Review: ZPalettes
Posted by Heather | Filed under My Collection, Reviews
I love palettes.
Let me tell you a story…once upon a time, I had so many individual pots of MAC shadows, that I filled an entire makeup trunk case. What ended up happening was that I’d use the newest ones that were sitting on top, and almost never again see the ones on the layers underneath. Of course we all know that with the way MAC comes out with collections (every other week it seems like), those shadows got burried before even being used sometimes!
Then I discovered depotting .
A long, long time ago, an MA briefly whispered to me that I could depot with a candle…just put the pot over the candle to loosen the glue, and it pops out! Stupid me (this was before youtube btw) didn’t take out the inside, and just put the poor shadow above the flame which burned off the sticker and practically caught my shadow on fire…that shadow remains, to this day, the only MAC shadow I do not know the name of (it’s dark purple).
Now that I know the iron method, it works beautifully. My parents own a sign shop that my mom runs up in the Sacramento area, so she makes the little magnetic discs that I put on the back. Once I had some of those, I went to town and depotted well over 100 shadows all in one night, with a glass of Chardoney and my best friends over for a sleep-over. It was the greatest feeling ever – being so organized and having them at the tips of my fingers…ahhhh…wait….gotta organize them….which one is where?…I have to open 15 palettes to find it….Noooooo!
Enter: ZPalette .
Tutorial: Depotting MAC Shadows
Posted by Heather | Filed under Reviews, Tutorials
I depot my MAC shadows using a regular clothes iron and some parchment paper. It works well, and I never have any casualties. I’m sorta afraid of fire, so I try to avoid having to use it if possible. But later, I’ll post another tutorial to show how I depotted my Smashbox shadows also. It’s my very first video tutorial, so be nice :-) But let me know what you think! Toward the end I did a mini-review of one of the new ZPalettes I got. I will do a full review of them very soon, so stay tuned!
Review & Swatches: Kat Von D Eye Palettes
Posted by Heather | Filed under Brands, Eyeshadow, Kat Von D, Reviews, Swatches
When these first came out, I thought it was kinda gimicky and I don’t usually go out and get stuff from brands I don’t know and trust. After hearing about it by roaming throught the beauty blog world, I caved…and my expectations were low, so WOW did I get blown away!
I’ve actually been putting off this review for a long time because when I think about how much I love these, the words escape me, and I’m not sure how to explain myself. Seriously though, these are fantastic shadows. The colors are rich and pigmented. The texture is soft and powdery (in a good way). The color range is really good too, and I really like how Kat Von D has put thought into them. I only got three (or is that all there is?): Beethoven, Ludwig, and Gypsy. Everything from the artwork on the boxes to the beautiful packaging to the names of the colors reflects her perfectly. She paid attention to detail, and I appreciate that. I don’t think she’s one to sit on the sideline and let others come up with stuff for her to just “approve” (though I don’t know this for certain). The names are recognizable – especially if you watch LA Ink, which I do. I’ve watched her since she was on Miami Ink actually. I’m secretly fascinated by tatoos. I don’t have any, and will most likely (never say never) never get one. Part of it is the artistry – I can blend colors, but I can’t draw worth a darn! I admire the talent of tatoo artists!
There were only two things I didn’t like: one was that one cream Brass Knuckles shadow – the texture sucks on that one; and two: Lucifer is the same color in all 3 palettes, but hey with only one bad color in the 3 palette bunch, I’m still happy. :-) I highly recommend these palettes for eyeshadow lovers.
See product photos and swatches!! Read the rest of this entry »
Look & Review: Dior Amber Design Quint
Posted by Heather | Filed under Bronze, Brown, Dior, Eyeshadow, Gold, Looks, My Collection, Neutral, Reviews
I’m not a huge fan of Dior quints only because their pigmentation is usually too weak for my taste. The quality is great, but most of the time the colors muddy together on my lid.
That being said, I have very mixed feelings about this particular “quint” which I wouldn’t even say is a quint because it only has 4 eyeshadow colors, and one of those is only a “shine” color. In place of the 5th color is a brown gel (I think) liner. To be honest, I felt jipped! I have a ton of brown eyeliners! Ah well, I do see the value in having everything all together in one place I suppose, and to give it credit, the liner was very nice and dark, so it worked well with the palette.
The shadow colors themselves, are pretty nice. They’re not incredibly unique, but they’re very pretty. I love golds and coral colors and browns. It creates a nice soft look, which is great, but not what I’m all about, you know? The shadows are soft and go on smoothly. And on a side note…I’m really liking this lip combo! :-)
What are your thoughts?
For this look I used:
- Eyes: UDPP (primer), Painterly PP (base), Dior Amber Design quint (as suggested – including liner), Plushlash mascara
- Cheeks: Cheek & Cheerful mineralized blush
- Lips: Bobbi Brown Brown Metalic lip color + Nice Mix Up tri-color lipgloss
See more pictures!! Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Dior Bronze Couture Palette
Posted by Heather | Filed under Beauty Support & FAQ, Blushes/Shimmers, Brands, Dior, Eye Products, Product Info, Reviews
This Dior Bronze Couture Palette ($80) blows my mind! Yep, it’s THAT good! Ok, I’m not going to end every sentence with an exclamaition point lol. Anyway, I must rave to you about this palette. Usually these are little gimmiky things that I skip over and don’t even give a second look to. But when I was at the Dior counter, the lady helping me get my Electric Lights and Pop Diamond wasn’t an actual Dior lady, so she was a little slow. While I was waiting, I swatched this palette just for kicks, and whoa! I was so impressed!
I did a complete look using all 3 of the palette products HERE.
Included in this palette is two brushes: blush & lip brushes, both with caps. And of course the beautiful D for Dior impressed in the bronzer…simply gorgeous!
