Reviewing New (to me) Products at Sephora

Posted on November 1, 2021 by ghekate

With the annual VIB sale starting soon for Rouge members, I wanted to post a quick review of the newest items I bought from Sephora that were mostly purchased during the Friends and Family sale last month. To anyone who doesn’t have Rouge status, and therefore wouldn’t get 20% off, I recommend waiting for sales directly from brand websites which tend to be discounted by at least 20%. I personally don’t think 10-15% is that much of a savings unless it’s from one of those rare brands that never put their products for sale or their shipping fees make purchasing from Sephora a better deal.

Danessa Myricks Beauty Power Cream Bronzer in Deep

I officially have a new favorite cream bronzer! Granted, I don’t have that many of them, but this takes the top spot. Formula-wise, I loved the ones from Colourpop/Sol Body but the tones didn’t look as nice when the products were sheered out on my face. This bronzer from Danessa Myricks is such a highly pigmented and smooth cream that melts into the skin. It reminds me of that Sol Body formula but in a tone that works for me and doesn’t have fragrance. Deep looks deceptively lighter in the pan. The true shade is the darker spot where my brush picked up the product in the photo above. If this bronzer wasn’t so blendable, this shade would be too dark for me. However, I just do a single tap into the product with my Sonia G Mini Base brush and I can cover most of my face with it because it spreads easily and I have some time to work with it before it sets. The spreadability is due to having a lot of emollient ingredients in this bronzer. When I first got it, I could even see liquid seeping around the edges of the compact, likely due to the heat while being shipped, but it doesn’t feel oily or greasy on the skin.

It sets to the point of being dry to the touch, even without being set with powder. It doesn’t come off on my finger if I just touch the spot where the bronzer is, but a tiny bit will show on my finger if I rub across it. Also, this is so pigmented that it has a bit of a staining effect on the skin, which definitely aids in longevity but requires more effort to remove from the face.

I didn’t fully blend the bronzer above so it would be more visible in the photo, but in actuality, this cream bronzer looks so natural on my skin! I’m wearing it in every photo in today’s post. I like it much more than the Danessa Myricks Balm Contour, which I have in the shade Deep 1. The Balm Contour is even warmer of a shade and looks like a bronzer rather than a contour, but it’s not as smooth in texture as the actual bronzer formula. I want to keep my cream bronzer and contours to a minimum, so that’s the reason I haven’t tried the Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer, Saie Sun Melt Natural Cream Bronzer, or the Glossier Solar Paint Luminous Bronzer that I’ve heard are fantastic quality (well, the last one I just want out of curiosity). However, this one from Danessa has quelled the desire to get anymore…for now at least! I bought this during the Friends and Family sale, but it’s definitely worth full price.

Huda Beauty GloWish Cheeky Vegan Blush Powder in 02 Caring Coral and 03 Berry Juicy

There are four shades total in the new blush line from GloWish. Caring Coral is a “mid tone rosy coral” best suited for up to tan skin, but since mid tone pinks are my preference, I wanted to try it anyway. Caring Coral is interesting because the darker pink swirl in the compact is definitely deep enough for my skin tone but the lighter swirl made my cheeks look visibly ashy when I tried it on my bare skin no matter how much I blended it. However, when applied over foundation, the swirls of colors mix better to create a more even shade that works for me. I was instantly reminded of Coral Flush from Hourglass and those two look quite similar in swatches.
As much as I tend to avoid berry toned blushes, I saw several reviews where Berry Juicy actually had more of a brown-pink look to the skin if applied with a light hand. I can confirm that it looks very natural and more muted pink than berry-pink if I don’t build it up too much, so I’m shocked to say I prefer Berry Juicy on me! I also like the look of using Berry Juicy all over my cheek, but keeping Caring Coral contained to just the apple of my cheeks, as demonstrated in the highlighter portion of this post.

I’m wearing the same bronzer, foundation, and concealer in every face photo.

This formula is supposed to impart a “soft focus glow,” feel buttery on the skin, and last up to twelve hours. I haven’t worn these blushes for that long, but they do seem to be long-lasting. They didn’t fade when I tested them for up to nine hours. I don’t notice that much glow or radiance to these powders; they look satin-matte on my cheeks, or mostly matte. They feel similar in texture to the GloWish bronzers, though slightly less buttery or creamy. I also have to add that the GloWish bronzers impressed me so much and became part of my top three favorites in the powder bronzer category, whereas these blushes are nice but not particularly special. They’re alright for the price. Some customers may be unhappy with their tiny size compared to the bronzers, but I don’t mind because I doubt I would ever hit pan in them anyway. It also helps that I got this for 20% off, but the full price of $21 isn’t too bad in my opinion.

And speaking of the bronzers, if you haven’t tried those, I definitely recommend them! Sephora has a few of the bronzers available in mini sizes, which I assume will be the same sizes as the blushes since they are close to the same price at $19.

LYS Aim High Pressed Highlighter Powder in Fearless

I bought this with my own money from the LYS Beauty website before becoming an ambassador for the brand. I have more details about that in the “Full Disclosure and Affiliations” section of my About Me page if you’d like to know more, along with my link to the brand website (which I’m not sure if it still works in terms of generating a commission) and affiliate code (LYSUNBOXLILI which is no longer active).

I normally go for a lighter shade of highlighter, like a champagne color, but I wanted something less common in my collection. That’s why I bought Fearless, a gorgeous bronze gold pressed powder highlighter. It’s close to my skin tone, so it looks more subtle despite how reflective and sparkly it actually is. I recommend this for someone who likes a strong highlighter, as the other two shades available are quite beautiful. However, it’s commonly known to those who frequently read my blog that I don’t like large glitter particles in highlighters. The smaller the better for me. The particles in this one aren’t so large that I wouldn’t use it, but I admittedly don’t wear it often and the visible shimmer keeps it from being among my favorites. I’ve been tempted to purchase the shade Brave to see if I would like it more, but the particle size keeps me away. It doesn’t look that way on camera but it’s something I see in person.

In addition to the pressed powder highlighters, LYS also released liquid highlighters and a highlighting serum, but I haven’t tried them. In my Glowing Skin post, I mentioned that I don’t use those kind of products enough to justify purchasing anymore in the future, which is why I’m sticking to powder highlighters from now on.

I decided to put my review of the highlighter here because it’s a new release from Sephora, but my actual recommendation for the Sephora sale are the cream blushes. LYS is pretty affordable already for a Sephora brand, but I’m always a proponent of consumers getting the best deals wherever they can. So, the sale is a great time to try the brand’s formula if you haven’t already. The cream blushes have not been surpassed yet in my eyes. I’ve been raving about them ever since I got them, and that was long before I had any connections to the brand.

Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Eyeshadow and Concealer Primer

This primer is so tricky to use, but when I do it right, it’s such a game changer! I’ll just say right off the bat though that I hate it for eyeshadows. In order to get the best results, applying a thin even layer and smoothing it out with the finger is crucial. If it’s too thick, it won’t “dry.” I’m using quotes for the word dry because it’s not supposed to actually feel dry to the touch. When it “dries” it changes from an almost greasy feeling (which is strange for a gel looking texture) to a slightly tacky feeling. With a thin layer, this takes about five minutes to get to this point. If I’m impatient and try to apply shadows before it gets tacky it will just smear and move the eyeshadow around and look extremely patchy. If I didn’t blend out the primer with my finger to create an even layer, it will still smear and move because it would be too thick to dry down at all.

If I follow the instructions and do those steps above, in the best case scenario the shadows will grip to the primer and appear very intensely on the eyes. However, it grips so well that I cannot blend them out! So, if I’m going to use this on my eyes, I keep it concentrated to just the eyelid where I want my shimmer to stick. I haven’t tried this primer with that many different eyeshadow formulas, but in this demonstration using the Urban Decay Born to Run Palette, the primer did intensify the shimmers and mattes, but the matte shade darkened up a lot. The primer itself is clear, so the wet consistency caused this to happen, which some people will not like. I’m not sure if I like that aspect myself. Perhaps this doesn’t happen if I use even less product, but either way, I don’t like that I can’t blend the shadows, so I didn’t continue to try testing it.

What I absolutely love this primer for is to use with my concealers. I have intensely dark brown under eye circles and hyperpigmentation that require the fullest of full coverage concealers to camouflage the darkness. The best results I’ve ever had are from the original Tarte Shape Tape and/or mixing it with the Pat Mcgrath Concealer. Those two are full coverage and last the longest on my skin because I have a second issue of concealers usually getting absorbed into my skin so easily. With the MILK primer, I’ve been able to get full days of wear out of my concealers even though it’s only advertised to last for eight hours! Granted, by the end of the day it certainly doesn’t look fresh, but at least it’s still there! This product even makes concealers that didn’t work for me before to last longer! In order to achieve this, I once again have to apply a thin layer, smooth it out with my finger, wait at least five minutes for it to dry, and then dab/stamp/stipple the concealer over it with my Sonia G Jumbo Concealer brush. Swiping motions will disturb the primer. It needs to be patted on in order to last. I can actually feel the grip as I stamp it into place. I do not set my eye with powder, as that will eventually lead to the lines under my eyes looking even more dried out and emphasized as it wears throughout the day.

This primer touts ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, Hemp-Derived Cannabis Seed Extract, Niacinamide, and Aloe Water for added moisturization and hydration. I don’t find this to be very hydrating to my under eyes. If anything, it looks just as dry or drier if I don’t prep my skin. I have found that doing my usual steps with the primer but then smoothing the tiniest bit of Laneige Cream Skin Refiner (Moisturizer/Toner) on top of it and letting it dry again before applying one of my concealers, other than Tarte Shape Tape, does make my under eyes look less dry. In my case, this need for an occlusive layer prevents moisture from being taken out of the lower layers of my skin and gives the Hyaluronic Acid something to draw on instead. That’s my best guess. Since the primer is supposed to be applied to clean skin, it’s implied that prepping the undereyes with a cream or something else may not allow the primer to work as effectively. The Laneige Refiner is the most lightweight moisturizing product I have, so it works well. I have not tried to use this primer though with eye creams.

I have seen quite a few negative reviews for this and I understand why. I had to play around with this for weeks to figure out how to get the amazing results that I have with this product. I think whether this product works for someone or not will depend on their skin type, the condition of their skin, if they’re using their regular skin care routine with it, if they’re allowing it to dry first for long enough, the application technique, etc. Now that I have the routine down, this product is absolutely worth it to me for the extra longevity benefits to my concealer. However, I can see how this wouldn’t be for everyone, especially if they want it exclusively as an eyeshadow primer. So, this may be a polarizing primer. This is another one of those products I’d happily pay full price for, but I did get it for 20% off during the Friends and Family sale.

Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear All Over Full Coverage Concealer in 460 and 495

I purchased each of these shades during sales on Lancome’s website ($17 and $20) thanks to Nikki here on the beauty blogosphere and BeautyDealsBFF on Instagram. 495 is darker than my usual concealer shades, but it’s still lighter than the darkness under my eyes. In addiction, it’s very orange toned which works as a sort of corrector color. I prefer concealers to match my skin tone, which is why I bought 460, the next shade down, but not a perfect match. I can wear 460 alone for a brightening effect, but the combination of the two shades is my favorite way to use them.

What I like about this formula is that it’s full coverage, but I’ve used it for weeks now and at best it lasts six hours or at worst my skin just absorbs it shortly after I complete my eyeshadow look unless I really pack it on. Some powders help with longevity but other powders don’t. I was on the verge of giving up and switching back to just using the Tarte and Pat Mcgrath concealers, but I tested it with the MILK Hydro Grip Eye Primer and it works wonders! With that primer, it lasts me all day and it’s less drying than Tarte Shape Tape. Once again though, I do not set it with powder when using it over the MILK primer as that can make it look dried out and emphasize the lines under my eyes. The combination of these two shades, plus the primer, is such an exciting discovery! As a standalone product, I’m not sure if I would recommend it to everyone across the board. There are too many variables when it comes to concealer to be able to say any is universally lovable.

Estée Lauder Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Foundation SPF 45 in 5N2 Amber Honey

I used to be shade 6W in Double Wear, but when I had a sample card for this particular foundation, the 6W1 shade was way too dark for me. 5W1 was also way too light, so I thought my best hope would be 5N2. It’s the only shade between the two in depth.* When I first pump out the foundation, it looks fairly warm, but it does dry to a more neutral color on my skin. It’s not a perfect shade match but it’s close enough that I don’t feel uncomfortable wearing it in public.

*UPDATE August 30th, 2022: I’m not sure at what point it was added, but there is now a 5W2 shade!

The directions say to shake well, and that’s actually important considering it contains SPF. If I forget to shake and squeeze the tube, sometimes the color will look a bit off, either darker or lighter than it should. So, I make sure to give it a good mix before using it.

For a “moisturizing” foundation with a finish that’s supposed to be radiant, I don’t think it’s that radiant. I’d call it a natural finish, at least on my dry skin. This is more evident in the first photo in the bronzer section before I have any blushes or highlighters on my face. It would look a little more dewy if I built it up, but then it would feel heavier on my skin, so I prefer to use a light to medium amount.
A sheer layer of this foundation provides medium coverage, which impresses me for something that feels so lightweight on the skin. When I wear it, I think my skin looks smooth and even, especially paired with some of my newer finishing powders. I’ve actually been using it more than the Nars Soft Matte Foundation, when I just named that one my new holy grail earlier this year. If this did give full coverage with a sheer amount and was a closer shade match to me, then it would be my absolute favorite. As it stands though, it’s in my top two in terms of formula! The only other negative is that it doesn’t like to stick in my problematic smile line and tends move away from that spot, even if I powder it down. I have to rely on concealer to maintain some coverage there.

