Silk Naturals Valentine's Day Collection Haul and Swatches

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased using a gift card from a giveaway and with my own money. I have no affiliation with Silk Naturals, and all opinions are my own.

I know I've mentioned the brand Silk Naturals quite a few times here on my blog, but I still like I haven't given the brand enough love here. I've been buying from them since the summer of 2009, and I almost always do a haul whenever they release a new collection. Sadly, whenever I start editing my pictures to do a post, my pictures just feel so flat. They never seem to do the colors justice, so I never end up posting them. I'm working on it though and hope to go back and post more pictures from my eye shadow collection in the future.

Recently, I got an email from Makeup Detox saying I won her giveaway for a $20 gift card for Silk Naturals, and I was thrilled. The fact that I got my code on the same day that Silk Naturals released their Valentine's Day collection was just the icing on the cake.

Here's a look at what I got:

This is my whole haul, minus a few skincare samples a friend asked me to pick up for her. I'll also point out here that there was a mistake with my order. The little pods on the right are concealer samples, and I had ordered full sizes. I sent a message to Silk Naturals right away letting them know. They got back to me within about 30 minutes. That was on a Monday, and I had my full size concealers in my hands by Thursday (along with three extra gift with purchase shadows). Silk Naturals has amazing customer service!

Now for a close up look at each item.

HD Cream Blush in Dollface - $4.50

Dollface is a gorgeous rosy pink with lots of gold shimmer. The formula is soft and creamy. I prefer to apply this by brushing a small duo-fiber brush over the top of the tube and then blending it on my cheeks. I haven't tested longevity yet.

HD Peach Concealers - $0.99 for a sample pod and $5.50 for a full size

I'm always on the hunt for the perfect concealer to hide the dark circles under my eyes, so I was thrilled to see Karen release these concealers. I wasn't sure which shade to choose, so I chose the lightest two. As I already mentioned, I ordered the full size, but I was originally sent sample pods, which works out well since I can show was the samples look like. The full size comes in the same slimline tube as the cream blush. I've only tried each shade once, so I'll have to follow up with a review later.

Eye Shadows in Touch, Kismet, and Rendezvous - $4.50 each

From left to right: Touch, Kismet, and Rendezvous

From left to right: Touch, Kismet, and Rendezvous

From left to right: Touch, Kismet, and Rendezvous

I have a serious weakness for eye shadows from Silk Naturals, so I couldn't stop myself from picking up the three new shades they released. Touch is a pale yellow gold shimmery shade. Kismet is a medium grey with purple undertones, and Rendezvous is a deep matte purple. This trio actually works beautifully together. I was also pretty surprised by how much I like Rendezvous. Darker crease shades intimidate me, so I was a little worried. It applied nicely and blended like a dream, so it wasn't overpowering on my fair skin.

Slick Stick in La-Dee-Da - $4.50

I'm not a lipstick person, so while I've tried a few lip colors from Silk Naturals, most of the time, I pass them up. The color La-Dee-Da was just too interesting to pass up though. I liked that the color was a sheer plum shade, and the green shimmer adds an unusual touch.

Products not Pictured in Detail

If you kept track from the original picture, you'll notice that there were a few items that I haven't shown up close yet, and I'm not going to in this post (it's long enough as it is). On the far left was the weekly gift with purchase shade, so it isn't available anymore. The two jars in the middle are samples of the Medium Sleep in a Jar and the relatively new Cloud powder. I find the Sleep in a Jar a bit drying, and the Cloud powder is supposed to help retain moisture, so I want to try mixing them. Then on the far right is a mini sample of the eye shadow Mousse (they always include a sample like this in every order).

That's my haul! Did anything in particular catch your eye? Did you pick anything up yourself?

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased using a gift card from a giveaway and with my own money. I have no affiliation with Silk Naturals, and all opinions are my own.

Jordana 12 Hour Made to Last Eye Shadow Pencil in Continuous Almond - Review and Swatches

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. 

When Milani came out with their limited edition collection of shadow pencils a while back, I tried really hard to find them. I never had any luck though.

