ModelCo Eye Shadow Trio in Smokey Eye Review and Swatches

Another eyeshadow palette! This one was a gift from Larie, and fills the black-smoky-eye hole in my collection.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Review and Swatches

In the process of moving, I sorted through my makeups and got rid of things I don't (at least semi-) regularly use. This included theBalm Nude 'Tude, leaving a brown-neutral (matte) hole in my stash, which I decided to fill with Urban Decay's Naked Basics. (Urban Decay just released Naked2 Basics, which I have not seen in person. It claims to be a cooler-toned version to Naked Basics, but swatches online suggest it doesn't have the same range of depth as the original, so while I love cool-toned neutrals, it's not calling to me particularly strongly.)

Naked Basics is UD's matte companion to the more glitter-tastic full Naked palettes, none of which I own. Basics includes 5 matte shades and one shimmer (Venus), with 3 pale highlighting-type shades. It is definitely not a palette that everyone will find useful (though the denizens of the internet review sites certainly seem to like it), as you have to like mattes and light shades, but I find it to be a very valuable addition to my stash.

Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in RD711 Pink Sands Review and Swatches

HSN sent me a $10 off coupon for no reason at all, but I'm not one to ignore free money, so I used it to pick up a Shiseido eyeshadow trio after having heard nothing but raves. (Oddly, though, now all the Shiseido stuff is gone from their website! How peculiar.) I chose Pink Sands, because I don't have enough neutralish palettes, I guess? I wanted something I would get a lot of wear out of, anyways.

Beautiful untouched pans!

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Soft and Sexy Eye Shadow Collection Review and Swatches

Look! I'm reviewing something that's not a lippie! *pats self on back* I picked this up during Sephora's F&F because I wanted a cool-toned palette of "neutrals", since I gravitate towards those shades during winter and felt a lack in my collection.

Influenster Jolly VoxBox Review and Swatches

I signed up for Influenster in August and proceeded to not log-in again for another, um, 3 months. Somehow, they still thought I was a good candidate for the Jolly VoxBox (I'm great at filling out questionnaires!), so I gleefully received these goodies (for free, but all opinions are my own! Which you could probably figure out on your own after reading my comments, as they are not all favorable...):

Puffs Plus Lotion tissue 10-pack* 

(though the card in my box says I should have received 

the lotion-free kind, I'm not complaining)

These tissues are a welcome addition to my purse, now that we are solidly in winter cold season. They're soft, smell vaguely medicinal, and are very very lightly moisturizing, enough to keep my nose from getting chapped from nose-blowing. I can't say I would purchase them myself, because I am extremely cheap when it comes to some things (like tissues, for example) and would never opt for brand name when store brands are the same thing, but I'm certainly happy to have these!

theBalm Nude 'Tude

I picked this up from Birchbox several months ago when I had a coupon. I'd heard good things about it, and I was wanting a replacement for my Too Faced Natural Eye, which has deteriorated in the pigmentation department over the years.

Urban Decay Deluxe Palette Quick Review and Swatches

I said I would review this once I had some EOTDs using it, but I have decided to just post this now since it's being discontinued but is still available at Sephora and Urban Decay and I don't know how long it will last. And I have one EOTD, which is something, I guess? (I know y'all stop by for some quality blogging, and I am clearly here to deliver...)

Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs 06 Les Fumés Review and Swatches

I bought this from Tracy during her blog sale for $44 including shipping, which is more than 25% off the full price. It's still rather more than I would normally spend, but I wanted something compact and pretty for the conference. (Ironically, it was so hot that I only did my eye makeup one day out of the 4, but hey, best to be prepared?) Now that I have it, I see myself getting a lot of use out of it for school––between my new hair and the classy eyes this palette creates, I'm gonna get mad respect from my students.

Which is clearly warranted.

Inglot Freedom Palette Eyeshadow in 32, 352, 415, 428, 439 and Matte Eyeshadow Single in 391 Review and Swatches

When Inglot had their 20% off sale, I decided it was time to finally try out the brand. I spent days researching swatches and narrowing down my choices, and managed to convince L to split an order with me so we didn't have to pay for shipping, but when I went to place my order, the code was no longer working. My theory is that they were overwhelmed by the response, so they deactivated the code before they said they would, but I am a cynical person so take that with a grain of salt. However, when I tweeted them angrily, they told me to email their customer service, which I did, and a few days later I received a code for 30% off an order. Yay for additional savings, boo for delayed customer service response and hassle. Putting that tale of woe aside, though, here are my thoughts on the product itself.

Inglot 352, 32, 415, 428, 439, and 391

Wet N Wild Petal Pusher Color Icon Palette Review and Swatches

While this is the second purple palette I'm reviewing, it was the first to join my stash. I picked it up when I was contemplating making color a regular addition to my eye looks, and figured for $2.99 (on sale) it would be hard to go wrong. And, while I ended up buying another palette (Tarina Tarantino Fantastical) as well, Petal Pusher has not been entirely pushed aside (bahaha). It does, however, have its issues...

