Category Archives: Concealer

Is Weighty Makeup Automatically the Most Luxurious?

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The D&G Blush, ABH Highlighter, VBB Lid Lustre, and PML Quad are not pictured here, but they will be discussed in this post.

After the bombshell that was dropped regarding the Louis Vuitton Beauty line and their prices, I started to think about which items in my collection were the most expensive, which ones I thought had the prettiest packaging, if the prettiest was actually the most luxurious looking, and which ones had the most weight. I was surprised to discover that so few items fit into all of these categories.

I was happy to see the people I follow enjoying their La Beauté Louis Vuitton products, but some felt they needed to justify their reasons for making the purchase beyond just stating, “I wanted it, so I got it.” Across the board, customers who thought the items were or were not worth buying seemed to at least come to the consensus that the price (besides paying for the brand recognition), was largely due to the packaging. The lipstick components were said to be fully metal, along with the bespoke metal packaging of the eyeshadow quads. “You could hurt someone if you hit them with this,” was stated more than a few times by various people.

How a product looks and its weight are my top two criteria for feeling like the item I own is luxurious. Looks are subjective, but weight can be measured and precise. I started to think about the heaviest packaging in my collection (proportionate to its size dimensions) in order to answer the question…are these automatically the most lux?

Lisa Eldridge Rouge Experience Refillable Lipstick (68 grams)

In order to highlight how great this packaging is, I need to do a deep dive into comparing it to another brand. Please, bear with me on this, especially if you’re a fan of LV. I don’t judge anyone on how they spend their money, and this is just me working out why I am perfectly satisfied with Lisa’s lipstick being the height of luxury for me.

Lisa Eldridge took great pride explaining in her launch video how her refills were mono material, made of 100% aluminum and could therefore be recycled without degrading once repurposed, unlike the vast majority of other brands’ refills that have mixed metal with plastic.

According to Google: “You cannot usually recycle a lipstick refill that has both plastic and metal components together, as most curbside recycling facilities cannot separate the mixed materials and are not equipped to handle small, complex items.”

There is plastic inside the forever case by Lisa Eldridge, as this has a click closure, but she wanted the actual refills to be sustainable.

I cannot compare the LV lipsticks from personal experience, but it is my understanding that the refills are all metal as well and come with plastic caps that can be removed when recycling. The lipstick cases have an aluminum shell and brass detailing, but the magnetic closure that is so satisfying to use (and adds to the weightiness of a product) keeps it from being recyclable as well.

Summarized from Okon Recycling: Recycling magnets is technically possible, but challenging as it involves disassembling the magnet and removing any non-magnetic materials. However, there are some magnets that cannot be recycled.

So, it sounds as if both LV and Lisa Eldridge have cases that aren’t realistic to recycle but have refills that are fully recyclable. The LV lipstick case has a lot of expensive details like the product names and logo being etched in, the monogram flower-shaped refill bottom, etc. Lisa Eldridge has her logo etched at the top of the cap, allows the customer to personalize the base of the case with their initials etched in (up to three letters), and the case shape had to be custom made as well. Perhaps some prefer the sleeker LV design while others appreciate the vintage inspiration of Lisa’s more.

LV’s Lipstick Case + Refill is $160 and the refill alone is $69.
Lisa Eldridge’s Lipstick Case + Refill is $63 (engraving price included) and the refill alone is $30.

Sure, LV’s refill costs the same amount as other high end and luxury lipsticks in their completed form, but considering the details I listed above, is the LV case really $100 better that other brands’ cases, particularly Lisa Eldridge?

It can’t come down to the actual lipstick formula, because that’s part of LV’s $69 refill price.

At the time that I bought the Lisa Eldridge lipstick, I felt it was incredibly expensive. It is still the most expensive lipstick in my collection, based on what I paid and not the retail price. I rationalized my purchase because of the sustainability aspect, all the custom elements, the personalized touch, and how heavy it felt.

Taking branding completely out of the equation and thinking about the components alone, I do feel like this product by Lisa Eldridge is among the most luxurious out there, and I am no longer gritting my teeth at the price.

It would be nice if I liked the lipstick formula more, but there is some hope for me! I wrote a comment on Instagram that the brand responded to, and while the Velvet formula won’t be put in the refillable form, there might still be the possibility of the Lucents that I enjoy so much!

There are other things they’ve been “working on” that has taken years, such as making the empty eyeshadow palettes available for purchase alongside the eyeshadow singles, the return of the liquid blush in better packaging, etc. So, I’m prepared for this to take a while to happen.

If I can get the Luxuriously Lucent Lip Colours and/or Baume Embraces as refills, I will definitely get more use out of mine!

Olivia Palermo Beauty Eyeshadow Palette (226 grams) and Lipstick (79 grams)

Whenever I think about heavy makeup packaging, the Olivia Palermo Eyeshadow Palette immediately comes to mind. I’ve had it for years, yet I’m still not sure how I feel about the pattern, and I’m not sure what it’s technically called (perhaps wicker, woven link, basket weave, oyster strap, etc.). It just makes me think of the types of patterns I’ve seen for watch straps, which isn’t too terribly off track. Apparently Olivia drew inspiration for the packaging, “by a vintage Art Deco bracelet she was given for her 21st birthday.”

The eyeshadow palette has a magnetic closure and mirror, which further increases the weight, on top of the fact that the packaging is metal.

Although I’m not sure if they could have created a different pattern that I would like more, I can say it’s at least cool, unique, and easily recognizable. Plain flat gold is always beautiful to me, but this packaging looks different from any other I’ve seen. Well, almost. As of a year ago, Hatice Schmidt released a refillable lipstick range called, “The Gift,” with a case inspired by jewelry and the pattern reminds me of a curb chain/Cuban link style. So, there are at least two jewelry inspired components from brands that I know of.

I bought the Olivia Palermo lipstick at the reduced price of €32 (originally €40) from Niche-Beauty, and the eyeshadow palette for $28 (originally $58). I’ve discussed how I procured the eyeshadow palette in a past review, but it was during the time that I started working on this post that I felt the compulsion to finally get the lipstick. I have checked in on the brand on and off over the years, waiting for them to release additional products. Earlier this year, I saw a notice on the official website that the beauty products would no longer be sold and that they were turning the website into an influencer style page (oliviapalermo.com now redirects to her affiliate shopmy page). I assumed that meant the brand was shutting down, especially since I’ve only heard two beauty reviewers reference the brand one time each within the last three years. However, I was shocked to see the products appear on the Douglas website in either August or September, and then I saw them at Niche-Beauty as well. I don’t know if Olivia has better sales in Europe, or Germany specifically. I’m not even sure if she still has products available elsewhere in the US.

I felt Lisa Eldridge’s lipstick deserved to be in the post, but Olivia Palermo’s lipstick is the only one in my collection that is heavier. OPB’s lipstick is less expensive, but it isn’t refillable and the central part of the lipstick component is made of plastic. The outer packaging is what makes this seem so fancy.

Regarding the eyeshadow palette, it definitely screams luxury. It isn’t something you want to carry around in your purse or travel with it. Olivia wanted the old Hollywood glamour look and feel to her products, so this is something that you would want to keep on a vanity.

This is by far my most luxurious palette, and though it doesn’t have some of the additional premium features of the LV Quads, it makes me feel a lot more content about my collection and avoid FOMO. If I want heavy eyeshadow packaging, I certainly have it with this product!

Westman Atelier Beauty Butter Powder Bronzer (112 grams)

This is my golden pebble! It is tiny in size but mighty in weight!

Chantecaille is another brand with nicknamed “pebble” packaging, but theirs is plastic, thin, and it doesn’t feel substantial, even though they cost the same amount!

I bought my WA bronzer at 20% off, so the title of most expensive bronzer in my collection belongs to Hermes, even though I only bought the refill. Had I paid for the compact too, that wouldn’t have helped it to feel more luxurious than the Westman Atelier bronzer, considering Hermes’ thin plastic packaging.

This has a tiny mirror that I don’t use, and a magnetic closure. The brand has highlighters and face powders in this same style of packaging. I haven’t used their cream sticks or drops, but they don’t look as luxurious to me. The only other Westman Atelier packaging I have handled are the powder duos, which are certainly substantial and pretty to look at, but I don’t think it compares to this gold compact.

When it comes to the prettiest bronzer packaging, I think of Gucci’s and Charlotte Tilbury’s powder one, even though they are much lighter in terms of their size. However, I would never call something that’s a solid gold color ugly. So, it may as well be my most glamorous bronzer.

Fara Homidi Essential Bronzer Refillable Compact (106 grams)

This compact is about the same size and weight as the Westman Atelier Butter Bronzer. The amount of product from FH is 3.5 grams and the amount of product from WA is 8 grams. That is close enough to accounting for the 6 gram difference when I weighed the two products, which is why I’m still including it in this post.

Aesthetically, I find the Westman Atelier bronzer to be more appealing. Shiny things get me. However, I still think Fara’s is classy and pleasing to hold in the hand. Her other products come in red and blue packaging of the same weight. I don’t like the red, but the blue is very eye-catching. If the next product she releases is in purple or green packaging, it just might surpass WA’s as a favorite compact for bronzers.

D&G Cheeks&Eyes Match Blush (91 grams)

I have plenty of blush packaging that is bigger than this, and therefore heavier. However, for this small size, this is very heavy! Nothing really comes close to the weight, but I have to say that Gucci’s powder blush packaging is quite nice too, even if it’s lighter. Visually, I like Gucci’s more as well. In fact, I have a lot of blushes that aren’t luxurious feeling, but I love them anyway (such as YSL’s Make Me Blush Bold Blurring Blushes and Too Faced Cloud Crush Blushes).
So, this is one of the few categories where my heaviest blush might be the most luxurious, but it isn’t necessarily my favorite packaging. I do like it a lot though!

I have to add that this packaging feels like a mixture of plastic and metal components. I believe there’s something in the base of this compact adding weight artificially, especially since it doesn’t even have a magnetic closure. It has a push button instead.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Products:
Matte Bronzing Brick (166 grams), Eye Wardrobe (116 grams), Cheeky Posh (37 grams), and Lid Lustre (41 grams)

Similar to Olivia Palermo Beauty, VBB has a certain aesthetic that they maintain across most of their products. I like the horn brown/tortoise pattern, and it can be fashionable, but I don’t automatically associate it with luxury because of how many cheap products I’ve seen made in tortoiseshell style. The gold colored trim helps to elevate the look of the packaging, but it is the weight and feel of these components that make them undoubtedly luxurious.

The Bronzing Duo and Eyeshadow Quad are among my heaviest based on size. The Cheeky Posh blush is small and doesn’t have that much extra weight, but I figure that’s because the component isn’t refillable like the other two. I’m including it because it has the same style of packaging as the others, and I still feel bougie when I handle it.

I rarely buy single eyeshadows, so I don’t have much to compare in terms of weight. The prettiest I own is probably the Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotizing Pop Shots, but those have lightweight plastic packaging and they are powders, which I don’t believe is fair to compare. It would be interesting to see how the glass packaging of Charlotte’s Eyes to Mesmerise stacks up, but I don’t own that.
I no longer have the glass packaging of Maybelline’s 24 HR Color Tattoo, but the best I’ve got is Melt’s Gel Liner (47 grams) and a MAC Paint Pot (56 grams).
I like glass as a component material, but it’s not uncommon to find for eye products. The Lid Lustre packaging has an elevated look compared to MAC’s, for example. The Melt Cosmetics Gel Liner that has the gold lid and butterfly print around the rim with the glass base is prettier to me, while also being slightly heavier. However, the font for the brand logo makes it look less sophisticated. I don’t think eye related categories of makeup follow the trend of weight indicating how luxurious a product will look and feel.

One thing about VBB packaging that does take away from the experience is the issue with the closing mechanism. I heard this was a problem in the past, and I never had an issue with my Bronzing Brick, but my eyeshadow quad doesn’t always stay shut when I snap it closed. Sometimes it’s fine, but other times it likes to pop back open with the slightest touch. I haven’t heard about anyone else having an issue with the quads, so perhaps I’m unlucky in getting one of the few faulty ones.

Pat Mcgrath Mothership Palettes (392 grams) and Eyeshadow Quads (122 grams)

All the previous components I’ve discussed had metal or a mix of metal and plastic packaging. The Mothership Palettes are fully plastic, but they are quite hefty in weight. The palettes are big for only holding ten eyeshadows, but that black shiny lacquer with the gold bottom still look lux to me. My Victoria Beckham and Olivia Palermo palettes are the only ones I can recall from my collection that aren’t made of plastic or cardboard. In fact, the Victoria Beckham Eye Wardrobe quad is only six grams less than a Pat Mcgrath quad, but Victoria’s compact is almost half the size!
I still chose these PML products as the next heaviest in the luxury category, though I have to admit that I have some lightweight quads that look fancier because they are gold colored. For example, Tom Ford (the trim technically), Guerlain, YSL (trim), Prada (mixed gold and silver), Lisa Eldridge, etc.
I find it difficult to equate weight with luxury in the eyeshadow category because of how many bulky heavy palettes brands have released over the years. So many of Jeffrey Star’s earliest palettes, Plouise, and Glamlite’s Food palettes were huge. I also recall when Stila had the Luxe Eye Shadow Palette in Happy Hour, which was a similar weight and size to the Mothership Palettes, but I bought it for $36. I can’t remember what the full retail price was, but it cost nowhere near the same amount as a Mothership.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that weight doesn’t automatically equate with luxury in this category either. However, because of how uncommon it is to find hefty quads and palettes that are reasonably sized (Olivia Palermo, Victoria Beckham, and Pat Mcgrath), the ones that are weighty feel extra special to me.

Beekman 1802 Milk Tint SPF 43 Tinted Primer Serum

I didn’t want to include skincare, but this technically falls under the makeup umbrella. If I count it as a primer, it might be the heaviest I ever owned (even heavier than the glass bottle of Rituel de Fille Thorn Oil). Beekman’s looks like ceramic, but it’s colored glass.

I have to say “might be the heaviest,” because I don’t recall how it compares to the Guerlain L’Or Radiance Primer (now called the Guerlain Parure Gold 24K Radiance Primer), which is definitely the most luxurious looking primer I ever bought. The look of the Beekman product doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I was so impressed by how it felt in the hands. I had to leave it behind though because it was so heavy that I didn’t want to bring it back in my luggage.

If this counts as a skin tint, then it’s a lot less special. Plenty of brands make glass bottle complexion products. That’s why I didn’t include any true foundations or concealers in this post, because the prettiest bottles in my collection tend to look and weigh around the same.

When it comes to heavy primer packaging being the most luxurious, I have to say the Guerlain primer squashes that theory.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Smooth Blur Bronzer (112 grams) and Glow Seeker Highlighter (125 grams)

This bronzer is larger than the one from Westman Atelier, but it weighs the same. The reason I decided to include it anyway is because it’s still substantially heavier than the remaining bronzers in my collection. Plus, the highlighter component is a similar size and even weightier.
I cannot think of a single highlighter I own that comes in heavy packaging, other than this one.

I have noticed over the years that ABH has gradually been upgrading the packaging of most of their products. Their two most recent mascaras felt like either super heavy plastic or a mix of metal and plastic. The Smooth Blur Cream Contour Stick has a brushed gold colored metal cap and additional gold details. The Smooth Blur Matte Bronzer and Glow Seeker Highlighter have a magnetic closure and they feel quite substantial in the hand. I’m impressed with the packaging and find it to be quite pretty, but this is still another example of how weight doesn’t necessarily equate with a luxurious look. This packaging feels so much more substantial to hold and interact with than pretty much all others in the drugstore, mid-range, and high end categories. It feels like it should cost more than it does, and it looks appropriately high end to me, but not quite broaching luxury territory. I still think the Gucci Bronzer packaging tops it, despite it being lighter in weight, because it looks classier overall. As another example, MAC’s Sunstruck Bronzers look so beautiful, even though they are in lightweight compacts as well.

Final Thoughts

Based on my own personal collection, I’ve confirmed that in certain makeup categories, the most luxurious packaging is the heaviest. At the same time, I have many other products with a timeless and elegant look to them that are lightweight and made of plastic or other inexpensive materials. Essentially, the weight of a product enhances the luxury experience, but it does very little to elevate plain looking packaging. The best example of this is the Beekman 1802 Tint.

If I can get an Olivia Palermo palette that retails for $58 and feels ultra lux, but I can also buy a limited edition plastic Chanel quad for $86 and still feel like that’s luxurious as well, would that be considered silly? Should I be raising my expectations for all luxury brands?
At the beginning of this experiment, I would have said yes. However, I now see that if Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and other designer brands used higher quality materials, their products would likely fall in the LV Beaute range of prices (if not more). Some examples of that are the Chanel 31 Le Rouge lipsticks in the glass case, Dior Rouge Premier Lipsticks with the ceramic case and “formula infused with 24k gold,” along with the Guerlain Rouge G Exceptional Piece lines. There is only so much a person is willing to pay for a product from a luxury brand if the materials are the same as a mid-tier brand. So, that keeps designer brands from going overboard with their prices. There are also advantages to using lightweight materials, such as them being more convenient to take on-the-go for customers or makeup artists with large kits, sitting at attainable prices for aspirational shoppers, thinner packaging contributing to less waste of materials and sustainability efforts, etc.

So, when I really think about it, I wouldn’t be able to buy as many products in the luxury category if the components were more expensive to make or if they were made from higher quality materials. In fact, the majority of the products in this post were purchased with some kind of discount. Of course, I would love to have all my luxury goods in weighty packaging, but if that means I would have to accept those products being less likely to go on sale and/or accepting that the prices of them would double or triple, I am unwilling to do so.

The Dior Powder-no-Powder is one of my favorite makeup products of all time, yet the most I was willing to spend was €45 (essentially just paying full price) to get my name etched onto the compact. If I had the opportunity to buy it in a gold colored compact with a magnetic closure or some stunning limited edition pattern for €100, I don’t think I’d be willing to do that. This tells me that despite a product having a holy grail formula that is unable to be duped, I still have my limits. Some makeup will just never be worth it to me to buy, past a certain pricepoint, no matter what it’s made of. That means I cannot use the product’s weight, materials (including formula), or looks to justify a super high spend amount. However, I know that when a product gets hyped up, it can be much easier for me to consider crossing that price threshold if I can make a case for it being top tier from every other angle.
I bought one of the Chanel Boutons quads directly from Chanel because so many influencers were told by their SAs that the collection would be extremely limited, and I feared missing out. Less than one month after launch, I found the quads at multiple retailers for a minimum of 30% off.
FOMO works similarly to getting caught up in the hype of a product. I sometimes make purchasing decisions that I normally wouldn’t.

This is why I decided to make this post. I know there are others like me who enjoy luxury makeup and don’t have the biggest budget to work with. There are those who will be tempted by the exclusivity of a certain new beauty line and would normally not even consider getting anything at those prices, but the hype may be wearing down that resolve.
To those that want to be talked out of buying makeup at $100 or more…just remember that luxury makeup with fantastic formulas and high quality packaging can be found at a lower price. This post is full of examples of this. If one brand is out of your price range, you might be able to get similar products from another prestige brand. Other amazing and beautifully packaged products are just around the corner.

I hope this topic has been interesting, and even helpful.

Thanks for reading!

-Lili ❤

Are the Huda Beauty Blush Filters Really That Good?

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I have been on a no-buy for liquid and cream blushes since August 2023. The immense hype surrounding these Blush Filters had been steadily chipping away at my resolve. After eight months of resisting, I finally caved.

It’s convenient that the three shades I was most interested in buying were from the original launch, the Icy Nude Collection launch, and the newest “Blush Crush” or “Vibrant” Collection. I was able to see the changes that coincided with the brand revamping their logo and packaging. I was also curious if the formulas would be different between them, but they’re all the same from what I can tell.

The first thing I noticed was the fruity candy smell. It smells delicious, but it is a bit strong in the initial few minutes that I have the container open, and as the blush dries on my cheeks. A thin controllable amount comes out of the stopper and with the small applicator.

