Tarte Clean Slate 360° Creaseless 12-hr Smoothing Eye Primer - Review

Hello to you all! 

So, for a long time, I would use the UD primer potion, but them I got tired of it and decided to try something different and since Tarte is one of my favourite brands, I decided to try their eyeshadow primer. I have been using this for a long time now, and I have to say, I really enjoy it.

This has a creamy colour to it and the consistency is not so thick like UD, a bit more runny but not liquidy. It spreads easily and I actually like it a lot more than primer potion. I feel like this hold my eyeshadow in place a lot better than the one I used before. This doesn't leave any colour once it's spread out on my eyelids. It doesn't feel greasy or anything, it sort of feels like eye cream in a way. It doesn't irritate my eyes, since I have sensitive eyes, or I should say sensitive everything... I have become sensitive to everything pretty much lately which sucks but I deal with it.

Overall, this has become my go to eyeshadow primer at the moment. I have been really enjoy using it and will continue to use it all up. I have a few eyeshadow primers I really want to try after this, so I won't buy this right away when it's finished, but will keep it in mind for later on.

What eyeshadow primer are you using right now? share them in the comments below.

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Empties #3 | Products I've Used Up + Mini Reviews

Hellooooo! I have a big empties for you all. It's a couple of months or maybe even more, worth of used products. I have been using these until the last drop or it's finished and have been keeping them in a bag aside. So I was really ready to get rid of these because it's basically trash. So here we go!

☆ Pantene Dry Shampoo - This has become my favourite dry shampoo. It's very inexpensive, doesn't leave white cast on darker hair which is amazing and I like the shampoo smell it gives my hair.

☆ Clean & Clear Facial Cleansing Wipes - I love these wipes. I use them all the time, the cloth is really soft and gentle on my sensitive skin, really saturated with makeup remover. Doesn't sting my eyes and totally love them.

☆ Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and Moisturizing Lotion - I like the cleanser. It's gentle on my sensitive skin, doesn't break me out, cleans my face and leaves it feeling smooth and clean. The moisturizer i wasn't a big fan of. I got tiny bumps when I used this so it might have been a reaction even though this claim to be for sensitive skin, I didn't enjoy using it and also, it wasn't enough moisture for my dry skin. Absolutely no scent in either of these which I loved but like the cleanser, not the moisturizer unfortunately.

☆ Loreal Voluminous Mascara, Benefit They're Real Mascara and two of Tarte Lights Camera Flashes Mascara - I loved all of these 3 different type of mascaras. the wand is all plastic which is my favourite kind. As long as the want is plastic, I will like the mascara most of the time. In this case, it was the same. I really enjoyed using these three. didn't smudge, or irritate my eyes. Separated my lashes and no clump which I hate clumpy lashes personally.

☆ Yves Rocher Felt Tip Liner - I really like this eyeliner. It has a marker type felt tip instead of a brush and it is very stiff which I enjoy because if it moved around a lot, it would ruin the straight line of my liner. Over all, I like this and it's a normal black liquid felt tip liner. yea

☆ Tarte C-Brighter Eye Cream - I have used 2 smaller size and 2 regular sizes of this eye cream. I really enjoy it. It has vitamin C which is my favourite to use on my skin. It moisturizes the eye area, doesn't sting or make my eyes water, which some eye creams do. It hydrates and overall, a really good eye cream in my opinion. 

☆ Bath and Body Works Body Lotions in Country Chic and Amber Blush - these both have a more sweet scent so I prefer to use them in winter or colder months. In warmer months or summer, I enjoy more fresh, beach-y scents. Both of these smelled great and I love them during winter. But I have to say, these are light moisturizers and I have extremely dry skin during winter and I felt like it wasn't enough moisture for my skin. So I would either put on multiple layers of them on and use it with a more thicker lotion for my body. I love these so much, but unfortunately it's just not enough for my dry skin. I will keep using them but maybe more in the summer months or just use it with other moisturizers.

☆ Clean & Clear Soothing Eye Makeup Remover - I love this one so much just like the wipes. I use the wipes on my face, this on my eyes because it removes the eye makeup so much better than a wipe would specially mascara. This is two parts, one makeup remover, the other is an oil which I mix then remove the eye makeup. It's very gentle yet removes the makeup so easily there's no need for tugging or rubbing the eyes. I will always go back to this.

