After I depotted some palettes and organized them by color I decided to concentrate on my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. That thing is solid. There’s hardly any progress and no sign of pan at all. I wanted to talk about another reason why I depotted another set of palettes recently. There are a few palettes that I’m interested in but know that I already have the shades. In order to avoid purchasing more eye shadow and to show myself that I have the shades, I wanted to be able to re-create the palettes I want. Here’s what I did:
I kept the Anastasia Beverly Hills glow kit container. It’s a good size and is magnetic. Then I measured and cut and voila! A homemade z-palette!
The first palette I wanted to try to replicate was Morphe’s 9C. I think I did a decent job based on the pictures. After watching some swatches I swapped out a few colors and had my final result. It may not look like a complete match but I’m confident the looks will turn out the same.
While I was using my Lorac Pro 2 palette I also gave myself some smaller items to focus on during November. I’m trying to focus on items that I don’t use that often in an attempt to 1- use them 2- discover if I like something new. Below is what I focused on and my thoughts.
Revlon Colorstay brow tint -- The color is fine but I’m not a fan of how the product applies. I try to go over it with a pencil and it doesn’t play nice. I’ve been using it as an eyeliner and it works fine that way.
Ofra Makeup Fixer -- I received this in a pack from Ulta along with a bunch of other items. I did not like this spray. It said it was a light, refreshing mist but I felt like it came out really clumpy. If I didn’t hold it as far as I could away from my face and move my hand around during application I would feel like the product was pooling on my skin. Also, the smell was not for me.
Benefit’s Porefessional Matte Rescue -- I liked this. I’m glad I purchased it to give it a try but I probably won’t buy it again. There was something with the gel-like feel of the product that I wasn’t 100% for.
Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer (in the little container) -- Broken pieces from a larger pan that I’ve been using as a lighter crease shade. Not bad. I don’t really use bronzer so the larger pan is probably going to be used the same way.
Bare Minerals blush -- You’ve seen this container pop up on my posts before. It’s been a beast to get through. I use it as blush but I think for December I’m going to try using it as an eye shadow.
Bare Minerals Around the Clock eyeliner -- good product. I use this primarily for tight lining. It stays in place and lasts all day. It doesn’t pool on the side of my eye unless my eyes are watering especially bad that day. I probably won’t repurchase only because I prefer black.
Revlon lip liner -- It’s a nice color and it applies well and lasts until I eat something. Once it’s done, I’m done too because I don’t really wear lip liner.
As you know, I depotted my Lorac Pro 2 palette. Not because I didn’t like it but because I was frustrated with the way my makeup was organized. I liked this palette and I think I’ll like using it with other shades even more. Below is the final picture of the palette during the last two months.
A few weeks ago I was frustrated with my makeup organization. So I decided to depot a bunch of palettes and combine them into a Z Palette. Below are the pictures and at the very bottom is where you can see my attempt organizing by color.
You can definitely see progress on Silver and Rose! I thought Silver might be a good alternative to Too Faced’s Kitty Glitter but it just doesn’t have the same affect. Rose is probably my favorite shade so far.
I’ve used this Lorac Pro Palette 2 a few times before but I’ve decided to concentrate my efforts and use this for a few months. Below is a picture of it’s current state. You can clearly see that the shadows have been used but I’m hoping to make some larger dents and maybe even some pan!
I’ve definitely found new ways to enjoy the Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette. I bought it before my collection was as large as it currently is. If I didn’t own it now would I still buy it? I don’t think so. My favorite shade was Kitty Glitter which I would never have thought but for the most part I think I have other shades that achieve a similar look.
I forgot to take a picture of my progress in August but I included one I took today. I am planning on switching palettes to something else. Probably my Lorac Pro Palette 2 but I’m not certain, as usual.
Despite having a drawer full of options, for the past month I’ve been solely using my Too Faced Cat Eyes palette. Having spent such quality time with the shades, an so little with the others, I thought I’d just dedicate however time I want to the palette before moving on.
