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. 

bareMinerals Glamour Now QVC TSV - Love!

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

I've tried writing an interesting introduction for this post multiple times. It isn't working, so I give up. I'll try again on the next post. :-)

I recently ordered a bareMinerals QVC Today's Special Value set called Glamour Now. It contains: a Ready eyeshadow quad in The Main Event, a Ready luminizer in This Magic Moment, a blush in Glamour, the Brightening Pearl Perfect Light Mineral Veil, Smoke & Define double-ended liner, a Marvelous Moxie lipgloss in Dazzler, a Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara, a contour blush brush, and a tapered shadow brush.

This set of 9 pieces is set to air on QVC on November 25. It is selling for $49.98 with $6.72 shipping and handling through the official TSV date. If there are any left after that date, the price will go up to $61. Don't count on any being left though. Last year's bareMinerals holidays TSV sold out well before the end of the day. As of right now, QVC doesn't have a retail value listed for this set, but just a Ready eyeshadow quad and a Lash Domination mascara sell for $48, so it is almost like getting the other 7 items in the set for free.

If you sign up for the auto-delivery version, like I did, you'll receive sets with new colors in April, July, and October. If you don't want the auto-delivery shipments, you can pick up the individual set here.

I'm not obsessed with all things rose gold, but I have to admit that the rose gold packaging in this set is gorgeous. The shiny finish does show fingerprints, but it can wipe clean easily enough of they bother you.

Eyeshadows

The Ready shadow quad included in the set is called The Main Event and has the shades Celebrate, Ball Gown, Cheers, and Stiletto.

From right to left: Celebrate, Ball Gown, Cheers, Stiletto

Celebrate is a satin-finish cream shade.
Ball Gown is a shimmery peach-champagne shade.
Cheers is a shimmery grey-taupe shade.
Stiletto is a brown with a plummy undertone that has lots of multi-colored glitter (with most of them being gold and purple).

The shadows are pigmented and buttery smooth. I love the combination of shades. The warmth of Ball Gown works surprisingly well with the coolness of Cheers.

Face Products

The Ready Luminizer included with the set is called This Magic Moment. It's a beautiful rose-gold highlight that adds sheen to the skin without a lot of glitter.

The shade itself is a little bit awkward for my particular skintone. It's too deep to be a highlight for the tops of my cheekbones. I tried using it as a blush, but it has too much sheen to be used on its own that way. So far, my favorite way to use it in conjunction with a blush on the apples of my cheeks.

The blush shade Glamour that comes in this set is a light, neutral pink with fine pink shimmer. It is a really nice, everyday color.

Even though it isn't new, I have to comment on the closeable sifter. The products in this set are the first ones I've owned since they added this feature, and it is really nice. It's well constructed, so there's no risk of product leaking through the sifter holes. Also, the fact that there are only 3 holes allows for a lot of control when dispensing the blush.

From right to left: Glamour, This Magic Moment, and Brightening Pearl Perfect Light Mineral Veil

The last face product included is the Brightening Pearl Perfect Light Mineral Veil. I'm pretty sure this is a new variation on Mineral Veil. I didn't take any close-ups in the packaging because it is essentially the same as the packaging of the blush.

I've only used the Mineral Veil once because the shimmer in it makes me nervous. I don't want to look like Edward Cullen. Once I have some down time and a few days when I don't have to leave the house, I'll experiment with it more.

ETA: I've used the Mineral Veil a few more times now, and I, thankfully, don't notice the shimmer when it is applied. I don't think it's going to become my go-to everyday powder, but I do like it and will continue to use it.

Liner, Gloss, and Mascara

The two-sided liner in this set is an interesting idea. One side has a kohl liner and the other has a liquid liner.

The kohl liner side is a dark brown. In the above picture, I have it swiveled out to show the amount of product it has. It isn't as soft and smudgy as Urban Decay liners, but it still applies easily. Because it isn't as soft, I feel like I have better control over how much of it gets applied. I get my typical fading around the outer corners of my eyes, but it lasts really well.

I'm not a fan of liquid liner, so I wasn't all that excited about this end. However, it has a nice felt tip and is a deep black.

The lipgloss in Dazzler is beautiful. It's a soft peach with gold shimmer. It isn't what I would normally pick out for myself, but it is sheer enough that it's really easy to wear. The formula is slightly sticky but not annoyingly so, and it smells like a candy cane. I'm really bad about reapplying colored lip products, but I can see myself reaching for this one because it is easy to apply without a mirror.

