Highlighter Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Gleam Glow Kit

BEHOLD the Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Gleam

Availability: This appears to have been discontinued.

Would I buy this again? Probably.

Notes: I'll describe each color as I get to it but a few things - firstly I wish this came with a mirror, the palette size and the way it stays open would work well with a mirror, so... there's that. All these shades are heavily frosted/glowy/shimmery, it's not a glitter but they are somewhat metallic, if you're not a fan of that you will not like it. This is by far the most glowy of highlights I've stumbled upon.

Hard Candy is described as a mood changing golden peach with a pink pearl reflective pigment. I'm not sure what they mean by "mood changing" - am I changing my mood or is the highlighter changing its? This is indeed a peach tone with a pink pearl throughout, which I love. Honestly, unless I get some color this summer this would work as more of a blush or a blush enhancer - to give another blush more glow - than as a highlight on me.

Mimosa is described as a radiant golden peach with a metallic finish. This is pretty true to its description and is kind of dark for me, I could definitely get away with using this as eyeshadow and to highlight a lip color if placed on the center of the lips or the cupid's bow.

Starburst is described as a rush of cool pink with an iridescent finish. This is a pink with an intense white, icy finish. I wish this had the pink pearl in it, as it would work beautifully for my skin tone and I love highlighters with a duo-chrome pearl throughout, oh well, it's still quite lovely. 

Crushed Pearl is described as a glimmering pink and silver with a crystallized chrome finish. I would describe this simply as a pink champagne, it's kind of my go-to classic highlight color for my skin tone and I dig it, never hurts to have more of a tried and true.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Disclaimer: I purchased this myself.

Blush Review: Clinique Heather Pop Cheek Pop Blush

Today's blush review is going to be on Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Heather Pop.

Availability: This particular shade is available at sephora.com, nordstrom.com, macys.com, bloomingdales.com, neimanmarcus.com, and their respective physical store locations along with clinique.com. You can also check out ebay.com or amazon.com. It retails at $26.50 for .12 oz (3.5g).

Would I buy this again? I think so.

Notes: I'd describe the color of this as a neutral dusty pink. It looks so natural on my skin tone and adds a soft flush tone that goes with ANY look, I love it. I had to get it for the name too, Raja/Heathers movie reference, because my friends and I are also the Heathers.

Moving on, the texture of this is quite lovely, it's very smooth and silky. It doesn't feel powdery or chalky... it doesn't feel like anything really and just adds a soft, subtle hint of color to the skin.  I'm really impressed with the quality and texture of it. Nothing against Clinique but I often find their products to be more powdery and dry than I'd like and while they don't irritate my skin, they often don't sit right or look good on it. This is a complete 180, silky smooth and beautiful, it wears for a majority of my 10 hr days with very minimal fading. I also adore the flower motif on this, it's very springtime and just brings me joy when I look at it.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Disclaimer: I paid for this myself.

Nail Polish Review: Femme Fatale Glass Coffin Artisan Nail Lacquer

Femme Fatale Artisan Nail Polish in Glass Coffin

This is two coats of polish topped with Seche Vite dry fast top coat

Availability: This is available for $15 at beautometry.com.

Would I buy this again?:Yes

Notes: Color-wise, this is described as a light blue to purple thermal with green-red shimmer. At first when I read that it was a polish that changes color with temperature I wanted to call bs but it truly works and I guess testing it out when it was cold outside/warm inside worked really well. I think it's such a fun nail polish. The color retains a greenish-teal pearl throughout but is more of a sky blue in warmer temperatures and a violet purple in colder temperature. The wear-time was pretty nice, it lasted about 5 days without chipping. given that most of my nails are flaking, I'll take it. 

Update as of 2021: While this polish retained its functionality as a polish and beauty my bottle no longer changes colors so I am unfortunately unable to show you the color shift.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Disclaimer: I bought this myself.