I was thrilled then when Jordana came out with a line of shadow pencils that looked nearly identical. Since Milani and Jordana are made by the same company and Milani's shadow pencils get really good reviews, I had really high hopes that Jordana's eye shadow pencils would be pretty good. As an added bonus, the Jordana pencils are less expensive.

Price: $3.99 on Jordana's website, but watch for sales at Walgreens or Kmart

Packaging

 The packaging for these is pretty much standard for an eye shadow pencil. It is the type of pencil that needs to be sharpened, which a lot of people will consider a negative. I also prefer twist up pencils, but it doesn't really bother me too much here. I don't need it to be really precise, so I don't need to worry about a fine point, and I don't use enough where I need to sharpen it after every use.

I do like that the cap on the product is clear and the bottom of the pencil is the same shade as the shadow, making it easy to pick out of a pile of pencil shadows.

Product 

 

This shadow pencil is creamy and nicely pigmented. It also blends out smoothly. As you can see, Continuous Almond is a flesh-toned shade. Although the actual shade is somewhere around a light skintone, it works well in my fair skin as well since I only apply a sheer layer. I would guess the same would be true for medium skintones.

I tested this wearing it on its own over my standard Urban Decay Primer Potion. I did a few swipes across my lid and then blended it out with my fingers from lashline to browbone. I kept the layer fairly thin since I was really just looking to even out the color of my eye area. I had a little bit of creasing after about an hour or two, which was slightly disappointing. However, the creasing wasn't very obvious, and most of the shadow appeared to stay put the entire day. If I had had to leave the house again, I might have done a quick dab with my fingers to clean up the slight creasing, and I wouldn't have worried about it. I can see grabbing for this on those low-maintenance days when I just need to run to the store and don't want to do a full-on eye shadow look.

My favorite way to use this shadow pencil is to use it as an eye shadow base, and that was the actual reason why I purchased it. It is fantastic under powder shadows! Since it evens out the color of the skin underneath, it helps make the colors on top pop. I don't know that it makes powder shadows stay longer because I always use a regular primer underneath, but my shadows still held up all day, so it didn't hurt the wear time either.

Final Thoughts

The Continuous Almond shade of the Jordana 12 Hour Made to Last Eye Shadow Pencils is fantastic!  If you have fair to medium skin and are looking for a flesh-toned shadow base, I would suggest picking this up and giving it a try. At around $4, it's a great deal.

Have you tried the Jordana shadow pencils? Are there other shades I should pick up and try?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. 

EcoTools Flat Liner Brush - Review

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Part of my reorganizing for the new year has been to try a new way to organize my blog pictures. I've previously been organizing them by month so I wasn't so overwhelmed with a million pictures. The bad thing was that things were getting left behind when I moved on to a new month.

I'm going to try and work back through and review things that I never got to or forgot about. I don't think I'll ever get myself caught up, but it'll be good for me to go back and look at the things that I purchased over the last year or so. With that though, my pictures will be ping-ponging around with different backgrounds since I moved from taking pictures in my half-bath to using a light box, and I've tried different fabrics and bulbs with my light box.

One of the first things I pulled out of my picture archives was the EcoTools Flat Eyeliner Brush.

Price: $3.99 on EcoTools.com

Product

I bought this brush because Wayne Goss on YouTube (Love him!!!) talks about using this type of liner brush to push liner into the lashline, which just makes lashes look thicker without a thick eye liner. All of my other flat liner brushes are angled.

First of all, I have to say that I don't think I've ever been disappointed with the quality of EcoTools brushes. I own most of the brushes in their line, and there are a couple of new ones that I want to pick up. All of the brushes that I have are really soft and don't shed. If I don't like an EcoTools brush, it has to do with the shape of the brush, not the quality. The Flat Eyeliner Brush lives up to the EcoTools quality I have come to expect.

As for this particular brush, it is thicker than what I was wanting and expecting. However, I pulled it back out because I hadn't used it in a while, and it does a beautiful job creating a smudgy, smoky liner look without me having to grab a cotton swab to smudge it out.

