Ciaté London Olivia Palermo Smokey Suedes Eye Palette

I know that I've mentioned that Birchbox has a great points system.  You get 10 points for a review and 50 for a referral.  I rack up points in reviews.  I haven't had any referrals and yet I can build up some points.  Your points expire in 365 days.  Because of that I was able to use 400 of my points to purchase the Ciaté Olivia Palermo Smokey Suedes Eye Palette which sells for $39.00.  I also browsed their bonus shop and picked up a little something that I'll show at the end.

Ciaté is an English brand.  They are most known for their nail polishes.  The palette was made in Italy.

Ciaté

The box was black with an eel skin texture and lettering in gold.  It has Olivia's signature.  I had no idea who Olivia Palermo was and had to look her up.

The back of the box is the only place that lists the color names.  Once you throw that away, you will no longer know what the colors are.  I like to know the color names, so this would be a down side.  If you could care less, this shouldn't bother you.

The package is slim and many people were surprised by the small size.  Like the box it has gold lettering and a black eel skin like body.

The back gives some information on the product.  It also has Olivia's signature, because that was more important than the color names I guess.

 Top From Left to Right: Shaken, Verde, Whoopie Pie
Center: Butler
Bottom From Left to Right: Prosecco, Cocoa, Macchiato, Plumberry

While the size was a surprise to many, keep in mind there is .42 ounces or product here and the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette has .33 oz.  The nine shadows are quite large.  The small size means that it is good for travel.  They do look like they have a suede texture and just looking at it, it is a pretty palette.

 Shaken is a warm shimmering gold.  It has decent pigmentation and okay lasting power.





Verde is a muddy olive pearl.  It has decent pigmentation, okay lasting power and can blend muddy.  I was disappointed because this color was most of the reason I bought the palette.





Whoopie Pie is a matte mauve soft brown.  It has weak pigmentation and is powdery.





Glazed is a pearly bronze shade.  This has some of the better pigmentation of the palette.






Butler is a matte bone shade.  It has weak pigmentation and can be a little powdery.






Prosecco is a frosted champagne color.  It has okay pigmentation and can have some fall out.







Cocoa is a shimmering mid toned brown.  It has decent pigmentation.






Macchiato is a matte mink brown.  It has decent pigmentation and can blend a little patchy.

Plumberry is a matte mauve shade with decent pigmentation.  Not quite aubergine.







This palette was unfortunately a little disappointing to me.  I like good pigmentation and I really loved the idea of this palette.  You have to pack on the shadows to build up the color. It doesn't have a ton of fall out, which is good.  It would be good for those who prefer a more sheer application and some very basic colors.  Maybe for a not so obvious application of colors.  I don't hate it, but I have things that are much better.

It has a good range of shades for autumn.  But I really didn't think it was worth $39.00 and if I had purchased it at Sephora, I might be tempted to return it.  I hate returning things after doing customer service, so that says something.

Since I used my points at Birchbox, there was the option of picking something from the Bonus Shop.  I picked these cute opal type stone ear jackets.

* I used my points to purchase this.  No one sent me this for giggles.

ColourPop Lumière 2 Ultra Matte Lip

I know I was trying to give ColourPop a bit of a break.  I seem to have an addiction.  But they did something naughty.  They introduced Lumière 2.  I don't know if you remember, but Lumière (OG) was one of the first ColourPop lippies I tried and it fed into this addiction.  It was also the first collaboration that Kathleen Lights had ever done.  It has also been my most popular post. Warning, there will be many pics, so brace yourself, my pretties.

ColourPop

This was released on Kathleen Lights birthday.  It was her 24th birthday, so happy birthday to her. She is freaking adorable and no one can tell me otherwise.  The ColourPop Lumière 2 Ultra Matte Lip is only $6.00 for the full size 3.2 g.  Yuppers, six bucks.

The packaging is that lovely white with holographic lettering that boldly announces it is an Ultra Matte Lip.  It appears to be a nice mauve shade in the clear tube with the silver lid and border.  They are made in the USA and not tested on animals.  This particular shade is also Vegan.