I always try to mention if a product has fragrance. I do notice a pleasant skincare type of scent that reminds me of the Fresh Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask when I first apply it. I actually like this smell because it’s not overpowering and is nostalgic for me. I checked the ingredients and fragrance is there, though almost at the bottom of the list.

I bought this during Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty when it was 50% off at both Ulta and Sephora. I was always curious about this foundation because of how highly Mel Thompson spoke about it. My goodness, I miss Mel. May she rest in peace.

I think that’s where I’m going to end this post.

For anyone curious about what items I don’t need and am trying to talk myself out of getting during this sale…they would be the Patrick Ta Major Headlines Blush Palette, Smashbox x Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector in Dark, Guerlain Meteorites in Gold Pearls, Beautyblender Bounce Radiant Skin Tint and Beautyblender Bounce Liquid Cream Blush in Flirty Rose. The fact that I don’t use my current Patrick Ta Blush Duo is why I’m talking myself out of the blush palette. The Estee Lauder Futurist Foundation is why I know I don’t need the Beautyblender Skin Tint (plus I already have two bottles of the regular Beautyblender Foundation). The Lancome 495 concealer shade is why I don’t need the Becca corrector. The new Hourglass powders are why I don’t need the Guerlain Meteorites and the Beautyblender blush is a cream, which I have too many of open currently in my collection. Plus, some of these items I foresee going on sale for more than 20% off in the future.

What products are you thinking of getting during the sale? Is there anything I’m talking myself out of buying that you actually hope I will review in the future? I’d love to know in the comment section. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Oden’s Eye Legendary Diversa Collection

Posted on October 25, 2021 by ghekate

Oden’s Eye Cosmetics is a brand I’ve really come to love over the past year and I’ve tried quite a few of their products. Their color stories and finishes don’t always match my style, but there was something compelling about the entire Legendary Diversa Collection. I couldn’t choose between them, so I decided to purchase all three. They each retail for $34 USD and shipping is free on orders over 50 euros (roughly $58). Influencer promo codes did not apply to the collection, but they worked on everything else. Each palette also comes with a corresponding scarf that matches the cover art. My products came in a special edition Legendary Diversa box, which I’m not sure if I got because I purchased all of them or if anyone who orders from the collection gets it.

I also got a free brush, which has happened for my last few orders. Again, I’m not sure if this is because I spent a certain amount of money or if everyone gets a free item when they order. I have not used the brush yet, so I will not be reviewing it here today. If you’d like to see my review of other products from Oden’s Eye, click here.

One thing I’d like to fully disclose is that these three palettes are collaborations with YouTubers: The Fancy Face, Annette’s Makeup Corner, and Judy. I follow Tina (The Fancy Face) and consider her one of my favorite YouTubers. I’ve spoken about her several times on this blog and while it’s true I would have purchased her palette regardless of the color story (this is partly to do with my trust in the quality of Oden’s Eye makeup), my support of her does not mean it gets a free pass. I hold it to the same testing standard as any other product I review. Annette is someone whose videos I watch from time to time and have started to watch a little more recently. As for Judy, she left me a nice comment on Instagram, but that’s the extent of our interactions. As for her content, I’ve only watched her Oden’s Eye videos. I wanted to make sure I put that out there in case anyone wonders if I will be biased. The artwork for all three palettes were equally beautiful and I wanted them all for that reason. The book-like format, sizing of the palettes, the unique outer texture, the reflective holographic sections that add a sort of glow when the light hits it, the shapes of the pans, etc are all so appealing to me. These packaging details are all part of the brand’s aesthetic. The collaborators’ images were used for the covers and it’s their color stories, themes, and final decision whether the formulas are up to par, but because these ladies were working with a great brand, it’s not surprising that I’d like their palettes. The infamous Too Faced x Nikki Tutorials collab is proof that the best of ideas a collaborator has will still do poorly if the company they’re working with fails on their end. Besides the packaging, I love Oden’s Eye’s formulas, so it’s just a winning combination between the brand and these three ladies. It comes down to whether someone likes Oden’s Eye shadows and in these particular shades.

Before we get started, I just wanted to add (so I won’t have to repeat myself three times) that each palette has a multichrome. These don’t have a dark base and they’re a thin metallic smooth type of formula, so they will actually look very different if layered on top of different eyeshadow colors. These provide a lot of shade variations and combination possibilities to the palettes.

The changes in lighting really do effect the looks of these shades. It’s mind boggling how they appear distinctly different in the pans, and while indoors, but if I step outside they suddenly look quite similar to each other.

These don’t surpass my top three favorite multichrome formulas from Clionadh, Devinah, and Terra Moons, but I do like them. They’re nice and shifty and perfect for those who don’t like the chunky, glittery, or dark-base types of multichromes.

The Hummingbird Palette

This palette appealed to me because it’s so bright and colorful. Purples and greens are my top two favorite eyeshadow shades, but I think I may have been intimidated by all the different color choices if it wasn’t for the Kaleidos x Angelica Nyqvist Club Nebula palette. The Club Nebula and Hummingbird palettes have a very similar vibe to each other. Because I learned what shades I like to pair together in Club Nebula, I knew exactly which combinations I wanted to try with the Hummingbird palette. Club Nebula will not be restocking, so if anyone missed getting that palette, I think this one is a great option.

There aren’t any spot on dupes, but some similar looks can be created. I will say, I prefer the multichromes from Oden’s Eye over the ones from Kaleidos. As much as I like the matte formula from Oden’s Eye, I think the mattes in Club Nebula specifically are even more my speed. The pros and cons for both make it so that I couldn’t choose which one I like more, so perhaps those who already know they like Club Nebula will enjoy Oden’s Eye’s palettes as well. Just as I felt the Club Nebula color story inspires me to try new things, I still see even more shade combinations I want to test out with the Hummingbird palette that I haven’t yet. It inspires me as well.

Of the three palettes, the Hummingbird palette has the most number of different finishes and also the greatest variation within the formulas. There are five mattes, the multichrome, two metallics, and four shimmers.
Among the mattes we have Lagoon which is right on the cusp of being a cream to powder, or “cream to matte powder” as Tina describes it in her launch video. It’s just barely creamy enough to be detectable by touch in order to tell it’s more than just a creamy feeling shade. In fact, it reminds me of the satin-like metallics (Realism and Passion) and creamier shades (Obsessed and Colourful Black) from the Oden’s Eye Norn’s Palette. Unlike those shades from the Norn’s Palette, this one has no tugging on the skin and performs just like the other mattes. It’s a dark almost navy blue in the pan and can look that way if packed on, but when Lagoon is spread out, it’s revealed to be more of a deep teal. That’s why I compared it to Queen of Blades in the Club Nebula section rather than Void. Clear Blue is a very thin matte that can be built up to full opacity. It’s not my kind of shade on its own, but it makes a fantastic shade to blend out the edges of a matte. I love pairing it with Star Apple because it makes the edges turn a light violet purple. It also works beautifully with Lagoon. But speaking of Star Apple, that’s my one troublesome shade from the palette. All the other shades are easy to apply and blend, but Star Apple takes significantly longer to get an even color. At first I thought it was because it’s a patchier shade, but then I realized that whatever red-raspberry tone was used to create this purple actually peeks through. It’s visible in the edges of the swatches as well. When I take photos, the red that shows through makes it look unblended, even though it’s completely opaque in person. So in order to make it look nice for the camera, I actually take a tiny bit of Lagoon and blend it in. The blue from Lagoon mixed with the red spots in Star Apple turns it purple without changing the overall color. As much as I love the concept of the shade and how perfectly it captures the color of the actual fruit, it makes the most sense to just use it paired with the other pink and red shades in this palette. If I want to pair it with blues, I need Lagoon with it. Red Hills is a beautiful dark red that when applied in a thin layer shows a lovely warm orange hue it has to it. Hibiscus is the last matte and it’s a stunning vibrant deep-pink red shade. It’s difficult to describe and I don’t have a shade like this in my collection, which is a pretty big feat. The closest thing I have to it are some of the neon mattes from Terra Moons and Splash from the Coloured Raine Vivid Pigments. With Hibiscus, using the right primer will ensure it stays vibrant on the eyes. There are a few times I had issues of it deepening up.

The main differences between the metallic formula with shades Feathers and Tropics compared to the shimmer formula is just that they are a bit smoother and more fine. The other shimmers are a bit wetter in texture and a little on the chunky side. Among the shimmers, the shade that really stands out is Hummingbird because it’s a duochrome that’s mainly dark purple but has a variety of shades of purple and blue shimmer.

The Giant Wolves Palette

The Hummingbird Palette is vibrant and fun whereas this color story is the most “me.” It’s the selection of shades I was drawn to the most. It still has greens and purples, but with a grungier smoky side to those shades.

The first time I watched Annette’s launch video, I actually missed the part where she said each row of three could be one eye look. When I was deciding which colors to pair with each other, I swatched them in order on my arm. I did notice the groups of three were nice, but I loved how the groups of four looked together. Making those initial swatches was when I noticed the shade Hati was incredibly hard to pick up. I had to make 3-4 passes to build it up to what is shown above. It wasn’t so much an issue of being sheer as it was not getting it to spread across my arm. The fact that I could get product onto my finger every time showed me that it wasn’t hard panned, but the shadow was so compacted that I knew trying to pick it up with a dry brush would be quite the chore. I thought mine was a dud until I rewatched Annette’s video and saw that she said this shade was, “…harder pressed in the pan than I wanted.” This could mean physically pressed too hard or the use of too much of a binding ingredient. As it stands, the shade Hati is the only one I wasn’t impressed by and since a looser press had the chance of changing my feelings about it, I decided to try the physical route and repress it myself. I broke up the shadow using a cosmetic spatula and it remained in large soft chunks like dimethicone heavy shimmers tend to do. Then I used the spatula to lightly flatten it back down, particularly the edges, and then placed a paper towel over the shadow and gently pressed down with my finger. I did not add any liquids. It was a dry repress. I suspect there was already slightly too much dimethicone in the shadow in proportion to the other ingredients, but what I did still improved things a bit. I could swatch Hati across my arm with 2 passes. I considered it a topper type of shade before and pressing it myself didn’t change my mind about it. It can be built up to be very sparkly but it’s too sheer for me to want to use by itself, so I’ll keep using it as topper to add extra sparkle to looks.

We have three other shimmers and seven mattes. They all perform perfectly and the only noteworthy things I want to mention is that Desolate looks a lot more green in the pan but on my skin it comes off as a green leaning dark teal. The actual shade description according to Oden’s Eye is, “grey…with a slight green tone.” Annette describes it as a “bright dark green” so I feel better about the fact that it’s hard to describe this kind of shade. But as I said, it’s more of a teal on my skin. Astral looks more gold than it does in the pan and Sköll is like a duochrome purple-blue. It’s a black based purple as opposed to the brighter purple of the shade Hummingbird from the Hummingbird palette.

This palette also inspires me to try new combinations and brings me so much joy to use.

The Red Dragon Palette

This is the most neutral of the palettes, which made it the only one I wasn’t certain I would get. However, I have Annette’s reveal video to thank for deciding to get it because the poolside video with the sun hitting those swatches showed the palette in all its glory. The colors are so much more stunning and more interesting than it looks on the surface. And then combined with Judy’s eyeshadow look in her launch video and using the shade Dragon for blush…I was officially sold!

This is the most matte-heavy of the palettes with a grand total of eight. They all work beautifully and blend easily, but I should note that Sunrise, Jade, and Serene are a bit thin and will need some building up in order to be fully opaque. Also, Sunrise and Serene have a very hard time showing on camera, but they are visible in person. The effects of using Sunrise as the transition shade into Jade really helps to emphasize the yellow tone within Jade, but Jade is still beautiful on its own.

For deepening up looks, my options are Claw, Fire, and Aurora which add enough depth if I’m only pairing them with the light shades, but if I want to also use a mid-tone like Amber or Yin, then they aren’t quite as deep as I’d like for my skin tone. Aurora in particular looks like it should be dark enough, but I have a hard time layering it on top of other shadows. I appreciate the fact that Judy wanted to have these darker shades so no one would have to pull from other palettes to create a look, but it’s something I’ll still likely end up doing in the future.

Using a white or light base helps to distinguish all the red colors when I use them together on my eyes. They can get muddled if I don’t place them correctly, or use either a clear base or one that matches my skin tone.

I’m really quite shocked how much I enjoy this palette. I would not have thought to pair that mustard yellow-brown and jade green with those reds. I still struggle with shade pairing and finding new ways to put colors together, so this was a great learning experience. I’m very happy I decided to get this one as well.

So, do I recommend these palettes? Absolutely, yes! I recommend giving Oden’s Eye eyeshadows and even their blushes a chance. The older original palettes contain pressed glitters, but the releases in the Norn’s Collection and onwards do not have them.