Left to right: kohl liner, thin and thick lines of the liquid liner, lipgloss

I have had the worst luck with mascara lately. Everything seems to flake or smear. I switched to waterproof mascara at the end of the summer. I was hesitant to try this one, so I was thrilled when it didn't flake or smear. The listing doesn't say that it is waterproof, but it is tough to remove. With my current mascara troubles, I'm okay with that. The spiraling brush seems to do a really nice job of separating my lashes too. Overall, this mascara is a winner for me.

Brushes

I owned a couple of bareMinerals brushes back in the day, and I wasn't impressed. They were scratchy. Based on that past experience, I wasn't expecting much from the brushes in this set.

The first brush is a contour blush brush. The natural-hair bristles are soft, but they aren't as soft as the synthetic bristles that I prefer. The shape isn't bad. I've only used it once for contouring, and it worked okay. It also seems fluffy enough to work for blush as well. I'm not in love with this brush, and it won't be one I reach for regularly, but I could use it in a pinch.

I haven't used the tapered shadow brush yet. I keep meaning to, but I automatically reach for my regular brushes and keep forgetting. Just the look and feel of the brush though is disappointing. The bristles are scratchy, and the cut of them looks really crude. It's not a high-quality brush. I'll keep it around for when I get desperate, but it won't make it into regular rotation.

Final Thoughts

If you are considering picking up this kit, get it! It's fantastic! I might not love all of the products, but even just for the products that I do enjoy, it's an amazing value.

Will you be indulging in this kit? Are there any other holiday TSV sets that have caught your eye?

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

Urban Decay Ocho Loco 2 - Review and Swatches

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

I placed my orders that I was debating a couple of posts ago, and they've all come in. It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I just spent my evening editing pictures, and I haven't even photographed most of my new things, let alone started testing them.

However, since most of my recent purchases are limited edition items out for the holidays, so I want to try and get as many of them up as quickly as possible.

That being said, I figured I would start with something that is relatively easy to review, Urban Decay's Ocho Loco 2 set.

Price

The Ocho Loco 2 set retails for $59, but I picked mine up from Sephora with a 20% off coupon during their Employee Appreciation Sale. The set contains 8 full size 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils ($19 retail value each) and a Grindhouse Double-Barrel Sharpener ($10 retail value), so the retail value of this set is $162, making it an awesome value.

Packaging

There's really not to much to comment on here. The set comes on a foam tray. The variegated color scheme that matches the liner shades is really pretty. My only complaint is that the liners are a little bit difficult to get out.

Product

These liners are considered by most to be one of the best on the market. They are really creamy, generally really pigmented, and long lasting. I already have quite a few of these in my collection, and they are the liners I reach for most days. I don't have any problems with smudging and only experience a little bit of fading throughout the day, mostly in the outer corner of my eyes, which is where all liners fade on me.

Swatches from left to right: Roach, Twice Baked, Crave, Perversion, Deep End, Mars, Ultraviolet, and Tornado.

Shade descriptions according to the listing on Sephora.com:

Roach (deep copper brown shimmer)
Twice Baked (rich brown satin w/gold micro-sparkle)
Crave (deepest, darkest brown-black matte)
Perversion (blackest black matte)
Deep End (bright metallic peacock shimmer)
Mars (bright metallic green shimmer)
Ultraviolet (bright blue-violet shimmer)
Tornado (dark eggplant pearl)

I love the variety of colors in this set. Just like the set from last year, there are four neutral colors and four bright colors. The only shade that is a little bit lacking for me is Ultraviolet. When I swatched it, it looked a little patchy. Another thing that really drew me to the set is that two of the brights are still dark enough to make them relatively easy to wear to work.

I've only used a couple of the colors so far, but I think one of my favorite colors is going to be Crave. Being a blackened-brown gives it the effect of a black liner without being as harsh, which is perfect for fair-skinned girls like me.

The Grindhouse sharpener is a good-quality sharpener. The top collects the shavings, so there's no need to use is right over a garbage can. The bottom also pops off for cleaning, and it does have a cleaning pick built into the design. It's a nice addition to the kit. I like when sets include a tool that is necessary to use the product (like liner pencils that need to be sharpened).