☆ Urban Decay Chill Makeup Setting Spray - I believe the packaging has changed again on these... the packaging keeps on changing and changing, I had the old white packaging and now I am actually trying out All Nighter which is still white for mine, maybe they changed it right after I had bought mine, I don't know. By now I have used the de-slick, chill and all nighter, and I have to say, I will go back to Chill setting spray after I am finished with all nighter. Chill was so amazing and cooling yet, hydrated my dry skin and I remember loving it. Now I don't know if the ingredient is any different on these or maybe it's my imagination, but I prefer Chill over the other two.

☆ Avalon Organics Vitamin C Renewal Cream - I love vitamin C but this started to break me out so I used it on my body during winter because the cream is thick and my skin loved it. it's not a body lotion or moisturizer or anything but I didn't want it to go to waste skin my face didn't approve. 

☆ Spectro Cleanser for dry skin - I got a small sample of this from my dermatologist and really liked it and bought the bigger size and I love it, even more than the Cetaphil. Both of them are found in the drug store and have become my two cleansers that I switch between. I feel like when I use higher end skin care, my skin can't handle the extra ingredients so I have decided to stick to simple skin care from drugstore and my skin has been liking it a lot.

So there you have it, a mini review of all the products I have used up. The products piled up because I hadn't had the time to write a post about them, but now that I am back at blogging, I don't think the next empties will be as big as this one. Hope you enjoyed, let me know what products you have used up lately and leave your comments in the section below.

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Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in Vegas Strip - Review

I'm starting off my come back with a review of a highlighter from Physicians Formula. I bought this a while back and the reason was because Emily Noel on YouTube talked about this being a dupe for Becca Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop and since I didn't want to spend over forty dollars on a highlighter, I decided to give this a try. 

It has five different strips of colours that gradually get darker from light gold to bronze. I think these can be used to create an eye look but I haven't tried to do that myself because I forget honestly. I have so many eyeshadow palettes that I never think of using a highlighter as eyeshadow but the shades can be used I'm sure. The colours individually have good pigment and mixed together create a nice, golden peach shimmer colour. When I first got this I really enjoyed it and used it a lot. I have had it for about a year and I find that now after all this time, it still works good with a brush, but when I wanted to finger swatch it and test it out again, it felt hard on the surface and I had to really press my fingers to get it on my skin. with a brush it works totally fine because I don't want to be too much but on my fingers to get swatches, I had a bit of hard time. So the pictures I have used above is from the time I first got this highlighter. 

Even though it felt hard on the surface, with a brush is totally workable and nothing wrong with it but it just doesn't feel soft to the touch and now that I know that about this, I'm not sure I would repurchase it again if given the chance. Don't get me wrong, it works really nice and it's under twenty dollar range which is good for Physician Formula products, but I have other highlighters I prefer over this and I'm iffy about this. If you had asked me to repurchase a year ago, I would have definitely said yes, but now it's a maybe. So overall, I would say this has good pigmentation and a good option at the drugstore.

Have you tried this product? what are your thoughts on it? leave your comments in the section below

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Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Airbrush Foundation - Review

Hey everyone! 

Have you missed me? I sure have missed blogging. It's just my life has become a lot more busy than before and I just don't find time to do this. I try my best and now I am back with a new review for you all.

Today's post is on this powder foundation by Tarte. It comes in a jar sort of packaging and the powder is loose and how it's supposed to be used is to use the brush they recommend with it. I slowly push the brush into that cushion thing in the middle then swirl it in the area around it to get the powder evenly throughout the brush, then use it on my skin. When I got this product, I didn't get the brush because first of all, I have so many brushes, I didn't think I would need it and also, because of my large collection of brushes, I thought I would probably have something similar to it that would work perfectly. Long story short, I used my own brushes and they were fine, they just weren't perfect. So I finally gave up and got the brush that's recommended with this product and I am really happy I did.

The bristles of the brush are pretty short so the brush doesn't move around much and that is really important in my opinion. It also makes it a unique brush because I truly have nothing like it and I have tons of brushes. The brush grabs the powder and keeps it all together without blowing it everywhere. It's also made to use with the powder foundation so it fits the packaging perfectly and that is also another important key with using this powder.

Back to the powder, it's a really finely milled powder. Feels smooth and silky. It has light to medium coverage for me, and I like using this on top of my foundation. I usually go with a light coverage foundation and add this on top. I have a sort of mixed skin type, so it's pretty much dry over all, and a bit shiny in the t-zone. I haven't used this as the powder foundation it claims it to be because that would just enhance my dry patches. This shade I have is a little dark for me so that's another reason why I don't use it as my foundation as well. I use a lighter colour foundation and the darker shade of this sort of balances it out for me. The brush and this powder work really well together. It took me a long time to actually try this out when I bought it. I had it for months when I finally gave it a shot. The packaging is pretty thought it and works really good, but I would still prefer my powders in compact form instead of loose powder. It's just my preference and I feel like the brush gets a better, even amount of product on it when it's in a compact. Loose powders can also get messy if you're not careful.

