the other 2 Shady Lady palettes for a deal on theBalm website! (I think they do the deal once a yr so keep your eyes peeled for it!) I've used this one the most out of the three palettes. It has a good variety of shades neutrals (gorgeous!), greens, blues, pink & lavender. They're super smooth and don't crease if you use a primer. The only con is they're all shimmery but I love shimmery shadows 🙂

My FAVORITE lip shade! I keep it in my purse in case I need a pick me up. It's supposed to be a dupe for MAC's Vegas Volt, I missed out on that LE shade but this one is juuust as awesome! It looks great on my nc25 skin tone with almost any look and the best part is that it still looks pretty natural for a coral.

This shade was just too glittery. This is the shade that was worn by Emma Stone in the display ads and it looked great on her. Because there is glitter in it, it has a very gritty texture and ends up being more drying than the other Lip Butters. Not my favorite but I'll wear it on occasion, it's a good casual color or one for a girls night out but not for kissing boyfriends 😉

This isn't incredibly moisturizing, after a few hours of wear my lips get a little bit flaky and chapped but it's not as horrible as some higher end lipsticks (cough cough Bobbi Brown Party Alice). This is my favorite my lips but better shade, its not out there but its not just boring, plain, in the background.

This shade looks better in the bottle than it does on the nails, the shade just doesn't translate well. It's a beautiful dark (almost vampy) teal with purple duochrome tone. It's really pretty but the purple is hardly there on finger tips 🙁 It just ends up looking like a dark teal or black if you just glance at it.

Another one of my favorite polishes, this is consistent with the Essie formula and the shade is a bright metallic teal, not quite blue but not quite green. Eye catching and a tad punk/grungy 🙂 It also kind of reminds me of an 80's prom dress.

She's Picture Perfect is a great spring/Easter time polish. Its not just another boring periwinkle, it's a baby violet/blue base with a hint of brighter purple/magenta shimmer. Very pretty.

This is my HG nude. Remember when mannequin nails were a big hit? Well this is it! This shade has a tiny hint of a peachy pink tone to make it not look like plain white-out on nails. It can chip and dull if you don't put a top coat but other than that I love it!

Another one of my favorites. Same great easy to use formula. This shade is a dark raspberry metallic magenta. Another great eye catching polish for the summer, this shade looks great with a tan but my nc25 hands can pull it off!

This shade is my go-to pedicure shade, especially in the summer. It's such a bright metallicy orange with cool toned shimmer, I love it. It's like happiness in a bottle and perfect for tropical vacations. Definitely an eye-catcher.

The formula is great, just like every other Essie polish. It's a creme consistency but it just looks off and muddy on my nc25 complexion. Seriously, it looks like I dipped the tips of my fingers in some clay based mud and had them dry, not a good look but I can see it looking great on darker skin tones!