beauty review

Re-Haul (From February 2018) Sephora & Ulta

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ Leave a comment

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Hey ya’ll! I know, I know. I’m not dead. I’ve been rather on my instagram which is @seriouslystyled_ I’ve been doing @makeup_whisperer’s (David’s) 31 days of glitter challenge and having SO MUCH FUN creating looks and posting them for everyone to see. It’s the most I’ve played with my makeup in a long time and really have been getting to know my products. My cat also likes to follow me into our spare bedroom during this time and I quite enjoy that! Lol.

 

So a re-haul is where I reflect on things I bought previously and consider how much I actually used/enjoyed them. February is my birthday month and this time last year I went to Sephora & Ulta with my neighbor and we both went a little ham.

 

Products purchased: 

 

Nars natural radiant foundation (got matched for this with the computer completion thing).

I used this a lot when I first got it but put it in a bag and haven’t used it in the last few months. I loved how it looked so now it’s on my radar to get back out. This was an okay purchase.

Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb in Fenty Glow 

I use this just about overtime I use lipgloss. I keep it in my work backpack and love how it smells and feels on my lips. This was an excellent purchase.

BadGal Bang Mascara mini

When I first got this I thought it was only going to be good for my bottom lashes. However, once it was open for a bit it has been AMAZING. I’m still using it. I freaking love it. I should probably replace it but it’s still working great. This was an excellent purchase.

Nyx vivid brights liner in Sapphire

This is stunning. It seriously is such a pretty blue. However, I’ve only used it twice so probably not my wisest purchase.

Becca First Light Priming Filter 

This is my favorite primer of all time. I’ve used over 50% and my first choice always for a primer. It gives my skin a healthy glow. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this. This was an excellent purchase.

Makeup Forever microfinishing pressed powder (banana shade):

This gives a nice finish. I just haven’t been reaching for it, much like the NARS foundation I need to dig it back out and start using it again. This was an okay purchase.

Free samples/bday gifts: 

Glamglow supermud/moisturizer duo: 

I’ve used 1/2 the moisturizer and most of the supreme. I have previously gotten samples and/or purchased both and would again. This is why I chose this over the Bite birthday gift.

Fenty Beauty matte lipstick (bright pink color; forget the name): 

This color is super similar to Mac’s Candy Yum Yum (one of my all time favorites) I’ve worn it to work a few times and super love it. It’s not an everyday color but super fun and makes my teeth look super white. It also has nice staying powder, pretty solid for a sample.

Nars Orgasm blush mini: 

I already had a mini Orgasm and blushes take EONS to use up. I haven’t opened this. Not the best sample to receive. However, the blush itself is a nice product.

Ulta lip mask and lip oil: 

TBH I was disappointed to get this. The lip mask was alright but I fell in love with the lip oil. It smells amazing and feels great and looks great on the lips. I use this all the time and would purchase a full size.

 

I am officially done with work for 2018 and have the rest of the year off. I will be traveling home for the holidays to see family in the morning and I’m quite excited. I can’t wait to have a good time with friends and see what the new year holds! Make sure to check out my instagram @seriouslystyled_

 

XO

 

-A

BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic first impression

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 1 Comment

So I went to Ulta today to get my brows done and did a little stress shopping. There are exciting, scary, amazing, terrible (not really) things happening that have my stress levels through the roof. Last weekend was my best friends wedding and it was so fun and beautiful but also stressful and time consuming so I’m starting to decompress. Today I snagged this bh cosmetics baby for $16 which is an incredible deal for a palette these days. Especially when a crappy Maybeline palette is $14 (looking at you, blushed nudes). 


This BH palette has 18 shades which makes these colors less than $1 each! You can get a stunning variety of looks too! These shadows are baked so they work best with a mixing medium of your choice (I chose to use fix plus). Though they swatch fine dry, I don’t see them applying well without liquid. 

