I’d like to begin this post by noting the Georgia Blush, Del Mar Highlighter, and 24Hr Eyeliner were gifted to me by Persona Cosmetics for the purpose of customer satisfaction and not for blog/reviewing purposes. I will go more into detail on that in the Terracotta Blush section.
Prior to January 5th, I only had the eyeshadow palettes. The Identity Two palette specifically had become the closest thing I had to an everyday palette. I loved it so much that I bought the older one, the original Identity Palette afterwards to see how they compared. Ulta briefly listed it for half price and I figured if it had the same formula as the Identity Two, I did not want to miss out, even though the color story isn’t my usual go-to.
Persona Identity Palette
I’m not sure if the formula was changed or updated when Persona updated the packaging of this palette from cardboard to plastic, but I do find these shadows to be a tiny bit on the drier side. The shadows still perform nicely despite being slightly less pigmented (excluding Fearless). I was also surprised to see how grey Maverick looked on me considering how brown it looks in the pan. The overall color story is a little more cool-toned than I expected, but I like having some of these shades anyway. Ironically, I still have to mix Humble and Charming together to highlight under my brows (to avoid looking ashy) like I do with Kind and Loyal. Goddess is a brighter alternative I wanted alongside Resilient. Goal Digger is the more traditional gold shade I wanted alongside Unique. Audacious is the kind of shade I love to have in the crease, so I’m very happy to have that one. It leans more orange than than the shade Passionate which leans more pink. One of the things I really wanted from the Identity Two palette, after using the pink leaning white shade called Honest, was a white leaning gold. When I saw Sassy, I was hopeful this might be it, but it’s more of a silver shade. If Persona ever makes an Identity Three, I hope that pale gold will be in there, though I can still use Goal Digger for the purpose I envisioned.
Persona Identity Two Palette
I raved in-depth about this palette in my 2020 Eyeshadow Tag. If I had to declare a favorite premade eyeshadow palette from 2020, it would definitely be this one. It was one of my favorite palettes to pair with my beloved Clionadh Cosmetics multichromes. Everything I mentioned about the formula of this being creamy, pigmented, blendable, being worth the full retail price, something I can take traveling (which I have by now) and being versatile enough to create simple or complex looks and go neutral or colorful holds true. What I forgot to mention is that Limitless makes an excellent powder eyeliner.
I have additional looks with the Identity Two Palette in the 2020 Eyeshadow Tag post.
Now that I’ve compared both, I can say that the Identity Palette is great, but the Identity Two is the version that suits my preferences specifically: creamier, slightly more colorful, more pigmented, and warmer. If an Identity Three palette is ever released, I will probably purchase it on launch day. The palette would most likely still be neutral, as the owner and brand’s overall aesthetic favors everyday/natural glam.
Persona Superblush in Terracotta
Terracotta is the newest addition to the Super Blush range. As I went completely bananas for blushes last year, I naturally had my eye on them for a very long time. It was difficult to find anyone with a deep complexion wearing Georgia or Carmel via Instagram, Youtube, Persona’s website, or Ulta’s site. There was only one woman I could find, who was darker than me, and I could hardly see the colors on her cheek so I thought perhaps these shades just weren’t meant for me. When Terracotta was released, I had an even harder time trying to figure out if this shade would work for me or not, especially as even the color in the pan looks vastly different depending on the lighting. I watched one of Sona’s videos (owner of Persona) and it looked pretty light on her, but she mentioned that this blush gets much deeper the more it is layered. The website also listed Terracotta specifically as being suitable for medium to dark skin tones. My foundation shade among inclusive ranges like Make Up For Ever, Nars, Fenty, etc tends to be in the beginnings of the dark category and often called medium-dark, sometimes even the tail end of the tan category. So, I figured this should give a subtle color to my cheeks at the very least. Considering how often MAC’s paler shades surprisingly worked for me, I decided to give it a try and purchased the Georgia and Terracotta duo (with the intent to give Georgia to a friend for Christmas).
Unfortunately, Terracotta doesn’t work on me. At the time, I felt duped by the ‘suitable for dark skin tones’ label considering the shade isn’t just faint, it disappears entirely. It’s too close to my skin tone. I have four heavy layers of blush in the photo above, though it looks like nothing. I tried to leave a comment on their website to warn other shoppers about the description inaccuracy, but my comment was never made public. So, I wanted to at least warn those who followed me on Instagram about it. I had no idea Persona Cosmetics would see my post (or I expected it would be ignored by them if they did come across it). Their response was beyond anything I expected. Not only did they change the description from “medium to dark” to “medium to tanned skin tones,” which was the best case scenario outcome I could have hoped for, they also refunded the amount I paid specifically for Terracotta, sent me Georgia (since I had already given mine to my friend) because they were confident that shade could work for me, and sent the eyeliner and highlighter as extra surprises. It became very clear to me that customer feedback is important to them and they didn’t glaze over the situation like plenty of other brands would. It restored my confidence in the brand. It was especially poignant considering a short week later, Hourglass tried to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes with their release of the Ambient Lighting Palette Volume II, promoting it with a photo where the model and palette looked edited to appear deeper. The shades in the trio palette were repromoted ones (two of which I have) and that darkest shade which is considered a bronzer is what I literally use as a highlighter. The response from Hourglass was to simply remove the photo from Instagram and ignore the problem entirely. The different responses between these two companies are night and day, and I have even more respect for Persona Cosmetics when the situations are compared. This is the reason I felt it was important to share this story. If I’ve had a customer service issue in the past that was rectified, I would normally delete my original post since it was resolved. This time I kept my post on Instagram and am talking about it here because I think it’s really important to show the growth and integrity that was shown to me by Persona’s response, and also to present this as an example for how brands should handle things.
The last point I wanted to make is that I’ve tried to use Terracotta many times on my cheeks (and it actually makes a decent under eye setting powder). There was one time that I had it on and a slight tinge of color actually showed on my cheek by the end of the night. I don’t remember what foundation I was using at the time, but it led me to believe that if this shade is applied on foundation that oxidizes or will allow my natural oils to come through, it could potentially show on my skin. I have since tried to recreate that same scenario and have been unable to get the color to show visibly enough on camera (hence the hours later photo in the gallery above). So, I still stand with the fact that this won’t work on someone with my same skin tone. In the best case scenario situation it’s barely a whisper of color.
Persona Superblush in Georgia
Persona was correct. This shade does work for me! Honestly, I was pretty shocked considering my friend who I gave my original one to said it’s perfect for her and she is much lighter than me (though still in the caramel family). It gives a very light flush of pink as if I’ve been out in the cold. If I really layer it on, it’s the type of shade that I think of when anime characters blush, which is super cute!
Persona Del Mar Cali Glow Highlighter
As seen in the Georgia section, the Del Mar Highlighter is perfect for me! It’s close enough to my skin tone to blend in very well, it can be as subtle or as shimmery as I want, and there are no chunky glitter particles! Although I am wearing the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter under my foundation on the high points of my cheek, this highlighter looks just as great without it. I need to use it a bit longer to see how often I reach for it, but it could potentially knock Nabla’s Skin Glazing in Amnesia from the top spot on my list of favorite highlighters!
Persona 24HR Waterproof Eyeliner in Black
I’m going through this pencil very quickly as I feel like I lose a lot of product when I try to get the tip sharp enough with my Nars sharpener, which I need to sharpen every 1-2 uses. This formula is very creamy and easily glides across the skin. That softness does make it difficult to sharpen as I previously tried to use it with the sharpener that came with my MILK Makeup Gel Eyeliner, but that did nothing but instantly break off the tip. I like that when this dries it becomes smudge-proof and when I use it at an angle I can make lines in varying thicknesses. I can make a very precise thin line across my lid, but creating a sharp tail has proven immensely difficult due to that blunt tip. So, I just draw a line as well as I can and then use concealer to clean up the outer corner. The fact that this stays so well in the waterline makes this pencil worth it to me and I’m curious to see how long this pencil will last at the rate I currently use it. For the precision issue, I usually have to use a brush with my MILK eyeliner pencil, so the fact that this is nearly as black and budge-proof as that, while still being easy to remove with Bioderma (and the creaminess makes it easier to spread with a brush), makes the potential for me continuing to like and use this very high. I’m glad I have it, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it in this current form. If Persona comes out with a retractable/twist up version, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
That’s everything! I will continue to keep my eye on new products from this brand as I am more excited about them than ever. They recently launched lipliners and colored balms, but I’m on a lip product no buy. I’ll keep my eye out for the next new release from them!
This is the next installment of my Declutter Series! Concealers are the only category of products that never go ages without being tried, so everything I’m discussing here (besides the concealer sample card swatches) have been tried at least once before. It’s also easier to tell whether I like one or not because my needs are very specific. For me to like a concealer it has to be pigmented enough to cover my intensely dark undereye circles (like nearly black under eyes) and have minimal settling into my fine lines. I might hold onto multiple foundations if I’m in the mood for one that is dewy or matte, sheer or full coverage, etc. With concealers, they either meet the requirements I need or they don’t, so there isn’t any reason for me to hold onto as many as I currently have.
As I noted in my Foundation Declutter post, I use the Dermablend Flawless Cover Drops as concealer, and it is currently tied with the Pat Mcgrath Concealer as my favorite product to cover my dark undereye circles. I have hyperpigmentation and scarring on my face, but I’m not nearly as self conscious about those areas as I am with my under eyes. For that reason, my favorite concealers will always be full coverage ones. Since I discussed the Dermablend product in my foundation post, I will be excluding it in this one.
MAC Pro Palette Studio Finish Skin Corrector x 6
Although I hardly use color correcters, I got an incredible deal on this palette and thought that not only could I get the Ochre and Pure Orange shades I used to have in the liquid form, I could also use the Orange color as concealer on its own because it’s deep enough to pass for brown. I also figured Deep Brown would make interesting eyeshadow base, particularly with multichromes. I didn’t take into account the fact that cream complexion products are extremely finicky on my skin. There isn’t a single cream foundation stick I’ve tried that I’ve liked. I also have a high rate of failure with cream concealers for under my eyes. I lucked out with this product that I can get a decent 5-6 hours out of the shade Orange if I set it. However, I like this better when paired with another concealer and actually used on top of it instead of underneath it.
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser and Dark Spot Corrector in Tan and Caramel
I was surprised to see that Tan is actually darker than Caramel, and is a decent shade match for me. It has been a long time since I bought these and despite severely disliking them, I kept them in the hopes that I could find a way to make them work. I did not succeed at that. The biggest issue, beyond settling into my lines, is that there just isn’t enough coverage. I find it ironic that this is specifically a “dark spot” corrector and supposed to help with aging eyes, yet mine looked pretty terrible using this. I was even more disappointed because this is one of the most hyped concealers in the Beauty community. I waited years for Maybelline to finally expand their shade range so that I could see for myself what made them magical. Instead, it was a complete waste of money. I think the powdery/velvety finish is interesting and I can see why others with less problematic undereyes could like this. I should have gotten rid of them when I knew I wouldn’t use them anymore, but now that they’re very old I definitely have to toss them out.
Pat Mcgrath Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Concealer in MD22 and MD24
PMG’s Concealer in shade MD24 is a great match for my under eyes. When I used it in other areas of my face, I noticed it turned into more of an olive color. I love the high pigmentation and natural looking finish so much that I bought MD22 in the hopes that this would work better for me in all areas. I like that it’s light enough to brighten my under eyes, and it does remain neutral in other parts of my face. Because it is a little lighter than my skin tone, I still prefer to use other concealers elsewhere on my face and keep this one exclusively under my eyes.
