REVIEW: Hard Candy Natural Eyes palette - Chalk City Blues

As a neutral eyeshadow palette freak, I ran to Walmart to get the last Hard Candy Natural Eyes Neutral Eyeshadow Palette on the shelf and went home. I was so excite! (Intentional misspelling.)  After using it three times on three different primers- Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Lorac Behind the Scenes, and the Hard Candy one that came with the palette- I am so not excite.

Ingredient list. Click to enlarge

Comes with a fold-out card showing day to evening looks and the names of each shadow

 Jumping early to the TL;DR - Use the super cute tin to depot your eyeshadows! 

It will fit 15 MAC or Makeup Geek shadows, though you'll have to add magnets to your MUG shadows. You can also fit some shadows into the plastic part where the info card sits by using double-sided tape or you can go to the craft store and get some peel and stick magnets that come in sheet form.

I pried out the plastic part holding the shadows by sticking an orange stick in one of the corners.

Ended up with this. From left to right starting at top row: MAC Tete-a-Tint (disc), MUG Cocoa Bear, Milani Java Bean (disc), MAC Expensive Pink, MUG Frappe, MAC Satin Taupe, MAC All That Glitters, MAC Texture, MAC Scene, MAC Vex, MAC Soft Brown, MAC Quarry, MAC Ricepaper, MAC Woodwinked, MAC Humid. Shadows on the left are random discontinued Revlon shadows.

Can you tell I didn't like the shadows nor the primer? Lol. To be honest, I wanted to get this for the cute packaging.

SWATCHES & THE BASICS

 THE RUNDOWN:
~$8 and exclusive to Walmart
~9 shadows (11.1 g)- 4 matte & 5 shimmers
~Comes with a primer, a pretty nice double-ended sponge-tip applicator that isn't cheap foam and a black wooden pencil eyeliner (smudge city)
~Includes a look card that I didn't take a picture of (sorry)
~Easy to open metal tin with magnetized closure. You won't lose your fingernails by prying it open.
~Decent-sized mirror

The primer dries to a very powdery feel that I didn't care for.  Those with dry eyelids might not enjoy that.  I have super oily lids and it surprisingly kept my oiliness away and the shadows didn't crease.

Tease, Toying, Minx, Bashful, Girlie, Philander, Chatty, Coy, Frisky (with flash)

Tease, Toying, Minx, Bashful, Girlie, Philander, Chatty, Coy, Frisky (no flash)

SHADOW NAMES, DESCRIPTIONS & REVIEW

 Top row Day:
1. Tease- matte cream, chalky as heck!
2. Toying- matte mid-tone cool brown, pigmented but powdery and also chalky
3. Minx- matte dark cool brown, pigmented but also chalk city

Middle row Drama:
4. Bashful- shimmery pale pinkish champagne; really disappointing color; pigmentation is poor and the finish is a low shine; thought it would be a nice lid color but wasn't
5. Girlie- mid-toned champagne; this was the only shadow I liked out of the bunch; texture was the smoothest and pigmentation was nice, although a little powdery
6. Philander- dark cool-toned brown with gold glitter; doesn't go on smoothly; must be built up and fallout galore

Bottom row Evening:
7. Chatty- matte light cool-toned brown; the transition color in the palette and nice blender color but also chalky as heck like the other mattes; it kind of reminds me of Naked in the first Urban Decay Naked palette but lighter
8. Coy- shimmery copper bronze; really disappointing color; texture is gritty and color doesn't go on smoothly; has to be built up and is fallout prone
9. Frisky- shimmery darker warm brown with gold glitter; gritty and also fallout prone; color must be built on

Chalk city after dipping into Tease

The aftermath. See how chalky and powdery the palette is? So much residue. It required too much work even after tapping off the excess on my brush.  Not worth the effort for me.