Over all I found the shades to be a little limiting and difficult to create an entire look using just this palette. I think they’re best as complimentary shades with other palettes or singles. I did challenge myself to use just this palette though to see what I can come up with. My go-to look has been the following:
Meow – all over the lid to set my primer
Tiger’s Eye – crease
Panther – lower crease, outer 3rd of the lid, and bottom lash
Kitty Glitter – lid
Thoughts
Purr -- I use this as a brow highlight but since I use very little of it, there’s not much progress. I might use it as an inner eye highlight too. It’s pretty subtle.
Tiger’s Eye -- when you look at it you can see it has a little but of shimmer to it. However, that doesn’t come out unless you foil the shadow. It works okay as a crease shade because the glitter isn’t noticeable, at all.
Leopard -- the eyeliner companion to Tiger’s Eye. Once you get it wet and apply it, it’s basically a brown and you can’t even see the shimmer/glitter that’s visible in the pan.
Meow- The middle of the big pan shades that I use it to set my primer with so it gets plenty of use.
Pussy cat -- I wish Pussy Cat was more true to how it looks in the palette. You really have to work at building it up and even then I always end up foiling it.
Jungle Love -- the shade that drew me to this palette. Not going to lie, it’s kind of a disappointment. Like Leopard, once you get it wet there’s no glitter/shimmer effect. Since it’s darker than Leopard, it looks like a charcoal liner instead of purple.
Kitten -- I don’t really use kitten except for maybe the occasional inner eye highlight.
Kitty Glitter -- My favorite shade! Upon first glance I didn’t think I’d use it because an icy blue shade is not what I gravitate toward. After using it I absolutely LOVE it. The best part is I don’t think I have a similar shade among my collection so it’s unique. The sad part it when I run out I’ll be tasked to find a dupe.
Panther -- The black. It’s okay. It’s not super opaque which can be nice because you can build it up but I have difficulty blending it more times than not. I actually threw this shade out because 1- I have better blacks and 2- I have a ton of black eyeliners that I can instead.
The Liners
The big drawer of this palette is the ability to use Leopard, Jungle Love, and Panther as wet/dry eyeliners. What I found was that they form a coating after they dry. Now, maybe it was my technique in application (wet brush and then dip into shadow) but I thought it was odd. I had to “crack” the coating and then chip away at it to get to the shadows underneath. I’ve done the same technique to the others shadows and they haven’t developed some kind of coating so maybe it’s the formula? I don’t know.
I did also notice that when I use these wet/dry shades are eyeliners they tend to transfer. It’s not pretty.
I moved the shadows back into my Z Palette because I was traveling and needed my traveling makeup case back!
Back in July 2017 and February 2018 I listed some products I wanted to work on and I realized that I never updated on them. Like ever. What’s the point in sharing my goals if I don’t update on them? So I’m updating now. Although it should be no surprise that most of the products are either done or gone at this point. So here’s the breakdown.
Let’s start with 2017, shall we.
bodycology body spray: used up.
Loreal Infallible Pro-Matte: used up. I switched to the Pro-Glow and like it much better.
Elf eye refresh: I think I ended up throwing this out after a couple months.
NYX Liquid suede and Soft Matte: I did not like the formulas so after using them each for a week or two I gave up.
Too Faced Melted Peony: still have it. I should probably throw it out since it’s been so long...
That brings us up to 2018. Above are most of the items that I spoke about earlier this year.
Aveeno CC Cream: I’m still working on this. I don’t like the shimmer and it makes my face feel like an oil slick.
Covergirl Outlast primer: I didn’t like this formula and have since moved on.
Neutrogena primer: I like this primer and will probably repurchase it for no makeup days. It has SPF so it’s a win.
IT Cosmetics Superhero, Urban Decay Troublemaker, and Lorac Pro mascara: all used up! I have mascaras I like much better than any of these so they will not be repurchased.
My Benefit Hula bronzer and Coralista blush, The Balm blush and highlighter. The main difference you’ll see is that the Benefit’s Watts up! highlighter is missing. Not because I finished it but because I accidentally left it out and a cat decided to play with it. When I found it a week later it was really gross so I trashed it.