I’ve only recently begun to experiment with mixing the Pat Mcgrath Concealer (MD24) and Tarte’s Shape Tape (Tan Deep Sand). The results are that I get a better shade match that neither alone can provide. The combo dries down to a semi-matte finish that gives me the lasting power of Shape Tape without the dryness and without needing to powder it. This might become my new favorite mixture, but I need to continue to test it out. Plus, I have to admit that it’s a bit excessive. I’m not sure I can recommend others spend $57 (if full price) to follow my example.
If I’m using the Pat Mcgrath concealer by itself, it sets on its own quickly, but it will fade within four hours. With a powder, it lasts until the end of the day, but not all powders will work. I’ve only seen good results with powders that contain cornstarch as a main ingredient, such as the Pat Mcgrath Under Eye Setting Powder, Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder, and Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder. When I tried this with the Chantecaille Perfect Blur Finishing Powder, Fenty PRO FILT’R Instant Retouch Setting Powder, and Nars Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder, the concealer faded quickly. I had this post ready to go when I decided at the last minute to buy the PMG Under Eye setting powder, so I don’t have a lot of experience with it, but I wanted to note that if I add extra moisture to my under eye (like an eye cream) I like the way it looks better than if I just apply concealer and powder with no skincare underneath. However, using extra moisture leads my concealer to break down in 6-7 hours whereas I’ve worn it “drier” for up to 9 hours and it was still going strong. Essentially, when I use this concealer under the perfect conditions, it looks amazing, but getting it that way is a bit of a challenge. Skin discoloration is the prime source of insecurity I have when it comes to my face, so I’m willing to take my time with the concealer step in my routine. The end result is worth the trouble to me, for now, but it’s possible I might get tired of the inconsistent results and just stick to the Dermablend Drops and/or Shape Tape. But when it’s good, it’s so good!
If you’re interested in purchasing this one, it’s important to know that the bottle is made of glass. This is not something I’d feel comfortable taking with me traveling. I’m afraid I might even break it at home! Also, the $32 price tag is a lot, but I waited for the brand to have a sale and got it for 30% off.
Tarte Shape Tape in Tan Sand, Tan-Deep Sand, Deep, and Deep Sand
As mentioned earlier, this got partially unseated as my favorite concealer after many consecutive years. When it comes to using PMG’s Sublime Concealer with a powder versus Shape Tape alone or with a powder, I like the results of PMG more. In any case, Tarte expanded their range to include Tan-Deep Sand, Deep Sand, and a few others. Knowing Tan Sand is super light and Deep can sometimes be darker than my skintone when I get less sun, I was hoping Tan-Deep Sand would be a nice middle ground shade. Unfortunately, there is barely a difference between them despite their jump in number from 42S to 47S. The reason I have a light color at all is because I needed it to mix with Deep. I guess I should be glad my new mixing shade is slightly less stark? As for Deep 53N and Deep Sand 53S, I expected them to be the same shade with different undertones. While I’m happy Deep Sand has more yellow in it, it’s also a little darker than the shade Deep, which I absolutely didn’t want. This only has a PAO of 6 months, so when it’s time to get rid of my Deep shade, I’ll have no choice but to mix my remaining Tan-Deep Sand and Deep-Sand concealers together if I want to continue using them. I kept Tan Sand past its date because I wanted to try and use it up, but I’ve thrown it out now.
One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about this concealer is that it’s too drying or it looks scaly under the eyes. While it can do that if the under eyes aren’t prepped and hydrated properly, I realized that this concealer doesn’t need to be set with powder. Skipping setting it has definitely helped to make it look less dry.
Despite having new favorites, Tarte Shape Tape is like a comfy blanket. I don’t feel secure with my concealer collection without having it there as a backup. At least once a year, Ulta puts these on sale for half off, so that’s the time when I stock up. Tarte does that at least once a year as well on their own website. The travel size is also available for every shade, but the full size is 10 times the product for less than 3 times the price. The full size is way more cost effective.
Hynt Beauty Duet Perfecting Concealer in Dark and Deep
Ulta had a sweepstakes of sorts and I won these two concealers! The jar is made of frosted glass. Dark is an outstanding shade match and the product inside is super creamy, but that is why it doesn’t work for me. It doesn’t matter if I leave it alone or use powder, this concealer gathers alarmingly quickly in the lines under my eyes in a very unflattering way. Matte liquid concealers tend to set fast. The only cream concealers I’ve had success with are stiffer, less emollient ones, which is why the wonderful texture is what keeps me from using products like these. If you typically opt for cream concealers, you might like this one and it does have great coverage. Since I can’t use them, I’m not keeping them in my collection.
Nars Soft Matte Concealer in Amande
This concealer has a whopping 30 month period-after-opening! I admittedly have owned this for a bit longer than that. It’s one of the few cream concealers that stays put and doesn’t crease as badly. I prefer leaving it unset but if I do use powder, less is better. Amande is the best shade match I have in Nars concealers I’ve used in the past (though the formula of the famous Radiant Creamy Concealer was terrible on me). Even though I like this, throughout the years I kept reaching for Shape Tape instead, so this product was hardly used, which I think is why it’s still in such good condition. I’m not willing to get rid of it yet. I want to hold onto it for one more month so I can form a more solid opinion of this concealer. If I don’t, I have a feeling I’d repurchase it in order to find out, especially since I’m such a fan of the Soft Matte Foundation and I’m curious to see how the two work together.
Too Faced Peach Perfect Matte Instant Coverage Concealer in Nutmeg
I thought this product looked so beautiful under my eyes, but the scent they have in the Peach Perfect line is so overwhelming and headache-inducing that I couldn’t handle it. I tried to wear it twice, but hours later the smell remained. Each time I wore it, I ended up washing it off because I could not deal with the fragrance. It’s a shame because this is one of the few cream concealers that work for me and this had the potential to be in my top 3 favorite concealers. It’s being phased out of Sephora, so anyone who wants this can pick up some of the few remaining shades for 50% off. It’s creamy but somehow doesn’t move on my face. The finish is natural and it has the amount of pigmentation that I need. If Too Faced releases an unscented version in the future, I’d buy it. Unfortunately, I don’t foresee that happening.
Maybelline Super Stay Full Coverage Under-Eye Concealer in Tan
I bought this on a whim in-store. I knew the shade was too light but the only other shade available was too dark and I really wanted to try the formula (and also use a coupon with a spending minimum). I was pleased with the amount of coverage it provided. I heard it was supposed to be less drying than Tarte Shape Tape, but I did not find that to be the case. For this reason, I didn’t use it ever again. I’m fairly certain it’s old now, so I’m throwing it out.
Benefit Boi-ing Cakeless Concealer in No.9
I bought this because I wanted to test out the formula but didn’t want to commit to a full size and this was the darkest shade available as a mini. Even though it’s a liquid, this settled too much in my not-so-fine lines, so I did not test this further or try to get a better shade.
Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Dark Caramel
When I mentioned before how all my concealers get tried as soon as I get them, this one is the exception. Every so often, I would get a sample of this concealer as a gift with purchase, so I knew I liked it. When Ulta put it on sale for 50% off, I bought it…three years ago. I hadn’t even removed the safety seal until the day I started working on this post.
The shelf life of unused makeup isn’t that long, so I’m surprising no one by saying this was expired when I finally opened it. The smell of crayons was extremely strong. On the bright side, I can at least say that I liked this concealer based on the samples I tried earlier in my makeup journey. It’s full coverage, which I need. Clearly, though, I didn’t like it enough to actually start using it once I had the tube in my possession. I wish I could remember why, but I’m not going to put this on my face or buy another one. If I get hold of a sample again, I will update this post with my findings.
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eyes Concealer in 35.5 Rich W
I bought this after seeing PopLuxe’s rave review. He often cites this as one of his favorite concealers. The shade match was atrocious (I fully blame websites for making this appear darker online than in person). Even the name implies that this is going to be a dark shade. 35.5 Rich W is darker than my Shape Tape mixing shades, yet if I wore those under my eyes (which I have), they don’t look anywhere near as lifelessly grey as the one from It Cosmetics. I’ll give this some credit for being medium-full coverage, but It Cosmetics is notoriously terrible at making shades darker than medium. I’m glad I only bought the mini size and didn’t pay full price. Aside from their brushes and mascaras, I haven’t had much luck with their other products. I think I’m going to take a long break from this brand.
Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place High Cover Concealer SPF 35 in 5N Deep
This is an extremely old and discontinued concealer that I kept around for shade comparison purposes (I haven’t used it on my face in many years). It’s the best shade match I’ve ever had, or at least in the top two, and it was a favorite for a long time. I found better products since then, which is why I never repurchased it. Since it’s so dried out that I could barely swatch it, I can’t even use it to compare the color, so it has a new home in the garbage.
Samples and First Impressions
Estee Lauder Double Wear Radiant Concealer in 5N Deep and 6N Extra Deep
The texture of this sample reminded me of how my discontinued Double Wear concealer used to feel, which is a bit strange considering this is in a liquid tube and I can’t imagine it’s supposed to be this thick. That’s the trouble with samples and full sizes sometimes; it’s possible they could be different due to the container. I tried the 5N Deep sample anyway, and it creased too much for my liking.
I actively watched this fade over and over in the area of my smile line. I applied more and set it, but it refused to stay over my smile line and still partially faded around my mouth. Ironically, the place that the majority of the time fades, under the eyes, is where it remained the best for a short time. Without powder, this lasted about two hours. This still only lasted about four hours on the powdered side before the fading was unflattering. Even if this lasted longer, I’m not crazy about the dewy finish, and I mean real dewiness not the natural finish or semi-matte kind. I don’t want my under eyes to shine because it brings attention to the sunken hollows of my under eyes, which isn’t so bad as long as the dark circle stays covered, but not great if the concealer starts to wear off as the day goes on.
Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Light Capturing Self-Setting Concealer in 41 and 52
Shade 52 creased within minutes. When set, this still barely lasts an hour. It settles in lines and fades and just does not work for me. I was very disappointed considering how well MUFE products usually work for me, and this is supposed to be self-setting. It’s honestly one of the worst concealers I’ve tried, so even though this is just a first impression review, I can’t recommend it.
Too Faced Multi-Use Sculpting Concealerin Chai
I used this sample for swatches, but I’ve purchased the full size concealer before and in this same shade. This is a much loved product that did not work for me. It didn’t give me the coverage or finish I wanted. It settled in my lines. I swiftly returned it.
Final Thoughts
After the decluttering process, this is what I’m left with:
I’ve going on a low-buy and no-buy for a lot of product categories, but the concealer category isn’t one of them. I don’t mind continuing the search for the ultimate concealer that works for me and could potentially be even better than Dermablend Drops, Shape Tape, or Pat Mcgrath. I’m not in a rush to get anything new and I still don’t want a large concealer collection, but it makes sense for me to expand the area that combats my biggest insecurity.
Ofra is a small Florida based company best known for their highlighters and liquid lipsticks. I wasn’t aware of the brand until four years ago when Ofra had their first collaboration with Youtuber Nikkietutorials. Since then, they’ve continued to partner with influencers: Nikkie, Kathleenlights, Samantha March, Jen Luvs, and more. I imagine Ofra is doing very well considering their products are available at Ulta. Then again, Ulta recently announced they’ll be carrying Jaclyn Cosmetics despite Jaclyn only having one successful launch after the disastrous lipstick release. That combined with Ulta selling KVD despite the brand struggling for the last two years and taking on Hourglass at their lowest dip in popularity has me questioning what it takes to be stocked at Ulta.
