Review: Urban Decay Naked Palette

So I lied in the last post, but really this time, the next few will be tutorial/outfit based. A lot of people on the internet have done a review on this palette, but I'm the only person I know in real life who has it, so I thought it could be helpful.
First, the price was $48, and mine came with the eyeshadow brush. It's synthetic fiber and while it looks nice, it doesn't impress me. I wish I had gotten the one with the double-sided eyeliner, it was cheaper too. This palette comes with 12 eyeshadows, so if you're getting technical, that's only $4 per shadow, for high quality makeup. Not bad. There are two matte shades, Naked (a skintone nude) and buck (a midtone brown), while the rest lie between satin and shimmer. This is the palette to have if you're a neutral eye lover. It is also very easy to travel with, being compact and versatile. I don't really care about packaging aesthetics too much, but it does have a sleek look to it. Mine is a little beat up because I'm a bit messy when I do my makeup, but it still looks nice. I've read on other blogs that the size of these shadows is nearly as big as a regular UD shadow, which I believe are somewhere from $15-$20.
The texture of these shadows is great- they're all very soft and pigmented. Sidecar is a bit hard to work with because it is very glittery, but most of the others are a dream. Gunmetal (a silvery blue) could be have a little more color payoff, but it's the most unique shade (compared to the neutral feel of the palette), so I guess it's a fair trade. The golds (Half baked, Smog) are beautiful and work well on any eyecolor/skintone. The pinker shades (Sin, Toasted) and the darker shades (Darkhorse, Hustle, Creep) are all very nice. There is a whitish satin shade called Virgin too, and it ties with Toasted for my favorite color in the palette. All of these are wearable though, and there are many different combinations.
I wish there were one or two more matte shades, especially because Naked and Buck are so well done and easy to use. But that isn't really the style of Urban Decay- in nearly all my past experience with the brand, they like a lot of color and shimmer/glitter/wow factor. With that in mind, I think this is a great investment for those who like convenient, high quality makeup. I wouldn't recommend it for somebody who owns a truck of neutral shadows already, but for beginners or anybody who doesn't live in Sephora or Mac, it's great. I've included pictures, my swatches are never the best. But if you look around on different blogs, you can get a better feel for this palette. And there's usually a tester in store to try all over arms and hands. :)



Enlarge and names of colors should be visible.



(Left to right) Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked.



(Left to right) Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal.



*no swatches were done over a base, each one is only one quick swipe of each color.
Also, according to Temptalia.com, six of the shades included are permanent, five are new and one is a repromote. The site didn't list which were which, but I know that Smog, Half baked, Sin and Naked are all part of the permanent line.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! :)
-Rhiana

Review: Mac 217 & 219

I mentioned in a blog post a while back that I had some Mac purchases on the way. I was referring to two brushes (and brush cleaner); specifically, Mac 217 and Mac 219. Both are well known and have received a lot of praise. I can't really disagree, they are two of the best brushes I've ever owned. I can't wait to get more- next on my list are the flat shader brush (239) and highlight brush (227 I believe). Onto pictures...

MAC 217:





The 217. A fluffy, large brush that is less rounded than normal blending brushes. It is dense enough to apply a gradient of color and soft enough to blend. This is, in my opinion, a must-have for anybody who has a genuine interest in makeup. It is pricey, at over $20, so I wouldn't recommend it if the buyer won't utilize it often, or is just beginning with makeup. This brush has become a part of my everyday eyeshadow process, no matter which colors I use.

MAC 219:


I couldn't get a good close up of this brush for the life of me, but it's basically a pencil brush. This is ideal for packing on color into the crease, inner corner or under the eye. I use it mainly to apply dark shadow onto my outer V, and to blend eyeliner. It picks up an amazing amount of color and allows for a lot of control with its dense, pointed shape. I would recommend it for those who like a smokier eyeshadow look.



All in all, these brushes have made doing my makeup even more enjoyable. I now know what I was missing! :) My main gripe is that they get dirty so quickly, especially the 219. (As you can easily see in my pictures...) They are expensive, but an investment in something durable and quality-made is worth it to me.
Would it be helpful for me to do reviews on other, cheaper brushes that I own? I don't really have face brushes, but I do have a lot of eye brushes.
Have a good day! More posts coming soon :)

-Rhiana

Product Reviews on My First Mac Purchases!