The Blush Filters are less pigmented than the liquid blushes from Rare Beauty and Juvia’s Place, but still a lot more pigmented than Glossier’s Cloud Paints. With the amount shown in the photo above, I get about 80% opacity, but these can be built up.

The blush doesn’t immediately set on the skin, but I still work on one cheek at a time because it doesn’t have an emollient consistency (nor gel-like or watery), so they don’t look like they’re spreading enough at first, but I just trust the process and keep moving my brush around and the blush does fully blend out and is streak-free. It doesn’t disturb makeup underneath either.
Once it dries down, it’s fairly budge-proof and there’s no fading by the end of the day. I’ve been impressed by its hydrated look, even though it’s completely dry to the touch, but I think that can be attributed to the “micro pearls” in this product. When I first tried it, I thought my glowy toner combined with a hydrating skin tint was the reason it looked luminous, but when I looked very closely at the swatches, I could see a faint gold sheen in Watermelon Pop. It’s too difficult to see the individual particles within the other shades, and it’s something I can just barely see when light hits it. The radiance is subtle, but enough to keep my cheeks from looking matte and flat. It looks great on minimal makeup days, but even better when it blends into my foundation to melt into the skin, turning even the more vibrant colors into wearable shades.

The glow combined with my lights actually made them look subtler in pictures than in person, so I built them up much heavier when I did a second round of photos. I don’t think my attempts made much of a difference, except with Watermelon Pop.

Watermelon Pop is a warm red that made me instantly think of the shade Love from Rare Beauty and Lily Love from Juvia’s Place. This isn’t a very unique color, but the warm golden micro shimmer makes me like this even more!

Latte is a medium reddish brown that looks redder on my cheeks than I expected, but it’s pretty and the kind of blush that’s right up my alley.

Sunset Lychee is described as a “Rosy Orange” and I’ve seen it look closer to orange on some people, but it is very much pink on me. It reminded me a bit of Rare Beauty’s Joy, but this one has more pink and less apricot.

These shades work out for me on their own, but they also layer well together.

I think this is a great product. Great products deserve to be raved about, but because there are plenty of fantastic liquid blushes out there that are blendable, set down, and are available in gorgeous colors, the Blush Filter’s level of hype seems to have been cultivated in part by very smart marketing.

I’ve always liked nice packaging, but now I’m even more aware of how non-luxury goods can still be very pleasing to look at and interact with. The Blush Filters’ rounded square shapes with their vibrant and semi-transparent packaging combined with the fruity-candy scent remind me of popsicles. There is also the collectable factor since each blush packaging matches the color on the inside. This makes the Blush Filter even more memorable and desirable. When there exist similarly performing blushes, packaging can make all the difference in choosing one brand over another. I have no regrets ordering these, even though I have reinstated my liquid and cream blush no-buy. The fact remains that I still don’t use them as much as powder blush no matter how amazing they are.

It’s a nice bonus that I got 30 Euros knocked off the price because of the reward points I accrued on my Huda Beauty website purchases over the past year. In that same order, I got samples of the #Fauxfilter Color Corrector, so I thought I would include swatches of those as well. My review of the full-size product can be found HERE.

The shade I own is Mango, which I like a lot. I have always gotten shades like Papaya in the past, and it works, but never 100% perfectly. Mango is essentially a pink-orange, which apparently suits me very well, but is a hair on the light side for me. At least, that’s what I thought until I had the idea to mix Mango and Papaya together, which I think looks the best out of all the options!

I still think it’s fantastic that Huda Beauty offers more nuanced shades of color correctors than I’ve seen from other brands. For instance, I don’t know anyone else who makes as dark of a pink as Lychee! Because of the effectiveness of Mango on me, I wondered if perhaps pink was a better corrector color shade and that brands just didn’t make any dark enough. It’s nice to confirm that Lychee doesn’t suit me. My correct corrector should be a fine line between pink and orange.

I should also point out that the demonstration photo of Cherry Blossom looks better than it actually should be. That was my mistake not cleaning my concealer brush well enough and the two colors mixed, so it doesn’t look as stark white as it should be (which is to say even paler on me than Pink Pomello). I couldn’t redo the photo because I didn’t have enough product left from the sample card.

That’s all for today! Thank you for stopping by!

-Lili ❤

Review of the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Line

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This is technically a review of some of the Yummy Skin line.

I admire Danessa Myricks’ artistry and her dedication to her brand. Even when she comes out with a product that isn’t necessarily new to the market, there’s always an innovative twist to it. For this reason, her products have always either worked exceptionally for me or really didn’t suit my needs. This is why I’ll never be the first to review something by the brand and why I don’t have as many things to post about despite how closely I pay attention to their releases.

I’m sharing my thoughts about these products now, but the timeline of my purchases are as follows:
Yummy Skin Microfiber Velvet Sponge – June 18, 2023
Yummy Skin Moisture Repair Balm Serum – July 5, 2024
Infinite Chrome Pencil – July 5, 2024
Yummy Skin Lift & Flex Hydrating Concealer – July 10, 2024
Yummy Skin Serum Tint – November 8, 2024

Some of these items I’m still using today. Some of them, I had to redo the testing process because I forgot how they performed! Anyway, onto the reviews!

Yummy Skin Moisture Repair Balm Serum

The texture of this balm is like a firmer version of Vaseline. I despise having products that don’t set down to a dry touch on my face, but I was so desperate back then to find a product that would lock in moisture on my skin that I was willing to take the risk, at least when a sale rolled around.

Excluding the hottest days of summer last year, natural finish foundations looked matte on me and dewy ones looked satin due to my skin being drier than usual in a new climate. Using the tiniest amount of this balm, where barely any residue is left on the skin, results in foundations looking the proper finish they’re supposed to have. With my small amount, any foundation that sets without needing powder will still do that.

I saw the amount that Danessa Myricks uses, thanks to Instagram, and it’s way more than I use. When I try to use closer to the recommended amount of balm, my skin feels heavy at first, but I eventually get used to it. After adding foundation on top, my face looks like it has more than a natural finish, but it doesn’t get to dewy levels until somewhere between 3-5 hours of wear depending on the weather and how much sweating I’m doing. Once it gets to that dewy point, it makes my foundation much easier to transfer. It also won’t set to a fully dry finish on me, even in the beginning and even with powder on top.

I also continually have problems with my nose area and it making my foundation there look patchy or broken down. So, even on my driest skin days, I avoid applying it to this area.

If I apply more than a tiny amount, my foundation will eventually get oily looking and become easier to transfer. My makeup everywhere starts to break down around the six or seven hour mark.

The photo above is the only example I have of this. I’m sorry that it’s a washed out photo and that I didn’t want to take additional pictures. I did not want to deal with the transfer issue and heavy feeling again.

So, essentially, I like this product if I use it super sparingly in the high points of my face where I don’t mind having some glow. Starting to use milky toners again was actually the solution to my dry skin issue, and made it unnecessary for me to apply this all over. Now, I pretty much use this product more on the back of my hands than on my face!

I’d also like to mention that I find the packaging of this product very satisfying to interact with. I like the addition of the spatula at the top, the beautiful bronze lid with a semi transparent jar, and the balm color that reminds me of orange juice despite actually being colorless on the skin. It’s fragrance-free and smells like a mix of wax, oil, and petroleum. I normally don’t advocate for scents in my products, but I could have made an exception for this one considering how it smells.

Yummy Skin Serum Skin Tint in Shade 11 and Yummy Skin Lift & Flex Hydrating Concealer in Shade 13

As seen on the timeline, I purchased the concealer first. I chose number 13 because the model showcasing it looked closest to my skin tone. As it turns out, the depth is about right, but it’s quite orange. So, it doubles as a corrector and concealer for me. If this product worked as well as my other concealers under my eyes, I would have considered buying number 12. Unfortunately, it creases too much (moving out of my under eye lines) and disappears too quickly. My under eye area produces oil between some of the wrinkles, but is dry elsewhere. So, it’s a tough spot for a lot of concealers to handle. However, this product works perfectly fine on the rest of my face that’s smoother. So, I use it mostly around my mouth area and spots with darker discoloration. It’s nice that it has high coverage and that I’m still able to make use of it. A concealer that doesn’t work under my eyes doesn’t have much chance of being considered part of my favorites though by default.

Purish had a fantastic sale on Danessa Myricks products, so that’s why I finally gave the Serum Tint a try and chose my color based on the concealer match recommended by the brand. I’m very happy with Shade 11 and think it’s the best match. I consider it a golden color because it’s a good balance between yellow and orange. Even though I’m still a bit darker than usual, the coverage being light (or on the lighter side of medium if applied with a brush) allows for wiggle room. It’s called a Serum Tint, but it gives me similar coverage as Fenty’s Liquid Eaze Drops and almost as much as Nars Sheer Glow.
I like the nozzle because it makes it so easy to control how much or little I want to squeeze out. And even though the product is thick enough that when I draw lines across my face it doesn’t drip or move in the slightest, it’s not so thick as to feel heavy. The consistency feels like applying a skincare moisturizer.

I would call this a satin finish foundation on me as it’s not as glowy as I expected. It does look even better when I use a sparing amount of the Yummy Skin Balm with it, and it feels more hydrating than it looks outwardly. If I want my skin to look truly luminous, I just need to apply a very generous amount of my glowiest milky toners as part of my skin prep.

Overall, my skin looks smoother with the tint on. I like that it fully sets down without needing to be powdered and it doesn’t transfer much. The thickness of the tint can basically withstand the consistency of the balm. This lasts all day and I think it’s very skin-like.

I don’t know how effective the infused skincare ingredients are in the long-term, but I can agree with the hydration and moisturizing claims. This doesn’t have any fragrance and I like this packaging as much as the packaging of the Yummy Skin Balm. Besides the convenience of the squeeze tube and nozzle, the cap’s color and shape is aesthetically pleasing.

I’m very happy that this turned out to be a good purchase. Even though I got it on sale, I think it’s definitely worth buying at full price. It performs and feels like high-end and luxury foundations. I mentioned in my Project Pan post that I may end up adding this to the bunch after reviewing it. Since I kept it in my foundation rotation even after the testing phase, I think it’s safe to include it in there.

Yummy Skin Microfiber Velvet Sponge Dark Chocolate

I’m fairly certain I used this sponge once or twice when I first bought it, but then did not use it again until February of this year. Since sponges are intended to be thrown out every few months, is this still considered hygienic if I only used it a few times and then kept it in a bag away from dust and other elements for over a year and a half?
I don’t know, probably not, but I did this for science (and not wanting to buy another one)!

The sponge in dry form versus damp

This feels very firm in its dry form. It’s softer after being wet, but is still firmer than other sponges I’ve used. The microfibers make it feel slightly velvety, like applying my makeup with a cloth. However, it’s not the same as when I’ve used my Blendiful in the past. The end result is the same as with other sponges though, only differing in the way that I need to use this. With most sponges, I’m used to pouncing it all over my face and the sponge pushes the product in a wider, diffused, and partly diluted area. This sponge does a bit of diluting and soaking up of product, but if I apply foundation to my face first and tap this over it, it just spreads more dots wherever the sponge touches instead of spreading it out. When I use the Danessa Myricks Serum Tint, I usually draw lines on my face and use a brush to spread it around. As seen in the photo below, there are a bunch of lines on the bottom of the sponge were the lines just stayed on there and didn’t spread out.

So, the technique I have to use with this sponge is to spread foundation across my face with the flat edge and then tap it to blend after. If I still want to use the bottom, I have to do a drag and then bounce motion, not quite the same as a press and roll with other beautyblenders.

When it comes to cleaning this sponge, it takes much longer to dry and I can’t get it spotless, although the color makes that hard to see (which I like about it). I can only really tell that it has a stain when I run it under water.
Another benefit is that it’s more tear-resistant.

I go through brief phases trying to use sponges and it’s just not for me. The look and feel of this sponge is different from any other I’ve used, but the end result isn’t any different. So, I don’t feel the need to repurchase something like this. It’s a nice product, but I much prefer more affordable sponges, or the classic original beautyblender.

Infinite Chrome Pencil in Bronzite

Heart shaped swatch at different angles.

I have discussed this formula of pencil already, but this is the only additional one I have purchased since then. It’s waterproof, thin enough to be used precisely, and the strength of the shift depends on the shade. Bronzite is probably the hardest to see, as it has only ever looked bronze on my eyes.

This, at least, has more impact than the Golden Brown liner from Oden’s Eye. I also only paid 9 Euros for Bronzite on sale.
Black eyeliner is my go-to, so I don’t use this very often, but I don’t mind having it in my collection. It still gets used once every 2-3 months.

Everything I reviewed today are products I will continue to use until they go bad (excluding the sponge I’m tossing for being old). However, the only one I would consider repurchasing is the Yummy Skin Serum Tint. I like that one a lot. The rest are good, but able to be substituted by other makeup I own.

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Lisa Eldridge Pinpoint Concealer Review

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The first pencil I bought has been in my hands since January 9th, so I’ve had enough time to test this out in various ways and solidify my thoughts on this product.

The primary purpose of my posts are to show how products look on me in order to help someone get a better idea of how the shade(s) might look on themselves. Let’s do that right now.

There aren’t any exact matches between the pencils and the base products I have from the brand, but I don’t mind since I don’t have a perfect foundation shade from them either. They’re all just close enough.

The charts can be found by scrolling to the bottom of their product page.

My secondary goal is to give as much information as I can to help anyone on the fence trying to decide whether they want to buy the product right away, skip it without the fear of missing out, or figuring out if it’s worth waiting for a sale. I try to factor in the ingredients, talk about the accuracy level of the brand’s claims, mention anything strange I’ve noticed, etc.
Right out the gate, I’m going to say that this pencil was worth it to me to buy for a very specific task. I do not know how many people reading this will feel the same way, but I will describe the pros and cons I experienced.

For starters, I watched Lisa’s video on how to do the pinpoint technique using her product. I think that her way is in fact the best way to utilize it.
I don’t have acne, but I have moles, scars, and a ton of discoloration. She says that this product is not meant for large areas and not intended for full-on concealment of dark under eye circles. Considering those are usually my biggest concerns, I thought this might be a makeup release that I should skip. However, two aspects really sold me on this product: the idea of being able to use it on bare skin to metaphorically erase blemishes in a less detectable way than traditional means and/or with a full face of makeup to perfect any areas that need additional help with concealing.

To satisfy my curiosity, I still used this on the lowest section of my under eyes to see if it would last, and although it works, it looks and feels too drying there. So, I must patiently wait for the brand to release other forms of concealer better suited for my dark circles.

The photo above demonstrates how I can get the product to look how I hoped. On barely moisturized skin, the side that I used the concealer pencil looks improved and is very hard to tell makeup was used. On a face with a buildable coverage foundation, the pencil is able to camouflage the areas where darker discoloration was still partly visible underneath.
I also don’t recommend putting other products on top of the pencil. It worked best for me to put foundation and liquid concealer first before adding the pencil as the final concealing step.

The brand website specifically states that this is good for, “camouflaging broken capillaries and blemishes to lifting micro-shadows….waterproof, budgeproof, all day wear.”

The issue I ran into is that I can only get all day wear on bare skin, and even then it’s not always perfect. If my dry skin has the minimum amount of moisture (and by that I mean that it just has a serum, hydrating spray, essence/milky toner, or a lightweight moisturizer on it), I can use this pencil with no issues. If my dry skin has some flaky parts, this concealer will cling to it in an obvious and unflattering way. It looks scaly.

So, I have to balance between having enough moisture on my face for the product to glide onto the skin smoothly, but not too much moisture that would cause it to not adhere as well to my skin or accidentally make the product break down quicker. Sure, it’s waterproof when it’s not in contact with that many other products. However, waterproof products are susceptible to oil breaking them down. If my moisturizer, primer, foundation, or accompanying concealer contains too much oil, I cannot get this to last on my face for as long as it should.

Getting it to last all day on emollient skin is one challenge, but it’s even harder to get it to stick to the spot in the first place. I draw over the discoloration, tap it with my finger to blend, it melts too much into my skin and I have to draw over it again, tap it and the tiniest bit stays put but most is gone again. I essentially have to draw, tap, and blend on repeat 3-5 times for it to be fully covered. Now, it becomes even more clear why this isn’t supposed to be used in large areas. I was concerned I might run out of product in just the testing phase alone!

Using this on dry skin with minimal skincare gives me the best outcome. If I want to use this with other makeup products as the final perfecting step, I have to be careful about which products are used so it can actually last. That being said, the best I’ve been able to get on a full face of makeup is 4-6 hours. I have a stubborn smile line that all other concealers migrate from within a few hours, re-exposing the shadow. The coverage I get with the concealer pencil lasting double or triple the length of time I usually get when trying to cover that line is the sole reason I bought additional pencils and felt this expense was justified.

Being able to practically scribble away imperfections seems like a dream, but it triggers my perfectionist side in a way that is really not good. Obviously, this product will be a godsend for some people. For me, when I finish tackling the darkness around my mouth, then I look at the birthmark spot under my eye (another fairly large spot) and cover that. Then I start covering each individual mole, every scar spot, and then suddenly I’m spending fifteen to twenty minutes being hyper focused on my flaws that my eyes normally just glance over. If I put makeup on and look better than before, I consider that a success and I’m usually happy enough with just making improvements. During the testing process though, I felt so compelled to keep going and scribble out every little spot, to try and photoshop myself in real life. I cannot afford to spend so much extra time inspecting and correcting my face. Nor do I think it’s good for my mentality to fixate so heavily on imperfections and how choosing not to make those corrections left me feeling dissatisfied with my makeup overall. This is why I love my favorite finishing powder so much, because it creates a blurred veil that I know if I’m in a rush and didn’t blend my makeup perfectly enough, I can just quickly buff it everywhere and don’t have to think any further about it.

So, I decided to set limits for myself so that I could incorporate this pencil into my routine in a realistic and positive self-image affirming way. By making my main target the smile line, I am making myself happier to be able to improve that spot while only adding an extra minute or two to my makeup application time, and I get satisfaction from having found a use for this product that it excels at above all other concealers.

This circumstance with fixation is not going to be a problem for the majority of people, but in this day and age with social media and how it can affect people’s perception of themselves, I felt it was important to include in this review.
I’m forewarning that this is not the low effort product that it’s proclaimed to be.

Regarding the issues of applying this on bare skin versus skin with product on it, as well as the time consuming nature, I recommend watching Hannah Louise Poston‘s review. She also has dry skin and is able to demonstrate and explain so well the phenomenon I experienced.

I chose Shade 11 with a “Neutral Terracotta Undertone” because it leans orange, which has color correcting effects for my areas of discoloration. As I mentioned before, I have chosen to keep its task limited to covering my smile line.

Shade 10 with a “Neutral Golden Undertone” only works on the lightest areas of my face. Since these pencils can be used to lift shadows, highlight areas, or clean up spots, I have additional uses for this specific color. Essentially, Shade 11 was too dark and warm toned to look natural on top of my birthmark in that lighter surrounding area, so I designated Shade 10 for this task. I prefer to use my normal liquid concealers for cleaning up edges, and I also prefer highlighting or cleaning up the brow area with the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk eyeshadow in the shade Phoebe. It feels a lot more comfortable because the dry down isn’t as stiff. In fact, the Liquid Silk eyeshadow is the reason I got so excited for the brand to release concealers because it has a wonderful smoothing quality, self sets, and doesn’t budge. If they can put those same qualities into a liquid concealer, I’ll be over the moon with happiness! But as I was saying, Shade 10 is for my birthmark (plus a bit of 12) and if I tried to use it for the other aforementioned tasks, I’d run out of product absurdly fast.