Tarte Tartelette Tease Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette Review

Today I'll be reviewing the Tarte Tartelette Tease Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette

Availability: This is available at ulta.com and macys.com along with their respective physical store locations as well as tartecosmetics.com. The retail price is $19 for 6 shadows that are .03 oz each. Honestly, not a bad price point at all. 

Would I buy this?: I want to say yes.  

Notes: This palette that was provided for testing purposes through my job, I wasn't planning on picking it up although I swatched it and drooled over it simply because I figured I'd have similar colors. But I'm so glad that they chose to give this to us because I love it, the quality of these shadows is super pigmented without a base, smooth, easy to go on and if I go on a vacation or short trip where I don't anticipate wearing much makeup, or I don't have to do a lot of makeup for... this is a good tiny thing to drop into my bag. I'm digging it. Apparently the palette is subdivided into two looks, with both rows containing a highlight, lid, and crease shades but... y'all know I don't pay attention to that. Someone in the reviews said this had a cocoa smell and upon smelling the palette... it does! Anyway, behold the swatches. 

Whisper is described as a light pink. This is indeed a matte, fleshy light pink, this would make a good matte highlight for the face as well on a light complexion.

Crush is described as a taupe shimmer. This is a slightly pinky taupe with a golden shift which makes it really unique and interesting - I love taupes so variation is fun. 

Heartbreaker is described as a brown. This is a matte dark chocolate brown.

Wink is described as a light mauve. I pretty much agree with the description, a whitened light mauve tone that's matte.

First Kiss is described as a mauve shimmer. I'd say this is one of those weird mauve, taupe tones that's heavily kissed (or made out :P) with brown. 

Bff is described as a plum. I would say this color is a really vivid plum brown. Really pretty.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Disclaimer: This was provided for testing purposes. I am under no obligation, nor am I being compensated to, mention it on this blog.

Sugarpill Feral and Droplet Chromalust Review

My Sugarpill Story: Amy Doan, the founder of Sugarpill, has been an inspiration many years before Sugarpill even launched. I found out about her Ebay shop through Leesha's videos and  was blown away by the gorgeous, colorful makeup looks she did to accompany her product pages. She is an enormous inspiration to me because she's doing what she loves and is colorful and not afraid to express or be herself. So when Sugarpill first launched I knew I had to get my hands on the goods.  I really hope you enjoy the review and seriously, if you have the money to spend, go to sugarpill.com right now and get your hands on this gold! 

Availability: These have been discontinued.

Note: What sets the Chromalusts apart from similar loose shadows or pigments are that a large majority of them contain these amazing micro-glitter particles - they do a good job of staying on the skin as well but generally show up when the product is used dry (it takes a more metallic quality if used wet). I have to apologize that for many of the pigments, my camera just doesn't do the glitter justice because it's just so much more multidimensional in natural light, but I hope my descriptions are helpful :3 

Feral is described as a shimmering orange loaded with golden sparkles. I'd describe this as being true to its description. This is a really pretty mandarin, orange kitty color, full of golden shimmer bits.

Droplet is described as a vivid aqua with blue and green reflects. I'd describe this as being a mid-tone light, shimmering blue-toned turquoise with teal and silver sparkle bits. I love how it has a slight hint of a violet tone when this is used over a black base, pretty!

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Disclaimer: I paid for these myself. :3

Shiro Cosmetics: The Randomly Generated Collection

Ok you folks, Shiro Cosmetics is something I've been meaning to check out for a while but when I say I went in... I went IN! Like... so excite to own all these beauties and play with them! This is the Minecraft collection. I don't play Minecraft but these shadows were so pretty I couldn't pass them up. Sadly this collection has been discontinued.

Availability: Shiro is no longer in business.

Would I buy this again? I can't say for sure yet.
Notes: Notes will accompany each shade respectively. Please note that while I grouped these by collection I didn't purchase each shade from every collection because that's crazy excessive.

Diggy Diggy Hole - is described as a rich earthy brown overlaid with forest green shimmer. I'd say this is a severely blackened brown with an intense olive/forest green frost.

