Maybelline Tastefully Taupe Shadow : Product Review

I feel like it's been a hot second since I've reviewed anything from the drugstore, so it only seems appropriate to kick of my weekly posts with a drugstore item. I actually wear quite a bit of drugstore stuff, so I don't know why I don't put it up on here more often. Perhaps I should do a "Best of the Drugstore" type post soon... Regardless, let's dive into this, shall we?

The Facts

Price: $2.99 (in Kansas)

Amount of Product: .09 oz.

Number of Shades: 20

Claim: "Extraordinary Color from our ultra-blendable pigments. Long Wear with sensual finish that lasts up to 12 hours." 

Shade that I used: 250S - Tastefully Taupe

Shades and the powder itself: I used to use almost exclusively Maybelline eye shadows when I was in high school, they were kind of my go to brand, but I cannot remember anything about the Expertwear shadows aside from the two shades that I wore religiously (Silken Taupe and... Shell [?]). I don't remember if they used to offer matte and shimmer shades, but they definitely do now. There were several matte shades, but the majority of the shadows were the slightly shimmery type that Tastefully Taupe is. 

For having talc as the first ingredient, the powder doesn't reek and it's surprisingly un-powdery; both of which I'm completely fine with.

Finish and Color: I purposely bought Tastefully Taupe because it looks exactly like what Silken Taupe used  to look like. The current Silken Taupe looks a bit lighter and frostier than its older counterpart. The finish on Tastefully Taupe is definitely that of a shimmer shadow, but there isn't any visible glitter.

The color is fantastic when applied with your finger, but it is really hard to pick up with a brush. If you want a sheer wash of color, then apply with a brush is awesome, but if you want it to show up on your lids like it is in the pan? Use your fingers or, and I can't believe that I'm going to suggest this, use the sponge tip applicator that it comes with. Yup, this shadow actually applies better that way.

Wear Time: I always wear a primer with my eye shadows, but even with primer, eye shadows can still crease. This however, did not crease and wore well for the entire day.

Does it deliver on its claim? Yes. The shadow wore for 12 hours (albeit with a primer, but no powder shadow lasts on me for 12 hours without a primer). The shadow is very blendable and you can get great color, you just have to know how to apply the shadow. For $2.99, this is a great all over lid color to pick up!

Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara : Product Review

The Facts

Price: $32 (it was $30 when I purchased, Armani just did a price increase recently)

Amount of Product: .23 oz

Number of Shades: 1

Claim: "Dress the eyes with powerful, plush, separated, voluminous lashes. Fine, fluid Micro-fil™ technology creates intensely captivating lash texture. Micro waxes combined with a fineness agent allow for smooth and easy application, revealing weightless volume for lashes. As a final touch, the target-smooth agents coat each lash, creating uniform volume and texture from root to tip."

Formula: The formula of this mascara is definitely more wet than the Chanel or YSL than I tried, but not nearly as goopy as the Marc Jacobs gel formula. I've been using this for about a month now and it hasn't started to dry up yet, but only become a touch less wet than when first opened.

Brush: A true bristle brush mascara! I love mascara wands like this, so I was happy to see it when I opened up the container.

Color: Black. It's definitely on the darker end of the spectrum of black, not grey or diluted at all.

 

Volume, Length, and Flaking: No flaking at all! This just sticks to my lashes perfectly. I will say that it doesn't leave my lashes as soft as Chanel Inimitable Intense, but not nearly as hard as YSL Babydoll. This doesn't fall under flaking, but in a similar vain, this mascara does not agree with my current under eye concealer. I hold a camera up to my face for the majority of the day, which pushes my lashes against my face and I tend to get a little panda eyed on that side of my face. On days that I'm not shooting, I don't run into this issue, but that's only on weekends.

Volume and length? Why yes, this delivers on both of those! The formula is not so wet that it doesn't build any volume and it's not so dry that it can't build up the length of your lashes. My long time drugstore favorite mascara is Maybelline Full N Soft because it manages to give me both length and volume and that's what this reminds me of. No clumps, just nice volume and length!

I need to tweeze my brows, sorry guys

Does it deliver on its claim? Yes, it does deliver on the claims. 