Like the other ColourPop Ultra Matte Lips I've tried (Clueless and More Better), this has a doe foot applicator.  I do use the given applicator in my lip swatches, but you can get a cleaner application by using a lip brush.

Lumière 2

Lumière 2 is a lovely deep mauve color.  It is a nice every day but bam! color.  Emeril lives in my everyday life as well, it should probably be noted.  Also to be noted, Lumière OG and 2 are sisters, not twins.  Kinda like your eyebrows.  I know that's the whole reason you got with the click and joined me here, so I took pics.

Left to Right: L2 and OG

Left to Right:OG + pencil and L2

I may like the color of Lumière 2 just a little bit better than OG Lumière.  It is a little deeper and slightly cooler.  However, I still love the formula of the Lippie Stix better.  

Left side to Right: Lumière 2 and Lumière

They are both beautiful colors, Lumière might be a little more day wear friendly on pale skin, but Lumière is still beautiful and wearable in its own right.

It has a great opacity and hides my lip birth mark well.  It is better with a primer under it, as it can settle into the lines a little.  It is drying, but not overly so.  It takes a bit to dry down and will remain tacky for hours.  This will last a good seven hours, longer with a primer.  It stays on through eating, however oily foods will break it down faster.  As with all liquid lipsticks, it is better to exfoliate and make sure your lips are moisturized before applying.

 I think it will look lovely on most skin tones.  I know I'm super pale, so here is the color on darker skin, with Kat Ace, just to show how lovely it looks.  If anyone knows where she got that necklace...♥

I'm a fan. 

* No one got me to keep mauving mauving with Lumière 2.  I bought it with my own money and chose to blog about it by myself. 

February 2016 Ipsy First Look

Hello again, my friends.  Ipsy finally arrived and you know what that means!

This month the theme for Ipsy was Pretty in Ipsy Pink.  Ipsy is a $10.00 per month subscription service.  You get points for referring friends.  However, the points system isn't that great.  Most things require 1000 points and if it's less than that they're usually sold out.  However, last month they had several items that were 250 points, maybe they're trying to fix that problem.  I received one of those with my subscription bag, so I'll show that at the end.  I still don't like posting my reviews to Facebook though.

Loved the bag this month.  It was adorable with an envelope pattern on front and hot pink back.

Smashbox

The first item in my bag was the new Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil, the full size is $42.00.  It doesn't have much of a scent.  I have only tried it on the back of my hand, it feels very moisturizing, probably perfect for aging or dry skin.  When it dries it has the most minimal tackiness.  I could see this being good for winter or for a dewy look as well (especially with high lighting to make for a nicely "strobed" look).  It makes my skin very soft.  It looks like you only need about two drops and you gently pat into the skin.  It doesn't take long to absorb.  It has good oils like jojoba and argan.  I'm a little leary of the lavender oil which can be irritating to sensitive skin.  I'm looking forward to trying this.

Margaret Dabbs

I'm not a fan of glass files.  They generally have a harsh grain and aren't that great.  When I saw this coming in my bag I was like, "eh."  Well, me of little faith.  This Margaret Dabbs London Crystal Nail File is wonderful!  It's normally $15.00 and has a finer grain than most and would be perfect for my purse.  Margaret Dabbs may have a bit of a foot fetish, being a podiatrist and creating her own line of beautiful to use foot products and has me wanting a pedicure from one of her people!  Looks like I'm going to London!  Oh wait, I can't afford that :(

TrèStique has some of the cutest packaging.  When I saw that I was getting this TrèStique in Bora Bora Coral I wanted to strap on my sad face.  Another moment of the cool toned girl getting the shaft.  However, one swatch left me intrigued.  Yes, this is a coral and leans slightly warm, but it has enough pink that it might be the perfect color to add some spring to my cheeks.  I think I may have to give this a go.  The full size appears to come with a little blending brush and is $24.00.  My arm swatches can blend this to nothing, but hopefully it will do more on the face.  Plus, being fair and having blushes going clownish on me in 0 to 3 seconds, I might be able to work with this.