Even though I didn't love the Wet n Wild Fergie palette in Milano Collections, I would recommend that palette over this one because the textures are better.  The middle shadow, Girlie, in the Hard Candy palette was my most liked but overall, I only like the tin packaging. Lol!  But $8 for a "Z Palette" isn't bad.

I had seen a couple good reviews about this palette before purchasing but I'm with Tati's opinions about this palette. You can watch her review here.

The last time I tried Hard Candy makeup I was also disappointed. I think I'll just be sticking to their nail polishes. Thanks for stopping by!


 Copyright © 2015, Lady Lostris Beauty 

SWATCHES: Wet n Wild Fergie Eyeshadow Palette in Milano Collections

 

Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections Ingredients

When I first picked up the Wet n Wild Photo Focus Studio Eyeshadow Palette in A226 Milano Collections, which is part of the Fergie Centerstage Collection, it didn't scream to me as an Urban Decay Naked (1) dupe. It only became apparent to me when I decided to do this swatch post, so look out for the comparison near the end!

I believe I picked this up last month at Walgreen's for $7.99 but it had a $1 off coupon attached to the front of the palette.

THE RUNDOWN:
~10-shadow drugstore eyeshadow palette
~ Contains 0.28 oz / 8.1 g of product total so each shadow is 0.028 oz or 0.81 g each
 ~Comes with double-ended brush; one side is a long, skinny fluffy blending brush while the other is a thin flat brush that's better for concealer or cream products. It's not dense enough to pack on eyeshadow
~Cruelty-free, paraben-free, oil-free, made in China

All swatches over LORAC Behind the Scenes eye primer

Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections swatches

THE COLORS (description + mini review):
1. Satin/demi-matte ivory- not much pigmentation but good for a soft highlight
2. Pink champagne shimmer- this color along with the next two shimmers have to be built up to get a good even color
3. Yellow gold shimmer- needs to be built up to get a good even color
4. Copper bronze shimmer- this is the most disappointing color of the palette. I expected this to go on smoothly, pigmented and maybe have a foil finish.  It has so be built up many times to somewhat satisfy me.  Not smooth at all.
5. *Antique bronze shimmer (my fave of the bunch)- the smoothest shimmery shade in the whole palette and has a good pigmentation. I love this one the most and reminds me of Urban Decay's Smog.
6. Mid-tone cool matte brown - this is the transition shade in the palette and the only one.
7. Light taupe shimmer- has to be built up like #'s 2, 3 & 4.
8. Dark warm brown with sparse golden flecks- looks more matte on the eye especially after blending; really pigmented
9. Dark cool-toned brown- really pigmented as well
10. Matte black- swatches a little patchy but pigmented

Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections swatches

Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections with flash

Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections in natural light

 

 COMPARISON OF WET N WILD FERGIE MILANO COLLECTIONS TO URBAN DECAY NAKED (1) PALETTE

Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections on top; Urban Decay Naked (1) palette on bottom

Top row is URBAN DECAY NAKED (1) palette with flash- Virgin, Sin, Half-Baked, Smog, Naked, Sidecar, Hustle, Creep. Bottom row is Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections. I know it doesn't match the picture of the palettes together.  I should have switched them around.

As shown in my swatches, there are 8 shades in the Wet n Wild Fergie palette that are similar to Urban Decay's Naked (1) palette. However, there are no similar shades to Urban Decay's Naked, Darkhorse, Toasted or Gunmetal in the Wet n Wild palette.

