Sydney Grace! First, I’m a fiend for eyeshadow, so their massive range was beyond tempting. Have you seen the number of GREENS in their range? All over it. I was so pleased that so much of what I’ve tried to date has been quite lovely!
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Christine, I figured you’d answer Sydney Grace! If I had the same eyeshadow skills like you I can see how mesmerizing it could be. I am tempted myself.
Mine was Surratt, I just love the blushes, highlighters and he lipsliques. Oh, and the brow pomade is phenomenal.
Surratt’s Artistique blushes range is amazing – one of the best formulas on the market!
Love the blush formula. It is still at the top of my list for formulation.
Agree. Just did another order…it’s a low buy, not a no buy. And checking the swatches and using editor favorites, plus checking dupes, makes it far easier not to order the entire website! Trying one blush..always and forever, iirc. and I didn’t succumb to every green in the entire catalogue, but most of the rest of the grays. Never quite understood why grays are so tough, when whites, blacks and browns are comparatively easy to nail. Glad I got some SG before the low buy:no new brands. So far, my ID info is not saving on MacBook.
Let me know how the blush is, KJH! I only bought the highlighters last (apparently no blush…), but I’m curious!
Definitely. Can’t imagine it’d be other than awesome. Would you mind telling us what the magnetic palettes with the SG in it?
It’s not a palette or magnetic – it’s just an open box/lid.
Sydney Grace for me too! I discovered them back in the fall and have fallen in love with not only their quality, but also their customer service.
The Face Shop. Riley Rose has so many fun indie or Korean beauty brands. Every time I go there I look to see what else from them can I try!
I’m impressed by the range of pigmented cool toned matte shadows too!
Sydney Grace is definitely on my “must try” list!
It’s hard for me to say that I’ve fallen in love with a brand because I rarely get to try a lot of what they put out, that being said I use a few products by Laura Mercier and they’re good. But I finally tried the caviar sticks and I’m HOOKED. The soft look is what I’ve been looking for and I can throw it on quickly in the morning before work. I’m thrilled!
I had to think about this one for quite awhile because I am not sure I really “love” any brand these days so probably the last brand I was excited about the products and they performed well was Pat McGrath. Having said that, I haven’t purchased anything from the brand since Mother Ship V and I probably won’t unless there is some diversity of shades in the e/s palettes.
I really want to try Sydney Grace and will probably succumb to the temptation at some time but for right now I picked up the Huda Emerald palette and I will play with that for awhile before deciding what shades from SG to purchase. I was all set to place an order shortly after kjh told me they have dupes for a lot of the shades from the Smoke Sessions palette but I was a little frustrated that several of the dupe shades were only available in palettes. I haven’t been back to the site to check things out but likely will in the next couple of weeks. I am avoiding temptation right now!!
Although I do not own any of her products *yet*, my vote is also cast for Sydney Grace!
Now for a brand I *do* actually own, it would have to be Huda after nabbing the New Nude Palette and Emerald Palette. She is another one who is pushing innovative formulas (even when they’re not my thing, at least it’s interesting) and very beautiful color stories that I can get behind! Both palettes I have of hers are very easy to use and get beautiful looks out of.
This is just my “newest” love, not my #1 love, though!
Hado Labo, the Japanese skincare line: I love the sunscreen, the first I’ve been able to wear daily … even in the eye area … without irritation, allergic reaction or breakouts. I love their hyaluronic acid “lotion,” that I’ve been slathering on my face, neck and chest daily for a year. Same for their foaming face wash (which foams because of how it dispenses, not by drying ingredients) for the morning and as a second cleanse, and their cleansing oil, while not as elegant as Tatcha’s, does the job. Between them and The Ordinary, I’ve been able to ween myself off of a lot of expensive skincare. That said, every time you post Sydney Grace shadows, Christine, I create another mental palette I want to make for myself that I don’t need. I’ve gone as far as putting them in a cart, then closing out my browser.
I’ve never heard of Hado Labo, where do you buy it?