Now would  I repurchase this particular product? probably not because of the loose powder format and what I said above about it all. Don't get me wrong, it's a really good product and works great, it's just a little too much work for it I guess. I will definitely use this and finish it specially during summer when I get more tan and the colour would match me better. I am happy I got to try it out because I am obsessed with Tarte and would like to try out any products they release. 

Have you tried this Tarte Airbrush Foundation? What are your thoughts on it? Share them below in the comments section.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Empties #2 | Products I've Used Up + Would I Repurchase?

So I'm doing my second empties blog post. I actually enjoyed writing this type of blog post last time and I hope you enjoyed it as well, because I plan on doing it whenever I have a few empties that I have actually kept and not thrown out. It happened before, I meant to keep empties, but sometimes I just forget and throw it in trash. I don't remember what I throw out or if I did throw out anything at all, but I kept these three and decided to do a post on them anyway. It might not be much, but I would rather do a quick post with a few empty products, rather that do a lengthy post with a huge pile of empties. So here it is, let's get into it!

1. Clean & Clear Makeup Dissolving Facial Cleansing Wipes: I love these makeup remover wipes. I have used up a lot of them that I honestly can't come up with an exact number. These are very moist and saturated with makeup remover, the cloth is very soft and doesn't irritate my skin. It takes a long time for these to dry out if it sits around unused. and also, it removes my makeup completely with one cloth. I still wash my face after but with this wipes, I need to use one to get all of my makeup off. I totally recommend these and will definitely purchase them again and again.

2. Bath & Body Works Concentrated Room Spray in Paris Amour: I love BBW and whenever I go in their store, I never come out empty handed, even when I plan on not buying anything. I can't resist their stuff. I really like their room sprays and I have a bunch, but to be honest, this was my least favourite. It's a sweet scent and at first, I liked it that's why I bought it in the first place, but after a while of using it, it just got boring to me and it would sort of make me a little nauseous in a way. I stopped using it in my room, because it was too much, and decided to put it in my bathroom and it worked really well for that. It still is a sweet scent but it's more tolerable there and also, I don't spend a long time in the bathroom, so when I spray this before getting out, by the time I go in it again, the scent is very light and much more pleasant. I recommend BBW's room sprays and I buy them all the time, I just wont repurchase this particular one.

3. Bath & Body Works Body Lotion with Shea & Vitamin E in Endless Weekend: "Sun-kissed magnolia, summer mandarin and vanilla sandalwood" As I said, I love BBW and I specially love their body lotions. These are amazing, it goes on the skin super easy, I don't have to rub it a lot to get absorbed, it moisturizes my skin really well and the smell is heavenly every time. When ever they have a good deal, I buy a bunch of them and stock up. These also last a long time. This one I am sharing with you, I have been using it since October or November. I use a lot of moisturizer for my body, and I like how these last so long. Also, the scent of this is a really fresh, slightly sweet, fruity scent. I use them right after I shower, and the scent it light but still present so I find my self skipping any perfume and this gives me a light fresh scent which I absolutely loved. I will always repurchase their body lotions. If they had this particular scent, I would buy this again as well.

What products have you used up lately? You are more than welcome to share them with me in the comments down below.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Tarte Tartelette In Bloom Palette - Review & Swatches

Happy Saturday and long weekend. I'm looking forward to this long weekend to just relax and enjoy it, since I have been super busy with everything. Also Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you all show love and affection to your loved ones all the time, throughout the year, not just on one particular day. It's been freezing cold here in Canada, so I hope you all stay warm, cozy and safe with your loved ones. 

(I'm going to say love a lot in this post, so let me warn you a head of time.)

I have been dying to talk about this Tartelette In Bloom Palette, by Tarte Cosmetics. I got this back in November, I'm sure it was just a week after they had released this as their newest palette and I was all over it. It was a funny situation, because I wanted to get their first Tartelette Palette which is an all matte eyeshadow palette, and I was debating on whether to get that or not, because I am a shimmer lover, so my main lid color is shimmer. I was thinking of getting it, because I didn't have a variety of mattes in my collection, and I was hesitant about that palette, because I knew if I purchased that, I would have to bring in a shimmer lid color from some other palette and that was not sitting well with me. So when I saw they had come out with a new palette, and it included 9 mattes and 3 lusters, I didn't even hesitate. 

