Haul| Colourpop Eyeshadow Second Haul with Swatches

Surprise! Another Colourpop haul! I can't resist the creamy powdery formula that's so easy for one and done looks on the daily. In fact, it's been a long time since I've reached for any of my neutral palettes. They're not amazing without primer, but can at least last through a day of work with minimal migration issues. 

I wanted to challenge myself to step outside of the warm neutrals box, so I picked quite a few lighter shimmery shades to pair with a bold lip at work. 

From left to right: Animal, Fringe, I Heart This, Bubbly, Get Lucky, Partridge, and La La. These are one pass without primer in artificial lighting and flash photography. 

Animal is a surprisingly wearable pink that looks great with a very warm transition shade on the lid. It can stain your finger and lids since it is a pigment. 

Fringe is a light champagne gold/silver shade that looks great as an inner corner high-light or paired with a deeper shade in the outer V. 

I Heart This is sort of like a silvery taupe that doesn't lean too purple. It's very flattering as a wash of color.

Bubbly is a light pink with shimmer that complements rose gold looks. 

Get Lucky is a gold that can lean pale yellow or antique gold, depending on the light. I really like it with warmer browns. 

Partridge is my favorite of all of these colors. It's probably a dupe for MAC Blue Brown pigment. Dear husband says it looks "LIKE POOP" (his exact words and intonation) but on the lids, it's a very sophisticated brown for every day that isn't too dark or intense. 

La La is rosey copper on the lids, similar to L'oreal Infallible in Amber Rush. Colourpop's Sequin leans a little more pink. I also love this one as a wash of color and it's right up my alley. 

Hope these swatches are helpful for when you build your own cart. It's a guilty pleasure to pick these things up because you hit pan pretty darn fast. Still, they're quality eyeshadows for the price and gives you a wide range of selection.

xo Be

Edit| A Natural Glow

Here is what I've been reaching for in the past month for a natural yet polish look in the office. 

Notice that there are no lip products in this edit; I haven't been wearing lipsticks recently thanks to alcohol related lip dehydration *ahem* and allergies making my nose and mouth area look like it's been ravaged by an evil flesh eating bacteria. Lovely.

I've then kept the attention away from my ailing skin and towards my cheek instead. I picked up Milani's Coral Cove on a whim and it's perfect: ultra pigmented and long lasting, with a cute packaging and design to boot. I've also been a little too happy with the highlighting, especially when Becca's SSP in Opal is radiant. It makes me look well rested and angelic, even when I'm screaming my head off into the phone.

For eyes, there are a few products that are not rotated out of the station: my Wayne Goss natural hair brushes, MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner, and Maybelline Color Tattoo in (what else) Bad to the Bronze.

I also just recently opened a new tube of Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Dark. This stuff spoils after a year if you don't use it up, so I'm making an effort to be as bohemian with my brows and not pencil everything in. I also rotate eyeshadows in/out quite frequently, especially quick slap and dash cream formulas like Colourpop So Quiche and Desert. With enough eyeliner any eyeshadow is good enough for me...

Finally, I've been really enjoying the Maybelline Lash Sensational. It's very lengthening and somewhat volumizing, but the best part is how curled and defined my lashes are without looking clumpy or insane.

Do you keep basic products at work or the entire kit and caboodle? Let me know.

Xo Be

First Look| ColourPop Eyeshadows

ColourPop eyeshadows came onto my makeup radar when everyone and their mom raved about them on YT. A $5 dupe for Chanel Illusion D'Ombres??? Seriously. It pains me to spend money on cream shadows due to my unnerving paranoia about such things "pulling from the edges" and being "hard to the touch" after a month of usage. 

*shudder*

But cream shadows hold glitter and shimmer the best and reduces fallout greatly. Not to mention, they're the easiest to swipe on with a ring finger and will still look multi-dimensional as if you've spent an entire ten minutes using actual brushes to blend and mix colors.

I appreciate the simple packaging with a clear lid... but it's no Chanel logo.

I hemmed and hawwed, but with free shipping over $35 and so much positive feedback, I had to cave and order a few to test the hype. I picked up:

Bae: A black with sparkling green flecks in pan, but a shimmery purple swatched. It's stunning and perfect for intense looks!

Pop Rocks: A multi-colored pan with beige, pink, blue, and purple swirls. Swatches blue.

On the Rocks: A copper with gold flecks. My favorite of the bunch because it's so simple yet complex in itself.

Desert: A simple neutral brown that looks matte in pan. It still swatches with glitter but can be used as a transitional shade.

So Quiche: A strange taupe-olive-grey that's not my usual style. It's not too cool and can be a casual smokey eye. 

Game Face: An orangey copper with gold flecks. Another favorite. 

Sequin: A true rose gold that leans a tad pink.

Cliff Notes: They're all very complex and pigmented eyeshadows that are perfect for supplementing a matte eye look yet still looks amazing on their own. For five bucks, you'll be hard pressed to find a comparable product. Yes, they're better (way more pigmented) than Maybelline Color Tattoos and pretty much the same price.

And now, a moment of honesty: I did see some shadows have minor "pulling" but none were dried out when swiped. I'll have to report back to you if any dries out past the point of no return before I get through half of the pot.

This is indoors with natural lighting.

I've swatched all of these with one pass each and no primer underneath, using clean fingers. The lovely design in pan disappears when you crack in, revealing its truly creamy texture. It's not similar to L'oreal Infallibles eyeshadows at all, which are creamy to the touch but still powdery on the lids. (Well, not powdery, but you get what I mean.)

I've heard of some complaining that the swatches are way more pigmented that how they look on the eyes. I half-agree. Yes, you'll lose some of the pigment when you swipe across the lid. I advise you swirl your finger into the pan and then sort of pat/swipe with short strokes on the eyelids to get maximum pigment. A synthetic flat shader brush works,too.

This is outdoors with overcast natural lighting. These pictures don't do justice to ColourPop because they don't capture the often multi-color sparkles in each shadow. Oh yeah, did I mention $5 bucks? Let me say it again. 

Aside from being quality products for affordable prices, ColourPop (an LA native local company/they operate online) boasts that these shadows are cruelty-free. That's another plus in my book. 

The only downside I can see is the "no returns unless broken in shipment" policy and no tracking with shipment. Still, let me assure you, they package carefully. Each shadow is bubble-wrapped in their own plastic sleeves and heavy bubble wrap. Then they're all placed inside a white box (with a handwritten personalized note!) which is inside a cardboard shipping box. Boxception. 

Again, be warned that they are ultra-sparkly and at the least very shimmery and may emphasize mature lids. I didn't notice any creasing with or without primer and minimal fading by 6 hours. I honestly noticed no difference in quality in comparison to my Chanel IDo besides wear time. 

These live up to the hype and you can also pick up lipsticks and lip liners from their website (again, $5 for everything) and fulfill the shipping requirement if you're not a huge fan of eyeshadows. If you try some and really dislike them (and you're fancy as fuck) you can go ahead and throw them away (so cheap, even the plebes would right?) or donate to friends and family. I really doubt you will. 

xo Be