I’m digging through my older palettes now, so you’re getting one from mid-2015 today: the Too Faced Love palette!
Too Faced Love
Released amid not much fanfare, the Too Faced Love palette was one that left me wanting more. Overall the shadows are flaky/shimmery and it’s just really not an enjoyable palette to use. I’m swatching this just for the sake of working through all of my palettes, but it was a limited edition item that can only be found now (on sale) on Too Faced‘s own web site. It’s almost unnecessary to say at this point, but Too Faced has come a long way since this palette so I would not look at these swatches and be like “ugh – what a terrible brand”.
In 2016, for some unknown reason, Urban Decay discontinued their rather large (and relatively NEW) Revolution lipsticks. It was a weird move since the lipstick range really wasn’t all that old (circa 2013) and yet it was completely wiped out with Urban Decay‘s Vice Lipstick launch.
Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks
The Vice lipstick launch was ENORMOUS. UD unleashed 100 shades of lipstick onto the unsuspecting beauty community and it caused a bit of uproar. There were people who loved the Revolution formula and were pisssssed that that formula was now gone. However, beauty junkies know how to find excitement in turmoil, and with 100 shades of lipstick to choose from, how could you NOT be excited?!
Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks
But for me, when the UD Vice launch happened, it was so overwhelming I personally just went “NOPE!” and never looked at them again. I now know how some newcomers to makeup feel when they walk into Sephora for the first time – where do you even BEGIN?
Thankfully, UD got me started gently. I went to their Square One launch party in Mississauga, (there’s a vlog of it here if you’re interested!) and in their swag bag for the event were two lipsticks. I subsequently ordered a third with a PR gift card for Beauty Boutique online (which I highly recommend by the way) because I wanted to pick a colour that was very ME.
Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks
The UD event furnished me with Jawbreaker (a mega matte) and Ex-Girlfriend (sheer shimmer). I chose Tryst (cream) because that colour is everything I ever lust for in a lipstick.
Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks in Jawbreaker, Tryst and Ex-Girlfriend – swatches
Swatched up, you can definitely see the variety in the finishes. The Mega Matte, Jawbreaker, can only be described as “matte AF”, the Cream Tryst was, aptly, very creamy, and the Sheer Shimmer Ex-Girlfriend was all sheer gloss with zero shimmer.
Wearing Urban Decay – Jawbreaker
The first shade I tried was Jawbreaker, and sadly, I was not a fan. It was difficult and stiff to apply. I could only keep it on my lips about 15 minutes before I said “enough” and took it off . It pilled along my lip line, gathered in the corners of my mouth… not a win for me.
Wearing Urban Decay – Tryst
However, Tryst was an absolute freaking winner! It’s a cream, but there’s less slip to it than most cream formulas out there (this makes me happy as I prefer a tackier cream finish as opposed to a slippery one). It feels like the more comfortable mattes that are on the market right now – highly pigmented, easy to apply and just overall completely beautiful. This was one of the more comfortable formulas of lipstick I’ve worn on my lips as of late.
Wearing Urban Decay – Ex-Girlfriend
Ex-Girlfriend is beautiful and even more comfortable to wear that Tryst. It’s a very faint “my lips but better” shade, but don’t expect it to last an exceptionally long on your lips simply because of it sheer, high shine finish. The bullet is also very soft and within the first use I was already cramming the back of the lipstick bullet against the back of the tube. I like this one for easy application on the go. It’s an easy to wear shade that I dare say will match anything else you could possibly put on your face.
Final Thoughts
There’s no denying how daunting 100 shades of lipstick can be! I mean really, go to the Sephora site and tell me that that wall of lipstick doesn’t make you go “holy crap”. However, for those looking for variety, you really don’t need to look any further. Although I tried out three different finishes, UD does offer even more as well (such as Comfort Matte, Sheer, Metallic, Shimmer and High Shine) which will help you figure out what kind of shade to go for if you know what kind of finish you like.
For me, the Mega Matte wasn’t worth my time, but the Cream and Sheer Shimmer finishes were downright delightful. Tryst is an astonishingly pretty shade – the kind that makes me SUPER FREAKING HAPPY to wear it. Ex-Girlfriend is also a winner because it’s 100% failsafe on me. I’m really happy with how they wear too – comfortable and zero issues with odd fading, etc.
Smashbox recently unleashed their Cover Shot palettes onto the unsuspecting makeup community! Created in collaboration with Shay Mitchell (you may know her from her Pretty Little Liars fame), there are seven palettes that cover a wide range of colours. I opted for the most brightly coloured option (Cover Shot: Bold) as it definitely appealed to me the most!
Smashbox Cover Shot: Bold
The Cover Shot palettes come with 8 colours and are on the smaller side for a palette as it contains a total of 6.2 grams of product. You can comfortably hold the entire palette in your hand! With a $29 USD/$35 CAD price tag though… I can say that I am REALLY happy to see Smashbox doing something like this. Smaller palettes for a far more reasonable price point, when all the other behemoth brands seem to be releasing enormous palettes that are $60+?? That’s incredible!
Stock is currently going in and out with these palettes, but when they’re available, you can get them on sephora.com or $29 USD or on sephora.ca for $35 CAD.
The product featured in this post was picked out by me with a gift card that was provided by PR.
One of the bigger launches for MAC this year has definitely been the MAC x Mariah Carey 2016 Holiday Launch!
Encased in beautiful gorgeous gold with silver glitter lining, this collection definitely screamed glitz and glamour (and Mariah, for that matter!) – perfect for the holiday season! These items are in high demand and keep going in and out of stock online. Definitely call up your local stores if you’re looking for a particular item!
MAC Mariah Carey – It’s Everything
The It’s Everything eyeshadow quad is an interesting neutral quad that has both warn and cool colours – I feel like this is fairly uncommon, but it’s hugely appreciated since it will appeal to a wider range of people.
Every shade swatched out well and quite pigmented, except for Diamond Butterfly which was a really odd shade. It’s listed as a Frost finish, but in my experience Frost finishes are quite smooth and buttery. This shade performed like a Lustre which is ALWAYS disappointing since it’s sooo dang flakey. Regardless of my feelings towards the shadow’s finish, there is no denying the amount of sparkle punch that Diamond Butterfly provides!
MAC Mariah Carey – Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush
The Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush in this collection was the item I was most excited about and it did not disappoint. This is a stunning medium-peach/coral shade and it’s hella pigmented against my skin!
MAC Mariah Carey – Dreamlover Lipglass and This Is My Night eyeliner
Rounding out the products I have are the Dreamlover lipglass and This is My Night Eyeliner.
Dreamlover is a light peach gloss that basically shows up nude on my lips. The kick to this product is the amount of sparkle and shimmer you get jampacked in the gloss. But don’t worry, it doesn’t feel gritty on your lips!
This Is My Night Eyeliner is a dip post style eyeliner which is not my favourite style of eyeliner (personal preference), but it is exceptionally pigmented in one swipe. It’s a deep blackened brown that dries to a completely matte finish.
MAC Mariah Carey – Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush, Dreamlover lipglass and This Is My Night eyeliner – swatches
MAC Mariah Carey Makeup Look
This full makeup tutorial using all of these items is coming tomy YouTube channel tomorrow , – here’s the video! – but in the meantime here’s the look I created using these products!
Let me know if you were able to snag anything in the MACMariah Carey collection! I know it was utter madness trying to get a hold of some of the items!
These products are PR samples that were kindly loaned to me by Samantha!