First of all, the packaging is absolutely stunning! I get mesmerized by it, no joke. It's colorful, springy, fun, I could go on all day and not get tired. When I got my hands on it, I knew it was going to be perfect and I am pleased to say it is more than perfect. I'm in love. I love eyeshadow palettes, but I love them even more when they're from Tarte. I love how there are so many matte shades, and only three are luster or shimmer finish. I also love that there the mattes get separated into three groups in a way. Light matte shades, medium matte, and dark matte, then there are those three gorgeous luster shades that can work anyway you please. I swear it feels like this palette was made for me because I honestly don't need anything else, when using this. I have my matte under brow highlights, matte medium crease/ transition shades, shimmer lid shades and dark mattes for liner. I have been into using dark eyeshadows as eyeliners for a very long time, so as I said I LOVE this palette, so thank you so much Tarte for making this. It couldn't have been better.

The shadows are soft, and smooth. The pigmentation is awesome, each row can be it's own quad of eyeshadows and make different eye looks, or you can mix and match whichever one and make a unique look with it. These blend seamlessly, and effortlessly. I have had no issues with fall outs what so ever, as well as powder kick up, since I am so careful with my palettes. I have to mention that I love that this is just neutral shades but they're not boring whatsoever. I swear when I see a neutral eyeshadow palette, I get bored so fast, but with this, those three lusters catch the light and my eyes, that I don't even think about getting bored. Also, I love that Tarte didn't throw in a pop of color like some neutral eyeshadow palettes tend to do. This is strictly neutral and I am so thankful for that. If I wanted a pop of color, I would just grab another palette I have which is just full of fun, bold pop of colors and add that to my look. I'm sure there will be people out there that won't be attracted to this palette and that's fine, but honestly, for me personally, I have never seen a more exciting neutral palette in a while... and It smells sweet you guys, when I open the palette, there's a light sweet scent which is just the icing on the cake. 

I see nothing wrong with this palette which I'm so happy and thankful for, because I didn't research this, or read reviews or anything, before I just decided to order it, just because I am obsessed with this brand. I am beyond ecstatic to get to play more with this palette. I know all I said was love this and love that but I'm just expressing how I truly feel and that's that. I hope you guys enjoyed my super hyper, excited post about this palette and didn't get too annoyed with me. Until next time. xoxo

What are your thoughts on this palette? and if you own it, let me know your thoughts and opinion down below in the comments section, I'll be more than happy to read them and respond.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Tarte Amazonian Clay Volumizing Brow Powder - Review

"The secret weapon of girls with great brows, tarte’s revolutionary volumizing brow and hair powder creates a naturally defined arch while seamlessly filling in sparse areas on the brows and scalp." 

My shade : medium brown

Happy Saturday! Today I'm sharing with you all of my thoughts on the Tarte Amazonian Clay Volumizing Brow & Hair Powder. As you might have noticed, I have used this products for a while, hence the dent in the powder in the picture I have inserted. I usually like to take good new pictures of the products I have got, when they're new and untouched, then use them for a while and after that do a through review on it. Well, I forgot to do that with this product so, it's used but who really cares right? So let's get started with the review.

As you all know already, and if you don't, I am a huge Tarte Cosmetics fan and I say this in every review I do on their products. So naturally, when I was looking to purchase an eyebrow powder, I looked at their line first. This brow powder comes in a compact packaging, with a good size mirror and a lot of products as you can see. It reminds me of a single eyeshadow packaging as well. There are five different shades and the one I chose is Medium Brown. What really attracted me to this product is how the shade is more on the cool side than the warm. The powder I was using before this was a warm medium brown color and I was never happy with how my brows looked. Then this product joined my makeup collection and I am the happiest I have ever been with my eyebrows. The shade has a slight warmth to it, but it is very cool nonetheless, and I find that this looks very natural on my brows. By natural I mean it is harder to tell if I have done anything to my brows, compared to the last product I was using, which was very obvious on my brows. I haven't had any problems with this fading away or not lasting on me at all. The same time I purchased this brow powder, I also got the Tarte Double Ended Bamboo Brow Brush as well and I love these two product together. They work amazing with each other and I haven't made one complaint about  either of these two.

I'm pretty sure that this brow powder will probably last me forever (maybe not forever, but a very long time haha), since it doesn't take much product to get the results I want. So even though this is on the more expensive side of makeup products, I know I will get to use it for a very long time! That is really exciting to me since I truly love this product and I don't want to ever run out of it. So I said all this to say, I can justify the price. I haven't used a brow powder and like it as much as I love this. We will see though, I might find something just as amazing but less expensive in the future, but until then I will keep holding on to it and love it.