In any case, after my most recent order of the Blushzer, regular blush, liquid lipstick, and brush, I decided I had enough products from the brand to do a full review!
Glow Goals Highlighter (Nikkietutorials Collab)
I have this in Ofra’s older (but not oldest) packaging. It’s a bit difficult to see on camera, but this champagne colored highlighter has a light pink tinge that shows that shade in swatches but isn’t as detectable on my face. I tend to not favor pink highlighters, so I’m glad this looks essentially gold on my skin. This highlighter is a little softer pressed and even though I used the Wayne Goss Air Brush to apply Glow Goals and Rodeo Drive in my photos, the brush picked up way more product with this one and I was left with a far more blinding strip of color. Of course, it makes sense that Glow Goals would be extremely striking considering how much Nikkie loves her highlighters. On occasion, I like an intense highlight, as long as it isn’t glittery. This is definitely one of the most blinding shimmer highlighters I have in my collection and I love the fact that the particles are so fine. Because of the $35 price tag, it’s easy to want to compare this to Becca. The consistency and texture of the powders are different, but the result is similar. If someone wants a more intense version of Becca’s Shimmering Skin Perfectors, I recommend trying this one.
Rodeo Drive Highlighter
This is a warmer champagne/gold shade. I like that I have a bit more control with this product and can use a light amount for an everyday look or build it up to be much more intense. The amount seen in the photo above was created using one dip into the pan, which is the perfect amount for my usual tastes. Ofra considers this a “universally flattering shade,” and I honestly think this is as close to one as any brand can really get. It would be those on the lightest and darkest ends of the color spectrum who may not like how this looks on them. The result I get when using this shade reminds me even more of the effect Becca highlighters can give. One of the benefits Ofra offers over Becca is that the current packaging is magnetic with moveable pans, so I don’t have to keep these highlighters in their bulky packaging. I can put them in my custom magnetic face palette. Other benefits are that they sell refills (which uses less plastic for repeat buyers) and also mini sizes for those of us who never hit pan on powder products anyway, or would just rather spend $18 for less product.
Chick-Lit Blush Duo (Samantha March Collab)
I saw some photos of this blush online that made it look darker than it really is, so I began to wonder if perhaps this is one of those light blushes that could still work for me (like MAC’s Melba and Mocha). Unfortunately, this was not the case. I think this would look better on anyone at least two shades or more lighter than me. I liked the way it looked when I mixed this shade with the right side of the Squad Blushzer, pictured below. This was basically useless in my collection, so I’m glad to know I can keep Chick-lit as a mixer shade. I found it interesting that the shimmer half of Chick-lit has a darker base color in it than the matte/satin side, but combining the two leads to some icy looking results that I’m not into. It reminds me of the Clinique Pop Blushes, but I like the quality of this one better. Mixing them both also leads to me picking up too much product in the pan, which is quite easy to do as these blushes and blush duos from the brand creates quite a bit of kickup. The large packaging suddenly makes sense to keep the powders contained within the compact so it doesn’t waste product, but as I have a hard time panning anything, I don’t mind losing product.
Ride or Die Blushzer in Squad
While there are other products from Ofra that I’ve been curious about for well over a year (e.g. the Bali highlighter, beauty sponge, and liner), this duo drew me in to the point that I could only resist for about a week after it first launched!
As deep as these halves look, they don’t give intense pigment upon the first application once it’s blended. One pass of the blush, for example, sheers out to a soft medium pink flush. And for this bronzer to show enough to add warmth to my face, I have to really layer it on. This means that someone a few shades darker than me could wear this, but also those much lighter than me could as well.
I mentioned that this blush is sheerer than it looks upon initial application. While it’s great to have a blendable blush, I think it’s mainly due to the fact that this doesn’t stick to my skin very well. I’ve tried it over bare skin, different primers, and different foundations. The result is that this starts to noticeably fade around 3-4 hours and is gone around the 6 hour mark. I rarely have issues with blushes fading on me, so I thought it was a bit strange. However, if I use a setting spray, it does lock this product into place. Out of all the blush products I’m reviewing today, I’m the happiest with this one because I love the shade.
B-29 Coral Crush Pressed Blush
I have mixed feelings about this blush due to this specific color. I like that this is deep enough to show on me, but the particular tone isn’t my favorite. Like the Squad Blushzer, this shade has a bit of kickup. It has a little easier time sticking to my cheeks, but it will fade in five hours unless I use a setting spray. Coral Crush is smaller than Ofra’s newer blush releases. This was $15 for 4g as opposed to $29 for 10g.
#22 Blush Brush
This is a blush brush in name, but the item description says this is a highlighting brush. I find it’s far too big to highlight with, especially considering how intense Ofra’s highlighters can get. I wouldn’t want an even bigger stripe of this on my cheekbones. The pointed tip makes it suited for the split pan products as a typical blush or bronzer brush might be too big.
This isn’t that soft of a brush and it’s a bit scratchy. The bristles have the look and feel of a low grade goat brush, but it’s actually synthetic. I was a bit surprised because I’m used to synthetic brushes feeling softer than this. Also, it sheds quite a lot. While it’s normal for a natural hair brush that’s been hand bundled to lose a few hairs, I’ve only had a synthetic brush shedding issue from my lower quality ELF brushes, so I was once again surprised considering the price of this brush. At least I got it free with my $35+ purchase.
The washing process can free the remaining straggler hairs from natural bristle brushes, so I hoped that washing this brush would do that as well. Unfortunately, washing this brush only increased the shedding and letting it air dry caused the brush to puff out and become too rounded to be useful. So, I recommend using the aloe vera method or a brush guard after washing to maintain its shape (and I have since done that with this brush to reshapen it). Ofra makes some nice products, but this brush just isn’t one of them.
I’d recommend the ELF Pro/Studio line (with the black handles), EcoTools, or Real Techniques over this one. They’re less expensive, synthetic, and softer. For synthetic bristle brushes at a higher price point, I recommend some of Tarte’s brushes and Scott Barnes. I used to use It Cosmetics for Ulta brushes, but my less expensive brushes are comparable in quality. Also, I enjoyed Smashbox’s original line of brushes (which was mostly natural hair) and while their line is completely synthetic now, I’ve heard great things about the new ones. I haven’t tried them myself yet though.
Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Baroque
I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I have no intention of purchasing lip products this year (with the exception of balms), but this was on sale for $8 and would let me reach the free shipping minimum, so I decided to buy this so I could test out the formula. This shade is described as a nude pink with gold flecks. I haven’t seen any shimmer in this at all and despite looking warm toned in the tube, it’s not as brown or warm on my lips as I’d hoped. I don’t mind that it’s a light shade, but the undertone isn’t my style, even when I’ve paired it with other shades of lip liners.
I still did a few wear tests on it. This formula is very comfortable on the lips. Some liquid lipsticks show a discolored patch if you try to touch it up, but this one doesn’t do that. It isn’t completely transfer-proof (it left a faint imprint on my glass when I was drinking tea), but I had great results from the time I put it on until the time I ate. Without retouching after eating, the lipstick is susceptible to transferring a lot more, but I don’t expect any lip product to last past eating. I give this kudos for only really disappearing in the center-most part of my lips.
While it doesn’t feel drying, at around the eight hour point it starts to look drier than it feels, so that’s when I’d remove what’s left and replace it with a balm. I’ve also tried this with a Tower 28 gloss on top, and while the lipgloss doesn’t displace the color underneath, once you eat, it makes the lipstick especially easy to remove to the point that reapplication is definitely necessary.
In the future, if I want to buy liquid lipsticks, I would definitely consider this brand, but hopefully I’d be better at choosing a shade. I also think Ofra’s reputation for having fantastic highlighters is well deserved. Those two types of products are my recommendations.
That’s all I have for today! Thank you for reading!
In my last Juvia’s Place review, I mentioned that I wasn’t getting anything new lately because of the pressed glitters that Juvia’s Place kept putting in nearly all of their palettes from part of 2019 through 2020. However, there was a big sale during the holidays and I folded.
Nubian Glow Gift Set
This collection consists of the Nubian Glow Palette, the Mango Lip Balm, and Guava Lip Balm. They were all packaged in their own boxes within this set.
Shade 5 is a pressed glitter, so I did not use that in any looks.
I think the shades in this palette are beautiful but I find that the quality of all the lighter mattes in all these palettes I’m reviewing today are not what I’m used to from Juvia’s Place. Although they swatch nicely, they seem thinner and I can see my skin through the shades. It takes a lot to build them up. In the second look above, you can see the section in the crease where I had to use the nearly white ABH primer to keep the shade appearing somewhat bright. What looks to be the darker mustard-orange shade above it is actually still the yellow matte shade just over MAC Paint Pot. It started off looking like the yellow below it but darkened within minutes. The orange shade on the lower lash line is also over the ABH primer because it wasn’t showing as bright as it looked in the pan. I’m used to Juvia’s Place shadows being very pigmented regardless of the kind of shade it is, so I’m a bit disappointed. The shimmer shades look nice, but I had to wet them or use glitter primer to make them stand out. I prefer shadows that make an impact without having to do that. The kind that wetting only intensifies further, not the ones that won’t shine without it. Although I can still make the mattes work, I’d rather not use them again. Without the mattes, which I feel is needed for me to make a complete look, I know I won’t reach for this again unless I depot the palette. I will keep shades 1, 3, and 6. At the reduced price, it still makes the palette worth it in terms of cost, but I really didn’t need anymore golds in my collection. I wanted this for the full color story.
I really wanted to try the lip balms after Angelica Nyqvist’s video describing them as the most realistic smelling mango and guava scented lip balms she’s ever tried. The mango one really does smell nice. I’m not certain if I’m sold on the guava, but at least the smell is pleasant. I like how hydrating these made my lips feel. I applied a lot and within a few hours it actually made my lips prune a bit (the way fingers get pruned when submerged in water too long). The wrinkling effect wasn’t so bad as to look unappealing, but I would probably only wear this at home and as a quick lip prep step before applying a different lip product on top afterwards. The consistency feels like a lightweight version of petroleum jelly, which makes sense since the first ingredient listed for this product is polybutene (a petroleum derivative). Hydrogenated polybutene is the third ingredient as well.
Nubian Royal Palette
Considering how the Nubian Glow went for me, I am surprised to say I didn’t have as much trouble using this palette. It’s a bit funny considering purples are among the hardest shades to formulate. The mattes are still on the thin side, but they remained true to color without needing the ABH primer. I intend to depot this palette as well and keep everything except shade 6 because that’s the pressed glitter. If you like pressed glitters, you might want this palette because shade 6 is the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen, but I’m not going to put my eyes at risk. They’ve gotten irritated too many times from “safe” products, so I’d rather not use things that aren’t considered safe in both the US and EU.
The Mauves Palette
And we’re back to the formula issues. Shade 1 isn’t just lighter than Shade 3; it’s less pigmented too. Shade 4 was a struggle to even swatch because it did not want to go on my finger or on a brush. It’s as if it immediately hard-panned. Shades 2 and 3 show up, but I find that none of the mattes in this palette wanted to be layered over each other. Once the color was deposited onto the lid, any additional shade was a struggle to get to stick. 5 and 6 are beautiful and I’m fine with having to spray them to make an impact. I’ll be keeping shades 5, 6, and possibly 3.