Final Thoughts

 While this brush wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I do like it. After grabbing for it again, I think I'm going to reach for it more often. I've gotten into too much of a rut of constantly reaching for my Urban Decay liners. It's time for a change.

Have you tried this particular EcoTools brush? What is your favorite EcoTools brush?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Jane Eye Shadow in Lotus - Review and Swatch

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

I'm trying to get ahead with blog posts, so I'm writing this post on January 6, but I plan on scheduling it to post on January 22. For those of you who schedule your posts, do you find that weird? I usually like starting my posts with something a little chatty, but doing that with posts scheduled so far in advance means my chatty stuff will be out of date by the time this post goes live.

Oh well! I think I'm going to chat anyway. :-)

Since this is the second week of January, my resolutions for the year are still going pretty well. I think *knock on wood* I've found a good method for keeping me on track with the routines I want to set up for myself. If things continue to go well, maybe I'll share in another month or two.

The product that I'm reviewing today is one by Jane Cosmetics. Just like a lot of other bloggers, I remember using Jane back when I was in high school. There was a super shimmery loose blush that I loved. I also love their little pamphlets with beauty tips that they had with their display.

I picked up a couple of the new Jane products (available at Ulta) before Christmas.  I had one of the magical 20% off everything coupons and a 5x bonus points offer. I also thought Jane products were 2 for $10 at the time, otherwise I probably wouldn't have grabbed anything. When I got home and looked at my receipt, I realized that I didn't get the 2 for $10 deal. :-(

Price

The Jane Cosmetics single eye shadows retail for $8. Ulta seems to regularly have Jane on sale though (usually buy one get one 50% off), so it is worth waiting to grab products then.

Packaging

The packaging itself is pretty basic. It's a simple black compact with a clear window on top, which shows the beautiful flower pattern stamped on the shadow itself.

Product

Lotus swatched on bare skin

 Lotus is a really basic champagne shade. For reference, the shade is more pink than Stila's Kitten, but it is more peach than Urban Decay's Sin. Lotus is shimmery, but it isn't glittery. It has a soft, smooth texture that applies easily, and it lasted on me all day with primer.

Final Thoughts

This is a really nice, workhorse shadow. I've been loving using this type of shade on the inner half of my lid with a darker outer half, so I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of it. At retail price, the Jane Cosmetics line is a little pricey for being a "drugstore" brand, so if I decide to pick up more items from the line, I'll definitely keep my eye out for sales. If I can find a good deal, I would love to try more of their shadows since Lotus is so good.

Have you tried Jane Cosmetics since their relaunch? Are there other products I should check out or avoid?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes in Flush (New Version) and True Love - First Look

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited last weekend when I found out that Ulta was having a 20% off sale. It seems like these are becoming more frequent, which is fantastic. I love them even more when they happen to coincide with Ulta Rewards bonus points offers. I plan on hoarding all of my points for the holiday season so I can get a bunch of products for free!

My order came in yesterday, and I was able to take pictures this afternoon. I plan on waiting to post about most of the items in my order until I've had a real chance to try them out, but I wanted to get some swatches up today because I haven't been able to find any yet.

I picked up the new Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes in Flush and True Love. I skipped out on the third new color, Fearless, because I already have a blush by Tarte with that name from a QVC set, and I assumed they were the same (apparently, they are not).

Price: $25 each

Packaging

The first thing I noticed when I opened my box from Ulta and looked at my beautiful new blushes was that Tarte has changed the packaging on their blushes. I don't know if the packaging will change on all of their blushes or not. I personally prefer the old design with the raised floral pattern around the word Tarte, but the change isn't huge, so I don't mind it.

Inside the blush, the compact looks like the old ones. 

Flush

Just like most of the Amazonian clay blushes, Flush is matte. Tarte describes this shade as a pink berry, which is accurate to my eyes.

Here's a picture comparing the new version of Flush with the old version. If you like the look of the old version and don't already own it, you can get it along with a cream shadow and a shadow brush for $19 here. Considering the blush itself retails for $25, this is a fantastic value. I don't know how long it will stick around, so I would suggest grabbing it quickly.