Back in February I shared that one of my goals was not to buy new makeup products. I thought I could make it 9 months. I didn’t. I made it four. Not horrible but definitely not good. What did I break my goal for? Let me share.
I stumbled across Nerdy Girl Makeup’s review and tutorial of the Star Wars Hyper Space eyeshadow palette at Hot Topic. This palette is SO cute and I really liked the packaging and the price wasn’t bad. I couldn’t help myself. Plus I ended up getting some cute hair accessories and jewelry. Sadly the highlighter arrived broken but I repressed it. It lost the Rebel symbol but the highlighter isn’t bad so I’m not upset.
That wasn’t the only palette I bought though! While browsing Ulta’s app for sales I stumbled across Too Faced’s Chocolate Bon Bons palette for 50% off. FIFTY PERCENT OFF!! Who could pass that up? Not me. The shades are right up my alley and it smells so good. It makes me excited to create eyeshadow looks and to take another crack at the Chocolate Bar palette.
I’m hitting the restart button on “no new makeup” goal and hoping I can make it to December. Just in time for the holiday kits!!!
For the upcoming months I decided to focus on my single eye shadows. Among these included my Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Palette in Aquamarine Dream. It was the first palette that I depoted so the shades are all broken up but I don’t think this has any affect on the performance. I used this Pixi palette, along with some of my other shadows, for a week and here are my thoughts on why I stopped.
Observations
Pigmentation isn’t great. I’m not a huge fan of mineral shadows so I wasn’t surprised when they didn’t really show up. When they’re wet they’re nicer and I liked the lighter, shimmery shades significantly better.
The darker shades were patchy. When I was trying to build up the darker shades they didn’t apply evenly and seemed to skip on my eyelid. I always use primer so this was surprising.
They tinted my lid. Despite the primer and setting shade I noticed that these shadows left my lid tinted after I removed my makeup. It’s more noticeable with the darker shades. Not cool.
Good for subtle eye looks. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that because these aren’t super pigmented colors they’d be good for a subtle look. Maybe someone who doesn’t like a very obvious eyeshadows but wants some color would enjoy this palette better than I did.
Verdict: Miss
Like I mentioned, I used them for a week. I threw out the shades that I disliked the most and ended up keeping two. They are the first and either the second or shade. I can’t tell from comparing my picture and theirs but either way they’re both from the lighter shade selection. I kept these two because they looked the best wet.
I decided to focus on my single eyeshadows but when I was reorganizing them I realized I needed to bring in another palette to help round out the shadows. So I decided the Too Faced Cat Eyes palette will do. Ironically, I moved them from my Z Palette back into their original case which had been holding a bronzer and some blushes. I’ll also be using some BareMinerals blushes and my the Balm highlighter.
Blushes
Cat Eyes and Highlighter
Random assortment of shadows (yes, there is a Too Faced blush in there but I like it better as a shadow)
Top row (left to right): NYX pressed pigment (broken during depot), pieces of Leopard from the Cat Eyes palette (broken during depot), Too Faced blush in Justify my Love, iEnvy eye liner, Revlon cream shadow in #760, NYX cream shadow (purple, purchased on sale and I can’t find it on the website).
Second row: These six bottom left shades are from the Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral palette in Aquamarine Dream, BareMinerals eyeliner, NYX cream shadow (blue, purchased on sale and I can’t find it on the website).
Third row: BareMinerals loose pigment in Bahamas, Sephora matte shadow in Red Carpet, depotted NYX jumbo pencil in Yogurt and then Cottage Cheese.
Fourth row: pieces of Benefit’s Hulu bronzer (broken during depot), Pixi Fairy Dust in Silver Glow, depotted NYX jumbo pencil in Milk, NYX jumbo pencils in Purple Velvet and Strawberry Milk (being held).
I tried to keep the cream shadows on the right and the loose and pressed shadows on the right. If you didn’t notice most of the pressed shadows are broken from when I depotted them. You can also see the holes in the Too Faced blush where I tried to depot that but gave up.