Sweet Pinks Palette
What I find most interesting about these shades is that the mattes have a corresponding shimmer that pairs very well together. Shades 3 and 4 match very well. 1 and 6 have similar pink-coral vibes. 2 and 5 are a bit more on the fuchsia pink-purple side. I haven’t seen matching pairings like these in the other palettes. While I still have the issue of these mattes not showing as well without a lighter base (as can be seen in the crease of the first look versus the second look in the photo below), it’s not as problematic compared to the difficulty level I had with the Nubian Glow or Mauves palettes. Also, while I am happy with the whole corresponding shadow idea, 3 and 5 look so similar on the eye, especially when next to each other in the top look on the lid below. When there are as few as 6 shades, I prefer to not have any duplicates. That being said, when I depot this, I’m planning to keep all 6 shadows.
Wahala II Palette
Besides Gobe, I didn’t swatch any other pressed glitter from the Wahala II palette. Unlike the glitters from Nubian Glow and Nubian Royal, which are pressed tightly together in a sandy texture that isn’t too sticky, these glitters have a stickier base that was so incredibly difficult to remove the majority of the glitter specks off my arm. There was no way I was going to deal with that three more times with Goals, 419, and Kolo (which I touched to be sure they were pressed glitters and removing a tiny amount off my finger still proved difficult).
Yab, Too Much, Lit, and Wasted had the same pigmentation deficiencies I noticed from the other 6 pan palettes. Oya looks dark plum in the pan, but on the lids it’s almost black! I wish it was actually the dark plum shade I expected. Other than those, I really enjoyed the other shadows! I was so happy to have two multichromes (Fake and Money) and surprised to also see three duochromes (Amebo, Dope, and Bold). Even the regular shimmers are more in line with the Juvia’s Place quality I had gotten used to and they didn’t need a spray or glitter glue to make an impression.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes brands change their eyeshadow formulas. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing, as it may better suit the preferences of other people. For instance, I tend to like Natasha Denona’s more recent eyeshadow formulas (post-Lila). On the other hand, I loved Kaleidos’s formulas until Lunar Lavender. I had an easier time using these Juvia’s Place shadows than Lunar Lavender, but I still prefer the formula of their older palettes. Considering the pressed glitter issue and my issue with the lighter mattes in particular, I think I’ll have a little break from Juvia’s Place eyeshadows (or at least the quads and 6-pans).
I forgot to include my Natasha Denona cheek products in my initial photo, but this post will cover everything I own from the brand!
Bloom Blush and Glow Palette
I use the Glow Cream Base as a subtle wet looking highlighter. I also mix it with the dark red Cream Blush to create a medium pink shade, since I don’t like the tone of the blush on its own. Because of the texture and how quickly it sets/stops being as blendable on the skin, I apply a layer of the Cream Base first to my cheek, then I add one tap of the blush on top and swirl it around with my finger until the adequate amount is laid down. I wipe the excess blush off my finger before continuing to blend until I’m satisfied with the look. I’ve tried the Glow Extreme several times but the sparkle level is too glittery for my taste. On the flip side, the Duo Glow is stunning! I imagine this could be a blush on some people but it is a stunning duochromatic highlighter. Being able to utilize so much of a face palette is uncommon for me, so I’m very happy I bought this. Also, I’ve had this for ten months and the creams haven’t dried out. This palette is meant to last 18 months, so that’s also a pleasant surprise!
Blush Duo
I bought this from a Boxycharm subscriber. The main blush shade is called Golden Coral and is described as a, “champagne peach shimmer and warm pink with slight champagne sheen.” This is not to be confused with the Duo Glow shade in the Bloom palette which is a combination of a, “vibrant coral with golden champagne.” The TouTou shade is meant to blend out the edges. On my skin tone, it’s too stark and just makes the edges look ashy. When I look forward, Golden Coral is a bit too bubblegum pink, and when I turn my face to the light it looks like I applied highlighter all over my cheek instead of a glowy blush. I think if I had a different shade, I would still not be a fan of the way it looks on my skin or its satin texture. MAC and Nabla are the two brands I trust to make a shimmer blush I will like. I haven’t had quite as much luck with shimmer blushes from other brands.
I think I will be decluttering this one from my collection since I doubt I will use it again. It looks pretty in the photo, but in person there’s just something about this color that I don’t care for. Despite the warmth from the gold shimmer, the base color of the blush itself is too cool toned for my liking.
The Mini Lila Palette
I purchased this palette when it was on sale and being discontinued about two and a half years ago. I haven’t noticed any changes in the quality because these shades were always very pigmented, but not the easiest to blend. Although Poison Berry (the dark red-toned purple) and Raisin (warm reddish-brown purple) are pretty colors, they look nearly interchangeable on the eye and I have plenty of shades like them. I wanted this palette for the Blue Dahlia shade, which was more unique in my collection when I originally bought it, but I have many duochrome blue-purples in my collection now, such as Nocturnal from Clionadh and Fierce from Sydney Grace. Linen is pretty, but I typically only use that kind of shade to highlight the inner corner of the eye and under the brow arch. Flint is only good for highlighting under my brow (though it barely shows) and blending out the edges of Poison Berry and Raisin.
I’ve tried to use this many times and to love it, but I think it’s best if I declutter it to allow other palettes I’m more excited by to get my attention.
My Revised Lila Palette
The Lila palette is an older one from Natasha Denona’s brand, but I purchased mine from Beautylish in November 2019. Some of these shades from the original palette are so beautiful, but I felt it wasn’t purple enough, which is why I rearranged this palette using six additional purples from the 28 Purple-Blue palette: Calypso Blue, Nina’s Orchid, Aubergine, Electric Violet, Smoky Plum, and Maroon. I am much happier with the results! The colors are mainly midtones and darker shades, so I don’t have anything to give a true pop of brightness in this one, but I tend to just use whatever highlighter I have for inner corner and brow arch highlights anyway.
As a purple lover, if I didn’t have the ability to add more purples to this palette, I honestly think I would have been more disappointed with this purchase and felt it wasn’t worth buying, even though I got it during one Beautylish’s infrequent sales. I still don’t use this palette as much as I should, but it’s aesthetically pleasing to me and I get joy from knowing it’s there in my collection.
The Mini Gold Palette
I purchased this shortly after it was released, which is rare for me to buy anything at full price. However, the color story was calling to me so strongly that I didn’t have the self control to wait for a sale. Lodge hardly shows on my eyes, but I love all the other shades! Dark Sepia is a much needed deepening up shade, even though I typically reserve that task for mattes. I found that it looks great in the outer corner but I can also use it in the crease with Bia on top to give that grungy olive green depth that I need if I want it to look like more than just a soft wash of green. I originally didn’t like the flaky texture of D’OR, but now that I’ve worked with many different glittery shadows for the past year, my experience makes using this shade much easier now. I thought the green would be my favorite shade, but D’or really elevates the eye looks I create with this palette. Antheia is a beautiful duochrome olive-brown with gold and green shimmer. That shadow’s tone doesn’t pop as much on my eyelid as I think it would on someone else, but it’s still pretty and I prefer how it looks as an inner corner highlight.
If I ranked my Natasha Denona palettes in their non-revised forms, this would be tied with the Bronze palette for second place. It’s also a favorite palette in my eyeshadow collection overall.
My Revised Gold Palette
This is another palette that is older, but I purchased it late in 2019. Although I liked the blue shades, I wanted to have all my blues in the 28 Purple-Blue Palette instead. I kept 8 of the original shades and added 4 from Lila (Magnolia, Layla, Helio, Cyclone) and 3 from the Purple-Blue (Rosewood, Golden Rose, and Oxide). This palette holds one of the most amazing nearly-glowing greenish gold shades called Lime Chrome. It’s possibly my favorite eyeshadow color from Natasha Denona! It’s hard to justify the price when I got this palette for a few specific shades, but I can at least attest to the shimmer quality being amazing! The mattes weren’t very well suited for me.
When it comes to doing eye looks, my version of the Gold palette is better for simpler eye looks if used alone or as a companion palette. If I wore Brass one day and Oro the next, I doubt anyone would notice I was wearing a more yellow-toned gold shade that day. Or if I wore Brass one day and Alchemist the next, I don’t think anyone would wonder if the eyeshadow suddenly became less glittery than the previous day. So, really, the differences in gold shades is for the wearer’s knowledge and benefit. Although I don’t mind repetitive golds, there were quite a few light shades that were going to look pretty much the same on my eyes, so that’s why I removed most of those.
For the eye looks, I added Python, Sparks, and Aria back, although I had to use the very pale Anastasia Beverly Hills primer in order for Aria to show at all on my eyes. The last two eye looks were created using the pink shades in my revised palette, which were not part of the original Gold palette, but I included them in this section anyway.
My Revised 28 Purple-Blue Palette
This is the oldest ND palette in my collection, as I received it from my 2018 Lucky Bag. These have under performed for a while now, but I am not ready to put them on the shelf of retired makeup products kept purely for collector purposes. Although this palette has been rearranged, the majority of the shadows are still here. I mainly removed the purple shades to spruce up the Lila palette. This one currently holds all the colors I like the least or would seldom use in my ND collection, which are mainly cool tone shades. Some of the yellows and golds are beautiful, but I wanted to minimize the amount of similarly toned shadows in the other palettes, which is how those ended up here. 19 are from the original palette, 2 are from Lila (Juneau and Per Se), and 7 are from Gold (Cava, Sandstone, Sparks,Aria, Teak, Aurora, Python).
The Metropolis Palette
I love the greens and blues, plus I enjoy enjoy orange shades, so this palette has a lot to offer me. On a lighter skin tone, the subtle nuances and differences in texture and undertone is enough to keep this palette from being repetitive, but I acknowledge a lot of these colors look similar on me. My favorite shimmer from Metropolis is Orium, a duochromatic “coral with light greenish reflects,” which goes well with everything in this palette. That being said, I still haven’t used Metropolis as much as I wanted. I know the shades are arranged in a way that can be complimentary if used in adjacent quads or by rows and columns, but I am unused to these color combinations, so I tend to not know what to do and I reach for something else instead. I was happy to discover that the pans in Metropolis are the same size as the medium 15-pan $65 palettes, so I decided to swap some of my least use shades and replace them with Suntan, Magma, High Degree, Alloy, Gloaming, and Bliss from the Bronze palette. Then I organized them in a way that makes it easier for me to visualize how to pair the colors together on my eyes!
Metropolis launched in September 2019, but I’ve only had this palette for 13 months. I can happily say that the cream shadows have not dried out, although Symbol did feel less creamy than Enigma from the very start. They’re all still blendable and such a pleasure to use. This palette is labelled to be good for 2 years after opening, which is fantastic.
I already reviewed this palette, mini Lila, and mini Gold in my 2020 Eyeshadow Tag post, which included eyeshadow looks, so I wanted to expand on that by creating new looks using different shades for this one.
This is my favorite Natasha Denona palette and a favorite in my collection overall!
The Bronze Palette
This is the newest addition to my collection. I kept telling myself I didn’t need this and that the color story is repetitive, but I caved and bought it. When I looked at this next to Metropolis and saw all the neutral browns and oranges, I was reminded even more how much I didn’t need this palette. It’s so pretty though! Bliss is an amazing dark pink shadow with gold and green sparkle. Deep Dive has the cream to powder formula that’s present in the Metropolis palette which works well to smoke out any look or add a unique twist to any shadow that’s patted on top of it. Gloaming is a stunning, “burnt umber with a light bronze reflect.” Magma is the perfect crease shade for all these bronze and orange tones. The shadow quality is fantastic. They are all pigmented, even if most of the lighter mattes are the same depth as my natural lid shade and they just blend into my skin and become hard to see. The other shadows more than make up for it. Even Rhodium, my least favorite shade because it doesn’t have enough sparkle to stand out on my eye, looks amazing when paired with the more sparkly shades in this palette. What helps differentiate this palette from Metropolis is the fact that the similar orange shades lean more on the pink and brown side of bronze. The oranges in Metropolis lean more yellow and gold. Although I removed the most fun six shades and put them in Metropolis, I’m happy to say that what I have leftover in my revised Bronze palette still looks pretty and I can see myself reaching for it to use True Copper, True Bronze, Sundown, Deep Dive, and possibly even Rhodium again.
