Smashbox Full Exposure Palette Review

 Smashbox Full Exposure Palette Review



From the Brand:   
What it is:
A set of universally awesome neutrals that’s essential, effortless, and enhanced for your eye shape.

What it does:
This totally versatile palette is organized with crease-resistant, long-wearing shimmers in the top row and velvety smooth mattes along the bottom. Fourteen essential neutral shades include a range of nudes, blacks, shimmers, and mattes. Use the brilliant eye shape chart, dual-ended brush, and Full Exposure Mascara to complete any look.

This set contains:
- 0.035 oz x 7 eye shadow in shimmer shades (top row): Chocolate Brown with Golden Pearl, Deep Golden Brown with Gold Pearl, Soft Gold with Gold and Silver Pearl, Light Tan with Gold and Silver Pearl, Golden Wheat with Gold Pearl, Midtone Slate with Silver Pearl, Rich Grey with Multicolor and Silver Pearl
- 0.035 oz x 7 eye shadow in matte shades (bottom row): Matte Warm Chocolate Brown, Matte Midtone Brown, Soft Matte Midtone Tan, Creamy Matte Beige, Soft Light Taupe, Ashy Dark Brown, Suede Black
- 0.14 oz Full Exposure Mascara deluxe sample
- Get-the-look eye shape chart

What else you need to know:
Smashbox has taken the guesswork out of application with a cool, new dual-ended brush. There’s a fluffy end perfect for blending matte shades and a flat end to easily lay down the shimmer shades without sparkle overload. Plus, it’s double-sided with black bristles on one side and white on the other, so you’ll never accidentally dip a light shade into a dark shade.


Retails for:  $49.00


Where to Buy:  Sephora stores and Sephora.com, Ulta stores and Ulta.com


My Thoughts:  If you’ve read my review of the Lorac PRO Palette, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of palettes that have coordinating matte and shimmer shadows.  For each shade from soft nude to deep smokey, you get a matte version and a shimmer version in their amazingly pigmented eyeshadow formula.  I love this palette so much it’s joining my Lorac one in my professional kit.  (I’ll be popping off the heavy mirror though to cut down on weight.)  Not only do you get both matte and shimmer of each shade, the left half of the palette is more warm yellow based browns, and the right half is more cool grey based browns and a black, so no matter how you like to do your nude makeup, there’s a perfect shade for your style.

The formula of these shadows is super soft with very little fallout.  However, on first application with it I did find that the mattes are a bit dry looking on the skin and can get a little muddy when blended together.  I’d recommend using at least one of the shimmery shades with the mattes so that you aren’t looking very dated in your look.  In my video review, I’ll show you the shades I used to create the look I’m wearing.

The staying power is fantastic.  Over a primer, you’ll easily get 15 hours or more.  It also comes with a travel size Full Exposure mascara to complete the look.  I love to use the deep matte black shadow pressed over a black pencil liner to give it ultimate staying power and to soften it up a bit for a sexy look.

The highlight of this set is that it comes with a great dual ended shadow brush to give you a variety of looks.  This little baby is staying with me though!  I’ll have to slip a brush guard over one end to store it in my brush cup on the bathroom counter, but it’ll be a huge travel friendly space-saver come Christmas time when we go home to Florida for the holidays.


Final Verdict:  Great palette at a great price.  Very versatile, and cuts down on products when you travel!

**Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products. All the opinions expressed in this article are my own. These items were purchased with my own money. For more information on my policies, please view my Let's Chat page.

Holidays 2013- Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things Gift Set

Too Faced A Few Of My Favorite Things Gift Set


From the Brand:  What it is: A 28-piece set handpicked by Too Faced Co-founder and Creative Director Jerrod Blandino. What it does: This Sephora exclusive features Jerrod's iconic favorites for the eyes, face, cheeks, and lips and will make your holidays gorgeous. This collection is infused with classic colors that have a playful edge-shades that fit right in for a super swanky blowout or an intimate Christmas day brunch with the family. After hours, zip-up your essentials in Too Faced's signature chevron-print clutch, designed by celebrity decorator and TV personality Mary McDonald.