Over Spring Break me and Rhiana went to Flatirons Mall and they have a Mac counter there. I had always heard from Rhi and from beauty blogs that I'm always reading that Mac is really nice. Rhi convinced me to buy something beautiful while we were there (although the prices are outrageous!) and this is what I decided on:

I know this picture is bad, it was getting dark and still needed a picture. The brush is number 217. Me and Rhi talked about this brush for a little while (during gym. Our teacher wasn't happy that we were talking about the different functions of makeup brushes instead of practicing our backhands in tennis AHAHAHA) and we think it is meant to be a crease brush. The lady at the Mac counter said it was a really good brush and that you could pretty much use it for the whole eyelid. I've been using it for about a week and I like it a lot. It works well and holds a good amount of eyeshadow to work with. Its really big and soft too so it applies the shadow more evenly than my other brush. I like it. The eyeshadow is Fig. Its a matte purple. It is so pretty. The above picture is not really true to color :(. Here is a picture of one of the days I used it last week:
I dont like this picture of me (what is going on with my bangs?!) but it shows how pretty the purple is. Love it :). Here are some other looks I wore these last two weeks. I used my new brush for both of them.

Blue, black, and gray shadows from Coastal Scents. Ugh my skin. WOW it looks bad. You can see the improvement from this picture to the next one which was taken about a week after. I'm using a basic acne spot treatment and its working pretty well on my forehead and cheeks.

And this picture is from Sunday. I used purple, black, and silver from the Coastal Scents shimmer palette. I did my hair all fancy too. I'm thinking about doing this with my hair for the dance tomorrow. Should be fun.
Naomi

A Month of Beauty...

First post in a while. I'm just going to put up pictures from the last month or so...

I did my hair for church one day and these were all the pins I used to do it. It took forever, ha.



My mom bought me this Shea Butter soap. Its supposed to help with dry skin. It is helping on my arms but not much on my legs. It smells wonderful! I love it. Its a good product.


I bought three colors of this Crackle Glaze from China Glaze. I bought it in Crushed Candy which the blue above. It is very similar to For Audrey from the same brand. I also bought Black Mesh and Cracked Concrete (I love the names, ha.) I have only tried Crushed Candy so far. Its really pretty. It needs to be applied quickly because it dries fast but its cool stuff. I did larger cracks here(over Rock Star from Sonia Kashuk), but you can also do small cracks if it is applied thin. It looks really cool!

Purple and gold from the Coastal Scents Metal Mania Palette. Love it.

Ok so I didn't actually have much to put up, but at least its something. Me and Rhiana will put up a video in the next few days and I'm hoping I'll be able to write a post about "accent nails" tomorrow.

Naomi

My Latest Obsession: Nail Polish

I want to try and start a series called my latest obsession. It can feature our latest beauty crazes of the moment. These past few weeks, mine has definitely been nail polish. The China Glaze Crackle Glaze nail polishes made their debut, so of course I had to try it :D and then I went to Ulta and Target, and was able to get a few more nail polishes (and Seche Vite! FINALLY :D) to add to my slowly growing collection.
The Crackle Glazes...

In Cracked Concrete and Broken Hearted. I love these :D Especially the pink one! I want to try to find a color like it in normal nail polish. They work almost instantly, just make sure your base nail polish is dry first. (It looks pretty gross if you don't. :/) And don't forget a topcoat, unless you like the matte finish.

The light colors...

China Glaze White on White and OPI Sweetheart. Both are pretty, they need multiple coats and patience to look good. The bottles are already dirty because I'm sort of a disaster when I paint my nails.

From the OPI Texas Collection...

OPI Don't Mess With OPI. I loved how well this covered, but it does not go well with my skin tone :( and it somehow makes my nails look even smaller, something I'm not crazy about. As far as collections go, I really wanted a few from the Katy Perry collection, but my Ulta was totally out. I had been wanting a green polish though, so it's good that I finally got one.

Drugstore polishes...

NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel in Big Apple Red Creme, Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Blue It, and Nicole by OPI in Razzle Dazzle. I love the red color, it is easy to apply, fast to dry and looks gorgeous. I haven't tried the blue yet, it's the only one I have yet to. Blue is something I'm a little wary about, cool colors sort of clash with my skin. That's my second bottle of the black one, not because it's great, don't ask why I repurchased it... Either way, Razzle Dazzle is okay. It is shiny and can cover with more than one coat but it chips easily.

Seche Vite...

I love the gel-like consistency of this. I'm happy to have a topcoat that works. It doesn't protect too well from chipping and wear but it makes the colors so shiny.


A little family picture.

Well that's all for now :) I love most of what I got and am excited to get more! Now I just need to work on not picking it off the day after...