I purchased Shade 12 in a “Neutral Undertone,” (plus a backup of Shade 11) from Niche Beauty during one of their sales. 12 has a similar depth value as 11, and it’s still a bit warm, just not as warm as 11. Although it makes for a better skintone match, I have to use even more product to cancel out the darker spots on my face, particularly without the color correcting aspect that Shade 11 provides. As seen in the photo below, using it in my eye area that is void of skincare means dealing with the unflattering texture problem.

What this color is good for is doing touchups on the go. It can make a good skin match for areas where my liquid concealer is starting to fade or even when I need to touch up wherever I added Shades 10 or 11. Having product already underneath it allows Shade 12 to fill in the gaps in coverage and glide on more smoothly than it does on bare skin.

The reason I needed a backup of 11 so soon was actually due to my own mistake. It’s a bit embarrassing, but maybe sharing this will prevent anyone else from doing it too!

I didn’t know until it was too late that these are twist up pencils!

Lisa Eldridge’s lip pencils require sharpening, and the twist up ones I use from other brands are in the kind of plastic packaging that is way more obvious that they can’t be sharpened. I knew the white “sharpener” at the end was just for getting a crisp tip, but I didn’t know the shade colored strip rotates! I thought it was just a clever design feature to distinguish between the shades without having to uncap them all.
And to be clear, I only used the white piece one time for science. I will never use it again because it removes too much product, precious product that this pencil has so little of already.

Because these pencils are intended to be waterproof and the exposure to air should be limited, I was concerned that mine would dry out much faster, despite how careful I am to keep them capped tightly, so that’s why I bought the backup of Shade 11. Thankfully, my butchered pencil is still working perfectly fine.

In that photo I included, you may have noticed the severely faded lettering on the pencil. The logo and details on the other side rubbed away by day two. I don’t know why or how it happened, but it did! So, I’ve been handling the rest with kid gloves!

Onto the topic of how quickly someone can go through this product, the photo above shows what a brand new pencil looks like compared to the one I used on and off for about a month. One third of the concealer is gone, however, a lot of it was wasted during the sharpening debacle. I was also testing it in large places sometimes, which is not recommend. So, I believe one sixth of it being gone would have been the expected result after a month of use.

I wore makeup about 2-4 times a week in January. My best guess is that I used that pencil twelve times between January 9th and February 4th. I estimate that a single pencil could give me at least 72 uses total. If I wore makeup every day, this would be unacceptable and I would never buy it again. Since those 72 uses should get me though six months, which is the same amount of time it takes me to use up some of my liquid concealers and liquid eyeliners, this is acceptable for me. My situation will not be the same for everyone, and I think it’s 100% understandable and fair enough that a lot of people don’t think it’s worth the price per grams, don’t think it’ll suit their needs, or say that they already have products that accomplish these tasks, etc.

I like this product, but I cannot give a sweeping glowing recommendation to someone when its usefulness to me is so specific. I won’t be replacing Shades 10 or 12 when they run out, and I already have my backup of 11, but how embedded into my routine this product gets will determine whether I’ll keep repurchasing Shade 11 indefinitely.

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading.

-Lili ❤

Updated Concealer Collection Reviews and Declutter

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This is technically a concealer and color corrector declutter post, but I didn’t have many color correctors to begin with, so I kept them both. The ELF Camo Color Corrector in Orange I use just on my face because it settles too much in areas with lines, like under my eyes. The Huda Beauty #FauxFilter Luminous Matte Liquid Corrector in Mango (reviewed HERE) does a decent job, but it doesn’t pair well with all my concealers and it’s a touch on the light side for me, so that also partly limits how and where I can use it. The MAC Pro Palette Studio Finish Skin Corrector x 6 (shown HERE) was old, so I decluttered it.

The photo above is what my concealer collection looked like a few months prior to me moving overseas, but I have a few new concealers and additional shades within the same lines that I purchased since then and will discuss here too.

In the “You’re Falling Apart” category of concealers that I had to toss due to them being too old, I decluttered the Pat Mcgrath Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Concealer in 23 (also owned 22 and 24 reviewed HERE) and Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear All Over Concealers in 460 and 495 (reviewed HERE). Although the Pat Mcgrath concealer was one of my favorites in terms of coverage, the shades in the MD range were too olive to look natural on me. Even if I had a better color, I admittedly had to babysit this concealer a little because it wasn’t as long lasting on me as some of my other concealers, such as Tarte Shape Tape. I still attest to it being a good concealer that I used quite a lot (about 1.5 tubes worth of product between all three shades). The Lancome concealers were decent, but I kept reaching for other things because of my desire for more coverage and a longer wear time.

The “It’s YOU, not Me” category is for concealers that looked horrible on me nearly immediately. I couldn’t get them to work no matter what powder I used with them or by switching techniques. The ones that fall into this category are the LYS Triple Fix Brightening Concealer in DG6 and Bobbi Brown Skin Full Cover Concealer in Almond. I hated them both so much that I didn’t want to review them. The irony is that the shades for both looked nice. I just couldn’t get them to last even an hour without gathering horribly in the lines under my eyes or fading in under an hour if I used the products too sparingly. Also being placed in this category is the Juvia’s Place I Am Magic Concealer (reviewed HERE). I have shade J11 which is too light for me, but the next shade would be far too dark. Color aside, I love the full coverage aspect to it, but it creases too fast and too deeply for my liking. So, it’s no surprise that all three were decluttered.

“The Incompatibles” are the concealers I’ve heard good things about that tend to be loved by others with a different skin type than mine. The ones that fit this description are the Urban Decay Quickie 24HR Full-Coverage Waterproof Concealer in 70WR, Huda Beauty #FauxFilter Luminous Matte Liquid Concealers in Crumble 7.1N and Butterscotch 7.5G (reviewed HERE), and the Ami Cole Skin-Enhancing Concealer in Medium 1 and Deep 2.
With the Ami Cole one, as I told a friend, Medium 1 is really pretty and matches the lightest part of my face, but because it doesn’t 100% cover the intensity of my dark circles, I get the slight grey look to it. Because I loved the way it spread and the finish of it, I saw the potential of it being a favorite if I had a darker shade, so I ordered Deep 2. Deep 2 turned out to still be lighter than my dark circles, so it still looks “improved,” even though it’s deeper than the lighter parts of my skin. Because the foundations I reach for most are essentially matching the darker parts (not as deep as the hyperpigmentation areas), I can pull it off when I have a full face on. Medium 1 is only the tiniest bit lighter than UD’s 70NN, but because the one from UD is full coverage (and the tiniest bit warmer), Quickie doesn’t give me that slight grey look.
The Ami Cole concealer has such a beautiful finish on the skin, but because it didn’t give me more than six hours of wear, I left it behind.
The Quickie concealer, as much as I wanted to love it, I couldn’t get it to last on me unless I loaded up on powder which then dried out my under eyes. It didn’t look as good as Tarte Shape Tape, so there didn’t seem to be much point in keeping it.
The Huda concealers also gave me issues with dryness. I found some ways around it, but then longevity was an issue. I was tempted to bring these with me, but since I liked other concealers more, it made more sense to just let them go. I think all three of these concealers in this category could be fantastic on the right person.

In the “Good Formula, Wrong Shade” category is just the Dermablend Flawless Cover Drops which is a foundation that I use as concealer, I loved how it looked when I had shade 75W, but I was unwilling to pay full price for it again since I was unable to use up even 25% of the giant bottle before it went bad. Two other times I purchased shade 72N from Ulta during a 50% off sale (Ulta still doesn’t carry the 75W shade), but it never looked as good because it was too neutral on me and didn’t have enough warmth. It got the job done and I loved how lightweight it was, but since the shade couldn’t measure up, I decided to give up on it. I currently still have 72N in my collection, but I plan to declutter it.

“You Have My Attention” is what I’m calling concealers I was unwilling to declutter because I felt there may be potential, but I hadn’t (at the time I was preparing to move) had the time to explore and test them further. In this category is the Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Hydrating and Depuffing Concealer in 40 Medium Deep Neutral and 43 Medium Deep Golden, Estee Lauder Futurist Soft Touch Brightening Skincealer in 6W, and Hourglass Cosmetics Vanish Airbrush Concealer in Maple and Umber. I had a creasing and fading issue with Haus Labs, so I left that in the US to deal with in the future.
The other two concealers I brought with me and I can say that it’s shocking the EL concealer is light on me considering 6W in the foundation has been much too dark for me these past five or so years. This is a range that I definitely recommend seeing in-store if possible before purchasing.

The EL concealer has a very interesting applicator that helps get into corners, but I still have to blend it out with a brush that gets into all the corners, so having a good brush at the end of the day is more important than the shape of the tool. I give it credit for not applying a ton at once though.

The finish looks beautiful initially, but it creased horribly in the beginning and faded significantly within the first hour or two. The best I’ve been able to get it to look is using the Milk Hydro Grip Eye primer, which gives me six hours maximum before the fading is too significant for me to want to be seen in public with it. The Charlotte Tilbury pressed powder with it helps too, but it still settles more than I’m used to in my under eye lines. Without the Milk primer it’s far worse. As much as I like the finish, I’d only wear this for short outings until I can figure out a combination with powder that potentially helps it last longer. I don’t have much hope on that considering Nikki had similar issues as detailed in her review HERE. I’m close to giving up on experimenting with it since so many trials ended poorly or with such short lived results.

As for Hourglass, I’ve been able to get minimal creasing and a 7-8 hour wear time with the Huda Beauty Easy Bake loose powder, but I have to continue checking if any other powder combinations can improve the results. The best wear time I get with the concealer plus any powder is if I used the MILK Hydro Grip Eye Primer underneath. Then the concealer lasts on me at least nine hours. It could be even better, but eight hours is the minimum for my wear tests and nine hours was the maximum I was able to test it for before intentionally choosing to remove it from my face. With the MILK primer, I can get close to full coverage. Without it, I’d say I get high medium coverage.

Also, I just wanted to add that the applicators are different between the travel size and full size of the Hourglass concealer. The full-size (on the left half) has more of a curve and tapered tip. The travel size has a more common/generic shape.

Between the three concealers, the Hourglass seems to be the one with the most potential.

My Top 5 Concealers Ranked

In fifth place is the Fenty We’re Even Concealer in 385W and 410W. It’s a new one to my collection that released since I’ve been overseas. The coverage level is quite good, it has very little creasing, and while it’s not the longest lasting of the bunch, it lasts eight hours before the fading starts to be significant. At least, that’s the case when I pair it with the Charlotte Tilbury powder. Using it with other products led to way faster fading. For example, I got superb protection against creasing and full coverage results when using it on top of the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Eye Primer, but after just four hours, it looked fully worn out. So, I just have to remember to keep using it with the Charlotte Tilbury powder or any others I may discover work well with it in the future. Also, when I use it with the CT Powder, I have to still apply a lot more product than I would with other full coverage products. This isn’t to gain extra coverage. This is necessary because a thin layer, although enough to hide dark circles, will get absorbed (or broken down…whichever happens to cause the disappearing act) too quickly by my skin. Loading up the product means some will disappear, but there will be enough left to last the eight hours when paired with the right powder. If I try to use a normal amount of concealer, even with the Charlotte Tilbury powder, it will fade significantly after only five hours.

This isn’t a deal-breaker, but the Fenty packaging doesn’t allow one to stand the concealer upright. There are too many pointed edges and the only flat parts are the front and back, so it has to be stored in a laying position unless it’s stored in a container. Also, it has an interesting curve tip for distributing product.

In fourth place is Tarte Shape Tape in 35N Deep (reviewed HERE) and third place is the L’Oreal Paris Infallible Full Wear Concealer in 415 Honey. I still go back and forth trying to decide which of the two is truly better. They even have similarly sized packaging with near identical wands, though the applicator tip from L’Oreal is even bigger than the already large one from Tarte! Tarte’s component also has a tighter inner ring that prevents excess product from being pulled out of the tube, whereas L’Oreal’s gets a little messier.

I’ve tried so many variations of the Medium/Deep range from Tarte: Tan Sand, Tan-Deep Sand, Deep, Deep Honey, and Deep Sand, etc. The best shade from the range for me is Deep, which is the right depth, but still not the perfect because of the undertone. The full coverage nature of it and lasting power is why I’ve repurchased specifically Deep six times between full-sizes and minis since its release. I haven’t found a way to be able to purchase it in Germany*, so it was important for me to find alternatives since concealer is the single most important piece of makeup for me. Although I wish it was a little less dry looking (the creamy version does NOT work for me), I’ve had concealers that looked way worse on me.

*UPDATE: MAY 5th, 2024: I was unable to purchase Shape Tape on previous trips, so I assumed this was still the case, but I did a google search today and saw that it’s available at the Sephora-DE website for 29 Euros.

As for the L’Oreal concealer, it’s the closest thing I ever found to looking and performing like Tarte Shape Tape. It still can look a little dry under the eyes, but the finish is slightly better than Shape Tape. It also has a tiny bit shorter of longevity results, at about a maximum of 10 hours for me if I use the right powders (and as short as 6 with the wrong skincare, powders, or other products). However, one big plus is the price difference with L’Oreal’s being way more affordable**. Tarte usually offers 50% off Shape Tape sales throughout the year, whereas you can get it at less than that at any time by getting the one from L’Oreal. For these reasons, and the tiniest bit better shade match, I believe I like the Infallible Concealer slightly more.

**UPDATE: Just wanted to clarify again that this is based on the US perspective. I was able to see the Infallible Concealer was €15.99 at smaller German websites I’m unfamiliar with, but the website I shop at more frequently, Douglas, has the price listed as €25.99 instead, making it still cheaper than Shape Tape but not hugely different since Shape Tape is €29.99 at Sephora DE.

In second place is the Givenchy Prisme Libre Skin-Caring 24H Hydrating Radiant Correcting Creamy Concealer in N390 and W420 (reviewed HERE). I only go for complete coverage concealers, but the hydrated look from this one (when paired with the right powder) is so nice that I am willing to settle for high coverage instead.
I used to consider this a finicky concealer because using the same products didn’t give me consistently good results, but then I realized it was due to my under eyes and the concealer’s inability to hold up as well when the application area was oily instead of dry. On those oil producing days, I have to monitor my eyes within the first half hour to check if the creases need to be patted back out and touched back up with powder. This isn’t an everyday problem, just every once in a while when my skin decides to play games! Using the Milky Hydro Grip Eye Primer under the eyes helped extend the wear time as well.
Also, since I have to set it with powder to minimize creasing, I lose a lot of that luminosity. I tested the concealer with various powders and Givenchy’s own Prisme Libre Powder was the only thing that helped my under eyes look at least more hydrated than Shape Tape. Since that initial review, I’ve tested new powders I didn’t have before, and the current best pairing is with the Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Setting Powder. The Givenchy powder gives me around eight hours of wear time (six hours on a bad day), but the Huda Powder helps it look close to a natural finish while lasting eight hours before the fading even starts! That’s without bothering to use the Milk primer. Since discovering the Huda and Givenchy power combo, this concealer was able to jump up to the number two spot.

In first place is the KVD Good Apple Concealer in Tan 167 (reviewed HERE but I also own Tan 161 and used to own Tan 173). It’s shocking that this is my new number one considering it can be troublesome too. However, when I learned the combination of this concealer with the Charlotte Tilbury matte face powder fixed the longevity issue, I haven’t had problems ever since. I get the coverage I need, the texture is lightweight, the finish is better than Shape Tape (which I consider the standard and where the bar is set), and I can get 8-12 hours of wear as long as no other products come in contact with this one, particularly emollient ones like some skincare, certain primers, and creamy blushes or highlighters. Even when using the Sephora Setting Spray, I have to reapply and repowder my concealer because it will make it suddenly crease badly. Strangely, since my own natural oils tend to not be too much of a hassle to the concealer, I don’t have to baby it as much as the Givenchy concealer. So, this one is essentially my new Shape Tape. This means it’s one that I will continually purchase (and have repurchased multiple times already).

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Wedding Makeup Part 2: Example of Looks

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The photo above demonstrates some of the various stages that I was testing different makeup products and practicing techniques in the weeks prior to the wedding. The very first example is what I would consider my typical amount of makeup, versus the last photo where I put in way more effort with a ton of extra steps that were necessary to create the look I envisioned for myself.

In Part 1, I explained which strategies I chose and showed the specific makeup products used. In Part 2, I’m going into greater detail listing the actual order of the steps I took. That includes all the details about the eyeshadows that I left out of the previous wedding post.
I will also include photos of alternative wedding/special occasion looks in both the cold winter theme, classic looks, and a few colorful ones now that we’re in spring.

The makeup artists were upfront about either not being available on the day of the wedding or not having their own products to match me. I was a bit nervous about having to do it on my own, considering I’m just a makeup enthusiast, but many loved ones reassured me that I knew my own face better than anyone else and they were confident I could pull it off. I hope that this post will be inspiring to anyone else in a similar situation where you have an important event coming up and aren’t sure where to start or would just like to see extra ideas.

My Wedding Makeup Step-By-Step

  • First, I applied skincare (and this would normally include sunscreen though I skipped it), allowing ample time for everything to absorb in the skin before moving onto applying primer(s).
  • I then applied color correctors to the spots I have discoloration, put on the liquid contour for my nose and under the cheeks, and added liquid blush. I left them only halfway blended since the foundation would go over everything anyway as part of the underpainting technique.
  • I made a mixture of foundation shades and applied it to the outer perimeter of my face. The lighter foundation color, I applied to the central zone of my face.
  • The eye primer came next before I filled in my brows with my brow pencil of choice.
  • I applied my skin tone shade of concealer to my under eyes and areas of discoloration. I applied a combination of my skin tone shade and a lighter color to my under eye area again, the bridge of my nose, center of my forehead, and chin. I use the lighter concealer color alone to highlight under my eyebrows.
  • After setting those concealer areas with powder, I did a first round of setting spray to lock those in.

In the photo series above, I saved my eye makeup for last, but I switched the order on the day of the wedding to do the eye makeup next in case I had a mishap with eyeliner, if mascara got on the lids, etc.

1. First, I applied Viseart’s Illusion shade from the Peridot quad under my brows on top of where I laid down the lighter concealer shade.

2. Then I applied Melt’s Rubbish shade from the Rust palette in the space under the Viseart shadow, but above the crease.

3. Next was Melt’s Rust shade from the same palette tightly in the crease, not going past the previous shade.

4. I lightly added Log from Natasha Denona’s Gold Palette, building up the outer corner and moving halfway inward. I chose this placement because of my particular eye shape.

5. I then built up the depth and smokey factor in the outer v area using Xtreme Black from Pat McGrath’s Mothership III: Subversive palette.

6. I smudged the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil along the outer quarter of the lower lash line before using Deep Shade (actual name) from the same PML palette on the rest of the lower lash line.

7. I smoothed on the Nyx Glitter Primer to the empty space on my lids and applied Bronzed Mink from PML’s Bronze Bliss palette to the outer half of the lid, taking care to not cover up the dark shadows in the outer corner.

8. I added Divine Dahlia from PML’s Interstellar Icon Quad on top of Bronze Mink to tone down the warmth of that shade.

9. The next step was picking up Nude Moon from Bronze Bliss on my brush, spraying it with MAC Fix+ and applying it to the inner half of the lids.

10. I placed Skinshow Fever from Mothership III: Subversive in the inner corner, under the brow arch, and the inner third of the lower lash line for highlighting purposes.

11. For extra sparkle, I added Lunar Luxury damp from Bronze Bliss to the inner corner. I applied the waterproof eyeliner to my upper lash line, along with two coats of waterproof mascara to my upper lashes, but only one coat on my lower lashes. Had I used the Clionadh multichrome, I would have placed a small dot that was eyeliner width to the center of the upper lash line.

