NYX Haul: Makeup Review

Hello, gorgeous fans! So, I got VERY excited today because a cosmetics store that just opened by my house carries NYX! For those of you who don't know, NYX is a relatively new brand that is the token brand of RuPaul's Drag Race. It is a low priced brand that has some fabulous stuff. I recently reviewed the Jumbo Pencils, and today I got some other stuff.

I'll start with the eye shadow palettes I got. I purchased one Triple Eye Shadow set with Nude, Taupe and Dark Brown (TS03). The nude color is really wonderful, and is found in many of their more neutral palettes, which is nice because it's a color I personally like to use a lot. It is mostly matte, but has a slight shimmer. The Taupe has a slight shimmer to it, which I like. It looks really beautiful when blended with the Dark Brown in the set, which is matte. Good Triple Eye Shadow set ($7, good deal!). The only thing I don't like is the cheapo applicator that comes with it. It ruins the presentation, which is nice.


I bought two more neutral eye shadow palettes, because I was running out of all my neutral colors, oddly enough. NYX has this "Caribbean Collection" right now, which is 5 eye shadows for $9. GOOD deal, especially because they're good shadows. The first one is "I Dream of St. Kitt"(ESP5C03), which is a more silvery neutral palette. It has that nude color in it that I like so much, a more orange-brown color, a brown with silver glitter in it, a matte white and a silvery dark brown. The nude color, is again, great. The organgy brown color isn't my thing, but is totally usable. I love, love, love this brown with the tiny silver shimmers in it. It's so pretty. The matte white is a good matte white, and the silvery, matte brown is wonderful too. Again, don't like the cheap applicator that comes with it, great palette though.

The last palette I bought (also $9) is the I Dream of St. Marteen (ESP5C02). This one has more godly colors in it. I know it might seem silly that I got both of those SORT of similar palettes, but I like the subtle difference in undertones. Anyway, this has a warm, dark brown, a gorgeous goldy taupe color, and light, shimmery brown, that nude, which I love and am happy to have more of, and then a really great, bronzy color. Again, this palette is great, I think all the colors are very usable and can easily blended together etc.

Last, but not lease, I bought a jumbo lip pencil, in almond. I've been intrigued by the idea of a creamy, jumbo lip pencil and have seen other brands do them, but was hesitant to spend $20 on one. These are $4.50 and they work really well with a catch. Do NOT apply them using them like a pencil. I did that and it applied terribly and I was like, "Huh?!?!" So I took it off and reapplied with a lip brush and it looked lovely. This color actually goes on SO neutral and not orange at all, which is exactly what I wanted, especially for summer. Anyway, NYX is great, and half, if not a third of the price of other brands, so check it out!!

Battle of the eye shadow primers!

Hello, gorgeous ones. There are many different brands of eye shadow primer and most of the ones I've tried are actually good, but here are my thoughts on a few. One of the most popular ones is the Urban Decay primer potion. It's probably the most popular and it's easy to understand why: It is packaged nicely, it applies easily and it comes in a few different colors. I honestly have nothing negative to say about it. It does the job. Another one I REALLY like is the TOO Faced Shadow Insurance. I find this one is a little more sticky when you apply it, so things REALLY meld with it and just stay put. Urban Decay's primer potion is sheerer, I find this to be more heavy duty.

I think those two are my favorites, but I have tried others. MAC Paint pots are popular, but I find that they are too oily to really do the job they're supposed to do most of the time. Also, I LOVE NYX Jumbo Pencils, but seeing people use them as the only eye shadow base/primer is weird to me because they definitely, definitely crease without a little help from another product. The NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow primer is also very good, but it's $5 more than the Urban Decay and $6 more than the TOO Faced, so...unless you just LOVE NARS, I'd go for the other two. Also, the Smashbox primer is okay as well, I just don't find it superior to the TOO Faced or Urban Decay and it's slightly more expensive. I hope you all prime your eyes and have sparkly eye shadow ALL NIGHT LONG :)!