-Rhiana

face of the day and a product review

I did my makeup a bit differently today. As always, I began by doing my mascara (Covergirl Lashblast Fusion, L'oreal Carbon Black Voluminous, L'oreal Telescopic Explosion [review soon possibly]) and applying Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base. For secondary bases, I used NYX Jumbo Pencils in Purple and Lime. This look was mostly shimmery. I used a lime green from the coastal scents on the inner third, a light purple from the Stila Backstage Palette, Nocturnelle by Mac (a darker purple, nothing special), dark brown and a bit of red in the crease. For eyeliner I used Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Rockstar, a purple-y brown. I love it :D I also used a gold to line the inner half of my eye, something I almost always do. The shape was dramatic and I'm not sure if I like it or not. It's about time for some new eyeshadow- I have a lot, yeah, but I haven't gotten much new in a LONG time. For lips I used a nude lipliner and then L'oreal lipstick in Fairest Nude. I don't have a ton of options for lip color, but I'm working on it. :) I crimped my hair and twisted both sides. I didn't end up going anywhere, but this is a hairstyle that I'm recreating soon.

And now for the review...

(Image courtesy of Google)
I got this set of Urban Decay eyeliners for Christmas. Prior to getting these, my collection of eyeliners was modest at best. I mostly just had black, but that was okay with me because I wasn't crazy about eyeliner. Once I got these, I started to work with eyeliner more, and now I love it :D I found a way to do it that doesn't make me look insane. (Well..) True to their name, they glide on SO easily. Normally retailing for about $20 for a full-sized pencil, this entire set was $40 from Sephora. Definitely worth it in my opinon. A broad range of colors is given, they're great quality and even a full size of Zero is included. I wish that Perversion had been included too, but oh well. I plan on purchasing Rockstar and Whiskey as soon as I'm able :) I like Urban Decay a lot, and this set didn't disappoint. My only complaint is how small the eyeliners are, and how frequently they need to be sharpened. But I guess for the price and creamy texture, it's a fair trade.
Have a good weekend! :)

-Rhiana

Makeup Pet Peeves & My Secret Wonderland Craze

A lot of things I see drive me crazy. If I could do the makeup of every single girl in the universe, I would. I'll just focus on mascara related peeves for now, maybe this can be a little series of (makeup-related) things that make me insane.

1.) When girls use eyelash curlers that are covered in dry mascara. EW!!!!! You're really going to put that on your eye? You might as well bathe your eye in sewer water. How hard is it to take a little q-tip and wipe off your eye gunk?

2.) In conjunction with gunk that needs to be wiped off is mascara on the eyelids. Again with the q-tip thing. They're not a rare item by any means, and you can literally buy them by the box, in the hundreds. If you don't have one? Ask me, or anybody who looks in the mirror. We will all be more than happy to help.

3.) Horns for eyelashes. Take a brush and pull through your lashes. Does it feel great? No. But neither do clumps of lashes. It kind of goes against nature.

And now for Secret Wonderland...
A scent described as being a blend of "luscious strawberry, frosted jasmine petals and white amber". Where the frosted comes in I'm not sure, but this smells amazing.




:D First is the body butter. This one was my first ever from Bath and Body Works, and I love it. I was scared that it might make my skin break out because of the scent and how heavy it is, but it hasn't so far.



I have the regular lotion and body spray as well. I love the lotion and use it every day before gym, it makes that experience slightly more bearable. The spray is nice too, but I can't really smell it after 10 minutes or so. I wear it with perfume though, so maybe that's why.
:)

-Rhiana

Makeup & Mini Products I Regret Buying

The eyeshadows I used were Woodwinked from Mac, a light blue, a black and a dark blue, all from the Coastal Scents 88 Palette. I'm thinking about doing a post on different makeup brushes and their uses. I also want to post about products I want to get and maybe a makeup collection? I also thought a perfect imperfections written post (as opposed to the video post) would be fun.

W/ flash.

Do these pictures look better? I was able to set my camera to take higher quality pictures, so hopefully it shows.


W/ flash

Here are the products I regret buying: Covergirl lipstain (color wasn't written on the packaging, but it's a bright red), Physician's Formula Summer Eclipse in Sunlight, and Almay Moisurizing Eye Makeup Remover Liquid.



The lipstain is way too hard to work with: it feathers, stains (well of course, but I mean to an extreme) and just isn't flattering on me. I want to expand my lip collection, but this was not a good place to begin.



I'm not really one for cheek products, I touch my face too much throughout the day. That being said, I bought this with the hopes of having a nice glow. Not so. It is a shimmery nightmare, with poor pigmentation and a crumbly texture to boot. Ugh.



This eye makeup remover is my biggest disappointment maybe ever. It is SO GREASY. I apply my mascara first, and it gets all over my lid, so I have to remove it with a q-tip. After running out of my last one, I opened this, and it makes my eyelids so oily that not even a primer stops my eyeshadow from creasing. I bought a different one so I was able to stop using it, but it makes me mad. Since when does moisturizing mean oily??



Some poor swatches. Sorry. :/
*Disclaimer- these are just my honest opinions. The products may work for other people, but my experiences with them haven't been worthy of a positive review.

<3
Rhiana