  • Going back to my base, I applied powder contour under the cheeks and along my jawline. I applied a cooler toned contour to my nose, and on top of the other contoured spots.
  • I applied bronzer along my forehead and slightly above the contour under my cheeks.
  • I used my face powder and the Beautyblender Puff to clean up a small section of my sculpting work without going too far in. Just about one inch inward from my ear.
  • I applied my intense highlighter to the tops of my cheekbones.
  • I applied the mixture of powder blushes to my cheeks.
  • I applied my more subtle highlighters to the top of my cheekbones again, bridge of my nose, above the brows, and any remaining product on the brush to my forehead and chin.
  • I used my blurring finishing powder in any areas that needed extra blending/blurring.
  • I lined my lips with the lip liner of choice, filled it in with liquid lipstick, and added a lighter lip product to the center of my lips. During trial sessions, I even added highlighter, but didn’t end up doing it on the wedding day.
  • I put the leftovers of foundation from my brush and applied it to the spots on my neck that would be seen.
  • I applied highlighter to my collarbones and shoulders.
  • Lastly, I finished up with a generous amount of setting spray to my face. Had I remembered, I would have sprayed my neck and the spots I applied body highlighter.

And that’s everything! It’s a lot of steps, but worth the time and effort for one of the most important days of my life!

Just as unexpected problems can arise on important days, unfortunately, nearly every day that I set aside free time has been a dark day. I’ve done my best to play around with artificial light, take photos during the brightest part of the day for natural light, and do some color adjusting with the photos, but I’m dealing with cloudy days constantly over here. Times like these, I miss Florida haha.

Recreation of my Wedding Makeup/Neutral Glam: Used all the products I still have on hand.
Photo Setup: (1) In front of an open window on a cloudy day. (2) In a room with warm light and a second cell phone’s flashlight was lit behind the camera. (3) In front of an open window with warm white bulbs overhead.

Here are the additional looks!

Frost Queen: Milky Hydro Grip Primer and Armani Luminous Silk Hydrating Primer, Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 10, Hourglass Cosmetics Vanish Airbrush Concealer in Maple and Umber, Chantecaille Perfect Blur Powder in Med/Deep, r.e.m. Beauty Hypernova Satin Matte Bronzer in Cocoa-Nut, REM Beauty Highlighter Topper in Miss Mars, Hindash Beautopsy Palette (nose contour), Armani Neo Nude Melting Color Balm in 60 Warm Plum and Hourglass Ambient Light Blush in At Night, ELF Instant Lift Brow Pencil in Deep Brown, Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liner, KVD Full Sleeve Mascara, Juvia’s Place Lip Liner in Brownie, Lisa Eldridge True Velvet Lip Color in Sorcery, Colourpop Hocus Pocus 2 So Glassy Lip in Boys Will Love Me, the eyeshadow shade Memory (Metallic) from the Tati Beauty Textured Neutrals Volume 1 palette, and shades Nowhere, Christmas Eve, and Snowflake from the Oden’s Eye Christmas Eve Palette.
Photo Setup: In front of an open window with a warm white bulb overhead on a partly sunny day, but near sundown.

Playful Pinks: Milk Hydro Grip Primer, Nars Light Reflecting Foundation in MD3.3 Caracas, KVD Good Apple Concealers, Huda Faux Filter Corrector in Mango, Nars Soft Matte Advanced Perfecting Powder in High Tide, GloWish Soft Radiance Bronzing Powder in 04 Deep Tan, Dior Backstage Powder No Powder, Hindash Beautopsy Palette (nose contour), Dior Rosy Glow Blush in 012 Rosewood and Nabla Skin Glazing in Lola, Pat Mcgrath Labs Skin Fetish: Ultra Glow Highlighter in Divine Rose, Suqqu Treatment Wrapping Lip in 05, Coloured Raine Lip Liner in Decadent, Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil in 05, KVD Full Sleeve Mascara, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner, MAC Fix+, Melt’s eyeshadows from the Gemini II Palette with shades Bela, Sweetheart, Gemalas, and LX Queen, and the Rust palette with shade Antique. Devinah Cosmetics Eyeshadows in shades Empress, Pixy Stix, and Gelicide. Pat Mcgrath Labs’ eyeshadows from the Mothership III: Subversive palette in VR Pink and from the Celestial Nirvana 5 pan Palette in Nude Allure in the shades Mercurial Rose and Coral Kiss.
Photo Setup: In front of an open window on a less cloudy day, but during late afternoon hours and a warm white bulb overhead.

Chocolate-Gold Glam: Milk Hydro Grip Primer, Armani Luminous Silk Hydrating Primer, Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation in 13.5 and 14, L’Oréal Infallible Full Wear Waterproof Concealer in 415 Honey, Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder in Blondie, Gxve Beauty Check My Glow Multi-Dimensional Illuminating Highlighter in Karat Country, Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer in Terracotta, Dior Powder No Powder, Chanel Blush Lumiere Illuminating Blush Powder in Brun Roussi, ELF Instant Lift Brow Pencil in Deep Brown, MAC Macstack Mascara, One/Size Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner Pen, Palladio Waterproof Lip Pencil in Coffee, and Kaleidos Cloud Lab Lip Clay in Sienna. Hindash Beautopsy Palette (nose contour and no contouring anywhere else). Viseart’s Illusion shade from the Peridot Quad, Deep Shade (actual name) and Gigabyte from Pat Mcgrath Labs Mothership III: Subversive, Clionadh Cometics’ shade Lux, and Devinah Cosmetics’ shade Ambrosia.
Photo Setup: In front of an open window on a less cloudy day with a warm white bulb overhead.

Flower Garden: Haus Labs by Lady Gaga Triclone Skin Tech Foundation in 425 Medium Deep Neutral, Tatcha the Liquid Silk Canvas Fenty We’re Even Concealer in 410 W and 385W, Givenchy Prisme Libre Powder in 5 Popeline Mimosa, Dior Powder No Powder, Hindash Beautopsy Palette (nose contour), Victoria Beckham Matte Bronzing Brick 05 (regular contour), Gucci Bronzer in 04, MAC Glow Play Blush in Peaches N Dreams, Sephora Blush Duo in 02 Peach Blossom, Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Highlighting Duo in Tanlight, Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil in 05, L’Oreal Telescopic Lift Macara, Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, Danessa Myricks Infinite Chrome Micropencil Eyeliners in Jade, Amethyst, and Lemon Quartz. Devinah Matte Eyeshadows in Courtney and Meraki, Clionadh Cosmetics Stained Glass Shadows in Mural, Patina, Quest, Noble, and Spire. Coloured Raine Lip Liner in Pine and Suqqu Sheer Matte Lipstick in 112.
Photo Setup: In front of an open window with the sun poking out randomly on and off from behind the mostly cloudy sky, and a warm white bulb overhead.

Spring Purples: Milk Hydro Grip Primer, Glossier Futuredew, Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Foundation in 27, KVD Good Apple Concealers, ELF Camo Color Corrector in Orange, Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish in 2 and 3, Hermès Plein Air H Trio Healthy Glow Mineral Powder, Dior Backstage Powder No Powder, Hindash Beautopsy Palette (contour), ColourPop Pressed Powder Blush in Potted and Gucci Cheeks & Eyes Powder Luminous Matte in 06 Warm Berry, Hourglass Metallic Strobe Powder in Infinite Strobe Light, Lisa Eldridge Enhance and Define Lip Pencil in Sorcery and Lisa Eldridge Luxuriously Lucent Lip Colour in Painterly, Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil in 05, KVD Full Sleeve Mascara, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner, Melt’s eyeshadows from the She’s In Parties Palette with shades Total Immortal and Last Caress. Clionadh Cosmetics Multichromes in shades UV and Tracery. Sydney Grace Eyeshadows in Dear Reader, Flannel, and Sovereign Reign.
Photo Setup: (1) In front of a window on a partly sunny day. (2) Same as the first, but from the opposite direction. (3) In front of an open window on partly sunny day and a warm white bulb overhead.

That’s all for today! Thank you for stopping by! I hope you’ll click to follow or bookmark this page to come visit again!

Also, I seem to be having an issue with WordPress. For some reason, images have a hard time loading for those viewing my blog within Germany. The customer service advisors were unhelpful and the only way that even I was able to get around loading issues was to use a VPN. If you live in the US or most other countries, it should be working fine. The issue, as far as I’m aware, is a DE issue for some reason.

-Lili ❤

Wedding Makeup Part 1: What I Chose and Why

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There were a lot of factors to consider when it came to doing my own wedding makeup. I scoured the internet for tips and tricks, but at times the answers were contradictory. I thought I had a good plan in the beginning, but as I practiced doing multiple looks, I realized I needed to make some changes along the way.

Today, we’ll cover the things that should be decided on in advance and what I ultimately chose to do. The conclusions I came to won’t be the same for everyone since it depends on each individual’s personal tastes, skin type, skin texture, skin tone, undertone, priorities, etc.

Although I was inspired to create this post with weddings in mind, this topic is for anyone with an upcoming special event/occasion where photographs will be taken. I was not in a position where I could afford to forget something and run to grab it at the last second, so hopefully these topics will help others avoid having to make last minute decisions and purchases too.

DISCLOSURE: All makeup products in this post were purchased by me with my own money. The only affiliate links in this post are for a few of the brushes mentioned towards the end. Non-highlighted links in bold blue font (Example) are standard non-affiliate links. Links marked in bold black font with a light blue background (Example) are affiliate links. This means that I would make a commission if purchases were made directly using my link. Whether you click to shop through them or not, I appreciate you visiting and I hope you find the information I’ve provided to be helpful!

Red – Titles/Topics, Purple – Products Used, Green – Additional Options to Consider

Deciding Between Looking Better in Person or Looking Better on Camera

We had a micro wedding (less than 25 people) and the majority of the guests were non-makeup wearers or neutral-color wearing minimalists. I was concerned with looking overly made up in person compared to the group, but also recognized that full coverage and full glam faces result in the most photogenic pictures. I would love to look as natural and fresh-faced as possible, but I think I look the prettiest with “a beat face,” so to speak. So, I decided that I ultimately would start researching ways to look best in photography since pictures last longer and can even serve to replace memories in the minds of those who see them. If it was possible, my plan was to still try and find a balance between the two goals. This balance involved using other techniques such as color-correcting so I could use less concealer and foundation to hide my skin discoloration, using underpainting techniques to have my sculpting attempts look as natural as possible and reduce the need for as much powder on the surface layer, using full-coverage makeup paired with brushes that apply less product so that I could build up to the minimum amount of makeup I needed in small layers instead of packing it on heavily all at once.

In the age of social media, it’s safe to assume the majority of people prioritize how makeup will look on camera versus how it looks in real life, as discussed on the Mixed Makeup YouTube Channel. However, this is still a question everyone has to ask themselves because the degree to which direction one leans will dictate how they have to proceed with the next steps.

After Choosing to Prioritize How One Looks on Camera…

When I do a full-face in the type of soft tones that are typical of bridal makeup, I don’t feel satisfied with my appearance. So, looking natural was less of an option for me. In addition, if I wanted things like blush to be seen on camera, I had to get comfortable packing on way more than usual because blush gets washed out so easily. As described by Kackie of Kackie Reviews Beauty, the key is applying makeup in a way to add more dimension that the camera can pick up even when pulled back. I had to practice applying more than usual, taking pictures, and then adding more and photographing that to learn how much would actually be needed on the day. Blush, highlighter, and eyeshadows were the things I had to work on amplifying dramatically in order to get photos I was satisfied with (at least on my own camera).

One of the first big decisions I had to make was deciding what finish I wanted for my skin. A matte base with strategically placed glow seems to be the consensus for what photographs the best. However, I did not anticipate the climate when I chose what products to bring with me when I moved overseas. The products that looked the best on camera for me in Florida were extra dry looking on me in Germany and I didn’t bring my dewier foundations because I have them in my darker summer shade. This led me to buy a new foundation (N°1 DE CHANEL Revitalizing Foundation), the only one that mimicked the appearance of natural oils peaking through my face, and it remained that way through the end of the night. It basically looked like a natural-finish foundation on my dry skin. I used the Glossier Futuredew, to ramp up the glow in typical places I highlight, the MILK Hydro Grip primer for hydration and lasting power, and the Benefit Porefessional Hydrating primer in my T-zone for a smoothing effect without a silicone texture. I have all three of these products in minis (and a travel container).

I did have the Nars Light Reflecting Foundation with me, but my research scared me away from using it. Since Nars is an artist brand, I always assumed their products looked fantastic on professional cameras, but I kept coming across warnings against using too many light reflecting products. Considering how dark it is in Germany, I knew the chances of flash being used was high, so I didn’t want to look crazy on other people’s cameras either (even though Nars’ foundation is supposed to be photo-friendly and produce no flashback, but I didn’t know if that would still be the case if paired with other light reflecting products). So, I didn’t use that one just to be safe. Skipping it turned out to be necessary because I tried using it in strategic spots and it still wasn’t luminous enough for my liking while not in Florida.
Lisa Eldridge was one example of someone who discussed light reflecting products in flash photography and Pete Coco Photography cautioned against using shimmers in studio settings, but I saw more mentions of light reflection from various articles and blogs.

For those curious, the top foundations I wanted to use if the climate was more like Florida would have been the Lisa Eldridge Seamless Skin Foundation or Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation (this one only starts to look good for me if oils break through and my skin is prepped for maximum hydration including using a facial oil). The Lisa Eldridge foundation is extremely similar looking to the Chanel one I opted for, but without as much luminosity.
I also own two lighter coverage products that make my skin look beautiful in person: the Fenty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint in Shade 18 and the Rose Inc Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum in Shade 100. I was looking for high coverage, but if I had to recommend another option it would be the one from Fenty. I normally dislike their foundations, but this newer one finally agrees with my dry skin. The Rose Inc one unfortunately can come off extra warm colored on camera. Sometimes I look orange in photos even though I don’t in person. It’s also random when it happens as well. I’m not sure if it’s some interaction with a specific product I might sometimes pair with it. So, that’s why I don’t recommend that one.

Deciding On the Color Scheme and Undertones of the Makeup

I had quite the dilemma trying to figure out what colors I wanted to use as a person with warm undertones who was planning to wear cool toned accessories and have blue and purple flowers in my bouquet. I like wearing eyeshadow that matches what I’m wearing in some way, whether it’s clothing, a purse, jewelry, etc but I never like how cool toned eyeshadows look on me as much as warmer ones. At the same time, I didn’t want the winter aesthetic I planned for my look to clash with my natural warmth and make me look extra warm by comparison. I did a test run using my go-to makeup and just switching to a cool toned blush, but I didn’t like the outcome. My second solution was to wear neutral makeup to bridge the two types of looks, but after doing another test run, I just didn’t feel my makeup was as pretty as it usually would be.

Experts say that although anyone can wear any color they want, we tend to find shades in our undertone to look prettiest on ourselves. For instance, Lisa Eldridge says it’s nice to match the wedding scheme/theme, but not if it’s against your coloring. Ultimately, I felt that if I didn’t wear the kind of shades that were natural for me, I would have regrets looking back at pictures thinking my everyday makeup looked somehow better than what I chose for my own wedding.

Many makeup artists recommend trying to look like an enhanced version of yourself, and not looking like someone else. This concept is what helped me solidify the decision to use warm tones, just ones that didn’t veer too far off from neutrals. This idea of trying to look like myself also had me wondering how I could possibly incorporate a pop of color into my look because that’s “me” too. Even when I’m on a nude colors kick, I still end up popping on a multichrome or some other colorful indie brand’s eyeshadow. Considering the wedding colors were blue, purple, and ivory/cream/whitish (we couldn’t really nail that one down), I thought it might be a good idea to add a blue-purple multichrome into the eye look. I really wanted for it to be one from Clionadh Cosmetics like Etched or Spire, since it’s my favorite brand, but the reason I love theirs is how intensely they stand out. In this situation, every technique and position I tried to place the multichrome was just too much.

Because all my other makeup was in natural tones, my eyes were instantly drawn to the spot with the multichrome and stole attention from the rest of the look. Eventually, I was recommend by someone on Instagram to try putting the tiniest dot in the center. This worked in low light in a very pretty way, but the second actual lights hit my eyes, it was still too much for what I wanted. Ultimately, as much as incorporating color into my looks is something I’m known for doing, I wanted something classic and timeless for my wedding. So, I decided to go back to the neutral glam idea for eyeshadows and using my slightly warm tones of makeup for everything else. My blush was still a mix of everything. I used a liquid blush and then ended up using powders on top further into the makeup process. For those curious, it was three shades from MAC: a whisper amount of Breath of Plum for a slight cool-toned wintery cheek look, a normal amount of Pinch Me as the main color and a natural looking pink on me, and the tiniest bit of Burnt Pepper to add a little more warmth that compliments my undertone and depth of my skin color.

The eyeshadows I ended up going with were mainly from Pat Mcgrath Labs. I intend to do a part 2 to this post, which I can hopefully complete and upload within a few weeks. In there, I’ll post more details on the step-by-step process.

Making Sure Base Techniques are Down Pat

After using my various primers, the next step for me was to color correct the areas of hyperpigmentation. Most of the time, I don’t bother with color correcting because I prefer to just lean on full coverage concealers for that job. However, I wanted to avoid my base makeup looking heavy, since I knew I would be putting more layers of product than usual.
I only had two options with me: the E.L.F. Camo Color Corrector in Orange and the Huda Beauty #Fauxfilter Color Corrector in Mango. Although I prefer Huda’s on a regular basis, the ELF one worked better with the KVD concealer, as well as me wanting more intense color-correcting from using a darker color.

I would normally recommend using a color-corrector under the eyes too for those who have intense dark circles like I do. In my particular case though, I already know the ELF formula creases/gathers like mad in areas with lines, which is why I only use it in smoother areas of my face. So, I had no choice but to skip that step on myself. For those that don’t have discoloration issues like I do, color-correcting is not a necessary step. The most coverage one can achieve using the least amount of products is better, so if you can skip it, then please skip it. Ultimately, even I would have skipped this step, but I tested out how my makeup looked with color correcting versus going without it and the results spoke for themselves. I decided it was a step worth doing because I wanted as close to a flawless base as possible.

Although I settled on a foundation, the color match wasn’t as spot-on as I hoped, considering it was a bit more orange rather than yellow/golden and just slightly darker. I had purchased shade BD121, so my only other option was to buy BD91 to mix with it. The brand makes shade BD111, but it’s exclusive to the Chanel website and was sold out. Thankfully, using a ratio of roughly 2 parts BD121 to 1 part BD91 gave me a better color match. At least, that’s the mixture I used on the outer perimeter of my face and then used BD91 by itself in the central part of my face for a more natural gradient of color. My foundation application did not come first immediately after priming and color correcting though.

The other technique I wanted to utilize was under-painting. I have a naturally round face, besides it being chubby. Trying to create a chiseled look is by nature going to be easier for those with a clearly visible bone structure. Although I still have slight indent in my cheek area, I have an undefined jawline made weaker by having a rounder face. There’s only so much one can do to make a believable contour on a face like mine. One of the most believable options, if done correctly, is underpainting: to do the contouring and highlighting as a cream or liquid step first before applying foundation on top (and following it up with powder products afterwards too). Funnily enough, I learned about this technique about ten years ago when under eye concealers weren’t full coverage enough for me. I don’t think it’s necessary to do a full-face of underpainting like you see in TikTok and around social media as a fad, only the specific areas that need extra help to again minimize product usage. So, I bought the darkest shade of the most affordable foundation I could get my hands on (that I knew would work well). This was the Sephora Best Skin Ever Foundation in 68N. I would have preferred for it to be cool-toned, but “cool” shades in the darkest colors tend to be red instead of blue-grey so I figured neutral would be good enough. I could have used a concealer as well, but considering how much I spent on those Chanel foundations (even though they were discounted), I wanted to save as much money as possible. I could have also tried to use an actual cream contour, but I figured using a foundation would look even more natural on the skin and potentially blend better as cream contours can sometimes be too emollient. The 68N shade worked well enough for my cheekbone and jaw area, but since my nose is a lot more yellow than brown, it looked a little more red in that spot that I like. So, I just had to apply the product even more sparingly and make sure to use more greys when I contoured with powder later.