Oops … it’s Hada Labo. My bad. I’ve bought it from Amazon, YesStyle and Fujisan. It’s also sold through Target and a small US Hada Labo store, but these last two only sell a small number of products. When I buy from Amazon, I always check the batch code through Cosmetc Calculator or something similar to make sure it’s new/newish because sometimes the listings will say weird stuff like “1915 labeling but 1918 product.” None of it has ever been expired. It’s really well priced if you’re looking for hyaluronic-based skincare, and for the products I buy from the brand, that’s fine. The Ordinary and my Retin-A fill in the rest. .
It’s a Japanese brand, so I buy it at the local Japanese grocer, but not everyone has one of those. Hada Labo means “skin lab” btw. In Japan it’s ubiquitous and sort of like L’Oreal – fingers in everything and nicer drug store pricing.
Agree. They arguably have the best HA on the market. I like the one with the orange top, a ‘premium’ essence consistency. Helene, if there are Asian marketplaces near you, try there, for cheaper than Amazon or online. Laurie, I also find that HL is very low on irritants, and EVERYTHING gets me, at present. It’s so easy to check their stuff on Cosdna, which is mandatory for me. None of that linalool, limonene, geraniol crap. HL has a certain purity, and often a short ingredients list.
i love all your sydney grace swatches but am overwhelmed and cannot remember which ones i like so it is almost too big a collection to choose from
Absolutely Sydney Grace! I saw Temptalia’s review on the Pure Joy highlighter and had to have it IMMEDIATELY. Of course, because I was paying for international shipping, I had to get more stuff to make it worth my while 😉 I think by now I’ve got at least half of their catalogue and my wishlist isn’t getting any smaller either!
Also, Laura Fox from SG is an absolute delight 😀
Hands down, SG too – I am just so in love with their eyeshadows and, like you, impressed with the wide range of greens they are offering. The trouble is that I want every single one of them!
Odacite. I bought their watermelon serum 30% off and instantly saw a difference in my skin.
I’ve been to Sydney G site 3 times and find it hard to navigate. I was interested in some mattes. If I was really into it I’d make a list off temptalia. But it’s just too much.
Devinah cosnetics. Their eyeshadows have little ingredients that don’t cause me allergies, are super pigmented and blend like a dream. Sidney grace is good too, but they have carmine in some eyeshadows and I react to it.
Sydney Grace for me as well! I just got my first order from them and couldn’t believe how well the matte shadows I bought blended out! I love them! I only ordered A rating shadows from them.
Seeing as I am shopping my stash and trying not to purchase anything right now, all your reviews of SG are so tempting but I am resisting. So it would have to be my girl Pat McGrath.
Pat McGrath. True luxury, all inclusive – ‘nuf said.
I guess maybe Fenty, because I’m obsessed with how well Pro Filt’r works for me? But even that’s stretching it. I tend to fall for specific products rather than brands.
Probably Pat McGraft. But I love many brands! Hello my name is Denise and I’m a makeup addict, lol
Speaking as someone who is on Sephora.com once a day, and goes into Sephora once a week, can I just say that the new Maybelline 36 Hour Tattoo eyeliner is so magnificent that I will call this brand out. It doesn’t budge. Period. It doesn’t stray under the eyes or to the side of the eyes as the day goes on. Generally, I wear black eyeliner only, but I bought navy and charcoal because the formula is like a freaking tattoo. This is so much better than Urban Decay and MUFE eyeliners….
I’ll have to check that out… As someone who almost exclusively wears black eyeliner, I have more than I care to admit, as I’m constantly trying to find “The One”, but can’t bring myself to pay more than $10 USD, especially since the few HE I have tried have failed miserably for me…
This question has me realizing I haven’t tried any new brands lately, as far as I can think of. All in all I’d go with Marc Jacobs, as most recently I swatched the O!mega eyeshadows and was impressed by all of them. I’ve been using MJ highliners for years, have never been disappointed.
Lime Crime; granted, I’ve only tried the Venus eyeshadow palettes, but love (and own) them all, except the “birthday” palette.
A few others worth mentioning:
Wet n Wild; mainly sentimental, as they were the brand favored by Goths back in the day, and they’ve been paying homage with a few recent collections.
