Blog Sale - Beauty Items for Extremely Cheap (more than 50% off brand new in box Items)

Milani Color Statement Lipsticks, Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Hazel Eyes, Burt's Bees 100% Natural Lip Shine

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to do a quick post informing you of my blog sale. I'm trying to get rid of some excess stuff I have that is brand new and I'm doing so at the MUABS (Makeup Addict Blog Sale) website. Check out the stuff that I have for sale, you may be interested... it's an awesome deal... you can get everything for 50% off or cheaper than you would ever find it elsewhere!

Here are just some of the items I have for sale right now (I'll be updating these all the time, I still have a ton more stuff, don't worry!)

Maybelline Color Tattoo Leathers

L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara + Starlooks Amethyst Eye Pencil

Physicians Formula Concealers, Blush and Bronzing Stones

Assorted Nail Polishes

Perfume, Pacifica Body Butter, Nail Treatments & Skin Treatments

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!
- Alex

Review & Comparison: Jordana 12 HR Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil (Continuous Almond)

The Jordana 12 Hour Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil in Continuous Almond is a new purchase and I wanted to share with you the uses of this product as well as my opinions on the quality compared to similar products on the market. You get a nice amount of product, and this only cost me $3.99 at my local Duane Reade.

You can see in the swatch that the color is just slightly lighter than my natural skin tone and it has a nice amount of coverage even on the first pass (bottom swatch), but can be built nicely and does not ball up or become separated. The pencil does need to be sharpened, this isn't a twist-up mechanical pencil.

From left to right: L'Oreal Silkissme (Highlighter), Jordana E/S Pencil (Pink Evermore), Milani Shadow Eyez (Sand Dunes), Jordana E/S Pencil (Eternal White), Jordana E/S Pencil (Continuous Almond), Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter, Rimmel Scandaleyes (Nude)

I went through my collection of eyeliners and found the ones that are most comparable to the Jordana 12 HR Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil in Continuous Almond. The closest dupe I found was the Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude, but this is a thinner pencil and would be more difficult to apply all over the lid, I also think it has more sheer coverage.

I also wanted to compare Continuous Almond to others in the Jordana 12 HR Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil range, namely Pink Evermore and Eternal White.

Swatch comparisons for the Jordana Eyeshadow Pencil in Continuous Almond

You can see from the swatches that Jordana E/S Pencil in Continuous Almond and the Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter are the smoothest, most full coverage of the pencils (Chella's pencil has a more brightening effect, however and seems to have line-filling properties).

The Jordana E/S Pencil in Eternal White is patchy and cannot be layered as nicely as the Continuous Almond shade, I often use this as a base but struggle to get an even application. The Jordana E/S Pencil in Pink Evermore is the same formula but it has shimmer so it gives off a different finish. You can see that the Milani Shadow Eyez in Sand Dunes is a golden glittery version of Continuous Almond.

L'Oreal Silkissime in Highlighter is by far the hardest textured pencil of the bunch, it applies the least creamy but has a long staying power, it literally has to be rubbed off or else residue remains (I experienced this with my swatch).

Overall, I highly recommend the Jordana 12 HR Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil in Continuous Almond, it has better staying power than the Milani Shadow Eyez, better coverage than the Rimmel Scandaleyes pencil and is a smoother application than all of the other comparisons. This pencil could work well as an all-over nude shade or as a base for eyeshadows (this will probably be my primary use for this shade).

New Product Alert: Milani Bella Eyes Gel Powder Eyeshadow

Everyone brace yourselves! Milani's new Bella Eyes Gel Powder Eyeshadows are showing up in your local drugstores (my CVS now has them in stock)! I was so excited to pick up a few of these to review. These retail for $3.99-$4.99.

The packaging is Milani's signature gold compact, similar to their baked blushes which came out in late 2013. The formulation is a soft, smooth and richly pigmented powder. These eyeshadows, despite their name, do not have a gel-like consistency, nor do they feel like the Maybelline Bouncy line, rather they remind me more of MAC's baked eyeshadow consistency (the "gel" claim is because Milani states the formula starts as a gel and is then baked to a powder eyeshadow).

The Milani Bella Eyes shadows can be used wet or dry. This eyeshadow range consists of 30 colors (of which you should be able to find all of them in your drugstore displays) and comes in 3 finishes: satin matte, shimmer and iridescent metallic.

The colors that stood out to me were originally Bella Mandarin and Bella Violet (since it reminded me of Urban Decay's Grifter, which is my favorite eyeshadow color of all time). Bella Mandarin is an ideal color to blend out or warm up any crease color of your choice, specifically it works well for browns and taupes.
I picked up Bella Champagne because I watched a couple of video reviews which stated that the Shimmer-finish was superior in pigmentation and color payoff to the Satin Mattes. I do think that the least pigmented of the bunch I have is Bella Violet (which incidentally is also a shimmer), so it may have to do with the color selection as well as the finish.

Milani Bella Eyes Gel Powder Eyeshadow Swatches

The consistency appears to be good for these shadows, they all perform decently thus far in swatches and on the eyes. I haven't noticed any creasing or fading (but let me disclose that I always wear eyeshadow primer or concealer underneath any eyeshadow). I would definitely recommend purchasing the colors that stand out to you as you won't be disappointed.

I don't think one must own the entire collection because a lot of the colors are dupe-able or very similar (Bella White, Bella Ivory, Bella Diamond and Bella Chiffon are only marginally different from one another and I'm not sure that you would notice much of a difference once blended out, same with Bella Rose and Bella Pink).

Not sure which colors you want? For great swatches of each color in the range, check out Vampy Varnish's very comprehensive blog post.