My MAC eyeshadows (swatches & review)

My MAC eyeshadows hold a special place in my heart. ;)  Mostly because they were the first eyeshadow I ever wore!  The first time I got my makeup done was at a MAC counter for my 13th birthday, and my mom bought me a few things the artist used- Naked Lunch & Trax eyeshadows, a lip glass that I forget the name of, and the 224 and 252 brushes.  Every time I use my MAC eyeshadows I remember this day and how enjoyable and exciting it was for me. :)
Anyway, I don't have many (six in total), but some I like much more than others.  I don't even use Green Smoke or Haunting on a regular basis.  I'll describe my thoughts on each color underneath the corresponding pictures.

Trax, Naked Lunch, and Club

Trax, Naked Lunch, and Club eyeshadow; swatched once without primer

I got all three of these eyeshadows last year for my 19th birthday.  I had to repurchase Naked Lunch & Trax, as they were my first favorites.  Club I really couldn't pass up because of the awesome duochrome finish. 

(All descriptions taken from the MAC website)

Trax- Velvet finish, 'Burgundy-plum with shimmer'

Naked Lunch- Frost finish, 'Minimal pink with shimmer'

Club- Satin finish, 'Red-brown with green pearl'

Trax goes great with Naked Lunch; it's a great purple if you're hesitant with color but don't want a basic neutral.  It's subdued enough so that it doesn't scream "PURPLE!".  The texture is a little hard so it takes a few swipes to get good pigmentation, but it's not bad.  

Naked Lunch is a gorgeous peachy neutral that brightens up my eyes instantly.  The texture is smooth and soft; color glides onto my brush in one swipe so it's easy to use.  

Club is an awesome shade.  It's neutral but with a twist!  The green duochrome gives it an edge, and I love using this for smokey eyes in the crease.  I pair this with ELF Studio eyeshadow in Pebble, which is a matte brownish grey, and the two finishes balance each other out nicely.  

Green Smoke, Haunting, Retrospeck

Green Smoke and Retrospeck I bought a few years ago for a high school dance, but Haunting I got in a giveaway last summer.  

Green Smoke- Lustre finish, 'Tarnished olive'

Haunting- Satin finish, bright aqua (LE Alexander McQueen collection)

Retrospeck- Lustre finish, 'Beached blonde'

Green smoke hardly gets any use from me these days!  You have to work at the pigmentation, and it applies kind of patchy.  I'd probably use it more if it weren't such a hassle to use.  It makes a good color for a smokey eye, though.

Haunting looks like a cool color in the pan, but it lacks so much pigmentation unfortunately.  I tried using it on my eyes a few times last summer and I just couldn't build up the color to look bright.  I need to try this again using a better base, because I don't want to give up just yet!

Retrospeck has to be another one of my favorites (I like it about as much as I like Club & Naked Lunch, maybe more!).  I find golds really hard to wear on my cooler skin tone, but this pale gold is lovely.  It's chock full of glitter, but fallout isn't bad and pigmentation is great.  You hardly have to dip your brush in it at all to get product out.  You can see from my usage how much I like this. :)

What are your favorite eyeshadows?  Any from MAC?  I'd love to know!

Thanks for reading!

Darling Girl Cosmetics order and swatches!

I've been eagerly awaiting my first order from Darling Girl Cosmetics for awhile now, and when I received it yesterday in the mail I couldn't wait to try everything out!  This was my first experience with an indie makeup company, and I am hooked to say the least.
I placed my order during Susan's first sale, which was over Memorial Day weekend and it was Buy 2 Get 1 free.  It was also my first time using Paypal, so I really didn't know what was going on, haha.  It turns out my order got lost (as I can imagine how crazy busy she was with all the orders), but Susan was more than courteous despite the mix up- she included a few extra samples and a Liquid Kisses lip gloss which was so sweet!  I wasn't expecting that as I didn't even really know how the whole ordering process worked through Paypal and Ecrater (the website her store is hosted through).  I also got my package two days after she emailed me about the mix up.  Consider me impressed!
Anyway, onto what I ordered :)

Look at how cute the packaging is!  She wrapped my petit eyeshadow/blushes in the green tissue paper, my blogger sample pack in a little box, and my free samples+Liquid Kiss in the zebra packet.  She also includes a card along with it.  So nice!

