Amore Mio eyeshadow pigments/ Stila Glaze lip liner review/Tophatter Haul!!

Happy Monday!!!


Good evening my lovelies!


My Tophatter haul FINALLY arrived!!! I  bought 9 Stila Glaze Lip Liners for $15 and the Amore Mio eyeshadow pigments assorted 9 stack D for $5!!!! As always I hunt around before I bid to see what the retail is so I know what not to go over in a bidding war. I always try to not bid higher than half the retail price. I found stila lip liners going anywhere from $8 per pencil to $11.  I also found that there are a lot of discounted makeup websites that all have different prices so I checked the stila website and could not find them. Sooo I am guessing they are discontinued?? As for the Amore mio I couldn't find their website on google..strange!?? However, I did find it on ebay for $9.99 for 2 shadow pigments. Here is a look at my haul!

I will start with the Stila lip liners first. Obviously I haven't had a chance to try all 9 but I did use the red shade over the weekend. I lined my lips and then filled them in and placed a Milani lipstick overtop and OMG it lasted literally all night. I had to reapply my lipstick but the liner lasted and lasted, they seemed to stain my lips. They apply smoothly which was great and were not really drying. One thing I DID NOT like was that they are not retractable; so I will eventually have to sharpen them. UGH! I was happy with the variety of colors. All are very wearable with the exception of the lavender. Anyone want it?! LOL.

Lip Liner Swatches

Swatches from L-R are: Plum, Fuscia, Lavender, Brick, Melon, Red, Pink, Brown, and Mocha.
I absolutely adore the Melon shade, it is sooo gorgeous!! I wore the Red but it came off  pink on my lips.

All About Amore Mio

Like I said earlier I bought stack D. When I bid on it I didn't realize that the picture was the actual product since it was labeled as assorted and sometimes a general pic is tossed up. Anyway if I had paid attention I would have chosen stack A or E. This stack has some phenomenal colors (the burgundy and champagne) but it is very blue heavy and I rarely ever wear blue and when I do it's usually a accent color or a liner. Stack A and E have very earthy/neutral colors and are on the darker end, perfect for the night out smokey eye. Ok so Amore Mio has some hefty claims-- they are formulated with 100% natural and organic pigments to create an amazing effect that lasts all day and night. Stop right here. I wore the burgundy color  over my lid and in my crease with the champagne as tear duct/brow highlight on saturday day going shopping with a friend. These colors stayed on all day even in the surface of the sun heat and all night and the next day. Yes, I fell asleep with my makeup on and it was still going strong the next day!! 

 The features: will not crease, clump, fade or smear and is easily removed with soap and water or with a milk cleanser. Contains 24K gold, is hypoallergenic, paraben free, fragrance free and oil free. For me, it did not crease (which is saying something, I have very oily lids and did NOT use a primer) fade or smear and I slept in it..my mascara and eyeliner were all over my face but the shadow was not! I was impressed. I was able to remove it rather easily with a makeup remover towelette, no milk cleanser required. It also states that the 24K gold will assist your skin to fight free radicals, reduce inflammation, increase blood flow and recreate broken cellular connections. See!!! VERY BIG CLAIMS! Does anyone know if 24K gold actually does those things? I am not saying it doesn't but for how little gold actually goes in and how finely ground it is I can't imagine that it actually does but that's just my opinion.

Designed for over 7 usages:

• use by itself as an eyeshadow
• moisten brush for a creamy eyeshadow
• mix with black or clear mascara to make a colored mascara to highlight the eyes
• add to lip gloss or balm to create customized lip colors
• use with eyeliner brush to create high intensity eye definition
• add to nail polish to create own unique color
• mix with blush to create new shades

On tophatter it says the MSRP is $58.11, Here are the swatches of the shadows. The first two are of the shades dry without a primer underneath and the last photo is of them applied wet. The colors are from L-R as they are shown above in the stack.

As you can see the color pigmentation is great, especially when wet! What I did not like about the stack was the stacking container itself. It really sucks! I like the idea of stacking them for storage space but how the stacking was designed is awful! What I mean is they all screwed into one another and the one on top was also the lid to the one below. You can not store them separately because the only one with a lid would be the top one. If it were me I would have packaged them as individual pots that could have the option to link up to the next. It was just frustrating and when I wanted to open the next pot I had to be very careful as the others wanted to come unscrewed as well. Boo!

The Look

I couldn't do a look for you guys this time, my allergies are out of control and my eyes will not tolerate anything at all. I couldn't even put my contacts in! I'm sorry!! But if you want to see a look using the pigments let me know and I will as soon as my eyes behave themselves!