Steve - is described as a bright, lightly shimmery turquoise. I'd say this is a mid-tone turquoise that's really pretty when used wet.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Disclaimer: I paid for these myself.

Mask Review: GLAMGLOW FLASHMUD Brightening Treatment

'Ello folksickles. Today's review will be for GLAMGLOW FLASHMUD Brightening Treatment

Availability: I appears that this has been discontinued.

Would I buy this again?: A case of my heart says yes, but my wallet says no. 

What is this product designed to address?

According sephora.com this is what the product is and what it does:

What it is:

A multi-targeted, multi-sensorial quick results brightening treatment for radiant, youthful-looking skin. 

What it is formulated to do:

Powerful and innovative multi-brightening complexes help to create the brightest, lightest, and most luminous skin possible. The TEAOXI® technology is white birch leaf that delivers natural betulin, betulinic acid, and ellagic acid to create an improved, color-balanced skintone. WhiteEnergy™ is a brilliant fusion of powerful natural actives to create intense, bright, and even results. Flashlucent™ is a combination of skin translucency optimizers featuring three levels of exfoliation to drive ingredients into the skin for a luminous, younger-looking complexion. Reflectrum™ is a blend of brightening ingredients boosted with diamond photoluminescence to increase the reflecting level of the skin and make it appear radiant and more attractive. It’s designed for instant and extended results for men and women of all ages, skin types, and skintones. 

What it is formulated WITHOUT:

- Parabens

- Sulfates 

- Phthalates 

Research results:

In a consumer use study on 100 individuals:

After 3 uses:

- 93% said it created a brighter complexion 

- 88% said it created a luminous complexion

- 89% said it visibly boosted skin radiance

- 89% said it visibly improved skintone 

- 91% said it worked better than other brightening treatments previously used

- 86% said the results appeared faster than other brightening treatments previously used

After 9 uses:

- 100% said it created a brighter complexion

- 98% said it created a luminous complexion

- 98% said it visibly boosted skin radiance

- 97% said it visibl[y] improved skintone

- 91% said it worked better than other brightening treatments previously used

- 91% said the results appeared faster than other brightening treatments previously used

Does it contain any special/beneficial ingredients?

According to the lovely sephora.com:

-WhiteEnergy™: An advanced fusion of powerful natural active ingredients, with a naturally occurring highly developed complexes, carefully combined to create a potent energized cluster to fight color unevenness helping to create intense bright, lighter, and even results. 

-Flashlucent™: A combination of natural skin translucency optimizers, formed together as a penetration-complex to help drive active ingredients deeper with the use of white quartz microspheres, white refined pumice, and sun-dried white blanche clay—all helping to provide luminous, younger-looking skin. 

-Reflectrum™: The combination of powerful natural brightening active ingredients boosted with ultra-fine optical diamond photoluminescence to help to increase the individual albedo reflecting level of the skin, causing the skin to appear lighter, brighter, and more attractive. 

-TEAOXI® White Birch Leaf: Help[s] provide a potent formula and improved, color-balanced skintone.

What is the texture like?

This is a semi-liquid, semi-solid mud (like a slurry) mask with chunks of tea leaves and little scrubby granules - think kind of like a microdermabrasion size.

Is it scented?

I love the way this stuff smells, it's a sweet scent that's also kind of refreshing. It's helped me several times in the past when I was feeling run down or nauseous so I appreciate it.

My overall experience/comments on the product:

I've been using this for a while and I like this a lot, it makes my skin look and feel mega smooth and while it makes the skin look visibly brighter it also exfoliates off dead skin so that the buildup of dry, dead skin doesn't cause a dull appearance. I like the little scrubbies in it, it makes me feel kind of awake, refreshed, and it leaves my skin feeling really smooth. I appreciate that it doesn't irritate my skin or cause me to become more red and dry. I think it's really worth taking a look at.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Disclaimer: This was provided for testing purposes. I am under no obligation to mention it here on my blog.