  

That being said, the look I achieved was quite vibrant and stunning! I used Earth, Neptune, Milky Way and Aphrodite. I also used Saturn as my face highlight.

There’s some pretty shades in both the warm and cool toned families. I will say there are two blues and two purples that are so similar I’m sure they’ll be indistinguishable on the eye but that still leaves 16 unique shades. However, this palette is all shimmers so if you are one of those people who refuses to use a shimmer in the crease because of ~rules~ (I get you if you have hooded eyes or small lid space) then this isn’t for you or you’ll need a companion palette of matte transition colors. 

I find this palette so aesthetically pleasing and totally dig the galaxy/space vibe and the marbelized shadows. I feel that this was a good buy as I had no issues applying or blending these shades and found them to be vibrant on the lid. I’m looking forward to creating more looks with this guy! 


XO

-A

Lorac Pirates of the Caribbean; 4 looks one palette & review!

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 1 Comment

Let me start this by saying two things. 1.) When I first saw this drop I had no intention of purchasing it but then I saw it in person and understood 2.) Lorac makes my single favorite eyeshadow formula of all time

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This palette retails for $52 but was on sale at Ulta last week for $41. I used Kohls cash (that my mom graciously gifted to me) to purchase mine. The packaging is large, clunky cardboard reminiscent of old school Urban Decay palettes. The eyeshadow palette contains a slit on the side to store the blush/highlighter palette if you decide to purchase that as well (they’re not sold together).

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This palette contains 18 eyeshadow shades and one mini eyeliner. This eyeliner is AMAZING. I kid you not it’s the best eyeliner I have EVER tried in my waterline. I was so, so surprised, as I’ve never tried any of loracs eyeliners or mascaras but boy will I be in the future.

This is a very cool toned eyeshadow palette and I am loving that, as I have a very cool complexion so these shades have been so flattering and so fun to play with. I’ve been infatuated with warm tones lately so it’s been fun to go back to my tried and true.

My favorite of the shadow shades are: silvermist, pirates chest, sea haze, silent mary and black pearl.

 

Above are my two favorite looks I created. This palette is fantastic for cool-toned smokey looks. I was able to create a silvery blue smokey eye with silver mist, yo ho, black pearl and silent mary and I was also able to create a green smokey eye using bones, sea haze, menace and ghostly. I LOVE these two looks and can’t wait to wear both of them again. Lip color on the left is Colourpop Clueless and the lip color on the right is Smashbox gloss in Pulse.

This next look was a very nice, wearable look that I rather enjoyed. I used the shades pirates chest, matey and compass. Lip color is Bite lip pencil in beige nude with a gloss over it.

For my final wearable look I used treasure, bones and tell no tales. I actually enjoyed this look far more in person that the way it photographed. Lip color is Nars Dragon Girl.

 

Overall, I really love this palette. It’s extremely versatile and it has been very easy to travel with. I also love the convenience of being able to store the blush palette (which I also purchased) in it so that I have a large number of my powdered face products all together. The large mirror is also very nice (there is also a nice mirror on the blush palette). Like most Lorac shadows they kick up up a bit of powder, but noticeably less than the Lorac Pro palette. These shadows are well pigmented and perform well. They hold for longer when used with a primer and or concealer on the lids (do note that I have very oily eyelids). I did find that sea haze performed far better with I sprayed some Maybeline master fix on my brush before picking it up and it was quite stunning foiled.

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Swatches in the same order shadows are in the palette starting at the top left. 

I heard that this didn’t get the greatest reviews but I rather disagree. I find this to be an excellent and very versatile palette. It has proven to be travel friendly and able to create a variety of looks for day and night (dates, work, shopping days, etc). If this is something you’ve been on the fence about I’d say if you enjoy cool tones and the Lorac shadow formula and don’t mind bulky packaging then I’d say absolutely pick this up! It’s excellent quality and fun! This is the most inspired I’ve felt by a makeup item in a long time and I didn’t even think it was something I wanted at first.

 

That’s all for now!

