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.    

 

 

First MAC Eyeshadows!!

      Exciting news: I've finally taken the leap and ordered my first MAC eyeshadows!... What?... I know everybody and their grandmother are way into/over the whole MAC thing, but for a drugstore makeup junkie like myself, this is exciting! (Hence all of the exclamation marks) I've been building a list for a while now, but the allure of free shipping made me pull the trigger. I do have a MAC store at the mall that I go to, however, since it's a 45 minute drive and I have two kids that make me fear going into any store geared towards anyone over the age of 8-years-old, online was really the only option. 
     I got the shades Kid (which looks like an amazing crease colour that also happens to be on it's way to discontinued), Ricepaper, Satin Taupe, and Sketch, along with the MAC palette. I don't have a Z palette, and the MAC one was only $10, so what the heck. I DID try to grab some MakeUp Geek shadows, but the site wasn't working on my phone, and I was NOT about to make the trip from the couch all the way across the room to the computer. It was 11pm, and I was comfy, so congratulations MAC. I almost bought a lipstick, but decided that would be too much of a gamble, given my pale skin and the fact that only 1 or 2 shades out of 20 actually compliment my skin tone. I'll find a babysitter and make the trek to the mall when the time comes to finally jump on that bandwagon. (I'm actually afraid to buy my first MAC lipstick. They're like a gateway lippie. It starts with one, then I'm elbow deep in Nicki Minaj- limited edition shades, and suddenly I'm exchanging sexual favours for the new NARS Audacious line... Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration I know. But seriously. Not much of a stretch.)  
     Now that I'm thinking about it, I might make that MakeUp Geek order in a couple of weeks. They are half the price, but shipping and exchange rates doesn't make it that different... Oh, great. There it is. I already need another hit. Look what I've started! 

Late to the Party feat. itsjudytime Palette

So I finally pulled the trigger on BH Cosmetics. Which isn't supposed to sound so homicidal; I haven't ordered from them before because I'm hesitant to buy makeup online before testing it in person, so I thought I'd take a stab (hey-oh!) at one of their palettes. I was watching an itsjudytime video and she was announcing her palette was going on sale-- the lowest price ever of $8.95 each or two for $14.95, I believe. I never gave it much of a thought before, but the whole "low price, now or never, limited edition" thing had my heart doing flip flops. So after reading all of the reviews and watching tutorials, and deciding that this needed to be in my life, I grabbed one (the deal for 2 was good, but I wasn't going to risk paying for 2 of something I didn't like, and I don't know any makeup lovers. I'm the ONLY one) feeling like the sale price justified the $8 shipping. I HATE when American companies charge so much for shipping. I have yet to order from ColourPop because I REFUSE to swallow that $15 shipping fee. C'mon ColourPop!... Anyways, back to the palette: it arrived a few days ago, and I ripped into it immediately and was very impressed on first look. 

Eee, so cute!!

Ugh, come on with the gorgeous colours

I dipped my dirty little digits into the shadows and found the matte shades to be creamy and pigmented with, surprisingly, little to no fallout. And the mattes were what turned me onto this palette. I was surprised that this little gem could do what the Naked Basics 2 couldn't; make neutral matte shades without stirring up a bunch of shadow. 

The shimmer shades are a different story. Not as pigmented, and the shimmery-er (yep, just made that up. I stick by my decision) shades had chunky glitter that kind of gets whisked away the more you swatch. 

TOP ROW, sorry for the crappy lighting. Although my skin IS translucent and absorbs colour more than shows it

The top row is my jam. The first (cream), second (ochre) , fourth (pink-toned brown) and fifth (espresso) shades are the mattes, and they are buttery, soft, blendable and pigmented. The third shade is a shimmery gold/champagne colour that shows up better in a swatch than on the eye, and the sixth shade is a dark brownish gold with gold shimmer. The shimmer kind of separates from the colour, so it's more of a fine glitter, which is what happens with the rest of the more shimmery shades.

Bottom row: I hate to say it, but MEH.

 The bottom row is probably going to be the less used end of this palette. The only matte is the fifth one, a light indigo, that's a little chalky. The first and second shades are shimmers, a rose-gold and a bronze colour. These go on light, but can be built;more with the fingers than a brush. The third shade is the big let-down; it looks like a beautiful burgundy in the pan, but swatched is a weak black with red glitter that leaves at the first swipe of a brush. The fourth, a satin lilac is also too light, and the last shade is this amazing navy shimmer in the pan, but isn't pigmented enough. Big womp-womp for the burgundy and navy. I had high hopes for those guys.

So all in all, not a total bust. I essentially wanted this for the matte neutrals, and they are the best ones. They work wonderfully together and blend like a dream. The darker colours just don't work very well. Although if you really pack them on, maybe use some Fix+ they'll behave. I still love this palette for what it is. And considering it's sold out on the website (and the price is back up to $20) I'm glad I purchased it. 

I think I might order some more from BH Cosmetics. The Dark Rose, Wild Child, and Forever Nude palettes look really pretty. 

NEXT WEEK: Julep's Sweep Photogenic Palette. Be prepared for the obsession that is Julep.

***Nik's Bits***

-Christmas is in full swing in my house. Which means I've put a whole box of candy canes on the tree, and only three remain. Thanks kids.

-My husband and I made the dumb decision to go Black Friday shopping (sorry, I made the decision. He drove.) We got to Target at 10 am with smiles and hot coffee and left with NOTHING I had hoped to buy. We still got some good deals, but the craziness that was running through that store was not worth it. Cyber Monday next year.

-My skin is acting horrible. I'm getting dry flaky patches on my chin and cheeks, around my nose. Time for a new winter moisturizer. And tons of Lypsyl. Best lip balm EVAR.