The first swatch picture is the new version of Blush by itself. The second one shows the difference between the new one and the old. The third picture compares the new Amazonian clay version with the old formulation of Flush cheek stain. The new version of the powder blush is much closer in color to the cheek stain. It's a little more pink than berry though.

True Love 

 

 Tarte describes True Love as a watermelon shade, which seems accurate as it is a pink with a hint of coral. Just like Flush, it is matte. 

 Just like with the new version of Flush, I happened to have the cheek stain in the same shade (still the old cheek stain formula). As you can see in the picture, the colors are nearly identical.

First Impressions

Since I haven't actually tried these on my cheeks yet, I can't give an official review. However, I do love the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes in general, so I expect that I will enjoy these as well. I'm also really excited about the colors. The new version of Flush seems like it is going to be a great shade for fair-skinned girls like me. Most of Tarte's blushes are really bright, so adding another more subtle blush to the line was smart. 

Will you be picking up any of the new colors?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Products I Want to Use Up - 2014

Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. 

Last year I did a couple of posts about products I wanted to use up. It went okay. Looking back, I thought I had done more updates than I actually did.

I'm going to try it again this year.

When I went through and picked out the products that I plan on working on, there were a couple of things I looked at. Some of the products were chosen because they are products in which I've already made a big dent. I also chose products that were getting old.

Another motivation for doing this is to get rid of some of the products I own that aren't cruelty-free.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Balancing Foundation in Fair - I've had this for a really long time, and you can see in the picture that I've used a lot of it, so I'd like to go ahead a finish this off.

Nars Sheer Matte in Siberia - This foundation is in the same boat. I've had it for a while, and it is about half gone, so I want to try and finish this one too. I know using up both will take a while.

Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer - I have several full-sized primers in my collection, so I decided to use up all of my mini sizes. This is the last mini size that I have. It's hard to see in the picture, but it is about half gone already.
 

Benefit Erase Paste in Fair - Benefit isn't a cruelty-free company, so I'd like to get this gone. I would guess I have about a third of this left.

Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer - I have a lot of bronzers, so I'm taking the same approach that I took with my primers. I'm using up my mini ones first. I'm just about to hit pan on this one.

Hard Candy Concealer Pencil - This little pencil came with the Glamoflage Concealer, which I threw out a long time ago. I've been using this to clean up the edges of my lips. I can't sharpen it anymore, so it should be finished in the next week or so.

Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in CIA - I've had this for a long time, and it seems like it is drying out a little bit. It's crumbled a couple of times when I've tried to sharpen it. I've really like it though, and I might repurchase it once I work through some other concealers first.

Too Faced Wrinkle Injection Extreme Wrinkle Filler - I got this in a swap a long time ago, and I tend to forget to use it.

Milani Eye Shadow in French Vanilla (largest pan) - I need to work my way through my extra matte browbone shades. Wet n Wild's Brulee is my absolute favorite, so I'd like to clear the clutter and stick with that one in the future.

ELF Shadow from the Day to Night Palette (triangular pan) - I pulled this out as a shadow to use up a while ago because the pan is relatively small. It's a cream with gold shimmer that I can use on the inner corners of my eyes nearly every day.

Everyday Minerals Eye Shadow in Funnel Cake (darker brown) - I have a ton of mineral eye shadows that I've pressed, and I don't use them often enough. I pulled this out because it is an easy crease shade. It does have some shimmer, but it doesn't show when applied.

Everyday Minerals Eye Shadow in Driftwood (lighter brown) - Another pressed mineral eye shadow. Again, I chose it because it is an easy color to use.

Stila Lip Glaze in Splendor - I was really sad when it came out that Stila is no longer cruelty-free. This is an easy gloss to throw on, so I hope I can finish it relatively quickly.

Chapstick Lip Balm in Cake Batter - Chapstick isn't cruelty-free either, so this will be living in my pants pockets until it is gone. I have another Chapstick balm to go through after this one.

