Review: Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor - Devotion, Addiction, Obsession

Hey guys! A few weeks back I posted an Ulta haul where I purchased these Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Colors. I picked up three because they were buy 2, get 1 free and I was pretty intrigued with these as I had heard mixed reviews. After trying them a few times, it' safe to say that I do like them!

According to Revlon:

Revlon's Ultra HD Matte Lip Color is a lightweight, high definition, matte color with a moisturizing velvety feel.

Some of the benefits of these lip colors are:

- 100% wax-free, gel formula
- Plush velvety applicator
- Creamy mango and whipped vanilla fragrance
- Many high definition shades to love

What I absolutely love about the Ultra HD Matte Lip Colors is the applicator. It's thicker towards the base, and tapers to a point which makes it super easy to apply. The formula of these lip colors are very soft, and they definitely are a gel formula as stated above. The color selection could be a little better in my opinion. 

I picked up the shades Devotion, Addiction and Obsession. Devotion is a medium pink-y mauve shade, Devotion is a pretty berry fuchsia, and Obsession is a hot pink that kinda scares me, and I still have yet to try it honestly. 

I absolutely adore the shade Devotion! For me and my skin tone, it's the perfect everyday nude shade. It goes on smoothly and isn't patchy. The first time I tried Addiction, I had some issues. It was very streaky and clung on to all my dry patches. One tip I have with these is to make sure your lips are exfoliated and prepped with a waxy lip balm, like EOS or the Jack Black balms in the blue tube. I tried Addiction another day when I wasn't so frustrated and my lips were less dry, and it went on so much better. The color is beyond gorgeous and is perfect for Fall and Winter, but you can of course rock it any time of year! These aren't a true matte as others have said, but over time, they do dry down. Work in very thin layers, and it goes completely matte on me within about 30 minutes. Since they don't go completely matte for a little while, it makes this formula feel very hydrating on the lips, and they stay hydrated throughout the day, unlike other brands that make my lips super dry. They aren't transfer resistant either, but I'm not so bothered by that.

Now for the scent. I've seen reviews where people cannot stand it and unfortunately, I'm also one of those people. If they took out the mango and just left it as straight vanilla, I'd be happier. That being said, once applied, you can't smell it. 

Overall, I really do like these! You can go overboard with applying too much at once, but like any liquid lipstick, it takes practice and patience to get it right. These retail for $8.99, and I find that to be a fair price considering you really need a small amount to get an opaque finish. If you can get past the weird scent, are willing to be patient while applying, and don't mind it being not completely matte, I think you would like these alot!

Have you tried the Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolors? What do you think of them?

Review: Catrice Cosmetics Liquid Metal Eyeshadow in What Do You Sea?

Hey guys! If you read about my most recent Ulta haul, you know I picked up the Catrice Liquid Metal Eyeshadow in the shade What Do You Sea?. It's such a gorgeous color and I couldn't wait to try it out. I do have some opinions on it, so lets see what I thought.

On the Ulta website:

Catrice Liquid Metal Eyeshadow dazzles eyes with high pigmentation and extraordinary metallic shine. Reminiscent of liquid metal, this silky powder is sure to make your eyes shine instantly. The unique 3D embossment turns this eyeshadow into an absolute highlight. The texture is smooth, easy to blend, and long-lasting. Mix and match to create brilliant metallic looks. Not tested on animals.

Each eyeshadow costs $4.99, and you can find them only at Ulta!

I absolutely adore this deeper green shade with a hint of blue in it. It looks so beautiful in the pan, but unfortunately, that's where my love for this stops. The metallic sheen you see is an overspray, and once swatched, it becomes this deep teal shade with a hint of shimmer, which is still a beautiful color. 



The swatch is decent, but it is a bit powdery. It's a little hard to apply with a brush, and gets patchy if you're not careful. I tried correcting that by dampening my brush after picking up some color, thinking it would make it look better, but that made it ten times worse. It became even more patchy and I couldn't correct it by that point, so I had to remove it completely with makeup remover. It's not all that metallic and provides a good bit of fallout no matter what I did to prevent it. Even after using an eyeshadow primer and setting it with powder, the Liquid Metal Eyeshadow creases on me within about 4 hours. 

I'm a bit sad that this eyeshadow didn't work for me because the color is truly gorgeous. It just doesn't translate well to the eyes. Maybe this shade is just off, so I'd be willing to try one of the more neutral ones and see if that works better, since they are just $5. 

Have you tried these eyeshadows? What do you think of them?

Ulta HAUL! Revlon, Makeup Revolution, Lancome & More!

Hey guys! So, I made a promise to myself that I would go on a no-buy at the start of 2016. I wanted to go three months without buying a single beauty product. Aside from buying shampoo that my husband and I ran out of, and my Ipsy bags that I get every month, I hadn't bought myself anything beauty related since December 26th, 2015. I was incredibly proud of myself for going a whopping 72 days without buying anything! On day 73 however (March 8th), I was tempted by an email I had gotten from Ulta a couple days prior saying that Platinum members received 3X the points, as well as free shipping on every order. Since I'm a cheapskate lately, I decided to place a few separate orders to be able to utilize the $3.50 off of $10 coupon code, and get the most bang for my buck. I spent much less than I thought I would, because a few things were out of stock that I originally wanted. Now that I've rambled enough, here are the products I purchased!