I left Bronze as a workable and still cohesive palette, unlike my revised 28 pan Blue-Purple one filled with shades I wouldn’t miss. Although I wanted to put Deep Dive in my Metropolis palette, I needed to keep it here as my main deepening up shade.
COMPARISONS
When it comes to specific categories like inner corner shades, browns, golds, bronzes, and blues, Natasha Denona’s shades are without question very similar. At the same time, I thought a lot of shades were more similar than they ended up being. For example, in my mind I thought Bia and Lethal were similar because they’re both light greens. However, Bia is on the grassy pastel side and Lethal is a more grungy yellow-green. I also thought about the fact that Golden Rose is a duochrome pink shadow with gold shimmer, and the same can be said of Bliss. In swatching them, I realized Bliss is more of a coral than a true pink. So, Natasha Denona’s use of different undertones and levels of glitter really helps shades that would ordinarily be similar look quite different when swatched.
That’s everything! I’ve been wanting to do a post like this for a long time, so I’m happy it’s complete now. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog!
I don’t always post about it, but every December I compile a list of my favorite beauty products of the year. I had a first draft completed for, “Products I loved in 2020,” but I decided to scrap that idea. Although I tested more makeup in 2020 than ever before, calling something a favorite has more impact when it’s compared to the twenty or more other products I had at my disposal, as opposed to just a handful.
‘Shopping my Stash’ has become increasingly important to me. I believe I will purchase fewer things if I am more familiar with the products I already have. I also want to feel the satisfaction of using up a product until it is empty. At the same time, there’s no need to keep the products I know I won’t use due to an incorrect shade match, being too heavily fragranced, not meshing with my skin type, etc. So, I will be disciplining the inner makeup hoarder in me and condensing my collection as well!
I also decided that in the swatch portion, I’ll include some foundation sample cards in case anyone is curious about additional shade matches from other brands!
Nars Sheer Glow in Macao – Nars Sheer Glow unseated the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD, which was my favorite foundation for 3-4 years. I love this product and whenever I wore foundation in 2020, at least 80% of the time, I was using Sheer Glow. I use the tiniest amount for light coverage and utilize concealer to cover the areas where my hyperpigmentation shows through. When I use a normal amount, which gives me medium-buildable coverage, I tend to skip concealer everywhere except under my eyes. I love the natural finish it leaves on my skin and it works amazingly with any tool I use, whether I use my fingers, a brush, sponge, or Blendiful. It lasts all day until I’m ready to remove it. My only complaint is about the packaging. This comes in a screw cap jar, which from experience, the exposure to air from frequently opening and closing the bottle will start to cause the foundation to get darker well before the expiration date or open canister number. So, I bought the pump that’s made specifically for this foundation in order to keep it as airtight as possible. However, when you put the pump cap on, the original bottle cap no longer fits. So you have to keep it as shown in the photo without a cap. Considering the $47 price tag and $6 pump, it’s a bit ridiculous that Nars doesn’t provide a pump cap with it, so I can store it like a normal foundation. Expensive items shouldn’t be poorly packaged.
It has been about 13 months since I bought this, and I have felt that the color is a little darker than before, so I may be getting rid of this foundation soon. However, I’m not fully ready to part with it, even though the PAO date has passed.
Cover Girl Clean Fresh Skin Milk Foundation in 600 and 620 – I can talk at length about this foundation because I started working on a post for it when it was released in December of 2019. It gave me so much trouble that I ended up abandoning the project. First, was the issue of the shade match; which 600 looked much darker in the original promo photos. 620 is still a bit light for me but it’s workable as this foundation is intended to give sheer to light coverage. It leaves a veil over the skin, like a tinted moisturizer, and it feels like a moisturizer in texture as well.
In the beginning it doesn’t feel greasy at all. It leaves a nice dewy finish at the start. I have normal-dry skin, leaning more on the dry side. The fact that within 2 to 5 hours this foundation turns me into a oily mess is shocking. I found that whatever primer I paired it with effected how quickly it took before my face would freak out and start producing oils at a rate I’d never seen before. I tested this foundation about seven different times and the end consensus was that I don’t recommend using any primer with it, and to set it heavily with powder after applying. Perhaps a mattifying primer would work. I can’t test that theory out since I have dry skin, so I don’t own any mattifying or oil controlling primers. The best result I had was mixing 600 with my Lancome Teint Idole Foundation (which was too dark and very matte) in a ratio of 75% Covergirl and 25% Lancome, in order to have enough pigment to lighten the Lancome shade. However, I still couldn’t get a decent look past 5 hours. There’s something in the Cover Girl foundation that causes my skin to produce an alarming amount of oils. Even still, it’s not worth the hassle for the low coverage this product provides.
I would say perhaps this foundation would work better for someone else, but as time went on more YouTubers started trying it out and two of the ladies I watch had strong allergic reactions to this foundation. In addition, I think this has a bit of a bread-like smell combined with milk or lite cream. However, I’ve seen some reviews where other people found the smell to be repulsive. So, I don’t even recommend giving it a try. I kept the bottles in case I ever did want to make a post about them, but now that I have the photos I need, they are in the garbage.
Shiseido Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing FoundationSPF30 in 440 Amber – I purchased this shade based on my Sephora Color IQ number, the complexion product matching system. Based on the initial color that comes out of the bottle, it looks like a good match. However, once it settles into my skin I can see a grey cast. I initially thought it was because the product was too light for me, but I believe it’s due to the addition of sunscreen in this.
The product claims sounded amazing and the beauty gurus were raving about this when it was first released. When I used it myself, I was impressed with how it wore around my smile lines. I have one specific crease that a lot of foundations settle into. However, this foundation really did keep that area looking smooth and covered up better than any other I’ve tried. With all that being said, I still hardly use this foundation purely because the grey tinge makes my skin look so dull and lifeless. Instead, I use a different foundation everywhere on my face but I will occasionally blend in the Shiseido foundation just onto my smile line. Since it’s such a tiny area, there isn’t much of a color differentiation. My bottle is going to expire in March 2021, so I will hold onto it until that date. SPF in makeup is notoriously an issue for those with darker skin tones, so if you have a lighter complexion where it wouldn’t be as much of an issue, I would recommend this one.
Laura Geller Filter FirstFoundation in Pecan – I bought this foundation when it was 90% off (only $3.80) at Ulta because they were dropping the brand from their stores. The shade match is a little more golden-orange than I liked, so I only wore it once. Based on that first impression, I believe it could be a decent foundation if I had a closer shade match, but there weren’t many other shades available for purchase. This foundation’s time has run out though, and I’ve disposed of it.
Clinique Even BetterMakeup SPF 15 in WN 124 Sienna – As one of my Diamond Rewards from Ulta, I was able to redeem a free Clinique foundation. I was color-matched by a store associate, but Sienna is still a bit too light and not golden enough. Out of the 56 shades in the line, there are only 3 darker than my shade. The next one up was too dark, so I went with Sienna and figured it might work better in the winter months, which unfortunately it does not. I’ve had it for nearly a year, so I’m getting rid of it.
Tarte Face Tapein 53S Deep Sand 54G Deep Golden – I had help from an Ulta associate getting shade-matched to Deep Sand, which tends to be my closest match in Tarte’s foundations. I really loved the finish and coverage. I still felt like the tone was slightly off, but there wasn’t anything better suited for me in the range. So, I wore this a few times and went back to my other foundations.
Because I bought this in-store and can’t see past January 2020 in my account records, I’m not sure when I purchased this. I remember at some point the color seemed even more different than I remembered, which led me to purchase the travel size version online in Deep Golden in January 2020. I realized this shade was a bit too golden and didn’t look better on me than Deep Sand, so I never used it more than once.
I know there are a lot of people who don’t throw foundations away immediately after the PAO date. They continue to use them until it starts to be too long (going on two years), change in smell/consistency/performance, or until the bottle is used up. I try to be good about disposing of my liquid products, but sometimes I hold onto them for longer too. I bring this up because my older Face Tape foundation developed an extremely sticky consistency. I was a bit repulsed by that, so I checked the bottle and realized it only has a 6-month period-after-opening. That’s pretty shocking considering the price point and the amount of product you get. Foundations are usually good for at least one year. My newer one is 11 months old and hasn’t changed its texture, but I’ve thrown it out as well. Purely based on the PAO issue, I don’t recommend this foundation.
Make Up For Ever Ultra HD in Y505 – I finally let this one go. I’ve been a fan of the original MUFE HD when my shade was originally 177 Cognac. When the Ultra HD version came out, I went through 2 other bottles of that. I loved the coverage and how beautiful my skin looked on camera. It had a nice natural/soft matte finish. If powdered, it was fairly transfer-resistant. My shade was a little more neutral than yellow/warm, but it still looked great on me. It was the shade I always referenced as my perfect skin tone before using Macao from Nars. For some reason, Y505 was discontinued, and that is what led me on the hunt to find a different “holy grail” foundation. When my color was discontinued, MUFE introduced Y508. I’m not sure if it was supposed to replace mine or how similar it is to what I used. What I do know is that Y505 in some of MUFE’s other foundations are slightly different across the board. I may try to investigate this further, but for now, I’m happy with Nars foundations.
Nyx Born to Glow Naturally Radiant Foundation in Nutmeg – This gives me a grey cast because the one I bought was too light for me. I didn’t try to buy another shade because Nars Sheer Glow feels lighter on the skin than this, while simultaneously giving more coverage, so I prefer that. This foundation also does not dry down as much as I’d like. This one definitely isn’t bad. It’s just a preference thing. January marks 12 months of having this foundation, so I removed it from my collection.
Beautyblender Bounce Liquid Whip Longwear Foundationin 4.10 and 4.35 – In June, using the same Sephora Color IQ, I ordered shade 4.10 even though it said “cool olive” and I’m always “warm golden” or “warm yellow.” I thought perhaps the matching system was intended to be like MAC with NC being my shade range instead of NW. I was wrong.
In November 2020, the foundation went on sale and since I did enjoy how the foundation looked on my skin, I decided to get a darker color to mix with. Without being able to see or test it in-store, or decipher in photos online, I didn’t want to try to and guess at a shade that was still too light for me and be unable to use yet another one. In the photo below, I was able to compare them to shade 4.30 thanks to a foundation sample card that I got with one of my online orders. It’s not too far off from my skin tone, just a touch too dark. As I already have two bottles though, I’m not going to buy a third.
If someone is able to find their match, I do recommend this foundation, although I think they may be discontinuing it considering the severe price drop. The formula is a bit thick, but I think that makes it perfect for using with the Beautyblender, since the damp sponge will give it a slightly thinner consistency. I’m keeping both.
L’Oreal Infallible Fresh Wear Foundation in Hazelnut and Copper – I bought this based on Tati’s rave review. I did really enjoy the beautiful dewy finish. I wasn’t satisfied by the shade matches, as I felt like they oxidized towards the end of the day. I also felt like they didn’t dry down as much as I liked. Also, this foundation smells a bit like perfume. I kept using them initially but eventually I grew tired of how long it took before I could no longer smell it on my face. Ironically the newer bottle I bought, Copper, expired a few months ago. The first bottle, Hazelnut, expires soon. I went ahead and got rid of both.
