Hautelook Pucker Up! Review - Lip Beauty Bag Blowout

In honor of the price reduction on Hautelook for this Lip Beauty Bag from $24 each to $10 each, I'm going to upload my swatches and give you a detailed review of each product and what I think about it. I did an announcement post when it came out and you can check that out here.

The bag itself is rather uneventful but is nicely enough constructed that you can travel with it and it will hold up. I don't much care for the lipstick case because it feels cheap, like something you would find in a dollar store and the one wipe is fine for on the go.

Here are my swatches of the lip products inside the bag:

Mostly everything is red or red-leaning. You can definitely tell that the Mirenesse Glossy Kiss and the Lord & Berry Lipstick are very close in color, they are more true reds which lean slightly orange. The Lorac Lip Lustre is a true red with red glitter and the Mirenesse Lip Bomb is a deeper red. The NYX Lip Liner I received is a fuchsia-based red. The Laura Geller Lipstick is unique, I really like this color, it's very much a frosty finish (I would really only apply this in the middle of my lips to give a subtle highlight)

I have always wanted to try the Mirenesse Lip Bombs and the bonus is that you also get a Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in this set (a crayon lipstick that is twistable). The color payoff on these is absolutely phenomenal, you will never have to apply layers of these, 1 layer is full opacity! The Lip Bombs are more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss.

The quality of the Lorac lipgloss is good, the color can be semi-sheer so I have to apply about 2 layers to get the desired effect - the glitter particles do show up. The Italian Marbled lipstick, specifically in the color I received of Sugared Maple, can give a little bit of a dead-lipped appearance so I reserve usage for highlighting purposes - but otherwise it has a nice creamy consistency. It is also very frosty.

The Lord & Berry lipstick crayon is probably the item I'm most bummed about in this set. I find that the formula moves around on my lips too much, causing it to feather past my lip line throughout the day, it's for that reason that I probably wouldn't recommend these, since I doubt most people apply anti-feathering lip liners (this was still an issue for me when using regular lip liner). I was very pleasantly surprised with the NYX retractable lip liner pencil - this is a very smooth, creamy formual and it glides on without tugging. It's a very full color and makes my lipsticks last all day.

The brush is something I find a little large for a lip liner and a little hard to control in the area since it has rather long, bendy bristles. However, I have been using it to apply my inner corner highlight eyeshadow and it does do a great job at that!

Let me know what you think of this bag, did you purchase it? Are you going to? Why or why not?

How to Fix Dry Mascara

Did you know that a typical mascara dries up before even half of it is used up? Do you have multiple mascaras going at once and fear that they will dry out on you? Well never fear, there's a fix for that!

It's very important to remember that all mascaras should be thrown out every 3-6 months depending on the level of usage (ones you use most should be thrown out sooner).

You will only need Saline solution or Visine (any kind of gentle eye drops will do or contact solution). When your favorite mascara starts to get dry and clumpy just add 5-6 drops of saline solution or eye drops to the bottle. Put your wand back in, close tightly and shake! You can do this multiple times until you finish all of your mascara.

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.

Huge sales! 40% OFF Physician's Formula at Rite Aid!

Rite Aid is having some amazing deals right now. 

All Physicians Formula Products are 40% off. Specifically the display states Foundation, Powder, Concealer, Blush or Bronzers but most of their products can double as eyeshadows or are meant to be used more than one way (even if the display doesn't say you can apply the discount to something you want just go up to the cashier and they will make anything from the brand 40% off for you). 

Maybelline is $2 off *any* purchase! 

AND Wet 'N Wild is BOGO (buy 1 get 1 free). 

The great thing about these sales is that they apply to anything that isn't on clearance (and in my local store, none of the items were on clearance)

For myself I picked up the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-1 Custom Nude Palette (in Warm Nude), Physicians Formula Nude Wear Glowing Nude Blush (in Rose) and a Maybelline Color Tattoo (in Pomegranate Punk). I was very happy that my grand total was under $20.

I'll have swatches and reviews on these products for you very soon! So far I can tell that the powder products are extremely smooth and buttery and I'm excited to put them to the test.

Product Review: L'Oreal The One Sweep Eyeshadow

I'm sure most of you have seen this product around and have wondered if the gimmick really works. It sounds so simple. You take the applicator sponge, sweep it across the 3 color gradient provided and then sweep it on to your eye. You do this twice and you should achieve a flawless eyeshadow look. This sounds like it is particularly useful for makeup novices who are unsure of which color to place where, or for those of us who are a little bit timid when trying to create a smokey eye look.

I found this on sale at my local CVS and decided to give it a go and give my wonderful readers an honest opinion of this product!

The product itself looks like it could be used with a regular brush as well so if the applicator didn't work out, I figured I could still use this as regular eyeshadow. There's a wide array of colors but I chose 908 Smokey for All Eyes because it's out-of-the-box from what I normally wear and I wanted to try it out.

The quality of the shadows is good, they are smooth and blendable, I'm actually quite impressed by them, just as I was by the Revlon Colorstay Quads. Drugstore eyeshadows have vastly improved in recent years and they are almost just as good as the higher end brands.

First, I tried this product with nothing else added and no blending to show you what it looked like and then I worked with it to achieve more of a look that I am comfortable with.

L'Oreal The One Sweep Eyeshadow

All things considered, this product performed well, I really didn't feel like I had to apply more than one sweep to achieve the desired amount of color. I didn't particularly like the delineation between shades since you can see clearly where each color ends and the other one begins, but this was an easy fix with a shadow blender brush. 

Is this a product you must purchase? No, this is something that is more for those who are in a rush or those who don't like to change up their look as much, there's a neutral brown combination which I think suits all skin tones and occasions. 

I give this product a solid 3.75/5 - the color payoff is really good and the colors blend together very smoothly, the applicator works but you do have to go and blend it out to make it a little bit more of a wearable look (specifically with a stark color combination such as the Smokey look I chose).

Eyes of the Day - Revlon Colorstay Quad (Goddess)

I recently picked up the Revlon Colorstay Quad in Goddess and I was so excited to try it out that I promptly created an eye look around it.

If you don't know what the consistency of the Revlon Quads is, I have to gush and tell you that they are absolutely smooth, buttery and a dream to blend. The only color I had a slightly harder time with was the deepest taupe grey in the bottom right-hand corner of the quad. I suspect this color moved a little more than the rest during application because it has larger shimmer particles. All in all, this quad was definitely worth the $4.50 I paid for it (originally the price is $8.99, still a good price point).

Here's how I achieved this look:

• Applied bottom-left shade all over my lid on a white base
• Used highlight color underneath my brow and in the inner corner
• Darkened up the outer "V" with bottom right color and blended
• Used the peachy pink shade on top of the crease color to warm it up

Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad - Goddess

For an added pop of color, since I like my looks to be a little more unique, I chose to go with the the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Glistening Garnet. I used this color as an accent under my eye and close to my waterline

Image credit to Temptalia.com

I hope you guys enjoyed this look! I love playing with new products and I'm always so excited when I get something new to try it out ASAP!