Have you tried this brow powder by Tarte Cosmetics? What are your thoughts on it?Share your comments down below, I will for sure read them. 

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Tarte Colored Clay Tinted Brow Gel - Review

"Looking for a subtle brow boost? This easy-to-use tinted brow gel infused with colored clay lets you enhance, define and shape your brows like a pro for a perfectly groomed arch every time!"

I always like to experiment with different brow gels, or in this case, a tinted one. This was the first brow gel product I had used that wasn't clear, and had an actual color to it. 

This Tarte Tinted Brow gel comes in a thin tube, with a tiny brush. I have the shade Rich Brown, and there are five different shades to this product. The formula is not wet but not dry either, so I don't get a wet feeling on my brows, and it's not hard to get the product on since it's not too dry. It's really easy to apply and get a tint on the brows. You have to keep in mind that, this does not work like an eye brow powder, pencil or pomades. This does give a tint of color, but it's very subtle. I say subtle because it's not obvious in a way that someone can point at it and say, yes you filled in your brows. No it's very natural yet it gives enough color that I can be satisfied with just using this one product. I like the tiny brush, because it can fit the thinnest brown and of course, thicker brows will have no problem as well. Also, I feel like the thin brush can pick up the tiniest brow hairs and give them color and also add them to other bunch and make it fuller.

I have different brow products I like to use, so I would place this in the go to, easy fast eyebrow application. That is because I don't have to be too careful with this, in case I am in a hurry, I can't ever mess up my brows with this, because it is pigmented, but doesn't go everywhere or make a mess just by itself. I have used this just by itself, I have also used this after I have filled in my brows with brow powder, then topped it off with this. It all just depends on what you are looking for you brow product to do. I have to state that, this might not be the strongest holding brow gel, if you are interested in this for that reason. It does have a little hold, but not that much. I haven't honestly had any issues with my brow hairs not staying in place when using this brow gel.

Overall, I am really pleased with how this product performs for me and for what I am looking for in a brow gel product. I just have to keep in mind to go a shade darker, when the time to purchasing this again comes. I feel like the shade I have can be a little lights, and I wouldn't mind going a shade darker. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to use tinted brow gels. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who is looking for a strong hold, full on heavy color application in a brow gel, because this is in the more natural, subtle category of brow gels, in my opinion. I have naturally full eyebrows, thank god and knock of wood, haha, so I don't have that much filling to do for my eyebrows, so this works for me perfectly. But, I have to be honest, I wouldn't know how this would be good for someone with really sparse eye brows. It might not give enough definition you might be looking for.

Have you tried this Tarte Tinted Brow Gel? What are your thoughts on it? Also, what is your favourite brow products?

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette - Review & Swatches

Natural Light 

With Flash

I finally gave into the temptation, and purchased my first Naked Palette by Urban Decay Cosmetics. I know this isn't new or anything, but it was to me. For a long time, I was debating on which one to purchase and I finally bought this one, because the shade range was something I didn't particularly have in my collection, and also, I feel like rosy, pink, purple eyeshadows look good on me or my skin tone and eye color. I also liked how there wasn't much dark eyeshadows in this, except a few, so I could see myself get a lot of use out of this, specially for day time makeup.

The packaging is a metal tin, with gorgeous rose gold design. Comes with a sample card, with four different samples of their eyeshadow primers. Inside the palette, it includes a double sided eye brush. The eyeshadows are smooth and super pigmented. A little goes a long way, so I don't really find the need to keep reapplying for it to show up. The eyeshadows last long, and at the end of the day, it had barely faded on me. I absolutely love the consistency, the shade and staying power of the eyeshadows. The palette itself is compact and you do get 12 eyeshadows. Unfortunately, out of the 12 eyeshadows in here, only 3 are matte finishes. So not many matte options to work with, but I am a shimmer lover for eyeshadows, so I wont complain that much. But yes, it would be nice if there was maybe two more matte shades, but whatever. 