Uoma Beauty Say What Foundation in Brown Sugar T1W – I absolutely love how lightweight this is and the gorgeous finish it leaves on my face! Despite being thin, it can be built up to full coverage. It feels so hydrating to my dry skin! The brand calls the finish a “vibrant matte” but on me, it still has a glow. Although the Brown Sugar and Bronze Venus categories cite oily/combo skin as the most common skin type, which would lead me to believe this formula wouldn’t be as nice on someone like me, it still somehow feels like there are oils in it even though it’s a water-based product. If I’m able to find a less orange shade match that better suits me, this could potentially become my new favorite foundation! It’s my understanding that the Brown Sugar shades tend to have a lot of orange in them in order to correct hyperpigmentation, which is a common issue for those within this skin tone range. This makes me wonder if getting the neutral T1N might still be too orange, or if that shade might be too dark for me. I’m within the Bronze Venus range for the contour and highlighting stick, but the Bronze Venus T3W and T3N looked like it might be too light for me based on photos. I’m waiting for a sale before I try to pick up a second bottle, which will likely be Bronze Venus T3N. My local Ulta doesn’t carry this brand in-store, so I will have to guess blindly. Shade matching in-store doesn’t always work for me anyway.
Because this foundation is the runniest one I have (even thinner and more watery than Dermablend drops), I dispense it directly onto my face before strategically dotting it in other areas with my finger. Then I either use my fingers or a brush to blend it in. The Blendiful soaks up too much foundation if you apply it directly onto its surface before putting it on the face. However, if the foundation is applied to your face already, the Blendiful works well to smooth it out. I do not recommend using a damp sponge, for fear of further diluting the product, unless you plan to use extra pumps of foundation with it.
*NOTE: At the time of posting, this is currently 40% off at Ulta! I ordered Bronze Venus T3N. Wish me luck!
Dermablend Flawless Creator Lightweight Foundation in 70W – This foundation has the closest consistency to the Uoma Beauty one, however, it doesn’t give the same finish and doesn’t have quite the same texture. It also looks light in the swatches above but when it fully dries, the color darkens to a very close skin tone match for me. Although I can use this all over my face, my favorite use for this is as a lightweight but full coverage concealer with a natural/semi-matte finish. I got the idea from Marlena Stell, Makeup Geek founder, who frequently uses this foundation as a concealer in her live makeup videos on Youtube. Once I bought the Pat Mcgrath concealers, I stopped using this for a few months, but now I’m using it again to cover my dark circles and hyperpigmentation. A little goes a very long way and if the tiniest amount isn’t used, it can look almost mask-like. They weren’t kidding about this being full coverage, which is why I prefer to use this as a spot concealer. 1-4 drops can be mixed with moisturizers, serums, sunscreen, etc to create a sheerer complexion product but I haven’t done that yet. I like the formula as is.
I think it may be time for me to toss my bottle of 70W, due to some perceived changes, but I’m not ready to let it go yet. Ulta had this for 50% off a week ago, but they don’t carry 70W. I still bought 72N hoping it could work for me, and it does as an under eye concealer, but being slightly darker and slightly more orange is enough to be mismatched for the rest of my face unless I use one of my light yellow setting powders (such as the Laura Mercier Honey shade) to balance it out. However, it looks too drying if I set it with powder. Unlike other complexion products I own which aren’t intended to be mixed, the Dermablend drops are a multi-use product. I’ve only had 72N for a few days, so I will experiment with it some more to find out the best way to utilize this shade in the future.
Milani Conceal + Perfect 2 in 1 Foundation and Concealer in Amber – Because the shade match was off, I honestly didn’t give this product enough of a chance to be able to review it. I’ve had it for 16 months, so it needs to be tossed out.
Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear 24H Long Wear Foundation in 500 Suede W – This is the oldest foundation I have in my collection and it survived multiple declutters because I kept saying to myself I was keeping it to mix with any foundations that were too light. How often did I actually do that? Less than a handful of times! I’m absolutely getting rid of it, though it’s such a shame that I didn’t use it enough. It was part of my 2000 point redemption order via Ulta, and I heard doing exchanges on items purchased with points is a hassle, so I didn’t try to get a different shade. It was supposed to match me based on my Sephora Color IQ, but I only have a 50% success rate with Sephora’s recommendations. Based on my limited experience with this, I can say that I like how full or near to full coverage it was. However, it didn’t impress me enough to repurchase when I had MUFE and Nars foundations in my possession.
Kosas Tinted Face Oil in Tone 7.5 – I mentioned in the Uoma Beauty section that the Say What foundation felt as though it had some oils in it. This foundation is actually oil based and feels very similar to that one. The finish is nice and because it gives light coverage, the imperfect shade match is more forgiving. I believe Tone 8 is my actual shade. I’ve enjoyed this sample so much that I’ve been tempted to purchase the full size ever since. However, I’ve held back because I prefer the Uoma formula a little more. Considering the similar price points and how they look on my skin, I would rather get a buildable foundation that I can have at full pigmentation or sheer out, as opposed to one that only provides low coverage.
Nars Soft Matte Complete Foundationin Macao – Considering my skin type, I’m so surprised how much I love this foundation! I like how smooth this looks on my skin and the consistency is watery (but not as thin as Kosas or Uoma), yet it provides full coverage. It appears lighter and more neutral than the Macao version in Sheer Glow, but I still like how it looks on my skin (and especially in photos). It also sets without needing powder. It isn’t completely transfer-proof but if I press a napkin to my skin, it is minimal. It settles into my deeper smile line, so this may not be a great foundation for someone with mature skin. I still like it though and it is so smooth everywhere else. This foundation is the reason I have no plans to repurchase Sheer Glow. If I buy another one, it will likely be this. I’m still going back and forth on it.
Pat Mcgrath Sublime Perfection Foundation – I only had this foundation in the form of a sample card, so I can only say from my single sample use that it looks pretty on the skin and is on the light to medium side. I think I would like this foundation, but not for full retail price. Even 30% off would be too steep for me, so I don’t think I’ll ever be adding this one to my collection.
Fenty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in 420 – I still don’t know my correct Fenty shade. I’m supposed to be 420 based on the color IQ, but 420 pulls a little darker and noticeably orange on me. When the foundation initially launched, I went to Sephora to get samples of 390, 410, and 420. I could not tell a difference between 410 and 420. 390 looked like a better shade, even though it looked a little on the pink side to me (despite the description). I didn’t investigate further because I did not like how this foundation looked on my skin. It looked very drying and showed texture and lines I didn’t know I had. When the hydrating version launched, I went to my local JCP-Sephora and tried those same three shades again. In the hydrating formula, 390 was lighter than the matte version, but once again, I couldn’t tell a difference between 410 and 420. I didn’t investigate further this time because I still didn’t like how the foundation sat on my skin. Despite being a “hydrating” formula, it was still too drying on me and looked like it was just sitting on my skin. Now that there’s a powder version, I am tempted by it. However, my local Sephora isn’t getting them and I will not blindly buy a powder foundation when they are notoriously tricky to shade match as they often don’t match the color in the pan. I have a hard enough time purchasing the right shade of liquid online, let alone a pressed powder foundation. Plus, I imagine it would be even more drying on my face, so I will skip it. Fenty Foundations just aren’t suitable for me.
Make Up For Ever Matte Velvet Skinin Y505 – This shade looked even lighter and more neutral in the swatch than the Nars Soft Matte foundation. However, when it has time to sink into the skin, it becomes a little warmer and matches my skin tone very well. It’s a bit on the thicker side in terms of consistency, so it doesn’t blend as easily or smoothly across my face, and powder products don’t blend as easily on top of the foundation, but once it’s blended it looks great. The coverage provided is medium-buildable to full. I prefer the Nars Soft Matte a little more than this one. I will give it credit for not settling as deeply into my smile lines. That factor is what keeps me waffling a bit about how I feel, but the blending issue is why I will ultimately not purchase a full-size of this product.
YSL All Hours Foundation in Warm Mocha and Warm Hazelnut – YSL has an option on their website to try 2 deluxe sample sizes of their foundation for $10. One was too light and one was a touch too dark. There are no shades between BD70 and BD75, so I never bought the full size and didn’t want to mix. I can’t find a date for when I purchased these, but I’m certain they are too old. I remember that when I initially tried them (mixing the two shades to get a wearable color), I liked the formula. However, it’s not worth $54 and I wasn’t even excited enough to continue using the samples.
Now we’ve reached the section that are purely foundation sample card swatches. The only points I can make about these is that the Too Faced Dew You Fresh Glow Foundation has fragrance in it. None of those ABH foundations match me, and I was surprised by how dark the Estee Lauder 6W1 Sandalwood shade looked on my arm. A few years ago I used to wear that shade in the Double Wear formula.
REVISED FOUNDATION COLLECTION
This is what I’m left with at the beginning of 2021! I don’t have swatches of the MAC foundation stick because I don’t want to open it yet. I bought it to test as an eye primer because the ingredients are so similar to the Makeup by Mario Eye Prep and Set in Deep (and I’m darker than NC45 right now).
If I remove the three shades that need to be tossed at some point this year due to age, and the products I’m still holding onto as shade references as well as foundations used for other purposes, I would only be left with the Uoma Beauty Foundation, Beautyblender foundations, my Nars Sample, and MUFE sample! I can’t remember the last time I’ve had such few foundations at my disposal, but it’s a bit exciting to me! I only want to keep products that work for me and a reduced collection will allow me the satisfaction of finally being able to use up more products!
My goal is to end 2021 with no more than five full-size foundations in my possession (multiple shades of the same foundation formula just counts as one). We’ll see how well I stick to that!
In order to get more use out of my Viseart shadows, I depotted them from their smaller palettes, then placed them in one custom magnetic palette, and lastly sold the remaining shades I didn’t want in my collection. Muse Beauty Pro sells some shades individually, so I ordered a few of those as well during various sales.
Most of these do not have names, but I labeled some of those according to their positions in the palettes.
The shadows from my Viseart Dark Mattes palette are exactly five years old. I can see the changes in texture, even though they still perform nearly the same way. The oranges and reds were always the best shades in the palette. The blues and the olive shade were always the patchiest in swatches. I honestly only kept the blues because the shades are pricey and many years too old to sell. Since I still love the oranges and purples, but I feel like I need to toss them, I have considered purchasing the Viseart Dark Edit Eyeshadow Palette which has those shades as minis (minus the blue), plus a few additional pretty shimmers. The only reason I haven’t yet is because I won’t allow myself to purchase anymore Viseart shadows unless I prove to myself I’m going to use the ones I currently have even more.
The Pastis shade had to be built up many times. I have a hard time getting that shade to stay vibrant and visible on my eyes. Clover and Forrest don’t look the best in swatches, but they perform better on the eyes. I mentioned the Dark Mattes shades are old, but all my other Viseart shadows were purchased in 2019.
I was a little annoyed when I purchased Bougainvillea as a single shadow and found out how similar it looked to the Lavender shade I already had. The only difference between the two is that Bougainvillea is slightly brighter. It has a more vibrant purple pigment in it.
I didn’t purchase any of Viseart’s new palettes in 2020 because they always mixed light neutral shades I never wear with a few pops of interesting colors I want. The Étendu Violette Palette has some stunning purples, but out of the four shades I want, one looks like Bonbon and one looks like Lavender in certain photos. So, the Viseart no-buy continues.
That’s everything I have for now. Have a fantastic day!