Final Thoughts

What can I say, these are really good liners being sold at a fantastic price. Yes, it is pricey as a whole, but when you break it down, it is about $7 a liner, which is getting to be on-par pricing with drugstore liners. If you are going to use 4 or more of the colors in this set, I suggest you pick it up. It's sold on Urbandecay.com and Sephora.com. If you want to get a bit of a discount, Sephora's VIB sale is from November 7-11, and the code for 20% off your purchase is VIBTOPIA. I don't know if the code will work for non-VIB members, but it is worth a shot.

Will you be picking this set up? Are you going to take advantage of the Sephora VIB sale?

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

Urban Decay Glinda Palette - Good Witch?

Darn Urban Decay caused me to break my resolve to cut back on my makeup spending when they came out with their two limited-edition Oz palettes.

I've already reviewed the Theodora palette here, so it's time to take a closer look at the Glinda palette.

Just like the Theodora palette, I love the exterior design of the palette. I actually love the ethereal quality of this palette a bit more than the other one, but they are both beautiful. I also like that the palette is metal and relatively sleek compared with palettes in the Book of Shadows series.

My slight disappointment when this palette arrived was this:

Tornado wasn't quite attached. Thankfully this was a minor issue compared with my issues with the Theodora palette. I pulled out my hot glue gun and glued the pan back in.

On to the swatches!

Left to right: Tornado, Aura (dual shadow), and Magic

Tornado is a deep, plummy purple shimmer.

Aura is a dual shadow that consists of a blue shift shade and a pink shift shade. Here's a picture that shows the color-shift nature of the shadows a bit better:

Magic is a mid-toned pinky purple shade that has fine golden shimmer. The shimmer doesn't really translate into swatches or on the lid.

Left to right: Illusion, Oz (dual shadow), and South

Illusion is a satiny peach shade. It reminds me a lot of the shade Bootycall from the Naked 2 palette.  It makes a really nice lid shade.

Oz has a gold shade with chunky silver glitter and a silver shade. The chunky silver glitter is unfortunate because I'm sure there will be fallout. *sigh* Here's a better look at the glitter:

South is a really nice warm grey/taupe shade with silver shimmer that also doesn't translate onto the lid.

Also included with the palette is a mini 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Rockstar, which is swatched below.

I love Rockstar. It's a great color for people afraid of color because it is dark enough that it isn't initially obvious that it is purple.

The final product included with the palette is a Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Glinda, which is the same as the permanent shade Naked.

I was hesitant about this color when I ordered this palette. I can't do shades that are too light. They make me look dead. This, however, is a mid-toned nude that looks really nice. It's a great everyday color. The formula is feels creamy but not heavy on the lips. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of it.

Just like with the Theodora palette, this one also came with a look card:

 

It's always nice to see how the company intended for the colors to be used. I haven't actually tried out this specific look yet, but I do plan to eventually!

Final Thoughts

This is another winner from Urban Decay. The one glitter bomb is a minor disappointment, but one in two palettes from Urban Decay is a pretty good average. The other shades in the palette are neutrals and colors that are relatively easy to wear, which is great. I'm very happy that I've added this palette to my collection.

If you haven't read my review of the Theodora palette, I would urge you to check it out though. I had some issues with the palette itself that I think it important to note.  It leads to to question the durability of the palette over time and the quality about the customizable palettes in general.


Did you add the Glinda palette to your collection? Are you excited about the movie Oz the Great and Powerful? I'm excited about it, but I don't know if I'll end up seeing it in the theater just because the only movie theater near me isn't very good and probably won't end up showing it.

Urban Decay Theodora Palette - Bad Witch?

I was hoping there wouldn't be anything released for a while that was limited edition that I couldn't resist.

Darn you Urban Decay!!!

I ordered both Urban Decay Oz palettes as soon as they became available on Sephora.com. I tried convincing myself to only pick up one, but there were colors in both that I really wanted, and I have no will-power.

Today I'm going to talk about the Theodora palette, which retails for $49, and can be found wherever Urban Decay products are sold.

I love the design on the exterior of the palette. It is perfect for the movie. I also like that the palette is metal and is in the customizable palette format. I have to wonder if this is Urban Decay's response to all of the complaints about how expensive their customizable palettes are. This way, people can start out with a full palette for a reasonable price and switch out colors as they see fit later on. I'll be talking about the customizable palette a little more later in this post.

This palette includes six shadow pans, and two of those pans have two shades, making for eight shades total. I know some people are disappointed that this palette contains so much brown, but I like how basic most of the colors are. They also got with Theodora's look from the movie.