Besides applying contour, I also used a Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush sample of Joy as an underlayer of blush to help ensure longevity for the whole day. Plus, this particular shade is bright without being overly vibrant, which tends to work well for me. Using this underneath wasn’t overkill when I used the MAC blushes later. In fact, I still had room to go heavier with my blush.

After the liquid blush is when I would apply my foundations. I think some people recommend doing highlighting with concealer (product several shades lighter to bring those areas forward and not the shimmery type of highlighter) underneath foundation, but the KVD Good Apple Concealer formula that I used can sometimes melt/fade away with other products. The foundation on top of this one would have been covered up too completely, so I applied the mixture after foundation. I could have tried to use a different concealer for underpainting, but I was running out of time and just wanted to stick to what I knew. I began practicing applying the makeup on an off nearly two months before the wedding (with more consistent daily testing in the final three weeks). It’s not useful to test out all new products at once, since it would be too hard to tell which products were interacting badly with others, or were only working well depending on what it was paired with. I could only test a few combinations at a time. So, even the two months wasn’t as much time as I thought. In retrospect, three months would have been ideal for me.

The theme of this sections is to make sure the base techniques are nailed. Part of that was my realization that in all the bridal makeup photos I liked, they really utilized highlighting for color in addition to the glow factor. However, I’ve never liked an overly brightened under eye on myself. When I was younger without so many lines to worry about drawing attention to, that was a different story. So, I had to think about what’s more natural for myself and my style rather than just sticking to the template of instructions on how most people do wedding makeup. I thought perhaps I could use my typical Tan 167 all over and apply my new Tan 161 (this specific shade was on sale which is why I chose this one for my highlight option) on top in strategic spots to highlight with, but I didn’t like the outcome. It was still too stark of a contrast for me to be comfortable with no matter how great it could have potentially looked on camera. What worked best for me was applying my near skin-tone shade 167 and then using a combination of 167 and 161 mixed together as the highlighting concealer color on top. The transition was more natural, which I ended up liking a lot better than using 161 alone (though I did use 161 alone to highlight my brow bone area). I then set my concealer with the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder in either Medium (which I bought in the travel size) or a combination of Medium plus my usual shade in Tan. I tested out plenty of different powders and the one that worked the best to keep the KVD concealer creasing the least and not fading at the end of the night was this Charlotte Tilbury powder. The Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Powder was a close second since it worked so well with other concealers I was testing at the time (Fenty We’re Even Concealer and L’Oréal Infallible Full Wear Concealer). However, the results of the KVD and CT combo won out.

I would normally use the back of my hand as a spot to mix shades, but since I wanted to have leftover mixtures reserved on the side for touch-ups, I started to wish for a makeup mixing palette or plate. Since I didn’t bring any with me and didn’t want to buy one, I used the top lid of the Charlotte Tilbury Cream Bronzer compact (pictured in the foundation photo above). It has a surface that’s easy to wipe down with a makeup wipe or makeup eraser cloth. Also, when I mixed with my brushes, I got too much product on the bristles, so I started using the brush handle to mix shades and then wiped off the handle onto my microfiber cloth. That way, I’m able to pick up smaller amounts of product with the bristles and even switch to a smaller brush for spot applications where needed.

Securing the base is important, but so is recognizing whether the recommended techniques have to be tweaked to your specific preferences and what makes you the most comfortable. It’s okay if you hate contouring to skip doing it. It’s okay to go with a sheer coverage foundation and then just use concealer in areas that require more coverage. The most important thing to do is to practice techniques as much as possible before the wedding or special event if you’re doing your own makeup. Sometimes products don’t perform the way we remember them and the last thing you want is to discover that on an important day. You want to thoroughly test your full look in every step in order to make sure you can replicate the same results every time, in every type of lighting, and in every weather scenario.

To Bake or Not to Bake, Setting Spray vs Fix+

Continuing the theme of getting used to wearing more makeup that usual and utilizing techniques I normally don’t, I had to decide whether or not to utilize the baking technique. Since I already narrowed down my concealer, it was just a matter of doing a wear test all day to see if my makeup looked better with or without baking. As it turned out, with my products and my skin type, baking really wasn’t necessary, or at least not in the traditional sense of loading a ton of powder on and then dusting it away after five minutes or so. I ended up not even needing to powder my whole face since I was utilizing setting sprays too.

My process was applying my concealer to my under eyes and face area before using my normal brush to powder-set those spots. As the days were counting down to the wedding, I started to utilize more skincare such as using the Lisa Eldridge Skin Enhancing Treatment Cleanser as a mask, which made my skin more hydrated and strangely enough need more setting powder under my eyes. So, after setting my concealer I would wait until I noticed creasing before patting the creases back out with my Sonia G Jumbo Concealer Brush, and then using the Charlotte Tilbury powder with my Beautyblender Power Pocket Puff to lightly apply a thin layer in the areas I highlighted with the concealer mixture (skipping hyperpigmentation areas that didn’t need extra powder) and also slightly under my contour to sharpen those spots and “clean them up.” The puff still came in handy because some days during the trials it was even necessary to go as far as to spray the silicone side of the BB puff with setting spray, press that into the concealer creases, reapply a little more concealer, and then set it with powder using the velour side of the puff. This was during the trial days I started using different skincare that I should have been testing much earlier in the process. So, this is all I need in terms of baking, but those that have combo or oily skin will probably need to take additional steps to lock the makeup into place.
The puff also comes in handy while on-the-go. Instead of me needing a face powder brush and an under-eye powder setting brush (plus technically I could use other areas of the puff for other types of powder products), I just needed this on hand in the “Emergency Bride Kit” for touch-ups.

After I apply my liquid and cream layers, I set my face with setting spray, finish applying all my powder products, and then set my face again. I tested a few sprays before I moved, but the only one I brought with me was the One/Size On ‘Til Dawn Waterproof Setting Spray. I had the mini size and as I started testing, I got paranoid that I would end up using it all before the wedding and it’s not available for purchase in Germany. So, I ended up buying the Sephora Makeup Setting Spray for my trial runs. What I like more about the Sephora spray, besides the lower price, is that it’s unscented. The One/Size spray has a slightly floral, but not overwhelming smell.


I’ve tested both of the waterproof claims by splashing water on my face and have seen how the water rolls off my face without leaving streaks in my makeup. In terms of making things transfer-proof, that wasn’t the case with One/Size unless I just wasn’t using enough of it. The Sephora Spray only seemed to make my makeup transfer-proof that was in lighter layers and on lighter makeup days. It didn’t seem to work with a full face of everything. I haven’t tested the One/Size spray in the same scenario of a lighter makeup day, so perhaps they are equal. On my actual wedding day, I still stuck with using the One/Size product. We ended up doing a second day of photos, so the picture below shows what I looked like by the end of the night. On my wedding night, I got home at nearly 3 am, so I don’t have a photo for that. All things considered, I think it held up pretty well. It rained on the actual wedding day, but my makeup didn’t budge. I just transferred some of my nose contour onto my husband’s nose. I had to wipe it off him a few times, but it didn’t transfer any further after that.

I always use MAC Fix+ if I want to dampen my shimmer eyeshadows. It can make the face look hydrated, which is what I need, but sometimes it can cause makeup to not last quite as long and break down a little faster. So, I was too scared to use it on my face (nor did I have the time to test it with everything), so I just used it for my eyelid shades. At one point during my trials, I tested spritzing my highlighters with setting spray and my sample of Fix+ to see if I could intensify the look without leaving a stripe on my face. I ended up deciding to just skip that step as the Charlotte Tilbury Face Architect Glow Glide Highlighter worked well enough as a base highlighter. Others might prefer using a liquid highlighter, but powder products are always easier for me and I was planning to do a technical enough makeup application, so I’d accept easier options wherever possible. Throughout the practice days, I used some combination of multiple other highlighters shown below. On the actual day, I ended up sticking to just Charlotte Tilbury by adding the Pillow Talk Multi-Glow highlighter and I used the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Highlighting Duo on my shoulders and collarbone. Since I ended up wearing a faux fur shawl/stole and my hair was down, that final step ended up being pointless. It couldn’t be seen on my body. I also forgot to spray setting spray to those spots on my body afterwards, which could have potentially helped lock the highlighter into place.

Although I didn’t end up glowing as intensely as the models in the inspiration photos I procured from Google, seen below, I was still happy with my makeup choices. I applied highlighter to my brow arch, slightly above the brows on either side of the forehead, one specific spot on the bridge of my nose that I build up with contour and another spot lower down, and the tops of my cheekbones.

I mentioned earlier that I used the underpainting technique to contour. Then I used the powder contour in the Kaleidos Symphony Trio for more depth. It’s not grey toned enough to give an actual shadowed effect, so I added a mix of Feel + Real from my Hindash Beautopsy Palette to create the shadowing for my jawline, under the cheekbones, and nose contour. I didn’t use the Kaleidos powder on my nose, only Hindash’s product because I didn’t want it to be overkill in person.

When it came to bronzer, I was dead set on using the Hermès Plein Air H Trio Healthy Glow Mineral Powder because it’s the highest quality powder one that I own. However, in test photos I kept feeling like I was looking too warm toned. With a few days to spare, I tried some of my other top powders like the Glowish Soft Radiance Bronzer Powder, but that one was too red toned. Ultimately, the one best suited for my undertone is the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Sun Kissed Glow Bronzer in Tan. Even though it’s a cream product, it went next to and slightly on top of my powder contour with no issues. This meant that my bronzer was going to be natural looking in person and likely too subtle to see much of it on camera, but it was a better alternative for me than having my face pull too orange.

I finished my face with my Dior Face & Body Powder No Powder. It blurs imperfections and helps blend the makeup seamlessly into each other. I didn’t use it all over my face, just in key areas that I wanted to touch up. If I had a sparkle-free version of Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder from Hourglass in my shade, I would have considered using that instead or in conjunction with the Dior product. Finishing powders can do wonders for a makeup look, but be sure to test in photos whether the sheen might or might not be too reflective for flash photography!

Waterproof Tests are Required

I’ve always hated waterproof mascaras because of what a pain they are to remove, but I was so certain I would need one for the wedding. I have plenty of favorite mascaras, but according to customer reviews I’ve seen online, apparently getting a waterproof version doesn’t mean it will perform as well as the normal formula. Some of the most beloved mid-range and high end mascaras have terrible reviews for their waterproof counterparts. So, I decided to try exploring the higher rated drugstore waterproof mascaras that I was familiar with in the original form. In my testing, the L’Oréal Voluminous Lash Paradise gave volume, but not as much length and was prone to clumping. The L’Oréal Bambi Eye Mascara gave length, but not much volume. I was debating whether or not to try using both, but it ended up not being necessary because I got the results I wanted from the Essence Lash Princess Waterproof Mascara.

Another alternative I considered was the KVD Beauty Full Sleeve Long + Defined Tubing Mascara. I love the length and volume of that one, and in theory tubing mascaras aren’t supposed to come off easily unless under warm water. While the KVD one seems to be harder to remove than other mascaras with regular temperature water, it can still be done. So, I didn’t want to risk a circumstance where I would have even the slightest chance of having my mascara come off. So, I stuck with using the Essence mascara.

When it comes to using eyeliner, I have a few that are supposed to be waterproof (Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner and One/Size Point Made 24-hr Liquid Eyeliner pen), but they aren’t as effective when my eyelids get too oily. I’ve always had great results from Sephora’s waterproof liners, so I purchased the Sephora Collection Hot Line Brush Tip Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner. It definitely did the job. I didn’t end up crying, but there was a bit of rain and both the mascara and eyeliner held up completely all day and night.

For the tiny spot I wanted to smudge on my outer lower lash lines, I used the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil. I don’t find them to be as waterproof as my other liners, but I can’t get the smudge effect with those, so this was my best option. One thing I should have considered was getting colorful eyeliners to put on my lower lash line instead of regular eyeshadows. It’s possible I could have still ended up with a mess if I had actually gotten teary-eyed. I lucked out, but that might be something to consider.

I’d like to note here that another option for waterproof eyeliners could be those false lashes eyeliner pens. I went back and forth debating whether or not I wanted to wear fake lashes for the wedding. They look amazing on camera, but they are an absolute nuisance for me to wear, especially for an extended period of time. My eye shape, with my super rounded upper lash line, doesn’t hold onto even extreme lash glues very well. Within an hour max, either the inner or outer corner will lift up. The majority of lashes are too short (in width) for my eyes because I need extra length to account for the higher degree angle of the rounded curve of my eye. If I want to rock a half-lash, I have to use 3/4 length lashes. Then, even if I put the eyelashes properly on my lash line, I can still see them in my field of vision. I still thought that if I practiced putting them on enough times, I could make them work. I also heard of the recommendation to cut the lashes into 3 pieces (also from Mixed Makeup) instead of 2. Since splitting them in half never worked for my eye shape, I was willing to give smaller ones a try. My lashes ended up looking like the Cynthia doll’s hairline from Rugrats!
Even when I tried to use the pieces just on the outer lash line, it was so hard to get them to look even since I don’t have perfectly symmetrical eyes. Plus, it’s my inner lashes that need the most help, but it would look just as strange if I had lashes there and nowhere else.

Ultimately, for all the hassle it would cause me on the wedding day, I decided to skip the false lashes. I figured I could just try to cheat the look with more coats of mascara and extending the eyeliner out a bit more. This trick worked well enough for my satisfaction. From all the trials though, I did figure out that the House of Lashes Lash & Dash Glue Liner pen makes for a tough to remove waterproof liner even without putting lashes on top of it.

Brow products are never exciting to me, so I almost forgot to mention that the brow product I used is the Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil Waterproof Eyebrow Definer in shade 5. Although I don’t recall if I’ve purposely tested the waterproof claims, I know from experience that I’ve never had my brows run or smudge when using this product, so I didn’t think twice about using it on the day.

The last waterproof or transfer-proof thing to consider is the lip product. I’m sure most spouses-to-be would be grateful not to have lipstick transfer onto them. However, I didn’t go that route because my lips were in too poor of condition, even with using masks. There are some great waterproof lip liners that I could have used to cover the entirety of my lips instead of opting for a liquid lipstick, but I decided I didn’t want to go that route either.

My lip combination was to use the Coloured Raine Botanical Collection Lip Liner in the shade Decadent. It’s darker than my natural lip line to give me a slight shaping effect. I consider it a transfer-resistant product, but it only claims to be long-wearing.
I then filled the insides with the Lisa Eldridge Velveteen Liquid Lip Colour in Muse. This isn’t like most liquid lipsticks that dry out the skin like crazy, but that also means it’s a low-transfer product rather than transfer-proof or even transfer-resistant. The brand claims it’s “smudge-proof and budge-proof,” but that hasn’t been my experience.
The final step for slight shine is from using my Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last very long, but I wanted a little bit of shimmer and a slightly creamy look to the center of my lips. My husband hates lip gloss or any kind of sticky balmy product on my lips (which makes keeping them conditioned even more of an uphill battle). So, for his sake, I held off on using any gloss products until later in the night.

Many makeup artists commented that having some color and shine on the lips looks beautiful on camera. For that reason, I wanted to make sure I carried the Pat Mcgrath Lip Gloss in Bronze Temptation in my makeup touchup kit. On the second day of taking photos (because the weather was bad), I didn’t bother with the other products and just applied this gloss.

I chose the other three products because their tones of pink looked so complimentary with my blush. My PML lip gloss shade is a warm toned one, so that was something easy to carry with me to warm up the look if I wanted. The other lip product I considered swapping out instead of Lisa Eldridge’s was the Kaleidos Cloud Lab Lip Clay in Sienna. That shade went very well with my skin tone, but looked almost too natural. I wanted more of an impact since I don’t often wear colored lip products and usually stick to clear or slightly tinted glosses and balms. The Kaleidos product is also long-wearing and not completely transfer-proof.

Considering the amount of kissing throughout the day and night, the transfer onto my husband’s lips was minimal. It also helps that I was wearing pinks that weren’t ultra vibrant. Food was the culprit that removed most of my lip products.

Tools and Extra Makeup Helpers

I mentioned the MAC Fix+ as something I always have on hand, but another one is the Nyx Glitter Primer to help make my shimmer eyeshadows pop and better adhere to my lids. For any mistakes that need to be cleaned up, I have Q-tips, but for more precise spots I like to use these tiny fine point cotton buds from MyKitCo called the My Small ‘On Point’ Buds. I dip them in a little micellar water, which my tried and true is the Bioderma Sensibio H2O. These are the types of things that are easy to forget when getting ready, that is, until they’re needed.

For my touch-up bag, I kept my skin-tone matching concealer and brush, the BB puff, the travel size mini CT powder, and the lip gloss. I was also gifted a slim compact with a magnifying mirror. I didn’t end up doing any makeup touch ups at all on the wedding day, but it’s nice to have things on hand in case there is an accident. Other random products in my Emergency Bride Kit were bobby pins, safety pins, band-aids, ibuprofen and pain meds (in case my back decided to act up which thankfully weren’t needed), hand lotion because of the constant dryness on my knuckles in this weather and taking pictures up close of the rings, eye drops with a backup pair of contacts, and tissues.

The photo above shows all the brushes I used on the wedding photo days!

Sonia G Mini Booster – Used for darker eyeshadow shades on the outer corner. Needed a small size blender brush for precision and for it to be not too dense to build up the color slowly.
Mizuho MB123 – For applying the transition matte eyeshadows.
Smashbox Double-Ended Smudger Brush -Used to apply shadows to the lower lash line, smudging the UD liner with the rubber side, applying the shimmer highlight shades to the brow arch and inner corner.
Wayne Goss 08 – Applying concealer under the brows and to clean up any other spots around the eye makeup.
Sonia G T4 – Extra blending to the eye look with no product on the brush plus blending out the nose contour.
Sonia G T2 – Applying/stamping powder nose contour.
Real Techniques Brightening Concealer – Used on the first day used to apply highlighter on the collarbone and shoulders, but the next was was used to set my under eye concealer with powder.
Bisyodo B-ES-08 Eye Shadow – Was intended to apply the Clionadh multichrome.
Real Techniques Setting – My usual under eye setting powder brush.
MS-4 Mai Sakura Eyeshadow – Brush to apply shimmers to the lids prior to using my finger afterwards to build up eyeshadow in strategic spots.

Sonia G Jumbo Concealer – My holy grail concealer brush because it gets the most coverage by packing on a lot of product at once, but it can still smooth things out.
Amazon Brush? – Used to apply eyeshadow primer to the lids and touch up concealer in other places.
Chikuhodo FO-2 – Used to apply the Dior Powder No Powder.
Eihodo WP PC-1 PUFF Makie Powder Brush Goldfish – Used to stamp on foundation mainly on the outer perimeter and over under-painted creams and liquids. The denseness and surface area size help with quick blending if needed and also aid in giving maximum coverage from not soaking up as much product.
OdensEye Blush – Used to whip across the face the lighter shade of foundation. Functions like a stippling brush.
Sonia G Soft Cheek – Applied powder blushes lightly, which was needed since I was building up three shades.
Patrick Ta Contour – Applied the CT cream bronzer and is a holy grail product for sculpting around my face.
Bisyodo CH-HC – Used to apply highlighter to the face in a light non-concentrated way, but without being dispersed in too wide of an area.
Sephora Concealer Pro Concealer #71 – Used to apply liquid contour (the deep foundation shade) around the face. The angle of the brush was helpful, but technically many other brushes could have been used.
Eihodo Outlet 153 Highlighting/Blush – Used to apply the contour shades from the Hindash Beautopsy palette over the areas that already had the Kaleidos contour. Was very useful for it’s small size considering the shape of the Beautopsy pans.
Wayne Goss F3 – Used to lightly apply the Kaleidos Symphony Trio contour under the cheekbones and along the jawline.
Sonia G Mini Base Keyaki Version – Used to apply the Rare Beauty liquid blush for under-painting.
Bisyodo B-F-05 Perfect Fit – Intended to apply powder bronzer in a slightly concentrated amount under the cheekbones, but I used it instead to do slightly more blending to the contour areas.
Sonia G Jumbo Bronzer – Intended to apply a lighter application of powder bronzer around the forehead, though on the actual wedding day I changed plans and opted for a cream bronzer instead.