Final Verdict: I definitely think that if the day comes that I want to spend $30 on mascara, I will definitely pick this up again. I've heard so many people say that this is their holy grail when it comes to mascara and I can easily understand why. Like I said, I'm about a month in on using this mascara and the texture hasn't changed at all; it's still that slightly wet, slightly dry formula that allows length and volume.

I also love the sleekness of the tube and the engraved name on the side; it just looks classy. And speaking of the tube, whatever device they have inside does a great job of picking up excess product; I barely have to wipe the tip of the brush. I definitely see this lasting me at least two more months with great results (I typically kill mascara in three to four months).

Questions, comments? Let me know down below!

YSL Babydoll Mascara : Product Review

I'm going to apologize right off the bat, but I don't have a before and after of my lashes with this mascara. You'll find out why down below, but I thought that I would let you know in advance. In other news, it's my birthday today! Still kicking through my twenties, but getting a little bit closer to the end of them... 

The Facts

Price: $30

Amount of Product: .2 oz

Number of Shades: 2

Claim: "Baby Doll creates a full open-eye effect by lifting and separating lashes. The patented formula creates long-lasting volume and intense color that is evenly dispersed with no flakes, clumps, or smudges for up to 24 hours. Reach every lash, including the baby ones for a full fringe effect. The brush has duo-length bristles that adapt to all lash types, separating, coating, and multiplying lashes for defined volume."

Formula: The formula of this mascara is somewhere between dry and wet; almost like a mascara that you've already had open for a week or two and it's dried out a bit to its ideal consistency.

Brush: Sigh, it's a plastic brush. Not my favorite type of brush in the world, but I was willing to go with it. This brush reminds me of the Covergirl Clump Crusher in some ways.

Color: I got this in the black shade and it is black, but not the darkest black that I've ever experienced. The other shade is comes in is "Wheedler Brown", but I honestly don't have much interested in brown mascara.

Volume, Length, and Flaking: As for flaking, it was extremely minimal. Maybe by the end of a 14 hour day there was a flake or maybe two, but not much at all. Related to the flaking, but not related at the same time is how this made my lashes feel. Chanel Inimitable gave me color and volume while also keeping my lashes incredibly soft, but it flaked. YSL gave me color and volume, but it also made my lashes a little bit... crunchy. Not something that I enjoy, but it also didn't flake.

Then we come to volume and length. The full name of this mascara is actually "Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils Babydoll" which basically translates to Volume Mascara, False Babydoll Lash Effect"... so it should be making your eyelashes look, for lack of better description, fucking amazing. However, I don't think it was knock my socks off amazing, just very good. It did work well at both giving volume and lengthening, better than the Chanel Inimitable, but there were a few things that irritated me about this mascara. 

from an old FOTD

Does it deliver on its claim? Yes, it does deliver on the claims. But keep reading to see a few important points.

Final Verdict: This is the important stuff you need to read, so make sure in reviews you always read the "Final Verdict". Would I buy this again? No, definitely not. While it made my lashes nice and long and voluminous, it also dried out in a little less than two months. I don't know if I've ever had a mascara dry out that quickly. It was closed tightly every time that I used it and it wasn't dry when I opened it, so I don't know why it puttered out so fast. Mascaras typically only last me three months, simply because I use it almost every day and I have a lot of lashes to coat and coat them all, I do. But honestly, this one was drying out at a month and a half in. 

Also, this mascara is scented! It smells like sweet melon or something like that, which I actually loved about it. If you're sensitive to scented products though, this would definitely be one to stay away from. Like I said, I loved that it was scented and it stays scented for a good while after you apply it, so consumer beware.

For $30, I expect mascara to basically be a god send, but if it's going to dry out in a matter of weeks, then there is no way I can justify spending that kind of money on it. Sorry YSL, we're done.

L'Oreal Extraordinaire in Pink Tremolo : Product Review

I think that Thursday is just going to become my free for all day or perhaps a switch off of Tried & True and product reviews; some weeks I want to do a product review and others I want to talk about older products. Today, however, I wanted to do a product review, so that is what I am doing. I was very excited when I saw that L'Oreal had come out with a liquid lipstick called Extraordinaire. This is a liquid lipstick and gloss hybrid, which is what intrigued me initially; I love liquid lipstick, but hate the drying effect it can have and I hate gloss, but love the shine that it delivers.