COMPARISON OF THE COLORS (top row Urban Decay Naked [1], bottom row Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collectons):
~UD Virgin & WnW #1- Virgin is more pigmented and shimmery than #1. Not dupes
~UD Sin & WnW #2- very similar in color but UD is smoother and more pigmented
~UD Half-Baked & WnW #4- Half-Baked is more of a golden bronze, is smoother and doesn't have to be built up like #4. Not dupes
~UD Smog & WnW #5- SPOT ON DUPES! Similar in texture and pigmentation.
~UD Naked & WnW #6- Naked is a mid-tone neutral matte brown while WnW #6 is a mid-tone matte COOL brown. Not dupes.
~UD Sidecar & WnW #7- very similar in color but Sidecar has microglitter, which I can do without. WnW #7 isn't as smooth and pigmented as Sidecar, though.
~UD Hustle & WnW #8- Hustle is a dark brownish-burgundy shimmer but it swatches like a demi-matte dark brown so it ends up looking similar to WnW #8. Quite strange.
~UD Creep & WnW #10- Creep is a matte black with silver or multicolored flecks while the WnW #10 is just a matte black and not as smooth. Not dupes but black is black.

Top row: Urban Decay Naked (1)- Virgin, Sin, Half-Baked, Smog, Naked, Sidecar, Hustle & Creep.  Bottom row: Wet n Wild Fergie Milano Collections in natural light.

  

Overall, the Wet n Wild palette was "meh" for me.  The shimmers aren't up to par with the textures in the Comfort Zone palette or some of the trios. The mattes were pigmented but not the smoothest, either.  But if you don't have an Urban Decay Naked (1) palette, then you might consider getting this especially if you're on a budget.  Personally, I would splurge on the Urban Decay palette because the pigmentation and texture is much better, and you would be getting 4 additional colors.

Thanks for stopping by! =)

 Copyright © 2015, Lady Lostris Beauty 

Swatch: Tarte BB Tinted Treatment 12-Hour Primer (SPF 30)

I got a sample of the Tarte BB Tinted Treatment 12-Hour Primer (SPF 30) from Sephora so I decided to swatch them for you. A full size tube will cost you $34 for 1 ounce, and it only comes in 4 colors: fair, light, medium and tan.

INGREDIENTS

Active Ingredients: titanium dioxide 4.55%, zinc oxide 3.50%
Fair Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, mica, polysilicone-11, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.
Light Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, polysilicone-11, mica, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.
Medium Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, polysilicone-11, mica, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.
Deep Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, polysilicone-11, mica, polymethylsilsesquioxane, hexyl laurate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, stearic acid, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, alumina, triethoxycaprylylsilane, dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, diamond powder, iron oxides.

Ingredients found here.

Natural light. Fair, Light, Medium, Tan.

Flash brings out the pinkish tone of the Light color (2nd), which was noticeable when I applied it to my face.

Fair, Light, Medium, Tan

 

I swatched Light and Medium next to MAC NC30 Studio Finish (mislabeled in pic) Concealer for a comparison.  You can clearly see how MAC is more yellow-toned than the Tarte BB Primer.

Same as above but no flash. This is a bad picture, though. The inside of my arm isn't this pale in real life, lol. But you can see the color tone differences from MAC NC30.

OF NOTE

~For those sensitive to certain ingredients, you'll be happy to know that this product is oil-free, talc-free, and bismuth oxychloride-free.
~Contains broad spectrum SPF 30.
~Light gave me a pink cast on my NC25-NC30 skin. Medium was too dark for me but more golden-toned.
~Has a nice, velvety, smooth, silky feel, like those clear silicone based primers.
~Near matte finish.
~Wonderful as a primer!
~Does not help my oily skin.
~Will not cover imperfections but has way more pigment than Stila's Stay All Day BB cream, which is the only other BB cream/treatment/primer that I've tried.
~They claim that 94% of women said their skin felt more hydrated. Well, I must be that 6% of other women that feel this product is NOT moisturizing at all.  It brought out some flaky areas (caused by breakouts) on my face even after moisturizing well.
~I would not purchase a full size because of the pink cast Light gave me, but as far as texture, it's a nice primer.  As far as coverage, if you have near perfect skin or a little bit of redness, then this will work for you. If you have a lot of imperfections, you will still need a foundation.