Perfect Formula

Holy fudge sticks.  This next item is the Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat and it is $30.00 for the .6 oz full size.  Yes, you read that right.  Thirty.  Trente.  Trenta.  Tríocha.  Deg ar hugain.  Tretti.  Um, anyways.  Its pink hues are supposed to nullify yellow in your nails and whiten the white part.  Perfect for the person who wants to strengthen their nails but prefers a naked nail look.  Mais, c'est trop cher, even if I did like it.  $30.00.  For a clear nail polish.  That had better polish my nails for me and make them as hard to chip as sapphires (Note that I didn't say diamond.  Diamonds are actually easy to chip having perfect cleavage on four parts of an octahedral plane. - former jeweler /off)

Elizabeth and James

I love this fragrance.  Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black is a lovely mix of vanilla, sandalwood, and violets.  I have two roller-balls and a sample spray of this already.  I'm not sad at all to receive it again.  It is $60.00 for the 1 oz size of this.  Oddly enough my cats hide when I wear the white version of this so, I don't wear it.  However, if you don't like cats, you may want to try that as a form of feline repellent.

I was very surprised by this box.  I had thought that Birchbox had it when I did the sneak peak but Bora Bora and the nail file were winners.  With the addition of  the perfume of Ipsy being great and not even being able to try the Birchbox one, I think the winner is clear.  Birchbox: 6 Ipsy: 5.  Way to go Ipsy.

Novex

Having loved the Novex deep conditioner, when I saw this leave in for 250 points, I decided that I wanted it.  It was a good size bottle, far larger than I expected.  I also ordered the La Neige face but that didn't arrive.  Ipsy was wonderful when I messaged about that over sight and they are mailing that out to me.

* I buy my own boxes.  No one pays for my Ipsy, but me.

L'Oréal Infallible Golden Sage Eye Shadow

About the same time Amy Macedo convinced me that I needed Urban Decay Tonic, she also talked me into L'Oréal Infallible Golden Sage Eyeshadow - 333.  It was this Wearable Olive Green Smokey Eye look.  Now how pretty is that?  I know, I mentioned this look in my Makeup Geek Fantasy Review, but it really should be mentioned again.

The problem was that Amy got her color in Permanent Kaki.  I could not find that color for the life of me.  I searched high, I searched low, I followed something about green eggs, it was intense.  But then there was someone that mentioned that the color Permanent Kaki is the color Golden Sage in the US (Amy is from Canada, so that might have been the situation).  I'm not sure if that's for sure the case, but is seems real enough.  I was able to find it on Drugstore.com and hey, I got to use Ebates (referral link), so that made me happy.  It was $7.95 for .12 oz of product.

L'Oréal

The base product is housed in a clear plastic.  You can see the pretty color there.  The top is grey and unscrews to reveal a grey tamper that is not to be thrown away.  Because this eyeshadow is a pressed pigment, the tamper helps keep it pressed.

This color has been around for years, since like 2011 or 2012.  It has good pigmentation and has a buttery texture.

The color is a lovely metallic mossy green with hints of gold.  It applies easily, I like patting it in with a brush.  I always use a primer and it shows up very well on the lid as well.  It lasts all day long.  It may have issues with blending, but I've pretty much just worn it like the video that Amy made, so that hasn't been an issue.

I didn't notice much fading or creasing and they lasted about 10ish hours.  I have never tried to wear them longer, so I can't say if it is truly 24 hours, but it did have good staying power.  They might seem a little high for a drug store price, but they do have more in them than a regular eyeshadow.

I know that people tell you not to put blue with blue eyes or green with green eyes, but this color does seem to bring out the green in my eyes, so I'm in.  I'm thinking about trying other colors, but I have been buying a few palettes lately, so I may need to pace that thought with that of the reality of my bank account.

* I paid for this myself after much hunting for it.

Makeup Geek Duochrome Blacklight Eyeshadow

Of the Makeup Geek Duochromes that I purchased, this one is one of my favorites.  It's the Makeup Geek Duochrome in Blacklight.