The Facts

Price: $7.99/each (this was at Target in Kansas)
Amount of Product: .18 fl oz
Number of Shades: 16

Shade that I used: Pink Tremolo
Coverage: Medium
Application: Doe foot applicator

Claim: "Transform lips from ordinary to extraordinary. Color is richer, lip surface is smoother and shine is magnified. Formulated with precious micro-oils and rich color pigments, Extraordinaire provides the ideal balance of color and care for perfect lips. The unique soft-touch applicator allows for a silky-smooth, gliding application."
Wear Time: With full shine and color, about 2.5 hours; with full color, about 4 hours. Whenever I test these products, I always go about my normal activities, which includes a lot of eating and drinking. Seeing as this is somewhat glossy, it doesn't surprise me that it didn't last much longer that about 4 hours.

Thoughts: I find this product to be a bit hit or miss with me. I'm going to talk about the hits first however. The color, Pink Tremolo, is gorgeous and creamy and cool toned. I don't own a lot of cool toned lipsticks because I don't think that they go with my skin very well, but I really like how this looks on my face. I also love the feel of the formula; it feels very hydrating and it remains feeling nice and slick for several hours. Even though it has shine to it, it isn't over sticky like a gloss which is great (and something that I was really concerned about). 

The misses, or really just the miss, is the way this color actually applies. Yes, it's wonderfully creamy and smooth and both of those things are great, but once it gets onto my lips, the milkiness of the color finds every single lip line and sits in them. If you have any dry patches, this color clings to them. I feel like that is a pretty big deal breaker in the world of lip products.

However, since I bought the stupid thing, I was going to find a way to make it work. I've found that if I apply only about half of what naturally comes out on the doe foot applicator and then blend it in with my finger, it wears much more beautifully. I think it's a little stupid to have to do that with a lip color, but like I said, I bought therefore I will make it work.

Ignore those black dots... it's coffee :)

Final Thoughts: If I could go back and do this over, I wouldn't purchase this color but I would probably buy a different color since I love how this feels on my lips. I don't own any of the other shades, but that darker colors do intrigue me, so I imagine that I will pick one up eventually and test it out. 

Questions, comments? Let me know down below!

Marc Jacobs Lash Lifter Mascara : Product Review

The week already started and I'm already a day behind. In my defense, I left my camera at the office all weekend, so I couldn't get anything done in my time off. I am going to be recording/uploading a video tomorrow night, so keep an eye out for that! Today's review is a mascara that I got as a "luxe" sample from Sephora a few weeks ago; the Marc Jacobs Lash Lifter Gel Mascara in Blacquer. 

The Facts

Price: $26

Amount of Product: .24 oz

Number of Shades: 1

Claim: "Innovation for your eyes only. This next-generation mascara combines an innovative, triangular brush with exclusive E-Lash-Tic Lash™ technology to create the ultimate glossy lashes. The special formula contains micro-crystalline powders that coat and stretch your lashes for maximum length, definition, and curl, while providing a rich, smooth application that never clumps. Available in the blackest, shiniest black on the market, Lash Lifter Gel Volume Mascara will make your lashes flake-proof, run-proof, and life-proof. "

Formula: I think that one of the most important things about a mascara is the formula and knowing what you like in a mascara formula. The Marc Jacobs mascara is a gel formula, but it's a very, very wet mascara. I've only been using this for about two weeks, but it hasn't gotten much drier in the time that I've been using it; it has definitely maintained the wet feel and look. I assume that the gel formula has a major part in that and the fact that it's meant to create a shiny look on the lashes means that it will continue to be wet. This only comes in a regular formula, no waterproof available. 

Brush: The brush is made of bristles, not plastic formed like many of the new mascaras on the market. I favor traditional bristled brushes, so I really like that aspect of this mascara. In their claims, it's states that it's an "innovative, triangular brush", but I honestly didn't even notice that this is triangular. It works and looks like a typical brush head. Not bad, not amazing; it just is.

Color: This mascara is a true black; you shouldn't have any worries that this will show up gray or off black... it's blackest black for sure.

pre-mascara

post-mascara

Volume, Length, and Flaking: I'm going to address flaking first because it can be boiled down to this: there is no flaking. I got absolutely zero flaking using this mascara. A+ in that category.