I’ve been playing around with this lot for a week and am excited for the upcoming months!
I’ve really been enjoying the Modern Renaissance palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I had been focusing on Benefit’s They’re Real! Push-Up Liner for several weeks and using MR to blend the edges. The look I created reminded of Too Faced’s Peanut Butter and Jelly palette because of the orange and purple combo. As much as I like MR I’m growing a little bored so it’s time to switch it up!
I’ve watched a ton of tutorials to help inspire me but one that I disagree with was from Sharon Farrell. In it she says that it’s difficult to create a natural, no-makeup-makeup look. As much as I like Sharon, I have been to create some really pretty “basic” looks. Sure, they may not be as pretty as other looks but I like them. Honestly, I don’t do “glam” and keep my eyeshadow looks simple and easy. I was a little intimidated by the Modern Renaissance palette at first because of the deeper tones. With a light hand I was able to incorporate those into looks without going overboard.
Most Used: Vermeer. I started using this as a highlight as well as on my lid. It’s very pretty. Oh, I also HIT PAN on this shade! Wooo!
Most Favorite: Raw Sienna. I’m not a huge fan of the color orange so I stayed away from this at first. When I started using it I realized it wasn’t as orange as I thought and I really like it in my crease.
Least Favorite: Buon Fresco. Purple is my favorite color but this purple missed the mark for me.
Go-To Look: Tempura all over the lid to set the primer. Golden Ochre in the crease. Slowly built to get a little more of the yellow color. Raw Sienna to deepen the crease. Either Vermeer or Primavera all over the lid. Touch up the outer edge with some more Raw Sienna and to line the lower lid. Go over the outer edge of the lower lid with a little bit of Warm Taupe.
Final Thoughts: Vermeer and Primavera are more soft than others which made it easier to make some dips in those colors. Despite the softness, the shades are nicely pigmented. However, I’m not the biggest fan of the brush that came with the palette. The blending side is scratchy and some of the bristles have fallen out. Other than that, I think that this palette is top notch and I really like it. Bonus: I’ve managed to keep the cover clean!
I’ve had Benefit’s They’re Real! Push-Up liner sitting in my drawer for at least a year at this point. I’ve used it on and off since then but determined after a couple uses that it just wasn’t my thing. It’s not a bad liner, I just don’t like it enough to repurchase. In fact, I’m not sure liner is my thing at all but maybe I haven’t found one that I like.
It’s been on my list of things to use up for a while and I just started dedicating myself to it this past week. Instead of using it as an eyeliner I’ve been putting it all over my eyelid. I clean up the edges with a wet q-tip and then add eyeshadow. It creates a lovely smokey eye that I will honestly miss when I’m done with the Push-Up liner but makes me excited to try and recreate it with other products in my stash.
What I Like
The color. It’s a dark purple so it’s not terribly noticeable but not too dark that it’s black. I like these kind of colors.
The removal. I watched some reviews before purchasing and everyone said it was hard to remove. I didn’t think so. I used my regular eye makeup remover and it came off in a breeze. I don’t like my makeup to be difficult that was nice.
What I Didn’t Like
The applicator. I got the idea of the applicator and liked it at first but the product doesn’t always behave in a way that the flex-tip can work right.
The drying time. It dries so quickly that you have work fast before it sets. I found this to be very difficult since I’m not very efficient with eyeliner.
I realized that over the past two weeks I’ve been using the Balm Jovi Rockstar Face palette less and less. A few days ago I said “screw it” and decided to throw away the shades that I don’t like. I wasn’t feeling inspired, excited, or enjoyment when I looked at or used this palette.
Out of twelve eye shadows I decided to keep five. They are Metal-ica, Iron Main-in, Adagio, Allegro, and Moderato. I will also be keeping the highlighter, Solid Gold, and the blush, Don’t You Want Me.
This was the first product from the Balm that I’ve bought and I’m really sad that it didn’t work out. When I initially was researching the palette I read a lot of reviews and watched tutorials so I knew what to expect. Except that my shadows didn’t work the same way. I can only assume that I got a bad batch. Unfortunately, I probably won’t buy any other the Balm products because of this bad experience.
