I picked up a few within the same time frame, so they’ve been tested in some mixture. Bad Habit Beauty, which has been a mixed bag but some worthwhile palettes for sure but has really come down to the formulas used in a particular palette. Flesh Beauty, which I did not try a full assortment but liked the majority of what I tried. Dominique Cosmetics, which I’ve tried their palettes, and both I enjoyed.
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The latest beauty brand I tried for the very first time was Lorac, with the Pro Palette 4 that I picked up last month. I prefer light-to-mid-toned matte shades, so this palette has become one of my favorites, and I love the super organized way the shades are laid out in the palette, too. So easy to work with.
Essence is another brand I just recently tried for the first time. I bought the Satin Love blush. Although it goes on beautifully, the shade was wrong for my skin tone, turning orange on me. So I gave it to a friend with warm-toned skin and she loves it.
Actually it’s not a makeup brand but it’s the haircare brand Oribe. I got a travel size of their gold lust dry shampoo, and I was pretty impressed by it. Suppresses my oily look for a solid day, doesn’t leave any white cast, and smells pretty good too. I don’t use dry shampoo too often so I think it’s gonna satisfy my needs alright.
I’m really impressed with Dominique,Dose of Colours and Persona. Such great quality!
I just got Strobe Cosmetics Creepy Cute Palette a pastel matte palette but I haven’t tried it.
I tried the Marc Jacobs Highliners. They stayed on all day as promised. But I was allergic to them. My eyes watered all day and then my eyelid swelled. Yikes!
Well, other than some indie companies, I don’t own enough pieces from most brands to judge the brand, but my most recent purchase from a brand new to me was Sacha — I bought the buttercup light and translucent loose powders and blended them together 50/50 to make a setting powder. I really like the end result. And yes, I’ll likely repurchase, unless i find something in the meanwhile that’s does the same thing without blending (which is unlikely … I’ve been custom blending my face powders for a year or more now to get away from the inevitable pasty or peach tones I get from pretty much all powders).
Juvia’s Place!! I ADORE the eyeshadows and the Serafine blush is incredible. Love supporting a WOC owned business while also looking fierce 🙂
Ace Beaute was the last brand that I tried. I picked up two of their Paradise palettes, Fallen & Classical, and I really like them. My only issue is I’m trying to figure out if I’m allergic to one of the shimmers but I have a performance on Saturday so I can’t test it again until I get through that. I used multiple palettes that day so it’s either the silver in the Fallen palette or Twilight from the Huda Desert Dusk palette that gave me the reaction. But other than that, I really like those two palettes. They are pigmented and blend really nicely, and the shimmers are nice and metallic.
If you narrow it down, you can use Cosdna, EWG, and Paula’s ingredients dictionary to pinpoint the likely culprit, and avoid it from here on in. Of course, if the ingredient causes a reaction idiosyncratic to you, that might not work. It’s really super that individual shadows have dedicated ingredients lists. I have had this problem a lot, since developing a (severe) reaction to chem sunscreens. Now I react to really stupid stuff, like aloe and manuka honey, when I never had a problem with either tea tree or honey. What a PITA that reaction drill can be. But it is worth it to do the homework.
It’s probably a long shot that this would help anyone, but I found that changing my diet helped a lot with sensitivities. I had an ever-increasing list of things I couldn’t use, and even the mildest skin care was starting to become problematic to me. I started to think I was allergic to everything — constant eczema, rosacea, general all-over itchiness. Over time I’ve cut both grains and sugar down to almost nil, and while there are still ingredients I’ll likely never be able to use (tea tree oil, chamomile, mints, etc…) my skin response to everyday ingredients has changed dramatically (for the better). Also, I never really get eczema anymore, and the maddening itching is reduced to rare episodes rather than constantly, every day. Just a thought. Texture has greatly improved too — I didn’t realize I had texture issues until my skin improved, then the difference was night and day.
In the past year, tried BH shadow and HL, and MUR concealer, with good results. Esp the concealer, which is better for me than Nars RCC and many other HE brands.