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

-Lili ❤

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Volume III and Universe Unlocked Palettes Plus More

Posted on October 18, 2021 by ghekate

For today’s post, I swatched and demonstrated how two of the three newest products from Hourglass performed for me. I also included plenty of comparisons between all the Hourglass products in my collection to spot any similarities and show nuances of differences.
After finishing the review portion, I ask you to please take a trip with me through my history with the brand because it will give more insight as to why I’ve been attached to them, how Hourglass lost some of its luster in my eyes, and what I hope for them going forward.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette Volume 3

The swatches are a bit difficult to see, but the left set were taken with flash off and the right set shows the tones of the powders with flash on.

Eternal Light is a golden brown finishing powder that matches my face perfectly! It’s a stunning beautiful color. It gives a luminous sheen but also has a few flecks of gold glitter throughout. I wish those larger gold particles were not there, but I’m willing to overlook it because of how nice the sheen is and the overall effect on my face. If I want to avoid having glitter specks in random places, sometimes I don’t set my entire face with this powder and just apply it in the areas of my face I would normally highlight. I have especially enjoyed using this powder with the Wayne Goss 00 Powder brush.

Transcendent Light is a warm dark brown finishing powder that leans a bit red. The tone isn’t suitable as a finishing powder for me. However, it works as a very subtle bronzer that sculpts a little if I build it up with a dense packing type of brush like the Rephr 17. Unlike Eternal Light, I do not see any visible glitter in this powder.

Prismatic Strobe Light is a dark golden-copper highlighter. I typically prefer using medium-golden and warm champagne highlighters, but I can still pull this one off. It’s quite beautiful on the skin with fine shimmer that isn’t too glittery and goes on the skin smoothly. For my usual preferences though, I would likely mix this with a lighter highlighter to add extra brightness.
*This highlighter contains Zea Mays (cornstarch). Just noting for those who may be allergic.

These are the deepest highlighters I own (excluding Solar Strobe Light) out of the most popular brands I have.

Overall, the formula of these powders is the high quality Hourglass is known to have. They’re smooth and blurring even on my dry skin. They look great in person and on camera. According to Hourglass, this particular palette is “ideal for medium-deep to deep skin tones.” I agree that those with medium deep skin will benefit the most from these shades because they have a choice of using either the golden or red finishing powder as a bronzer. They won’t work as bronzers for someone with a deep skin tone and the undertones of the finishing powders are so different that I’m not certain that someone with a deep skin tone would equally enjoy using both of them to finish the face. The highlighter is a little more geared toward the deeper side, but it can work for medium-deep to deep.

This palette is only available through Hourglass directly and has sold out, been restocked, and sold out again. It’s my belief that limited quantities were made, which is supported by this comment on their Instagram page. It’s nice to know this will eventually come to retailers in 2022, and since it’s in the permanent packaging, I assume this will be a permanent item and not just an extension of a holiday release.

Even though I used a “10% off your first purchase” code on the Hourglass website a year and a half ago, I was somehow able to use another one to get this palette. I would have happily paid full price for this anyway.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Universe Unlocked Palette

To my knowledge, the Universe and Universe Unlocked palettes this year mark the return of Hourglass’ five powder face palettes since 2016. That one also had a marble print on the packaging, but it was made out of hard plastic whereas Hourglass switched to tin this year.

Radiant Light is a light golden-beige finishing powder from their permanent line. I always assumed it was too light for me, but this shade isn’t visible on my skin. It doesn’t lighten my foundation or anything, which is great, but I don’t notice any difference at all when I wear this besides mattifying the skin. I can’t see a sheen either. It does nothing for me besides depositing the occasional visible glitter particles like Eternal Light. I’m glad it at least doesn’t make anything worse, but I prefer to use other finishing powders that accomplish something I need like blurring, smoothing, or adding a healthy glow.

Rose Heat is the deepest powder blush Hourglass has ever created thus far. It’s a dark pink berry shade that is a vibrant color that keeps it from looking too dark on someone with a tan to medium and possibly light skin tone, but also not too light for someone with dark, deep, and possibly rich skin tone to be unable to wear. It is extremely pigmented and I’m able to use it gently with my usual blush brushes, but I have been loving to pair it with the Smashbox Buildable Cheek Brush I purchased recently. I’ve made it no secret that berry tones are not a preference of mine, but having a shade like this adds to how usable this palette is for me, and I like it more if I mix or pair it with Coral Flush.

Radiant Bronze Light is a medium warm-toned bronzer that is the current darkest shade in the permanent bronzer line. While this “miscelare technique” can cause some people to get more or less of the darker marbled color, overall there seems to be a consensus that the bronzer in Universe Unlocked is lighter than the bronzer in Universe. This is an odd choice considering all the other shades in Universe Unlocked are darker than the powders in Universe, so logically shouldn’t the darker bronzer be in Universe Unlocked too? At the end of the day, this choice doesn’t matter for anyone darker than tan because neither will be usable as bronzers. As I mentioned before, Radiant Bronze Light is the darkest shade in the permanent line, so the only hope people of color had for a product to bronze the skin was if Hourglass released a brand new shade. Golden Bronze Light from the Mini Sculpture Unlocked and Ghost Palette is the tiniest bit darker than Radiant Bronze Light and I use Golden Bronze Light as a subtle highlighter on my skin tone, so that says it all in terms of depth. I’ve tried using this on top of cream bronzers and contours to see if I could somehow utilize that warmth and sheen, but that didn’t work. I also find it interesting that although the Radiant Light finishing powder is a lighter shade than Radiant Bronze Light, Radiant Light blends into my skin with no cast, but Radiant Bronze Light leaves a grey cast over areas that I have hyperpigmentation showing. So, I can’t use it as a glowy face powder and it only works as a subtle highlighter on me that provides a little glow but low reflectivity. I figured this would be the case ahead of time before I made my purchase, so it wasn’t a factor as to why I wanted this palette.

Coral Flush is described as a bright peony and although pigmented, I need several layers with at least a medium-dense packed brush to build it up to the point I like. I can wear Coral Flush on its own, but I prefer to add a little of Rose Heat to give it a tad more depth and turn it from being, “Kind of cute,” to “Nice! I like it!” This shade is more geared for light to medium-deep skin tones. I think someone a few shades darker than me could still pull it off, but not that much darker if using Coral Flush on its own.

Solar Strobe Light is a golden leaning metallic champagne. Somewhere between this shade and Prismatic Strobe Light is where my perfect shade exists, but I’m certainly happier with those two than any other Hourglass Strobe Light product that’s been released by them. In addition to liking the color, I’m happy this isn’t the Metallic Strobe formula because the type of ingredients used to make those so bright are not flattering on deep skin. This shade is best suited for perhaps medium up to my skin tone, but I still don’t think it’ll be as flattering past my shade.
*Unlike the Metallic Strobe formula, the Non-metallic Strobe highlighters contain Zea Mays.

Overall, those with medium to tan (but not dark tan) skin will get the most out of this palette, followed by those with light and dark tan to medium-dark skin. Anyone else could still use perhaps 1-2 shades, but I’m not certain it would be worth getting at that point.
Universe Unlocked mostly works for me, but “working” doesn’t mean it’s as flattering as it could be. I don’t feel that it enhances my makeup the way the Volume III trio did. Even the best blush look I can create with a mix of Coral Flush and Rose Heat doesn’t surpass the way the At Night blush looks on me. So, while this palette is technically still worth the 20% discounted price I paid with a coupon via Ulta, I’m conflicted as to whether it was worth getting for the actual results and how much I will realistically continue using it.

With the exception of the Surreal Light palette, all the powder products I purchased from Hourglass are basically the ones supposed to be usable by me from 2016 until now. I’ll let the swatches speak for themselves as to whether that’s the case or not. And since I believe the finishing powders from Volume III can still work as bronzers, I included them in the bronzer swatch section even though they technically should not be included there.

Hourglass, A History

I first became intrigued by the brand in 2015. Everything was out of my price range, but I purchased a mini of the Veil Mineral primer that was considered one of the best on the market at that time. It really lived up to the claims of being incredibly smoothing and minimizing the appearance of fine lines, but it left a visible white cast so strong that it made my foundation look lighter too. So, I ended up using it as an eyeshadow primer instead.
I believe 2015 was also the year Hourglass started to make the larger holiday face palettes. Their previous holiday releases were in trios, but from 2015 and onward, customers began to expect and look forward to those 5-6 powder palettes. Because it was the best bang for the buck, I hoped with each year that a palette suitable for me would become available and was willing to save up for it. By 2017, when Sephora put limited quantities of the previous year’s palette in the Rewards Bazaar, I snapped it up immediately despite knowing I probably couldn’t use any of them.

Ironically, that 2016 release Surreal Light Ambient Lighting Edit was possibly the lightest palette Hourglass made, so it definitely did not work for me. I got some use out of the powders through “Franken-Makeup” creations. For those who are not familiar with the term coined by Safiya Nygaard, it’s when someone plays Dr. Frankenstein and combines multiple products together in the hopes of making something better by capturing the best qualities of all of them, though one could end up with worse results. I scraped out some of the powders to use as fillers or to sheer out an over pigmented mixture in custom Franken blush, highlighter, and eyeshadow mixtures.
Despite everything in that palette looking like chalk on my skin and rendering it unusable for the intended purpose, I still cherished having it! In the earliest years of my makeup journey, I became obsessed with having a holy grail product in every category and I viewed Hourglass powders as the absolute best in existence (such was the level of hype it got). So even one that didn’t suit me was treasured because it brought me closer to being able to experience what everyone else could.

2015 – Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, 2016 – Surreal Light Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, 2017 – Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3 Palette, 2018 Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 4 Palette and Unlocked Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, 2019 – Ghost Ambient Lighting Edit and Ghost Ambient Lighting Blush Quad, 2020 – Sculpture Ambient Lighting Edit Palette and Sculpture Ambient Lighting Edit Quad, 2021 – Ambient Lighting Edit Universe and Ambient Lighting Edit Universe Unlocked.

Year after year, I waited for Hourglass to release something where I could use more than just 1 or 2 powders out of the bunch. By 2019, I began to view the brand differently when they continued to re-release shades without even having covered the full color spectrum. That’s like if a brand started releasing monochromatic palettes for the holidays and came out with a purple one, a blue one, and then a green palette. The following year, rather than release an orange, yellow, or red they shift instead to making a purple-blue palette, and then a blue-green palette, and so on. Many customers began to wonder why a particular range of skin tones were being catered to while everyone else was ignored.
Fun facts: Dim Light and Diffused Light were repeated 5 times. Luminous Bronze Light, Iridescent Strobe Light, and Mood Exposure were repeated 2 times. All of the shades in the Sculpture Ambient Lighting Edit Quad were repeated shades from the previous year’s Ghost Ambient Lighting Edit Palette. There are also several shades in the full face palettes that were from the permanent line already. In addition, so many of the powders that are labelled as “new” look similar to what Hourglass has already produced.

In early 2020, I began to research and take a closer look at all the current and discontinued products that were available from Hourglass. I thought to myself, “Their liquid and cream range is inclusive, so surely there has to be something I think won’t work for my skintone but is actually darker than it looks.” After countless videos and swatch comparisons, the only one I could see was the Diffused Heat blush, provided I was very lucky and could get one that had a lot more of the pink shade than the lighter marbled shade. I was fortunate to find one like that, but it is still ashy if I’m not careful about which area of the blush I dip my brush.

Mid-June people really started to draw attention to Hourglass hardly featuring models of color, but this is because they didn’t have many products to showcase that would suit them. Instead of admitting they lacked a good range, Hourglass tried to show things that were supposedly used, but they could not have matched the models without “adjusting” the photos. This was the start of what led to Hourglass coming under fire later in the year.

In late 2020, Hourglass released the At Night shade of blush and I was ecstatic! I still need to focus on the darker marbled section for it to work, but I don’t have to struggle with it as much as other products. I was so optimistic that I took a chance on the 2020 re-release of the 2017 Ambient Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette, but the pearl powder made it looking quite icy on my face if I used too much. Because of At Night, I was still hopeful the actual holiday release for 2020 would finally work for me, but the larger palette did not. The Mini Sculpture Unlocked quad “worked” if I used the bronzer as a subtle highlighter, the blush if I built it up heavily, and if I was willing to have another icy highlighter. I always had to find ways to get my money’s worth out of the Hourglass products I bought and I ended that year sick of it. I’ve already discussed the scandal of the misleading advertising of the Ambient Lighting Volume 2 Palette in the Jasmine Tooks campaign in past posts. I do not appreciate their photos always being more saturated and deeper than the products actually are and using tricks to make products seem to work for more skin tones than they really do. For instance, with their recent line of Vanish Blush Sticks when demonstrating how the shades look on multiple skin tones, for the model with dark skin they put a very light concealer from the under eyes all the way down to her lips. The large triangle concealer technique is still popular with some people, but it’s not supposed to be applied all the way across the entire cheek to the ears. It’s quite apparent that the best way to get Sacred to show on Sydney Harper’s skin was on top of a very light base several shades too light for her. I nearly fell for it! Trickery like this is why my view on the brand took a deeply negative turn in 2020.

Sydney Harper wearing the shade Sacred on Hourglass’ Youtube page.