Makeup Revolution is one of those UK brands that I always hear pretty decent things about. My local Ulta doesn't carry the brand, but they have them online. I wanted to try out one of their eyeshadow palettes because they're only $10 ($6.50 with the coupon!), and all of the ones I saw online were really pretty, so it was a tough decision. I decided to go with the Run Boy Run palette as it seemed the most wearable to me. It definitely has more of a Fall vibe to it, but I love the color selection, and I also appreciate that the very bottom row is all matte shades. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Catrice brand is from Germany. I always heard Tati of Glam Life Guru on YouTube talk about how much she loved this brand, and when they were finally available at Ulta, I wanted to try something. The line is very inexpensive, and I picked up the Prime and Fine Smoothing Refiner and the Liquid Metal Eyeshadow in What Do You Sea? I was a littler nervous to buy the eyeshadow because alot of people who bought them online, received them broken. Luckily, mine was spared, and I cannot wait to try it out! I didn't really need another face primer, but anything that says it will help smooth pores, I'm all about that life. 

I've heard many different things about the newer L'Oreal Colour Riche Eyeshadow singles. Some people have loved them, others not so much. They're super inexpensive, and they were buy 2, get 1 free (I was also able to use the $3.50 off coupon!), so I figured it wasn't a huge hit to my wallet if I didn't like them. I picked up the shades 208 Violet Beaute, 203 Cafe Au Lait, and 204 Quartz Fume. Cafe Au Lait looks like the perfect matte transition shade, and I think Violet Beaute is a stunning deep purple with little flecks of shimmer. 

The last few bits are lippies! Revlon was also buy 2, get one free and I had been really wanting to try their Ultra HD Matte Lipcolors. There are people who say that these don't completely dry down matte, but honestly, I'm cool with that because I don't want my lips to dry out real bad the way other matte liquid lip products cause. I decided on the shades Addiction, Obsession, and Devotion. I can't wait to try out Obsession for the Spring/Summer! Devotion seems like a great everyday color and Addiction seems like a beautiful berry shade for Fall. 

The last lip product I got is from Lancome and it's their Color Design Matte Lip Crayon in the shade 320 Partner in Crime. I didn't plan on purchasing a high-end product, but any Lancome purchase was 5X the points. So on top of the 3X the points for Platinum members, this product alone gave me nearly 175 points. I couldn't say no to that, so in my shopping cart it went. I adore the beautiful fuchsia color this is, and I think it'll be great for Summer. 

Overall, I'm very happy with what I purchased! I ended up gaining a ton of points from everything, and I'm hoarding those for something special I want to buy later on. I know I keep saying it, but I'm very proud of myself that I didn't spend nearly as much as I thought I was going to. I'm going to continue trying to not buy as many products as I have in the past, as I'm trying to really just declutter my life and use up what I have, and that includes skincare, bodycare, makeup, etc. 

On that note, are you doing any kind of spending ban? Have you broken it at all? Also, let me know if you'd like reviews on anything here! I'm trying to get together products that I've had for a while that still need testing out and reviewing. 

What I Got For Christmas/ My Birthday HAUL!

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Hey guys! I hope everyone who celebrates had an awesome Christmas, and has a very happy New Year! December is always an odd month for me because my birthday is on the 8th, so presents that are given to me nowadays are for both that and Christmas, which I'm honestly fine with! Since I'm now 27 (hooray for being in my late 20's now...not!), I never really ask for certain presents anymore. I prefer either gift cards or cash so I can get something I know I'll enjoy and use. I also do treat myself to some things because, why the heck not?! So today I'll be sharing with you what I ended up getting with my birthday/Christmas money!

I had gone to Walgreen's hoping to find new products that I've been hearing about, but had zero luck. They did however have a major clearance sale going on, so I took some time browsing. I picked up the Wet n Wild Fergie Take on the Day Mattifying Powder that was on clearance for just a couple dollars. I'm hoping this is decent, but with it being marked down, it's probably getting discontinued. 

I also picked up one of the Megalast Liquid Lip Colors in the shade Red My Mind. It's a beautiful shade in the package, but that's it. It's an awful formula and flakes off my lips almost immediately after applying it. Luckily, this was just over $1 on clearance, and now I understand why every shade in this line was marked down. 

I've never tried the popular Wet n Wild lipsticks that everyone talks about, so I picked up the shades Smokin' Hot Pink and Cherry Picking. I always thought these were $1.99, but at my Walgreen's they were $2.49. No big deal really, so if I end up liking these, I'll probably buy more!

Burt's Bees wasn't on sale at all, but if you bought 2 of their lip balms, you got 1,000 points so I got the scents Honey and Coconut & Pear. I love lip balms, and Burt's Bees makes some great ones. 

Next up is Sephora! I had gotten the VIB Rouge giftcard in the mail for $25 off of a $50 purchase, and my mom also gave me hers to use as well, so I placed 2 separate orders, but lumped everything together. On one of the orders I had to buy hair ties because I wasn't quite at $50, but somehow I lost them already.

Anyway, I ended up getting the Philosophy Holiday Handbook hand cream set, which has the scents Cranberry Medley, Fresh Cream and Raspberries & Cream. I purchased a set of these last year as well and love them, so when I saw they had another set this year, I knew I had to have it. Fresh Cream is such a light, but amazing scent and I'm very happy to have it in hand cream form!