Samples (eyeshadows unless otherwise noted), Top L-R: Belle, Sugar Minuet, Cider, Scarecrow

Bottom L-R: Dulce de Leche, Candied Apple (Kiss Me tinted lip balm), My Little Pony, Masquerade

Petits, Top L-R: Hollywood, Cydonia, Snuggle

Bottom L-R: Paradise Pink blush & Yes, Virginia! blush

Fuchsia Flush Liquid Kisses lip gloss

Liquid Kisses gloss in Fuchsia Flush

Samples (all eyeshadows):

L-R: Belle, Sugar Minuet, Cider, My Little Pony, Scarecrow, Masquerade, Dulce de Leche

Petits (eyeshadow unless otherwise noted):

L-R: Cydonia, Hollywood, Snuggle, Yes, Virginia (blush), Paradise Pink (blush)

Kiss Me tinted lip balm in Candied Apple

The sample baggies come with 1/8 of a teaspoon ($.60 each), and the petit sizes are mini jars with 1/4 teaspoon ($2.00).  Full sizes come in jars with 3/4 teaspoon ($4.00), although I didn't purchase any this time- I will in the future! :)  I do think the pricing per quantity is very affordable, though.  I also like that everything comes in different sizes so if I'm not sure about something, I can get either a sample or a petit jar to try it out.  And the full sizes are still a great deal so I don't feel bad buying everything in that size!

This is my first time doing swatches for a mineral makeup company, so I'm pretty sure my swatching  didn't do the eyeshadows justice (they were all done using a damp brush).  Since I will be purchasing from DCG in the future, I plan on trying the Stay the Day eye primer to help make them more vibrant.  I got so many compliments today when wearing them (see the quick EOTD at the end of this post), and each eyeshadow has so much dimension that I couldn't capture in pictures.  I love how pretty and soft the colors are, though, and how great their lasting quality is.  My eyeshadow looked just as fabulous tonight as it did at 8am this morning when I applied it.  They all have beautiful shimmer.

I love the blushes I tried- Yes, Virginia! is a gorgeous violet pink, and Paradise Pink is a light peachy pink that I will be purchasing as a full size.  The two I got are not quite matte, but have a slight sheen that gives a nice finish- easy to wear and my personal favorite.  They also lasted me all day, which was a pleasant surprise!  I wore Yes, Virginia today with My Little Pony eyeshadow and the Fuchsia Flush gloss for a pretty, girly look.

For lip products, I got to try one of the Kiss Me tinted lip balms in Candied Apple, and the Fuchsia Flush Liquid Kisses gloss.  The tinted lip balm is just that- a slight tint, but glides on just like a moisturizing balm.  The Liquid Kisses gloss leaves a subtle amount of color that is nonsticky and smooth.  These don't last too long on me, but I love the shine they give off (check out my lip swatch!).

Quick EOTD using Snuggle, Cydonia, and Masquerade eyeshadows

Overall, I'm more than pleased with my order and think that Darling Girl Cosmetics is a great little company.  I can't wait to make another purchase in the future!

Until then, what are your favorites from DCG if you've tried them?  I'd love to know!  Or if you haven't yet, what are some of your favorite indie makeup brands?  I think I'm hooked. :)

BFTE Cosmetics Haul

About 2 months ago I purchased from Beauty From The Earth cosmetics and well I lost the package.

Long behold, it was shoved in side my plastic organizing bin.

So without further a do, here is my review.......

http://www.bftecosmetics.com

*Sifters were included, but I never use them. I don't like them.*

These were the sample size jars!

