Browsing Tag

Highlighters

Review: Babydoll Beauty Cosmetics Ultimate Highlighter Bundle

When I opened up this package, I was the happiest person on the planet at that moment. I knew immediately that I was going to be glowing from ear to ear for the rest of year with these six beautiful highlighters that I purchased from Babydoll Beauty Cosmetics. With names like ‘Luxurious’ and ‘Mermaid Skin’, this had to be a good buy, right? Will the pros outweigh the cons? Find out below!

It’s no secret that I am constantly on Instagram scouring the makeup pages looking for amazing looks, products, and beauty fans! I came across Jess G.’s page a few months ago and fell in love with her brand immediately. She (all by herself) makes some of the most popular indie highlighters on the market through her company, Babydoll Beauty Cosmetics. She began months and months ago when there were very few people coming out with their own makeup brands and using social media to push products into the hands of consumers. I truly admire the work she has put into her company and wish her the best as she plans to expand her cosmetics line in the future. I should also mention that a portion of her profits go to R.A.I.N.N (Rape Abuse Incest National Network) to help women affected by sexual violence.

When I first decided I was going to purchase these babies in February, Babydoll Beauty had put all new business on hold. Jess was trying to fulfill orders and had become backlogged with work and stated she would not reopen her online shop to new orders until all existing orders were fulfilled. So I waited patiently until April when the shop was finally reopened and I ordered the bundle within an hour of the shop’s grand reopening announcement.

I tell you all of this back story so you can really understand that when I say it took a looonnnggg time for my package to come, it took a looonnngggggg time. Jess was very upfront on her Instagram account saying that orders would not begin to ship for at least two weeks after purchase.

However, my order did not arrive for nearly six weeks.

I understand that Jess is a one-woman crew and that she is trying to balance a lot, but hell, we are all trying to balance a lot! At the beginning of the third week of waiting, I emailed Jess at her business email address requesting an update on my order. No response. At the beginning of the fourth week, I took to her Instagram page (which she is very active on promoting products and what not) with the hope that she would see my comment on a recent picture asking her to respond to my email. At the beginning of the fifth week, I received an email from her personal email address with a tracking number and not much else. No “sorry for the delay” or anything like that.

I wasn’t and still am not an ‘angry’ customer. I understand that things happen and sometimes a little extra time is needed. However, small business (and large business) need to remain transparent with their customers AT ALL TIMES. If things aren’t going as planned, send a professional email update just to let people know you haven’t run away with their money. All I wanted was a little security that someone was working on my order and that my money wasn’t floating in cyberspace. Even if you run a business that is primarily advertised via social media, sometimes a post on social media about a serious issue isn’t the best response.

I’m writing this all as a big disclaimer if you do decide to order from Babydoll Beauty in the future. I believe Jess is still backlogged, but working diligently to fulfill orders. I wasn’t scammed or anything, the proper communication just wasn’t there and most likely won’t be there until Jess gets some help building the empire of her dreams.

Now on to the ACTUAL review of the products I ordered!

These colors are absolutely beautiful! I purchased the loose highlighters that come in 20g jars. The jars include a sifter, but I found it a little hard to get the product out with the sifter so I just popped it off to get closer to the product.

Three of the colors (Gold Digger, Luxourious, and J-Glow) look very similar on my skin. I would say that J-Glow has most bronze flecks in it, Luxurious is a pale gold, and Gold Digger is a true gold. My favorite of the three is J-Glow because the bronze blends smoothly with my skin allowing me to pack on as little of as much as I like without it getting too bright.

My favorite from the bundle is pink diamond. As you can see in the picture, it has some gold reflects to it making it one of the most unique highlighting colors I own. I have plans to pair this with my MAC ‘Love Thing’ blush and I know it will be breathtaking.

So was the whole ordeal worth it? While I was very pleased with the products I ordered, I probably could find the colors somewhere else with a shorter processing and ship time. I do love to support small business owners, but in this case, I would rather be safe than sorry. I may order from the company again in the future maybe after they grow a bit more. Happy shopping makeup lovers!