Using the correct tool for the job is extremely important. To make things easier, I started narrowing my collection down ahead of time so that I wouldn’t be wasting time digging around looking for specific brushes. I knew which one (or ones) I wanted for each specific type of makeup. This came from practicing those makeup looks as often as I did. The backup brushes I also had on hand, but didn’t end up using, are in the photo below.

Another very important tip is to make sure the brushes are clean or “clean enough” before the big day. Gunked up old product on brushes can effect the performance of the makeup. Things can be harder to blend, not be color accurate, not apply as smoothly or in the right amounts.

All this being said, and for all the effort and planning I did…the funny thing is that I don’t have up-close shots of my face! The photos below are the best I’ve been able to produce. We couldn’t get a professional photographer in time and a coworker of the family graciously offered to take pictures on her high quality camera for us. The pictures were often dark or on some setting I’m not sure what (I’m not very knowledgeable about photography myself). My focus was to apply makeup in a way that would stand out at far distances, and it’s a good thing I did because most of the pictures were taken from father back and the quality dips when trying to zoom in closer. I have some wedding photos that I ended up liking or loving after tweaking them a little, so I’m happy about that. However, I don’t have ones for blog usage that specifically showcase the makeup except the two below. Sorry about that! I had too much on my mind to really think about how the pictures would turn out after a while.

Like I mentioned in the eyeshadow section, I plan to post a Part 2 with step-by-step details on how I completed my wedding look. Over the next few weeks, I plan to create a few alternative makeup looks as well. I hoped to get it finished sooner, but I got bronchitis and was feeling sick for over a week. Then, I took two weeks off of blogging to finish the wedding planning. Unfortunately, we all got Covid immediately after that, which put me out for a while too. And now, since the beginning of March and for the next eight weeks I’m taking an intensive course so I can get A1 certification in German language, as is required for me to have in this moving process. So, my usual Monday postings will likely be interrupted again. I’ll be back as soon as I can!

-Lili ❤

Trying Juvia’s Place Again

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There are more products reviewed, discussed, and photographed in this post than what is pictured above.

I took quite a long break from purchasing Juvia’s Place products, but they had an amazing Juneteenth sale with enough items I wanted to make it worth placing the order. Besides a few controversies, it was also the fact that the palettes with six pans and under weren’t performing as well as I was used to. Juvia’s Place and Coloured Raine used to make my favorite eyeshadows in my early blogging days, but both brands have changed things. So, just as I gave it some time before trying Coloured Raine again, I decided to give Juvia’s Place another chance in 2023 to see if it was just a string of bad luck and if I might enjoy their smaller palettes again.

I also bought the Coffee Shop palette, but it isn’t pictured with the group above because I ended up giving it to one of my friends. I wanted to mention that because I told Olive a long time ago that I bought that palette, with the implication that it would eventually be reviewed on this blog, but I forgot I gave it away. It looked so beautiful, but I purchased several neutral palettes at the same time, and with my friend visiting I hoped it would make a nice surprise gift.
Anyway, I recommend checking out Olive Unicorn Beauty if you’re a fan of Juvia’s place, bright colorful eyeshadow looks, fun hair dyes, and more.

Eyeshadows

The photo above is an example of my biggest issue with Juvia’s Place shimmers from my previous review until now. This happens with slicker formula shimmers and isn’t any indication that it’s a bad shadow. It’s just unfortunate that my eyes (which produce more oils in the last few years than previously in my life) aren’t compatible with those slip-type and ‘cone’ heavy eyeshadows anymore. I can sometimes mitigate the issue by having a thick matte layer in the crease (or using setting powder) to keep those zones drier, but it doesn’t always work.

The Blushed Rose Eyeshadow Palette

This color story is so beautiful! I wanted it ever since it launched, so I could no longer resist being without it. Shade 2 called to me the most, as it looks so fiery warm and vibrant in the pan, but it’s not as unique on my actual eyes. They’re all so pretty. I’m just not sure they’re as special as I wanted.

I’m happy to say the creasing/breaking down of the shimmers wasn’t as bad with this palette. The matte quality was also better than when I decided to take a break from Juvia’s Place, but it’s still not quite as good as their older mattes. I’m at least glad they’re blendable and of similar quality to their larger “newer” palettes. The texture of the eyeshadows feel softer, which seems like a conscious decision to make them more of a buildable eyeshadow formula rather than ultra pigmented. The color is clearly still there, but it’s not as easy to layer up multiple colors to build up to the kind of depth I prefer. I think the shadows are still good for the price and with a lot of shade variety and nice finishes. I can see why people still love their eyeshadows. The switch is just not to my specific preference anymore.

The Bronzed Rustic Eyeshadow Palette

The colors in this palette look a lot more similar to each other on my eyes than I expected, so that makes it less enjoyable to me than the Blushed Rose Palette. Other than that, my praises and critiques for this palette are exactly the same. The mattes are better than I expected, but don’t give me the depth I want. They’re more buildable and thin instead of heavier and pigmented. The shimmers don’t crease as badly as I feared. The shimmers are more metallic and less sparkly.

The eye looks I created are pretty, but I was a little underwhelmed by this palette.

The Fula Palette

This palette has some really interesting shades, especially the duochromes. I was so excited when I swatched everything and I had high expectations, but wow this one was the ultimate letdown. The mattes were so hard to build. I got my color impact with Nomad and Taza, but Nomad was constantly fading away when I tried to blend it, whereas Taza had a sticking issue wanting to stay where it’s initially laid and doesn’t want to blend out. Marrakesh didn’t give me enough vibrancy of color and I struggled to blend out the edges. Then I had the issue of all the shimmers creasing horribly within hours. The bald patch photo I showed at the beginning of the post was from the first eye look shown below.
Preferences are one thing, but I think this palette goes beyond a preference thing. I don’t think it’s as good of quality. Can it be made to work? Of course. I just can’t recommend it.

The Warrior Palette

Since this is one of the older palettes before I noticed a quality difference, and one of the larger ones, I had high hopes it would be great. Unfortunately, even the newer versions of older palettes seem different than I remember. The mattes were easier to blend than in the Fula palette, but still rougher than the Blush and Bronze palettes. They don’t layer as well or build as well either. The shimmers creased, but again, not as intensely as the Fula palette.

The colors in here are beautiful and the eye looks are nice, but I had to just face the facts that Juvia’s Place eyeshadows just aren’t suited for me anymore. Thankfully, the brand has branched out into so many other areas of makeup that I can continue to seek out and use their products. This doesn’t have to be the end.

Blushes

Juvia’s Place Blushed Liquid Blush in Marigold, Rosey Posey (should have been Peach Rose), Coral Rose, and Lily Love

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I bought these on June 19th, but I didn’t start working on this post until October. I took out a few products here and there prior to October, but when I initially got my order and saw that barbie pink liquid blush, I assumed I just make a mistake in what shade I chose and put it back in the box. It wasn’t until I started taking product photos and swatches that I realized it was called Rosey Posey, which I knew wasn’t one of the blush shades I was interested in. I checked my order confirmation page, and Peach Rose was the shade I actually ordered, but got Rosey Posey instead. It’s so many months later that I didn’t bother to contact Juvia’s Place customer service to try and fix it.

To give some kind of reference, I’m not the biggest liquid blush connoisseur, but my favorites are from Rare Beauty and Glossier. The ones from Glossier are a little more on the buildable natural side. The ones from Rare Beauty are much more pigmented. I need such a small amount from Rare Beauty to get the full pigment I want. The ones from Juvia’s Place though are equal in pigment or even more intense! I need practically a pinprick amount of Lily Love to cover my full cheek. That one is so unbelievably pigmented! For that reason, I prefer Coral Rose which is similar in tone to Lily Love, but less red, less intense, and a small drop won’t overdo things instantly.

These blushes dry down to a soft matte finish. They come in pretty colors. They’re long-lasting and don’t fade. They’re basically a more pigmented version of the Rare Beauty liquid blushes. That being said, I still prefer the Rare Beauty because they’re overall still easier to use and blend out. With the Juvia’s Place ones, I don’t even know if they disturb foundation underneath because they’re so opaque that anyone can cover up any bald spots or patches easily. That makes them a good thing or bad thing depending on someone’s needs.

One of the things going for these is that the Juvia’s Place liquid blushes cost $18 versus $23 from Rare Beauty, at least in the US. That doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but Rare Beauty blushes can be 26 Euros in Germany depending on the shade, whereas Juvia’s are 17 Euros. So, the overseas prices is where the difference can be larger. Plus, Juvia’s Place frequently has sales on their website and Ulta starting at around 30% off, so the price gap could widen even more.

I bought Marigold hoping it would be a decent substitute for Joy from Rare Beauty, but it’s not quite the same brightness and Joy also has a dewier looking finish that I prefer. So, I would like to one day repurchase that color. However, Coral Love is a decent enough substitute for my beloved Love shade.

I can recommend these, but I have to admit I still prefer the Rare Beauty ones myself.

Lip Products

Magic Lip Oil in Watermelon

I was so excited to try this lip oil because they’ve gotten so popular in the past year, but I just wasn’t impressed with this formula. It didn’t condition my lips. It felt more like a gel than an oil. It barely smelled like watermelon (like a watermelon mixed with chemicals). It doesn’t add any color to my lips, so the slight pink tinge is just for show. The shine disappears fairly quickly and it’s not long lasting in general on my lips either. With nothing good about it except how pretty it looks in the tube and the fun shape of the applicator, it made no sense to keep it. So, it’s out of my collection.

Lip Gloss in Sis!

This is a nice, functional, basic gloss. It has a bit of color and this particular shade looks slightly milky on me, but it’s still pretty, especially paired on top of a lipstick. It’s not as high shine as my favorites, but it’s also not as sticky either. I liked it enough that I bought one for my sister, and I’d consider getting another shade at some point in the future. I just have a ton of glosses that I like and am currently trying to use up that also have a conditioning effect to my lips, so it doesn’t really make sense to buy another at the moment.

Nude Velvety Matte Lipstick in Me and Toffee

I like the somewhat vanilla scent of these lipsticks. They go on the lips smoothly without tugging. They feel comfortable to wear on the lips. They’re not transfer-proof, but last a decent amount of time before touch-ups are required. The shape of the lipstick is interesting to look at, but the shape also seemed to make it easy to apply the product to my lips without going outside the lines. They’re a matte formula but have a slight creaminess to them. My preferred color of the two is Toffee because I can wear it without a darker lip liner. Toffee refused to show true-to-color on my camera unfortunately (in the lip photo but the swatch is accurate). I planned to retake photos while in Germany, but my plastic bag of lip products I intended to bring with me weighed 3 pounds (out of a 50 pound limit). These lipsticks survived the cut where I brought it down to 2 pounds, but ultimately I had to get that lip product bag even lower, so the Juvia’s Place lipsticks unfortunately had to be left behind.

If the colors were perfectly suited to my taste without lipliner, I would have found a way to bring one with me. The shade options were what did it. So, for anyone who is able to find colors they really like in Juvia’s Place’s shade offerings, I recommend giving one a try.

Miscellaneous

I Am Magic Natural Radiance Foundation in BURKINA-#310 [Dark with neutral warm undertone]

I believe this was too dark at the time I originally tried it, but just before I left the US, it was a passable shade match. The finish is quite pretty, a natural radiance just as described, but leaning more on the radiant side. It’s advertised as medium-to-full coverage. It can feel heavy if too much is applied, so the coverage I get for the amount I want to wear is high medium. The scent is extremely strong. There’s supposed to be “Acerola Cherry ferment” in here, and the cherry fragrance they added is a frequent reminder of that. I like the smell, but still wish it was excluded or at least that it was milder. It lingers on the skin for quite a while before I can’t smell it anymore.
When I first tried this, it was with the Rituel de Fille Thorn Oil and that made it easy to transfer. By itself, it can actually set down without powder. It just takes a little longer than other foundations I own.
I wish I could have been able to bring this with me, and I was very tempted to repurchase it during their Cyber Week sale to have it shipped to my location. However, the reason I left it is because I have so many other foundations I already love and have stood the test of time, plus in closer shade matches to me. They’re all at least double the price of this foundation, so for anyone unwilling to pay those kind of prices, this could be a less expensive option to look into.

Juvia’s Place I Am Magic Concealer in J11 [Dark with a Warm Undertone]

This looks like it should work for me, but it’s a bit too light when it’s actually on top of my dark under eye circles. I love the full coverage aspect to it, but the biggest issue is that it creases fast and too deeply for my liking. I tried it twice by itself with different powders and two other times mixed with other concealers to see if that would help, but nothing worked.

Also, regarding the shades, the next one that was still a warm undertone is J8, which looked like it would be way too deep for me based on the website photos. However, the color wouldn’t change the creasing problem I had with it.

Juvia’s Place Bronzed Cream Bronzer in Caramel

Taken from my Instagram post, since I summed it up best over there, I know I bought the incorrect shade for myself, but the biggest reason I didn’t try to exchange it for a better shade is because this bronzer has sparkles in it. It doesn’t show in swatches, and it’s too hard to see in the container, but those sparkles are way more obvious and look crazy when spread out on the face. I thought I was in the twilight zone because none of the YouTubers I watch talked about it in their initial videos (people with similar tastes to me), and it wouldn’t be until much later in a declutter video or update video that they mentioned noticing it later on and not liking it. It’s such a shame because I loved the feel of it on the skin and the way it blended was beautiful. I just can’t get on board with such a glittery look in a bronzer of all things! If they ever decide to release a version that isn’t, “crafted with shimmering pearls,” I’ll buy it in a heartbeat.

Also, $18 is mid to high end pricing if the price per grams are considered because it’s only 0.3 oz versus brands like Anastasia Beverly Hills that has a cream bronzer at $35 for 1 oz. I don’t mind a small size since it’s so hard for me to use up bronzers, blushes, and highlighters. However, it’s not as affordable of a product compared to what the brand’s prices usually are. This is the same brand whose foundation is $23 for 40ml when most brands’ foundations are only 30ml.

Those are pretty much all the products I’ve tried from Juvia’s Place in 2023. I did also buy their eye primer to compare to the one from Coloured Raine, but the primer separated in the bottle and looked really off-putting, so I didn’t even try it.

This was quite the mixture of good and mediocre performances with the products, but I still have an overall positive impression of the things they make. There’s no way to know whether something will be a hit or a miss from them, but I’m always intrigued.

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading! I wish you a Happy New Year and positive things for 2024!

-Lili ❤

Sep and Oct ’22 Purchases Reviewed and Updated Thoughts

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Not pictured are the brushes.

Brushes, makeup that was returned, products decluttered or given away, and a MAC highlighter are not pictured.

Welcome back to this series! I reviewed everything in separate posts from last year’s August purchases, so it made sense to skip that. As I began to work on September’s I realized I reviewed most things as well, except the unreviewed items were tied to pending posts I was currently working on. Since I at least purchased additional shades I knew I could show here, I decided to proceed with showing the September items, in addition to October’s!

Benefit Cosmetics Wanderful World Blush in Starlaa (and later PomPom and Shellie) – This specific shade was delayed for four months after the release of all of Benefit’s other blushes. However, I waited until I got my hands on it to do my brand blush review, which can be found HERE. In addition to those four (five technically if you count Terra Spark) from last year, this year I purchased PomPom and Shellie out of curiosity as to how light I could go with the blush colors.
Well, I learned that Shellie is my limit. That one doesn’t work, but Pom Pom is nice and subtle.

Another photo of Shellie

I like applying Starlaa and then adding PomPom to the apples of my cheeks. As a solo color, Terra is still my favorite of them all, but I continue to be pleased with this line and overall collection of blushes.

Guerlain Quad -I reviewed this along with many other luxury palettes HERE. Since that review, I’ve used it occasionally, but not enough to justify purchasing any additional ones. Honestly, I would still consider it at a reduced price if every shade in that compact was perfect for me. Chances of that happening are low. I thought for sure I would buy the upcoming Holiday quad, but that one doesn’t contain the baked shades, so I’m skipping it.

Artist Couture Love Sprung 3 and Quickie Palette – I reviewed both of these HERE. The Quickie palette has only been used once or twice since reviewing it. On the other hand, the Love Sprung 3 palette was such a good match for me that I finally had the nerve to declutter Love Sprung 2. The pink/purple blush is pretty, but I never reached for it. The highlighter in version 3 is better for my skin tone than version 2, and the deep peach blush in Love Sprung 2 is basically duped in 3. This shade was also similar to CoverFX Warm Honey, but slightly deeper and shows up on me better, so I was able to let the CoverFX go too considering it’s so old in my collection now.

Clionadh Haul – Stained Glass Shade Expansion (Queen’s Banquet, Quest, Oriel, Reign, Auric) and the previously released single shadow (Chalice) can be found shown HERE. However, I’m still planning to make several more Clionadh posts surrounding the expansion, doing additional comparisons, and showing the shades in full eye looks. It’s just such a daunting task!

Beautylish Haul – Wayne Goss The Radiance Boosting Face Palette (Deep Copper) + Brush 13 Bundle. I actually decluttered this because it got strange bumps on it after only two uses, which I’ve seen happen to other products after at least a year of use, so never this quickly. Beautylish handled it well when I emailed and said they think it’s due to oils on the skin effecting the surface of the powder? But they refunded me.
The review for Brush 13 is coming in Fude 6.

CDJapan Haul – Koyudo BP019 Blush Brush (supposed to be outlet but not listed that way), [Outlet] Koyudo Powder Brush Black Handle, [Outlet] Koyudo Blush Brush Black Flat Handle, and MS-4 Mai Sakura Eyeshadow Brush.
These brushes are also coming to Fude 6 and 7.

Ulta 21 Days of Beauty Haul – Benefit Cosmetics Precisely, My Brow Pencil Waterproof Eyebrow Definer in Shade 5, NARS Afterglow Lip Balms in Laguna and Torrid, Estee Lauder Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Foundation SPF 45 in 5W2, Too Faced Hangover Pillow Balm Ultra-Hydrating Lip Treatment in Watermelon and Mango (way more added in 2o23), and the Rituel de Fille Thorn Oil Priming Facial Elixir.

The Benefit brow product is a repurchase that I’ve discussed in various reviews, but isn’t exciting enough to showcase. The Estee Lauder foundation is in a new shade, but the formula has been reviewed HERE.

The Thorn oil was in a skincare post HERE. As for the lip products, those are tied to pending upcoming lip product posts. However, since I’m unsure which of these will come first, I’ll go ahead and review them here, along with the additional lip products I bought the following month as well: Too Faced Pillow Balm Pop Rich & Creamy Mini Lip Trio, Nars Afterglow Lip Shine Gloss in Deep Realm, and Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien.

The first thing I notice when putting on the Too Faced Hangover Pillow Balm is that it gives a minty-cool sensation on the lips. This contains menthol, so I’m not sure if it was added solely for cooling effect or if the brand wanted plumping action from it as well. What Too Faced touts as the lip plumping ingredient is sodium hyaluronate. Despite having more than one ingredient of this type, I don’t see any difference in the size of my lips beyond the trick of the eye that glossy products can provide. I bought the two full size lippies without even knowing they were supposed to do anything beyond conditioning the lips, so I’m fine with that. The only issue is that ingredients like menthol, cinnamon, and capsaicin irritate the skin, which can aggravate my lip issues. As far as I can tell, menthol and the flavoring and coloring agents are the only ones I spotted from the list that can dry out my lips. These are counterbalanced by the other ingredients in here that my lips love such as petrolatum and shea butter. Sunflower seed oil is another one, but instead Too Faced put “Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seedcake” which is apparently, “residue from the expression of oil,” so I’m not sure how that stacks up to the oil. Mineral oil also tends to be great, but the brand uses hydrogenated polyisobutene, a synthetic mineral oil alternative instead, which can be effective for me if paired with the right other ingredients. This also contains mango seed oil, which is a slightly above average lip conditioner for me too.
What this boils down to is the fact that I love the feeling of this product on my lips. It feels moisturizing, and though my lips don’t change in size, I can see where the lines of my lips get plumped up and smoothed out from the added hydration. A protective barrier is formed on the surface to lock that hydration in place and keep it there longer, but that means having to deal with everything sticking to my lips. Too thick of an application can also lead to the dreaded “white ring” around the mouth. Also, this isn’t the kind of lip product I can ignore when eating because of its thick texture, so I purposely try to wipe it off and then reapply once I’ve finished the meal.