As for volume and length, I need to give my standard forewarning; I have naturally long and thick eyelashes, but I'm still extremely judgmental about mascara. Ok, that aside, let's dig into those two categories. This is a fantastic lengthening mascara and I am going to attribute that to the wet consistency of the formula. When I wear this mascara, I feel like my lashes are a million miles long. It was actually really odd to start using this after having come off of using Chanel Inimitable Intense and YSL Babydoll (review for that coming soon), which are both much drier and in turn, not as lengthening. I absolutely love the length I get with this mascara.

The volume however... it just isn't there. I'm a bit confused because the description of this mascara calls it "Lash Lifter Gel Volume Mascara" but the product is actually called the "Lash Lifter Gel Definition Mascara". Either way, this mascara just doesn't have the oomph that other mascaras does and again, I'll go ahead and attribute that to the formula. It's incredibly hard to build volume on your lashes with an extremely wet mascara.

Does it deliver on its claim? Yes... I think. Aside from that goof up on the name (I'm assuming it's a goof up), it pretty much delivers on everything; it doesn't flake, it isn't clumpy, it's glossy, and it realyl lengthens the lashes. 

Final Verdict: I know that this review has been very positive, but I think I would tell most people to skip this. The reason for that is that this is just such an average mascara in terms of what it does. Yes, it's nice, but it's not extraordinary and for $26 it should be extraordinary. Since it only lengthens my lashes (and makes them dark, obviously) and doesn't add any volume, I feel like I'm missing out on a major component of mascara. I do really like the sample, but I think that I could find 8 drugstore mascaras that do the same thing. I also need to mention this, because it drives me crazy, but this mascara is a pain in the ass to remove. Since it's a gel based formula, it comes off in weird little chunks and I have to wipe at my eyes multiple times to get it all off. 

Basically, what I'm telling you is skip this and hit up the drugstore instead.

By Terry Terrybly Rouge Lipstick : Product Review

Welcome to the land of $50 lipsticks! I have ventured over to the dark side and entered into the world of very expensive cosmetics. The real reason for this is because I saw multiple people talk about this lipstick and I was curious if it could really live up to its $50 price tag. In all honestly, I got this for practically no money at all because this happens to be sold in the Birchbox shop and I had $40 in points and a coupon code; schwing. I picked up the shade Terrybly Nude because let's face, I'm constantly on the search for a nude lipstick that doesn't make me look incredibly odd (...and approaching death). Let's dive in.

The Facts

Price: ~$49

Amount of Product: .12 oz

Number of Shades: 20 (I believe; there could be more, but this is what I found)

Claim: Rouge Terrybly Age Defense Lipstick is the first volume and firmness lipstick enriched with By Terry’s exclusive anti-aging Lumilip technology. Available in an array of silky colors, this extra-comforting lip color rejuvenates and embellishes every smile, while offering a “push-up” effect. Wrapped in a satin bag, it’s perfect for a beauty touchup any time of day.

• Anti-aging lip color
• Rejuvenates and embellishes lips
• Delivers a “push-up” effect

Shade that I used: Terrybly Nude; a pink based nude shade that appears quite mauve. 

Coverage:  Opaque

Application: This lipstick is crazy silky feeling, which means that it just glides onto the lips. Imagine Linda Richman saying it glides on like buttah, because that's exactly what it feels like. I don't own a lot of extremely expensive lipsticks, but dare I say that this is the nicest feeling lipstick that I've ever glided onto my lips.

Packaging: One major thing to talk about when it comes to high end lipsticks (and cosmetics in general) is the packaging. The box that the lipstick comes in is a shiny, laminated box; nothing amazingly special there. The lipstick itself comes in a little silky feeling bag, but again, it doesn't feel like anything that amazing. It has By Terry printed all over it, just in case you were to forget that you bought a By Terry lipstick. The lipstick case itself is a little silver bullet; very compact and nice feeling. It has a nice weight to it; not overly weighty and not plastic feeling. The lid does close via a magnet, but I store it in my purse in the silky bag that it comes with; I think the case would scratch easily and the lid might pop off otherwise.