Besides the few other lip products I reviewed earlier in the year, the items I’m discussing today are the only other lip products I purchased in 2020! It wasn’t even a matter of having to wear a mask in public being the deterrent. I’ve just always been more of a balm girl. I’ve purchased many lipsticks and lipglosses in the past, only to let them go no more than 25% used because I’m always reaching for balms instead. Last year, I decided to go on a serious lippie low-buy and it nearly worked! However, in November and December, those holiday deals were what got me!
PROPA BEAUTY
Propa Beauty is a new brand that received a ton of attention in 2020 within the indie beauty community. I heard nothing but positive things about their satin lipstick formula, so when I saw their Black Friday deal, it was too tempting to resist. At the time I’m writing this, the satin lipsticks are the only products they have available, but one of the Youtubers I watch said they have another lipstick formula in the works.
Victress – This shade has, “deep rose petal tones.” It is one of the two lightest colors available, and in the first photo taken with flash on, you can see the color that will actually show on the lips. Because it is so light, I didn’t expect it to work for me, but the brown tones keeps this wearable. While people of every skin tone can use these lipsticks, they were formulated with darker skin tones in mind and that really shows with this shade. It’s lighter than the lip colors I normally wear, but it has just enough pink to keep it from looking like ‘concealer lips.’
Limitless – The, “toasted pumpkin-tones,” in this shade are so pretty! This is one of the most obviously orange shades I’ve ever had in my collection, but the brown tones keep it grounded and prevent it from being too bright for my comfort level. I’m so glad I bought this and I intend to utilize this shade a lot when pairing it with my orange and Fall-inspired eye looks.
Her Magic – This shade is described as having, “deep rose-tones.” The other lipsticks tend to lean brown or orange, but this is one of the few pink toned lipsticks currently in Propa’s collection. I almost bought the full-size Rare Beauty lip balm I discussed a few months ago, but I’m glad I waited because I like the tone of this shade even more!
I was very pleased with all three shades. Her Magic and Limitless are my favorites, but I easily recommend any that might catch your eye.
TOWER 28
I have the ShineOn Milky Lip Jelly Gloss in Cashew. This is another brand whose lip glosses I heard nothing but good things about. I was so excited when it finally arrived but the first few times I used it, I hated it! This formula feels like a combination of a sticky humectant with a lot of oils. I am used to applying lip gloss from edge to edge without fear of it moving. This gloss feathers, so I kept getting a dripping sensation on my lips and would have to wipe the edges, even though I remained within the lines upon the initial application. By the third time, I figured out where I have to apply so that when it spreads, it will stop exactly where I want it to. Also, I kept hearing everyone say this gloss is more lightweight than the Fenty Gloss Bombs and that it’s not sticky at all. I don’t think there’s much of a difference in terms of thickness. The Tower 28 gloss has a different feel because of the oils. And while it doesn’t feel sticky if you apply the initial layer, as time goes on and the oils start to wear away and I’m left with an incredibly sticky layer. I realized this when I tried to combat the dripping feeling by dabbing the excess product off my lips. The napkin removed the oils but what was left behind was the stickiest gloss I’ve ever had!
Tower 28 applicator on the left. Fenty Gloss Bomb applicator on the right.
I was so tempted to buy the mini set of 4 glosses initially, but I’m glad I did not. On my pigmented lips, the amount I will texturally be comfortable using isn’t enough to add significant color to my lips. I have enough sheer glosses from Fenty, I definitely don’t need additional ones from Tower 28.
Now that I know the right amount of gloss to use (slightly less than the amount on the wand from one dip in the tube), I will get more uses out of this product because it’s still hydrating. I can ignore the stickiness. It does have a very pleasant scent that I wasn’t able to easily identify, but I suspect it is from the apricot oil.
FENTY BEAUTY
All the Gloss Bombs currently in my collection.
Fenty Gloss Bomb Cream Color Drip Lip Cream in Honey Waffles– This is the newest lip product release from Fenty. The cream version has more pigment, no glitter, and is a bit thicker in texture than the traditional Gloss Bombs. Those also have a sweet fruity/Starburst candy type of smell. The Cream Bombs are supposed to smell like peaches and cream/vanilla. It was very nice at first, but after using it several times, my tube smells like peaches mixed with chemicals. It isn’t unpleasant, more of a ‘makeup smell,’ but it’s not the same as when I initially used it. I also noticed the scent faded in my other Gloss Bomb minis from December 2020, whereas my older holiday minis smell exactly the same as when I bought them. Those were created for Holiday 2019, but my purchase history shows that I didn’t buy them until April 2020, so they’re only eight months older. I’m guessing Fenty used less fragrance or a weaker fragrance in the Holiday 2020 batch. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something I thought was interesting.
In the initial reviews I saw for this product, Honey Waffles was the prettiest shade on every person from light to dark. It wasn’t until I already made my purchase that I started to notice the reviews where Honey Waffles gave the ‘concealer lips’ effect on the ladies closer to my complexion. Even though Fenty Glow is my favorite Gloss Bomb shade, the cream version looked on the cool side of pink, so I picked Honey Waffles instead. Regardless of the shade, and despite how much I thought I wanted a product like this, I’ve realized it isn’t for me. The color looks patchy and gathers in the lines of my lips. I tried this with lip liner and still wasn’t thrilled with how it looked. The only way I can enjoy this is to use a thin layer. Normally, the amount I pick up on the tip of these applicators is the perfect amount to apply to my lips. With Honey Waffles, I have to wipe off a quarter to a half of the gloss back in the tube. Then I use what’s left to spread the gloss as evenly as possible onto my lips. As long as I continue to use this method, I will keep using Honey Waffles. I have tried to mix this shade with the other gloss bombs and aside from Ruby Milk, none of the other combinations helped. I will continue to experiment and see if there is a lipstick shade in my collection that I would enjoy putting on top of this gloss. Then again, I’d still have to watch out for the uneven pigmentation issue.
Fenty Glossy Posse Mini Gloss Bomb Set: Holo’daze Edition
I am missing Baby Brut because I gave that shade to a friend.
I am fairly certain in my review of the Holiday 2019 Mini Gloss Bomb set, I said I wasn’t going to purchase this one because the glosses are too sheer to look different on my lips. Well, look at me now!
Cake Shake – I didn’t expect to get much color out of this shade, but I wasn’t prepared for the ramifications of wearing the least pigmented Gloss Bomb: looking like I have random bits of glitter all over my lips! It looks accidental rather than intentional. You won’t catch me using this one again!
Taffy Tea$e – This shade is the main reason I couldn’t get this set out of my head. Something about the color in the tube is so alluring to me! It looks like there is no shimmer in the tube, but upon closer inspection there are light pink particles of glitter in there. Even though this shade looks completely different in the tube than Tower 28’s Cashew, they both have pink tones that are light and milky looking on me, so they look similar on my lips. I think a shade like this would look even more pink and stand out more on someone with a lighter lip color.
Ruby Milk – This is the most pigmented shade of all the gloss bombs. I like it much more than I expected. I thought it would have a metallic finish, but it just leaves some shine and glitter. This shade can be built up to slightly more opacity, but I like how a minimal application looks.
The verdict for the set is that I don’t think anyone is missing out by not buying it. I’m glad to have it because I needed to satisfy my curiosity. It’s unfortunate that I used my Sephora points on the Tower 28 gloss and Fenty Cream Bomb when those two aren’t my favorites, but at least I didn’t spend much out of pocket. I can also confirm that the regular Fenty Gloss Bombs keep their title as my favorite lip gloss formula!
In 2020, I went on a lip product low-buy. For 2021, I’m going to attempt a complete lip product no-buy (excluding my holy grail Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm in the pot jar that finally became available on the Nuxe US website again)!
Those are all my thoughts for now! Thank you for reading!
It’s a bit late to post about last year’s holiday items, but as these products are still available and on sale, I really wanted to post my thoughts on them.
Pur x Barbie Palette
I received this palette as a birthday gift. Until this point, I hadn’t tried anything from PUR, but I heard mixed reviews about their eyeshadow formula. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed using this palette! The shadows have a decent amount of pigment, are smooth, and blendable. I am very happy that the orange mattes are distinctly different on my eyes and although the orange shimmers are similar, Trendsetter is actually a duochrome that shifts from the lighter orange in Dream House to a slightly darker red-orange. I’m not sure if I should even call them “shimmers” because they have a semi-flaky texture that reminds me of metallic foiled shadows. I don’t know if I’m a fan of the textured look when applied dry on the eye or even with my finger. In order to get them to look the smoothest, I apply them with a wet brush, which changes the texture, but then it becomes sheered out. That’s when I apply an additional layer on top using my finger. The wet shadow underneath meshes with the dry powder applied on top to keep it smooth yet have that extra layer of pigment. All of the “shimmers” are like this, excluding Icon which is more of a satin formula. The foiled shadows also leave a ton of glitter particle fallout as the day progresses. I recommend using something like a glitter glue/primer to help with adherence.
The shade Barbie Style is medium pink and Timeless is medium red. Although I can tell the difference when I use them separately, because they’re the same depth, I find them to be too similar to use together in an eye look. Motivate and Innovator are both dark brown shades, but I prefer to use Motivate for warmer looks and Innovator if I’m going for something cool-toned.
This palette is great for anyone who wants to dabble a bit into color eyeshadows. The shadows are colorful yet soft with enough neutral shades to keep the looks grounded. Although I love shimmers, I can see myself using this palette mainly for the matte shades.
Pur x Barbie Confident Glow Signature Illuminating Highlighter
Seeing the eyeshadow palette in person made me curious about the highlighter, so I bought it afterwards. I don’t believe it’s available at Ulta anymore, but at the time of writing this, PUR still has it for sale on their website. The formula of this highlighter is very soft and I was happy to see that whether I used exclusively the gold shade, the pink, or both swirled together they basically look the same on the skin. Since I tend not to like the look of pink highlighters on me, I was worried about keeping the shades separated when I apply them, but Pink Taffy has gold shimmer in it which keeps it looking warm toned and not much different from the Bubbly shade. The base color isn’t very strong in either shade, so it blends into my skin nicely.
All the Barbie highlighter swatches are over Kiko Milano’s blush in Candy Cane and Make Up For Ever Velvet Matte Foundation in Macao.
When I apply a heavy amount side by side to my cheekbone (as shown above), there is a minimal difference between them. It’s even less noticeable when I use my usual amount. Since I didn’t purchase this with the intention of having two different highlighters in one, I’m happy that they are similar so I can just swipe my brush in the pan and not have to worry about the shades mixing.
Pur x Barbie Glossin Boss Gloss
I received this as a free gift with purchase from Ulta. I had the option to choose between this shade or the lighter one called Girl Gloss. Boss Gloss has about as much pigment as a standard Fenty Gloss Bomb, plus noticeable glitter particles. The predominant glitter color is a hot pink/magenta that has an almost metallic affect on the lips. It’s a bit sticky, so I wouldn’t normally wear the amount that it takes to look a bit metallic (double layer). I’m happy to have this, especially at the low cost of $0.
KikoMilanoHoliday Gems Highlighter Palette
I really wanted this, even though I could clearly see in photos that the texture looked glittery. I was so happy when I got it in person and saw that after touching the powder, it looked like more of a wet sheen, rather than sparkly! That’s not to say it isn’t glittery, because it is, but it’s not at the level that would prevent me from wanting to use it (excluding the golden brown shade).
These highlighter swatches were all over the Kiko Milano Unexpected Paradise Aspirational Mauve blush. Kiko didn’t give them names, but they are numbered instead. Highlighter #2 was so subtle in my initial photo that I retook the picture. Although I applied a generous amount, the base color is so close to my skin tone that you can’t see it and all that shows are the sparkles.