I personally think having two deep shades out of the six blushes is inclusive enough, so I don’t understand why this decision was made. I like medium toned blushes, but it’s always a hassle to figure out if a medium blush is on that cusp of being too light or actually working for me. How they showed Sacred in the video makes it look like it would work for skin even deeper than mine, which I’m not convinced is actually the case. If the shade doesn’t show up on the model or looks ashy, then I’d rather they just show that so I know not to spend my money on them rather than buy it, find out for myself it doesn’t work, and either absorb the cost or return it knowing it’s just going to be thrown away.

Since I never did review the Blush Stick, I’ll go ahead and say I think it’s nice but nothing special. The majority of the cream blushes I use from other brands are just as good (or better) for at least half the price. I use a light layer of Revel, but it can be built up more intensely and it’s the kind of shade that will work on a lot of skin tones. The other deep shade Hourglass makes is called Adore.

Regarding Hourglass’ tendency to misrepresent shades in their advertising, I think they did a better job of showing Volume III but it definitely needs improvement. I still caution against relying on Hourglass’ images alone for an idea of what the products look like.

The left side is a more accurate photo of Volume III, but both images are from the brand’s Instagram.

Now, in my seventh year of waiting for a dark powder palette, I can finally say I have Hourglass products that I can use (mostly) for their intended purposes! If I’m looking for an all-in-one palette, the most important thing to me is to have a usable blush, highlighter, and bronzer. I don’t believe I am alone in thinking that way. While Universe Unlocked offers the biggest variety to date of who can use the palette, only a limited group can use all three. It’s the bronzer specifically that limits things. Rather than Hourglass making a palette with 2-3 shades for some people and 2-3 shades that will work for someone else, I would have liked to see full palettes dedicated to the skin tone groups who still haven’t gotten a full face palette that will work. I am happy to have Volume III and am glad at the possibility that it’s permanent, but so many of us have been specifically wanting a full size Deep face palette. If they took all the shades from Volume III, Rose Heat from Universe Unlocked, and threw in At Night as the second blush (since they like doing repeat shades anyway) that could have been an amazing third holiday Ambient Lighting Edit palette. Indie brands like Sydney Grace and Adept Cosmetics release dark and light versions of the same eyeshadow palette and I think this would be fantastic for other companies to adopt regarding face palettes. Below are some examples of swaps that could have been made. Creating two versions of Universe Unlocked with even just a bronzer change would have made all the difference in the world.

The third concept palette that I nicknamed “Universe Aligned” is what I proposed above if Hourglass took the three Volume III shades and At Night blush and put it in the Universe Unlocked packaging with Rose Heat.

I’ve heard endlessly, “If a brand doesn’t cater to you, go buy from those who do.” I’ll explain why this doesn’t work so easily for Hourglass: No one else makes powders like Hourglass. If I had an alternative, I would have given up on them ages ago. The silkiness of the powders, the blend, the effect on the skin, etc has not been successfully replicated by anyone else. This is why we “target,” as Hourglass apologists say, the brand specifically more than other non-inclusive ones, because they are the only ones who can do this task. When the Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer was considered top notch, we wanted an extension to those. When Benefit only had Hoola available, we wanted that as well. I have no problem taking my money elsewhere as long as there isn’t something considered the best of the best that they make. In which case, then there isn’t an alternative. If we want the best, that brand is the only one who can create it for us. This is why so many of us keep hoping to have something that we can use too. We want to have that same experience everyone else that Hourglass caters to gets to experience. Hourglass is inclusive except when it comes to the powder products, but powder is all I really want from them. I like makeup from Asian brands, but I accept that I’m not likely to get a base product deep enough for me because the demand isn’t high enough. When it comes to Hourglass, there is a market and a demand, so it would be financially beneficial to meet those demands. This makes it so obvious they were content in leaving a vacancy in their line while their pockets were still being filled. It was not until enough of us joined in a united front (those who could and could not wear what was available) to make our voices heard, especially those who boycotted them and the Influencers who publicly denounced and cut ties with Hourglass, and news outlets who got us to the point where Hourglass has started to give deeper options. I believe the creation of Volume III was to repair their image after the deceitful misleading advertising of Volume II. This is why I question whether Hourglass is going to continue giving deeper options in the future, or if they feel they’ve done enough now and that this is where inclusiveness ends for them. In 2022, if there is no extension of the permanent bronzers or there’s no Ambient Lighting Edit Face Palette suited for at least tan to deep skin tones, if not deeper, then it will be a clear indication once and for all that they won’t begrudgingly create anything like the Volume III again. Essentially what they do in 2022 will determine whether I continue buying from them or not. Eight years will be plenty of time and they’ve had plenty of chances to prove they aren’t focused on a particular demographic. Hourglass prioritizes being cruelty free, sustainable (with their new overpriced custom eyeshadow system), and finding vegan alternatives (with their patent-pending replacement for carmine). They dedicated so much time and research to these projects in order to be a brand that goes above and beyond others by showing their concern for the planet. It boggles my mind that they don’t care about their reputation when it comes to being exclusionary regarding their customers.

I think I’ve finally said everything I’ve wanted to say about Hourglass in this post. I really do hope they become a brand I can be proud of to say I purchase from in the future. As it stands, I’m almost embarrassed to share how long I’ve been pining for their products and how many of them I bought despite feeling as though they really don’t want to make products for those with dark skin.
That’s all for this week. If you’re still here after reading that full post and you understand my perspective, you’re at MVP status! Thank you for your time and if you’re considering getting these products now or in the future, I hope this has been helpful.

-Lili ❤

Amazon Makeup: Haus Labs and Zeesea Cosmetics

Posted on October 11, 2021 by ghekate

The Amazon Prime deals that started on June 21st included 60% off Haus Laboratory Products and 20% off Zeesea Cosmetics. These deals were enough for me to take the plunge into both brands for the first time!

Also, before we get started, I’m going to address the Oompa Loompa in the room. I took these photos just after I returned from my trip. Because I had gotten darker, I needed to resort to mixing foundations and I did not realize I looked so orange until I finished everything. Sorry about that! I don’t always publish a post in the order that I work on them, so this is why my skin tone looks “warmer” than usual!

Haus Labs

Haus Laboratories Heat Spell Bronzer Highlighter Duo in Volcanic & Lava

This bronzer is the darkest in the Haus Labs line, but it will only show up on someone of my skin tone or lighter. The range could definitely use a darker option, but it’s the perfect shade and depth for me. I was impressed by how smoothly it looked on my skin despite how dry it felt to the touch and how patchy it looked when I first tried it on my bare face. This is one of those formulas that work best over a foundation. It doesn’t take much building to show on my skin, it blends very quickly, and it lasts on my face through a full day.

When using the bronzer, it looks perfect with so few swipes that I get the impulse to continue blending it in (because I’m not used to a product blending so quickly), and that’s when I run into problems. If I keep trying to blend or build up more product, it turns an unflattering darker color and starts to get patchy. The best way to use this is to apply it to the skin and when I blend to the point of, “Wow, this looks nice,” is where I have to stop or things will only go downhill after that.

The highlighter in this duo is the right depth for me too. However, it is very lightly pressed in the pan. It is extremely powdery with so much kickup. It doesn’t make a difference if I use a natural or synthetic brush, the result of the absolute barest touch in the pan leads to my brush being coated in an excess of product. I have to wipe some off my brush every time I use this product or else I will look way too sparkly for my liking. Also, it mostly sticks wherever you first place it, so blending away the edges to avoid a highlighter stripe is not easy to do. My remedy to this is to switch my usual application order and apply the highlighter before my blush, that way the excess of highlighter can be blended out while I’m blending the blush. The blush edge also partially covers it.

This highlighter is a mix of small particle shimmer with some larger shimmer particles spread throughout the pan. Because the larger sparkles are sparse enough to not draw too much attention, I don’t mind as much. I still have to be careful to use the smallest amount on my face though, and an example of a light application is in the photo on the right.

Although I can get really nice results with this duo, I’m not sure if the quality is consistent across the entire Heat Spell line. I can get stellar results if used in the specific manner I mentioned, but the fact that it can easily go wrong is why I would say these powders are similar to what Makeup Revolution and BH Cosmetics produce, but better. They’re both inexpensive brands with face products that aren’t exactly the highest quality, but they will get the job done. This duo at full price is $26, but from the view of these as two separate items at $13 each, it would be in the ballpark of those brands. While I think this is good for the price, the Kaja Bento Trio formula is an upgrade for $1 less for slightly less product spread across three pans. I also think the Beauty Bakerie Bars (Neapolitan, Brownie, and now Lemon) have the better blush and bronzer as well, though there’s way less product at $18.

All that being said, I could see myself reaching for the bronzer again, particularly for a matte look. However, my top favorites tend to have a satin or shimmer sheen which won’t be replaced by this. The highlighter in the duo is also a bit troublesome having to be used so delicately, so I won’t get use out of Lava.

Haus Laboratories Head Rush Blush/Highlighter Duo in Rock ‘N’ Rose & All Night

There is one other blush duo deeper than this one, but I’m not interested in berry tones, so I got this instead. The blush looks pigmented, but the thin powder still requires building up. In addition, it gets muddy when blended too much, especially in the spots where it overlaps with a bronzer regardless of the brand used. For the photo below, I had to wipe some of the Heat Spell bronzer away to get the pink color to show instead of the murky brownish-pink it turns. The blush is pretty, but I think the quality is lacking.

The highlighter shade is pretty interesting. I thought for certain it would look terrible on me, but it’s not too bad! It’s actually a somewhat duochromatic pink and light gold that reminds me of the Kaleidos Space Age highlighters. The Head Rush highlighter did not have the powdery kickup issue like the Heat Spell highlighter, but it’s not as soft either. It’s a decent highlighter/blush topper, but it shows a lot more of the larger shimmer particles, which deters me from wanting to use it.

I had some reservations about recommending the Heat Spell duo, but I can easily say I don’t recommend the Head Rush ones. The market is filled with so many incredible blushes and highlighters that are superior in quality. They might not be part of a duo, but a better blush and highlighter separately can be found at any price point. Nyx, Milani, and Colourpop all make better and cheaper blushes and highlighters. The Maybelline Master Chrome is another highly rated highlighter option. At the very least, the Colourpop Cheek Palette Quads come with three blushes of comparable quality and a better highlighter for $12. For that reason, even at the $15.60 price I paid for this duo, I don’t think it was worth it.

I have no feelings positively or negatively about Lady Gaga, but considering Haus Labs is owned by someone as well known as her, I had an expectation that the products would be on the higher end of drugstore prices but have even better quality. I’m not certain they lived up to even that, so my interest in trying more from the brand has dropped to zero.

Zeesea Cosmetics

The Zeesea palettes I purchased are possibly the most beautifully packaged products I own. The lining around it is a gold color, the top is slightly rounded and shiny enough to see myself in it, the design is partially raised in texture, the background design is an ombre of colors, and the designs are just beautiful. I love ancient history, particularly ancient mythology, so it was an absolute given that I needed something from the Egyptian collection. The Kitty quad I purchased as an inside joke, but I thought the color story was very cute too.

Right off the bat though, I need to give the warning that these palettes contain PET (polyethylene terephthalate) glitter. Although it is “cosmetic grade,” it is still made of plastic which is dangerous around the eye area. I hate pressed glitters because of the sticky formula and the difficulty with removing them. Only one shade in these three palettes have that clumpy pressed glitter formula, but my stance on PET glitter is that I try to avoid all shadows that contain it, regardless of the consistency and formula. When I saw how reflective and sparkly and large the particles were in person, that’s when I suspected these had shadows that were not eye safe. I did a few looks with these palettes, but I will not be using them anymore because I so easily get makeup in my eyes. Even when I’ve used the tape trick to remove the glitter, there’s still always some left behind and one of my eyes was irritated for a few days. So, these are being kept purely as collector pieces. However, I have still played with them enough (especially before I looked up the ingredients to confirm my suspicion about the shimmers) to be able to give a full review.

ZEESEA The British Museum Egypt Collection Eyeshadow Palette in #05 CRUX ANSATA

The Crux Ansata, or Ankh, is one of my favorite Egyptian symbols. This was also the palette with the color story that suited my tastes the most out of all the Zeesea x British Museum collaboration palettes (at least before the release of #09 Crystal Skull).

Shades 1, 2, 3, and 13 are all very soft, smooth, and pigmented. Shade 1 has a lovely ankh imprint in it, Shade 4 has a sphinx imprint, and 13 has a scarab beetle. Shades 4 and 15 are a little drier but still smooth and pigmented. Shade 6 is a thin powder but smooths out nicely. Shades 9 and 16 are a little drier and rougher and tend to stick to the skin where you put them, but they still blend out in a reasonable amount of time and don’t stay patchy. Shade 16 also has an eye of horus imprint in the eyeshadow.

Shade 5 is a stunningly beautiful and softly packed highly reflective glitter shade with the largest glitter particles in the palette. Shade 7 is a creamy satin with a little sparkle and Shade 8 is a reddish orange creamy duochrome with a little gold sparkle. Both 7 and 8 had a sparsely glittery top layer that seems to be mostly gone after using them a few times, so I’m not certain if it was just the top layer only or if the glitter still runs throughout.
Shade 10 is another creamy feeling shimmer with a strange mottled combination of green, blue, pink, white, and yellow which turns into a pale icy green. Shade 11 is mainly a green and aqua blue sparkly duochrome with a slight pink shift. Shade 12 is a beautiful rusty orange-red satin, and Shade 14 is a copper metallic shimmer.

