Written Reviews

I adore Sydney Grace shadows and was so excited when I found Gold Earth. The one and done olive is been looking for in a pigmented, easy to work with, long-lasting, reliable formula I know well. The color is beautiful and it applies easily. Sadly, it’s the o ly shadow on my s collection that fades and creases on me. Within two hours of wear - even with primer - the shadow fades away or balled up on the folds of me eyes… what am I doing wrong?

I adore the color of this lipstick. Lisa has an exquisitely nuanced sense of color, and understands formulation, luxury experience, and can evocatively convey vision. Once this is on, it doesn’t budge and it fades very evenly, despite eating and drinking. While this remains one of my all time favorite lipsticks, I do find it drying and difficult to apply on its own. I done that I need to diligently prep my lips abs apply it on top of a lip balm to make it work. I much prefer the luxuriously lucent formula. That said, it’s the only matte lipstick that I can make work, and the color and experience are out of this world.

This has become my go-to crease color or all over one-and done for a no-makeup look. Regardless of how you use it, it's pigmented but easily blend-able, and doesn't need a lot of building to get great color payoff. It makes it so fun to use. I also pair this with Laughter and Hot Chocolate to get my own "better than Charlotte Tillbury" Pillow Talk eyeshadow trio.

This has become my go-to deep neutral for my fair skintone. It can lean warmer or cooler depending on what other colors I'm using, and it can stand on its own as a single shadow look. It blends effortlessly, and builds on itself easily. It's a staple in my collection now!

This has become a Holy Grail gloss for me. Even color, pigmented while still being a lovely wash, and the shimmer particles are small, undetectable, and flattering on the lips. The applicator itself is not my favorite, but it does the job. And the scent is heavenly. I will always have this on hand.

This stuff is magic. This shade is a perfect orangy red, but not too warm toned, and the formula is outstanding. It doesn't pull or tug at all and, although it's not fully transfer-proof, once it's dry is sticks - this lipstick has survived a full on pasta dinner. Never drying, and doesn't emphasize the lines in my lips at all. I'm desperate for a dupe for this formula that is cruelty-free.

I love, love, love ColourPop in general. The prices are reasonable, the quality matches and sometimes exceeds high-end, they are American made, and creulty-free. Ticks all the boxes. This was my first powder blush from them, and I love it. This color is a lovely peach for fair skin tones. It's very highly pigmented, but can be applied more sheer with a light hand. I have found that it's easy to blend and apply, and lasts all day long. I'll definitely buy more CP blushes in the future!

I had never purchased a full-face palette before this one, and I just adore it. I use it almost every day. It is an expensive product, but I love that Hourglass is a luxury brand that remains committed to remaining Cruelty-Free, and their powder products are just unparalleled. This one is a great match for my fair skin-tone, though admittedly it would not work for medium to deep skin-tones most likely. This palette has two blushes, a highlighter, two finishing powders, and a bronzer. If I had to nit-pick, I would have loved for the two blush tones to be a bit more different from one another (maybe a pink and a peach?) and for the highlighter to be a bit more neutral and less-pink. I wouls also love larger pan sizes, just for more ease to get brushes in more nimbly. That said, I use every powder in this palette and enjoy them all. I can also achieve beautiful eye-looks as well as the full range of face products. Love this palette.

I have really enjoyed this finishing powder. It just imparts a naturally and subtle glow and finishes off the face in a really lovely way. It somehow melts into the skin and hides pores and fine lines without ever looking powdery or cakey. I bought this specifically to wear for my wedding, and I've worn it just about every day since I purchased it. The brand is expensive, and there may be less-expensive powders that function the same way. That said, I really do appreciate that a luxury brand has been so committed to remaining Cruelty-Free.

I have enjoyed this concealer a lot, and it's probably my favorite at the moment. I appreciate that Tarte is cruelty free, so I'll keep exploring the brand. However, this concealer does crease (settle into my fine lines) a bit. Every concealer I use does that at the moment, as I have very problematic, dark under-eyes. But the color and texture of this one is the easiest I have found so far. I'm still on the hunt for something that better handles my particular under-eye problems, but this is an option I can certainly recommend.

This is my first and only ABH palette, and I'm really in love with it. There was a bit of a learning-curve with how these shadows operate (and I'm very unskilled in make-up application), but I have really enjoyed the texture and performance of these shadows and get great use out of them. I would love to see a few more mid-toned mattes and perhaps fewer shimmers, but I do love and use each and every shade in this palette. This can do it all from one-shadow quick looks, or high-drama complex looks. It's become a real staple product.

This particular palette is lovely, but it is a little limiting. The packaging is a joy, the shadows are all high-performing, and the balance of 10 mattes and 5 shimmers is ideal. However, I find that I keep coming back to the same two looks (a brown and pink) with it. I love using and wearing this one, and I'm glad I have it, but i"m not sure if I would re-purchase.

This palette is a neutral-lover's dream. It's everything you need to neautral looks, but in a range of shimmers and mattes, light looks, deep looks, simple or complete. This one does it all. My only gripe is that this size of this palette is a bit cumbersome to store and would not be easy to travel with. But that is a really minor problem for me.

The shade Flowerboy performs beautifully and its a favorite crease shade or one-shadow look shade for me. I've added to a BYOP of Sydney Grace and ColourPop shadows that was originally to dupe the now-discontinued ABH Sultry palette, and it's a near-perfect dupe for the shade Bloom in the ABH.

I love ColourPop Shadows. I find that the quality matches - and even out-performs - my higher-end shadows. This is my go-to eye-makeup brand, and I love that they are American made and cruelty-free at a great price point. Team Captain is a matte olive green, that skews a little yellow. This shade does perform well, but is a little more difficult to blend than some other CP shades. I've added to a BYOP of Sydney Grace and ColourPop shadows that was originally to dupe the now-discontinued ABH Sultry palette, and it's a really beautiful addition to that color story.

The shade Beyond, was a bit disappointing. It's a beautiful cool-toned, deep chocolate brown and it is highly pigmented. However, it blends to nearly nothing, and has a tendency to run together and blur other colors. I have a bit of a learning curve with it, but so far I am finding it to be a slightly difficult shade. But, I still 100% stan this brand.

Cool Brown is just that - a great cool-toned mid-depth brown shade that is great for single shadow looks, crease shades, etc. This one builds and blends really easily.

Hot Stuff is a stunning bronze/copper shimmer shade. It applies fully with a finger or a dry brush - you can use a wet brush if you want just a little more sparkle out of it, but you really don't need to. No fall out at all with this shade.

Sydney Grace shadows are some of the most beautiful and high performing I have ever used. And I love that they are a smaller, indie brand, making product in the U.S. and remaining cruelty-free. I will absolutely keep purchasing from them. Blondie is a great champagne, slightly rosy shimmer shade. It applies with full opacity with a finger or brush, and I have not had any fallout with this shade.

Drift is a smooth, easy to build and blend, opaque skin-toned beige on me. It's a great base shade for fair skin, and could be a great matte highlight for some skin tones.