I have no reason to be buying more eyeshadow palettes, but the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons is one I just had to have! I had been hearing about it for months, thought the packaging was adorable, and the fact that it smells like chocolate always seals the deal. I have the other two chocolate bar palettes as well and color selection wise, I think I like this one the most. 

Kat Von D has been killing it with her makeup line within the past year, and everything I've tried so far, I've loved. I bought yet another Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in the shade Bauhau5 and a Metal Crush Eyeshadow in the shade Raw Power. You all know my love for her liquid lipsticks, but I've been dying to try out the Metal Crush Eyeshadows. I was torn between this and the shade Thunderstruck, but went with Raw Power because I love my burgundy's!

The birthday gift this year came from Nars and it included a Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in the shade Cruella, a Satin Lip Pencil in the shade Rikugien, and since I'm VIB Rouge, it came with an extra little sample of their Larger Than Life Eyeliner in the shade Via Veneto. I hear that both of the lip pencils and the eyeliner are great, so I'm excited to try them out!

Last but not least, I made a trip to Ulta. My lovely mother-in-law gave me a giftcard, and my dad gave me some birthday money. I also had the coupon for 20% off, which was good on everything I purchased! I had seen a review on YouTube of the Stila Trust in Love Gift Set, which includes an eyeshadow palette, a deluxe sized lip glaze, and a deluxe sized sample of their HUGE Extreme Lash Mascara. The wand on the mascara reminds me so much of the Too Faced Better Than Sex, which is probably my favorite higher end mascara, so we'll see if the Stila one compares. 

Real Techniques was on sale, so I picked up two of their Shading Brushes. I don't have these yet in my Real Techniques brush collection, but I love the size of these and think they will be good for applying shadow to my hooded lids. 

I've decided I wanted to delve into the world of lip liners, so I went a little ham with what I bought. I ended up buying three Essence lip liners in the shades 15 Honey Berry, 07 Cute Pink and 08 Red Blush. These babies were only $1.49 and with the coupon I had, it made them super inexpensive. I always hear good things about these lip liners too, so I have high hopes. I also purchased two other lip liners, one from NYX in the shade Cabaret, and one from Rimmel in the shade Rapture. The Rimmel lip liner was marked down to clearance, which may mean it's being discontinued. 

Next up is a new Revlon eyeshadow palette called Not Just Nudes, and the one I purchased is Romantic Nudes. They had another one that seemed a bit more warm toned, so the purple-y mauve-y pink shades in this stood out to me more. I love how drugstore brands are coming out with eyeshadow palettes, so I hope this is decent quality. 

The last product was the birthday gift from bareMinerals, and it's a Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in the shade Birthday Babe. I don't think I've tried these glosses before, but I love the color of this, and it isn't very sticky either. 

That's everything from my birthday and what I got for Christmas! Did you get any makeup/beauty goodies that you're enjoying?

Review: Too Faced Stardust by Vegas Nay Palette

Hey guys! I'm excited to finally be doing this review of the Too Faced Stardust Palette they did in collaboration with Vegas Nay, a popular makeup artist on Instagram. I had never heard of her before honestly, but once I started seeing reviews and swatches of this palette, I knew I had to try it out myself. 

First, I have to say that the packaging everything comes in is really pretty, but completely and unnecessarily wasteful. There's just so much darn cardboard that I honestly won't hold on to. 

Once you get everything out of the packaging, you have the eyeshadow palette along with more cardboard that holds deluxe samples of the Glamour Dust in Nude Beam, Better Than Sex Mascara, Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer, and 4 different guides to create different eye looks. I feel like these come in handy if you're not sure what to do and want some inspiration. 

The palette itself is so slim, which makes me even more confused as to why they used so much cardboard to package everything, but oh well. That's me trying to be aware of all the waste that the world creates. Anyways, you get 12 nice sized eye shadows that each contain 0.04 ounce of product, which isn't a ton, but with how pigmented these shadows are, I doubt I'd hit pan on these anytime soon. 

- Chandelier: A matte cream 
- Millennial: A matte medium brown
- Girl's Night: A matte dark brown
- #Selfie: A satin-finish cream
- Showgirl: A bronze-y gold shimmer
- Jackpot: A dark brown with gold shimmer
- Pink Pearl: A satin light pink
- The Strip: A light silvery taupe shimmer
- Follow Me: A satin dark purple with a slight pink sheen to it
- Double Tap: A matte burgundy/brown with just a hint of shimmer 
- Golden Nugget: A true gold shimmer
- Sin City: A matte black 

For some reason, I cannot find this online anywhere it was sold! I had purchased mine at Ulta in-store, so maybe it's still available if you go to your local Ulta. I did my best to describe the shades, and I feel like I did fairly well! I had some difficulty swatching Pink Pearl and The Strip, which came out a bit patchy and not as pigmented as I'd like. I absolutely adore Millennial as a crease shade, and my favorite shades in this palette have to be Showgirl and Jackpot. 

While I feel like this palette is great for the neutral lover who wants just a little pop of color, it's nothing special color-wise and I could easily dupe these in the large eyeshadow collection I have. With that being said, I've been enjoying using this because it definitely has all the shades you could ever want to create a simple, neutral look, but you can also do a darker, more dramatic look as well. I feel like this is such a versatile palette and overall, I'm glad I took the plunge and added this to my collection. I just wish the outer packaging wasn't so bulky and annoying... *rant over*

Have you tried this palette? what do you think of it?

Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Self-Made Eyeshadow Palette

Hello everyone! I have so many reviews that I need to catch up on, and today I'll finally be sharing my thoughts on the Anastasia Self-Made Palette. I purchased this a couple months ago, and I was excited to get my hands on it. It's gorgeous!

Here is some info on the palette from the Ulta site:

This limited edition, fashion-forward eye shadow kit is the ultimate makeup artist's palette. Fourteen shades - ranging from a neutral taupe to obsidian black - deliver intense color, so you can create an endless array of custom looks.

The packaging is your standard cardboard with a textured fabric piece that encases it. On the palette I picked up, the little piece that says the name is crooked which makes my OCD go insane, but I'm just weird. It might not bother most people. 

You get a nice sized mirror on the inside and, like the description says, 14 different shades that are really gorgeous. I'm not a fan of brushes that come in palettes, but this one is decent enough. 

Shade names and their description:


- Pink Champagne (rose gold with a titanium finish)
- Metallic Plum (dark plum with a metallic finish)
- Self-Made (deep bronze with a satin finish)
- Witchy (khaki gray with a sparkle finish)
- Blush (light beige with a duo chrome pink finish)
- Blossom (lilac pink with a metallic finish)
- Buttery (buildable beige with an ultra-matte finish)
- Deep Purple (amethyst purple with a titanium finish)
- Treasure (ultra-light Champagne with a metallic finish)
- Hot & Cold (rum brown with a metallic finish)
- Sherbert (ultra-light peach with a velvet finish)
- Isla (sea foam green with a duo chrome gold finish)
- Spirit Rock (galaxy black with a sparkle finish)
- Hot Chocolate (rich, cocoa brown with an ultra-matte finish)

As you can tell, there is a good shade range along with different finishes for many different looks. I apologize that some shades don't show up well due to my super pale skin, but I only really had a little trouble swatching the shades Blush, Treasure, and Isla. They all swatched a little patchy but blended out nicely. I'm obsessed with the shade Pink Champagne, and if there is a single of that shade available, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. It looks so metallic and foiled on the lids, and it's really pigmented. The only shade I can use as a transition is Sherbert, even though it's a little warm for my liking, but Hot Chocolate can be used to deepen things up a bit. Since I am pretty pale, I have to be careful with the darker shades in this palette. My only real concern is the lasting power of these. I always prime my eyes and set that with a translucent powder before going in with eyeshadow, because I've noticed that helps tremendously with creasing on my oily lids. Within about 4 hours, I notice that these shadows crease on me slightly. That's a bummer too because I also have the Tamanna Palette and don't have that issue with it. Besides the slight creasing, this palette is so versatile and beautiful! 

It also only costs $35, which is a steal if you ask me. When I purchased this, I had a 20% off coupon for Ulta that was good on high-end brands, so I got a pretty amazing deal on this! It is still available on the Ulta site if you're interested in buying it!

What do you think of this palette?

Collective Makeup HAUL! Big Lots, Sephora & Ulta

Hi everyone! The past few weeks I did a bit of makeup shopping, and I wanted to share with you what I purchased. I'm trying to be good right now because the Sephora VIB sale is coming up next weekend for Rouge members, and I have a feeling I'll be splurging a bit. I plan on doing a wishlist for the event that should be up hopefully by tomorrow or Monday/Tuesday, so stay tuned! Anyway, lets see what goodies I have this time!

Starting off with the things from Big Lots, the first product I found is Body Raves Fresher Than Green Detoxifying Wipes. These are said to be infused with Aloe and Cucumber with Green Tea and they remove makeup, dirt, oil and environmental toxins. I snagged these up because they were only $2 and you get a whopping 60 wipes in a package. That's an incredible deal and if I end up not liking these on my face, they'll be fine for swatches. 

The next two products I was so excited to see and they're the Maybelline Eyestudio quads in Sapphire Stylist and Spirited Seas. The packaging for Sapphire Stylist says it was limited edition, but I have no idea what collection it's from, and Spirited Seas says "New", but it was probably discontinued for whatever reason. The price of these were incredible so brace yourselves. They were only $2.20 each! I couldn't believe it! In the drugstore, these quads are around $10, so just over $2 for each was amazing, and no one stuck their grubby hands in them either!

The last two products I found were shades from the discontinued Maybelline Color Whispers line. I found the shades Lust For Blush and Coral Ambition. I absolutely adored this line when it came out because the formula feels like a very hydrating gel. I have about 3 or 4 other shades, so I'm excited to have these in my collection now! Lust For Blush was $3.50 and Coral Ambition was $3. 

Next up is a couple things from an online order at Sephora. I was browsing Instagram a little while ago (I'm @Skinstuffbykaty there if you want to follow me!) and someone had posted about the Make Up For Ever Metal Palette being an awesome dupe for the Z Palette, at a much better price. Z Palettes are typically over $20, and this baby was just $14! I had also gotten a 10% off code to use on this purchase, so that brought the price of it down to $12.60. It was out of stock when I initially went to look it up, but I signed up to be notified when it came back, so I snagged one right away once I got the email. This palette is freaking fantastic! Seriously, it holds so much more product than the Z Palette and the price is incredible. The only downside is that it is heavy because the entire palette is metal. That doesn't bother me, and I'm officially converted. I've even switched my Makeup Geek shadows over to this already. I highly recommend picking one of these up! 

