I had gone to ULTA last weekend after a haircut and picked up Smashbox Photo Finish primer (regular oil free variety), Anastasia Beauty Express brow kit and a Real Techniques powder brush.
Initially the brow kit stencils seemed great, but the more I experimented with it I realized none of them really fit my face. The petite stencil was too small and the proportion wasn't right - but the other sizes were too long. To get 2 of the 3 spots lined up it would throw the third spot off (lines up with a spot in line with nose, through the eye pupil and diagonal from nose to outer corner of eye). I also have very little arch, mostly straight eyebrows. Nothing really fit well. As thrilling as it was to have fully shaped eyebrows, extending the tail of my eyebrow with powder isn't very workable for me. I tried it for work a couple days and it was just too easy to inadvertently rub or scratch off the powder-only eyebrow. I did really like the brow highlight powder and would have bought that alone if I could.
I am enjoying the primer and brush. I had bought Photo Finish Light in the past but felt it didn't really do much, especially for the price.
So! I wandered over to ULTA today to return the Anastasia kit and find some other alternatives for my brows. I have some other pencils and powders but powder is tedious before work in the morning and most of my pencils are quite warm toned - my eyebrows are ashy in color and warm brow filler doesn't quite look right. My brows are very fair and somewhat sparse. When I was younger, they were completely light blonde, but they became darker blonde eventually. They still need a lot of help to be visible on my face. I also wanted a replacement for the brow highlight, hoped that there would be an Anastasia option with the same shade in that kit.
Couldn't find anything from Anastasia like what's in the kit. So I wandered around looking at the various high end products options for brows out of curiosity. Didn't find anything, but did look again at the Cargo Mediterranean Collection and after swatching the eyeshadow and blush, decided the price ($34) sounded like a good deal and snatched it.
The blush is pigmented and a fairly deep pink, but the gold shimmer is what hooked me. The eyeshadow duo (unnamed on the package) had very pretty gold and bronzey colors that seemed a little different to anything I have in that shade range. The lip gloss and dark teal liners were a bonus! I love blue and green liners and had considered the 4 pack of mini liner set Cargo is selling now, this is a nice way to try out the line. The eyeliner is called Swimmables (waterproof presumably!) and there's also a full sized Better-than-waterproof mascara. I have little interest in non-drugstore mascara, but I'll use this one once I'm out of my regular stuff (currently enjoying L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes).
After getting one high end item, I made a beeline to the drugstore area thinking about NYX having a fine point eyebrow marker that sounded interesting. The amazing Lisa Eldridge had used a fine point marker for eyebrows (I recall it wasn't a brand that was easy to obtain) and I was tempted in trying the NYX version. I was thinking it might have better sticking power than the powder when it comes to a full workday of small bumps/scratches. The packaging sells it as long wearing and after swatching and letting dry, it doesn't easily rub off. I am cautiously optimistic!
ULTA's current sale is buy 2 get 1 free on NYX, so I also grabbed two cream (non-shimmer) lipsticks in lighter colors. Being so pale and my lips can be fairly dark (depending on how much bloodflow I have to the face at the moment :) ), colors can look very dark on me. Got Strawberry Milk for a lighter pink and Orange Soda for a nude-ish orangey tone. It looks similar to me as my NYX jumbo pencil in Almond, I like orange toned light lips apparently!
There were a variety of items on clearance, since I had my mind set on some shimmery champagne or light peach these Maybelline Cool Effect Cooling Shadow/Liners caught my eye. I like the colors after swatching, popped the Peach Daiquiri under my eyebrow and I think it fits the bill. The swatches on my hand were done a couple hours ago and with moderate rubbing they still haven't budged. Better than I would have expected. I also snagged the Maybelline EyeStudio because the greens looked absolutely gorgeous. They swatched very easily and appear to be quite pigmented. They all have a very lovely shimmer and sparkle. Will definitely be trying this palette out soon!