From left to right: Broken, Beware, Bewitch, and West

Broken is a slightly yellow cream color with some sheen to it. Thankfully, it isn't as yellow as Foxy. I would say that the sheen is similar to the sheen in Virgin.

Beware is a warm-toned, matte brown shade. I love matte browns for the crease, so this is probably the color that I'll use the most in this palette.

Bewitch is a cool-toned, satin brown shade.

West is also a cool-toned brown with a bit of a plummy undertone. Compared with Bewitch, it has more of a metallic finish and is slightly darker as well.

From left to right: Spell shades and Jealous shades

Spell is the first dual shadow shades. It has a satiny black with multi-colored shimmer (with green and gold being the most prominent, which you can see in the second swatch picture. The other half is a metallic gold with gold shimmer and some glitter particles. This gold is the only shade in the palette that makes me nervous about fallout issues, but I haven't tried it yet on my eyes. I just don't reach for golds this intense very often.

Jealous consists of two satiny green shades. They have the same yellow-green tone; one is just a few shades darker than the other.

The palette includes a mini size of the 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are disappointed that they didn't include Perversion instead because it is a more intense black. Perversion intimidates me, so I'm okay with having Zero. Having a different color would have been nice since I have too many black liners to begin with (including full sizes of Zero and Perversion), but I understand that a black liner goes with the look they are trying to create with the palette.

24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero

 The last part of the palette is a Super-Saturated High-Gloss Lip Color in Theodora, but I believe I read on Urban Decay's Facebook page that it is the exact same shade as the permanent color F-Bomb. It's a gorgeous bright red shade. The color itself is creamy and pigmented. I'm a big fan of pencil lip colors, so I was thrilled about this addition to set.

Along with the products, Urban Decay also included a look card explaining how to get Theodora's look from the movie. I haven't tried it out yet, but I love this addition. It's great to know how they intended these colors to be used together (most of them anyway...they don't use all of the colors from the palette for the look).

Packaging Problem and Excellent Customer Service

I chose to review the Theodora palette first because I had some disappointing problems with the palette itself, but I also had a wonderful experience with Urban Decay's customer service.

When I got my Theodora palette, I realized that both Spell and Jealous were not locking down properly into their slots.

Here's what I mean:

The front edge of both colors keeping popping up so the casing doesn't sit flush with the palette. It seems to be some combination of a problem with the casing for the pan and the palette itself because switching pans around leads to some sticking down and some popping in the original slots and in other slots.

To show the difference, here is how a pan should look sitting in the palette:

Needless to say, I was disappointed in the flaw. If I pay $50 for a palette, I expect it to function correctly. It was also frustrating because it isn't easy for me to exchange products at Sephora, since I live over an hour away from one.

I contacted Urban Decay through their Facebook page about the problem and was told to email their customer service, which i did on a Monday afternoon. After not receiving a reply two days later, I sent a quick follow-up email, and I received a quick response. Even though I didn't purchase my palette through UrbanDecay.com,Urban Decay sent me a replacement palette. It took several emails back and forth because they required proof-of-purchase, pictures (which I ended up having to send 3 times counting the initial lost email), etc, but by Friday everything was cleared up and a replacement palette was on it's way to me. 

I was quite impressed with their customer service. I was slightly irritated over having to send pictures several times, but the fact that they replaced a palette purchased elsewhere was fantastic!

Sadly, the replacement palette had the same issue with the same two shades. However, when I switched their places, they now sit correctly. It's disappointing and makes me question the quality of the customizable palettes overall. If I get other colors to switch into this palette, will they lock in correctly or not? If I bought another customizable palette to fill, would those slots function correctly?

Final Thoughts

 I love that most of this palette is neutral basics that will make a gorgeous brown smoky eye. I'm thrilled with the lack of glitter bomb shades. I really like the fact that it's in the customizable palette format and I can switch out colors if I choose. The biggest downside of this palette for me is the issues I had with the palette and colors not locking down properly. I wasn't thrilled with the design of the Urban Decay customizable palettes, and this just confirmed my doubts. Thankfully, I have most of UD's permanent shades in palettes already, so I'm not tempted to run out and buy a bunch of them or a bunch of their customizable palettes. I might one day buy a couple of basics to switch out the colors I don't use in both Oz palettes or to make them better traveling palettes, but I'm not in a rush to do that.

Did you indulge in either of the Oz palettes? Which is your favorite?