My biggest and most important issue with this palette was that, after not even a week of having this, the eyeshadow pans fell out. I opened it and two of the shadows fell on the floor. I was horrified... Luckily, it didn't shatter or anything, THANK GOD. So I put if back inside where it fell out, thought about what to do, found some glue, tried and put it back together. The next day, I tipped the palette upside down to see if they were dry, some other shades fell out, so I basically glues them all. A week passed and I sort of forgot about it to be honest. Then one day opened it and yes, they fell out again. At that point I had had it with this palette. I was SO disappointed and just sad. So after sulking for a while, I decided that this packaging sucks. I also thought to myself, I shouldn't even be fixing a $50 + eyeshadow palette. It shouldn't break apart in the first place. So I immediately went to Sephora, where I initially purchased it, and returned it. The girl at the cashier looked at me funny when I said I wanted to return this. I know this line of palettes are very loved but the packaging is just a big fat NO, even though I have no issues with the actual eyeshadows. I told her the eyeshadow pans fell out. She opened it and saw for herself. She was shocked as well, so were a couple other cashiers around who happened to be looking. So anyways, I returned it, got my money back and end of story. A day or two after I had returned this, I realized and wished I had took a photo of the situation, where the pans had fell out, so I could include it in this post. I really wish I had. Unfortunately, at the time I wasn't even thinking about doing a post on what happened, so that's a bummer. I did initially think about just exchanging it for another one, that maybe it was just mine that had that issue, but then I just got so turned off by this whole situation that I didn't even want to deal with it a second time. 

Overall, I saw the huge hype over the Naked Palettes over the years. First the Naked Palette original, then the second, third, smoky, lets not forget the basic one and two. Who knows what will be next, but I will probably stay away. I don't know you guys, after I returned this, I thought about purchasing the Gwen Stefani Palette from Urban Decay, but now I have the fear of the eyeshadow pans falling out with this brand. It might be stupid of me, but I have had way less expensive palettes or even ones from the drugstore that didn't do this, so I guess I'm just going to be more cautious with palettes from UD. Sorry if this review wasn't what you expected, but that was my experience.

Have you tried any of the Naked Palettes from UD? What are your thoughts on it? Also let me know if you had the same experience as I did with any palettes you have tried.

Post your comments down below, I will be more than happy to read them and reply.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Champagne - Review + Swatches

"Cheers to stay-put eye shadows. Our featherweight primer creates a perfect canvas for cream and powder shadows. Wear it to add a warm, sexy, shimmering glow alone or with your favorite shadows. The crease-proof formula intensifies color while keeping your shadow in place for 24+ hours."

The honest reason I have for buying this is because Ingrid Nilsen/missglamorazzi on YouTube talked about this a long time ago, and I was really interested so I got it for myself a long time ago. So by a long time ago, I mean a year ago, and I am sure of that because I just checked my Sephora purchases history and yes, it says a year ago.Back then. I was used to buy something, then forget about it for a little while, then start to really use it. It happened to this product as well. At first, I bought it but forgot all about it a little while, then when I remembered it and started to use it, it became sort of a staple in my makeup routine. First let me get into the actual product, then I'll tell you all about my thoughts of this product.

This eye primer comes in a squeeze tube. At the time when I bought this, I hadn't tried the original formula, so I had no clue on Too Faced eyeshadow primers but I could imagine how it would work. I have this in Champagne, and this was my first time to use an eyeshadow primer like this in an actual shade, rather than the typical clear version, like the same product just in the original shade or UD Primer Potion in original shade as well. This comes out in like a cream sort of texture, it's not liquid so it doesn't pour out, I have to squeeze the bottle to get some out, but it's not hard to get out either. I find that a tiny bit of this goes a long way. Specially since it has a color to it, I can see where I have applied it, so I take a tiny amount and it is enough for my whole eyelid. The color is sort of champagne but it has a little pink undertone to it. They have one called Candlelight, which I tested that with this together in the store, that one is a lot more yellow, and this has a lot of pink to it. So obviously, I bought this because personally I think this shade looks very good on me. I sometimes use this just by itself, since it's like two products in one, it has the staying power because it's a shadow primer, but them it has a shimmery pink color to it, so I don't particularly need to put shadow on top if I don't want to. Some other times, I do use eyeshadow on top of this, it just depends on what I like to do with it. The whole reason I got this in this particular color was to get away with using eyeshadow on days that I couldn't spend a lot of time on my eye look. It still looks like I spend time and made an effort, even though I just used this one product.

The first eye primer I ever purchased was the Urban Decay Primer Potion, which was super new back then and it was getting all the hype and attention of every makeup lover. I find that just using the UDPP doesn't really keep my eyeshadows in place. I don't have super oily lids or anything, in fact it gets a bit dry sometimes, but UDPP didn't do all that much for me really. I find this Too Faced primer work a lot better on me. It doesn't matter if I use the primer by itself or put shadow on top, my eyeshadow stays all day with this stuff and I am so much more satisfied than I was with UDPP.

