Shakeup Your Makeup

Wet 'n Wild has some new, Limited Edition, items.  Falling in line with the baked theme, these are bronzers and eyeshadows that can be used wet/dry and are completely buildable.  I have two eyeshadows I purchased before I left on vacation (they didn't have any of the bronzers in stock...bummer!), so I will be posting about these in an upcoming review.  From the looks of them in the pot, they are gorgeous, and the price is fantastic as well.  I am especially loving the bronzer in the top right corner...that is definitely on my "need to buy list".

Whoops!  I meant to post this so much earlier!  I guess I forgot to set up the automatic posting! 

Anyways, here is quick look using the Revlon PhotoReady Foundation in Ivory.  As I mentioned in my previous post about this product, it does a great job of covering and creating a natural and smooth finish.  I really like the little bit of reflection or glow this creates.  It really makes the skin look healthy and smooth.  The foundation blended into my skin along the chin and hairline effortlessly, so I didn't have that "mask" that a lot of people complain about with liquid foundations.  My only complaint is a personal one, and that is that I'm not as quick and proficient with liquid foundation as I used to be, so this took a little getting used to! 

Revlon PhotoReady Foundation - Ivory

Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil - setting powder

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Bare Escentuals "Beautiful Autumn" - inner corner

LA Splash Cosmetics "Regal" - outer corner/crease

LA Splash Cosmetics "Nude Diamonds" - high light

Prestige My Blackest Lashes Mascara

e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick "Raspberry"

Retail Price: $11.99 - $13.99

I will be the first to admit that I am not a liquid foundation person - between the difficulty in finding a shade that matches my pale skintone, the "mask" that a lot of them create when applied, or the fact that 90% of the foundation's I've tried turn to a nice Oompa-Loompa orange within hours of application, I ultimately became a mineral makeup wearer, and swear by Bare Escentuals.  With that said, after weeeks (or possibly months) of reading the rave reviews about Revlon's PhotoReady Makeup, I decided I would venture outside the box and see what the hype was all about. 

I will run a review in the next few days, but at least to start I wanted to get some pictures up and give you my preliminary thoughts. 

The lightest shade I could find was Ivory, so that is the color I went with.  This is a very neutral color, which I needed.  It didn't lean cool or warm in my opinion.  One of the complaints that I read about this foundation was that there were "sparkles" in it.  Now, I think this depends on the shade you purchase.  The Ivory didn't seem to have too much shimmer...at least not enough to make you look like a disco ball.  Remember, the entire basis of this foundation is that there are "light reflecting" pieces that help give the illusion of flawless skin, so chances are there will be some sort of shimmer to the foundation, although minimal. 

The swatch before blending (above) shows you the liquid consistency.  This isn't extremely thick, but it isn't runny either.  I'd put this as a medium consistency.  You cannot really make out the specks of shimmer above, but once it is blended (below) you can see how this gives you quite an illuminated complexion.  Please note, this image (below) is zoomed in quite far so you can make out the shimmer.  When looking at yourself from a normal distance (lets say...in the mirror!), you just have the appearance of a healthy glow. 

Talk about a bonanza!  There were so many bright and shiny colors on this display I didn't know what to do!  And, the prices...talk about a steal!  The nail polish run at $0.99 a piece, and I think the most expensive thing I saw were some of the eyeshadows and quads which ran around $2.99-$3.99.  This display was full of fun stuff to try out - there were over 15 colors of nail polish, liquid eyeliners, pencil eyeliners, glitter eyeliners, eyeshadows, baked shadows, eyeshadow quads, approximately 4-5 different types of mascara (from volumizing to length, to both!), foundations, blushes...*phew*...the list goes on!

Now, obviously since I haven't tried this brand, I had to pick up some things to play around with.  I chose a glitter eyeliner, lipgloss, and mascara.  I am anxious to give them a try, and will post about them here shortly.  The mascara reminded me of the DiorShow tube, so I'm hoping that is a prelude of things to come (at a fraction of the price!).

Have any of you lovelies tried this brand essence?  If so, I'd love to hear!

I had placed an order a few weeks ago for some Avon goodies, and decided to pick up one of their new Avon True Color Eyeshadow Quads.  I chose Electric Purple because the colors looked pretty neat.  As you can see, they have changed the actual lay-out of the quad to look like Chanel quads, as opposed to the elongated  versions they used to carry.  I was hoping that the quality of the product had changed with the packaging, but it doesn't appear that it did.  I'll get to that later.

The Electric Purple quad was a really neat collection of colors - the purple is truely a bright, royal purple.  There is a gorgeous shimmery golden bronze (probably the one color I will keep coming back to).  I really wanted to love this green color - it's a pale, slightly shimmery celery shade.  Unfortunately, the color is quite chalky and not very pigmented, so it is difficult to translate the gorgeous color in the pot onto the eyes.  Lastly is a pale, matte, bone shade.  This actually was my exact skintone, so you can't even see it below.  Overall, these colors just didn't apply to be as vibrant and colorful as they are in the pot.  If they did, I would absolutely love them.

I haven't tried any of the other shades, but unfortunately, I don't think I will be.  Although the price is right, these just don't have the creaminess and pigmentation I like to see in an eyeshadow.  It may just be me - what do you all think of these new True Color Quads?  The other shades are below, which look absolutely beautiful on paper!