Thursday, February 27, 2014

Brow Battle: Tarte versus Anastasia

Anastasia recently came out with a dipbrow pomade for filling in eyebrows. When I saw the concept and product, it reminded me a lot of Tarte's brow mousse which I already own and enjoy. So, I figured I'd give you a comparison of the two and what I think the pros and cons for each one are.

Tarte Amazonian Waterproof Brow Mousse is available in 3 shades and retails for $28. Each container houses 0.1oz of product. On initial inspection, this may seem like nothing. But, the product is extremely pigmented so you really only need a little every day. I'm not sure I agree that the texture is a mousse. To me, the texture seems like a slightly drier cream product, which I enjoy because it doesn't have too much slip to it which can be good for creating small brush like hairs. I use the color rich brown and find it to be a great match and all the colors in the range lean on the cool side. You can also use this to define the bottom or top of your brows, but I find that to be a little more difficult since it isn't quite as smooth and creamy like a liner or pencil might be. The formula sets and lasts all day long.





The Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade comes in 5 colors, though I believe three more will be released soon and retails for $18 for 0.14 oz. Cost wise and amount wise, this is a better deal than the Tarte. I had to do a bit of searching to find a good color match because a lot of the existing 5 shades lean really warm. I ended up going with Dark Brown, which is the cooler of the darker shades. This stuff is super smooth, creamy and very pigmented. Again, a little goes a long way. This is ideal for people who really want to define the bottom and top of their brow, since the slip in this product allows for a seamless line. It is extremely easy to go overboard with this product so I wouldn't recommend this for beginners. The formula sets and stays in place quite well, but I would recommend getting a very small brush if you are interested in creating hair like strokes. The creamy-ness tends to make the typical angle brush stroke a bit heavy.





Depending on your hair color and what your preference may be for your brows (filling in hair like strokes versus defining the top or bottom of your brows) one may be more suitable for you than the other. I am personally enjoying using both, and actually like using them together. The Anastasia for defining the base of my eyebrow, and the Tarte for creating extra "hairs". They do have different consistencies, so if one doesn't work for you the other may still be worth investigating.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Neutral Brown Eyes using Drugstore Shadows




Lid: Wet n Wild Nutty
Crease: Wet n Wild Naked Truth "Crease"
Outer V/Lower lash line: Wet n Wild Naked Truth "Definer"
Browbone: Wet n Wild Naked Truth "Base"
Inner Corner: Wet n Wild Naked Truth "Browbone"
Waterline: Loreal Silkissime Highlighter 230
Liner: Eveline Cosmetics liquid liner
Mascara: Tarte Lights Camera Lashes

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Empties: February 2014

It's time for another round of empties! I've got a mix of different makeup products that I have managed to use up and have well-formed opinions on to share :)

Let's start with the face products:


  • Revlon Photoready Color Correcting Primer: This is a lotion style primer, and I really did enjoy it. I think it's the best drugstore primer I have tried thus far (though I have my eye on the Rimmel Matte primer) and I love that it came in a glass bottle with a pump. Not sure it really color corrects, but it definitely helps your makeup last.
  • Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (Caramel): I have a love hate relationship with this. It's a fantastic match for my skin and wears really well in the winter time, and in humid weather. But, if it's hot, it will not last. Even with a good primer I can't make it work. For now I'm going to hold off on re-purchasing this and try out other tinted moisturizer formulas.
Next, to my lonely lip product:

  • Buxom Full On Lip Polish in Sugar (sample size): Oh man, this is my absolute FAVORITE formula of lip gloss. They come in tons of colors, are really glossy with only a slight tacky feeling, and they have this wonderful minty plumping sensation. I will always always repurchase this product. PS: My friends who I've told about this say their boyfriends request it for makeout sessions ;)
And lastly, what I go through the most, eye products:


