First Impressions: NYX Hot Single Eyeshadows

Today I received my order from the NYX website (this is the first time I've ever ordered anything from them) and I was so surprised at the great deals and variety they had! I didn't even know NYX made SO many products, even Ricky's near me don't carry nearly the entire line. I read many reviews and recommendations for the new Hot Single Eyeshadows. I also found great discount codes online and they stacked with the memorial sale, so I managed to purchase quite a lot of things and get free shipping, a bonus free product, and a great price! 

I was eager to do a quick first impressions of these since I haven't had time to actually use them (though I'm sure I'll do some Eyes of the Day posts with these). 

As you can tell, the eyeshadows look very pigmented in their cute packaging, complete with bow-clasp. They are such a delight in their packaging that I don't even want to depot them (I had originally purchased them with this intention)

The swatches of these shades are absolutely beautiful. All of these colors were only swatched once. 

• They all have a satin finish except for Tweed which is a medium to deep matte brown (perfect crease or definition color). 
• Club Crawl is a duochrome taupe shade with golden reflects. 
• Flustered is a deep reddish copper, again another shade I would think is great crease shade paired with something lighter or darker on the lid. 
• Sex Kitten is a duochrome pink-based champagne with gold reflects (amazing for an all-over lid color or inner corner highlight). 
• Harlequin is a vivid violet fuchsia that is delightful for a very feminine look. 
• Dank is a yellow-leaning medium green which reminds me a lot of a shade in between MAC's Swimming and Lucky Green. 

I posted photos of the NYX website color previews and most colors looked darker in the pictured pot than what I received. I found that the truest to color were Flustered (copper) and Dank (green), Tweed (brown) appears lighter and Sex Kitten (champagne), Harlequin (purple) and Club Crawl (taupe) appear darker in the pot.

Sneak Peek: Maybelline Fall Matte Color Tattoo Collection (2014)

Photo from Beautezine's instagram: http://www.intagme.com/beautezine/734219344452265565_8519872/

There was a sneak peek of the new line of Maybelline Color Tattoos coming out this fall and they're all matte, folks! Yep, Maybelline is doing it again by releasing these colors in a totally matte formulation. I'm super excited, the colors are very fall-esque, with what appears to be dark maroon, brown, copper, black and a plum leaning gray.

I can't wait until we have more info on these but I just wanted to give you all a quick heads up, I know I got super giddy when I found out!

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.