The next product I picked up is the Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in the infamous shade Lolita. The liquid lipstick version is always sold out, but for some reason, this lipstick looks like a prettier color to me. I have yet to try this as I want to review it, but I have to say, this smells like a vanilla cupcake, and that makes me very happy. 

I had cashed in 250 of my Beauty Insider points for the Bite Beauty Lip Lab Trio in Kir Royal. This was October's Limited Edition trio, and I knew I had to have it since it's a beautiful burgundy/berry/fuchsia color. I love Bite Beauty more everytime I try other products from them, and I'm slowly building up my collection. 

Last up is Ulta! I had received a 20% off coupon in the mail a couple weeks ago for Platinum members, and it was good on EVERYTHING! There were just a few exclusions, like Dermalogica, Lancome, the Benefit Brow Bar and one or two others. I had my eye on the Too Faced Star Dust Palette by Vegas Nay, but kept telling myself I didn't need it and had so many colors like what's in the palette, in my collection. As I kept seeing rave reviews on blogs and YouTube, I had to check it out for myself. This truly is such a stunning palette in person! While I probably have many similar shades already, I got sucked in. It also comes with deluxe sizes of Better Than Sex Mascara, Shadow Insurance, and a Glamour Dust Glitter Pigment. I figured since I got 20% off, why the heck not?! #TreatYoSelf

Anastasia Beverly Hills is one of those brands that everyone and their dog talks about, but I really haven't tried much. I do love her clear brow gel, and I also have the Tamanna eyeshadow palette. I've never tried her famous brow wiz and I have not a care in the world for her liquid lipsticks or glosses. However, after seeing pictures and swatches of this Self Made Palette on Instagram, I knew it had to be mine. Do I need another palette? Not at all, but I feel like she has some really nice eyeshadows for an amazing price. This retails for $35 and with the 20% off, it came down to just $28 before tax. Not too shabby for 14 different shades in one palette!

The last product I picked up is the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream 3 piece set that has the shades Monte Carlo, Copenhagen, and Transylvania and retails for $11.99. I saw this set online but with different shades, and in-store they had three different sets. I was drawn more towards this one as I'm trying to broaden my dark lip horizon. I haven't tried Monte Carlo or Copenhagen yet, but Transylvania is just such a gorgeous color, yet it's kinda difficult to work with. It goes on a bit patchy and you have to layer it to get it to look nice. I also feel like I maybe need to invest in a lip liner for shades like this. I still feel like the set is worth it, and the price is great. The Soft Matte Lip Creams retail for either $5.99 or $6.99 individually, so it's like you get one free in this set. Also, with the 20% off coupon I had, it really wasn't bad at all.

That's everything! I feel really happy with this haul honestly since I got things I had been wanting for a little while now. Is there anything you've purchased recently?

Review: Lorac Mega Pro Palette 2

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since my last post! Having a pulmonary embolism and being on blood thinners is no joke, and the medicine I'm on makes my joints hurt and I feel exhausted all the time. Today is a good day though, and I'm going to be reviewing the Lorac Mega Pro 2 palette, which is surprisingly still available here!

Here is some info on the palette from Ulta:

Only at ULTA!

GO PRO with the LORAC Mega PRO Palette 2! Created by celebrity makeup artist Carol Shaw, this limited edition PRO artistry palette is the sequel to their original, best-selling Mega PRO Palette. Double the size of the original PRO Palette, the Mega PRO Palette 2 is loaded with 16 shimmer and 16 matte eye shadows to add to your collection of PRO shadows. Lorac's velvety-smooth shadows are infused with soothing botanicals and are ultra-pigmented to perform wet or dry so you can shade, shadow, line and define your eyes, just like a PRO!

This palette is said to be a $205 value for $59. 

First row of colors

- Porcelain (matte) 
- Custard (matte) 
- Tawny (matte) 
- Burlap (matte) 
- Melon (matte) 
- Tangerine (matte) 
- Saddle (matte) 
- Forest (matte)

Second row of colors

- Bisque (matte) 
- Lavender (matte) 
- Purple (matte) 
- Sorbet (matte) 
- Goji (matte) 
- Cabernet (matte) 
- Ash (matte) 
- Black (matte)

Third row of colors

- Sugar (shimmer) 
- Chiffon (shimmer) 
- Prosecco (shimmer) 
- Soft Plum (shimmer) 
- Cinnamon (shimmer)
- Sandstone (shimmer) 
- Gunmetal (shimmer) 
- Blue Quartz (shimmer)

Fourth row of colors

- Moonlight (shimmer) 
- Seashell (shimmer) 
- Peony (shimmer) 
- Dark Sienna (shimmer) 
- Penny (shimmer) 
- Olivine (shimmer) 
- Gold Leaf (shimmer) 
- Black Ivy (shimmer)

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with this year's Mega Pro 2 palette from Lorac. I have the one from last year as well, and the only difference I can tell between the two, minus the color selection, is the amount of each pan is smaller in this second one. The first one has 0.62 ounces of product in each pan, this one has 0.45 ounces of product in each pan. The actual sizes of the pans look identical to one another, this one probably has more shallow pans. That's kind of a bummer because I'm pretty certain that this one is the same price as last year's. The only color that is a repeat is Black, which is in the Mega Pro from last year, as well as the original Pro 1 and 2 palettes. I personally feel the color selection is great! Compared to last year's, this palette is more cool toned, which I'm definitely a fan of. Each shade is incredibly pigmented, and I only had a difficult time swatching just a few. I also feel like the Blue Quartz shade isn't as pigmented as I think it should be. 