Overall, I really love this eyeshadow primer from Too Faced. I have to be honest, I don't have that much experience with this brand's makeup. The first thing I purchased by this brand is this eye primer. Then I got the famous Stardust Palette, which came with a mini original shadow primer, a mascara and an eye pigment, which allowed me to experiment more with this brand's products. So far I am happy with everything I have tried from Too Faced Cosmetics. Hopefully it stays that way.

Have you tried any of the Too Faced eyeshadow primers? What are your thoughts on it?

Post your comments down below, I will be more than happy to read them and reply.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Milani Baked Powder Blush in Berry Amore - Review & Swatches

Happy 1st of January, 2016 to all of you. This is going to be the last post with the decorations I used for the Christmas and the holidays. I loved how it changed my posts and made them festive, compared to the regular pictures I take for my blog during normal times. I hope you enjoyed the decorations as well.

I thought I should start the new year with another product review. I personally love reviewing products and share my thoughts and opinions on the stuff I buy and try out. This Milani Baked Blush has been around a while, and so many people enjoy it. So like a good makeup lover that I am, I bought it to try it out for myself. I actually bought this a long while back, and the reason I just got one of the shades is because I wasn't into blush all that much before. My tastes keep changing and now I am enjoying wearing blushes a lot more. But back then I wasn't so I didn't purchase a bunch of them. Now that I am into blushes, I have a few from other brands that I don't feel like I need any more. So I'll be sticking with just this one shade from the line.

This Milani baked blush comes in a gold packaging. It's really beautiful and I love that you can see the blush from the packaging without opening it. Even though the packaging looks absolutely beautiful, the quality is not all that great to be honest. It's a light weight, delicate plastic packaging. I would say not travel friendly because it feels like it could break easily, or if you drop it even, it would break. The color I have is absolutely gorgeous. Berry Amore is a shimmery rose color with soft, fine gold flecks. The blush itself, feels soft and smooth, not dry or chalky. It's very pigmented, gives the skin a natural, healthy glow. The gold flecks blend out really nicely, so it's not in the face, gold glitter on the cheeks. This color is very wearable. I would say the staying power is around six to eight hours for me. After that, it does fade, but not in a bad way, as in getting blotchy or patchy. It's just not as much as it was first applied, which is fine really. It also goes on the skin evenly and smoothly, so I haven't had any problem with application either. One downside to this product is the bottom half of the packaging. I feel like the brush they provided is really unnecessary since it's not that good of a quality and I would never use it. So it's just waste of packaging to be honest. But I don't let that bother me a lot, since I enjoy the blush so much.

Overall, I think this is an awesome, affordable drugstore blush. I would hope the other colors are as amazing as this. Honestly, all I have heard from people using these, are positive feedback. I would say this isn't a blush for those who love a matte look on their cheeks. This gives the skin a little shimmer and a glowy  look so it might not be for everyone, but it looks really pretty on the skin. I do love this and if I am looking for a new blush shade, I would definitely check out the rest of the colors from this line first.

Have you tried any of the Milani Baked Blushes? What are your thoughts on it? Share them with me in the comments section down bellow.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥ 

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder : Pressed and Loose - Review

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a great Christmas celebration with friends and family. Today I am reviewing the Tarte Setting powders. For a really long time, I was debating on whether I should purchase the loose powder, but then Tarte came out with the pressed version which I was all for it. So I purchased that but after a few months had passed, I was still curious about the pressed powder. Recently about a month ago, I purchased some stuff from their website and the deluxe size of their loose powder was also added as a bonus to my cart, so I was super excited to try it out this way.

I am not really comparing the two, since they essentially are pretty similar products and do the same job if you think about it. So not comparing it that much, more like reviewing the two in one post. 

The pressed version comes in a compact form, with a plastic protector on top of the powder as well as a tiny thin brush that fit's in the compact on top of the plastic protector. The compact has a good size mirror, so if I decide to put this in my makeup bag to retouch my powder, I have the product all in one basically. The loose version, comes in a typical jar sort of packaging, with a screw off lid, and two tiny holes or sifter basically, for the powder to not get everywhere. All you have to do is put the cap on, seal it shut, turn over the jar and just tap it lightly, then open it up and some powder has come out of the sifter onto the lid or around the sifter. It might sound messy but trust me, it's really not. I haven't had any issues with it getting anywhere. Since I have a deluxe size, I find it hard to get my larger powder brushes in this product to be honest. But I have found other ways to use it, which I'll get to in a minute.

