First Impressions: Lorac Mega Pro 2 Palette w/ Swatches!

Assalamu wa Alaykum/ Hi,

So, for today's post I'll be doing a first impressions on the Lorac Mega Pro palette. I've recently purchased this palette and wanted to share right away! I decided to do a first impression post instead of a YouTube video because this way it will be easier for me to do another update blog post as opposed to two videos.

I bought this palette for $59 off of Ulta's website. It was my first online Ulta order! It's an Ulta exclusive.

This palette is the sequel to the infamous Lorac Mega Pro palette. That palette sold out within hours of being released. Many people (myself included) were upset that they couldn't get their hands on it.

It seemed like Lorac was more prepared and properly stocked this palette. It is still in stock so if you want it be sure to get your hands on it.

It includes 32 eyeshadows. By the size of the box you would either think that the palette was huge or it came with at least an eyeshadow primer.  The palette is made out of cardboard with a velvety material over it. It reminds me of the NARS packaging in that sense. It's very sturdy and substantial despite the fact that it is made out of cardboard.

The palette is divided into mattes and shimmers. The top two rows are matte and the bottom two are shimmer. From first glance Tangerine, Saddle, and Forest get my attention and I really want to do a smoky eye with them.

These shadows swatch beautifully but are easy to wipe off with a tissue. There is a lot of kick up that comes from the shadows when you dip your brush into them. This can cause a lot of mess in the palette.

The shadows are very pigmented and blend well together. However, be sure not to pick up too much on your brush. Otherwise you'll spend a long time blending.

Bottom Line: My first impression of this palette is that it includes a nice variety of shades. The pigmentation and quality of the shadows make me very excited to use this palette.

I'll post an update blog post in two weeks. So, keep a look out!

So, That's It.

What do you think?

Until Next Time,

Aleema :)

Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture| World Traveler Palette Swatches & Review

Assalamu wa Alaykum/ Hi,

Today's post is going to be about the new limited edition World Traveler palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills. This palette came out a couple weeks ago and I bought it from Sephora for $30.

 It comes with 12 eyeshadows and a dual ended eyeshadow brush.

All of the shadows in this palette are very creamy and smooth. I'm not very familiar with shadows from Anastasia. This my first time trying them and I must say that I'm impressed!

The only thing is that it looks like my palette is crooked on the inside. The bottom part of the palette doesn't seem to match up with the top.

Here are the swatches:

On my arm, some of the lighter shades (Bellini, Pink Champagne, and Chic) didn't last very long. They came off as my arm brushed my clothes as I walked around. I'm used to my shadows being able to stay for the most part. However, they did last as long as I needed them to on my eyes.

I have a makeup tutorial using this palette coming up on my YouTube channel this week. So, be on the look out for that.

I think this palette is definitely worth the money. If you like it and you want it definitely go pick it up!

So, That's it.

Until Next Time,

Aleema :)

Colourpop Spring Collection Swatches!

Assalamu wa alaykum/Hi,

Today's post is going to be swatches of some of the colors from Colourpop's new limited edition pastel spring collection. If you aren't familiar with Colourpop. It is a cosmetics brand that has become well known on Instagram and YouTube. They're based in LA and they don't test on animals. Majority of their products are $5 with the exception of their blushes which are $8. I have a handful of tutorials, hauls, and reviews featuring Colourpop products. My last video was a review of their blushes. All of those videos are in the video player on the left side of the page.

So, this collection was comprised of 12 eyeshadows, 5 lippie six, and 5 lippie pencils. This blog post will include swatches of 7 of the limited edition eyeshadows and 3 of the limited edition lippie stix, and lippie pencil. Also, I will include some permanent products that I picked up in the same order. I will denote which items are limited edition and which aren't.

The eyeshadows:

These are the first four from lightest to darkest. The one I was most excited for was 'Hello.' However as you'll see from the swatches in the next photo, it isn't that pigmented. At the same time, these are pastel eyeshadows. The same thing happens with 'Flux.' It's a nice mint eyeshadow. 'Beauty Call' is a bright blue. I used it as a base in an upcoming makeup tutorial. 'Taco' is a deep sea blue. The consistency of these eyeshadows are different from the shadows in the permanent collection. These kind of remind me of play-doh.

As you can see the pigmentation of the first three shadows aren't the best. I think I'll use 'Hello' and 'Flux' as highlight colors. 'Beauty Call' would need a white base if you plan on using it as a shadow with nothing over it. 'Taco' is pigmented enough to be worn alone. However, it would probably look better with a white base.

These are the last set of eyeshadows that I bought. 'Snap Dragon' the color of grass that's used in spring displays. 'Daddy' is a violet purple. 'Shop' is a coral eyeshadow that comes off as a red in pictures for some reason. I recently did a makeup tutorial with this look a couple weeks ago. 'Acorn' has quickly become my favorite eyeshadow. It's a beige-champagne color. I feel like I could use it as a highlighter. Although 'Acorn' is apart of the spring collection, it has the consistency of the shadows in the permanent collection. The last eyeshadow that I bought is 'Mooning' 'Mooning' is a dark brown with copper glitter in it. It's apart of the permanent collection. I saw a tutorial with it and I fell in love. The consistency is so smooth. This shadow and 'Acorn' are both pearlized finishes.

The Lippies:

The lippie stix that I bought are Tootsi, Pepper, Frida, Lumber, and Julep. I also bought the lippie pencil for Tootsi. I think I might be the only one that's not a fan of the lippie stix.  I don't care for their consistency. They tend to drag on my lips. Even 'Julep,' a cream finish, gives me a hard time. I also feel like they're the kind of product that has to blended with my fingers.