Makeup Geek

The Makeup Geek duochromes come in two forms, pan and pot.  The pan forms fit nicely in a Zpalette.  The 1.8 gram pan comes in a rose gold sleeve and is only $6.00.

They are made in the USA and they are Cruelty Free.

Blacklight

Blacklight is a brightened lilac with a subtle blue shift.  There are some pink hues in there.

It has decent pigmentation, can look a little sheer.  It is powdery and can sink into lines.  This definitely benefits from a primer or a base.  It looks nice wet.  It is slightly dry, but overall it's good for the price.  It is very similar to Urban Decay Tonic.  I loved it in this look by Manny MUA.

* I purchased this on my own.  No one raved about this for me to try the blacklight special.

Urban Decay Tonic Eyeshadow

Once upon a time, I was watching an Amy Macedo Purple & Blue Duochrome makeup look.  I fell in love.  I went to Sephora to try to order it, but it was Sold Out.  I was finally able to order it, like six months later.

Urban Decay Tonic Eyeshadow is a whopping $19.00 for a single .05 oz.  It isn't tested on animals.

The packaging is nice.  The UD on top is raised.  It's a silver colored plastic and is light weight.

The color is a lovely lilac purple with a blue shift.

The pigmentation on this is quite good.  It is finely milled and rather creamy.  It isn't powdery and I didn't notice much fall out.  It blends well and is wonderful wet and dry.  You can even more payout with a base like NYX Milk.

Left to Right: Urban Decay Tonic and Makeup Geek Blacklight

The color is very similar to Makeup Geek's Blacklight.  I wouldn't call it an exact dupe, but they are very similar.

Left to Right Tonic and Blacklight

Blacklight isn't quite as dark or pigmented.  It is slightly more pink than Tonic.  Blacklight is only $6.00.  The formula of the Urban Decay is slightly better.  It is very long lasting and pigmented, but if $19.00 just hurts too much, or if you just can't get a hold of it because it seems to always be sold out, I would go for Blacklight as your next best bet.

Overall, I really do love this shade.  It's practically perfect.  Except for the price.  Paying $19.00 for one eyeshadow is not Broke Woman friendly.

* I purchased this at Sephora and I used Ebates, this is my referral link.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Pure Hollywood Liquid Lipstick

Anastasia

After seeing Anastasia liquid lipsticks, I was dying to try them.  I just kept putting it off because I wanted to use Ebates and I like buying makeup from Sephora.  Then Sephora got these lipsticks and I was super excited.  I immediately bought Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Pure Hollywood.   They are only selling six of the colors right now.

   

Pure Hollywood

It's $20.00 for .11 oz and made in the USA.  It is cruelty free.

The packaging is lovely.  This is the sort of makeup that vloggers prominently display on their vanities for a reason.  The cap is silver, there is a rose gold border with a cut design that shows the lipstick color through it.  The brand is printed in black on the tube.

Pure Hollywood is a peachy beige with a touch of pink.  Even on my cool skin this is a pretty nude.

It has doe foot applicator.  I don't mind these applicators, but you may want to wipe off the excess product before applying.  I did use the applicator to apply in the picture below, but you may find it easier to use a lipstick brush.

This is a pretty color, I found it easy to apply.  It does have good pigmentation.  It will settle into your lines and flakes you didn't know you had.  So, if you think your lips are in good condition and that you can just apply it, ignore yourself.  Exfoliate and moisturize prior to using this anyways.  If you don't...

It only got worse.  About the third hour I was in the Aquaphor.  Without doing that, this lasts about five hours.  Using the chap stick made it more comfortable but it shortened the lasting power.

It will be a little tacky when you first apply it.  You can fuss with it for a few seconds, but you want to be careful because it may pull up a little.  Maybe it's Pure Hollywood because it can be kinda fussy?

This isn't bad.  But I don't think it's worth $20.00.  You can get cheaper liquid lipsticks that will look better on the lips and last longer.

*I purchased this all by myself.  No one sent me this, asked me to try it, and no one thought I should review it, except for me.