 

XO

-A

Viseart Petit Pro Review

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 1 Comment

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Viseart is a well known luxury brand used by pros and has very differing reviews from two of my favorite Youtube personalities (Stephanie Nicole who loves these and Livloveshermakeup who had the cool mattes palette and did not like it). I felt that for $30 I could give Viseart a shot and see if it was worth it for me.

This palette contains eight shades (4 matte and 4 shimmer) and a total of 5.84 grams of product, at a price tag of $30 (plus tax and shipping, however I did not include this in the per gram breakdown) it comes down to $5.13 per gram, which is actually pretty steep. I did get this during the VIB sale, as I was planning to purchase it anyway (woo a whopping $4.50 since off).

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A warm toned look using this Viseart palette. 

First and foremost these swatch beautifully, they’re buttery and come off as high-impact shadows. Unfortunately for me, that’s about where it ends. The matte shades are lovely, the blend out nicely and have decent color payoff but they’re honestly no different than my Lorac mattes (which are my favorite). For the price of a Viseart palette I could purchase two Lorac palettes and be just as (if not more) satisfied. Where it gets worse are the shimmer shadows. I put one of my regular eyeshadow brushes in the shimmer shades and barely and pigment was picked up. I eventually had to pack it on and foil it onto my eyelids and then it barely held on for the work day. A few days later I used Juvia’s Place Masquerade palette and it held on better than the Viseart palette did (for slightly less money and more shades in a larger size).

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Swatches

In addition to the actual product, the size of the palette is quite literally the size of my credit card and it is in a fold-out cardboard container (I do know corrugate costs are up right now but this is a pretty teeny carton). The shadows appear to be in a plastic holder within the cardboard packaging and quite frankly just look cheap. They are easily removable so that they can be stuck in a Z-palette for a makeup artist or someone who enjoys condensing their collection. However, I enjoy using palettes all together and haven’t yet invested in a Z-palette.

Though the tones are beautiful I wouldn’t recommend picking this up. Rather invest in the Lorac Pro for $14 more and double the shade selection or the ABH Modern Renaissance if you’re looking for a beautiful warm-toned neutral palette. I’m super bummed that these didn’t live up to the hype for me, but ya live and learn.

 

XO

 

-A

 

TooFacedXKatVonD Better Together eyeshadow palette review

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 4 Comments

This collection will set you back a whopping $65 but also comes with a full size Better Than Sex mascara and a full size Tattoo Liner in Trooper. If you account for the cost of these two items in the price then you’re paying $23 for the eyeshadow palette or about $1.91 per shade.

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On the Too Faced side there are six shades: BFF (matte cream), Lovely (matte baby pink), Friendspiration (shimmery brass) , Heart of Gold (shimmery green toned old gold), Power Couple (dark chocolate brown with gold glitter) and Better Together (deep shimmery purple).

I was pleasantly surprised with all of the shimmer shades on this side of the palette. The only two dudes in the whole palette were the two matte shades: BFF and Lovely. They take a lot of building up to get color payoff, whereas all the other shades glide on like butter. The matte shades though disappointing do work if you’re willing to spend a bit of time blending.

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On the Kat Von D Side we have another six shades: Por Vida (matte white), Darling (shimmery grey), Yours (cool-toned deep, matte grey), Devotion (Deep matte black), Swoon (a gorgeous deep red with gold reflects) and Lovestruck (a light, shimmery, peachy gold).

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Ahh all of the shades on the Kat Von D side are honestly stunning. They blend like butter and do not disappoint. They are the exact same quality I have come to expect from Kat Von D. Not to mention the overall aesthetic of this collection is stunning. The two palettes also are connected via magnet and come apart easily if you only wanted to take one side while traveling.

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Overall, I find this collection a great value if you love the mascara and liner that the collection comes with or have been itching to try them. The quality, pigment and lasting power is all here in this little baby. I’d definitely scoop it up if you’re considering it!