Review: Sleek blush in Pomegranate

Yet another of the awesome items I received from Katie, here is the Sleek blush in Pomegranate.

Pomegranate can look a little scary in the pan.  It definitely leans purple, but just check out the swatches on the skin:

As you can see, it is definitely wearable.  It's a blue based pink not with a bit of a sheen, but no glitter.  The pigmentation on the blush is fantastic, but it also sheers out easily.  I easily got 6 hours of wear out of this blush before it started to fade.

I don't know if you can buy the individual blushes from Sleek anymore.  Their website only lists the Blush by 3 line.

The Sleek individual blushes contain 8grams of product.

Overall:  9/10

Review: Milani Runway Eyes eyeshadow palette in 09 Trendsetter

This spring I picked up one of the Milani Runway Eyes palettes in 09 Trendsetter.  Trendsetter is a mix of yellow-green-blue shadows.  

The packaging for these palettes is definitely not my favorite.  The shadows are in raised strips, sticking up above the level of the rest of the palette.  This makes it very easily to accidentally gouge the shadows and makes any fallout practically impossible to reclaim (it's not like you can put it back in the pan, there is no pan).

The shadows are all the Milani baked eyeshadow formula so you will get significantly better color payoff if you use the shadows wet as opposed to dry.  These swatches are dry.

The wear time on these particular shadows wasn't phenomenal, especially since I didn't foil them.  They're a mineralized product and I do realize that if you want to get the full potential, you have to use them wet.  But I hate using shadows wet, so I realize I'm going to get less than stellar results.  Over a base they wore for about 4 hours before they faded significantly.

This is definitely not a go-to palette for me.  These colors are pretty far outside my comfort zone.  But I was wanting something different and this palette certainly filled the bill and was very budget friendly.

The palette contains 9 grams of product total and retails for around $8 in the US.

Overall: 7/10

Review: Milani Baked Powder Blush in Luminoso

Milani Baked Powder Blush in Luminoso is another item I picked up in a MakeUp Alley swap.  Like the other Milani blushes and bronzers I've tried, I was really impressed with this product and totally baffled as to why I never just buy any of these blushes, especially at the fantastic price point.

Luminoso is a pale peach blush with great pigmentation and staying power.  It does have a sheen but does not contain glitter.  I got a good 10 hours of wear out of the blush before it had faded significantly.

Like all of the Milani Baked Powder Blush, it contains 3.5 grams of product and retails for around $7.

Overall:  9/10

Review: Sleek Bad Girl Eyeshadow Palette

In April in was lucky enough to get some awesome goodies from Katie.  It's take me a while, but I'm finally getting around to swatching everything she sent.  (Holy procrastination, Batman.  I've been loving everything she sent, I just haven't been good about taking pictures.)

So first up is the Sleek Bad Girl Eyeshadow Palette

The labels are so reflective that it was hard to photograph, but here goes:

So as you could have guessed from the name, the shadows in the Bad Girl palette tend to be darker, vampy even and then a couple of highlight shades.  

First off, I have to say that I was so thrilled to get this palette.  I'd seen several YouTube videos from people in the UK using this palette and it just completely bums me out that it is such a pain to try and get Sleek items in the US.  I'd pretty much given up on ever getting anything from Sleek and then lo and behold, this beauty arrived.  :D

As you can tell from the pictures, some of the colors are very similar, but the textures are quite different.  Some of the shades are pearlescent and the others are matte.

And now, on to the swatches.  All colors are swatched dry with no primer.

First, is the top row of the palette, which overall had a consistency that was okay, but not fantastic, especially on the lighter shades.

The bottom row, in contrast, had phenomenal color payoff and texture.

The Bad Girl palette contains 12 shadows which contain 1.1grams each for a total of 13.1 grams.

Overall: 9/10

Review: Milani Marbelized Baked Eyeshadow

A while ago I picked up 4 of the Milani Marbelized Baked Eyeshadows at CVS in:

• 616 Must Have Fuchsia
• 607 Rich Java
• 606 Drenched in Gold
• 617 Copper Excess.

These are baked shadows so you are certainly going to get better payoff by using them wet, however I don't like to foil shadows, so the swatches are all done dry.  As you can see, the pigmentation is still very good.

swatches under daylight bulbs

swatches in sunlight

The shadows had great pigmentation and with a primer, easily wore 10 hours.  These are probably a little too bold for me on a daily work basis, but they are certainly great performers when I want a bolder look.  The colors are also fantastic for a bronzey summer look.

The shadows contain 1.5 grams each and retail for between $4 and $7 each depending on where you get them.

Overall:  9/10

Review: Quo Bronzer

This is yet another item I received in a swap.  This particular item is from my swap with Carly.  This is the Quo Bronzer in California Sun.  This item is exclusive to Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada.

Look at this packaging.  I am in love with it.

And even prettier than the packaging, here is the product.  This bronzer is just beautiful to look at.

There are five distinct veins of color running through this palette.  The top two colors and the bottom color are all shimmery with some glitter (not overpowering).  The two middle shades are both matte.

