Written Reviews
Pickled Ginger
Bite Beauty
Tagged as: Buildable, Highly-pigmented, Creamy, Blendable, Moisturizing-wear.
Tagged as: Buildable, Highly-pigmented, Creamy, Blendable, Moisturizing-wear.
A potent and heavy hitting color that's always on clearance at TJ maxx. It blends well, and especially on top of+mixed in with pepper (exact upper lip color but too dull looking alone) it creates the perfect wearable shade. Also works well as a gradient lip.
Black
Revlon
Tagged as: Sheer, Creamy, Dry, Hard-to-apply, Smudgeable, Tugs-pulls, Migrates, Smudges.
Tagged as: Sheer, Creamy, Dry, Hard-to-apply, Smudgeable, Tugs-pulls, Migrates, Smudges.
Idk if I just got a bad batch but it seems very dry on the outside and rather creamy on the inside which makes it both hard to apply and very smudgy. If you try to build it up to an actual black (vs grey) you can expect it to smudge even further out later. If you powder before applying it skips even more. On the inner lash line you can press as hard as you want and nothing comes out (unless its a flake). I don't have particularly oil skin either. Welp, I've repurposed it as an eyebrow pencil with the perfect sheer grey with no warm tone and a tiny applicator. If you apply shadow over it and blend it will darken the color and pretty much disappear.
Daydream
Urban Decay
Tagged as: Fall-out, Easy-to-use-product, Great-value, Versatile.
Tagged as: Fall-out, Easy-to-use-product, Great-value, Versatile.
A blind buy from an online sale, it ended up being my go to palette. It has the basic matte powders I need for a daily look. The white one as a setting powder, daydream as a base/contour, the peachy one as blush, the deepest one for some definition on crease and liner (needs primer). And the 2nd warm shade I don't touch because it's basically orange. Overall it's a delicate traveler that falls out all over itself (it's fine though because there's zero shimmer in this palette), the mirror (?) isn't actually a mirror, but it has a standard UD brush (definer and flattened eyeshadow sides). For full utility bring in a pencil smudger for delicate densely-packed patdowns, and a fluffy setting brush for the rest.
Tagged as: Sheer, Chalky, Hard-to-apply, Fades.
Let's just say it's sheer enough to be useful as a setting powder, and with an aggressive hand can brighter your other products. But on its own it's just straight chalk. Applied alone It blows away while you're looking at it. Applied with primer it dissolves and leaves a sunscreeny cast. It's been repurposed and is a useful addition to the leanne palette but this is not the white/eggshell color you're looking for.
Daydream
Urban Decay
Tagged as: Powdery, Smooth, Blendable, Easy-to-apply, Great-value.
Tagged as: Powdery, Smooth, Blendable, Easy-to-apply, Great-value.
An excellent all around shading color that I got in a versatile matte palette (which is not very travel friendly due to extreme fall out/in/about). I'm not picky about eyeshadows and wear time, as long as it blends well and plays well with my primer. Which this does. Check. This is a perfect 1-2 shades darker than my skin tone for a deeper eyeshadow base, nose shading, contouring. It plays well with other colors, and I would get it again even as a single for its versatility.
Tagged as: Doesnt-clump, Curling, Volumizing.
This thing is amazing at creating curly, denser looking lashes. I don't need a leash curler (even with short/straight lashes and hooded eyes), the effect is pretty breathtaking yet feels light/not even there. However it is prone to flaking (esp with multiple coats) so be careful to clean the closure and to not to pump the wand. The resulting eyelashes are well curled and delicate/fine but somewhat dry, sometimes I'd go over with a more viscous thickening mascara at the base. I'm never getting it again b/c of the sickening fragrance that somehow on my lashes lasts longer than any heavy perfume. Also I prefer smaller brushes (for the sake of eyelids/eyeshadow)
Fair
Maybelline
Tagged as: Full-coverage, Natural-fn, Smooth-fn, Blendable, Brightening, Hides-darkness, Long-wearing, Great-value.
Tagged as: Full-coverage, Natural-fn, Smooth-fn, Blendable, Brightening, Hides-darkness, Long-wearing, Great-value.
The formulation is excellent and lives up to the hype for coverage, blendability, duration, and not creasing/flaking. I think the airtight twist mechanism helped things happen, vs the fit me ended up being worse in all fields especially duration of wear. HOWEVER. The applicator sponge is so aggravating and unwieldy. There's no precision and is useless for correcting shadows/hollows or spots -- I might as well be smearing foundation across my face. I take the sponge off, glop it on my hand, and apply with a brush but there just has to be a more elegant solution.
Blackest Black
L'Oreal
Tagged as: Clumps-easily, Doesnt-flake, Defining, Lengthening, Thickening.
Tagged as: Clumps-easily, Doesnt-flake, Defining, Lengthening, Thickening.
It's a good mascara, but doesn't fit my purposes (short straight lashes, hooded asian eyes, needs lightweight curl and hold). I appreciate the wand/tube design as well as its formulation for it's glaze/lacquer feel -- excellent for people who are flake-phobic because this is the saucy opposite of that. However if you go in with too much on the brush it does then to merge 2-3 lashes together at the base into a thick vectory tree branch. It works out easily with a brow brush but ultimately is heavy and wet enough to undo any lash curler work (unless you use a curling primer-- then its more prone to clumping and skipping)
Hermina
Zoya
Tagged as: Buildable, Just-right, Thin, Easy-to-apply, Long-wearing, Great-value.
Tagged as: Buildable, Just-right, Thin, Easy-to-apply, Long-wearing, Great-value.
MOTHER OF PEARL, This is a new HG! - For a subtle (but not sheer) neutral-skin toned pearl for work - or layered up to look glamorous. - It doesn't chip so much as erode away very naturally. As it sheers down your natural nail starts to show but still retains a sheen. - the pearl finish is generally good at hiding any nailbed imperfections Application wise: - it's hard to go wrong, it's thin (never goopy) but maneuverable and self-smoothing. - If you're in a rush, one quick layer can get you out the door. 2nd coat not required to look polished.