They were all $2.00 a piece.

(L-R) Tropical - Midnight Kisses - Bondage - Very Vanilla - Rasberry

SWATCHES

Now...the Full Size Jars I ordered...

(L-R) (Limited Edition) Oxford ($4.99)- Dew Drop (COTW - $2.00)

*COTW - Color of the Week!

Swatches - These two colors were hard to catch.

Photos don't give either enough credit, especially the Oxford.

Oxford is like a peachy pink with glitter--drool!

Overall I would say that I am impressed. I am more of a HEY LOOK AT ME eyeshadow person but these colors cover your basics. My favorites out of the bunch are Midnight Kisses, Very Vanilla and Oxford. Those will most likely be the ones I re-stock when necessary! The pigments go on the skin really smooth. There is no odor to the shadows. All shadows were applied to skin with no primer.

Hope you enjoyed!

What's your favorite BFTE color?

Shining a new light on neutrals with Urban Decay Naked palette

I know this is probably the millionth post you all have seen on the UD Naked eyeshadow palette that was released last year, so I apologize!  But I recently won Katie's generous giveaway featuring the palette and I had to post about it. :)

I never really considered the Naked palette when it came out for a couple reasons: 1) the price, 2) the colors looked too warm for my skin tone, and 3) I thought I could probably dupe a lot of it.  However, I was totally wrong!  Having never tried UD shadows before, I had no idea how amazing they are.  Pigmentation is great and the texture is buttery and smooth (You don't have to sit there and dig at the shadows to get payoff- instead, it only takes a little swipe of a brush).  They also blend flawlessly.  I'm impressed!  The shades are actually pretty neutral, contrary to what I initially thought.
If you're used to paying for higher-end makeup (Which I'm not!), the value is pretty fantastic.  It's a little expensive at $48 (used to be $44, but now it's included with a Good Karma eyeshadow brush instead of the double sided 24/7 eyeliner) but you're getting 12 full sized eyeshadows along with a mini-sized UDPP original.  I'm really excited to have back up for my UDPP when I run out of mine- it's a little drying for me, but I love it.

As soon as I've had a little more time to play around with it, I'll show you the looks I do.  I was so excited when I received it in the mail today that I wanted to get this up ASAP!

Swatches:

All only took one swipe of my finger to get the above pigmentation, except for Naked which required two. 

Thank you again Katie!  I'm so pleased!

xox

Review: L'Oreal The One Sweep Eyeshadow

L'Oreal The One Sweep Eyeshadow

Price: MSRP  $9.95

Claims: "The One Sweep Shadow is a breakthrough new way for anyone to get a professional eye shadow look.  The unique applicator is shaped to fit the eye and apply three shades in one step to define, color and highlight.  It's fast, easy, and mistake-proof."


Review: I received this product for free through the social marketing site BzzAgent. Since the campaign's launch, I've seen TONS of negative reviews for the products everywhere, but I fully intended to try it out and review it with no bias.

The intent of this product is to apply a full eye look with minimal effort. So I think it's only natural that makeup enthusiasts and people who are awesome at applying eyeshadow think this is silly - they don't need a gimmicky product to do it for them. But for those who aren't as skilled, it could be a great time-saver.

The brush is large and odd-shaped, and the application takes a while to get used to. I kept getting smudges in places they weren't supposed to be, like on the outside corners of my eyes. However, I did manage to get it to work the right way after using it a few times. My eyelid must be shaped in the way the product was designed for, because I heard a lot of complaints about it not being one-size-fits-all, but it fit me fine.

I found it really hard to take a photo of my own eyelid - might update later with better photos if I can manage to take one.