Copyright © 2013, Lady Lostris Beauty

Quickie Swatch: NYX Pumpkin Pie & Summer Love

This Thursday is Thanksgiving in the US, so why not bust out with some pumpkin pie? I actually had a slice earlier. =) This cooler weather is also making me miss warmer temperatures, so I thought I'd add a swatch of NYX's Summer Love round lipstick along with Pumpkin Pie. You can find both lipsticks here.

Both colors have very subtle shimmer but do not look frosty on the lips.

Pumpkin Pie lip swatch - a mid-tone peach.

Summer Love lip swatch - a grayish pink.

I haven't hauled NYX Round Lipsticks in a while so I don't know if they changed the formula. The texture of these two colors are different than my older lipsticks, like Rea, Circe and Thalia, which have more of a matte texture and sticks to the lips better - making them longer lasting. Pumpkin Pie and Summer Love have much more slip to them, and I find them less opaque than other NYX lipsticks I own. I had to swipe them on a few times to build up the opacity. With my older lipsticks, all I have to do is pat them on because they're so rich. Pumpkin Pie and Summer Love are creamy and moist, but don't last long on my lips.

You can find some of my other NYX lip product swatches here. My favorite NYX lip combo is Rea, a deathly mauvey beige-brown, with the Mega Shine Lipgloss in Natural, a nude, mauvey-pink creme.

So, have a Happy Upcoming Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey and stuffing slathered with gravy and cranberries! Safe travels, as well! =)

Lil' Saturday Haul: Shoes & Lipstick!

I headed out today ONLY to get these over-the-knee boots from Forever 21 and ended up hauling three more items I didn't intend to.  Don't you hate when that happens?  I tell myself not to whip out the credit card, but I just had to get these really cheap Madden Girl shoes at Ross.

First up are these Matte Leatherette boots ($39.80) that I've been feening to get since I saw them on Forever 21's website.  I like the matte finish and opted for these instead of a faux suede, since that would get way too linty.  They fit true to size (I'm an 8) and there's still room to wear a thin pair of socks if I choose to.  The toe is semi-pointy - sort of almond shaped - but they do not squeeze my toes like my other almond-toed shoes (see last pic below).  I don't even think I need to break them in!  The zipper goes up two-thirds of the way, and there's a patch of elastic banding on the back of the boot at the very top.  A seam starts from the tip of the toe all the way up to the shaft.  I notice that they kind of bunch up at the ankles, but other than that, I'm in lurve with them!  Also, the lining is super soft if you choose to wear them bare-legged.

Then I headed over to Target to pick up another Maybelline Color Sensational (~$5.69) lipstick in Totally Toffee.  In my previous post, I had swatched Warm Me Up, but it was too much of a berry-pink, whereas Totally Toffee is more of a brown tone with a hint of pink - totally up my alley!  You can see in the swatches how much pinker Warm Me Up is compared to Totally Toffee.  It's funny how both of these colors are in the "Naturals" family when Warm Me Up is clearly a pink color.  Hey Maybelline, you got that wrong!

This holiday season, I may be traveling to another state, so I wanted to try out a dry shampoo.  I usually have to wash my hair everyday since I have an oily scalp, and it gets gross and greasy the latter half of the second day if I don't wash it.  So I picked up a dry shampoo from Sally Beauty Supply by Batiste.  I haven't tried it yet but hopefully it'll work for me, because I want to cut down washing my hair if I won't be staying at home for the holidays.  As a guest, I don't want to be hogging someone else's shower for too long!

Lastly, I found a cute pair of Madden Girl peep toes at Ross for only $17.99.  Score!

SOMETHING EXTRA

 Ever try to stretch out your shoes using the Freezer Method?  These almond toe pumps were killing my toes!  So I filled up a Ziploc bag a quarter way with water, stuck it into my shoe and let them sit for almost 24 hours.  When water freezes and turns into ice, it will expand and stretch your shoe out.  Well...it worked somewhat, but I still had to wear them around the house with some socks to further stretch it out.  I may try it again with more water.