The last brands I’ve tried that are new to me are Girlatik, Viseart, Persona Cosmetics and Fenty.
From Girlactik I’ve tried a metallic liquid lip last time I went to Riley Rose. It’s probably one of the best liquid lip I’ve tried. I’m very interested in this brand. It reminds me of what Stila used to be!
Viseart. I bought a Theory palette. It’s ok. I like it but nothing about this formula is amazing or so much better than HE brands imo. It’s alright
Persona Cosmetics. I bought the Identity palette. I like it and I’m trying to use it more. The metallics are very nice
Fenty. I bought the Killawatt Highlighter in Lighting Dust & Fire Crystal. I’ve been obsessed with lighting dust. I also picked up the infamous gloss bomb and it’s good. Very flattering shade and a nice non sticky lipgloss but it’s so dupeable lol
Uh oh … I just checked out the Girlactik site and I think I’m in trouble.
And they. have. minis !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
I cannot look bc I will want it all 😊
I think when it comes to makeup the most recent brands that I have tried are Gilded Cage Beauty and Dominique Cosmetics. I really like the two palettes I got from Dominique Cosmetics and would be anxious to try other products as they are developed. Gilded Cage Beauty was just meh.
I am using a new hair serum from Grow Gorgeous. I hadn’t heard anything about this company and frankly haven’t looked to see if they make anything else I might be interested in but I was on Ulta’s website trying to identify a shampoo/conditioner that I had purchased many, many months ago. I really liked how it made my hair feel and since I have visibly thinning hair and it is recommended for very thinning hair I picked them up. After finishing both products I didn’t order again and had thrown the bottles away so I was spending my time on Ulta going through all hair products looking for the two. I came across this product from Grow Gorgeous and was skeptical because the ingredients didn’t seem like they were anything that would really do something for my hair but decided to try it. I assumed I wouldn’t like it since you are suppose to apply daily to either wet or dry hair and since I don’t wash my hair daily I assumed my head would be a greasy, ugly, dirty mess. I am pleasantly surprised that it isn’t and it does seem to be making my hair appear fuller and have more body. I don’t know about growing or really strengthening my hair as it has only been 3 weeks but I am liking this product.
And by the way, I never found the shampoo/conditioner but when I went to Ulta last week I found it. It is Redken’s Cerafill Retaliate Shampoo for Advanced Thinning Hair.
Dominique! And I’m a fan now! Her eyeshadow formula feels and looks HE, although I may term it ME? I could be wrong about designating as a ME brand, though. So far, I am loving my Lemonade Palette. Nude Tea could be another absolute “must-have” browbone shade, joining MAC Orb. Lemon Soda is the best sparkley metallic yellow I’ve ever used, and even the one “weaker” shimmer, Pink Lemonade, looks beautiful once I get it built up!
Another *somewhat* newer brand to me is Ofra. I say somewhat, because I do have 2 liquid lipsticks by Ofra that a friend sent me. They are excellent. However, up until I bought their Glazed Donut highlighter, the LL were all I knew from the brand. Glazed Donut has gotten me interested in taking other forays into the brand!
Reading other responses made me remember one more: Fenty Gloss Bomb. Worn on its own, I’m not a big fan because although it’s extremely shiny, it adds no color at all to my lips. I don’t like shine without color because I think it makes me look like I’m drooling (lol). Also, the doe foot is enormous and delivers way too much product and the scent is cloyingly sweet. On the positive side, a tiny drop of it makes MAC Retro Mattes more wearable.
I picked up the mini of Drunk Elephant Vitamin C serum. TBH I don’t really see a difference in my skin. Maybe if everything goes to hell after I run out, I’ll realize it was doing something.
As for makeup…..I’ve been on a low buy for so long and most of the things I have bought have come from brands I was already familiar with…it’s hard to say. I guess I bought a Mario Badescu spray in an attempt to cheaply replace MAC Fix+. It smells nice but it doesn’t do that magic de-caking thing that Fix+ does. Will be going back when I’m done.