ZEESEA The British Museum Egypt Collection Eyeshadow Palette in #06 EYE OF HORUS

I also chose this palette because of the iconic Eye of Horus symbol and the color story was unexciting but still wearable. I can’t pretend I didn’t want to know what Shades 9, 10, and 12 were like in person.

Shades 1, 4, 11, and 16 were that smooth and pigmented formula I noticed in most of the mattes in the Crux Ansata palette. Shade 1 has the eye of horus imprint. Shade 3 is very powdery and had to be smoothed out. Yellow shades don’t stand out easily on my eyes and this is another example of that. Shades 2 and 5 are creamy shimmers. Shades 6 and 14 are subdued satin shades. Shade 7 is a badly formulated pressed glitter which stuck to itself in the pan and I had to scrape it to get enough product to swatch on my arm. The texture was so unlike other pressed glitters I’ve felt in the past that I didn’t realize it was one at first until it swatched terribly. Shade 8 is not an opaque shimmer and takes some building up, which surprised me considering how pigmented the other shimmers are.

Shade 9 is what I can only think to call a demi-matte white because it looks matte but there’s still a sheen to it, and not strong enough of one to be considered a satin but it looks like the kind you get from mica powder. It’s also the strangest mix of cream, blue, gold/brown spots blanked out in white. I’m not sure what the purpose was in making this shade. I have no idea if they were trying to accomplish something with the pattern or if it’s just to have a different look. Shade 10 is a somewhat putty-like shimmer in lines of silver, bronze, and gold that pulls mostly gold. Shade 12 is another duochrome like in the Ankh palette as an iridescent white to blue but with a light purple shift.

Shade 13 is a super wet (not creamy) thick chunky shimmer. I really did not like the texture of this one. Shade 15 is smooth but not quite as soft as the other mattes. It still performs well though.

ZEESEA Tipsy Kitty Eyeshadow Quad in #03 Fruit Punch

This quad was my newest purchase, which did not come from the Amazon Prime Day sale, yet it was the first one of the three I started using. Shades 1 and 3 take some building up, as these mattes are thinner than some of the ones from the Egyptian palettes, but the end result is pretty and worth the extra effort to have a nice soft look. I had an easier time using Shade 4. These tones are also very nice and complimentary to each other. Shade 2 is a bit wet and a little chunky, but using MAC Fix+ helps it to spread and increases the color saturation.

Because Zeesea is a Chinese brand which creates products for the style that is popular in China, as well as catering to lighter skin tones, I am limited in the types of products from them that I can use. The quality is better than what I expected from the brand, but I can’t in good conscience recommend them beyond purchasing purely for the packaging. The British Museum palettes are pretty enough that if I had a stand to put them on, I would display them in the house, not just with my makeup. However, for those wanting to use the actual eyeshadows, I really caution against those plastic based glitters used. I wish Zeesea would exclusively use the safer alternatives like synthetic fluorphlogopite and sodium or aluminum calcium borosilicate. Even some versions of bismuth oxychloride can be quite reflective and sparkly. When I briefly perused Zeesea’s ingredient list on the website, I could see that they contained some of those alternatives but still had them in addition to the plastic glitters, which is quite a shame.

That’s all for my exploration of makeup brands on Amazon! I don’t think there will be a part 2 to this. I hope you have a fantastic day! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

MAC Tempting Fate Collection

Posted on October 4, 2021 by ghekate

The Tempting Fate Collection’s gilded baroque packaging, unique textures, and overall fall aesthetic earn it the title of the most beautiful release from MAC in 2021, according to me. I limited my purchases to the three items I would use the most or don’t have as many of in my collection. I ordered the lipstick first from MAC and it arrived within days. The palette, which I ordered the next day when it became available, got lost in transit for a few weeks and had to be reshipped to me. The particular shade of strobe glaze was only available in the UK at the time, so I ordered it from Selfridges. Now that I have all the items together, I can finally review the collection!

MAC Tempting Fate Lipstick in Tarnished Reputation

There are six shades total ranging from a pale nude to deep berry in matte or amplified lipstick finishes. Tarnished Reputation is in the matte formula and though it looks pink-orange in some lighting, this pulls vibrant coral orange on my lips. It’s a bit too bright for my taste on its own, but I like the way it looks with a dark lip liner.

I only have a few MAC lip products, so my experience with them is limited, but I believe this is their traditional formula and quality. It also has the familiar vanilla scent. If you’re a fan of MAC lipsticks, I think you will like the ones in this collection too.

MAC Tempting Fate Strobe Face Glaze in Punk in Spice

There are three shades total. As of October 1st, Punk In Spice has yet to be made available in the US from MAC. However, I could get it from Selfridges US and it’s also now at Look Fantastic US. When I spoke with a MAC representative, they said the shade was not UK exclusive, but they did not have a date as to when it would be available elsewhere. I watched this review from Sinem Salih who did an amazing job making me want this strobe glaze even though the product looked so sheer I wondered if it would even be worth the price. I could also clearly see how gel-like the effect was on her cheek, but I still wanted it! I hate that kind of texture but I somehow convinced myself Punk in Spice would change my mind and make me step outside my comfort zone to do some glossy editorial looks. I’m not convinced I did the right thing in buying this product, but I don’t fully dislike it.

For starters, I think it’s important to make clear that this MAC Strobe Glaze is very different from MAC’s Strobe Cream, which is a product I actually like as a glowy primer underneath foundation and liquid highlighter when patted back on top. The Strobe Cream gives a more traditional highlighted almost metallic shine. The Strobe Glaze is gel-like and a bit greasy when rubbed in. The purpose is to give a dewy wet look when used subtly or full on glossiness. It reminds me of a combination of Danessa Myrick’s Dew Wet Balm with Colourpop’s Cheek Dew Serum Blush formula. At first I was using what I considered a small amount and absolutely hated the look. However, I realized I needed to use the tiniest amount to get a palatable glossy cheek.

In the leftmost photo in the gallery above, I show what my small amount looked like on my cheek (which I despised) and the other photos showed how I was able to tone it down when using that much. Applying a light layer of any kind of powder over the Strobe Glaze kept some of the shimmer but made it look less glossy. It was still greasy to the touch, but a lot less sticky than before. The biggest downside though to using this amount of product is that it gave my skin more of a textured look and I noticed lines I hadn’t seen before.

Although I could use the product this way with powders on top or to intensify a powder highlighter, if I wanted to use the product on its own and actually be happy with it, I needed to use half as much as I was before!

I have a large face, so this is the amount that works for me per cheek, but if you have a smaller face you may want to use even less! I can get Punk In Spice to look even more to my liking when I dab the remnants of my foundation on the brush on top of it. It tones down the glossiness but leaves the shine. Eventually after about an hour or so it finally dries down. Sticky products on my face usually drive me nuts, but this product is so lightweight that it thankfully doesn’t bother me. Though it dries to the point of no longer being sticky, I can still feel greasiness if I rub the spot where it was applied, so this product is really not for someone who likes cheek products to dry down to nothing.
I should also note that the ideal order for me to use this is applying it to my bare skin in areas I want the wet look and applying foundation and all the rest of my makeup after. I would prefer to leave the concealer step last since this takes off some of my concealer anyway and I need to cover the spots back up because of my intensely dark under eye circles. Plus, setting the concealer with powder will help to set the Strobe Glaze further in the spots where the two products touch.

If I utilize these tips, I see myself continuing to use this from time to time after my review, which is shocking considering I normally hate glossy-balmy highlighting products. For those who want that glossy dewy cheek, the Danessa Myricks Dew Wet Balm produces a prettier look. Feel free to see photos in my past review to compare. I ended up selling my Dew Balm anyway. The only reason I would keep using Punk in Spice is because using it with other products like foundation, powder, and highlighter reduces the feeling on my skin I tend not to like, as well as being able to use it by itself if I only use the tiniest amount. The tiniest amount of Danessa’s Dew Balm was still too much for my personal taste on its own. MAC’s Strobe Glazes have only been limited edition thus far, but it’s a permanent product in Danessa’s line. Then again, Punk in Spice will likely go bad before I could even use up a quarter of what’s in the tube because of how little product is needed. I believe the Rose Gold Glow shade of Strobe Glaze would require a ton of product though if you are of light-medium and darker skin tone and want to use it as a blush.

For my personal taste, the Strobe Cream is better than the Strobe Glaze (even though it’s more expensive), but I knew going in that the Strobe Glaze wasn’t a product meant for me. As much as I like the Strobe Cream, I enjoy the free samples and don’t love it enough to actually buy the full size, which really says a lot about my take on liquid illuminating products. I always still prefer a powder highlighter.

MAC Tempting Fate Feast Your Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC says this palette contains three textures never seen before from their collections: Metallized Prismetallic Eye Shadow (All That Jam), Luminous Leather Lustre Eye Shadow (Yesterday’s Gossip, Golden Rage, Midnight Stunner*, Brocade Renegade), and Glitzy Sparkler Eye Shadow (Feast Your Eyes, What a Pear, Velvet Vamp).
MAC classified Midnight Stunner as a Leather Lustre on their website and on the actual packaging, but the other three Leather Lustres are like a cream-powder hybrid with a satin matte finish. Midnight Stunner is most similar to the Glitzy Sparkler What a Pear in terms of pigmentation and texture. The shimmer in both of them aren’t as sparse, nor with as transparent of a base, as Feast Your Eyes and Velvet Vamp. However, if those three are considered Glitzy Sparklers then surely Midnight Stunner should be one as well. So, I believe that shade was mislabeled. It wouldn’t be the first mistake with this collection considering every single one of my eyeshadow pans are skewed to the left and have gaps between the shadows and the edges of the circular cutouts. While I waited for the palette to arrive, I had plenty of time to watch videos and I could see that this misalignment of the shadows was a common occurrence. The palette has not been restocked (even though everything else that sold out since the launch has been restocked multiple times), so if it does become available again, I hope they will have fixed the issue for everyone else. It says a lot about where MAC is at as a company by letting these be sold in this condition. MAC Limited Edition releases are some of the most coveted collector items within the makeup world, so to have them so sloppily put together with a possible misprint as well is an indication of the drop in quality MAC fans have been noticing in the last few years.

MAC’s eyeshadows are among the very few products I don’t like from the brand, but since these are all new formulas, I was hopeful this would be different. I’m happy to say I really like this palette but I had to figure out how to use the Leather Lustres because my goodness the longevity was atrocious!

If you’ve used this product and had no issues, please let me know in the comment section what kind of eye primer you use or whether you have dry or oily eyelids because I would love to know how others use this without using the tips I’ll be sharing here today.

I have to start by explaining I use MAC Paint Pot as my eyeshadow primer, and one would expect there to be zero issues when using MAC products together. However, after about three hours I noticed major creasing and fading of the Leather Lustres specifically from that point onward. After experimenting many times, I discovered these only work with MAC Paint Pot if I put the Leather shade on top of it and then set it with a powder. It doesn’t work if I set the Paint Pot with powder before applying the Leather shades. The powder has to be the last step.

With Paint Pot as the base and set with powder, there is still minor creasing after three hours. By seven hours the creasing is more noticeable and the shadow fades in some spots. At 8 hours it’s still pretty good overall, but it will only continue to get worse from this point on.

If I want the absolute best results where longevity and creasing are not issues, I have to apply the Leather shades to my bare skin, apply a powder on top to set it, and then use Nyx Glitter Primer on the eyelids in order to lock the shimmers in place and produce a more opaque look. With this method, the eyeshadows will still be going strong after eight hours. By eleven hours there is barely any change except to the Yesterday’s Gossip shade which I can’t get to last no matter what method I use. Applying the shimmers to the lid while damp can still work to pack on the shade enough to cover the skin underneath and keep the shimmer in place, but I do notice some cracking and wearing off that starts around eight hours of wear. So, I very much recommend sticking to the bare eye method from the crease and above but Nyx Glitter Primer under the shimmer shades.

Feast Your Eyes and Velvet Vamp are great on their own for a scattered glitter type of effect and they are so much more reflective and sparkly than my photos show. I couldn’t capture how multicolored they look in swatches with my camera’s focus setting, so that’s why the picture below of Velvet Vamp is blurry.

Because of how beautiful the Glitzy Sparkler shades are, I still feel as though the palette is special. All That Jam was also quite the surprise with how pigmented it was and how easily it applied to the lid with opaque results without any additional help. It’s also the star of the palette along with the Glitzy Sparkler formula.

Going back the the Leather Lustres, I have to add that beyond the longevity issue, they are a stiff formula and require a dense brush to have the pigmentation level I need for my skin tone. For the crease, I use them with the Sonia G Jumbo Blender. Sometimes I’m impatient and skip using brushes altogether and apply them to my lids with my fingers for the fastest results. I think overall, this entire palette is very much geared towards those who like to apply shadows with their fingers.

Brocade Renegade is the deepest shade in the palette, but it’s such a bright purple that it doesn’t add much depth, so it’s impossible for me to get anything but a soft look for my skin tone. MAC describes this palette as “rich” and “decadent” but that isn’t the case for me, especially since Golden Rage, the shade that looks dark chocolate in the pan is a very warm mid tone brown. It’s so warm that it’s nearly orange. I don’t mind, but it limits the kind of look I can achieve using this palette alone. It’s not a unique color story, but overall, I do really like this palette since I know how to use it. The only shade that is truly a dud for me is Yesterday’s Gossip and that’s because it doesn’t last on me, looks quite ashy on my lids, and I don’t get as much of the pink tone as I’d like. It’s only really good as a brow bone shade, but it ends up just looking like my skin tone anyway.