Review: Wet ‘N Wild Fergie Centerstage Collection Shimmer Palettes

As we begin to transition into summer, I’m making it my personal mission to find the best highlighters to make me shine bright like a diamond! Well, not quite as bright as a diamond, I do have limits! =)

While I do have a bunch of highlighters in my collection, few are as beautiful and inexpensive as those from the Fergie x Wet ‘N Wild collection. These beauties can be found at drugstores across America and online so they are very accessible even if you don’t live near a Sephora, Ulta, or other beauty brick-and-mortar.

There are three colors currently on the market: Rose Champagne Glow (pearlescent light pink), Hollywood Boulevard (pure gold), Rose Golden Goddess (bronzed copper). These are baked powders and can be used wet (to intensify the finish) or dry (for a subtle glow). The product size is bigger than other highlighting powders coming in at 11.3g. MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinishes are 10g, Bobbi Brown’s Highlighting Powders and Becca’s Shimmer Skin Perfecter Pressed are both 8g.

I’d say the best feature about these products is the price. These will only run you $5.99 each! Let’s compare that to some of my other favorite highlighters: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish ‘Gold Deposit’ ($32), Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfecter Pressed ‘Opal’ ($38), Bobbi Brown Highlight Powder ‘Bronze Glow’ ($45).

Basically the price difference speaks for itself!

It’s also been said that some of these colors are dupes for some prestige brand/limited edition products that you might not be able to get your hands on anymore. For example, ‘Hollywood Boulevard’ is similar to MAC’s Limited Edition Extra Dimension Skinfinish ‘Whisper of Gilt’ which is probably the most sought after highlighter on the face of the planet!

My suggestion? Run, not walk, RUN to you nearest drugstore and grab these before anyone else! Yes, be selfish about grabbing these! Don’t you want that golden goddess glow this summer? Well hit the road Jack! But if you still haven’t made up your mind, keep reading to check out my swatches!

Picture

Rose Golden Goddess, Hollywood Boulevard, Rose Champagne Glow
WITH FLASH

Picture

Rose Golden Goddess, Hollywood Boulevard, Rose Champagne Glow
WITHOUT FLASH
(Sorry for the blur, my camera did not know how to pick up the shimmery goodness!)

Review: NARS Christopher Kane Limited Edition Colelction 2015 Illuminating Multiples ‘Quantum’ & ‘Violet Atom”

Check out this sneak peek of the two Illuminating Multiples from the upcoming NARS Cosmetics x Christopher Kane collection!

  ** All the products reviewed from this collection were purchased by me with my own money.
I was not compensated in any way for these reviews.

I’m a huge NARS powder fan! Powder blush, powder highlight, powder eyeshadow … all that! But these are my first cream products from NARS and I must say I am very impressed. If you aren’t familiar with the Illuminating Multiple, they are huge cream sticks that can be used on your cheeks, lips, or eyes. The Illuminating Multiple comes in different highlight colors and delivers a sheer, shimmering finish on the skin. I would probably just use this around my face in places I would normally highlight. I probably would not use this on my lips or eyes because the color is so sheer it might make my dark eyelids look oily instead of shimmering. For someone with fairer skin, the color would skin through just enough for you to achieve that ‘no makeup, makeup’ look.

“Violet Atom” is a shimmering lilac shade that transforms color depending on the lighting. It looks less lavender on my skin than it does in the tube and it catches the light beautifully! This is the one you want to choose if you want that summer “shine-bright-like-a-diamond” glow! I tried to capture the color and shimmer as much as I could in the video and in pictures, but this is a product you really just need to see in person.

“Quantum” is hot pink in the tube, but sheers on the skin to give a nice ‘flushed cheek’ look! This one is not as shimmery and is pigmented enough for me to use as a blush if I wanted. This one doesn’t catch the light as much as “Violet Atom”, but it is still gorgeous! I would say this is probably more like the original The Multiple formula, less shimmery and more pigmented.

Both sticks were consistent formula-wise, however, I have no other Multiples so I can only compare them to each other. One swipe of each barely shows up on me. I needed at least two or three passes to build up the color enough for it to show up in the video. Even with the three swipes it didn’t feel heavy or greasy on my skin, but I was still more aware of this cream formula being on me than an ultra-light powder highlighter.

I don’t know if this was just because these were brand new, but on the first swatch swipe the product came off a little flaky on my skin leaving little crumbles of product on the back of my hand. I could easily just blend the crumbles in with my finger so it wasn’t a big deal. I also found after the second and third pass this didn’t happen, so maybe that was just a side effect of a brand new stick. If anyone else has experienced this with other Multiples, let me know in the comments!