As is common with highlighters on me, they look similar, especially on camera. However, there is a faint enough difference that I can say I like shade #1 and shade #3. #1 is my typical highlight color. #3 in person has a warm sheen that compliments my skin tone. #4 is okay, but I find it to be a touch ashy.
I’m happy to report this blush had no detectable scent! It’s supposed to smell like vanilla, according to Kiko’s website, but I don’t smell anything from the powder. Unlike the Unexpected Paradise blush, which is on the texturally softer side with some kickup, this blush has very little kickup. I wouldn’t say it’s hard-pressed, as I can pick up the product easily enough with any brush regardless of the bristle type, but it’s on the medium side and harder than my other Kiko blushes. Although this shade is a much brighter pink than I’d typically go for, I didn’t think the other two shades would show up on my skin tone (though it’s difficult to tell via online photos which is the only way I have access to these products) and the pretty packaging was a major factor in me purchasing this. I did get this on sale, which happened very quickly after being released on Ulta’s site.
After a little while, this blends into the natural oils of my skin and looks better than the initial application. For that reason, I definitely like it. Even when it first goes on it reminds me of winter wind-kissed cheeks!
I have mixed feelings about this blush. In warmer lighting, this blush looks extremely metallic. I like the color, but it’s as though I put a metallic eyeshadow on my cheek. In brighter and slightly cool lighting, it looks more like a shimmery eyeshadow instead, but in a somewhat nicer way. Regardless of the light, this does emphasize texture and accentuates my pores, which is normally not a problem for me. For those looking out for fragrance, this has a pleasant fruity scent. I don’t smell it once it has been on my cheek for a bit, but the smell lingers in my blush brush.
I don’t see myself using this again, but I wanted it for the Wonder Woman theme anyway. This is the only Wonder Woman collection I’ve seen within my price range (*cough*House of Sillage*cough*) that excited me. So, I’m holding onto it for collector purposes.
Kiko MilanoUnexpected Paradise Blush in 03 Aspirational Mauve
This blush smells a bit like coconuts and sunscreen or tanning oil. The smell is very artificial but it fades quickly on the cheek. There are three shades in total. I thought MAC was the only brand that could make mauve and plum blush shades I like on me, but after wearing this one, I’m beginning to accept that perhaps mauve is a generally nice color for me! Although it’s the darkest shade they had, it gives me a flush of color that I can’t overdo, even if I really pack this on. However, this will probably not work on someone more than a few shades darker than I am.
Here are all the blushes swatched together with flash off and on.
That’s everything! It was fun to try PUR and Kiko Milano for the first time. I don’t think any of these products will end up being holy grail status, but I’m happy to have and enjoy them.
Becca Cosmetics was initially known for having a very inclusive shade range of complexion products and making shades for the deepest of skin tones that few companies at the time were willing to create. But the main hype around the brand, what it’s best known for, are their shimmering skin perfectors. They became even more popular within Beauty Youtube after collaborating with Jaclyn Hill to make Champagne Pop.
In 2014-2015, my makeup obsession wasn’t as strong as it would later become. After swatching the Becca Perfectors in-store, I firmly believed they were the best highlighters on the market, but I wasn’t about to drop $38 on just one. During the holidays in 2015, Becca released the Champagne Glow and Afterglow palettes, which allowed me to have multiple shades for the same price. So, I’ve been using Becca’s highlighters ever since! Although Becca has dropped in popularity, and their place among the top highlighter makers is wavering, their formula is still in my top 3.
I acknowledge half of my Becca collection should be retired to my products-too-old-to-use shelf, but they’re still just as good as when I bought them. I threw out all my liquid and cream Perfectors, but I plan to use the oldest powders for a little longer.
For consistency, I am wearing MAC’s Pinch Me blush, Nars Sheer Glow foundation, and Tarte Shape Tape concealer in every photo. I did not use contour powders or bronzers in any of the pictures.
Pearl
Other than for testing purposes, I never use this color on its own. I only wear it mixed with Topaz. It’s described as a “soft luminous white,” which I expected to be incredibly stark and unwearable on its own because it’s the whitest shade of highlighter in my collection. However, this has a semi-transparent base that doesn’t leave a powdery white cast that other highlighters in my collection, which are technically darker, can have. I still prefer a warmer highlight, but it’s nice to know I could wear this if I wanted without it looking too crazy. Pearl was originally said to be a limited edition shade that Becca later made permanent.
Golden Mint
This is a website exclusive “minty green that transforms into a wearable gold.” It was supposed to be limited edition, but three years later it’s still for sale. On social media, Becca asked followers which shade between Smokey Quartz and Golden Mint they wanted to be produced. They removed those posts from their Instagram after later criticism, but I have screenshots other accounts reposted.
Smokey Quartz supposedly had the most votes and was released within days. Then three months later, Becca released Golden Mint anyway. It was very clear for everyone to see that both colors had been in production long before they asked anyone for opinions. This deceptive marketing move left a sour taste in my mouth, but no one explains it better than the ladies at Beauty News, whose video I will linkhere.
I was annoyed with Becca but still bought it anyway during a promotional discount event. I do absolutely love this shade. The slightly green-tinged white powder transforms into a peachy gold shimmer. For anyone curious, I have reviewed this shade in the past. It’s more pigmented than Pearl and can actually look harsh if I apply too much, so I typically use my Wayne Goss 15 Fan brush with this product.
Moonstone
Like Pearl, I only wear this if mixed with Topaz. It’s described as a “pale candlelit gold,” and is an extremely common shade for a highlighter, but I don’t have that many shades which are this light in my collection. Moonstone was part of Becca’s original launch of Shimmering Skin Perfectors.
Champagne Pop
This “soft gold with peachy-pink pearl” shade is the one that catapulted Becca to mainstream fame thanks to the collaboration with Jaclyn Hill. The previous highlighters I’ve mentioned can be applied lightly to give a more subtle glow. Champagne Pop was intended to have a strong beam, as is Jaclyn’s highlighter preference.
Prosecco Pop
Prosecco Pop was Jaclyn Hills’s second collaborating shade. It’s described as an “ethereal gold with rich golden bronze pearl” and that bronze is what makes this shade a bit better for my complexion than Champagne Pop. Although I don’t think this is quite as finely milled in terms of glitter particle size, I still like it.
Royal Glow
This is a limited edition, “bronzed opal shade infused with shimmering gold pearl,” but is still available for sale. I bought it mainly for the pretty crown embossing, and therefore, I don’t use it as often in order to preserve the imprint. This highlighter has the most subtle shimmer and reflectivity of the Skin Perfectors in my collection.
Rose Gold
This shade is a “rosy pink with warm gold pearl.” I usually dislike pink highlighters, and the same can be said of this one. The pink tone doesn’t show on my skin. It just looks slightly ashy (less ashy thanks to the addition of gold pearl) and cool on my cheek. It looks better in photos than it does in person. I don’t wear this shade and haven’t tried to mix it with any of the others.
Gold Lava
This limited edition “24k gold with light pink pearl” highlighter is still available. It is the most glittery of the Skin Perfectors that I have. In terms of color, this shade is similar to Champagne Gold and would be more “wearable” if the formula was smoother with smaller glitter particles. Because this shade isn’t as old as Champagne Gold, I was hoping this could be a nice replacement for when that highlighter goes bad, but I rarely use Gold Lava and I don’t see that changing in the future.
Champagne Gold
This limited-edition “soft warm gold” shade was released around October 2014 and I wanted it so badly! However, my frugal side refused to purchase it for the full price. I was waiting for a sale from Sephora or Ulta, but it never came. For an entire year, I was kicking myself for not getting it while I could. But in November 2015, Hautelook put it on their site for $30 and I finally got my hands on it! Champagne Gold was not a popular color. This was long before Fenty’s Trophy Wife, and there were a lot of complaints about how this particular shade of yellow wouldn’t work for a majority of skin tones. I don’t know how well it suits me, but I still used it a lot within the first year of having it (even though you can’t tell by looking at the pan). The base color is very pigmented, so I used it frequently but sparingly in the amount of product applied.
My theory is that Becca produced a small enough batch that rather than putting the rest of their stock on sale, which could lower the brand value for customers at their biggest retail partners, they unloaded their remaining inventory onto Hautelook, a much lesser-known website that still holds more prestige than TJMaxx because of its connection to Nordstrom. This shade might have even been sold at Nordstrom Rack, but I didn’t live near one to be able to confirm that.
The most telling indication that Champagne Gold didn’t do well is the fact that Becca never re-released it. Anything that sells well, Becca always brings back or adds it to the permanent collection. They were able to save face with Champagne Gold, but after that it was unavoidable. The Light Chaser Highlighters and Khloe Kardashian/Malika collection have been on sale for years now. The evidence of the brand’s dwindling popularity hasn’t been a secret for a long time.
Dreamsicle
Real Dreamsicles are a combination of orange and vanilla. I expected this shade to be more on the orange side, but this limited edition “soft tangerine shade infused with white gold pearls” appears more peach on me. As is the case with Champagne Gold, I don’t know if this shade is flattering or not, but I like it. I don’t use it often though because it has become more of a collector item in my eyes.
Topaz
I can’t remember if this, “warm bronze with gold pearl,” shade was part of the original highlighter launch with Moonstone and Opal. I do know that this was the first one created for those with darker skin tones. Many years ago, when I was several shades lighter, Topaz was just on the cusp of being too dark to highlight with. However, this color is perfect for me now. Either that or the top layer is lighter than it’s supposed to be due to the frequency in which I mixed Topaz with other shades.
There was a time when the only way I could get a highlighter as dark as this was to use a shimmery bronzer. When I see the highlighter offerings today, even from Becca who has made even darker shades like Chocolate Geode, it makes me happy.
Bronzed Amber
The only description I could find for this shade is “warm bronze.” It’s a little more on the pink side, which isn’t my preference, but it looks much better on me than Rose Gold. I bought this shade out of pure curiosity and although it doesn’t look bad, I wish I skipped out on getting this (along with Gold Lava).
Blushed Copper
This “warm copper” shade is categorized as a blush and has been discontinued. Even though it looks dark in the pan, it blends in very well on my cheekbone and paired with my very pink blush. For some reason though, I never wear this as blush or highlighter.
Own Your Light
I knew full well this highlighter wasn’t for me, but I wanted it anyway purely for packaging, so I bought it at a steep discount from a third party seller.
It’s hard to capture the shift on this “warm gold-infused [Perfector] with luminous peach and pink pigments.” The pink is less pronounced in these pictures, but in certain lighting, it is extremely strong. I can use this if I’m in the mood for an uncommon highlighter shade, but realistically I won’t touch it again. It’s purely a collector item for me because this is yet another limited edition item. I saw this for $22 at Ulta during the holidays, so if anyone is interested in this shade, you can probably get it on sale if you keep an eye out!
SWATCH COMPARISONS
As can be seen in the cheek swatches, although Becca makes a variety of distinctly different highlighter shades, they essentially look the same on the cheeks: whitish gold, yellow gold, or pink. Some of the colors are brighter and more intense than others, but there isn’t a need to have as many as I do. Out of the 14 Perfectors I own, the only shades I would miss are Golden Mint, Champagne Gold, and Topaz.
Although this is one of my favorite highlighter formulas, I’ve never thought these were worth $38 and I haven’t purchased a single one at full price. If you can get one in the $25-$30 range, or one of the mini sizes, then I could confidently recommend these Perfectors. However, Nabla’s Skin Glazing highlighter in Amnesia has become my most used highlighter for a year now and it’s $24. There are stunning highlighters at more affordable prices, which also adds to my hesitation recommending the Shimmering Skin Perfectors, despite how great they are.
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