Kick Azz $5 Palettes- Wet n Wild Ultimate Expressions

I've always heard about how good the Wet n Wild Ultimate Expressions Eyeshadow Palettes are, but I never got around to them. I don't know why I didn't buy these earlier! They are very well-pigmented, not to mention inexpensive.

~SPECS~

PRICE: Around $5 (My local Walgreen's are a rip off! I went to 3 different locations located within 2 or 3 miles of each other and each store had a different price: $5, $5.29 & $5.49. WTF?)
PRODUCT AMOUNT: 8 colors; 9.5 g in total.
COLORS AVAILABLE: (3)- Sand Castle, Paradise Cove & Fantasy Island
TEXTURE: Soft but not chalky
INGREDIENTS: Click here
MAKEUP ALLEY REVIEW: Click here

PROS: Very well-pigmented; has a huge pull-out mirror; sponge tip applicator clips inside the palette so it doesn't annoyingly fall out; inexpensive; easy to find

CONS: Thick, bulky packaging; not enough matte highlight colors; limited color selection

The Sand Castle palette has the perfect summer colors and any neutral color lover will adore this. Sand Castle has more of a shimmery finish than the Paradise Cove palette. I don't care for the bottom left color; even though it's matte it has small sparkly pieces in it, which I don't like. The rest are shimmers.

Paradise Cove is also a great palette for neutral color lovers, even though it contains a pretty purple and burgundy color. The bottom-left color has a semi-matte finish while the rest are shimmers.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I ADORE THEM!


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So those were the "kick ass $5 palettes" but I'll also include something else. Since Walgreen's was having a BOGO (your free item couldn't be more than $4.49), I picked up a couple trios with my purchase of the Ultimate Expressions palettes. These are called the Wet n Wild Mega Eyes Eyeshadow Trios.

SPECS

PRICE: Around $3
PRODUCT AMOUNT: 3 colors; 4.2 g
COLORS AVAILBLE: (6)- Amazon Greens, Island Blues, Belgian Chocolates, Egyptian Sands, Mojave Mauves, Venetian Violets
TEXTURE: Drier and not as soft as the Ultimate Expressions palettes
INGREDIENTS: Click here

PROS: Pull-out mirror; easy to find anywhere

CONS: NOT AS PIGMENTED AS THE 8-COLOR ULTIMATE EXPRESSIONS palettes; dinky sponge tip applicator

FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm not buying these trios again. But hey, they were free anyway.

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Now for the fun part: The Dupes...

Think about it! Scroll to the bottom for the answer.

The Wet n Wild palette is more pigmented than the Physicians Formula. It took more swipes to swatch Baked Sands.

I've heard that the 3rd color in the Amazon Greens trio could be a dupe for MAC Sumptuous Olive or Henna.

Did you guess correctly? =)
But remember, the trios are not as pigmented as the 8-color palettes. I had to rub my brush in the WnW green several times to get it to look like this.

I LOVE Paradise Cove and Sand Castle.

I think I'm cool with all my eyeshadows for now. After my NYX haul, that's it!

(Note: All swatches were done over the Scandalous eyeshadow base)

Yaye! Clinique Stash Came....Swatches

This is a follow-up to a previous post. My Instant Pretty Limited Edition holiday set ($36) came today and I was "Instant Happy". I love the rouching on the 10.5" x 4.5" bag and the pretty packaging of the palette and lipstick, which I wasn't expecting because the picture on the website didn't display that well. It comes with a .5 oz/15ml All About Eyes, a .14 oz/4 g black High Impact mascara, a .08 oz/2.4 g Long Last Lipstick in Twilight Nude (mini size; why not full-size like always?), a 1.7 fl oz/50 ml Take the Day Off makeup remover, and a .12 oz/3.5g 6-color Colour Surge Eye Shadow Palette all in a pretty box. They included a pink breast cancer ribbon pin also. Cool!

Can you see the palette? Is it camoflauged? Hehe

Here it is! The lipstick looks like chrome bamboo.

Clinique has nice wearable colors. Uh oh, fingerprints on the edge already.

Click image to enlarge. Shadow names are listed.