  • Diorshow Maximizer Lash Primer: Hot damn, this stuff is really good. Honestly, I was kind of hoodwinked into purchasing it but it really makes a difference. Since using it, my lashes are softer and fall out way less. The lashes on the very inner corners of my eyes have also grown significantly while using this, and they were non existent before. I'll repurchase when I can get 20% off.
  • Eyeko Skinny Liner: Basic felt tip liquid liner. The tip isn't very flexible so it's not amazing for winged liner, but its solid for any basic liner you would wear regularly. I won't repurchase since I have a $3 Jordana liner that I love more than this.
  • Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara: Really nice and volumizing formula to this mascara. It doesn't give much length, but it's good at not being clumpy. I have purchased a full size.
  • Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara: The brush on this thing is GIGANTIC. Because of that, it took me a while to figure out how to use it. It gives good separation, but not enough volume for my liking. I won't be repurchasing.
  • Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara: LOVED this mascara. It's quite a wet formula and gives you both volume and length. The only issue is that since it's wet it can get a bit clumpy, but this is easily sorted out using a lash comb. I have another two sample tubes of this and can't wait to use them!
All righty, that's it for now. Hopefully in the upcoming months I'll be able to have some interesting products like blush or eyeshadow since I'm shopping my own collection.


Monday, February 17, 2014

EOTD





EOTD: Felt like doing something colorful for a change. The lid color is a blue-green-gold duo chrome but really requires some building up since it’s not super pigmented.
Lid: Starlooks Enter Eden
Crease: Tarte Mattenificent View From the Taupe
Outer V: Tarte Mattenificent Two Plums Up
Browbone: Tarte Mattenificent Sand Out From the Crowd
Inner Corner: Lorac Unzipped Unreal
Liner: Tarte Mattenificent Don’t Sand Black
Mascara: Tarte Lights Camera Lashes

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Perfect Pink: Too Faced Pink Chocolate

As a general rule, I have a hard time wearing lighter pinks. For some reason my skin tone really pulls the pink shades out of lip colors (I have a hard time wearing corals that don't have enough orange in them because the pink is the only thing that will show up). For this reason, my "pinks" tend to be things that are like Revlon Fuchsia or MAC Girl About Town. Unfortunately, those kind of pinks aren't exactly the everyday kind so when I saw the promotional pictures of Too Faced's spring collection, Pink Chocolate immediately caught my attention. I already own two other lipsticks from the La Creme line, and they are buttery soft, smooth and quite moisturizing with a light sheen. They last about 3 hours on my lips, and Pink Chocolate has the same consistent qualities. Not to mention they come in lovely luxe gold packaging.




In the bullet, Pink Chocolate looks like a dark browny-pink, which is probably what it will show up as on people who don't pull pinks as much as I do. I think the color on it's own is lovely, but on my lips it actually shows up a bit "pinker" which I think helps make it a true everyday pink. On lighter skin tones this would be a phenomenal fall color.



This is seriously one of my favorite lipstick formulas, and there's a wonderful selection of permanent shades. If you're interested in pinks/plums, the spring collection is definitely something worth checking out :)

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Birthday "Haul"

As I stated in my last post, I'm currently on a no-buy. BUT, one of my oldest and dearest friends sent me a Sephora gift card so I had to go spend that...right? Plus Sephora gives a free birthday gift during your birthday month so I figured I could pick that up as well.

Before I went, I decided after looking through my collection that I would not be purchasing any lip products or eye products. I ended up deciding to swatch a few different Marc Jacobs and Nars blushes, and then pick one to purchase.

I ended up getting the Marc Jacobs blush in Irresistible ($30, 0.15 oz) which is described as a warm terra-cotta color. It is so pretty! I highly recommend this color for anyone with a medium/tan olive complexion because it will really pop against that skin tone.

As for the free birthday gift, this year Sephora is giving out a mini Make Up Forever lipstick and smoky lash mascara. I've had a sample of the smoky lash before, and it's a great volumizing formula. The lipstick is their Rouge Artist formula in color N9, a really nice neutral browny pink color. I also ended up redeeming some of my points to get a mini Buxom eye liner because I go through black eyeliner like it's going out of style and wanted to try the formula.

I'm really pleased with everything I got and am looking forward to using these products in the next few weeks :D