Onward we move!! The next palette I will focusing on is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance. I’ve used this palette on and off in the past so it already has some use. Below is the most recent photo and I’m excited to really focus on this palette. I think I’ll start using MR exclusively from April - June to give myself a week or play with some other shadows in my collection.
I’ve been using the Balm Jovi Face Palette for a solid month and I’m hating it. It’s been really difficult to enjoy and I just feel “blah” when I look at it in the morning to do my eyeshadow.
Metallics
These are okay. When I’ve used them they have lasted all day. I use Metal-ica for an inner eye highlight, and Iron Main-in and Alice Copper as an all over lid color. When I apply Iron Main-in I have to apply it in three layers. The first is dry, then wet, then dry again. It really helps build up the color and I think adds to the longevity as well.
Mattes
There are slightly less than okay. Although they do last all day they’re hard to blend and the darker shades make this more obvious. I think The Stroke is basically matte because whatever shimmer it’s supposed to have doesn’t show.
Shimmers
Awful. They’re not very opaque and fade within a couple hours. I’ve used my Wet n Wild eye shadow primer, the Urban Decay eye shadow primer, and I’ve used a cream shadow as a base. No matter what I do the color does not last. I’m probably going to throw out Blink 1982, rem, and Third Eye Blinded because of this.
Most used: Adagio. I use this daily as a setting shadow for my primer.
Most liked: Allegro. I like to put this in my crease because of the shade.
Most disliked: Third Eye Blinded. Did not matter what I did or how much I packed on, this shade didn’t last.
One of my larger makeup goals this year was to not buy any new products. The idea was sparked by a hair coloring I wanted that cost a liiiiiiittle too much. I thought if I was able to not purchase makeup for 9-10 months then I could use the money I’d saved toward the hair process. The secondary goal was to use up my current products and see what I really liked and didn’t.
Here are some products that I’ve been concentrating on this past month along with my selected eye shadow palette -- the Balm Jovi Face Palette (update coming next week).
Aveeno Positively Radiant CC Cream. I’ve been on the lookout for a good CC cream that doesn’t make my face feel oily. This one was recommended by a friend and sadly I’m not a fan. After several hours my face feels oily but the worst part is the sparkles. I understand that it’s a “radiant” product but I felt like a character in Twilight. I’m just trying to use this up so I can try something else.
Covergirl Outlast All-Day Primer and Neutrogena Healthy Skin Primer. I just can’t find a primer that I LOVE. I’ve been using the Covergirl for the past several months and I’m looking forward to it being done -- it’s almost there! It does last all day but it doesn’t look good with my No.7 foundation or the Aveeno CC cream. I do like the Neutrogena one but I probably have four or five other primers waiting to be used in addition to it and the Covergirl.
It Cosmetics Superhero, Urban Decay Troublemaker, and Lorac Pro mascaras. I have been using the It Cosmetics’ Superhero mascara since December and I like it! However, there are other mascaras that I like better. Urban Decay’s Troublemaker is kind of wet and I’ve only used it a few times. It’s next in line for constant use after Superhero is done. The Lorac Pro mascara has a weird smell but I like the wand. I’ve gotten in the habit of using more mascara on my outer lashes to add a “cat like” effect and this wand really helps with that.
Benefit Hulu bronzer, Benefit Coralista blush, Benefit Watt’s Up! highlighter, the Balm Sold Gold highlighter, and the Balm Don’t You Want Me? bush. I don’t really use bronzer so Hulu is the only one I have (it broke when I moved it to my DIY z-palette) and it’ll last me a looong time. I’ll probably use it as a transition eyeshadow to help move it along. I alternate between Benefit’s Coralista and the Balm’s Don’t You Want me? blushes. I have close to a dozen blushes so I won’t be purchasing any new ones any time soon. I really like these two highlighters but have been using the Balm’s Solid Gold more often because I’m not a huge fan of cream highlighters (Benefit’s Watt’s Up).