I had stopped at MAC while walking through Macy's several weeks ago, maybe longer. I figured I'd include this in here as it was my first MAC lip product purchase! It's one of the new line, Sheen Supreme in Ultra Darling. Since my lips suffer from chronic dryness, I especially appreciate the extra moisture in this line. It's darker than I really had wanted, but again I guess I can't be too surprised based on past experience!
Lots of good stuff I'm excited to play around with.
Initially the brow kit stencils seemed great, but the more I experimented with it I realized none of them really fit my face. The petite stencil was too small and the proportion wasn't right - but the other sizes were too long. To get 2 of the 3 spots lined up it would throw the third spot off (lines up with a spot in line with nose, through the eye pupil and diagonal from nose to outer corner of eye). I also have very little arch, mostly straight eyebrows. Nothing really fit well. As thrilling as it was to have fully shaped eyebrows, extending the tail of my eyebrow with powder isn't very workable for me. I tried it for work a couple days and it was just too easy to inadvertently rub or scratch off the powder-only eyebrow. I did really like the brow highlight powder and would have bought that alone if I could.
I am enjoying the primer and brush. I had bought Photo Finish Light in the past but felt it didn't really do much, especially for the price.
So! I wandered over to ULTA today to return the Anastasia kit and find some other alternatives for my brows. I have some other pencils and powders but powder is tedious before work in the morning and most of my pencils are quite warm toned - my eyebrows are ashy in color and warm brow filler doesn't quite look right. My brows are very fair and somewhat sparse. When I was younger, they were completely light blonde, but they became darker blonde eventually. They still need a lot of help to be visible on my face. I also wanted a replacement for the brow highlight, hoped that there would be an Anastasia option with the same shade in that kit.
Couldn't find anything from Anastasia like what's in the kit. So I wandered around looking at the various high end products options for brows out of curiosity. Didn't find anything, but did look again at the Cargo Mediterranean Collection and after swatching the eyeshadow and blush, decided the price ($34) sounded like a good deal and snatched it.
After getting one high end item, I made a beeline to the drugstore area thinking about NYX having a fine point eyebrow marker that sounded interesting. The amazing Lisa Eldridge had used a fine point marker for eyebrows (I recall it wasn't a brand that was easy to obtain) and I was tempted in trying the NYX version. I was thinking it might have better sticking power than the powder when it comes to a full workday of small bumps/scratches. The packaging sells it as long wearing and after swatching and letting dry, it doesn't easily rub off. I am cautiously optimistic!
ULTA's current sale is buy 2 get 1 free on NYX, so I also grabbed two cream (non-shimmer) lipsticks in lighter colors. Being so pale and my lips can be fairly dark (depending on how much bloodflow I have to the face at the moment :) ), colors can look very dark on me. Got Strawberry Milk for a lighter pink and Orange Soda for a nude-ish orangey tone. It looks similar to me as my NYX jumbo pencil in Almond, I like orange toned light lips apparently!
There were a variety of items on clearance, since I had my mind set on some shimmery champagne or light peach these Maybelline Cool Effect Cooling Shadow/Liners caught my eye. I like the colors after swatching, popped the Peach Daiquiri under my eyebrow and I think it fits the bill. The swatches on my hand were done a couple hours ago and with moderate rubbing they still haven't budged. Better than I would have expected. I also snagged the Maybelline EyeStudio because the greens looked absolutely gorgeous. They swatched very easily and appear to be quite pigmented. They all have a very lovely shimmer and sparkle. Will definitely be trying this palette out soon!
I had stopped at MAC while walking through Macy's several weeks ago, maybe longer. I figured I'd include this in here as it was my first MAC lip product purchase! It's one of the new line, Sheen Supreme in Ultra Darling. Since my lips suffer from chronic dryness, I especially appreciate the extra moisture in this line. It's darker than I really had wanted, but again I guess I can't be too surprised based on past experience!
The Cargo eyeshadow duo looks insanely gorgeouss! <3
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at how pretty it was, it seemed pretty mundane in the pan but swatches very nicely! Looking forward to trying it out soon for sure.
ReplyDelete