This is the Professional Polish bonus I received, which is only an online special (NOW SOLD OUT)....way better than my Macy's bonus. I'm a sucker for Clinique GWP's. I should bust out with all my other GWP makeup bags. Hmm...this is the only one left out of the 3 that were available. I think people really liked the Fresh Bloom blush in Peony in the other 2 bonuses.

Included in this one is a 2g Colour Surge Eyeshadow Duo in Butter Pecan, a .17 oz/5ml All About Eyes, a .06 oz/1.8 g Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Sunset Glow (didn't swatch it; might give it away), a mini blush brush, a .14 oz/4 g black High Impact Mascara, a .14 oz/4g Long Last Lipstick in Honey Nut, and eyelash curler (haven't used it yet) and an 8.5" x 4" white and silver wristlet bag.

Honey Nut lippie and Butter Pecan e/s Duo (matte)

Click to enlarge image

The 3rd color in the palette definitely looks bronzey in the pan but when swatched it comes up plum toned. I thought I didn't wipe off my brush good enough from the first swatch so I used makeup remover and swatched it again. It came out the same way. Strange. Honey Nut is a nude tawny color and Twilight Nude has berry tones...

So I got my Clinique fix. I'm happy! Hope this helped =)

What are your favorite Clinique products?

Swatches: Ulta 65 Piece Blockbuster Set

Were you wondering what came with the 65 Piece Blockbuster Set because the website is so unhelpful? Here's the 29 small eyeshadows that I depotted into a CD palette and since they were so lightweight and would not stick to magnets, I used double-sided Scotch tape to adhere them. Then I used the names that were already printed on the plastic and taped them to the front of the CD case. Voila... (They're all shimmers except Wisteria Lane is matte while Naked and Sage are more of a semi-matte finish)

Swatches of the first 3 rows

Swatches of the last 2 rows. I have a few of the full size eyeshadows that come in the set and they are of different quality. The full size shadows are more pigmented and creamy while the eyeshadows in the set are pretty well pigmented but more powdery in texture. The full size shadows are way better so opt for those. But I think this was still worth it because it's good to play with.

I only really wanted the case and eyeshadows. I needed a little extra storage for things I don't really use. But don't think this is some great quality sturdy case. The bottom of the first two levels are kind of like flimsy cardboard that's coated with a soft material. It will still hold things up pretty well though. The bottom is a hard cardboard and the outside is vinyl that has some foam padding behind it. I like how the bottom part slides open when you flip up the top cover. (Note: Contents shown DID NOT come with the set. Only the 3 lipsticks and 2 shimmer powders at the bottom did.)

The lip quad and two eyeshadow quads are interchangeable with the case in the middle. Two square lipgloss pots, a duo ended lipliner, a duo ended eyeliner, 4 lipsticks and 2 shimmer powders in white and pink also come with the set.

Two lipglosses too. All the lipglosses are sheer. I never opened the plastic on the lip quad but I'm pretty sure they're sheer too.

Look how unbelievably super cute the tiny powder puff is! There is also a pink shimmer powder and I haven't broken the seals on these yet.

Lip and 2 eyeshadow quads. The eyeshadows have a faint odor of pen ink if you sniff them closely but it's not noticeable when wearing them.

Swatches of the 2 eyeshadow quads

The 5 blushes and 1 transluscent powder that I never touched or swatched. I don't think I'll use them since they're talc-based. Also comes with 12 other lipglosses that I haven't touched either but they look pretty. There was also a green and flesh-toned cream concealer that I threw out because they were "sweating" and they contained mineral oil anyway.

The four lippies aren't very special. They're not super moist or anything and the packaging is cheap plastic. The only one I can pull off is Nude Spice (not Nude Shimmer) and maybe Sienna Shimmer. I look like a clown with the other two colors. I'll have to use those over NYX Rea.

Swatches of the lipsticks and duo pencils (Nude Spice, not Nude Shimmer)

And the last pics
This set was $24.99 but there was a $5 off coupon code when I ordered it. Now they have a 20% off coupon code (97153) which comes out to the same total of around $20. Currently they are offering free shipping for orders $25 or more.

So is it worth it? Well, I'm not regretting my purchase. I like the eyeshadows although they are not the best quality they're still pigmented but a little powdery (I love their full size ones). And I like the pencil duos and the two square lipglosses. I didn't really buy it for the rest of the stuff except for the case which is coming in handy. I think it would be good as a gift for someone who's starting out or for someone who's a makeup junkie. Christmas is around the corner....Dang, already?