Conclusion

I adore the stila lip pencils and am very happy with them!! As for the Amore Mio pigments since I bought them for only $5 I can't complain too much. The pigmentation is great and it did what it claimed to do as far as the not creasing, fading or smearing. As for the other claims..only time will tell I guess. I love the actual product but the way it is packaged really turns me away. I hate it!! If I can find a way to store it differently then I will be soo much happier. I will probably still buy the Stack A and E pigments but will definitely have to work on a storage solution. Anyone have any ideas??? 

I hope this was helpful and thank you so much for spending this time with me. Tomorrow is tips and tricks Tuesday so check back for the latest tip. Until next time!!

<3

Jess

Smashbox Heat Wave palette review/look

Happy Funday Sunday!!

Good evening my lovelies!

I hope you all had a good 4th with your family and friends. I went to my parents house, they threw a HUGE block party! It was a really good time with family, friends and fireworks :) Is it rainy where you are? It has been raining non-stop for what feels like weeks here and everything is flooding! EEK! Today has been our first full day of sun in a while and everyone is taking advantage of it and doing much needed yard work.

Today I am reviewing the Smashbox Heat Wave palette. I bought mine at Ulta for $48, it has a total net wt. of .59oz/17g. As always I search the web when I go to buy something trying to find the best deal around and this palette is $48 at every site I checked. Have you ever heard of www.tophatter.com? I just found out about this site and I am addicted! What it is, is a virtual auction house. I have so far only ventured into the beauty auctions but you can get some really amazing deals! I will post some of my "winnings" when I get them in, so look for a Haul/review soon!

The Palette

This palette comes in a really gorgeous gold/taupe-ish box, very sleek! It is difficult to open (or it was to me) so be prepared and hold on to it good! Inside it has 10 pretty amazing shades in a wet/dry formula. I love the shade range, there are so many color combinations! There are two matte shades (#1 and #3) that I used as transition colors for my look but can look nice as a lid color too. As for the rest of the colors they are shimmery. I have tried them wet and they go on soo smoothly and the colors pop like KA-POW in your face! To use them wet I recommend spraying one side of your brush with water or Mac fix+ and then flip the brush over for dry. The shadows are quite powdery and can have a lot of fallout so remember to tap that....brush! Pigmentation is good and they blend effortlessly into one another for a nice gradient fade. The palette also comes with a double ended brush, I really like the smaller end, it works perfectly for the duct area. Here is a closer look of it.

Swatches

As always I did not use a primer under them. So yeah, the pigmentation is really good. The swatches are in order as they are shown in the palette above. I usually can pick a favorite color pretty quick but with this palette I actually had difficulty deciding what combinations I wanted to use for the look.

The Look

I started this look with my UD primer potion (as always) and used my finger to pat Maybelline's Color Tattoo Metal in Barely Branded over the entire lid and into the tear duct. Also on my lid I used #2 shade and patted it over the entire lid and some into the outer crease. I then took #3 as my transition color and rocked it into my socket and just above the crease. Then using #10 I stamped it into my outer 1/3 of my lid and into the crease and outer V. BLEND, BLEND, BLEND! Above the #3 and #10 shades I placed #4 and used a windshield wiper/arch motion over top the entire area to make a nice fade into the #6 highlight color. To finish out the look I lined my eyes with Nyx slide-on glide on pencil in Brown Perfection and placed #5 right into the center of my lid with my finger. In doing so it dusted some color onto the liner and gave it a golden kiss, so lovely! I used #10 on a push liner brush and pulled it under my lower lashline and smudged it out and used the Nyx liner in my water line. Added lashes and mascara. On my lips I used Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Honey. It is a nice summery coral/orange-ish color that complimented the shadow so well.

Conclusion

I really like this palette! I do not like how powdery it was so be careful or you will waste product but the versatility of the colors to be either wet or dry kinda makes up for that, I think. The shadows are also decent sizes and have good color payoff, definitely worth the money! Overall it's a win to me!! I really hope this was helpful. Keep an eye out for the Maybelline Fit me review/look! OH! I just remembered I forgot to put up my June favorites...I blame the holiday! Keep an eye out for that too! Sorry!! Until next time!!

<3

Jess

Urban Decay Haul/Review from Hautelook

Happy Thursday!!!

Good evening my lovelies!!

Two days ago my Urban Decay haul came in from Hautelook and I thought I would share with you what I got and give you my review with a "my look" pic. I purchased the following palettes: Mariposa, Ammo, and Deluxe Shadowbox. I also picked up two glide on cheek tints in score and quickie, and the De slick oil controlling setting spray and All nighter long lasting setting spray (trial size).

