Product Review: NYX Haul

Ulta had a 40% off sale on all NYX cosmetics last week and I indulged in getting some of the products I had been eyeing. If you've seen my previous review, you'll know that I really enjoyed the NYX Hot Singles. I have heard other bloggers and vloggers rave about the HD concealer and the Baked Blush, the color lip balm and roll on shimmer actually arrived in my Total Beauty Favorites Sampler Box (use code 2FER to get 2 boxes for the price of one)

I purchased 2 eyeshadow hot singles in the colors Money Maker and Dare. The pigmentation of these is on par with the other colors I have reviewed in the past. They are similar to MAC eyeshadows in terms of color, wear and staying power. I also got the NYX Baked Blush, which appears in the pan to be quite shimmery, in the color Wanderlust. To my surprise, this was very lightly pigmented and is probably better used as a highlight or cheek topper rather than a blush - or you can use it as a blush for a bronze-y more blended look. The shimmer really doesn't show up as much as I thought it would, but that isn't necessarily a negative.

Here are my swatches of the products.

I received the NYX Color Lip Balm in the color Merci and the NYX roll on Shimmer in Taupe from my Total Beauty Collection box. I was pleasantly surprised with the lip balm! It has a sweet taste to it, takes only 1 swipe for a sheer wash of color and can easily be built up into a bold, vibrant color on your lips. This is a great item for on-the-go application where you don't want to worry too much about getting perfect edges, it's very forgiving.  The shimmer in Taupe is very pigmented and has extremely good color payoff, but is very prone to glitter fall-out, so I don't know if I could use this all over my lid, as I would probably fear the glitter falling into my eye. If you're going to use this on your eyes, I highly recommend using a setting product or some cosmetic glitter glue. 

The NYX HD Concealer in Fair was my "gut instinct" purchase, because from all of the swatches I saw online, this looked like it had good opacity and would be a great brightening concealer. My gut was right, it is! You can tell by my swatches, it even retains the majority of its opacity when blended out. I think the color is a good match for me and it does act brightening because it doesn't have as yellow of undertones as my skin, so it makes certain areas appear slightly more highlighted. This concealer has good staying power but I did set it with my Tarte Maracuja powder, as with all under-eye correctors.

Hope you found this catch-all review helpful!

Eyes of the Day & Product Review: Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-1

Similar to the Nude Wear Glowing Blush compact, this new Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-1 compact (in Warm Nude) is buttery, well-pigmented and I experienced absolutely no fall-out or powdery texture. I think this is the best product I have tried out of the whole Shimmer Strips like (and I own quite a few of their eyeshadow palettes). I think the pigmentation is much better on this compact though, so I whole-heartedly give this compact a 5/5 rating!

I swatched the entire palette on my arm, without any primer, no flash and just natural lighting, check out the awesome pigmentation - these were all one swipe and no extra build-up!

I think this is a great product for someone who likes golds and nudes, obviously you're not getting much color variation, it's only gold, bronze, copper, some shades are slightly taupey. That being said, you get a very seamless look regardless of how you combine these eyeshadows. You can achieve very wearable, everyday looks with this, or glammed up party looks - I would vary it up by either using a little bit more of the darker colors or applying more or less eyeliner can do the trick.

Here's how I achieved the look with a quick guide so you can follow along on your very own palette! Be sure to take advantage of the 40% off sale going on right now at Rite Aid to pick yours up!

Let me know what you think about this product!

Product Review: Physicians Formula Nude Wear - Nude Glow Blush (Rose)

Promotional Photo of Nude Wear Compact

As promised, I have a review for you on the Nude Wear blush by Physicians Formula that I picked up from the Rite Aid sale yesterday. Upon first glance there was a pink over-spray on the writing which I thought would equate into having a more shimmery blush. However, this spray went away after the first swatch and there is absolutely no shimmer left on my blush now. 

This blush gives a sheer, satin finish but it is definitely build-able, specifically the lower 2 quadrants. This is like a lighter mix of NARS Orgasm and MAC's Dollymix blushes when worn. The textures are buttery and smooth and not powdery at all, I haven't noticed any fall-out or flaking on the compact itself. I picked up the "Rose" compact, but there is a "Natural" (more coral-leaning) and there is a set of Powder compacts in this same line (available in Light and Medium) which look more like bronzers than all-over-face powders. 

Here are my swatches of the "Rose" Nude Wear without any primer or base:

When mixing all of the shades together, you can achieve a lighter rose blush similar to a faded version of MAC's Angelika blush (giving you that more of a coral-leaning-rose effect rather than a pure cooler-toned pink). This is warm-toned blush for those who want a natural look, it's not going to make you look like you have tons of blush on your cheeks, even if you go a little heavy when picking it up with your brush.

Conveniently this compact opens up at the back and comes with a brush and mirror as with many of Physicians Formula's products. I would give this product a solid 4/5 for wearability, pigmentation and overall conception. I highly recommend picking it up, specifically if you can get it on sale, it's a great quality drugstore blush.

Product Review: Real Techniques Makeup Brushes

The brand Real Techniques is a project by popular UK YouTube vloggers/beauty gurus and makeup artists Sam and Nic Chapman. I've been a long time subscriber and fan of their channel. I have also owned two of their brushes (the Expert Face Brush and the 2-in-1 Kabuki Brush) for a few months and have found myself reaching for them on a daily basis.



Now don't imagine that these are my first brushes, I can assure you they're not even close. I have approximately 75 brushes in my collection (well, before I bought the Real Techniques sets) and they range from drugstore brands like EcoTools, ELF, Kirkland, Sonia Kashuk, and then move up to more expensive brands like Sephora, Lancome, Stila, Urban Decay, Nicka K, and MAC.