I honestly wish I had only gotten this palette and skipped out on Urban Decay's Vice 4. I was so disappointed in that, mainly because the majority of the shades have too much glittery fallout. I haven't noticed any fallout with this palette, even with the shades being so buttery soft. 

Have you bought this palette, or no? If so/not, what do you think about it?

Ulta & Sephora Haul!

Hey guys! I've had a few products set aside to do a haul post for a little while now, and today I'm sharing with you what I purchased! I went to Ulta because I had a 20% off coupon to use, and I only got one item from Sephora, but it's an exciting one in my opinion!

I didn't NEED dry shampoo, but I was wandering down the aisles and saw that Batiste had little sets with a mini travel sized dry shampoo, for the same $7.99 price tag! I don't really travel for long periods of time, but if I end up going somewhere for a couple days, the little cans are perfect. You all know my love for Batiste is very strong so I got my favorite Tropical scent, then decided to try out the Cherry scent. Even if I end up not liking the smell of Cherry, I won't care because this is hands down the best dry shampoo I have ever tried.

Nyx typically has some amazing lip products, and I already have one of their Intense Butter Glosses in a shade name I can't remember, but it's a fuchsia pink color. I wanted to get some colors that were good for Fall because 95% of my lip product collection are shades of pink. I ended up with the shades Toasted Marshmallow and Spice Cake. While both of these shades are incredibly pigmented and gorgeous, I had a hard time applying these without looking like I was drunk. Maybe I'm applying too much, but these are really hard to work with. The colors are so pretty though, so I'm willing to work with them more. 

Since I was on the hunt for more Fall shades to add to my ever growing lip collection, I decided to try out two of the Revlon Super Lustrous lipsticks in the colors Cherries in the Snow and Plum Velour. Believe it or not, but these are my first ever Super Lustrous lipsticks! I'm sure I've said this before, but I always hated lipsticks until about 2 or so years ago. Now, I'm really into them and want more, lots more. 

The product I got from Sephora is a Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lipstick in the shade Elderberry. This is from their limited edition Frozen Berries collection and boy is it stunning! I even put this lipstick, along with the two Revlon lipsticks, in my favorite Fall Lipsticks post, which you can see in action here. This shade is incredibly vampy for my fair skin, but I love it. It takes a bit of working with the product to make it look nice, but it's totally worth it. The other little Bite box was a 250 point perk with a little baby lipstick and lipgloss.

Is there anything you've hauled recently? I'd love to know what else I need to try out!

Review: It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ in Fair

Hey everyone! I had purchased the It Cosmetics CC Cream a little while ago, and had wanted to do a review of it earlier, but alot of life stuff happened, so it got pushed back til now. I've given this a good try and I'm finally ready to share my thoughts!

Here is a bit about the product from the Ulta website:

What is it: IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ is your Full Coverage Color Correcting Cream, Anti-Aging Serum, plus Broad Spectrum Physical Only SPF 50+ all in one! Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+ is infused with cutting edge anti-aging technology and is clinically proven to improve skin texture, brightness and increase skin hydration by 79%. This highly pigmented multi-tasking beauty miracle truly covers everything, won't crease or crack in fine lines, and gives you a healthy your skin but better glow. Paraben-free and SPF 50+ UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum, Physical Only, Non-Chemical Sunscreen. The anti-aging hydrating formula is infused with peptides, niacin, algae, vitamins A, C, B, E, hyaluronic acid, and hydrolyzed collagen along with anti-oxidants and exotic natural botanicals for long-term brightening and color-correcting benefits.

The main thing that drew me to this CC cream, is that it contains physical sunscreen. Chemical sunscreens aren't the best for your skin, and at the time of me purchasing this, I was on a major hunt for a physical sunblock. I ended up finding one, but when I was browsing at Ulta, I started looking at this because of all the great reviews I'd heard. After looking at the ingredients, it immediately went in my shopping basket when I saw Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide as the sunscreen. 

I picked up mine in the shade Fair, which is the lightest shade. The unfortunate thing is it only comes in 5 shades, and even though this is the lightest one, it's still not a perfect match (pale girl problems). While I am pretty fair, I have a cool undertone, so I tend to have issues with the lightest foundation shades being a little too yellow for me. The scent of this is nice as well, and doesn't have that icky sunscreen smell. To me, this smells a bit like lavender, but I believe there is something to do with lavender on the ingredient list.

This is my scary, bare face with nothing on it but moisturizer. You can tell that I have dark circles and alot of redness, pretty much all over. Since I have very oily skin, I do also have quite large pores as well. I didn't get a close-up shot, because lets be honest, no one wants to see that!

This is after I applied two pumps of the CC cream with a dampened Beauty Blender, and nothing else on my face. My dark circles are really bad and hereditary, so they're always hard to cover up, but the redness I have is completely covered. That impresses me the most honestly. My skin is ALWAYS red, unless I'm sick, then I look even more pale. While I think the color match isn't terrible, I still feel it looks a bit yellow on my skin, but using the Beauty Blender really helps blend it in nicely. I have not tried applying it any other way, so I can't attest to a brush or fingers being better for application. 

