Now We Resume This Blog, After That Long-A** Break

     Hi everyone! My blog has been terribly neglected this past year; I've just had so much going on, personally, that writing has been one of the farthest things from my mind. My husband and I separated last year, and I've been treading the waters of single-parenthood, trying to stay afloat. It hasn't been easy, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
     Breakups are never easy, but I hope that in the case of my children's father and I, we can make this as easy as possible for our 2 girls. There is no drama, no hurt feelings, and no ill-will toward one another. We've been growing apart for some time now, and just realized that if we want to be happy, we should make the decision while the kids are young.
     Alright, now that I've delved deep enough into my personal life, let's get into the reason I started this blog; MAKEUP! I've been acquiring quite a bit of it these last several months, and though I have been using it, I thought I should put my buying on hold for a bit and try to use what I have more. (And when I say 'hold', I mean a soft hold. I'll probably still dip into the wallet when something really good comes along.)
     After making a few hasty purchases simply because they were new and exclusive, I made the decision to think before I buy. For example, the new Huda Beauty lip contour pencils; I bought the Shade "Bombshell", simply because of all of the hype around the launch. And for $25.50, I should've had better intentions. When I got it in the mail a couple days later, I immediately regretted my choice. It was a lip liner. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but for $25, it wasn't supposed to be "just" a lip liner. Coupled with the fact that the shade was identical to MAC's "In Control" liner that I already had (and paid $6 less for) and the formula wasn't anything new or innovative, I put it back in it's packaging, grabbed the receipt, and back to Sephora it went. 
     Point being; I have a lot of makeup. A LOT. More than some people, less than others, but for me, it's a lot. And I do love it. But I think in order to really appreciate it, I need to use what I have and make educated decisions when buying any more. So in this new chapter of my life, that will be my mission, to use and document my beloved beauty items, and share it with those who appreciate it: the beauty community.
     I hope to be better at writing - and taking time out, now that I have more of it - for the passion I have for beauty products, :) 

Smashbox ART. LOVE. COLOR. Master Class palette review

Happy holidays!! 

Wait, wait, wait. It's still summer. So why am I suddenly in the moods for pine boughs and pretty lights that are all tangled together and I break a nail trying to get them apart and oh great, a bulbs broken this sucks I hate the holida--- ohhh, right. Holiday MAKEUP. THAT'S why I'm so hyped about upcoming festive season while it's still 30° out. 

If you're like me and are a sucker for limited edition makeup sets, now's the time you start making your list and checking it twice. I follow TrendMood on Instagram, and I swear I'm considering getting a second job because of her posts. Urban Decay, Too Faced, Tarte, they've all had photos released of gorgeous new goodies. Smashbox was the first (to my knowledge) to release, and it looks like a doozy. I've missed the last 3 Master Class sets, so when I noticed this suddenly on Sephora's site, I was on that "Add to Basket" button like a duck on a Junebug. It boasts 32 eye shadows, 6 blushes and 2 highlighters. 

The eyeshadow pans are the sizes of nickels and dimes, and the blush and highlights are about the diameter of a Toonie (silver dollar, I guess, if you're 'Merican). They're supposed to be able to pop out to put in a Z palette, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. The finishes range from matte, satin, and shimmer. The shimmers are quite disappointing, I have to say; they aren't very pigmented and come off a little chunky. The mattes, for the most part, are creamy and smooth, and the satin's really shine. 

As soon as I took this bad boy out of its box, I was immediately struck by the range of colours. Some of them I don't have in my collection (mainly the yellows/oranges/pinks). But as I dipped my fingers in to swatch, my heart sank; some shades were pretty, but half of them were chunky, and a little cheap-feeling. I looked at the palette after my swatch-fest and it looked disastrous. 

Powder was EVERYWHERE. Maybe I'm picky. But this does NOT look like a high-end palette should after you touch it. And I'm fairly light-handed. 

Most of the shadows swatch nicely on my arm, but they didn't transfer very well onto my lid. I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion, and they creased after a couple of hours of wear. I'll insert a range of some of the colours. 

As you can see, some of the most glittery shadows are quite chunky. The mattes are hit and miss, but the ones that are nice, I have in other palettes. The blushes are pretty, but too many of them leave a sheen on the cheeks that I would prefer to get from a highlight on top (otherwise I come off too disco-ball-y). 

My Verdict: this palette is a no-go for me. I just wasn't wowed. With all of the new makeup launching in the next couple of months, I can't see myself gravitating towards this. I will be returning it. 😪

What are your thoughts? If you have this palette, do you like it? Is it something you're looking forward to purchasing? I'd love to hear any views, opposing or similar. :)

-N

Maybelline "Blushed Nude" vs Coastal Scents "Revealed 2"

Okay, so I'll start off by saying that I know everyone and their grandma's neighbour has talked about the Maybelline Blushed Nudes palette. I resisted the urge to buy it because of the horrible reviews I was seeing. But I recently picked up Coastal Scents' Revealed 2, and realized that I'm really into rosy toned shadows, so when I saw the Maybelline on sale, I grabbed it to compare. 

The Revealed palette retails for around $25-$30CAD (I got mine from Birchbox.ca, using a promo code and points, so I only paid $2.50. 🙌) and the Maybelline is usually $15, depending on where you go. Mine was purchased at Shoppers on sale for $12.50. 

Both palettes have the same rosy, 'Naked 2' type of feel. The Revealed boasts 20 shadows, most of which are buttery smooth, pigmented, and extremely blendable, while the Blushed Nudes has 12 shades, and I found all but 3 to be powdery, dry, and extremely hard to transfer to the lid. 

I did some side-by-side comparisons of shades that I feel are similar in tone/finish. The swatches shown will all be of the Maybelline on the left, and the Coastal Scents on the right. 

First is the lightest shade in the Blushed Nudes palette. The quintessential pale matte highlight shade. The Revealed 2's version is buttery and pigmented; the Blushed Nudes is dust. I had to dig to get anything out of the pan, and it STILL didn't show up. :/

These two shades don't quite match on the skin, but they're quite similar in the pan. Powdery Maybelline, creamy Coastal Scents (yes, there is a trend here.)

Here's another shadow that's important in every palette; the crease/transition shade. Again, barely anything out of the Maybelline. The CS is a beautiful taupe-mauve that's perfect for blending. Probably my favourite of the whole palette. 

I'll just show the next few shades and you can see for yourself the difference in texture and pigmentation. As I've said, the Maybelline swatches are on the left, the Coastal Scents are on the right. 

I have to say, I'm not impressed that the Blushed Nudes doesn't have a matte black, but it DOES have a black with Rose glitter. But it doesn't transfer into the skin AT ALL. It barely looks like I touched it, the glitter shows up more than the shadow. The same shadow (and in the pans they do look the EXACT same) on the CS palette is exactly what it should be- black with glitter flecked throughout. 

Overall, I'm (obviously) disappointed in the Maybelline Blushed Nudes palette. There is just NOT enough pigmentation. How this made it out the door is beyond me. It's obviously not hard to do affordable, pigmented shadows if Coastal Scents (not to mention Makeup Geek, Colourpop, even L'Oreal) can do it. I'd say skip over the Maybelline palette, and DEFINITELY grab the Revealed 2 (and heck, even the 1 & 3!) You won't be disappointed. OR bored, there are tons of options for different looks.