The Real Techniques sets retail for $17.99 in my local Ulta and drugstores. You can get them for cheaper online and I'll have the links below.

The first set I got is the real Techniques Travel Essentials Set which includes 3 brushes: an essential foundation brush, a domed shadow brush, and a multi task brush. From this set, I realized that:

eyeshadow brushes are purple 
face brushes are gold
multi-use brushes are pink

This color coding is extremely intelligent and useful when you're looking for a particular brush to put your makeup on in a vast collection! I really like this added organizational bonus. The bristles feel very soft to the touch - I would use the multi tasking pink brush for blush or bronzer for contouring, it's not quite as big as I would like for an all-over face powder, however so I'll stick to using my MAC 150 for that.

Top: Expert Face Brush, Bottom: Buffing Brush

I'm sure you can use the essential foundation brush for applying your liquid foundation, however, I actually prefer the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for that application due to its buffing capability, it has shorter bristles and is very dense compared to the buffing brush from their Core Collection.









The real Techniques Core Collection Set consists of 4 face brushes: a contour brush, a pointed foundation brush, a detailer brush, and the buffing brush. The contour brush can be used for cream products and bronzers, the pointed foundation brush is great for putting foundation around your nose and under your eyes, and the detailer brush is amazing for applying concealer to specific areas. The buffing brush is as straight-forward as it sounds and lets you buff out your foundation, your powder, or your blush/contour - these brushes are always a workhorse in my collection. The pointed foundation brush is much smaller than essential foundation brush from the previous set. So you're really not getting any duplicates by buying all the sets.




The final set I have recently gotten is the real Techniques Starter Set. This set contains: a deluxe crease brush, base shadow brush, accent brush, fine liner brush, and brow brush. The names of these brushes are quite self-explanatory, you pack on your base eyeshadow color with the base shadow brush, pop the crease color on with the deluxe crease brush and use the accent brush for your inner corner highlight. You can use the liner brush to put your liquid or gel eyeliner and fill in your brows with the brow brush.

I really believe that if you get all of these brush sets, you would have a fabulous and inexpensive start to a really nice collection. The only addition I would make to the set would be to get the ELF large and small duo-fiber stipple brushes to supplement.




I also have to give an honorable mention and 5 stars to the 2-in-1 Kabuki Brush by Real Techniques because it is absolutely fabulous.  You might be wondering, why is it 2-in-1? Well, it is an angled kabuki brush (great for brush and bronzer) that opens up and turns into a fan brush, perfect for contouring! It snaps back into place very easily because it has a strong magnet. I'm a huge fan, it's perfect for traveling, and I use it *all the time*.

2-in-1 Kabuki Brush

If you're looking for affordable, synthetic, professional quality brushes that don't shed, are color-coded and come in perfect travel sized, convertible stand pouches, then these are for you! The bristles are super soft and flexible and they are so easy to clean!

Different concealer colors: What are they for?

Do you find yourself shopping for concealer and looking at a rainbow of colors, wondering what the difference is if you buy a pink, yellow, or green? I had this problem and never knew what they were used for so I limited myself to purchasing the nude shades which literally were the same as my skin tone for fear that I would start to appear clownish with the rest. Fear not, however, because I'm going to tell you exactly what they're all for so don't be afraid to add them to your arsenal of blemish and imperfection coverage.

In general, concealers hide dark circles, scars, pimples, and really any skin flaw you can think of. It's always important to consider whether or not your concealer is of adequate quality and won't cake on your face, as this will make you flaws stand out even more (not exactly your intended result, is it?). Concealer colors are all about neutralization, since most of our skin's imperfections have a color hue to them. For example, your under-eye circles tend to be blueish in hue, many people have redness on their faces, and pimples can be plenty of colors. As for imperfections that aren't affected by color, such as wrinkles and fine lines, we would stick to using the neutral concealer that just matches your skin tone and foundation.

Let's take a look at the color wheel because it holds the key to the mystery that explains what all the various colors of concealers can do for your skin. The theory is that colors on the opposite end of the spectrum (so right across from each other, the way violet is to yellow) cancel out or neutralize each other. Therefore, if you had a yellowish blemish on your face, you would want to use the lavender concealer to neutralize the color before you put on your foundation (foundations generally will not cover up blemishes unless you use a ton, and rather than making your face look like a kabuki mask, you should use concealer). Mint green concealer is used to combat redness such as inflamed pimples and rosacea (redness due to capillaries being too close to the skin). Yellow shades are used to hide nasty veins that may be seen, and the same goes for orange shades which are usually for purple and blue bruises as well. Baby blue or lavender concealers are used to even out your skin, for example if you have bruises or birthmarks that you want to get rid of. The three general concealer colors are yellow, lavender and green. Yellow or apricot warms the skin color and counteracts discoloration on top of its already mentioned uses. Lavender concealer brightens dull skin and can even be used to conceal very dark under eye circles (but not in fair skinned people generally because the dark circles won't be dark enough and can be handled with yellow). Green concealer minimizes redness is general so this color is the most useful for people with red blotches or port wine stains around their mouth as well.

If you have tattoos and you want to cover them up without spending a pretty penny for your tattoo concealers, use the regular drugstore concealers but consider the color of your tattoo. If you have a blue tattoo, use a concealer that is yellowish and make sure that you have a waterproof formula as well as applying a translucent powder on top to set the product for the longest staying power possible.

Below is a collection of concealers that I am familiar with and that have worked well for me at a reasonable cost.