Tarte fRxtion Lip Scrub and Balm - Another old product. The darker side is the sugar scrub, and the white side is the balm. I have a feeling this will break off before I can finish it.

Silk Naturals Blush Samples in Candie and Tart Light - I have a lot of mineral blush samples sitting around, so I pulled out a couple to work on. 

Tarte Double-Ended Lip Liner - I got this at the same time that I got the lip scrub. The colors are okay, but I'm much more likely to swipe on a balm or gloss.

Stila Smudgestick Eye Liners - Again, with Stila's change in cruelty-free status, I'd like to clear out what I can. Eye liners are easier to go through than powder products, and these colors are pretty easy to wear, so I'm going to try and wear them as much as possible to finish them off.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner Pencils in Whiskey and Rockstar - It should be pretty obvious why these made the list. They are nearly gone to begin with, so I might as well use them up.

Those are all the things that I specifically pulled to use up. I've already mentioned that I'm working on my stash of lotions too. I didn't add in any pictures of them because I'm going through them relatively quickly using them twice a day on my arms and legs.

Are you trying to use anything up in the new year?

Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. 

Perfect Palette TAG!

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

I have loved watching these tag videos on YouTube, so I thought I would go ahead and do this tag myself. 

One of the things that was really fun for me while I was putting together this post was pulling together the pictures. I used the ones I already had, so it shows how my photos have changed since my blog started. I've used a variety of backdrops and lighting setups over the past two years. 

On to the palettes!

1. Best Packaging

I'm going to choose theBalm's Balm Jovi palette for best packaging. It is nice and slim. Best of all, theBalm has figured out how to include both cream and powder products in a palette without it creating a huge mess. 

You can check out my review of this palette here. 

2. Best Color Payoff

I'm going to choose the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette for the best color payoff. All of the colors are well pigmented, and there aren't any glitter bombs! 

Vice 2 Palette - Row 1 Swatches

Vice 2 Palette - Row 2 Swatches

Vice 2 Palette - Row 3 Swatches

Vice 2 Palette - Row 4 Swatches

 I haven't reviewed the Vice 2 palette. Would anyone still be interested? I just checked, and it is still available.

3. Most Versatile

Unfortunately, the palette I consider to be most versatile was limited edition. I love the Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things palette. It has a really nice mix of finishes. It has the basics that include a matte cream a and few matte brown blending shades. It has neutrals and brights. As a bonus, it also includes two blushes and two bronzers.  

You can check out my review of this palette here.

4. Best for Traveling

I'm going to break the implied rules here and choose Z Palettes for this category. The ability to choose the exact shades that you want and put them all in one palette is the ideal, which is precisely what a Z Palette provides. With the different size options, I can travel with just a few shadows or a wide range of them.  

5. Biggest Regret

I regret buying the Too Faced Naked Eye Collection. Most of the colors aren't very pigmented, so I didn't use it very often. It has been listed on my blog sale for a while now.  

6. Best Color Names

 I was trying to choose a different palette for each of these categories, but I have to give this one to theBalm's Balm Jovi palette too. I love how they play on band names and use musical terms. They just put together their theme really well. 

7. Least Used

I think theBalm Shady Lady palettes are my least used palettes that I'm still keeping. The shadows themselves are beautiful, but it didn't seem like there was much of a plan when choosing the shades. I couldn't come up with many looks from those alone because the shades seemed so random and disconnected. I have them depotted at this point, so I need to start playing around in my Z Palettes to work on pairing them with other shadows in my collection. 

Shady Lady Volume 1

Shady Lady Volume 2

Shady Lady Volume 3

8. Most Used, Most Loved, Desert Island

This category has to go to the original Naked palette. I got it within the first year of it being released, and it is still my go-to palette when I don't know what to wear.  

I never actually reviewed this palette individually because I had it long before I started this blog, but you can check out my post where I compare it with the Naked 2 palette here. 

I'm going to be lazy and tag EVERYONE to do this tag! :-)

Have you found a perfect palette yet? What is it? If you've done this tag yourself, please let me know so I can check it out.