Dollar Store Beauty? Trash or Treasure?

        I have to admit that less than a year ago I was not that into makeup. I mean, I was, but I wasn't. I have always loved makeup and worn it but I never knew about all the options and things out there. Example, I never paid more than $5.00 for ANY makeup product EVER. My most expensive purchase was a $5 Avon palette!! I did love color and used teals, purples and green but nothing vivid. I did not even know what a primer was, let alone a base. Wearing more than one color at a time? Huh? That was foreign to me. My reason for telling you what a makeup goon I once was, is so you know that I can judge cheaper makeup options without snobbery or prejudice.

           I recently was in the Dollar Tree with my daughters and noticed a couple of eye shadows that caught my eye. They both looked nice and pigmented and I thought for the price they were worth a shot. I fully expected them to be sheer and not blend well but bought them anyway.

L.A. Colors Purple and Teal Mineral Eyeshadow

Swatched you can see just how important a base is. The top of the swatches are over NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk and the bottom of the swatch is bare skin. The purple was almost sheer on bare skin but the teal had a decent opacity over bare skin.

Swatches in the sunlight

I only did one eye and I did it pretty quickly because I did not expect much from this eyeshadow. The purple was not all that great but the teal like seriously blew my mind! This look was done using only the 2 L.A. Colors eyeshadow. My shape is a bit nuts but I wanted to showcase how gorgeous and opaque this teal is!

I was so excited about this teal that I wanted to see if it passed the "Husband" test ( my husband has an extremely good eye at identifying good quality eye shadows and pigments when they are applied). For this look I did apply some Inglot #388 ( bluish/purple) to the crease.

Sadly, this did not pass the "Husband " test.  When I asked him what company he thought it was he said he did not know but it did not look that quality or smooth. Poo on him. I think for $1 it is a HUGE beauty steal! The purple is passable but the Teal is great.

Do you own any L.A. Colors products?

If so what do you think of them?

Any other pressed colors I must try??

Thanks for reading,

                                                          

Sleek Sunset Palette

        Sleek offered free shipping a few weeks ago so me and a bunch of  my makeup buddies went in on an order together because the total had to be over $75 to qualify for free shipping. Shipping from Sleek to the U.S is $13.50 so it was a nice savings! I was supposed to be on a NO BUY ( LOL) so I only picked up the Sunset Palette. I ended up paying $13.50 including shipping.

Box the palette came in.

Closed Sunset Palette

Sleek Palettes are insanely awesome. This is my second one and I am impressed once again. The shadows are VERY pigmented and super smooth. They almost have a creamy texture to them but they are a pressed powder shadow. They are SO easy to blend. At $10.00 these palettes are an EXTREME steal!

Swatches in the sunlight

Here is a look I did with this palette. I am not totally happy with this look.  It came out a lot more brown/gold than I intended and I am not a fan of myself in those colors. I definitely need to play with this palette more and I am sure it will be put to good use come Fall!!

I used Physicians Formula Mood Booster Bronzer and

Tarte LipSurgence in Glisten this picture.

I felt pretty blah about this look so I took the advice of my 

Makeup Sensei Lisa and added some more blush and lipcolor.

I added Score by Urban Decay and Lorac Lotsa Lip in

Naughty.

I plan on buying all the palettes above. I want everyone except for the
Storm palette.

What do you think about Sleek?
Have you tried Sleek?
What is your favorite product?

EOTD- Sleek

 I decided to use the strange out of place blues from my

Sleek Acid palette. 

I used both of them in the crease and then blended up.

I packed Virus Insanity Morning on my lid.

Liner is Jordana Fabuliner and Pur Minerals Gel Liner.

 Eyebrows are Revlon Colorstay pencil in Dark Brown.

Mascara is Ulta Lash Blow Out.

Foundation is Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Nude #4

Cheeks are Score by Urban Decay.

Lips are Peaceful LipSurgence by Tarte

Venomous Cosmetics Review

I recently placed an order with Venomous Cosmetics.

I had been DYING to try this company. I heard so many good things

about the products especially the pressed pigments!

I spent $27.50. I  ordered 4 pressed pigment samples,

the "Anywhere" palette, 5 loose pigment samples

and 2 purse size Lip Poisons.

I got a shipping notice a couple of days after I placed my order.

The next day Tracy, the owner emailed me and said that there

was a mix up with my order and that it was sent to someone else.

She apologized and said she would upgrade some of my order and

add in some extras. Upgrading and extras were totally unnecessary

but a very nice touch. I was EXTREMELY pleased with the fast

communication and honesty about the mistake. My order ended up arriving within

two days of the mix up. Awesomeness!!

Here is what I received.

An upgraded full size pressed pigment, an upgraded full size pot of pigment

and an extra Lip Poison. plus my original order.

Everything was packaged and labeled nicely.

Lip Poisons

I decided to stash two of these away and use them in a random traveling

box of Indie Makeup that I am doing with my Makeup Buddies.