This set contains: - 1.2 oz x 20 Eye Shadow in Snowflakes, Whiskers on Kittens, Chocolate Milk, Moon on their Wings, Dark Chocolate, Cream Colored Ponies, Honey Honey, Busch de Noel, Evergreen, Blue Satin Sashes, Coquet, Taffy, Crisp Apple Strudel, Woolen Mittens, Soirée, Tinsel, Bluff, Ooh La Orchid, Party Time, Pure Glam - 0.28 oz x 2 Blush in Raindrops on Roses, Melt into Spring - 0.28 oz x 2 Bronzer in Sun Bunny, Chocolalte Soleil - 0.1 oz Lip Injection Color Bomb! in Bee Sting - 0.17 oz Better Than Sex Mascara in Carbon Black - Chevron clutch - How-To Glamour Guide What it is formulated WITHOUT: - Parabens - Sulfates - Phthalates


Retails for:  $59 (original price)


Where to Buy:  I know I got this from Sephora.com, but now that I'm ready to publish my review I can't find this collection anywhere other than Amazon.com where it's going for $95.00.  If you can get your hands on one of these, grab it!


My Thoughts:  I am so incredibly thankful that I found this and bought it when I did rather than hoping I'd get a gift card to Sephora in my stocking and trying to find it later!  I can't believe that it's sold out everywhere!  I can see why though, as this is one of the absolute best palettes I've purchased from  Too Faced.  I buy at least one mega palette like this every year, and I love the versatility of the sets.  They almost always come with the decadent matte bronzer Chocolate Soleil along with the Sunny Bunny bronzers with a shimmer and a pink and peach blush.

The eyeshadows in this are super pigmented, creamy, and are the perfect mix of mattes and shimmers plus neutrals and brights.  There's literally a little something for everyone in this set.  It also comes with Better Than Sex Mascara and a lip plumping Lip Injection Color Bomb in the perfect nude color.

For more on this amazing gift set, check out my YouTube review!




Final Verdict:  If you can find one, snatch that up before it's gone for good!  When they said Limited Edition, the emphasis was on LIMITED!

**Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products. This article contains some affiliate links provided through Viglink.com. All the opinions expressed in this article are my own. These items were purchased with my own money. For more information on my policies, please view my Let's Chat page.

Product Review- Pacifica Wanderlust Beauty Set

Pacifica Wanderlust Mineral Color Set Wanderlust Beauty Set Review


From the Brand:

The Wanderlust Mineral Color Beauty Set. A complete beauty set for face, eyes and lips. Travel ready sizes in seasonally curated colors. What else do you need to know?  Experience truly effortless natural beauty with Pacifica’s incredible mineral color formulas. Luxurious ingredients meet the most amazing colors.  Recyclable containers.  Easy to use and apply anywhere.

Set contains:

1 ALIGHT Multi-Mineral BB CREAM .34 oz (travel size)

2 Coconut Water Infused Mineral Eye Shadows  Shades: Treasure and Mermaid Aqua 

1 full sized Color Quench Lip Tint in Sugared Fig

Retails for:  22.00


Where to Buy: Pacificaperfume.com


My Thoughts:  Did you see yesterday's post about the Pacifica Good Karma Skincare Set?  Well, they have another set as well that gives you a taste of what their makeup products are like here with the Wanderlust Beauty Set.  Both kits contain their Alight BB Cream, so you can even out your skin, as well as one of their Color Quench Lip Tints.  This beauty kit also contains two eyeshadows, one in a gorgeous golden brown and one in a soft sea foam color.

The quality of these products is very good for a relatively inexpensive all natural brand.  I love that all the makeup products you buy from them is good for your skin.  The packaging is super cute and a lightweight yet sturdy plastic.  The lip tint is slim and fits easily in your purse.  They have just enough color that is between a stain and a lipstick, with hydration and yummy scent.  The color Sugared Fig is a nice deep plummy color that's great for someone who wants a fall lip color without the heavy pigmented commitment of a lipstick.

The eyeshadows come in a nice screw top case with a clear window, so you can see what the color looks like.  The golden brown is super pigmented while the sea foam green is a bit sheerer.  The formula of the eyeshadows is very velvety and glides over the skin nicely, and they both have a good amount of sheen to them. They aren't sparkly or too "young" looking, but they aren't matte either.  I found that they wear nicely throughout the day without fading, although I did wear them over either a cream shadow or an eyeshadow primer.  I've been wearing the golden brown shade with a soft pink and a deep burgundy in the crease, and I've gotten so many compliments!

I haven't worn the BB cream yet, but I'll be doing an in depth review of that product coming up soon hopefully. 


Final Verdict:  I'm in love with these eyeshadows and will be looking for more of them!  I'm already a fan of the lip tints, and I can't wait to try the BB cream. Overall, it's a fantastic value!

 

**Disclaimer:  This article contains affiliate links.  As with all my articles, the opinions expressed herein are fully my own.  For more information on my policies, please view my Let's Chat page.