I am a spray mist junkie and own quite a few, like maybe 15!!?? Anyway, I use them all but I use Fix + every day, regardless. Love the stuff. I am mildly addicted to the scent also and jokingly tell the SA at Nordstrom’s that if they made a perfume I would buy it. Too me it just smells so clean and refreshing. I know a lot of people hate the smell but not me! Will never be without it
Sleek Make-Up! I know I’m behind the power curve on trying them but I finally got to them and I like them because it allows me to play with a large palette and palettes that contains both cool/warm color stories within the same palette–both attributes which are outside my comfort zone. (I prefer quads or 8-pans that are either cool, warm, or neutral; large palettes that contain both cool and warm is intimidating!!) I like their formula and love the variety of looks I can get from one palette but I can tell it’s drug store quality, which I am okay with for the price (I normally use mid-range brands like tarte of bareMinerals with a Chanel quad occasionally).
Sleek blush is super pigmented. Really impressed!
Dominique Cosmetics. I got the Lemonade Palette, and I’ve had it a few days. The jury is still out, but right now I’m kind of disappointed with it. I love the color story, but I’m not sure I like the shadow quality. They’re not awful, but finicky.
The shadows don’t work well with my any of my synthetic brushes, especially the shimmers (which I thought were too hard-pressed, even though that issue is supposed to have been fixed). The shimmers didn’t apply well with fingers, either. I found using a stiffer-haired brush worked great for the mattes, and much better for the shimmers. I’m going to try some different primers and maybe sponge-tipped applicators for the shimmers.
I can probably find a way to make this palette work, but I don’t know if I’d buy another palette from them.
I recently ordered the persona idenity palette, & I love it, even though it’s supposed to be for brown eyes, (I didn’t know that, lol). Anyway, the mattes blend beautifully, & the shimmers are gorgeous. They melt right on my eyelids. Have gotten several compliments when wearing this palette.
Also got the infamous Fenty gloss bomb. It’s okay. Good when to use when your lips feel dry, but for going out, I need a more pigmented lipgloss.
Also, picked up Mac’s Hushed Tone Extra dimension blush. Love the color on me And, the formula is amazing for a powdered blush, since I mostly wear cream or cream to powder blushes. Will buy more colors in this formula.
Pat McGrath – yes for eyeshadows and Luxetrance lipsticks! (that’s all I’ve tried)
For the first time in a decade or so I bought a DS eyeshadow palette, Maybelline’s Burgundy Bar and it is sensational. Love, love the glossy neutrals and even the burgundy shade. Of course, the rest of their products in the series haven’t been as good.
Next one down, I purchased the Mecca Cosmetics Vivid Eyeshadow palette in a mixture of warm and cool tones and this one is pretty good too.
Huda Beauty Smokey Obsessions was another one and I like it a lot, especially the metallic shades.
It had to be Laura Lee because it came in my August Boxy Charm. Party Animal is the name. What a fun palette! It was mostly matte neons, the hot pink has hot pink glitter! There was a duochrome satin purple. I get to play with fun colors and high glitter on the weekends. I was impressed with myself for the look I put together with this palette, all to go to the grocery store! I have really liked all of the eye shadow palettes I’ve gotten in those boxes. In fact I have been so impressed with the boxes in general, I signed up for their quarterly Boxy Luxe.
As far as new, I received a sample of Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt and it’s amazing stuff. I wasn’t sure how it would disperse through my hair to my scalp with it’s chunky salty texture but it just melted and lathered like nothing I’ve ever come across. It has a slightly stimulating feel on the scalp and lathered right to the tips of my waist-length hair. I’d use less than the size of a quarter I used, next time.
For makeup, Tati did a drugstore/inexpensive makeup brands she loves vid, and mentioned Essence Mascara. I came across them on a run to my local drugstore and grabbed two types of their mascara ($5 each, CND) and a rose-hued glittery finishing spray for the face.
Haven’t tried the mascaras yet, but I’m hoping to love them at that price. The spray, well, it doesn’t mist but kind of spits. I dabbed it out with a damp sponge and it was okay. I figured at $7, I’d try it over the new MAC Fix+ Pink Pearls one at $30.