The palette has two sides, each split into browbone, eyelid, crease, and definer (which they say is meant to be used along the lashline).

On the left, the browbone is a sheer white-pink shimmer with blue shift. It has a nice texture, not too powdery, and the sheerness means it can be worn as a highlight without looking overly bright or weird. The eyelid is a satin-finish mauve with subtle gold iridescence, though it looks matte at first glance/before being used. It's a very pretty color, but it requires a ton of product to show up (even on my super-pale eyelids!). The crease shade is a neutral-cool purple shimmer, cooler than it looks in the arm swatch above. It's got decent pigmentation and isn't too loosely packed, so it's easy to build up without worrying about overapplying, though it could be a bit softer. The definer is a semi-chunky glitter mix of silver and blue in a cornflower blue sheer base. It's pretty sheer, not to mention the fallout from the glitter, but I find it works fine layered over other shades for some extra glitz and shine (and it doesn't suffer from much fallout after application). Here's an EOTD using the shades; I placed them as recommended by the palette, though I brushed the definer shade over the crease shade rather than along the lash line.

On the right, the browbone is a high frost pale lavender-pink. It is entirely too shiny for me to want to wear it on my browbone, but the pigmentation and texture are wonderful and I like to wear it on my inner lid to add some glitz. The eyelid shade is a warm coppery mauve shimmer with mediocre pigmentation, though the texture is fine. The crease shade is a blackened red-brown with shimmer, and the definer is a black with silver shimmer. The crease shade has good pigmentation, while the definer leaves something to be desired. My problem with the two shades is that a) once they're blended out, they look basically identical, b) they're too soft, and whenever I've tried to use them I've kicked up way too much product, and c) blending makes all the pretty shimmer go away! ((c) is a bit of a corollary of (a), but it irks me enough I wanted to mention it separately.)

I make use of the left browbone, eyelid, and crease shades, usually wearing them as suggested, though I also like the crease shade with other shadows in my collection, and the lid shade is also nicely versatile. On the right side, I'll use the browbone as an accent on my lid, as I find it to be too light and shimmery for much else, and occasionally I'll wear the eyelid shade in a warmer look. I pretty much steer entirely clear of the bottom two right shades and use the bottom left shade only sparingly. But hey, 5 shades ain't bad!

I think this palette is a good choice if you:
-are on a budget
-like softer shadow colors
-have light-to-medium skin (I think the lighter shades will look chalky on darker skins, if they show up at all)

I'm happy having it in my collection, but when I strike it rich I'll buy the same shades from, say, Inglot, and kiss this palette goodbye. Until then, purple onward!

Overview
$4.99 for 0.30 oz, available from drugstores

Quality: 7.5
Effectiveness: 3.5 (supposed to have "high pigment and pearl for ultra-impact color", which is overstating things)
Ease of Use: 4
Senses: 5
Pigmentation: 3.5
Duration: 3.5 (it does fade over the day, alas, and creases after a few hours without primer, and after ~7 hours with primer)
Consistency: 3.25
Price: 5
Value: 5
Grade: B-

What do you think of Petal Pusher? Have you tried any Wet N Wild palettes? What did you think?

Tarina Tarantino Jewel Eyeshadow Palette in Fantastical Review and Swatches

Another birthday purchase! I bought this one after much research and consultation with other beauty nerds, and I must thank Larie for suggesting Tarina Tarantino to me (not to mention encouraging me to wear color!). Purple is a color that I feel comfortable wearing on my eyes, unlike, say, lime green, and I thought it would be a nice way to dip my toes into non-neutral shadows. Read on for more thoughts!

NYX Bronzer and Blusher in Marbella Review and Swatches

I'm going on 2 weeks of this goddamned stupid horrible plague (finally started antibiotics, though, so fingers crossed I feel a bajillion times better by class on Tuesday) and I do not feel like being smart or witty or coherent. But I do want to share swatches with you, so here's a super lazy and incompetent post. Enjoy?

Currently Coveting: Dior 5 Couleurs Garden Party Garden Roses and Garden Pastels Eyeshadow Palettes

Currently Coveting is a near-daily feature on products that look interesting, whether new releases, cult classics, or anything in between!

Dior Garden Pastels (left) and Garden Roses (right), image via Nordstrom

Dior's new spring collection contains two beautiful limited edition eyeshadow quints, Garden Roses and Garden Pastels. From the swatches and reviews I've seen online, these have medium pigmentation, lovely shimmer, and good wear––not to mention luxe packaging and gorgeous presentation. Look at the embossing! I'm most drawn to Garden Roses, with its mix of pinks and purples, as I think they would look best with my cool complexion, but there's no denying the visual appeal of Garden Pastels, and the novelty factor––most high-end brands wouldn't touch such bright colors with a ten foot pole!