My large pores are covered nicely as well, but as my day goes on, it does tend to settle in them, mainly on the sides of my nose. Otherwise, it lasts for a good 6-8 hours as long as I powder my face. The packaging says the CC cream provides full coverage, but I don't necessarily think it's totally full coverage. When I compare it to Kat Von D's foundation, this is definitely not as full as that is. I'd say this is a buildable medium coverage, but you can get light coverage with just one pump of product.

Overall, I'm pretty darn impressed with the It Cosmetics CC Cream! The size I purchased costs $38 and they do have a travel sized version for $15. I wish they had a bit of a better color selection, like a fair color that's cooler toned *cough,cough*. 

Have you tried the It Cosmetics CC Cream? what are your thoughts on it?

Ulta & Sephora Haul

Hey everyone! Last week there was a 20% off coupon for Platinum members at Ulta, and right now through August 9th at Sephora, it's Beauty Insider Appreciation Week. I'm a VIB Rouge so we get 4X points, while VIB gets 3X and BI gets 2X. I just wanted to share what I picked up!

Starting off with Ulta, I first picked up the Lorac Pro Matte eye shadow palette. This is fairly new and it came out along with a Shimmer palette as well. The matte shades in this palette are beautiful. I don't have a picture of them right now, but I will do a review of this. The shades are very neutral and perfect for day or night. 

Next up is the Covergirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in the shade 250 Scarlet Twist. This shade was on clearance so it was really inexpensive, and I absolutely love the color. It gives you that look like you just ate a red Popsicle. Really gorgeous and I'm glad I found one that wasn't tampered with!

The last product from Ulta is one of the it Brushes for Ulta from It Cosmetics and it's their 112 Airbrush Precision Shadow. I've already used this, and it doesn't disappoint one bit. I'm in love with the it brushes and want pretty much every one they have. They're not a bad price either, so when Ulta has these 20% off sales, I'm going to treat myself to one. 

Now for the few bits from Sephora. I have heard so many things about the infamous Tangle Teezer and thought it was time to finally try it. It's $20 which seems pretty darn expensive for a hair brush to me. I have already tried it on my dry hair, and it seemed to go well. I'm excited to try it out after I wash my hair, since I've heard it's really good for getting knots and tangles out. I have fine but very tangled hair, so hopefully this lives up to its $20 price tag. 

I was browsing the sale page online, like I normally do, and came across their store brand Blending Eye Shadow brush. I personally can never have enough blending brushes and this was on clearance for $11. I already either have this exact brush in my collection that's a few years old, or something very similar to it, and I love it. Sephora brand brushes are surprisingly pretty good, except for their brushes in holiday sets. I bought a set Christmas of 2014 and I don't like them. The bristles are so scratchy and irritating no matter what I do. 

If you spend $25, there's a coupon code to get a deluxe sample of something that's "on trend" at Sephora right now. I chose the YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer. It's a decent size that seems like it has a good amount of product, but the only issue I have is the scent. It's very floral smelling and a bit overpowering. Oh well, I'll try it out and see how it is.

Is there anything you've picked up recently?

Makeup & Beauty HAUL! Ulta, Sephora & Makeup Geek

Hey everyone! Today I'm going to be showing you some makeup goodies I had purchased over the last few weeks or so. Alot of sales were going on, and there were a few things that I just wanted to try. I know I say this in every haul post I do, but I think it's going to be a little while until I do another haul. If you saw my last post, you know my husband and I are expecting our first baby! Since finding out we're expecting, I was in the mindset of changing some of my habits like eating differently, and I want to change around my skincare. Being pregnant and having oily, acne-prone skin is proving difficult to take care of properly. Anyways, forgive this long intro, and lets see what I picked up!

I'll start off with the products I picked up from Ulta. The day I went, Ulta was having a 40% off sale on certain brands and I also wanted to get some advice on skincare I can use during pregnancy. Salicylic Acid, moisturizers/serums/toners with Tea Tree Oil, Glycolic Acid, and possibly Benzoyl Peroxide are ruled out. In turn, that rules out almost all of my skincare because Salicylic Acid and Tea Tree Oil are the only ingredients that help with any acne I get. Instead of buying a totally new regimen, I decided to try out the Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash. My mom has used this in the past, but I had never tried it. The ingredients look safe, so I'm excited to see how this does with my skin. 

I had been so curious about the it Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream for ages. During pregnancy, I have read that you can only use a physical sunscreen like Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide, and not chemical sunscreens. I found a regular sunscreen I can use at Walmart, and I was very pleased to see this it Cosmetics CC Cream having both physical sunscreens. I have already used this, and I absolutely love it! I bought the shade Fair, and it's almost perfect, but it leans a little yellow on my skin. I can work with it though and it blends in incredibly well. 

I'm in love with Too Faced products and was standing at their section for close to 15 minutes, while my poor husband waited patiently. Their Melted Lipsticks are fantastic so I decided to get the shade Melted Jelly Donut, which is a bright fuchsia color. I have yet to try it, but I think I'm going to love it with my fair skin. 

L'Oreal and Physician's Formula were two of the brands that were 40% off. I picked up the L'Oreal Infallible Makeup Extender Setting Spray due to all the great reviews I hear and read. I love setting sprays, especially during this time of year, and I typically like what I try. For Physician's Formula, I picked up the Matte Collection Quad Eye Shadow in Quartz Quartet. I don't hear alot about these shadows, but what I do hear is typically good. I have yet to try this, but I have pretty high hopes. 