Read a detailed review of all 3 parts plus close-ups and an Overall Coloruza Rating! Read the rest of this entry »
Swatches: Chanel Lumier Celeste Collection Glossimers
Posted by Heather | Filed under Chanel, Lips, Swatches
Lip swatches! Of course I fell in love with all of them! These pictures didn’t capture the glitteriness of them either which bummed me out. Maybe if I wear them with looks or with some lipstick underneath they’ll come out more. Several are very pigmented. Jupiter looks very similar to Red Shine that came out before the holidays. I swatched all of them at once, so some of them are not very perfect at all! Wiping off each one then reapplying made my lips say owie! :-) Hopefully it’s worth it! Enjoy!
Top: Mirage, Nebula, Silex, Venus
Bottom: Cosmos, Jupiter, Meteore, Mica
See all 8 colors as swatches on my lips!!! (Names are underneath the two swatch pictures.) Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Chanel, Glossimer, Lip Swatches, Lipgloss, Lumier Celeste
Review/Swatches: Bobbi Brown Pastel Palette
Posted by Heather | Filed under Bobbi Brown, Eyeshadow, My Collection, Product Info, Reviews, Swatches
While doing some online shopping at Neimen Marcus, I had to reach a certain amount for a free gift, so I browsed their exclusives. What a little beauty this was!
The colors are all really pastel, and I haven’t used them yet except for the teal one (second from the left) and I was quite impressed. It has a descent texture and the color came out nice. The palette itself is kinda small, and you only get a little strip of each color, but there are a lot of colors! Seriously, when’s the last time you saw so many colors in one little palette?? At first I didn’t like how they were all packed in there, but I think I actually appreciate that they didn’t waste space on dividers. I can use the 239 brush or my trusty 213 and get only that specific color very easily. I’m not planning on mixing any of the colors together before they’re on my eyelid :-)
See swatches and color names! Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Chanel Tweed Blush Duos
Posted by Heather | Filed under Chanel, Product Info, Reviews
If you’ve followed my posts lately, you might have noticed that I’ve been consistantly using Chanel Tweed blushes. There are 4 out, but I only picked up 3…Rose, Pink, & Corail (Coral).
They’ve been out for a long time, but I’ve always passed them by because they didn’t look special at the counter. I had some items to return (which meant money to spend), so I thought I’d give them a try. The Chanel MA told me how she loved them, so ok.
She was right! I love them too! They give my cheeks a nice sheen and the color isn’t overdone. I like how it’s buildable and doesn’t apply too much with the first swipe. I’m not sure about the gold shimmer on top – I don’t think it’ll last, like an overlay. It’s a shame too because I love shimmer. But on the other hand, it’s good because I’m gettin older…errr at least I will be gettin older, so I need some cheek colors that have a nice texture, aren’t matte, but aren’t too shimmery either.
All in all, they were worth it, and I’m really happy with them. Overall Coloruza raiting: 4 out of 5. They’re not my omg perfect blushes, but they’re up there in my favorites, and I’m sure I’ll be reaching for them for a while :-)
Have you tried them? What do you think?
See some close-ups! Read the rest of this entry »
Review & Swatches: New Spring ‘09 Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyepencils
Posted by Heather | Filed under Reviews, Swatches, Urban Decay
The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyepencils have a massive following with their original 16 or so colors. They’re known for their long-wear, true bright colors, ultra smooth and soft texture, and overall great wear. I can vouch…I think I have almost every color, and they measure up for me in everything they’re known for. Now, new for Spring, they have 4 new colors on the up and out!
Underground is a shiny medium brown color. It’s not too dark, but would work great with a neutral look.
Grafitti is a grass-green color; a lot lighter than the other green liner they have. It would definitely brighten up the lower lashline.
Flipside is a bright aqua blue, not quite what I would call turquoise because it’s closer to a light blue…like what my husband would just call ‘blue’….oh but it’s so much better than that!
Ransom is almost indescribable because it’s so beautiful. A bright true purple…not sure what else to say. It’s deep but bright…did I say bright? It would make any eye POP!
See swatches! Read the rest of this entry »
Review & Swatches: Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
Posted by Heather | Filed under Reviews, Swatches, Urban Decay
I am no stranger to the long-time cult favorite Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP). I hadn’t discovered it until I started reading beauty blogs, and once I did, there was no turning back. I use it pretty exclusively with a MAC Paint Pot on top. When used alone, I found that it still creased a little by the end of the day, but NEVER when layered with a PP. It’s my HG (holy grail) of eyeshadow primer+base.
And now Urban Decay has released a new version of the ever popular Primer Potion in a shade called Sin. It’s a champagne beige color and very shiny/shimmery. The original is flesh colored and doesn’t look like anything is even on your lid once blended in. Sin adds a great shimmery sheen and could easily just be worn alone for a simple eye. I’m loving the deeper color. My shadows cling to it like glue and it brings out the shimmer that’s already in non-matte or satin shadows. I don’t generally wear many matte looks anyway, so Sin will be what I use most often from now on I’m sure. Another thing I noticed is that Sin seems to be a little thinner and more liquidy, but I’ll have to observe if that’s still the case once I saw that universally-hated bottle open to scoop out the contents and store them in other containers.
Overall Coloruza Rating: 5/5 – At it’s base, it’s a stellar product, yet with an even better twist than the original. It works, it’s pretty, it’s got shimmer, and it stands on its own (the product, not the bottle…though the bottle does too…nevermind). Only drawback: packaging (but you can get around that).
I got this from Sephora.com because I’m a Beauty Insider (anyone can be one – just sign up). Otherwise, it’s slated to launch for Spring.
See hand and eye swatches! Read the rest of this entry »
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