For swatches and pictures of:

Garden Pastels, see The RAEviewer, Makeup and Beauty Blog, and Cafe Makeup

Garden Roses, see Blushing Noir, Getting Cheeky, and Cafe Makeup

Both palettes are $59 and available at Nordstrom

Which palette do you prefer? If price were no object, would you pick up either?

Currently Coveting: Too Faced Natural at Night Sexy & Sultry Neutral Eye Shadow Collection

Currently Coveting is a near-daily feature on products that look interesting, whether new releases, cult classics, or anything in between!

image via Sephora

I stumbled across this while browsing Sephora (not even to buy, just to look...yes, I have problems) and immediately knew I had to share it with you! I love my Too Faced Natural Eye palette, which is the warmer counterpart to the TF Naked Eye palette in Too Faced's arsenal of neutral eyeshadows. They are now joined by Natural at Night, which seems to have some more unconventional neutrals, including pinks and greens, and I'm really interested to swatch it in-store (since my local Sephora is inside JCPenney, and they actually carry the complete Too Faced palette line!).

Here are the promotional pictures for the other two neutral palettes for comparison purposes:

Naked Eye Soft & Sexy (left) and Natural Eye (right) Neutral Eye Shadow Collections, images via Sephora

$36 for 0.39 oz, available from Sephora

Urban Decay Rollergirl Palette Review and Swatches

I picked up several things during the Sephora F&F sale, including this palette from Urban Decay.  Originally released this summer, I wanted it from the first time I saw it on Temptalia, but I knew it would eventually go on sale, so I bided my time.  I've never tried any Urban Decay eyeshadows, but the Naked palette has gotten such rave reviews that I've been wanting to for a long time.  Luckily for me, on sale did it go, and with my 20% off code, I picked it up for a mere $14.40.  Happy days!

Closed Rollergirl palette (gloss not shown, obviously)

theBalm and the Beautiful Palette at TJ Maxx

A few weeks ago I was browsing TJ Maxx (I needed new heels, but somehow found myself by the makeup...puzzling how that happens) and came across a few of the not-yet-released theBalm palettes.  These aren't supposed to come out until later this season, for the holidays, but there were several for sale (for around $17, I think?).  They contain the same products as are in the very LE Muppets palette (Cast Your Shadow), with different names, so if you weren't able to get your hands on that and wanted it, TJ Maxx is worth checking out!  And if you're not sure if you wanted the Muppets palette, here's Temptalia's review with swatches.  I passed on it because I knew I wouldn't get use out of most of the eyeshadows, but couldn't resist taking a picture!

On my most recent trip to TJ Maxx, they only had Shady Lady eyeshadow palettes and Overshadow loose shadows, so I didn't buy anything, though I'd been hoping they would still have Cabana Boy blush.  But alas, alack, alonder!  Hopefully it'll be restocked at some point...

What do you think of theBalm and the Beautiful/Cast Your Shadow?  Would you buy it?

Wet N Wild Comfort Zone Palette Review and Swatches

I'd seen swatches and read reviews of Wet N Wild's Comfort Zone 8-pan palette, and have been keeping an eye open for it around town.  I finally spotted it at a Walmart superstore (that I went to just to check out the Hard Candy cosmetics at, because Walmart is evil and I always [seriously, always] go to Target instead––I think this was the 2nd time I've been to a Walmart in my life) and couldn't resist for $4.68...I wanted the greens for those very rare occasions when I want to play up the green in my eye and venture outside of neutrals, and the browns are lovely and I knew I would get a lot of use out of them.  (Warning: This is really long, and very pic heavy, so if you have a slow connection, it may take awhile to load!)

Wet N Wild Comfort Zone

Wet N Wild Color Icon Trio in We're Blasting Off (from the Dream Weavers Collection)

I've read a lot about Wet N Wild's limited edition collection, Dream Weavers, over the past few weeks.  They released several new shadow trios for the collection, and they've been somewhat hard to find in some places.  I've happened across a couple displays in the area, and one at Rite Aid had the only trio I was interested in, We're Blasting Off.  It looks very similar to the other trio I have, Silent Treatment, but there are enough differences that I'm glad to have both.  Not least because I got 40% off this palette, making it only $1.79!

UPDATED: mark. I-Mark Custom Pick Eye Shadow Master Post

This is a review for one of my oldest makeup items; I got it sometime junior year, and for a long time it was my only regularly-used eyeshadow.  It's since been replaced for the most part by other shadows, but I wanted to evaluate it and share my thoughts!

mark shadows, left to right: Tiki, Minx, Retro Peacock, Night Owl, in the Mezzo Custom Color Palette

Wet N Wild Color Icon Trio in Silent Treatment Review and Swatches

You may have heard about Wet N Wild's Color Icon palettes in recent months.  They've taken the beauty world by storm with their smooth texture, vivid pigmentation, and tiny price tag.  A few weeks ago I finally caved and bought the one that I thought I could get regular use out of: the Silent Treatment trio.

Wet N Wild Silent Treatment trio, lightly used