 

Product Review- Tarte Beauty Without Boundaries QVC Set

Tarte Beauty Without Boundaries Set from QVC

I got an email a few months ago about a new set coming out from Tarte available only on QVC.  It contained two brushes, their new mascara I was dying to try, plus their new BB concealer that's not even available anywhere else yet.  That alone was enough to compel me to buy, but there was more and it was a major value!  I'm happy to bring to you my findings on these new products after playing with them the past two weeks on a near daily basis.

BB Tinted Treatment 12-Hour Primer-  I thought it was going to be like other BB creams that I've tried, and I was honestly wondering what the difference between this and their BB Perfecting Liquid Foundation was.  Well, this is definitely a primer and not a traditional BB cream.  The tint might as well not even be there for the amount of coverage it has when you immediately apply it.  However, it's like there's some kind of magic in it, because by the time I'm done applying some of the BB undereye corrector to my dark circles and a big around the sides of my nose, it's like I've suddenly got a face of foundation.  I'm not sure what it is about this stuff that tricks my eyes into thinking that I've got more even skin than I do, but I'll take it!  As a primer, it does amazingly well, and I've been wearing it under my regular foundation every time since buying the set.  There is something in there though that is causing the slightest bit of irritation to my face, since I'm noticing a little bit of bumps/redness in my t-zone.  It's not enough to make me stop using the product, and I'm hoping my skin adjusts over time.  My foundation usually starts to settle in my pores after a few hours, no matter what primer I use, and with this even after a 10 hour day on set, my foundation was looking amazingly perfect.  It also feels like pure silk.  I love it!

Double Ended Bamboo Brush-  I haven't used this yet honestly.  It's not the style of brush I use on myself, since I prefer a sponge or bigger buffing style brush for my foundations, but it may work its way into my pro kit at some point.

BB Tinted Undereye Corrector-  If you've read my review on the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer, you'll understand why I find this so amazing when I say it's like they figured a way to put the maracuja concealer into a pan.  At first I thought the color was a little too pink, but that was in the lighting in my office.  In my bathroom lighting and out in the real world it looks pretty perfect for my fair skin, and it's super super pigmented.  I don't know why they are calling it tinted.  It's way more than tinted.  It starts off kind of sticky, and if you don't set it with powder or put some foundation over the top of it, the sticky feeling doesn't fade.  This is one concealer I'll definitely always use under my foundation.  I really really hope they release this into their regular line soon.  I don't see it individually on the Tarte or QVC sites, and it's really an amazing concealer.

Dual Sided Diffuser Bamboo Concealer Brush-  The brush is almost as good as the concealer itself.  You can see in my photos that it's been well used!  I love the different textures of the hairs on each side.  The light side is perfect for applying the concealer, while the dark side is made to buff and blend it evenly over the surface for a perfect finish.  I don't know how well it would do with a more liquid concealer, but it's perfect for the BB one in the set.

Lights, Camera, Lashes Waterproof 12-Hour Inner Rim Liner-  This I wasn't a fan of at all.  I found that it didn't give a full coverage with one swipe, and once you go over the same area more than 2-3 times, it starts to remove the product rather than build it up. It seems to set that quickly.  I was able to keep it in place for several hours, but no where near the 12 hour claim, if I didn't actually touch the waterline, but you can wipe it away easily with the tip of your finger even after it's set.  If you want a more smudgey smokey effect, this will work well.  If you want a stark deeply pigmented line, skip it.

Lights, Camera, Flashes Statement Mascara-  I've used the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara for years, and I was excited when I saw this one released on the website a few weeks back.  I'd gone back and forth over whether I had time to review yet another mascara (trust me if you're getting bored with reading all the mascara reviews, imagine how bored I'm getting with writing them...), but when I saw it in the kit I knew it was meant to be that I review it.  And I'm glad I had the opportunity.  It's a unique brush as it has two different sides for applying and then combing the mascara through.  It's a similar concept to the Benefit They're Real! Mascara brush.  It's just as pokey, too.  I won't go into too much details now, as I am writing a separate review on the mascara of course later on.

LipSurgence Power Pigment in Awakening-  Another product I wasn't in love with.  It has some high points- it's super pigmented with just one quick swipe, and I love both the creamy hydrating feel and the peppermint flavor/tingle.  But the color just wasn't right for me.  It seemed to oxidize really quickly on my mouth and turned a weird orangey color, when it looks like a beautiful pink with only the slightest hints of peach.  If they come out with this in other shades, I'd love to try them out to see how they look on me.

Looking to add any of these products to your own makeup bag?  Check out TarteCosmetics.com for the BB Tinted Primer and Lights Camera Flashes Mascara now and be sure to keep checking back for when they launch the rest of the products.  You can also check out the selection of Tarte products available on QVC.com for products I've never seen on the regular Tarte site!