Too Faced: Natural Eye Collection (GOOD BUY)

Hello, gorgeous ones! Today I want to talk about a product that I don't normally rave about to people because its meant for everyday and I use it practically every day...but then I thought, "If I use this every day, and it always does what I want it to, doesn't that mean it's awesome?" So, the Too Faced: Natural Eye Collection is probably the product I use most when doing anything relating to my eyes. It comes with nine shades, all completely usable and amazing. It's rare to get a palette where every single shade can be used on a regular basis.

There are three rows of colors that are meant for different looks. The first row is for "Day" and has three matte colors that are all great. Velvet "revolver," the taupe, is great on the lid with "sexpresso,"the brown, in the crease, and "heaven," the pale beige/yellow, is probably the best highlighter color for a neutral look there is. It is matte, but reflects enough light without looking too shimmery. You could also use heaven on the lid. The "Classic" colors are more glitzy. "Silk Teddy," a gorgeous champagne shimmer, can be used on your life, as a highlighter on your cheekbones, it is just an amazing color. "Push-up," is a great bronze shimmer, perfect for a smokey eye look. "Erotica," is probably the brown shadow I use most because it is a silvery brown, which I prefer over a golden brown in the crease. The "Classic" colors are all more silvery in undertone. The "Fashion" colors are more golden and "Nude Beach" is literally just "Silk Teddy" with gold glitter in it. "Honey Pot" is a beautiful golden color that is very pigmented. It's the color I use least from this palette, but it's great if you like golds. "Cocoa Puff" is like a gold version of "Erotica," great for the crease or doing a smokey eye. I highly recommend this palette and frankly, all of the Too Faced palettes are great and worth the money. I will review the others I have eventually! Stay gorgeous!

NARS eye shadow: Hit and Miss

Hello, my gorgeous, glowing fans! Today I want to talk about a really fabulous brand: NARS. NARS was created by famed makeup artist and photographer, Francois Nars. For the most part, this is an amazing brand that makes high quality liquid foundation, lip color, and blushes, but I have found SO often that their eye shadows leave a lot to be desired. One of the appealing things about the brand is the sleek, minimalistic packaging, and seeing the gorgeous color combinations of the NARS duo shadow sets and the single shadows is just so tempting. I went through a phase where I just had to have as many NARS duo sets as possible, but in the end, I found it was a complete waste of money.

The duo shadows come in gorgeous color combinations, that in theory, should be marvelous, but more often than not, the shadows are chalky and apply poorly, no matter how much eye shadow primer you use, or how many times you apply it. I especially find this with the lighter colors. Some of the darker shades are fine, and I have one duo called Cleopatra, which is a very pretty set of a light grayish blue and a dark blue. Also, I would avoid their cream shadows altogether. They do NOT stay put, even with primer and powder over them. NARS is a great brand, but in my very humble, gorgeous opinion, avoid the eye shadows! Just off the top of my head, I own Misfit, Tokyo, Star Sailor, Bellissima, All About Eve, Cleo, and Charade. Let me know if there's a color combo that you like or a single that you like and I will try it out and maybe I will fall in love with them...maybe.

(Now do you see why I have so many? They're SO gorgeous looking! This picture makes me want to forget my review and buy more!)

Make Up Atelier Paris

This is a brand that my American fans may not know about. I discovered this brand from Goss Makeup Artist, who is an amazing makeup guru on youtube (and a total hottie). So far I have tried their cream liners and eye shadows. The cream liners come in nicely sized container, so you get a good amount of product, and they're very pigmented. Because they are so creamy, they can also be applied as a base for eye shadow on the eye. So, if you wanted to do a dark lid, you could apply the black or brown cream eye liner and then put a powder shadow on top. I also have the white, cream liner, which is fantastic. It is so bright and pigmented and is far superior to similar products from Makeup Forever or MAC.

The eye shadows are so wonderful. I bought a palette that contains five, full sized eye shadows in matte, neutral shades. They are so pigmented and apply beautifully. I highly recommend these shadows if you like matte eye shadows. A website that carries this brand (that I believe ships to America) is http://www.love-makeup.co.uk. I'm sure you can find these on ebay as well.