I just thought this pic was funny. Hey, just throw your shoe into the freezer with a large tub of Cool Whip, Magnolia Ube ice cream (bomb!), pizza and waffles!  At least the Boca Burgers in the red box are healthy!...lol

Have a great weekend! =)

Give Me Some Lip: Revlon Soft Nude & Maybelline Warm Me Up

Do I really need some more lipsticks when I already have tons?  No.  Do I need to try them just because? Yes!  The following will be a review of a Revlon ColorBurst lipstick and a Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick.

 Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in Soft Nude

THE RUNDOWN

PRICE: ~$6.50+ (I bought it at Target)
AMOUNT: 0.13 oz or 3.7 g
PRODUCT COLOR: Soft Nude #070 - a creme, peachy nude with no shimmer
TEXTURE: Creamy and moist, but still requires gloss over it
PIGMENTATION: Good, but with this color, I find I need to rub in on several times until I get my desired look since my lips are so pigmented.  But it's still nicely pigmented.
SCENT: I really can't detect any scent whatsoever
PACKAGING: Square, matte black tube with a quilted or fishnet etched pattern on two sides of the tube.  It has a round edge at the tip instead of the usual point, and the Revlon name is etched into the lipstick itself - very nice!  The colored swatch at the top of the cap seems to be very accurate to the actual product.  The sticker seals the tube so people can't test them in the stores, ensuring you get a clean product.
INGREDIENTS: Check them out at Drugstore.com (They also have very nice product photos of the other colors)

PROS: I find everything about this color and product is totally awesome! =)
CONS: I really can't find anything I don't like about it.

Top: True colors with flash; Bottom: Natural light

FINAL WORDS:  A perfect creamy and moist peachy-nude color with good pigmentation and lovely packaging.  It's now one of my favorites!

Love! <3

This is my FAVORITE lipliner: Flesh by Ulta. I used it with Revlon's Soft Nude and it works perfectly, but I also use this with my nude pinks. It's a matte, peach-toffee sort of color.

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Warm Me Up

THE RUNDOWN

PRICE: ~$5.50+ (I bought it at Target)

AMOUNT:  0.15 oz or 4.2 g

PRODUCT COLOR: Warm Me Up #235 (in the Naturals family) - a berry pink with a very subtle golden shimmer, which I didn't notice until I took macro photos.  I don't notice any shimmer when applied on the lips.  I don't understand why this is in the Naturals category, when it clearly is a berry pink color!  There's no brown in it whatsoever. A lot of pinks turn sort of purple-pink on me, and this one does that.  I don't know why; it could be my natural lip color or the lipstick just oxidizing?

TEXTURE: Creamy and moist. A hint more moist than the Revlon ColorBurst.

PIGMENTATION: Well-pigmented

SCENT: I can't place the scent but it's like a light candy scent which I actually love.  Those sensitive to scents may be turned off by it, though.

PACKAGING: Square transparent tube with a color-coded cap that corresponds to each lipstick, either belonging to the Pink, Plum, Red or Natural family.  It has a shiny silver base and the lipstick has a pointed tip.  Since the cap is almost the length of the whole lipstick, it can be a little hard to grasp onto the small base while opening the lipstick.  This is the only thing I don't like about it.

PROS: Great pigmentation, creamy, moist and inexpensive. Comes in 48 colors, not including the new Pearl colors.

CONS: Scented. May be a little hard to open since the base is so small and hard to grasp.  It's not sealed so the lipsticks in stores may have been tested on, so you might have to sanitize it when you get home, which is what I did just to be safe.

Lips are little crusty here...lol..because I just got done eating so I'm sorry for that. Also, this was before I decided to swatch Soft Nude by itself, hence, the half-lip swatches.

FINAL WORDS: I love the pigmentation and texture of Warm Me Up, but it wasn't really the kind of pink I was looking for. (I really want to try Pink Please or Totally Toffee.)  Other than that, it's a great, inexpensive lipstick with nifty color-coded caps.

Have a great day everyone! =)