(on my face from Friday's FOTD)

How it wears: Lets go back and talk about the price tag again; $50. For that much, you should pretty much expect your lipstick to feel like butter on application (and it does) and then continue to feel like luxury, which this does fairly well. The buttery slip sticks around for a substantial amount of time and my lips only began to feel dry toward the end of my work day, which is because I never reapplied and didn't put any balm on the entire day. It doesn't settle into your lip lines and it doesn't dry your lips out, which is pretty fantastic since I have deep lip lines and fairly dry lips. I did line my lips for the picture above, but I've worn this without liner on multiple occasions and it has never bled into my quickly growing fine lines.

Wear Time: I've read mixed reviews on this shade, but let me tell you that this wore pretty damn evenly on my lips for a full 8 hours, and that includes eating and drinking. There was no white line on my mouth that sometimes accompanies light colored lipsticks and the only area with an extreme amount of fading was the moist part of the center of my lips. Just so you guys can have an idea of how much eating this lasted through, I'll tell you what I ate and drank: a banana, oatmeal, yogurt covered raisins, chocolate easter egg, two glasses of water, bagel thin, hummus, baby carrots, lemon bar, and pretzels. I'm also a pretty intense lip licker (a huge cause of lip dryness, unfortunately), which is why it wore off so heavily on the center part of my lips. By the end of the day, my lips were feeling dry, but I never reapplied balm and that feeling went away as soon as I ended my hour test.

(after roughly 8.5 hours of wear)

Does it deliver on its claim? I don't really  understand their claim of a "push up effect", but I don't think that my lips really looked like that. Other than that claim, I will say yes. Since this is technically an anti-aging lipstick, it's really moisturizing and formulated not settle in your lines too much; perfect for someone like me. 

Final Verdict: I think that to make a final verdict, you have to ask yourself, would I buy this again at full price? The answer for me is yes, I would purchase this again. The price is high, but this lipstick has already joined the ranks of my favorites and I've been wearing it on a fairly steady basis since I bought it. I think that this will likely be the first lipstick in a long time that I use up completely. I am already planning on buying another color to test a wider range. 

If you want more information on these lipsticks and want to see more swatches, I highly recommend going to the blog Shameless Fripperies; Karima owns multiple shades and does some great reviews.

Questions or comments? Let me know down below!

NARS Sheer Glow : Tried & True

Alright, I've decided to change the name of Thursday's posts from Throwback (because this sounds like I'm going to talk about products from the 80s) to Tried & True. The premise is still the same, just a different name. I'm sure that all of you would have noticed this on your own and been very dismayed had I not said something. 

Today's Tried & True is technically a product that I haven't even owned all that long, but that I've used for a very long time; NARS Sheer Glow Foundation. I only bought a bottle of this back in November, but if I'm being truthful with you guys, I might have hoarded samples of it for about 6 months prior to that. I don't know why I had so much trouble pulling the trigger, but I finally did during the VIB sale in the fall.

So what's so great about this foundation? A lot of stuff. I'm going to review this like I normally would just to make sure that you guys know that it's great.

Price: $45 (plus extra $$ if you buy the pump)

Amount of Product: 1 fl oz.

Number of Shades: 19 (!!)

Claim: "A glowing, natural radiant finish foundation with sheer and buildable coverage that immaculately evens skin tone. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, it leaves skin hydrated, more luminous, softer and smoother. Used daily, Sheer Glow Foundation improves the skin's brightness and texture." 

Shade that I use: Gobi, but I've also used Siberia

Shades and the foundation itself: 19 shades? Yasss. I have yellow toned skin, so I can't speak for all you pink ladies out there (catch that pop culture reference), but NARS has a pretty awesome skin tone and color line. Sibera, the lightest of all of the shades, is a yellow toned porcelain shade, somewhere around a NC10 if you want a MAC equivalent. I'm not so well versed in the other end of the spectrum, but it runs fairly dark and also plays with different undertones.

The foundation is a liquid, but not overly runny. NARS states that the foundation is for normal, normal/dry, and dry skinned ladies and gents, but I have normal/oily in the winter and super oily in the summer and I still wear this. I'll touch more on this in a moment.

Coverage: The coverage on this foundation is buildable. If you want it to be very sheer, applying with a damp beauty blender would definitely give you the light coverage you desire whereas I apply it with a brush to achieve something closer to a medium coverage. I wouldn't recommend trying to build this to full coverage as I think it would start to get cakey and noticeable on the skin. I definitely need concealer for my under eyes with this foundation and while it does cover a bit of redness, it doesn't get it all.