There’s one other aspect I would like to address which is that I noticed MAC changed the photo on the website to reflect a palette where the shades are arranged differently than mine. Even in the featured photo section of the page, you see two different MAC employees from different countries where one has the palette in the order of the shades on the website (from Thailand) and the other has them in the order of my palette (from Mexico).

I don’t know if this is purely a matter of some MAC employees getting their hands on a promotional palette that looks more aesthetically pleasing arranged in this new way or yet another clue pointing toward production issues. Is it merely a difference in look? Are these other palettes formulated differently? Was this how the shades were intended to be arranged all along, but palettes like mine were sloppily put together because of a manufacturing issue? Is the arrangement difference intentional based on regional preferences or miscommunication between multiple manufacturing sites? If MAC does restock this palette, will they all be arranged in this way on the website or do different countries get a different arrangement?
I wish I had the answers, but contacting MAC has been unhelpful in the past, so I don’t think I would get an helpful answer to this either.

This collection was not the slam dunk that I thought it would be, but I still like it. I’m rooting for MAC to become that “It” brand it used to be with a higher standard of quality again with some innovation and creativity. It’s hard to forget how badly they botched that Sims collaboration from their end. With talks of a Whitney Houston Estate collaboration planned for 2022 and the photos I’ve seen sneak peeked for Holiday 2021, I don’t know if I’ll be getting my wish.

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

-Lili ❤

Hatice Schmidt Labs Highlighter and Bronzer Review

Posted on September 27, 2021 by ghekate

I’ve mentioned in a few posts that I tend to make impulse purchases in the early morning hours, especially when something flares up. This time it was TMJ that kept me awake at 5 am when I decided to place this order. I was less than two weeks away from flying to Germany when I came across an Instagram post, the second one I’d seen, showing the absolutely stunning highlighters and bronzers from Hatice’s brand. I admittedly don’t know much about Hatice, as her videos are in German and even with German closed captioning, my translation abilities aren’t good enough to follow very much of what’s being said. She’s the beauty influencer behind the Becca Berlin Girl collab several years ago, but I know very little else about her. Still, her extremely inclusive range caught my attention and I thought to myself, “Why not order and have it there when you arrive? It will be two less items you have to carry with you!”

So I did. Shipping within Germany is free, whereas shipping to the US is $16 (before the PayPal conversion fee). I watched Hatice’s launch video to help decide which shades to pick and I felt confident about my choices until Angelica Nyqvist posted her video five hours after I ordered and I saw how much lighter Medium looked than I thought. I didn’t want to get the Deep shade because the tone of it isn’t my preference in highlighters. It looked similar to the Lucent Jungle shade from Nabla’s Skin Glazing line, which I decluttered this year, so I didn’t want to take that chance and there was no option in between Medium and Deep.

The products arrived in two days and my boyfriend was able to show me what they looked like from his camera. The official website has several beautiful photos of the product on models of varying skin tones, including arm swatches, but it’s still difficult to guess how it would actually appear in person when you’re not used to that brand’s lighting and editing. At the time of my purchase, there were no tan and darker YouTubers showcasing the products.

The highlighter comes in a white durable compact with a mirror inside. The bronzer comes in an identical compact but in black.

I ended up buying the Deep shade of Bronzer as well. This also took two business days to arrive.

The swatches on my arm were swiped twice, but gently each time with a finger. The swatches on the light arm were swiped once with a finger.

I find it fascinating that the Tan bronzer looks so warm on lighter skin tones, but on my skin it’s more of a neutral shade. When I was taking product photos, I could see that without flash, the bronzers looked much cooler toned in their pans than with flash on. I’ve included multiple photos throughout this post which demonstrates the differences I observed.

BRONZER in Tan and Deep

On the website, these are described as being silky, creamy, ultra blendable, and lightweight with a radiant finish. I could see in photos that the sheen on the product did indeed look like a combination of the Kosas The Sun Show Bronzer and the Nabla Skin Bronzing, which are my favorite bronzer finishes, so I had very high hopes. In Morbus Black’s video, she also compared the finish of Hatice’s bronzer to Nabla’s, though she made the point that Nabla’s bronzer is a little smaller for 22 euros versus 34 euros. For us in the US, we can usually get the Nabla Skin Glazing and Skin Bronzing products for 50% off during Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty, so it’s an even larger price difference for similar quality.

Besides the price, the main differences between the two brands of bronzers is that the HSL is an even softer powder and is not hard pressed in the pan like Nabla’s, which means it’s much easier to use and layer. HSL’s Tan is a little lighter and not as warm as Nabla’s Profile shade, but Profile is the current darkest in Nabla’s range. HSL goes many steps forward with their shade Deep.

I bought a Korean sunscreen that came with what I thought was a mini version, but the mini did not contain SPF. I didn’t realize this when I took the mini on the trip with me, so I got darker as the trip went on. Tan became too subtle to bronze me enough to show much on camera, so I thought I would give Deep a try, even though it looked like it might be more of a contour for my skin tone. Deep looks like a delicious bar of dark chocolate and is indeed too dark for me to use in a normal application method. In my previous bronzer post, I mentioned that the Beauty Bakerie Brownie Bar contains the darkest bronzer/contour in my collection, but this Deep shade is even richer.

For the time being until my “tan” fades, I can apply a light layer of Deep with a small precise brush and go over it in a larger area with the Tan shade.

In the photos above, I chose to show a heavy application of Tan because it would not be seen on camera otherwise. I chose to use a light application of Deep to show it in the most wearable state on me and how I can make it work despite being too dark for me in a normal amount.

In terms of formula, all the product claims are correct. The powder is super soft, applies smoothly to the skin, has a nice sheen, and is easy to blend. It’s right up there with my top 5 favorite bronzers, though considering I have less expensive options, I can’t say it’s worth getting over the others. This is the second most expensive single bronzer I own, after the Charlotte Tilbury one. At this moment in time, I don’t mind having bought one because I will always associate this product with the memories of my trip. I will eventually declutter the Deep shade, but I’m definitely keeping Tan.

HIGHLIGHTER in Medium

Despite my resolve to no longer purchase highlighters, this one looked like it would give the glass-skin effect, which is my favorite type of highlighter shine. That’s why I lost the will to skip it. It’s described as being long-lasting and able to be worn as subtle or as intensely as someone wants. As quoted from the website, “The special formulation with the luminous finish of a liquid highlighter and the lightness of a powder sculpts, shapes and defines your skin.”

I do love this highlighter. It slightly edges above the Nabla Skin Glazing in Amnesia, which was my holy grail highlighter. I consider them both to be champagne shades, but Medium’s base color is a touch warmer than Amnesia, which makes it better suited to my skin tone. Medium’s shimmer particles are also slightly finer and more reflective. I don’t believe those minimal differences makes the Hatice highlighter hugely better than the one from Nabla, but since I have no other dupes for the Skin Glazing, I’m happy to have it. It was a better purchase than me getting two of the bronzers.

This is a beautiful formula and fans of Hatice Schmidt will likely be very happy with what they have, as well as those who enjoy luxury. The designs in the powder and sleek packaging exude a slightly edgy but high end feel to the products. The only aspect I question is the description as being changeable from subtle to intense. Unless I’m in a spot where the light will hit my face directly, it does not look as variable as that on my skin tone. Whether I use a lot or a little and dry or damp, I find it to be the same middle ground intensity because of the base blending so much in my skin (as if semi-transparent), which is one of the best features of the product. This helps make the highlighter look like a more natural glow, but without a lighter base color, the intensity is dependent on how much it reflects, which means it’s dependent on the lighting someone is in.

The damp brush makes it look a bit stark on my skin, so I prefer keeping it dry and recommend those who want more shine (regardless of the lighting) to layer the highlighter on top of a liquid illuminator. I love the way this highlighter looks on me when I apply a normal amount, so I’m happy with the formula as is and wouldn’t change a thing. On a rare occasion I like to be beaming, but otherwise the way it is now (subtle to nicely highlighted) is perfect for me. The shade looks a tiny bit icier now that I’ve gotten a “tan” but it will match better again when it fades.

The photos in the black shirt were taken during the trip. LED lights were far above with a small amount of outdoor light shining through a window onto my face. I am wearing the Tan bronzer built up heavily and the highlighter on the high points of my forehead, above the brow, in the brow arch, on the center of the eyelid, lightly on the nose, and on the tops of my cheekbones.

HSL has a few other products available, but the ones discussed today are the only products that grabbed my interest. This is a brand I will continue to be curious about, though I may not purchase anything else purely due to the price point. That isn’t to say it’s over-priced as there may be an upcharge due to custom formulas, being made in Italy, the packaging, the embossing in the powder, ingredients, etc. This quality is top notch, but at this point in my journey with makeup, I can always find something similar for a little less. However, I’m glad that I was able to support a company that chose to have an inclusive range.

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Armani Beauty Neo Nude Melting Color Balms

Posted on September 20, 2021 by ghekate

This product also goes by the name of the Armani Beauty Neo Nude Color Melting Cream Blush. “Balm” is a less accurate description because it implies there’s a glossy or sticky texture, which this blush does not possess. It’s creamy to the touch and reminds me of a putty texture (but softer) or a Colourpop Supershock Blush (but with less slip). Tara Lynn on YouTube was the first to accurately described the consistency as being similar to Natasha Denona’s cream-to-powder eyeshadow formula. I began working on this post in July and overall, this has been one of the strangest product launches I’ve seen.

Wacky Availability

Other than the initial sneak peek from Trendmood1’s Instagram page, I saw barely any mention of this blush around social media or on Youtube. Two weeks after it released, there were still only four videos I could find. There was very little promotion for it across other platforms as well, including from Armani themselves. It released first to Sephora and Armani’s US site in only five of the nine blushes. Then Neiman Marcus got seven of the nine. Then it disappeared off Neiman’s website and appeared at Saks Fifth Avenue in the full range, but as a pre-order for July 17th. By July 19th there was no trace of the blushes on the Saks website. Then on July 22nd, all the blushes returned to Saks’ website as yet another pre-order, but with a note on the page that they were, “not shipping until August 17th at the latest.” They also returned to Neiman’s at some point. On July 24th, Sephora joined the other retailers (including Macy’s and Dillard’s) in having seven shades available and by July 29th, Sephora had the complete range listed but with the last Shades 51 Peach Pink and 60 Warm Plum still unavailable. By September 13th, the only retailer I found that had those last two shades actively in stock was Selfridges.

Production and Formula Issues?

When the Melting Color Balms kept going back and forth between being available and then wiped off websites entirely, I wondered if they were merely behind on production and could not supply everything to all retail partners at once. That explanation would at least account for the severe lack of promotion for the launch on Armani’s part. The fact that my 30 Warm Coral shade arrived with the blush pan separate from the compact and 60 Warm Plum was partly dried out and hard led me to suspect the delays might be due to flaws in the manufacturing process and a quality control problem with the elusive missing 51 Peach Pink and 60 Warm Plum shades. I can’t think of other reasons it was unavailable from the rest of the line, including Armani’s own website, for nearly three months. I even tried searching for it online while I was in Germany in case it was available in Europe.

Regarding the detached pan, when my order arrived, I instantly took it out of the box to begin taking photos. I noticed it felt very warm to the touch. It was a hot Florida day and it was likely even hotter in the delivery truck. When I turned the compact over to take a photo of the back, I heard a clink sound and opened the compact to see the pan plop out onto my hand. Glued products when left in a hot vehicle can melt enough for pans to detach. Then when it cools down, if the pan isn’t touching the glue anymore (as the ring of blush on the mirror of my compact suggested) the glue can dry back up and leave you with an unstuck product.

I noticed a hole at the bottom of the compact (the sticker on the bottom is peeking through from the other side), which usually indicates the product is recyclable and/or refillable. So, I thought if it’s refillable then the pans should attach to something on their own. I cleaned off the bottom of the blush pan and put it in a custom magnetic palette to see if it would stick, but it did not. Then I wanted to see if the compact would hold the pan without glue, so I cleaned off the glue bottom as well as I could, but it wouldn’t stay in. Because this isn’t a powder product and I don’t have to worry about it breaking, I figured I could keep using the blush while loose in the compact as long as I was careful with it. I’m not sure if the pan suddenly adhered to the remnants of the glue again or if the pressure from my brush hitting the pan into the compact got it to attach, but it somehow stayed within the compact again, even when I held it upside down!

As for Shade 60 Warm Plum, my experience with it was completely different to Shade 30, but I’m willing to bet Shade 30’s consistency and performance is the way the line is actually intended to be. Unfortunately, what I got with this one was a blush that took quite a lot of effort to get product onto my brush and even on my fingers. The blush was so hard that I could barely scratch the surface with my nail and what I was able to scratch away broke off in a hardened chunk. I contacted Selfridges inquiring about a possible batch issue and they informed me they were unaware of one but would look into it. Then they refunded me, which is nice considering the level of dryness and difficulty to work with it will only get worse with time. So with the refund, perhaps I’ll buy it again in the future and hopefully it’ll be in the beautiful creamy formula that 30 Warm Coral has.