If you are not familiar with Hautelook you should be, you can check out the website here.. www.hautelook.com. Hautelook is a site that sells everything from handbags to clothing, hair products to cosmetics and I believe even homegoods but I rarely venture out from the beauty section so don't take my word on that!! They constantly have amazing deals and when I say amazing what I actually mean is AH-MAZ-ING! Discounts can be up to 75-80% off on certain items!! There can be long shipping waits but hey if you can get a blush that retails at $24. for $6 you wait! Also the sales are for limited times (usually a week I believe) but if you sign up you will be kept up to speed with what is in the horizon and what sales are ending soon. This sale is obviously over but you can still find good deals out there. Urban Decay (www.urbandecay.com) has Quickie (blush tint) for $6 which normally retails for $24 under the sale tab, they also have the Ammo palette for $12 (retails for $38) and the Deluxe Shadowbox palette for $10 (retails for $38). Amazon (www.amazon.com) has the Mariposa palette for $27.45, Ammo for $21.25 and the Deluxe Shadowbox for $17.45.

The Swatches

first up the Mariposa palette. The swatches are in order as they are in the palette. For those that are familiar with UD I won't need to explain the color payoff. For those that do not know....OMGosh!!!! UD is known for their super silky, smooth, easily blendable eyeshadows that pack an amazing punch with color payoff. All of my swatches were done without the use of a primer so a little goes a LONG way with these palettes.

Top left to right are: Rockstar, Gunmetal, Skimp, Infamous*, Wreckage*. Second row: Haight, Money, Mushroom, Spotlight*, and Limelight*. Those starred are new colors to Urban Decay. As you can see in this palette all the colors have a shimmer to them, eventhough Skimp looks matte in the picture don't let it deceive you, it's not.

Next up: Ammo palette-I really thought the design of this packaging was so cool!

Top left to right: Smog, Mildew, Oil Slick, Last Call, Chopper. Second row: Maui Wowie, Shattered, Polyester Bride, Grifter, and Sin. This palette was designed so that the colors are paired top to bottom to be matched two at a time, great for those new to makeup! Some colors in this palette are duplicates as well (naked palettes for example). The colors in this palette are shimmery but some have glitter (oil slick, grifter, polyester bride, maui wowie, and chopper).

The Deluxe Shadowbox palette

Top left to right: Fishnet, Honey, Ransom. Second row: Graffiti, Zero, Peace. Third row: Shag, Scratch, and Underground. This palette has 9 of the bestselling shadows in it. I love the fun colors in it! The colors have a metallic/satin finish to them. Lovely-just lovely.

The Blushes

Left to right: Quickie and Score. I liked these a lot but they just didn't give me the "wow" factor in pigmentation that I was expecting from looking at them in the packaging. They start out sheer for just a kiss of color or can be built up for more intensity. In the swatch I had to do a couple of swipes over each to get the intensity shown, though quickie required less swipes to achieve the color payoff as score did.

The Look

I used the Meriposa palette and Quickie cheek tint for my look. Here is a list of products I used for my full face look: foundation-Revlon Colorstay Whipped in Buff,  face primer- Too Faced Primed and Poreless, concealer- Nyx Above and Beyond full coverage, cheeks/contour- Physician's Formula Happy booster in Natural and Wet-n-Wild  Bronzer in Bikini Contest, lips- Elf lip exfoliator, lip liner- Rimmel exaggerate liner in Innocent, lipstick-Essence in Creamy Nude, and gloss-Revlon lipgloss in Foiled, mascara-top lashes Revlon Lash Potion, bottom lashes-Maybelline Lash Discovery (waterproof). 

I achieved this look by starting with my urban decay primer potion over my entire lid to the brow bone and under my lower lash line. I started the look using Wreckage over my entire lid while pulling it up slightly into the crease near the outer V. I then took Skimp as a transition color to my brow, I also used it as a duct and brow highlight. Next up was Rockstar, I placed it in my outer V blending it up subtly through the crease. Infamous was placed just above Rockstar and was blended through to make a nice gradient look and through the crease. To finish the look off I used Limelight in the center of my lid to make it pop and pulled Rockstar down below my lower lashes and smudged it out. Rockstar was also used with a pushliner brush for my eyeliner. In my waterline was Rimmel's Scandaleyes in Nude.

 Conclusion?

Overall I was very pleased with the outcome of this look. I loved how purplish it came out (purple is my favorite color) and how nicely it blended with the goldish tones to create a fun summery look. I love, love, loved this palette!

 As for the other two palettes I will be posting a "my look" soon until then keep an eye out for my upcoming ELF haul/review. Thank you soooo much for spending this time with me. I hope it was helpful!! Until next time!!

<3
Jess