Application: I always shake this foundation before application, but I'm not entirely sure if that's necessary. I then squeeze out one pump and apply it in small patches and blend it in with a brush. I will, on occasion, apply this with my fingers if all of my brushes are dirty (like they currently are...) and this method is actually recommended by monsieur Nars. One of the things that I love about this foundation is the ease of blending; it blends so perfectly and seamlessly on the skin that it looks like your own skin in a few seconds. 

Wear Time: This is why monsieur Nars recommends this foundation for normal to dry skin types; the staying power on oily skin isn't so great. I wear this foundation almost religiously in the winter because my skin gets so damned normal that I can't use my "oily skin foundations" and it definitely lasts a good 8 hours. It isn't a long wear foundation, so it's not going to stay perfect looking for 16 hours, but it's definitely still on my face at the end of the day when I go to remove my makeup. In the summer, depending on how oily I am, I give it 4 hours of looking good and then it's off my face. I like to wear it out at night in the summer since it's light weight and makes the skin look nice.

Does it deliver on its claim? As much as I love this foundation, I hate that it makes the claim that it makes your skin better over time. Sorry, I don't believe any foundation that spouts shit like that; I'll leave those claims to my skin care. Other than that, yes, this definitely delivers on its claims. It makes my skin look glowy and natural, but also manages to cover most redness and unevenness. 

Honestly, I really love this foundation and I recommend this to tons of people on the internet and in real life. Sure, there are drugstore dupes for this foundation, but none of them have the same color & tone range that is available in the NARS. It is pricey for a foundation, but if there were only one thing that I could splurge on, it would definitely be foundation; it makes or breaks a look.

Real Techniques Silicone Liner "Brush" : Product Review

Happy Monday everyone! As I sit here typing, I'm consuming my late afternoon coffee because it is Monday and it is cold and coffee and I have a very loving, committed relationship. I was planning on having this review be a two-fer, but I haven't used the other new brush enough to really establish feelings yet, so I will wait to review it (perhaps next week?). I also just got a small brush order from Coastal Scents delivered today, so I will need to do a large write up on their brushes fairly soon since I got some others at Christmas.

However, today I'll be focusing on the "brush" pictured above. I love Real Techniques brushes and I think I use at least one every single day, if not two or more. Real Techniques is a brand that is backed by (or started by, not quite sure) Sam Chapman from PixiWoo. I just noticed that the newly released brushes also have her sister's name on them (Nic), so I guess it's been expanded to include both of them. All of the brushes are synthetic, but I use a lot of cream and liquid products, so that's perfect for me.

excuse the slightly dirty brush... it was leftover eyeliner :)

This "brush", however, is completely bristle free as it's actually a little piece of formed silicone. When I first heard of this brush, I thought that it was a genius idea. I mean really, has some other company thought of this for eyeliner and I'm just too dense to know about it? Why has it taken this long for someone to come up with this idea? I set out to buy it immediately, but all of the Ultas around me were sold out and I didn't want to pay for shipping just for the brush. I eventually found it and even after the first time of using it, I wanted to write the review. I've used it more, but I honestly could have written this review two weeks ago.

If you use liquid liner or don't wear eyeliner at all, then this is not the brush for you; this is definitely meant for cream and gel eyeliners. Some of the biggest gripes that people have with traditional brushes is that you 1) can't see how much product is left on the brush and 2) that the bristles can splay or bend or just not work with you. This brush takes care of both of those issues. Since this is a silicone tip that is, for the most part, transparent (slightly frosted, I guess), you can see exactly how much product is left on it. And it obviously takes care of issue two by not having bristles. This brush will no splay, the product won't get trapped in the bristles, and you don't have to worry about the brush bending some odd way and messing up your perfect line of eyeliner. 

The brush seriously makes applying gel and cream eyeliner a dream. It also makes creating sharp, precise lines incredibly easy since the end of the brush is pointed and small. You want some killer wings? Hit up this brush. I'm aware that after the last paragraph and a half, it probably sounds like this is some sort of sponsored post, but it's most definitely not. I really love this brush and I can't believe that it's taken this long for it to be mass produced. 