This photo demonstrates the amount of product that gets picked up with one swipe of the Plum shade versus a single swipe of Coral.

30 Warm Coral Review

This product is so pretty on the skin! It’s described as, “a lightweight oil-in-powder formula that seamlessly adds color to cheeks and eyes for a natural matte makeup look.” The shade range is quite unique, seeing as how there aren’t any true pinks. The blushes are on the warmer or cooler sides of brown, with the most colorful pops leaning orange and plum. Specific shades in the line are intended to be contour shades. Because these tones are so natural, there’s a limit to how much you can build them. I can make Shade 30 fully opaque on my cheeks, but the color is somewhat camouflaged against my skin tone, so it still appears a bit subtle in person and on camera. I do like that it’s impossible for me to go overboard with this shade, but I only enjoy it on days I’m specifically in the mood for a warm-neutral look.

I love how this melts into my other products. It embodies the best that a cream product can offer in terms of the finish and application process. This doesn’t leave a wet or heavy feeling on this skin, but it transfers heavily and easily since it does not dry down. Powder helps to minimize the transfer, but this is the type of product I only suggest to those who don’t touch their faces a lot.

This product looks great when blended with a brush or a sponge. When I apply with my fingers, it looks alright, but it’s not as perfectly smooth on my skin as it would be if I used tools. The formula is likely the reason because it’s prone to transfer, so the fingers simultaneously smooth the product with each tap and also picks some of it back up.
Multiple layers with a brush is easily eclipsed by 1-2 dips into the product with a sponge, so the sponge will give the most color payoff in the quickest amount of time. My guess is that it has something to do with the water in the sponge and the oil in the blush repelling each other and preventing the blush from getting too soaked into the sponge, therefore applying more product onto the skin.

The Melting Balm is long-lasting and wonderful when applied on top of foundation, but on bare skin, the product got absorbed within hours! I reapplied during the first non-foundation wear test to see if I just didn’t apply enough at the start of the day, but the same thing happened! On day two of testing, I skipped foundation again, but applied setting powder all over my face to see how the blush would perform on top of it. Once again, my skin soaked up the product within hours! Realistically, I wouldn’t want to wear these kind of shades on a minimal makeup day anyway. If I’m going to wear nothing but blush, I prefer for it to be a color that stands out a bit more. But it’s important to note that those with dry skin should wear this over a cream or liquid foundation. Then there should not be longevity issues.

Besides the cheeks, this can also be used on the eyes. It looked fine when I tried it in the crease, and lasted all day as well, but when I tried to use it all over the eye without any other eyeshadows, I could see that it settled into the lines of my eyes. This happens regardless of whether I apply the product onto my bare eyelids, on top of set or unset concealer, or over a MAC Paint Pot. This also happens even if I try to set with power after applying. If I were to continue using this on my eyes, I would keep it in the crease only.

Shade 30 is around the entire eye in the top half of the photo. In the bottom half of the photo, it’s applied only in the crease with Natasha Denona Metropolis shadows.

60 Warm Plum Review

Whatever happened with the formula of this particular shade caused it to feel significantly less creamy, which also gave it a drier feeling on the skin. When I finally get the intensity of the blush that I want, which is still relatively subtle, I would say that it dries down. It still transfers like the Coral blush did, but the transfer is minimal and it is just as long lasting on my skin when applied on top of my usual liquid foundations.

Because of how long it takes to build up the color, using my fingers to apply the blush is impractical. The formula issue makes it prone to patchiness. With a brush, I have to use hard pressure in order to get the product onto my cheek and the force needed to blend it can disrupt my concealer and also where I put bronzer if I’m not careful. Just like with Coral, a damp sponge will give the most pigmentation with the least effort. I actually like how this looks when it isn’t applied intensely, so I put on the blush with a sponge and then use what’s left of my foundation brush to sheer the edges and get a deep pink on my cheek since it only looks plum-purple when heavily applied.

When used on the eyes, I have the same creasing issue. Technically this is worse because of how many layers I have to apply to get it to show up. No matter what I do, the creasing happens within five to ten minutes. Then within an hour it moves, breaks down, and fades in places. With Shade 30, it will last longer in the crease of the eye but not the lid. With Shade 60, it doesn’t last anywhere.

Regardless of all the complications associated with these blushes, I don’t regret buying them. They aren’t my favorite cream formula, but something about the particular tones stand out in my collection. The packaging is also aesthetically pleasing and makes me so happy to see them on my dresser. Judging based on Shade 30 alone, I’m still not certain they’d be worth the price to everyone, but somehow I still really like them. The benefits are so special to me that they outweigh the negatives I normally wouldn’t want, especially for such pricey blushes.

One extra bit of information left to note is that according to the packaging, these should last 24 months after opening, which is quite a big claim for a cream product. We will see if that holds up with Shade 60 if I continue to use it with a sponge.

That’s all for today! I’ve certainly tried my hardest to give the full picture of the best these blushes can offer, along with potential issues. I hope this has helped!

-Lili ❤

Huda Beauty Wild Obsessions Jaguar Palette and Juvia’s Place Rebel Army Quad Review

Posted on September 13, 2021 by ghekate

Today’s theme is Danger in the Jungle! It’s a classic man versus nature battle with man being represented by the Army quad from the Juvia’s Place Rebel Collection. The challenger representing nature is the Jaguar palette from Huda Beauty’s Wild Obsessions Collection.
The Army quad is the first Juvia’s Place eyeshadow I’ve purchased since February 2021 after declaring in my review that I was taking a break from their 4-6 pan palettes. I was disappointed by the quality of the mattes and the constant additions of pressed glitters. The stakes were high when I decided that my view of this quad would determine if I would permanently stop purchasing 4-6 pan eyeshadows from Juvia’s Place.
This was also my first Huda Beauty Obsessions palette since the release of the Gemstone collection in 2018, so the success of the Jaguar palette would help determine my confidence in purchasing more from the Obsessions line in the future.

Huda Beauty Wild Obsessions Jaguar Palette

The eyeshadows are not named, so I numbered them based on their positions in the palette from left to right from the top to the bottom. My swatches are in the reverse order though.

Jaguar is like a vastly superior version of the Fenty Snap Shadows palette in #6 Smoky. Huda’s has over 7x larger net weight than Fenty’s and has three additional shades for only $4 more. This palette has a mix of warm and cool tones that add a slightly different twist to a traditional smokey eye color story.

Shade 1 has a warm dark base with silver shimmer. I pick up more of the silver if I use a brush, but when I apply with my finger, I’m able to get more of the warm dark base color underneath.
Shade 2 is a purplish grey that pairs well with a cool-toned look and the other purple shades in the palette. Shade 2 and Naaru from the Kaleidos Club Nebula palette are the only pale purple-grey shades that I can think of that look nice on me. It is opaque and easy to blend.
Shade 3 is a pigmented metallic gold. There’s nothing really exciting about it beyond being a pretty color with a nice amount of sparkle.

Shade 4 looks slightly burgundy-toned with flash on, but in normal lighting, it’s a pigmented dark brown. I prefer to use it to add depth to warm looks and just use the black shade for cool-smokey ones.
Shade 5 is listed as the “one never-before-seen, multi-reflective, 3D-embossed python print,” shade. Based on the wording, I think the marketing is literally referring to the embossing being never seen before from Huda’s range and that they’re not actually talking about the formula being special. I bring this up because I kept hearing that the snake skin shade was supposed to be a brand new formula, but besides the semi-dry texture, I don’t notice anything different about this shimmer over the others in this palette. It has multi-color shimmer (lilac, pink, and silver) and that’s the extent of what makes it special. It’s very pretty but a little over-hyped. Also, I expected this to be a topper shade, but I was happy to see the base color shows through and it’s not fully sheer.
Shade 6 is the gold shimmer version of Shade 1, but with an added dark-olive tone. It’s a little warmer of a color than Shade 1, but not by a lot.

Shade 7 is a creamy beige. I was impressed that it was so opaque that it could cover the darker shades in the crease, but it’s not as easy to use when trying to create a gradient with the darker mattes, since blending it too much sheers it out.
Shade 8 is a lovely matte black. It has the right amount of pigment that keeps it opaque but easy to blend as well. It also makes for a great base underneath the more sparkly shadows. This shadow did come broken and got some of the particles in the other shades, but I was able to wipe them clean, even off the cream shade number 8. So, I decided not to bother contacting Sephora.
Shade 9 is the one disappointing shade in the palette in terms of formula, but not color. It has a warm purple base with purple and gold shimmer. It’s a sheer shade to begin with and is difficult to get product onto the brush. I had to use my finger and it felt like there was already some kind of film or hard layer on top at the very first use. I had to use Shade 8 underneath to get it to stand out on my eyes, and even then, I didn’t think it was impactful enough on its own.

Although I felt it necessary to use the black shadow under some of the sparkly shades, and I favor opaque shadows over toppers, I’ve been very happy with the overall quality of this palette. I feel confident in buying more in the future if the colors included are shades I would use often enough. The mattes were easy to work with for the purposes I wanted and I liked the tones of them. They were certainly much better than the ones in the Juvia’s Place Quad.

Juvia’s Place Rebel Army Quad

I’m sad to say this palette did not live up to the expectations I had for it. It is not like their older formula that I loved. If a shadow swatches poorly, it doesn’t automatically mean it won’t perform well on this eyes, but Shade 1 looked patchy on my arm and took ages to blend and keep from looking patchy on my eyes. The time it took me to blend Shade 1 in my crease to my satisfaction was the same amount of time it took for me to do the entirety of Look #1 in the Huda Jaguar section. Shade 4 still takes a while to blend, but it’s not as hard to do as Shade 1. When I compared the mattes in this palette to the ones in The Tribe palette, Tribe’s mattes aren’t as thin. They are so much more pigmented and take significantly less time to blend.
Juvia’s Place has their own eyeshadow primer now, which is said to be similar to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Eye Primer. I’ve used these shadows over the MAC Paint Pot and Gerard Cosmetics Clean Canvas, so perhaps if I used Juvia’s primer the shadows would perform better.

The shimmer shadows remind me of the formula of Menagerie Cosmetics’ shimmers, which is a texture and consistency I despise. I don’t dislike these as much as the ones from Menagerie, but they are still wet, thick, and clump up. This makes them difficult to apply smoothly over the lid. Shade 3 is much wetter than Shade 2 and I had such a hard time trying to use my Nyx and Stila liquid eyeliner pens over that texture. The tip frayed with the Nyx and got clogged with the Stila. The Nyx pen was on its last legs, but the Stila wasn’t even 6 months old. I have to use these with more traditional eyeliner pencils and it’s still a struggle.
Formula issues aside, I do really like the colors and the level of shine. Shade 3 is much brighter than I’d expect out of an Army quad though, so I felt like it didn’t fit the looks I was trying to go for (grungy and muted). I had to tone it down with Shade 2 on top of it.

While this quad is only $10 for nearly the same amount of product as the Jaguar palette, I’d rather spend more for better quality. In fact, it’s a shame that the Tribe palette from Juvia’s Place was discontinued because I would easily recommend that one over this. While it’s true that I can make this palette work and the colors are beautiful, I don’t want to spend the time required in order to get the outcome I want from the shadows. So, I will only buy the larger palettes from Juvia’s Place in the future because Wahala II leads me to believe the newer palettes in the larger size might still be better quality. I am happy the Rebel Army quad did not have a pressed glitter, which is moving in the right direction, but I doubt I will use it again.

It seems that in the battle between man and nature, nature has won today!

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Glowing Skin ft Auric, Becca, and Charlotte Tilbury

Posted on August 30, 2021 by ghekate

I’m not sure what to classify these products as: liquid highlighters, dewy skin tints, illuminators? These multipurpose glow products can be used in whichever way someone wants, but today I will be sharing my thoughts on how they compare to each other and the ways I prefer to use them. In honor of Becca closing its doors on September 30th at 1 PM EST, I wanted to make sure I post this beforehand in case anyone is interested in the Light Shifter Dewing Tint and is considering making a last minute purchase.

UPDATE: September 17th, 2021

It appears Estee Lauder is saving Becca’s best formulas by pairing it with their other brand, Smashbox. I thought I would update this post with that information. Now, onto the review!

Auric Glow Lust Radiant Luminizer in Citrine

Auric is a brand created by beauty influencer Samantha Ravndahl. I’ve watched a couple of her videos, but my interest in the Glow Lust was purely from the angle of wanting to see if it’s comparable to Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter. This costs $45 plus shipping for 35ml whereas Charlotte Tilbury’s is $44 for 30 ml (and likely free shipping from Sephora if you’re in the US). Auric has seven shades available. Charlotte Tilbury had seven shades initially, but released an additional five shades just weeks before Auric’s launch.

This product can be added to skincare, mixed with foundation, used under foundation like a radiant primer, or applied to specific areas for extra glow. It was created to be sheer enough that a wide range of people could use one or more shades. This also means it will not offer much coverage on its own as a foundation, so I regard it as a mixing liquid or liquid highlighter.

I prefer to use this with a brush. I take a tiny amount and slowly build it up. The highlight lasts easily through a full wear test. The times I’ve tried it with a sponge, it moved my concealer a bit (Tarte Shape Tape). Also, despite using a lot more product with the sponge, the Glow Lust either gets absorbed into the sponge or melts too much into my skin because the end result is less reflective/shiny than when I use a brush. The fingers can blend the product in nicely, but I don’t like how it feels to the touch, so this is not a method I’d use again.