BeBella Beauty; again, I’ve only tried eyeshadow, but if something horrible happened, and I had to start my stash over with $100, I’d pick up the 4 “Pro” pallettes, and I’d pretty much have everything I need.
Melt Cosmetics; I just really love their unique shade combinations, and the quality is phenomenal. The only thing I wish would improve is the restocking turnaround, although I do understand why it takes so long, but I feel they should at least throw out a more definitive date, aside from “this Spring”…
I might sound like a broken record, but it’s Becca. And actually, I don’t even like the highlighters they are so famous for.
They have (from my view) great complexion products and I like the aesthetics of their packaging. For my combination skin, both the concealer and foundation from their Aqua Luminous and Ultimate Coverage ranges work wonderfully for me. And now I’m slowly falling in love with their primers more and more.
Viseart and Pat McGrath. I received some of both brands palettes as Christmas gifts, and the quality of both brands is so amazing.
I haven’t tried Sydney Grace yet, but I’m in love with your swatches and eye looks, Christine. I’ll definitely be trying them out in the future.
Anastasia Beverly Hills. I missed the hype train for this brand for years, finally picked up a pomade and it’s fine, but it wasn’t until I grabbed the Subculture palette that I started to see what was nice about them. And most recently I have fallen completely in love with the Sultry palette. It’s everything I want in a “basic” palette and I can’t wait to use it every day. Granted, I haven’t fallen so hard that I’ll be purchasing palettes that aren’t “me”, like the pinky ones or the new Riviera, but I’m more than happy with Subculture and Sultry. It’s been a while since I really loved an eyeshadow palette.
Absolutely head over heels for Suqqu. I’m enjoying colour stories that are quite different than what is released in North America (especially notable in the eyshadow palettes). Loving the blushes, eyeshadow palettes and liquid eyeshadows. Pigmentation and performance solid across these products. I hear good things about the recently released eye liners.
I’m way out of fashion with this one, but as someone who’s fallen in love with makeup in the last 12 months, Mac. I don’t have anything LE of theirs and agree it’s haphazard and exhausting. But for the price point, I can’t fault the lipsticks. They’re lovely and really comfortable. And I’ve had great experience with their counter service at now four different counters (which is a lot). Most places will say, oh, this will look good on you, and they’re usually right. Mac explain why in a way that I can apply when looking for things myself or trying on another brand.
Without a doubt, Kat Von D. I think her opinions are idiotic, but I also think that it’s her business to be as stupid as she wants to be. The thing is that her craziness really kills the edge factor of her cosmetic line. The problem is that the more ‘out there’ she’s gotten, the more her makeup seems to have lost its wow factor in real life. I never thought I’d say it, but it’s become boring. Since I started collecting her makeup line, her LE palettes always sold out, esp. the Christmas ones. But even now, her 10th Anniversary palette, which came out last year, is still for sale at Sephora!
Sad, sad end to what used to be my favorite Sephora exclusive line.
It really looks like she phoned in the design on the latest palette, and I say that as someone who always looked forward to her packaging and design. I still love the clever Metal Matte cover.
Rude Cosmetics. They are indie, but I saw a review on them and was interested, so I went to their website. So many beautiful products. Yes, mostly palettes, but they have other stuff too. Moderately priced. And they have some liquid glitter shadows that are amazing. Beautiful, and truly last all day.
For lip products – YSL. I honestly have largely ignored this brand for years. I love the lip lacquers! I know they don’t work well for some, but I love them! I own several of their lip products after a blind buy of one two years ago.
I also wanted to add Avene for skincare. After my last pregnancy and being diagnosed with an autoimmune plus allergies to loads of stuff in skincare, I had to really dial back. Avene is one of the skincare products I can use that are super gentle. A few of their cleansers you don’t need water for and their toner is incredibly gentle.
On the high end spectrum – Sisley products as well, but I cannot always afford them.
Morphe! I’m shocked how good their products are, especially looking at the price. I’d love to fall in love with Sydney Grace or Pat McGrath, but unfortunately they are not available in my country 🙁
Ditto!!!!!