So, is there anything wrong with the mystical magical brush of the gods? Yes, there is one thing that does irritate me a little. Even though you can see when the product is running out on the tip, the real indicator is that it starts to drag on your lid a little bit. That would be due to that fact that the tip is silicone and it can get a little attached to your skin. The only other complaint is that it tip is completely conical and I think it would be a lot better if one side were rounded and one side were flat. I guess if that were to happen, the universe might explode, so I'll stick with it how it is.

Final thoughts? If you wear gel/cream eyeliner with any regularity, I would buy this brush. Even if it's just for the sake of testing it out, I would get it. It's really affordable (I think mine was $5.99) and if you purchase through Ulta, you can use coupons and deals to get it even cheaper. Hell, even if you wear gel liner twice a year, pick this up; you'll like it.

Questions, comments? Let me know down below!

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil : Product Review

Welcome to Throwback Thursday! I've labeled this as a "product review" because at its heart, it truly is a product review, however Thursday is reserved for reviews of products that I know I love and have been using for a long time; hence the "throwback". Thursday is for items that I wouldn't think to review otherwise because I've simply forgotten that anyone would need or want to know about them. So, if you stop by the blog on Thursday's, you'll be reading about products that I think are fantastic!

Today's topic is Tarte's Pure Maracuja Oil. If you've read this blog for a long time, then you would know that I typically identify as having oily skin except in the winter when my skin goes normal. You may be asking yourself why I'm reviewing an oil and why it would be a favorite of mine and the answer is very simple; oils are for every single skin type. Shocked? You might be, but I'll guess that most people that read this blog are already a bit familiar with that concept.

I'm not going to dive into what types of oils are good different skin types because I'm not that well versed in the area, but I do know that maracuja oil is one of those that is fairly universally applicable types.

What is it? Maracuja is just the fancy name for passion fruit seed oil. Tarte claims that this is 100% cold pressed passion fruit seed oil.

What does it do? Directly from the Sephora website, "This undiluted organic and moisturizing maracuja oil quickly absorbs for firmer, brighter, smoother skin. Pure maracuja oil is rich in vitamin C, so skin appears instantly brighter and more radiant. The oil is also a source of essential fatty acids (EFAs), a requirement for healthy skin cells that the body cannot produce on its own. EFA deficiency can result in the breakdown of essential skin cells which causes skin to appear dry and aged. By supplementing skin with pure maracuja oil, you are infusing life back into dull skin and replenishing EFAs to rapidly rebuild and repair. This potent antiaging elixir that has anti-inflammatory benefits promotes active skin recovery and delivers maximum hydration without any greasy or filmy feel."

And from Garden of Wisdom's website, "Passion fruit seed oil is rich with vitamin A and potassium to help keep skin healthy. As well as being nourishing, passion fruit seed oil is antibacterial, so is good for use on acne prone skin. As an anti-inflammatory and naturally anti-itch, this oil will help to reduce swelling and irritation of the skin. Passion fruit oil also contains ascorbic acid, β-carotene, calcium, flavanoids, phosphorus, and potassium. Passion fruit oil has been shown to reduce sebum secretion, promoting a drier skin feel, and is an excellent addition to anti-acne and sensitive skin care applications." 

Passion fruit seed oil is also anti-bacterial, which really helps in the anti-acne department (if that's what's causing your acne). If you didn't read any of the above, let me sum it up for you; packed full of awesome skin vitamins and fatty acids and incredibly fact absorbing on the skin. 

So, uh, how do you use it? This varies from person to person. I don't use this every day and mostly because I'm constantly trying out new products, but there are stretches of time that I really love using this. I used this pretty heavily at nights over the summer because it really helped to control my oil production. I normally wake up as an oil slick during the summer, but when I was using the Maracuja Oil, I would wake up with only a bit of oil sitting on top of my skin. 

I personally use this alone, but you can also use it in conjunction with another moisturizer if you have drier skin. I put two drops into my hands and then rub all over my face and wipe the excess off on my neck.

Where to get it: You can pick up Tarte's version anywhere that sells Tarte products (Sephora, Ulta, Tarte.com), but it can be quite expensive. I've lucked out and gotten several deluxe sample sizes of it, but the 1.7 fl oz size is $46. If that pretty much blows your socks off, there are other ways to get passion fruit see oil. A great website, Garden of Wisdom, sells an ounce of it for $5.25 and if you want to get fancy and get it in a glass bottle, it'll take you up to $7.65. I've never used the Garden of Wisdom oil, so I can't speak of it personally, but I know that a lot of people use the site.