Regarding the colors, Watermelon gives me the tiniest pink tinge to my lips, but it’s not my favorite tone. I don’t see any shimmer in Watermelon, but Mango has micro gold shimmer. Mango and Cocoa Kiss are way too light and give a unflattering milky look to my lips, so I definitely don’t wear them in public and mostly just enjoy them for their scents. Watermelon smells like a delicious Watermelon Jolly Rancher candy, whereas Mango smells so faintly that I’m not sure I would have been able to figure it out based on the smell alone. It’s vaguely fruity with a tinge of mango. Cocoa Kiss does smell like slightly artificial hot chocolate. I still enjoy that smell though.

Vanilla Kiss looks beautiful for those who don’t mind obviously shimmery lips. It doesn’t smell like vanilla to me, just a slight sugary scent. Strawberry Kiss, which smells like strawberry bubble-gum or those old school strawberry candies in the strawberry print wrapper, is the most opaque and deepest color of the ones I own. I forgot that the milky aspect of the other shades, and only being able to wear it privately or as an overnight treatment, is why I stopped using them for quite a while. However, now that I remember how good they are, I will want to continue using them. The brand released a new mini trio for the holidays this year and I suspect that even though I don’t need it, I will be unable to resist if it goes on sale. There’s a holiday wine shade that looks like a gorgeous version of Strawberry Kiss without the shimmer.

*BONUS PHOTOS: I ended up getting a discount and buying this year’s Too Faced Warm & Spicy: Pillow Balm Lip Balm Trio Set. I plan to gift the original one away, but I have swatches of the other two.

Holiday Wine smells like a cherry and strawberry forward sangria and Spiced Cider does have that spiced cinnamon scent! Also, even though Spiced Cider looks like a different color in the tube, on the lips and in swatches it looks no different than Vanilla, which is to say that it just looks like a beautiful shimmery colorless gloss.

With the Nars Afterglow Lip Balms, they feel nice and moisturizing on the lips, but I don’t get as much hydration from them as some of my other top favorite lip products. There are emollient ingredients in there, but not the ones that my lips in particular benefit from the most. They’re just okay, like hydrogenated polyisobutene and squalane, which aren’t enough to counter the effects of the dryness I get from the coloring agents. So, I wear these balms for the subtle tinge of color to my lips that’s pretty and flattering colors for me, at least in these two shades. They feel comfortable to wear, but by the end of the day with reapplications, I know my lips will somehow end up slightly dryer than at the start. So, these aren’t something I use daily. I might use them for a few days back to back, but then I’ll have to switch to a truly nourishing lip product instead.

The lip gloss is pretty, but the color doesn’t show as well on me. I chose this shade because it looked like a wearable warm color, but mostly because it was in the clearance section on the Nars website. It’s a bit funny to me that the lip gloss contains more of the ingredients my lips like. It has the hydrogenated polyisobutene, but also shea butter replaces the squalane, and sunflower seed oil is present, though nearly at the bottom of the list. As a thick glossy product, it seals in the moisture better than the balms, but the end result in terms of moisture is the same. When the layer wears down, my lips look drier than when I first put it on. As a gloss though, without any additional expectations for it, it looks nice.

The Satin Lip pencil was reviewed in this declutter post HERE, and in that post I voiced my concern over my favorite shade being different and it appearing to be discontinued. However, I was surprised to see it eventually return to the website last year (still in the last chance section). I bought it and was happy that it was the same original formula I fell for the first time. Regarding it being discontinued or not, all I can say is that another year later, it’s still in the last chance section! Nars recently launched the Powermatte High-Intensity Lip Pencil, so I wonder if they finally will let the Satin Lip Pencils go or if they plan to reformulate and/or redesign the line.

Luxury/High-End Purchases from October ’22: Bobbi Brown Luxe Eye & Face Palette in Copper Glow and Bobbi Brown Jadestone Palette, Dior Backstage Khaki Neutrals and Dior Écrin Couture Iconic Eye Makeup Palette, as well as the Pat Mcgrath Labs Celestial Nirvana Eye Shadow Palette in Bronze Bliss

I reviewed all five of those HERE. The only one I regret buying is the Bobbi Brown Face Palette just because I bought a face trio earlier this year (not to be confused with the new holiday trio that contains 2 of the 3 same shades) that I get more use out of, plus it contains the same highlighter that is in that palette. As for the others, I am still always testing new eyeshadows, so I don’t have the time to use them as much as I want.

Pat Mcgrath Spur of the Moment Purchases: Skin Fetish: Divine Glow Highlighter in Venus Nectar, Pat Mcgrath Labs X Bridgerton Skin Fetish Sublime Highlighter in Incandescent Gold, and Pat Mcgrath Labs Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Concealer in Shade MD23.

I showcased both highlighters HERE, though I didn’t show Venus Nectar on my face, so I’m including that at least in this post. As for the concealer, I reviewed the formula of shades MD22 and MD24 HERE, but I don’t think I updated with a swatch of MD23 once I got it. Essentially, I finally got my hands on that sold out shade and it was the perfect depth level, but the tone was still too olive and looked strange compared to the tone of my foundations, so I essentially gave up on using the PML concealers anymore. I don’t have MD22 or MD24 to compare next to it anymore, but I have a photo of MD23 compared to other concealers when I had intended (but changed my mind) to do an Ami Cole concealer post.

Fenty Beauty Double Cheek’d Up: Freestyle Cream Blush Duo – I reviewed it HERE and honestly haven’t picked it up a single time since reviewing. When the cream blush line was expanded this year, I picked up two new shades, but realized that even though I enjoy them for their colors, I prefer a product that sets to a fully dry touch. So, I don’t plan on reviewing anymore blushes from Fenty in the future, unless they release powder versions.

LYS Beauty Higher Standard 3-Piece Cream Blush Set – I reviewed it HERE and have only used it a few times after the review. It isn’t a matter of me losing interest. It’s still in my top 2 among traditional cream formulas. I’m just preferring to use powder blushes a lot more these days. I still very much recommend LYS blushes.

Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation in 13.5 and 14

I was initially saving this review for a foundation ranking/declutter post I started working on at the beginning of the year, but never finished. I purchased Shade 13.5 which was slightly too light, but I could pull it off as long as I used bronzer with it. I bought Shade 14 at the end of November, and that was closer to my skintone, but slightly too dark. I can get a good match by mixing the two, but I have to be careful because the color darkens once it’s dry. So, I can’t just mix to my correct shade while wet. I have to mix to get my correct dry-down color.

This foundation is thick, though not heavy. It doesn’t drip at all when squirted out of the pump. I get high-medium coverage from the foundation. When they say “soft glow” they really do mean that the glow level is low. It’s a natural finish foundation, but on my dry skin, it looks horrible for most of the day unless I either prep my skin well (with at least facial oil) or wait until my natural oils come through, which doesn’t end up happening until the late afternoon, if at all. Even when I use Rituel de Fille Thorn Oil, I don’t like how my skin looks until an hour or so later. Then, I find the finish to be quite beautiful. I like this foundation enough that I’ve been keeping it in rotation since buying it, but not quite enough that I’d repurchase it once I use it up, even if Hourglass was to make shade 13.75 or something. I have foundations I like equally (albeit a different finish) that are still expensive, but a better deal.

It sets completely and doesn’t transfer, so I don’t set it with setting powder or spray. I still use a finishing powder with it at times and in specific areas.

Hourglass Foundation Shade 13.5 with Gucci Bronzer Shade 5 (Taken with Camera)

Hourglass Foundation Shades 13.5 and 14 mixed (Taken with Cell Phone)

I posted on the home page that, unfortunately, my main camera broke and I had to switch to using my cell phone for blog photos. That has come with its own benefits and challenges. My main camera had higher megapixels, but I’ve been using additional light sources and trying to improve my light quality to compensate for my cell phone, so it’s debatable which one is better when I had different struggles with both. Anyway, I just wanted to explain why the two look so different, besides the foundation color. I still have a ton of photos taken with my former main camera, but not enough to complete the posts without needing to add additional pictures with my cell phone.

Oden’s Eye Merry Christmas and Christmas Eve Holiday Palettes – I reviewed these HERE but did not include any solo eye looks. I figured today would be a good time to share some. As I mentioned in my post, I always reach for these as companion palettes. Out of the eleven Oden’s Eye palettes I own, I would say the Merry Christmas one is my 2nd favorite. The Christmas Eve palette would be 4th place. I hope the brand decides to re-release them for those who missed out.

Smashbox Cali Contour Palette in Medium/Dark

It took the full year for me to make up my mind about this palette because there was always something I didn’t like about it when I tried to use more than one product at a time. Then it would take me a few weeks to a few months to want to try it again.

It’s very easy to overdo it with the contour (as seen below) and because it’s so pigmented, I can make it look blended, but it doesn’t sheer out enough. So, it’s best to start slowly and try and build up the color that way. Cinnamon Matte isn’t dark enough to bronze me (though I’m still not sure what purpose it’s actually supposed to serve), but I use it to tone down Warm Contour within reason.

Cocoa Rojo is a beautiful color, but for some reason I don’t like the finish of it on my skin. There’s subtle shimmer in this and I’m in my glowy cheek era, so I should like this. I’m just not sure it’s this type of shimmer that I like in a cheek product where it shows particles and the glow doesn’t come from a sheen.

These highlighters are subtle, which is also right up my alley. However, the shimmer isn’t as refined as I like. For some reason they just don’t excite me.

On paper, I should love this face palette, but I don’t. I like it enough to want to keep it, but I know I’m not going to reach for it when there are so many blushes, bronzers, and highlighters I use that actually cause an excited flutter within me when I put them on. Since I don’t have a ton of contour products, that’s the one thing from here that still has some appeal and I’m considering depotting it from the palette. However, I do have contour products that are working just fine for me, so I might not bother.

Revolution Shrek Gingy Highlighter and GOT Iron Throne Sponge Set

I bought the highlighter purely for nostalgia. I love Gingy! The Shrek series (really just 1 and 2) was my favorite series after the Mummy Series (again 1 and 2) for a very long time! I think Rush Hour 1 and 2 (okay apparently I only like the first two of trilogies) surpassed the Shrek series by now, but I still love those movies and Gingy is still my favorite. However, for review purposes I have worn it a handful of times. When I’m using my winter foundations, the highlighter is too deep of a bronze for me. In the photo above where I’m not quite at my typical summer shade but a little darker than I have been in a while, it seems to work well enough when used sparingly. In complete direct light, my camera can pick up the texture to the shimmer particles, but looks smoother at most other angles in the light. In fact, it’s smoother than I expected from a Revolution Beauty product. I’m a bit impressed! I don’t intend to use it anymore though since I want to keep it for nostalgia purposes, but it’s good enough that I could. Also, this used to have a strong gingerbread scent, but that faded in the year that I’ve had this.

How cool is this sponge and holder set! Plus, it was so inexpensive at $6 considering Beautyblender’s sponge stands/holders/cases are in the $10 range not including the sponge. The brand had a sale and I ended up buying another set to give to my friend at the even lower price of $4!
As a Game of Thrones mega fan, I had to have this for the stand alone. It’s not only a functional holder, but also a nice spot to set the sponge to air dry after being cleaned.
The sponge was just like any other inexpensive sponge I’ve tried. It blended my foundation in just as well while feeling a little firmer than the original Beautyblender, but not as firm as the Rephr sponge or Danessa Myricks ones. The Revolution Beauty sponge was also firmer than the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge. It would be nice if it was a little softer when wet, but it still works great, especially for the cost. There are two big drawbacks for me, which is that if the sponge sits out for even as little as a few hours, I can’t wash it fully clean with any of my soaps. There will still be foundation stains after multiple re-washings. The other downside is that for whatever reason this sponge takes exceptionally long to dry. It had me concerned about the increased risk of something growing inside considering how long it stays wet for. So, after a few uses I decided not to bother with it. I’m happy enough with the stand.
I know there have been quite the issues financially with this brand and their sub-brands and co-brands, but I hope they’re able to continue making gems. I haven’t had the best luck with everything of theirs I’ve tried, but they’ve got their occasional hits.

CDJapan Chikuhodo ZE-3 Blush Brush – This review is coming to Fude 6.

Sonia G Smooth Buffer Brush – This review is coming to Fude 7.

Viseart Petit Pro Palette London Étoile – I reviewed this HERE along with several other Viseart palettes. I created some pretty looks with it, but once the “new” feeling wore off, I didn’t use it again. I love olive shadows, but I have so many other olives that have more sparkle and wow-factor to them, which is why I always remembered to use those and forgot about the one from this palette.

Lunar Beauty 2022 Advent Calendar, Love Me Strawberry Lip Oil, and Dreamy Lip Gloss – I’m going to come right out and say I’ve chosen to not review these products at this time. I have always felt conflicted about whether to review Lunar Beauty or not because I’m always going back and forth about how I feel about the brand’s owner Manny Gutierrez (Manny MUA). The personality he portrays in his videos isn’t the style I enjoy watching in reviews, but it’s his past constant involvement in drama with other problematic influencers that bothered me. I do own the first Moonspell palette (purchased discounted from a third party and never used as it’s just for packaging), a Moon Prism highlighter I bought purely for packaging (also purchased from a third party and never used) and originally planned to compare it to the controversial dupe highlighter from Makeup Revolution, the first Moon Prism blush palette that I purchased when Lunar Beauty products were sold at Sephora, and the Large Powder Brush from his website (even gifted two of them). Manny had stayed away from the drama for a few years and his Fool Coverage podcast with Laura Lee started to change my opinion of him. That’s why I purchased the Advent Calendar and lip products last year and decided that I felt comfortable enough to finally put full energy into the Lunar Beauty post I’d been working on here and there for literally years. Then, as I started with the product photos and testing in 2023, I kept hearing about more and more problematic influencers that he was starting to show his public support for again and that bad taste in my mouth returned. Unlike certain people whose products I refuse to buy or speak about on my blog any longer (JS, JC, JH, etc.), I don’t know if I’m going to give a hard ban to Lunar Beauty products in terms of never speaking about them again. I at least finished reviewing the last Jaclyn Cosmetics products I owned before stating I was done with the brand. With Lunar Beauty, if I’m wearing those products in a post, I might mention it’s what I’m using, but I don’t see myself ever working on that brand review post again, and I personally will no longer purchase anymore products from them. The last thing I bought was a year ago anyway.

Beauty Bay Dark Fantasy Palette

I showcased this in a Swatchfest post, but hadn’t actually reviewed it at the time. These colors are stunning and right up my alley. I have loved the looks I’ve created with it. Regarding the quality, this doesn’t give me that many issues when I’m using a primer. Eye primers are a staple product for most beauty lovers, but I do personally know people in my life who are makeup dabblers and don’t always use primer. So, it’s for their sake that I feel the need to express that I had such a hard time using this palette without a primer. The lighter mattes are fine, but the darker ones are so pigmented with good adherence that they just don’t want to budge unless there’s a primer underneath. I can’t stress enough that primer is important! Also, I highly recommend working from lightest to darkest when building up layers.

With primer, these mattes still weren’t as easy to blend as the majority of the eyeshadow palettes I use (also at double the cost or more), but with the staple Japanese eyeshadow brushes I’ve used hundreds of times, it was still better than I expected. It’s nice to see Beauty Bay eyeshadow quality has a positive reputation for a reason. Not necessarily as being the greatest on the market, but certainly great for the price (along the lines of BH Cosmetics, Colourpop, and ELF). It didn’t take that much longer blending as to prevent me from wanting to use this palette again. The first time was rough, but every time after was easy enough. I like how much color payoff I get from those mattes. For instance, shades like Plasma are usually treated like a pastel shade and are too thin or too white based and don’t look that great on my eyes, but this one was great! Hoax is a color that really doesn’t show on my eyes due to my skin tone and Algorithm is a slightly more golden tone version of my skin so it barely shows either, but I still like to use it as a starting shade in the crease. Atmosphere is the one that’s too thin and doesn’t show well enough on me and the other shades are too strong in pigment and overpowers it when I try to use it to blend the edges of the shadows, but it still semi works for that purpose. I just have to spend a little extra time on it. Beauty ends up looking way more purple on my eyes instead of burgundy or maroon, but it’s at least still a pretty color.

I have zero issues with the shimmers. I sometimes get a little fallout, but dampening the brush helps. The shimmers aren’t as refined as some of my more expensive eyeshadows either, but I like their sparkle level and they look pretty regardless. I want intensity and opacity from my shimmers, and that’s what these give me. I didn’t have any patchy or creasing issues either, so overall I do like this palette! I’m glad I was able to give the Beauty Bay eyeshadows a try. Because it’s not the easiest to get my hands on, I don’t know how many more I’ll get in the future. Plus, I’m usually not drawn to their color stories. However, if another one attracts my attention, I might get it.

MAC Indulgent Glow Rosé Limited-Edition face kit in Sparkling Wine – I reviewed this HERE and in comparison to other MAC highlighters I got around the same time. It’s super pretty, but I ran into that issue where I am so reluctant to actually use my makeup with cute embossing on it. I have no regrets buying it though.

Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotising Pop Shot eyeshadow in Cosmic Rocks – I reviewed it HERE along with the shade Sunlit Diamond that they sent me on accident with a different order. Just as I expected, these have become cute decor. I haven’t reached for them more than once or twice after completing the review. I just don’t use single eyeshadows if they’re in individual compacts. I only reach for the ones in my larger custom magnetic palettes.

Hourglass Unlocked Butterfly Palette – I got this from FeelUnique/Sephora UK for $46 purely to get the two blushes in that palette. I depotted two shades from my other Hourglass palettes that were unusable on my skintone, adhered them to the Butterfly palette’s now missing blush spots, and sold it as a custom palette on Mercari. Minus the fees, I made $32 back, so this was probably the best deal I got that year. I did not get so lucky on the deals this year, but that’s a story for another time. I talked about the process of depotting and showed the photos of the palette HERE.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O – This was just a repurchase. I decided to look through my purchase history and essentially since November 2015 I’ve bought 8 of the 500ml bottles, 2 of the 250ml bottles, and 2 travel size 100ml bottles. In the beginning, I was able to get heavy discounts on multi-packs, but the prices have jumped up quite a lot. So, I try to get them individually whenever I see them on sale, even if I need to accumulate backups since they will always be used up. In fact, I’m halfway through my last bottle and will need to find a new place to order it from when I go back to Germany so I won’t need to bring a big bottle over with me. This is one of those products that as long as they keep making it and don’t change the formula, I’ll be buying it for life.

Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’R Face + Eye Bronzer & Highlighter Palette – I reviewed this HERE and though it’s still in my collection, I am considering decluttering it. I just have a ton of bronzers by now that I prefer and don’t need to resort to mixing to get the tones I like.

One/size Cheek Clapper in Phat @$$ – I reviewed it HERE. As it often happens, because my blush collection is so large, I don’t have the chance to use this as often as I would like to. It’s still one of my favorites, along with the other shade from the line called Freaky Peach. I still easily recommend this trio, even at full price.

Sephora Collection VIB Sale Items: Soft Matte Perfection Blush Duo in 01 Sweet Pea, Best Skin Ever Liquid Foundation in 44 Y, Best Skin Ever Full Coverage Multi-Use Concealer in 35N and 44Y

The blush duo in three shades (two additional I bought later on) are reviewed HERE. As for the foundation and concealers, the shade matches are why I decided not to review them. I wasn’t blown away by the finishes and just didn’t feel inspired to keep using any of them.