I really liked the look of the dark purple on the bottom. This is how I usually do my eyemakeup, with a darker eyeshadow color close to my lash line (in place of eyeliner), and it looked properly and cleanly applied, no worse than when I manually do it myself. The problem was with the rest of the shadow. The top color looked no different than the middle color, and they were both very sheer and shimmery. It was too shimmery for me, almost greasy looking. I prefer darker shades without so much gleam.

The shadow also didn't last very long at all. It creased up and faded from the rest of my eyelid in a matter of hours, even with a primer applied.The darkest shade seemed to last better, and I have been using it alone from time to time, applied with a regular brush along my lash line.

So while the concept works for me, the shadow itself leaves a lot to be desired. I probably would have preferred a completely different color pallet, as these shades were not something I normally wear (although I do like the purple) and I don't think they do anything to enhance my eye color. If the shadow lasted longer and the shades were more to my liking, I'd give it another shot. It is very fast and easy when you become used to applying it, and it's been great when I have minimal time to get ready in the morning.

Overall rating: B-

Would purchase again? In a different shade, if I had coupons for it!

Haul Part 3: Eyeshadows

Final installment of my monster haul/swatch extravaganza!

Eyeshadows!

First up, from MAC's mega metal shadow collection:

MAC Spectacle of Yourself (sideways?)

MAC Spectacle of Yourself

While I like this eyeshadow, it comes across a little bit too orange for it to be an everyday neutral. I kind of wish I had gone for one of the purples in the collection instead, but oh well!

Next... NARS Cordura duo.

Cordura

Cordura

LOVE this. The only downside really is that the dark shade (my fav!) has a bit of fallout if you're not careful. So I just do my eyes before foundation when I'm using this, so it's no big deal! Smooth texture, beautiful colours that go amazingly well together... fab fab fab!

xox

Glamour Doll Eyes Haul

This is my first ever purchase from Glamour Doll Eyes! I am 100% happy that I did! The few products that I got are amazing!

Website: http://www.glamourdolleyes.com

PACKAGING

 BUSINESS CARDS/INSTRUCTIONS

FREE SAMPLE

Color: (Legit)

WHAT I BOUGHT

"Foil Me" Eye-gloss tube

The "Jessica Harlow Collection"

- Shamrock

- Disco White

- Ladies Night

Eye Lights - "Hollywood"

SWATCHES

Sorry about the two different "lightings!"

http://the-trace-face-philes.blogspot.com/ Suggested that I get a desk lamp :)

Great job Glamour Doll Eyes, I will be purchasing from you again!

Colors are vibrant!

http://www.glamourdolleyes.com

GO VISIT!

xoxo

FaceFront Cosmetics Limited Edition!

Lust Quest Collection

This limited edition collection has AMAZING colors! I am super excited to place an order for a few of my favorites! To visit website click HERE!

(All photos are from the FaceFront Website!)

(The "purchase" link takes you to the direct color's description and larger photos!)

These are a limited time only products!

More good news is FREE SHIPPING on orders over $49.00 USD!

PLUS! Get the FaceFront Survival Paint (trial size) by entering the code PAINT at checkout!

La La Lilac $10.50 - - PURCHASE

 Mouse Grey $10.50 - - PURCHASE

Sea Soldier $10.50 - - PURCHASE

Silver Fox $10.50 - - PURCHASE

Soloura $10.50 - - PURCHASE

Steam $10.50 - - PURCHASE

Black Jax $9.50 - - PURCHASE

(Favorite named!)

Can't Elope $10.00 - - PURCHASE

Magnetica $9.50 - - PURCHASE

Visionary Violet $9.50 - - PURCHASE

(LIPS) Kiwi For Lunch $10.00 - - PURCHASE

(LIPS) LustQuest $10.00 - - PURCHASE

(BLUSH) I Dream of Peaches $15.00 - - PURCHASE

(BLUSH) Lustful $15.00 - - PURCHASE

I can honestly say that I have not yet decided which ones I will be purchasing, I love them all! FaceFront Cosmetics has become one of my favorite make-up companies and they deserve recognition!