'Tootsi' is part of the spring collection. There was a lot of hype surrounding this color. So, I picked up the lippie pencil for it as well. It's a matte finish. 'Pepper' is probably my least favorite out of all of the ones that I bought. It's part of the spring collection as well. I find that this color looks so unflattering on me alone. I definitely have to use a lip liner with it. It's a matte finish. 'Frida' is the creation of Coffeebreakwithdani on Youtube with Colourpop. This color looks very peachy on my skin tone. It's a satin finish. 'Lumiere' is the product of a collab between Kathleen Lights on Youtube and Colourpop. It's probably my favorite because it causes the least amount of drama when I apply it. It's a matte finish. The last color that I bought was 'Julep.' 'Julep' is like a dark coral color. The formula of it really made me not like it. Although it's a cream, it wasn't creamy on my lips.

Blush:

The last thing I bought was Blush in the shade 'Swift.' I bought this to use as a bronzer.

'Swift' has a reddish brown and looks kind of orangey when it's blended out.

So, that's all the thing I bought from Colourpop recently. I do have a whole batch of eyeshadows and blushes I bought previously. I'm trying to hold off on getting the new highlighters that just came out because I've bought too much from them already.

Are you fan of Colourpop? If so, what are favorite products?

Until Next Time,

Aleema :)

Review: Dior Addict Fluid Stick

Assalamu wa Alaykum/ Hi,

It seems that I'm becoming a Lippy addict. I went from having like 5 lip products to at least 30. (I haven't counted them.) When I saw the Dior addict fluid sticks my interest was immediately piqued. However, the retail price of $35 kept me from placing an order right away.

I did see that Sephora.com had samples that were available as apart of the 3 samples you are allowed with an order. So I decided try those out.

The sample has 4 different shades in it and it came with an applicator that's in the actual product. It came with 338 Mirage, 551 Aventure, 575 Wonderland, and 754 Pandore. There are 17 shades in total in the line.

 Mirage is a ligtht apricot color. On me it's a peachy nudish color. Aventure is an orange color with a red undertone. Wonderland is a fuchsia red. Pandore is a corally pinkish red.
 With flash:

Without flash:

I bought the shade 754 Pandore. It was my favorite out of the four shades in the sample. But, I like the other 3 shades as well and I probably may end up buying more of these.

The packaging of this product reminds me of the Maybelline Color Elixers. It has the shape of a lipstick in the clear plastic packaging with 'Dior' carved in the side. It also has the signature Dior Addict round top. It has a sponge tip applicator. The only con I found with this packaging is that when I store it to lie down some of the product seems to run into the cap. So, I store it standing up with my makeup brushes for the time being.

I find the consistency of this product to be a little strange. When it's first applied it's very wet. I do not recommend rubbing your lips to work the product in and blend it out. The product will stick and bunch on certain parts of your lips. You should use the applicator to work the product into your lips. Its very pigmented and glossy.

On Dior's website it says that the fluid stick formula is made with water not wax. It's not lipstick or a lip gloss but a hybrid of the two. So if you layer lipsticks with a gloss, it will knock out that second step.

The staying power of this product depends on how frequently you eat of course. It can last anywhere between 4 to 6 hours. It does have a light smell that lasts until it's no longer on your lips.

 I'm wearing the fluid stick in the picture above.

Bottom line: I really like the fluid sticks and plan on getting more. The only problem I have is which shade.

So, That's it.

What colors do you have or are interested in buying?

Until Next Time,

Aleema

Review: Too Faced's Chocolate bar Palette

Assalamu wa Alaykum/ Hi,

Happy summer for those that are in done with classes and Happy almost summer for those still in school! So, unfortunately for my wallet I did end up buying the Chocolate Bar palette. This is my first Too Faced purchase. I got it 20% off at Beauty.com. The sale is most likely over but I have heard of people getting it at a discount from HSN.com. I was going to do that but it was sold out on their website for like two weeks as soon as I got paid. So keep a look out for when it comes back in stock. I paid a little over $42 because of tax which I was kind of miffed about. I was miffed because they wouldn't charge me tax if I didn't have  the discount. Without tax the palette was $39.

 The box looks like an actual chocolate bar box which I thought was really cute. 

So apparently they made the actual palette thinner.

The palette has a magnetic closure which could be stronger. I would probably secure it with a rubber band if I took it traveling.

 I'm going to admit that looking at this palette makes me crave chocolate.

The names of the shadows are printed on a plastic sheet instead of being printed below the shadows. It's kind of annoying. However you don't need to know the name of the colors to use them. Sorry for the glare. It couldn't be helped.

 I love the color arrangement. The palette is so versatile. At first glance you may be like there's a lot of brown. That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Especially for me. Since this palette has matte browns and I mostly have shimmer it works for me. It's also smart that they made the two browbone shades the biggest.

It comes with a guide for 3 different eyeshadow looks. I haven't tried them yet.

 The swatches are from left to right starting from the top row. These shadows don't swatch the best but apply very nicely.  I was curious if the browns would show up on my skin when I first saw this palette and they do.

Although some of the swatches look similar in the photos they're all different. My favorite is Gilded Ganache. It's such an unusual color. It's a dark brown with a gold shimmer which doesn't sound special. But, sometimes it flashes a green color. I've only used this palette once and it lasted all day with no creasing.

I'm quite pleased with this palette. Even though I wasn't interested at first I'm glad this palette stalked my life. 

So, if you thinking of getting this palette, you definitely should.

Until Next Time

Aleema :)