Citrine leans heavy on the yellow undertone and, on its own, it’s a bit too light for me to use as anything but a highlighter. Perhaps the shade Goldstone could have worked for me as a base product, but the texture feels thick on my skin, even when I use the Glow Lust sparingly. For this reason, it’s my least favorite of the three formulas I’ve tried. The effect is pretty, but I cannot stand how it feels when I wear it. I should note that I’ve also tried mixing it with foundation to make a better color match and give me a more subtle glow. The combination allows me to wear it all over my face for as long as I want without it feeling heavy. However, by the end of the night, my face looks greasy. It’s more glow than I want, so I would only continue to use this on my cheekbones. This makes me very glad I purchased this for significantly less than retail from a Mercari seller. I have a personal rule against buying liquid products from third party sellers, but I made an exception because this product was newly launched and had a pump top (so I could confirm it wasn’t old and hadn’t been exposed to the elements). Considering my feelings about it, I would have been very unhappy if I purchased this at full price.

I don’t like the thick consistency of the Glow Lust and I don’t like the fact that this doesn’t dry down (at least not with the Dior Backstage Face and Body Powder No-Powder nor when I mixed it with the Nars Soft Matte Foundation). These are personal preference issues and not about it being a bad product. It does what it’s intended to do, so I understand why it’s so hyped up. Regarding whether it’s worth the price or not, I honestly cannot say because Auric aims for this to be seen as a luxury product and the brand delivers on that. It isn’t worth it to me, but that’s because I know I will never use up a full size liquid highlighter enough for any of them on the market to be worth it.

Becca Light Shifter Dewing Tint in 4.5 Cloud Nine and 5.5 Borealis

I seem pretty silly having bought two full-size glow products after I just said a single one wouldn’t even be worth it. However, I purchased these as radiant tinted moisturizers the way Angelica Nyqvist and Not Fit For Print Beauty on YouTube wore theirs. Plus, I got them both at half price. Beautylish was the first retailer to discount this product to $15 during their Spring sale in March. That’s when I bought Cloud Nine and realize it was way too light for me to use all over my face. Then a few months later I bought Borealis from Sephora. That shade was way too dark for me, but I figured I could mix them both. As a tinted moisturizer, the Dewing Tint provides more coverage than the Auric Glow Lust, but it’s still supposed to work for those a few shades away from each color option. However, the gap between 4.5 and 5.5 is huge and the swatches at the end of the post make it clear why I couldn’t use either one alone. Also, I’m not very good at mixing my perfect shade. It took many attempts to find the right ratio. This isn’t an issue when I use them for highlighting purposes, but it’s significantly noticeable when it’s in place of foundation.

Fragrance isn’t on the ingredient list, but I swear there’s a faint chocolate smell. Perhaps my nose is mistaking that for Shea butter, which is the twelfth ingredient. The liquid consistency is lighter than the Auric, but it’s also stickier. When I’m wearing this product, I’m hyper aware of the fact that it doesn’t dry down and when I’ve used it as foundation, I had the urge throughout the whole day to wipe it off my face, the way one gets the urge to wipe away a crumb of food or a loose strand of hair. I could barely tolerate doing an 8-hour wear test. I know this type of sensation doesn’t happen to everyone because it’s the same reason so many people love the Tower 28 Cream Blushes but I hated the texture enough to return that blush. Also, all the beauty YouTubers I’ve seen who say this dries down ended up using quite a bit of powder with the Dewing Tint, certainly more powder than I use, and I didn’t powder at all during the wear test. The feeling of the product aside, I don’t want this level of glow all over my face.

Luckily, this product plays well with my Nars Soft Matte Foundation. Mixing the foundation and both of these shades together gives me a glow that I don’t mind putting all over, and it also dries down without needing to set it with powder. It’s more lightweight on the skin when used this way, and I add the tiniest extra amount of the Dewing Tint onto my cheekbones to make that spot stand out from the rest of the dew.

This product gives me a wet type of glow as opposed to the pearl/shimmer effect the others have. As a highlighter, it doesn’t disturb any products underneath. The fingers, brushes, and sponges all apply the product well, though I was surprised that the prettiest result was with a sponge. However, the result with the sponge wasn’t significant enough that I would switch out of using brushes.

There are eight shade options in total, so if you can find your match, this is a more affordable glow liquid option. I don’t think this is my kind of product, yet I’m not ready to declutter it because I do love the look of it as a highlighter and I can make this fit my needs even more if I continue to use it mixed with foundation.

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter in 6.5

This is my favorite formula of the three. It’s the most lightweight on my skin, it dries down the most, it’s just as long lasting through a wear test as the others, and it doesn’t disturb products underneath when using the fingers or a brush. Using a sponge requires a little more product and can move my base products if I’m not careful. The end result between using a sponge and a brush look the same, so a brush is my preference.
Shade 6.5 is the closest to my skintone if I want to use it as a foundation, and the fact that it’s slightly darker than my skintone aids in giving the appearance of more coverage. For highlighting purposes, shade 6 would presumably be more flattering, but they don’t make minis of shade 6 yet. As much as I like this product and don’t have liquid consistency issues with it, my comment about never going through a product like this stands. I purchased this mini from Sephora on December 2020 and I have plenty of it left. A full-size would still go to waste, so I’m really happy I have this smaller option and easily recommend the mini.

I once tried to use this all over my face as a foundation, but I removed it shortly afterwards. The Becca Dewing Tint is shinier, but its wet effect looks more natural than the way the Hollywood Flawless Filter shimmers and reflects on areas other than traditional highlighter spots.

I have only tried actually mixing it with my Nars Foundation once, and the result wasn’t as shiny, so I didn’t mind having it all over my face that way. But when it comes to using a combination of a glow product in with foundation, I think the Becca Dewing Tint gives the prettiest results. So, I prefer to utilize the Hollywood Flawless Filter as a highlighter and as a wet base to intensify any powder highlighter that’s applied on top of it. And because I’ll likely only continue to use these three products for highlighting purposes, the Hollywood Flawless Filter is still my preference.

Swatch Comparisons

Overall, the Glow Lust has a pearl-like type of highlighted shine, the Dewing Tint gives the wettest type of radiance, and the Hollywood Flawless Filter is somewhat in-between. I like Charlotte’s consistency the most, Auric’s packaging the most, and Becca’s price the most.

They’re beautiful products, but I won’t purchase anymore like this in the future. Powder highlighters are better suited for me because they’re easier to use and cost far less than what I spent on the three I reviewed today.

Becca Ignite Liquified Light Highlighters

I had a sample of three different liquid highlighters from Becca and figured this would be the perfect place to feature them. There are five shades in the line and the two not featured here today are Acceptance (pink) and Gratitude (dark copper-pink).

These highlighters remind me a lot of the consistency of the Dewing Tints, except that they feel oilier to the touch, like a typical shimmer body oil. These have a strong but pleasant smell (fragrance is on the ingredient list). The Ignite highlighters have a metallic shine rather than the glow of the Dewing Tints, and actually show visible shimmer particles on the skin, rather than a wet sheen. They “set” in the sense that touching one’s face wouldn’t completely remove the product. However, it doesn’t dry on its own. I did a nine hour wear test and it wasn’t until around eight hours that it felt a little drier in the areas that the highlighter was on top of concealer where I covered some discoloration.

When used sparingly on the tops of the cheekbones, the varying shade depths of the highlighters aren’t that dissimilar. Even regarding the tones, while I could see slight differences between them, I was able to pull off wearing the lightest shade, which is a light champagne. It didn’t look stark like I expected. Creativity is slightly more golden-tone version of Passion. The deep bronze tone of Strength blends with my skin, so it’s not as intense as the rest, but the shimmer particles still give a bold highlighted effect. Strength and Creativity together gave the prettiest results, in my eyes, but the oily residue guarantees I wouldn’t purchase them. The results are beautiful, but I prefer powder highlighters.

That’s all I’ve got! Thank you for reading!

– Lili ❤

Products I Changed My Mind About (for better or worse)!

Posted on August 23, 2021 by ghekate

If I have a strong negative or positive opinion about something, you can expect that to stay the same. This post will mainly center around the items I had mixed or indifferent feelings about in my reviews, but I’m now definitively on one side.

Dior Backstage Face and Body Powder No Powder

I remember saying that for my personal needs, I wasn’t certain if this powder was worth $40. I initially didn’t notice that much of a blurring effect because if I take my time blending and concealing all my problem areas, the powder doesn’t make much of a difference except adding a flattering sheen. However, it’s when I’ve been in a rush to put on makeup that I have noticed a dramatic difference! The blurring effect is so much more noticeable from blending out harsher lines of bronzer or contour, toning down a blush, adding some life to a look that’s too flat or dry looking. This has saved me so many times from having to restart a makeup look. I’ve grown to love this powder so much and wholeheartedly recommend it now because I think everyone has those moments when we just don’t have time to make things as smooth as possible, which this powder helps with, assuming it works with your skin type.

All foundations eventually settle into the smile line on the right side of my mouth. This powder fills and smooths it over so that you can’t even see it! After several hours it starts to be visible again, but the fact that it can make this dramatic of a difference at all is amazing to me!

The left side of the photo shows my mouth area after six hours of wearing the Becca Dewing Skin Tint as foundation. It had not been set with powder all day. The right half of the photo shows what the area looked like after I applied the Dior Powder-No-Powder to that spot. It completely freshened up the area.

Rituel de Fille

I was already at a disadvantage with this brand because of my sensitivity to lanolin (which so many of their products contain). When I discovered mold growing around the outer rim of one of the Nectar Balms, I decided that I am no longer interested in any products from this brand that are not powder based. That eliminates practically everything they sell. That Nectar Balm was only 8 months old and I only used it a few times. Then 6 of those 8 months it remained clasped shut and inside a resealable pouch. So, I do not trust how the brand preserves ingredients (it’s supposed to last 12 months after opening), on top of the lanolin issue and the waxiness of other products and certain items being overpriced.

Kaleidos Space Age Highlighters

These were on the cusp of me liking them, as having visible glitter particles is not my preference, but they weren’t so sparse for me to stop using them altogether. However, I’ve embraced my highlighter preference as there are so many reflective illuminating smooth products that suit me, so I decluttered all three of them. If the glitter/shimmer in a highlighter isn’t fine enough, I will just not continue to use them. I have decluttered other highlighters that don’t fit my style such as Fenty’s Trophy Wife Killawatt Highlighter and the Oden’s Eye Solmane Palette.

Tarte Shape Tape Ultra Creamy Concealer

Other than this Instagram post, I haven’t shared my finalized thoughts about this concealer until now. Unfortunately, I really do not like it. I decluttered both from my collection. My love of the original Shape Tape runs pretty deep because I practically need Spackle to cover my dark under eye circles. The main downside to Shape Tape is that it can look dry, so the Ultra Creamy version seemed like the perfect remedy. The finish is nice, but it provides way less coverage than the original, creases significantly, and is not long-lasting. The only thing I find similar about them is the packaging. Even the original 53N Deep and Ultra Creamy 53N Deep have different undertones despite them both being labeled neutral. The original leans golden, which I like, but the ultra creamy leans pink.

Mixing the new and original concealers together improves the performance, but the combo is still worse than if I used the original on its own. Even in reviews I watched where people said they liked it, to me, their under eyes did not look as nice as usual. So, I definitely don’t recommend it.

Final Thoughts

It would have been nice to end this post with a list of five products in total, as five is a nice number, but I could only think of these four. There still a few things I haven’t made up my mind about, such as Makeup Geek eyeshadows (which I will officially review at some point this year), and Viseart shadows after being unimpressed by the Dark Mattes Edit Palette in my last Viseart purchase, but I need a bit more time with them in order to decide.

As a sort of honorable mention, I can say that the ELF Instant Lift Brow Pencil has reclaimed the top spot as my favorite brow product over the ELF Ultra Precise Brow Pencil. I liked how thin and easy it was to draw those realistic brow hairs, but I still missed the Instant Lift after I used it up. Then one day, when I went to use the Ultra Precise, I don’t know if it dried out but the whole product just slid right out. It was unusable at that point. I don’t know if it was just a fluke or if that tends to happen with the Ultra precise, but since I loved the Instant Lift anyway (and it’s cheaper and I know I can use up the entire pencil without issue), I decided the Instant Lift deserves the crown and I’m now on brow pencil #2.

That is all for today!

I have one review scheduled for next week, but my consistent return to Monday postings will not begin until September 13th. I hope you all are doing well!

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Lili's Beauty Blog

Swatches, Reviews, and Articles Revolving Around the Cosmetics Industry

Category Archives: Makeup

Reviewing New (to me) Products at Sephora

Oden’s Eye Legendary Diversa Collection

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Volume III and Universe Unlocked Palettes Plus More

Amazon Makeup: Haus Labs and Zeesea Cosmetics

MAC Tempting Fate Collection

Hatice Schmidt Labs Highlighter and Bronzer Review

Armani Beauty Neo Nude Melting Color Balms

Huda Beauty Wild Obsessions Jaguar Palette and Juvia’s Place Rebel Army Quad Review

Glowing Skin ft Auric, Becca, and Charlotte Tilbury

Products I Changed My Mind About (for better or worse)!

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