I think trying to use the different veins individually would be very difficult, so I always just swirl them together.  Despite the fact that some of the colors contain glitter, the overall effect has a light sheen, but isn't glittery.  The pigmentation is fantastic, but it does sheer out easily.

swatch under daylight bulbs

swatch in sunlight

The different colors do have different textures, so they tend to wear differently as you use the product.  The glittery shades are softer and so the brush does tend to pick up more of those shades than the firmer matte shades.  It's just something to be aware of, but in no way a deal breaker for me.

I love everything about this bronzer.  I love the packaging, I love the color, I love the styling on the product itself.  The only downside is that it's only available in Canada :(

Overall:  9/10

Review: Annabelle Eyeshadows and Blush

I was lucky enough to receive some Annabelle products in my swap with Carly.  Annabelle is a Canadian company and sadly, I'm not aware of anywhere in the US that you can get them.

I've been using these items quite a bit lately and I thought I should go ahead and do a proper review on them.

First, the eyeshadows.  I have the eyeshadows 121 (taupe brown) and Vert-To-Go (green).

As you can see from the swatches, both shadows have a pearl finish.  The lighter color I've been wearing almost daily.  It is very close to my skincolor so it is kind of hard to see in the swatches, but that is why I like it so much.

The green color is something I reach for less often, but it is a fantastic shadow.  The consistency is super creamy and the color payoff is great.

The blush also has a fantastic texture and great pigmentation.  It blends very easily and has a wear time of 6-8 hours on my normal-combination skin.  Just like the eyeshadow, I've been wearing this almost daily the last couple of weeks.

Overall I am really impressed with what I've seen of the Annabelle line.  They are great quality and have a fantastic price point.  The only downside for me is that you can't get them outside of Canada :(

Overall: 9/10

Review: Physicians Formula Powder Palette Multi-Colored Blush in Blushing Nude

Here is another item that I picked up in a swap on Make Up Alley.  It's a mosiac blush, the Physician's Formula Multi-Colored Blush in Blushing Nude.  This is my first Physicians Formula blush or bronzer.

Despite being named "blushing nude" this shade has a good bit of pigmentation.  With my skintone it is much more in the bronzer category than blush.  As you can see from the pictures, the mosaic includes a dark brown, a warm red brown, a terracotta color and a pink.  Swirled together they create a fairly warm brown (verging on orange-y).

There is some shimmer in this formula, but no big chunks of glitter.  The powder applied well and blended easily.

I swapped for this product because I was wanting to try a Physician's Formula blush.  The problem is that with my skintone, this is a bronzer, not a blush and I already have a whole pack of bronzers I love dearly.  

To be clear I don't have any qualms with the product itself, just that it wasn't what I was hoping for.  If you have a darker skintone than me or are looking for a nice bronzer, this might be the product for you.

Physican's formula Powder Palette Multi-Colored Blushes contain .17oz of product and retail for between $7 and $10 depending on where you purchase.  

Overall: 8/10

Review: Maybelline Expert Wear palette in 10 Sunbaked Neutrals

I saw this palette in a tutorial by Amarixe.  I was particularly impressed with the dark bronze color in this palette and when I saw it at Target, I decided to go ahead and pick it up.

This palette is called "Sunbaked Neutrals" and it pretty much delivers on the name.  The palette is a mix of finishes.  According to the packaging, the finishes are matte, sparkle and high-pearl.  As far as I can tell, the only matte shadow is the brown on the upper row.

The top row of the palette was pretty disappointing as soon as I started swatching.  The shadows tended to be pretty dry and hard to work with, even the metallic gold/bronze shade (though the metallic shade was easily the best of the upper row).  The color payoff wasn't great ... yeah, it just wasn't great.

So them moving onto the lower row, the palette completely redeemed itself.  Every shade in the lower row was fantastic.  Even the darker matte shade was like butter.  These shadows were so creamy and super pigmented.

The palette is really small.  The entire palette contains 6.2 grams of product - each color is only .78 grams of product.  For reference, one regular size MAC shadow contains 1.5 grams of product.  However, this palette is incredibly budget friendly at around $7.

Overall:  7/10

Review: Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush in Pinched

So here is my very belated review of the Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush in Pinched.  I already reviewed the two other cream blushes in this collection, Coral Reef and Flushed.  It took me a while to find Pinched and I understand why.  It is easily the most wearable of the group.

Like the other PhotoReady Cream Blushes, Pinched is part of the Revlon summer Escapism collection.  It is limited edition and as far as I can tell, will not be part of the permanent line.

Pinched is a nudey peach with a good deal of pigmentation despite how tame it looks in the pot.  It wore for a good 9 hours before fading significantly.  Like the other PhotoReady cream blushes, it has a very gel like consistency and goes on very smoothly.  It does sheer out nicely, but can also be built up.

So despite how boring this blush looks in the pan, on the skin I think it looks really nice.  I'm not sure how much of an impact you would get on medium or darker skintones.  If you've tried it, let me know how it worked.

  

I was fairly unimpressed with this formula at first, but after some extended testing I am really loving it and reach for it often.

Overall: 9/10