Sephora’s Best Skin Ever line was really hyped up, but it was just fine. I didn’t like how the concealers wore throughout the day. The finish of the foundation was fine and the color match wasn’t too terribly dark if used lightly, but all of these smelled so heavily of chemicals after owning them for a year. For the record though, I didn’t open the concealers until around three months prior to posting this and they smelled just as bad as the foundation, like spray paint or nail polish. So, even without air exposure, the shelf life isn’t great on these. I threw them out before I could take a picture including them in the big October month photo.

Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Luminizer Highlight in Flaunt – I reviewed this already as a sample HERE, but I bought the full size a year ago during the VIB sale. I also have swatches and comparisons to the powder version of this shade HERE.

Kayali Eden Juicy Apple – I don’t normally review my perfume purchases, but I did so in a big Kayali post HERE. I have admittedly barely used this perfume because I’m always using Yum Pistachio or Lovefest instead, but at least I just got this in a small size so it’s not quite as wasteful. Plus, I got it on sale. As nice as it is, I decided to give it to my sister because of how deep my obsession for the other scents run. This was my first Kayali purchase, but since it’s only a year old, I haven’t attached any sentimental value to it.

HUDA BEAUTY GloWish Cheeky Vegan Soft Glow Powder Blush in Sassy Saffron – I showed swatches of it HERE in comparison to the previous shades I bought. However, I don’t have any face pictures with it on because it just doesn’t show up on my cheeks. For that reason, I haven’t used this particular shade. The formula and finish wasn’t special enough either for me to prioritize it. I still like how Berry Juicy looks, and I wore it perhaps two more times in the past year.

Tom Ford Highlighter Duo in Tanlight – I reviewed it HERE. I still use it quite often and it’s one of my favorite highlighters in my collection. In fact, it’s such a great shade match for me that I don’t feel the necessity to purchase anymore highlighters from the brand unless they have another shade that’s similar to the mixture of the two colors in some form of special packaging. While I still have mixed feelings about the price and I’m not sure if I would universally recommend it to everyone, it was worth it personally to me.

Oh dear Lord, we’ve finally reached the end!

This was a monster of a post, even though so many of the products had already been reviewed elsewhere! We’re so close to completing the series but November and December 2022 had even more purchases than October! And considering what I know is coming for the rest of this year in my personal life, I think we’ll have to complete this series sometime next year!

I’m getting into a really exciting chapter of my personal life, which I will be sharing with everyone in December or January. Thank you to those who are choosing to be along for the ride!

-Lili ❤

GloWish Quad and Huda Beauty Collection Update

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A few additional items discussed in this post are not pictured here.

Between Huda Beauty’s main brand and the side brands of Kayali and GloWish (I’m not fully sold on Wishful yet), I’m becoming more of a fan these past two years than ever before! Today, I will be discussing the remaining unreviewed products I own.

GloWish Micro Mini Natural Eyeshadow Palette in Moss

The Glowish quad is nice! It’s more pigmented than I expected, which is to say it’s the same Huda quality I’m used to. Unlike the 9-pans that are normally made in China, this quad was made in Italy like the bigger Huda palettes. So, that was interesting to see. A lot of people say the quality between the 9-pan and full size ones are different, but now that I have the Empowered and Naughty palettes to compare, I really don’t see a difference from the Obsessions palettes I own. Then again, I’ve only purchased the ones rated high in reviews.

The shimmer in the Glowish quad didn’t have the impact I usually prefer, but since it’s part of the Glowish line, I assume it’s not meant to be super attention-grabbing. That’s the only complaint I have. I don’t get creasing, I don’t have longevity issues, and the kickup isn’t that bad. I like this, but if I’m being perfectly honest with myself, Moss gives similar vibes to the Natasha Denona Mini Gold palette, but ND’s has way more interesting shimmers. To those that like muted earthy yet pigmented colors and like satins instead of shimmers, I recommend getting the GloWish quad. However, those that like a lot more sparkle with a quality that’s at least as good, plus even quicker to blend, I recommend spending the extra $6 to get the Natasha Denona Mini Gold, which has an fifth eyeshadow too.

Huda Beauty 1 Coat WOW! Extra Volumizing and Lifting Mascara

An example of this mascara being worn is in the section with Glowish quad eye looks and the first two eye looks for the Naughty palette. For those curious, I’m using the COL-LAB mascara (in the pink writing not purple) in the last two eye looks showing the Naughty palette.

My version of one mascara coat is to pull the applicator out of the tube and apply the mascara to my lashes in repeated swipes until I’m satisfied with the length and volume, and without dipping back into the tube a second time. I start with the side of the wand that forms an hourglass shape, as that feels like I can get closer to the root of my lashes that way. I keep building up that single layer before turning the wand to the side that looks fully curved without an inward dip from brush base to brush tip. That side of it helps to comb out the lashes so they don’t look clumpy and/or remove visible clumps gathered on the tips.
I prefer to stick to the single coat. Waiting for the mascara to dry and then applying a second layer only adds slightly more volume, but no additional length. I’m satisfied with the volume I get from one coat, so I don’t get extra value trying to build my lashes beyond the first coat.

I don’t get any smudging throughout the day, but I do get some flaking. The amount is acceptable to me, so I don’t count it as much of a negative. However, I have mascaras that give me the same results with less effort and don’t flake at all such as the MAC Megastack, COL-LAB mascara, and Essence Volume Stylist 18hr Lash Extension Mascara. So, this isn’t something I plan to repurchase. Also, this takes normal effort to remove with my Bioderma Micellar Water.

I should also note that I’ve used this mascara at least five times in a little under two weeks and the mascara consistency has gotten thicker. I have a much easier time getting volume, but the amount of clumps I have to remove from the tips of my lashes before it has time to dry is another annoying attribute that guarantees I won’t repurchase it.

Huda Beauty Empowered Eyeshadow Palette

As I said in my Swatchfest #6 post that included this palette, but not a full review, Manifest It is that strange gel formula that Huda included in the Naughty palette, but the pigment is in cream form instead of the circular balls. I took a cosmetic spatula and recombined the clear hard waxy gel and pigment together to get an even coating of color. Unlike Slippery, I find that there’s enough pigment in my mixture to actually use Manifest It as a visible opaque eyeshadow and not just as a primer base. It looks fine on my eyes if I keep it away from any folds and lines, but if I put it in the inner corner or some of it strays from the lid and into the crease, it can look a bit textured and take some extra smoothing over with a flat brush or my finger, in addition to creasing and moving, leaving me with a bald patch in those spots. It looks passable for a few hours, but by mid-day the combination of eye movement and spots on my lids that product oil majorly exacerbate the creasing. So, I try to keep this shadow for use in areas of low movement and away from areas that show signs of “maturity.”

After two hours wearing Manifest It on the inner half of the eye compared to the worst of it by the end of the day.

The standard powder mattes are all great. It’s the typical Huda Beauty type of mattes that are pigmented and easy to blend. My issue is just that these shades are too similar on my eyes, so I’m a bit limited in the variations of looks I can come up with. Big Dreams and Rebel end up looking the same. That’s also the case with Power and Best-Self. Get It is darker and brighter than those two, but if I use it in the same eye look it will overpower them and just look as though I applied Get It by itself. The three mattes that stand out the most are Winner, Confident, and Legacy. In the case of Winner, it has equal depth to Big Dream and Rebel, but the aspect that sets it apart from them is how cool toned it is.

We have two gel hybrid eyeliners that can be used as eyeliner, eyeshadow, and/or as an eye base. They aren’t waterproof or transfer-proof, since I can rub the spot where they are applied and get a faded imprint on my finger, but they at least don’t smear. They’re easy to pick up on a brush, but not as easy to get off the brush and smoothly onto the eyelids, especially with other shadows already built up on the lids. I don’t have much patience when it comes to passing over the lash line repeatedly, so it’s actually easier for me to use Confident as a liner instead of Worthy. Because Purpose is a richer color that takes less effort to build up, I don’t mind as much using that one as eyeliner. I like applying it to my eyes with my finger for a smokey look and to increase the intensity of a typical multichrome used on top of it. It does fade on me as the day goes on, as it’s not that rich of a black color, but it’s still visible enough for me to be satisfied with it being included in the palette.

Courageous is described as being “multichromatic” and has a slight shift that can be seen in the pan, but not as evident on my eyes. It also has its own black base, so using it with Purpose isn’t necessary. Even though it’s not very shifty, it’s still a pretty eyeshadow and great for smokey looks. It has a little too much slip to it, which is prone to creasing on my eyes, so I try to keep it out of lines and folds as well.

As for the golds, they’re both beautiful, reflective, and shimmery, but Limitless is extra flaky. So I prefer to use Charisma out of sheer ease of use, though they both have a scattered effect if not applied wet.

Visionary is similar to Provocative from the Naughty palette, but I prefer this color, tone, and fact that it feels smoother on the lids. I’ve had the Naughty palette a little longer, so perhaps I feel a slight difference because Visionary is newer. The mixture of swirled colors turns out to be very similar to how Do It looks, which is yet another reason I feel these shadows are repetitive. Besides the slight tone difference (bright copper versus brown-copper), Do It is shinier with visible shimmer whereas Visionary is smoother, so they have textural differences and one gets to choose which shimmer intensity one wants.

Bold Moves is an interesting mottled shadow combining “white gold and true gold metallic speckles.” Considering this is a mostly warm leaning neutral palette, but with some cool toned options, this kind of shimmer is a good bridge between them. It’s creamy and adheres to the lid nicely, but I apply it damp if I want to avoid a mess when applying it to the inner corners.

I bought this for $46 on Black Friday, so I’m glad I didn’t pay full price. It’s just a little too repetitive in color story and the shimmers are a little too creamy for my eyes, so I don’t think I’ll be using it very much. The quality is good, but there are so many factors that will determine whether these shades will work for someone or not.

Huda Beauty Naughty Nude Eyeshadow Palette

The last photo above has the swatch of Untamed because I accidentally skipped over it when I was doing swatches in order. I also re-swatched Passion and Hard because those shades needed to be mixed/rubbed together more thoroughly to show a solid color. It would have looked unflattering on the eyes to have random lighter and darker lines or patches on the eye if I just applied it like a duochrome.

I have to address the fact that Passion in this palette is like Astral Amethyst Moon in the Pat Mcgrath Huetopian Dream palette. It’s the surprise blue pop in a neutral palette. However, at least Passion is blue shimmer with a burgundy base, and that burgundy color works well with all the other pink and red-leaning shadows in this palette.

I had the Empowered palette first and dealt with Slippery the same way as Manifest It and the weird gel pigment bubble shadow in the Essence Coffee to Glow Palette; I used a cosmetic spatula to mix half of it together fully. It doesn’t turn into anything pigmented enough for me to wear on its own, but it does make a pretty good eyeshadow base for helping the shimmers stick to the eye.

Hard has a creamier feel to it than a standard matte, but it’s definitely still a powder that sets on the lid to a dry finish. The color it turns into basically just looks like my eyelid color. So, I haven’t found a use for it.

While I appreciate a pigmented and blendable product, the shade Untamed was so difficult to work with. It goes on the lid intensely immediately, even when I use a small amount. If I try to blend the edges, it fades to a dirty dark color that doesn’t show the burgundy tone anymore. It looks too harsh and unblended if I don’t at least try to smooth out the edge. Applying a lighter eyeshadow color on the edge tones it down far too much. Blending it out also wipes too much of it away. So, it’s extremely finicky trying to get the color to show true to how it looks in the pan, not be overblended (which takes 3-5 seconds to overblend) and lose color or look patchy, but also not look like a solid block of color. If I finally get it to look nice, adding a shade to my lid and it slightly traveling higher into the crease forces me to have to play the game all over again to try and fix it and avoid it looking patchy and messy. The time it usually takes me to finish an eye look is the amount of time I have to spend on just Untamed alone to make it look good. Thankfully, after dealing with Slippery and properly swirling together Passion, Hard, Flower Power, and Provocative, the only shadow left in this palette that gives me trouble is Untamed. Regarding the marble/swirl shades, the shimmers seemed the tiniest bit creamier than Hard which made them a little easier to mix evenly.

The five other shimmers are easy to apply, but Shameless, Flower Power, and Tantric are a bit flaky (though not to the extreme of the golds in the Empowered Palette) and I prefer to dampen my brush to apply them. I will get shimmer fallout if I don’t use something like a glitter primer or the Slippery shadow underneath to keep it in place. Dampening my brush works for getting it to adhere, but not for a full day. Another nice thing about these shimmers is that I don’t have to deal with creasing when I use them. As for the seven other mattes, they’re quite pigmented and blend nicely. It’s not as quick to use as Pat Mcgrath or Natasha Denona mattes, but these are still quite good.

*I accidentally wrote Slipper instead of Slippery. Also, I intended to use Irresistible on its own in the inner corner, but as I continued to dip my brush into the pan to build up the shade in the inner corner, I got confused and started dipping into Shameless as well. So, it’s a combination of the two.

When this first launched, I was instantly drawn to the palette (admittedly the swirl patterns were a big part in that). What stopped me from getting it was my concern with it having too many similar looking shades. On my skin tone, this proved to be true. My second and fourth eye looks above used entirely different shadows, yet they look quite similar. Hard doesn’t show as a color on me. Hypnotic barely shows. Rough shows slightly more. Slippery may as well be a primer. Please Me, Provocative, and Irresistible look similar even in swatches, let alone on my eyes. I was surprised to see the opposite being true for the dark shades Untamed (mahogany red-brown), Naughty (warm neutral leaning brown), and Spicy (dark cool brown) that remain distinctly different as long as they aren’t used in one eye look. In a way, having paid $34 for this palette via Sephora makes up for it.

The other benefit to Naughty Nude is that there are various textures and finishes to experiment with, something I always admired about Huda palettes. However, because these shadows are organized in a way that isn’t as easy to distinguish between these similar colors, it takes extra time to plan out a look. This makes sense for a super colorful palette, but it’s a bit strange when I consider one of the benefits of a neutral palette is normally its easy of use.

This is a nice quality palette, but I’m glad I didn’t pay full price for it. For my preferences, I honestly wish I played with the Nude Obsessions Rich palette below so that I could have realized it’s like a condensed version of Naughty Nude, or at least similar enough. I had that one a whole month before purchasing Naughty Nude, but hadn’t used it beforehand.

Huda Beauty Nude Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette in Rich

This is the oldest (in terms of release date) of the palettes I’m discussing today, but it’s my favorite of the bunch. The majority of the 9 colors are distinctly different from each other. The quality is just as good as the full size palettes, though perhaps slightly less pigmented. I don’t mind this though because there’s more control of the intensity of the eye look this way. Also, I think most of the shadows in the Rich palette are more shimmery and reflective, something I also like, and in shade tones I like even more than what’s offered in the Naughty palette.

Huda Beauty Lovefest Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette

This was an unexpected addition to the post. Sephora had this and many other Obsessions palettes for half off during their Labor Day sale. It’s always the same song; several of the colors appealed to me, but I didn’t want to get it for full price because the orange shades looked too similar and I figured the two lightest mattes could look identical on my eyes. Plus, by now I certainly had all the warm toned shades (especially oranges, pinks, and browns) I could possibly want from the brand. However, I couldn’t resist that price.

I was correct that I can’t tell Shades 2 and 6 apart when I use them in the same eye look. Thankfully Shades 4 and 9 are different enough. The mattes perform just like my other Obsessions palettes. Shade 3 is a low impact shimmer that is smooth to the touch and basically looks like a satin on the eyes. Shade 5 is a pretty duochrome that brings the sparkle and drama that I want. Shade 7 is a medium pink that works to brighten the inner corner of my eyes, but also makes for a pretty lid shade. I’ve had this for the shortest amount of time out of all of these reviewed today, but so far so good!

Just as I was finishing this post, I remembered there are in fact a few extra items from the brand(s) I haven’t reviewed. From Wishful I have the Honey Whip Peptide Moisturizer that I’m waiting to open once I finish up one of my current moisturizers, a mini of the Thirst Trap Juice HA3 Peptide Serum that I used a few times and didn’t notice it doing anything, and a ton of samples of the Eye Lift & Contour 1% Bakuchiol & Peptide Serum which I still haven’t tried. There’s the GloWish Luminous Pressed Powder I stopped using and didn’t finish testing. I also have a deluxe sample of the Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder, but it’s in a color that’s too light for me. I could try to use it despite that, but I feel that it would throw off my ability to see the results properly. So, I don’t see myself reviewing any of those anytime soon. However, there are two things I intentionally skipped reviewing that I decided I will include.

FauxFilter Luminous Matte Concealers in Crumble 7.1N and Butterscotch 7.5G and FauxFilter Color Corrector in Mango.

The reason I wasn’t intending to post about the concealers is because base products don’t excite me to review. It’s only when I find concealers comparable to my holy grail ones that I want to share my results with everyone. In addition, this is a bit of a regret purchase. I knew Crumble wasn’t full coverage enough to adequately conceal my extreme dark under eye circles and that it made my under eyes look about as dry as Tarte Shape Tape, but I purchased an additional shade anyway. I was more intent on trying to solve the mystery of how to make it work instead of asking myself if this was going to add something of value to my collection. Considering I can get more coverage from a single shade of the original Tarte Shape Tape (Deep) over buying Crumble and Butterscotch to mix with from Huda, it should have been obvious what I needed to do, but I somehow convinced myself finding the perfect color combination would make the Huda concealer magically suit me better.

Using the under-painting method, like with my Givenchy concealers, I’m able to get the coverage level I want, but at the expense of having a shade match that is darker than my cheek area. So, I don’t wear this combination on light makeup days that I plan to skip foundation. I typically match my foundation to my forehead which is darker than the lighter parts of my face, but lighter than my areas of hyperpigmentation. I either get this middle-ground depth that’s a combination of the various colors on my face, a slightly darker shade for summer, or a color that matches the lighter parts of my face that typically works after winter. So, I can use the combination of Crumble and Butterscotch with my middle-ground and summer foundations. The reason I took a break from using these concealers though is the fact that I can get similar coverage level to my combination of Givenchy concealers, with it looking and feeling less dry. The Huda concealers at least have the benefit of being long lasting, provided I pair it with the right powder and ensure that more is applied in the beginning if it starts fading within the first five minutes and any creases get smoothed out a second time before more powder is added. That process of keeping an eye on it in the beginning and making adjustments early on can get me a good ten hours of wear. If I don’t pay enough attention to my skin absorbing some of that product or not smoothing out those creases, it goes downhill quickly where I might only get six to seven hours where it’s significantly faded and looks awful. So, because of the dryness and mindfulness required, it’s taking a backseat until I finish up the ones from Givenchy.

As for the Huda Corrector, it made sense that if the concealers looked dry, the corrector should have the same finish, yet I bought it anyway. I was too intrigued by the Mango shade to skip it. Every brand of color corrector I’ve seen has a pink that’s too light for me to use and/or an orange that’s very deep and practically as dark as my under-painting shade. They’re also either so opaque that they don’t blend in with the rest of my skin or they’re so sheer that they don’t hide enough. This is the first corrector I’ve ever seen that’s deep peach/deep pink-orange with decent coverage and in liquid form. I’ve seen some cream ones that come close, but creams crease too much under my eyes. So, I’m able to use Crumble if I have this corrector under it. I even use Mango sometimes by itself and in other areas with discoloration. Of course, I still have the dry issue and needing to babysit it in the beginning, but because it camouflages well enough to my satisfaction, I continue to use this from time to time unlike the concealers.

Now, I consider us caught up on my Huda and sub-brands collection! If anyone wants a review of one of those specific items I mentioned that I own but don’t plan to post about, just let me know (via comments, email, or Instagram) and I’ll reconsider it.

That’s everything for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