These two Illuminating Multiples, along with the rest of the NARS x Christopher Kane collaboration, will be available April 15th at narscosmetics.com and at NARS boutiques. It will be available at other retailers such as Sephora on May 1st. Each Multiple will retail for $39. For a list and pictures of the rest of the items in this collection, check out my post here. To see my review of the Single Eyeshadow, “Outer Limits”, click here.

Keep scrolling for more pics and leave any comments or questions in the comments below!

First Impression: BECCA COSMETICS Limited Edition Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed “Blushed Copper”

All I can say is RIP to my bank account now that I have discovered Becca Cosmetics! This pressed powder highlight launched last week and I eagerly ordered it from the Sephora website a few days ago. Keep reading for more thoughts and lots of product shots!

 
I can’t believe I am just now finding out about how amazing Becca Cosmetics highlighters are! Why hasn’t anyone told me!? Today will go down in history as the day I upped my highlighter game!

This beauty is the BRAND NEW Limited Edition Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in BLUSHED COPPER. This color is everything. For my darker skinned ladies (medium/tan – darker), I would highly recommend using this as a highlighter this summer. This is a must have in my opinion. The color goes on so smooth and it is very blendable. You can add just a sheer layer of color with a larger powder brush or go more heavy handed with a denser brush. In the photo below, you can see how this color looks blended out on the left side of my hand. On the right, you can see a non-blended swatch straight from the pan, to my finger, to my hand. Either one is gorgeous!

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate this packaging! Rose gold is really on trend right now and I know Becca Cosmetics scored some fans with this choice. The entire base of the compact is rose gold instead of the standard black packaging. I love this feature that adds to the limited edition appeal of the compact. It also matches perfectly with the product! Inside the compact, you have a nice amount of product with a geometric design on top. There is also a fairly large mirror that takes up the entire inside of the flip top.

Just so you understand how obsessed I am with Becca Cosmetics, I wanted to let you know that I will be going to Sephora this week to swatch some blogger favorites I have been getting acquainted with. I am especially excited about the new cream highlighter line they recently launched as well. It features favorite shades like Opal and Moonstone in a cream consistency. You all might be hearing more about Becca Cosmetics in the near future!

Got any questions? Leave them in the comments below!

Get The Look:  Glowing Cheeks, Lots of Lip Gloss, and Golden Goddess Eyes

Last week I was blessed to be able to take a cruise with my mom! We visited the blue waters of Belize and the sunny skies of Mexico. After being in the sun for seven days, I am having withdrawal being back home in this 40 degree weather and I really just want to run back to the ship LOL! There was a bit of sun out today and I happened to have on a shirt I bought in Cozumel, so I thought I would put on a face to match my mood!

The one things I really miss was the glow I had in the sun! I just wanted to get that back so I used a ton of highlight on my cheeks. I used a few different colors layered so it would look more natural and dewy instead of “BAMM in your FACE”! Over my primed face, I used my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation, which is matte. I used it because I needed full coverage and I don’t have a dewy foundation that matches me.On top of that, I brightened up my face with Revlon Liquid Bronzer on the high points of my face blended into the foundation with a stippling brush. I then concealed my under-eye area with some CoverGirl Queen liquid/creamy concealer. It gives me less coverage than my go-to NYX HD Concealer, but it isn’t as brightening and obvious on the face and that’s exactly what I was going for.

After powdering my under-eye with my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, I packed on the highlight and blush! For blush, I used the BH Cosmetics Blush & Highlight Duo in ‘Tulip’. I used both colors and then, with a stippling brush again, laid down the lightest color from the Stila Creamy Convertible Duo in ‘Marigold’ to finish out the highlight.

Eyes are Raving Beauty Cosmetics and Morphe Brushes 35N Palette. Contour is CoverGirl Queen Cream Foundation in ‘True Ebony’. Lips are MAC ‘Chestnut’ liner with NARS ‘Dolce Vita’ gloss on top. Brows are Anatasia Beverly Hills BrowWiz & DipBrow in ‘Dark Brown’ (Always & forever!) and Benefit Tinted Brow Gel in ‘Brunette’. Mascara is Maybelline Great Lash and Too Faced Size Queen. No false lashes!