BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel 14 Colour Eyeshadow and Highlighting Palette - review and swatches

The BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel 14 Colour Eyeshadow and Highlighting Palette is a collaboration with YouTuber Carli Bybel, and features 10 smaller pans of eyeshadows, and 4 larger pans of highlighters (which can also be used as eyeshadows). I purchased two palettes at the same time, and both palettes were $12.50 (USD), and with shipping the total was about $50-ish (AUD). Not too bad, considering each palette worked out to be about $25-30 each (including shipping).

The palette features five matte and five shimmer shades. The mattes are quite versatile in this palette - a light beige to highlight (and set bases in my case), a mid tone brown, two purple/plum shades, and a dark brown. 

The palette includes four face highlight shades as pictured above. I love mixing the first two highlighters together for a beautiful glow on my light skin. I can't really use the other two highlighting shades as highlighters, but they work as beautiful eyeshadows. 

Overall, I think this is a great palette. The purples in the palette make this a great autumn and winter palette, and the shimmers and bronzes make it a great spring and summer palette. I do quite enjoy this palette, and overall, in my opinion, there are no complaints about this palette, considering how cheap it is. The shadows perform just like any other eyeshadows I have, but I always make it a point to use a primer and a base. The shimmery shades are beautiful, and can be intensified with a bit of MAC Fix+. 

The palette now retails for $14.50USD and can be purchased on the BH Cosmetics website.  If you were interested in purchasing this palette, I would definitely recommend it. 

Thanks for reading,

X

Kylie Cosmetics King K Metal Lipstick - review and swatches

A lovely friend of mine gifted me the Kylie Cosmetics King K liquid lipstick about a month ago. When the metallic lips were first released, I was quite interested as I do not own anything like them in my collection. King K is described on the Kylie Cosmetics website as a "soft metallic gold". This product retails for $18.00USD and can be purchased on the Kylie Cosmetics website.

The liquid lipstick has a doe foot applicator, like most liquid lipsticks I have tried, and has a moussey texture. I find that this liquid lipstick does take a bit longer to dry down, and it is mostly transfer proof - there is a bit of transfer when it has dried down on the lips, but it is not a significant amount. 

(King K swatch photographed in natural lighting)

(King K swatch photographed in direct sunlight) 

This shade is definitely unique in my collection - I do now own one of the ColourPop metallic liquid lipsticks, but this is a one of a kind shade, and was the first metallic liquid lipstick I had tried. This does dry to a matte finish, but looks very metallic on the lips. I do find, most likely because of the different formulation (metallic verse completely matte) that this lip product is not nearly as drying as some of the other liquid lipsticks I have tried - but like I mentioned earlier in the post, this product is not completely transfer proof. This shade is also a great highlighting tool for the lips - it is great applied in the centre to highlight, especially if you're not brave enough to rock this colour on it's own.

I am interested in also picking up Heir, which is the rose gold shade, but I think I will give Reign a miss. This shade is beautiful, but it isn't something I would wear on an every day basis.

Thanks for reading,
X

July Favourites

I can't believe the only Favourites post I've done this year is a Current Favourites, because I had missed quite a few months on the monthly favourites. Favourites posts are one of my favourite posts to write (haha), so I hope to get back into them from now on.

ColourPop Ultra Matte Lip in Midi
This is the perfect, neutral, matte liquid lipstick. I absolutely adore this lip product, and when I don't know what liquid lipstick to wear, I tend to reach for this one 80% of the time. It is more pink based (which generally isn't what I like), but there is something about this colour on my lips.

ColourPop Super Shock Cheek in Lunch Money
I have been doing a Project Pan recently - click to see my introduction and first update, and I love to apply this cream product underneath the powder highlight in the Sleek Face Form Palette. The two together look beautiful - and I even hit pan on this product last night!

Covergirl Advanced Radiance Pressed Powder in 105 Ivory
About a month and a half ago I was on the mission of finding a powder I could use on my dry skin that would not show up powdery and cakey, and not emphasise any dry patches. I love the Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation, but it is $50 and I tend to use it up very quickly. I am not saying that this product is a dupe by any means, but I have been enjoying this powder as it does not make my dry skin look dry, nor does it cling to any dry patches.

LA Girl Pro Conceal in Green Corrector 
I picked this up just over a month ago, and this corrector has made the world of difference with the redness I experience on my chin because of break outs and scarring. If you have redness in your skin and haven't tried a green corrector, I would highly recommend one. This one can be purchased for about $10 online in Australia, so it isn't going to break the bank. It is a liquid concealer, not a cream, which I tend to favour more on my dry skin.

Sephora Supreme Cleansing Oil 
I picked this product up from Sephora about six months ago, and I absolutely love this for removing heavy makeup! One or two pumps of this oil on a cotton pad is enough to remove the heaviest eye makeup. I tend to use micellar water on a daily basis after cleansing my skin, but if I have heavy makeup on (both eye and base makeup), I do like to go in with this oil first to remove makeup.

Sportsgirl Lip Chalk Matte Lip Cream in Vertigo
I recently posted a review about this product, which you can view here. This liquid lipstick is also a great every day liquid lipstick, and more accessible in Australia than the ColourPop. ColourPop Midi and Sportsgirl Lip Chalk in Vertigo are two of my go-to neutral liquid lipsticks.

Sportsgirl Glow Liquid Illuminator in Pearl
I also picked this one up the same time I picked up the Lip Chalk. I didn't have a liquid illuminator that was pink based like this, so thought it was unique in my collection. I love applying this like a primer/base under my foundation. I will have a review of this one coming up in the next couple of weeks.

(L to R: ColourPop Ultra Matte Lip in Midi, ColourPop Super Shock Cheek in Lunch Money, LA Girl Pro Conceal Green Concealer, Sportsgirl Lip Chalk Matte Lip Cream in Vertigo, Sportsgirl Glow Liquid Illuminator in Pearl)

And those are my favourites from July!

Thanks for reading,
X

One Palette, One Month - Urban Decay Vice Palette - August 2016

For August 2016, I've decided to use one of my biggest palettes - the original/first Urban Decay Vice Palette. Urban Decay is my favourite eyeshadow brand, and I was extremely excited when this palette came out. Unfortunately, because of the variety in this palette, it hasn't received the most love, and I want to change that this month. This palette has 20 eyeshadows.

The premise of this challenge is that I can only use the one palette during the month for my eyeshadow looks. Only once last month did I use a shadow that wasn't found in my Anastasia Beverly Hills palette (the Urban Decay Moondust Shadow in Zodiac), and I did occasionally use light cream matte shadows, but didn't reach for another palette. This palette only has three matte shades (and only two are "everyday" wearable shadows), so I know I am going to have to reach for other shades from other palettes, or singles, as transition shades. Like last month, my hopes for this palette is to hit pan on one shadow. I think I will hit pan on Anonymous quite easily. 

This palette is quite chunky, so I think I might end up depotting these shadows, and put them in a Z Palette. I think I will be reaching for the first and last rows the most this month.

Thanks for reading, (and wish me luck!),
X