Flamingo

Numbling

Hallucinate

Ingredient label! Everything listed!! Yeeehaw!!!

Lip Poisons come in a huge assortment of colors.

Full size is $5.00 ( 5.9 ml) and purse size is $3.50 (3.7ml)

I kept Flamingo for myself. The formula is really nice,

not sticky at all and had a nice color payoff for a gloss.

This gloss could use some "flavor" or scent though.

I found the scent and taste a bit unappealing.

 Loose Pigment samples!

I also stashed away the upgraded pot of Surfing The Gold Coast

to use in the traveling box.

The samples were packaged nicely in baggies, each labeled with

color name and ingredients.

Samples are $1 for 1/8 tsp. in baggies.

Close up of labeling.

Samples all potted up!

I am doing my swatches a bit differently now. I am bringing the swatch down lower

onto bare skin so that you can see the pigments on a base and bare skin.

These pigments swatched nicely and were opaque.

The colors that really caught my eye were Fire Ant and

Egyptian Fat Tail.

Swatches in the sunlight

 Applied, the pigments were opaque and blended nicely.

Both colors were quite glittery and I had a lot of glitter fall out.

I used Fire Ant and Egyptian Fat Tail for this look.

I love both colors! You can see some of the glitter fall out around my eye.

It was easily wiped off but still an annoyance.

 Full size pots of pigment are $6.50 for a 5 gram jar 

and are available in over 40 color choices.

 Pressed Pigments Samples

I ordered 4 pressed pigment samples and the

"Anywhere" palette.

The 'Anywhere" palette cost $5.50 and is made from

cardboard and plastic. It can hold 25 sample pans or 9 regular

size pans. It is magnetic.

Pressed samples are $2.00 for a 15mm pan.

Full size pans are $6.50 for a 25 mm pan.

Pressed pigments are available in over 34 shades.

Margarita - Mermaid- Caribbean Cruise

Full size pan Box Jelly

Pressed Pigment swatches.

These swatched smoothly with the exception of Box Jelly.

I had to go over the swatch a couple of times to get it opaque and even.

Swatches in the sunlight.

The pigments applied nicely, were opaque and blended like a dream!

I used all 4 colors for this look.

Overall thoughts?

I like this company! The products are

very nice and well made. They offer a ton of color

choices and the pressed pigments are really awesome.

The pricing is average in my opinion and the customer service is fantastic.

I will definitely be buying more sample pans to fill up my

"Anywhere" palette soon!!

Have you tried Venomous Cosmetics?

If so, what is your favorite product or pigment?

EOTD - Sugarpill

I used Sugarpill pressed shadows for this look.

Midori, Afterparty and Poison Plum

Eyeliner is Jordana Fabuliner and Pur Minerals gel liner on the inner eye.

Mascara is Ulta Blow Out and Brows are Ulta Dark Brown

.

Maybelline Dream Mousse Matte foundation in #4

Score Blush by Urban Decay

#222 M.A.C Brush!! My first splurge brush!!!

On the advice of my Makeup Sensei Lisa, I splurged and bought my very first MAC brush!! Lisa and quite a few other girls in my makeup group all said that out of any makeup brush the #222 is a MUST HAVE! I will admit, I felt a bit insane spending over $30 (with shipping) for a makeup brush. My brush stash consisted of a bunch of e.l.f brushes and a couple of pink handled crease brushes from Coastal Scents and that stash was fine by me. I was perfectly happy with it!

Then this came in the mail ...........

Description from the MAC website

Applying, contouring or highlighting powder-based products such as eye shadow,

powder, or Pigment. Soft round "brush" tapers into a tip. Of natural fibres.

Upon first glance I was NOT impressed AT ALL. It looked big, bulky and seemed WAY too stiff. I sort of felt like a fool for spending so much on it. It sat still wrapped up in its plastic sleeve for two days in my cup holder with all my other brushes. If brushes could talk I am sure there would have been a lot of fighting words going on in that cup!!! I was intimidated by this brush. By looking at it, I felt it was going to suck and then I was going to have to tell all my makeup buddies that they were wrong. That the #222 was NOT sent from heaven and that I hated it.

Finally I did a look with it. I was a bit apprehensive but as I applied and blended the pigments on my eyes I began to see the magic all my makeup buddies were talking about. This brush seems to grab the exact right amount of shadow or pigment and fits in my crease perfect!! I really felt like this brush did all the work. I just held it in my hand and POOF!!! I had a perfect blended look. Okay, so that's not exactly how it happened, but almost! Blending is really a breeze with this brush.

I would highly recommend this brush to anyone, especially people who are new to makeup. It really makes applying and finishing a look almost effortless. Here are a few of the looks I have done since getting this brush. Can you tell a difference in the quality of my application?

Do you have the #222 brush? If so what do you think about it?

I already have my next MAC brush coming, the #226!!

What other MAC brushes are must haves???

Enable me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!