So there you go, a great oil that I love to use! If you have questions of comments, please let me know down below.

Lorac Pro to Go Palette : Product Review

Many, many months ago, I saw that Lorac was releasing their "Pro to Go" palettes; one for Sephora and one for Ulta. The one that was available at Ulta has since been discontinued and I've seen it at my local Nordstrom Rack, but the Sephora Pro To Go was much more popular and is now being sold in multiple locations. Oddly enough, Sephora is not carrying this palette any more since they aren't going to be carrying Lorac products.

Now that you have a bit of back history, let's get down to the actual product. This palette comes with six eye shadows (three shimmer and three matte), two blushes, a bronzer, and two itty bitty brushes. I love that there are no lip products included on this palette simply because I don't like lip product in palettes. 

The shadows that are in this palette do not coordinate with shadows in the Pro Palette; aside from the shade "Black", they are all different shades. In the top row, we have the three shimmer shades; Pearl, Chai, and Mink. Pearl is a slightly pink toned neutral, Chai is a very warm shimmery medium brown (maybe even a dark bronze), and Mink is a dark warm shimmery brown. Pearl and Chai definitely seem more shimmery while Mink appears to be just a bit more glittery. 

In the bottom row, we have all of the matte shades; Shell is a pinky toned neutral (closer to to a true neutral than Pearl, but still has a tinge of pink to it), Café is a warm medium brown, and Black is... black. All of these shades are completely matte without a trace of any shimmer, pearl, or glitter.

So what can you expect from these shadows? Exactly what you expect from the full sized Pro Palette; buttery pigmented goodness. They all apply better over primer than without, but that's to be expected of any shadow. I can't say that I've ever tried these shadows without primer, but I don't wear any powder shadow without primer. The wear time is amazing and the shadows are easy to build. Since this is an all neutral palette, you can create a myriad of looks but nothing with pops of bright color. But really, you could make so many look with just one row of these shades, so the different finishes really open up even more possibilities.

(Top to Bottom: Pearl, Chai, Mink, Shell, Café, Black)

And then we have the blush/bronzer side featuring (from left to right) Coral, Pink, and Bronze. I'm happy to report that the blushes are also very well pigmented and buttery, so they're extremely easy to apply and blend. We get two different finishes with the blushes; Coral has a coral base with a gold shimmer to it (very reminiscent of NARS Orgasm) and Pink is a matte, medium slightly warm toned pink. Bronze is made more for light or light-medium skin tones, so if you fall out of those two realms, it's kind of useless. Unfortunately, it is a bit orange-y on my face, so it will have to wait to be used until I get a tan (ha!).

(Top to Bottom: Bronze, Pink, and Coral)

And then we have these two guys; a shadow brush and an angled liner brush. Honestly, these are throw away items because if you're buying this palette, you probably already have an eye shadow brush that is light years better than this dinky, tiny thing; the brush head is the size of my pink nail. I have actually used the angled brush, but it was because I decided I wanted to do powder winged liner at the last minute and only had it. Not a horrible brush, but I would much prefer my actual angled liner brush. I suppose it's nice that they included these brushes, but they're fairly worthless.

So, would I recommend this to you? It depends. If you already have the Pro Palette and are perfectly happy with it, then this isn't really necessary for you to pick up. The shades of eye shadow, while different than the pro palette, are still fairly similar. I'm also willing to bet that most people have blushes in these two shades since they are pretty stereotypical flattering blushes. If you're like me, though, I have the Pro Palette, but I am constantly not at home, so this makes things a bit easier for me. It's not a tiny palette, it's 4.6 x 1.1 x 3.4", but it is compact enough to make it worth it to me. And to clarify, the shadows in this palette are quite a bit larger than the Pro Palette. If you don't have the Pro Palette and you love neutrals, then absolutely pick this up. I think that Lorac has some of the best eye shadows out there; they're pigmented, buttery, and easy to blend. 

You can find the Lorac Pro to Go palette at Nordstrom, Amazon, Ulta, or Lorac.com.

Questions or comments? Let me know!