I also had a coupon at Ulta for 20% off one item (excluding high-end brands), so the nice girl ringing me up split up my purchase and rung the L'Oreal spray and Physician's Formula quad separate. Also during that time, there was 5X points for Platinum Members and there was also something else going on, so I have a ton of points to use sometime!

Oh Sephora, how I love thee! I don't know what it is, but everytime I see or hear the words "Limited Edition", I tend to freak out inside a little. Kat Von D had come out with a LE version of her Tattoo Liner in Trooper. The packaging is all fancy, and a portion of the proceeds from every sale of this LE liner go to charity, which I found really sweet. This is one of my favorite liners as it makes it super easy to do wings. 

Another LE product I decided to buy is the Becca and Jaclyn Hill Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Champagne Pop. Good Lord, is this stunning in person! Honestly, I didn't want this at first. I'm not typically a highlighter kind of girl because of my oily skin, but looking at swatches and seeing how much people have been raving about it, I had to have it. I don't know what my problem is, it just had to be mine! I haven't even tried it yet because I haven't really worn much makeup lately and it's so pretty, I don't want to touch it. I'm weird, I know. 

I also wanted to try out the Bite Beauty Neutral Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo. One end is called Fig, the other Date. I'm not the biggest fan of Date, but Fig is beautiful. I can probably mix the two and come up with something pretty! I'm a huge fan of the Bite products I've tried so I'm sure I will love this one too. 

I got a few deluxe sized samples as well, the first one being the Dr. Jart Premium Beauty Balm. It's got an SPF of 45 and Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide, so I can use it! The Clinique Acne Solutions BB Cream has Titanium Dioxide in it, but it also has two chemical sunscreens, which is a bummer. I also have no idea what color they sent me, because it's so dark, I may not be able to use it at all!

Last, but not least, we have Makeup Geek! It had been almost a year since my last MG purchase, and recently there was a coupon code for 10% off Make Up Geek products. 10% doesn't seem like alot, but hey, it's something! I chose to purchase 3 of their Foiled Eyeshadows, and the shades I got were Caitlin Rose, Starry Eyed and Grandstand. These look so gorgeous, but I have yet to play with them. From what I hear, I won't be disappointed. I also picked up 3 of her regular eyeshadows in the shades Bitten, Barcelona Beach and Baby Face. I have 13 of here regular eyeshadows, so I'm already a huge fan. I really want to do a post on either my Makeup Geek shadow collection, or my favorites out of the ones I have. Once I test out these new ones, I'll do some kind of review. 

Well, that's my haul! If there is anything here you want a review on, let me know! It might be a while since I still don't feel too good alot of the time, but I promise I will get to it!

Is there anything you've purchased recently that you've been loving?

Also, remember I'm still doing my Summer blog sale!

Review: L'Oreal La Palette Nude 2

Hi guys! Today I'm going to finally be giving my review on the L'Oreal La Palette Nude 2. I was so excited to see a palette type product enter the drugstore, and my taste leaned more towards this second one.

Here is a description of the palette taken from the L'Oreal site:

Inspired by makeup designers 'Must Have' palettes, the La Palette Nude offers everything you need to master the art of nude eyeshadow. Makeup Designer Nude looks curated exclusively for each palette with step by step instructions and live tutorials. 10 highly pigmented shades range from light to dark to flatter every skin tone in 3 shadow finishes: shimmery satin, buttery matte & lustrous sheen.

Eye-designer brush & mirror for effortless application 

This palette retails for $19.99, but I have seen them at Walmart for around $15. I had purchased mine at Ulta when there was no sale, but I had a 20% off coupon, so that brought it down to about $15.

The palette is made from plastic and has a sturdy snap closure. The mirror at the top is kinda small for my liking, but it's still usable. I absolutely love how the back of the palette has different shadow combos you can use, since it can be helpful for people just starting out in makeup. The shades are labeled 1-10, but I wish they had names. 

Swatches of shades 1-5. I love this half of the palette because you can create simple, everyday looks. Shades 1, 2 and 5 are shimmery, while 3 and 4 are matte.

Swatches of shades 6-10. These shades can be used for more smoky, nighttime looks. The only shimmery shade in this section is shade 7, the rest are matte. 

What I really appreciate with this palette is the amount of matte shades there are! Out of the 10 shades, there are 6 mattes, which I find pretty awesome. A few of the shades were chalky while I was swatching them, but for me, they applied to the eyes nicely. With a primer, they last a good 5 to 6 hours before I notice any creasing or fading. With a base over primer, they last all day long, no joke! I find them to blend alright, they can get muddy if you're not careful, but I end up with a pretty look still. I somehow misplaced the brush that came with it, but I won't miss it if it's totally lost. I find the $20 price point to be a bit high but if you wait for a sale and use coupons, you can get it fairly cheap. One review I read, this girl got hers for under $8! Compared to the first one, this one seems way more cool toned, and I'm a big fan of purples which is why I chose it. I'm happy with the way it performs for me and I do think it's a nice palette. Do you need this? If you have a ton of palettes like I do, probably not, but I like it, find it to be a decent drugstore palette, and have reached for it alot.

Have you tried this palette, or the first one? What do you think of it?