Both powders feel really silky smooth. light weight and finely mild. The both are white in powder, go on the skin "translucent", so it doesn't turn my face white, or give it a white look to it. Unfortunately, I have noticed that it can have a white cast effect with flash photography, but this is the case with a lot of translucent powders I have tried, so whether it's in pressed form or loose powder, I always get a white cast on my skin on photos I have taken with flash. It's described that the powder doesn't have any color to it but it technically does, since it is white, it just show up with flash photography. Since I use the loose powder under my eyes, I notice that the white cast shows more from the under eyes, than that other places.

These both control shine for about four to six hours for me, then I get a little shiny in my t-zone, which can be fixed with a little blotting sheet, and more powder if I want, which I usually don't reapply. It's not drying on my face, so it doesn't emphasize my dry areas or cling to any dry patches, which I tend to have around my mouth and nose, specifically. It feels light weight on the skin, and sets my foundation beautifully. It doesn't add any coverage or anything on top of foundation. It just sets it. I also does control shine in my t-zone as I said before. I love using the pressed version lightly all over my face, to set foundation so my bronzer, contour, blush and highlight go on a lot smoother. I love using the loose version to set my under eye concealer since I use a smaller brush for that and it also fits better in the deluxe size packaging I have of this product. I find that when I use these powders, I don't get any creases or foundation fading, because it sets it really good. It makes my skin smooth so anything I apply after the setting powder, goes on easily and doesn't cling to a certain area.

I am so happy I got to try the loose version, since I really loved the pressed, it was nice to try the original loose setting powder Tarte came out with. I think these both are awesome products. I don't think I need both. I think one can do the job. It's just nice to get to experiment with both versions. As I have said before, I am a Tarte Cosmetics addict and don't see that changing anytime soon and that's because they always come out with such awesome products, in my opinion.

Have you tried any of these two finishing powders? What are your thoughts on it? Also what is your favourite setting powder?

Post your comments down below, I will be more than happy to read them and reply.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush - Review & Swatches

From  the left to right clockwise : Peaceful, Glisten, Exposed

From top to bottom : Exposed, Glisten, Peaceful

From left to right : Exposed, Peaceful, Glisten

"A long-wearing, supremely soft blush infused with Amazonian clay harvested from the banks of the Amazon River and naturally baked by the sun." 

The shades I have : Peaceful - Soft nude-peach, Glisten - Shimmery peachy-pink, Exposed - Nude pink

I think it's pretty clear by now that I am a Tarte Cosmetics Addict. I confess, I am obsessed with this brand and own a good amount of their products. This post is all about their Amazonian Clay blushes. Of course I don't have all because, first that would be crazy and second, I don't need them nor do they all go with my skin tone or my liking in general. I have three and you might be able to tell which is the one I have the longest and which are pretty new to my collection. The newest I have had for at least a month, so not that new but pretty new.

The packaging of these blushes are the same color of the actual blush color inside. I find this very helpful because the from the packaging I can tell the color and pick whichever I want to use. These look bright and bold in the packaging but go on the skin very wearable and naturally. The texture is smooth and it's pigmented but not overly to the point of looking too much on the first application. The color can be more bold like how it is in packaging if you build it up by applying several layers if you want. These on my skin leave a "translucent blushing from within" look that is very pretty and natural looking but noticeable. What I like about these blushes is that they go on the skin very smoothly and don't look patchy or uneven. It doesn't cling to one area and it give an even application on the cheeks. The shades include a lot of matte colors which is awesome, with a few satin finishes and a few shimmers. Also the shade range seems to work for a lot of different skin tones from fair to dark so it's easy for anyone to pick a shade they like and works for them. Another huge thing I like about these blushes is that they truly are long lasting. The twelve hour is also mostly true because I have used this several times when I applied my makeup at around eight or nine in the morning and took it off at around ten at night. My blush had faded a little bit and of course it didn't look as fresh as I first applied it, but I still could see it on my cheeks. It didn't look patchy or uneven after that much amount of time had passed and I was very impressed.

Overall, I truly love these blushes and I would definitely try more shades but I am really picky with my blush shades and I don't like certain colors on my skin personally that's why I don't have more. I recommend these to anyone who loves blushes. These are pricey but a little of the product goes a long way and it's long lasting on the skin, so I say these are worth the price. But if you like to try these but don't want to pay for the full price, Tarte website often has sales or coupons for an amount of percent off order , so I would suggest to wait and order then. I always get a good deal on their products this way as well.

Have you tried any of the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes? What are your thoughts on it?

Post your comments down below, I will be more than happy to read them and reply.

Don't forget to G+1 and follow my blog for more reviews to come. I'm always happy to have more blogging friends!

Lots of love,
Dina
♥