It's Clinique Bonus Time @ Macy's

It's Clinique Bonus Time at Macy's and they call this "The Wow Factor" bonus. Hmm, not that wowie though but I've been waiting for a nice bonus since I've ran out of my All About Eyes eye gel and I didn't like the last ones at other department stores so I had to pick this one up today. Here's a list of what it comes with and you receive it when you buy something for $21.50 or more.

1. Clarifying Lotion 2- this is for dry/combination skin types. Since I'm an oily girl, this is not that suitable for me and it does contain alcohol denat. (denatured) which is the first ingredient. That's why I've never liked Clinique skin care. If you'd like to try a nice alcohol-free toner, try Neutrogena's.
2. Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion- Now this is the thing that I've always hated and thrown away with every bonus I've ever gotten. Again, this is for dry skin types (I wish they'd have an option to choose skin care items with bonuses). This stuff is so greasy and oily. The first 3 ingredients are water, mineral oil, and sesame oil (would you like to cook some pancit with this?). Definitely NOT GOOD FOR OILY GALS.
3. Clinique Color Palette that contains: Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Rose Wine (nice fall colors), Soft Pressed Powder Blusher in Pink Blush (very sheer) and True Bronze Pressed Powder in Sunkissed (better for fair and light skintones)
4. High Impact Mascara in black- I know I've used this before and I don't remember much of it. But I'll use it again and let you know what I think in the future.

5. Different Lipstick in A Different Grape- this is a sheer, glossy, wine/berry/plum colored lipstick that's nice for the fall. It's called different lipstick because of it's smooth and comfortable feel. It's pretty moist and glides on smoothly but I prefer lipsticks with at least medium coverage.
6. Large Cosmetics Bag- this thing is HUGE. It's 11.5" x 7" x 3". The exterior is made of PVC so it's easily wipeable as well as the nylon-lined interior which is lime green. The patterned stripe on the outside is made of satin and is the top edge of a pocket! I'm telling you again, it's huge!!

7. Mini Bag- you get to choose between a round bag, a mini square one or a long, regtangular shaped bag that's triangular on it's profile. I chose the latter. =) And it's made of satin type material.

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I like how the palette doesn't come with those little sponge applicators or dinky little brushes that nobody uses anyway!

What I don't like is the plain white packaging. What happened when they used to use that fake green marbled plastic with their bonuses? Check out the pictures down further below. I like it old school.

NOTE: The palette items seem to be dry and chalky which IS NOT like the other Clinique eyeshadows and blushes I've owned. So I'm disappointed with the low pigmentation. They're usually creamy and velvety. I guess these mass market things aren't up to their usual standards. (For a base under the eyeshadows I used a Physician's Formula Color Eyes Cream Shadow stick in Champagne)

The pic below shows the 3 mini bags which you can choose from.

This bag is huge! I'm thinking of using it for skin care items when I travel. The blue thing you see there is a foot long ruler.

So what did I buy to get the bonus? I got the 0.5 oz All About Eyes gel ($27.50) which is better for oily skin types while their rich formula is better for drier skin types. This is my favorite favorite eye gel of all time because it absorbs into your skin quickly and it leaves this nice, velvety soft, smooth texture to the undereye area. It moisturizes well and I don't have to wait very long to let it soak in before I put my makeup on. This works really good for puffiness but as far as correcting dark undereye circles, it's just okay.
ALL ABOUT EYES GRADE: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(If it worked better for dark circles, I'd give it a 5)

L: New packaging/R: Old packaging
What happened Clinique? Didn't their skin care items come in the pretty patterned box like their makeup? I haven't bought anything from Clinique in a while so have they changed all their packaging to a plain boring green? WHY?!?!

This is what I was talking about earlier. They used to use pretty green marbled plastic with their bonus palettes and now it's plain white. What's the problem Clinique? Hmm, must be the economy.

I think this came with a bonus about 2 or 3 years ago. I love Faded Denim for a smokey bluish/purple eye. These are nice and creamy while "The Wow Factor" palette is dry and chalky. =(