Dirty Mind Cosmetics Lipsticks

Hello folks!!

Today I want to introduce you guys to a brand that delivers great products, is inspired by pop culture but has a bit of naughtiness sprinkled all over 😉 I like that the brand celebrates and encourages you to be your true self and oh their lipstick formula is the bomb!

Dirty Mind Cosmetics Lipsticks

Let us start with the packing. The lipsticks are housed in an elegant matte black square tube and have a magnetic closure. That click sound is always music to my ears :). The packaging reminds me of Kosas lipsticks and feels high end.

Dirty mind cosmetics very kindly sent me 4 of their shades and I love the variety they offer! These lipsticks are vegan, cruelty free, paraben free and the formula is described as semi matte.

The 4 shades from Dirty Mind Cosmetics

I fell in love with the formula of these lipsticks 🙂 They glide on so smoothly, and deliver full pigment on your lips with a singe swipe. The semi matte formula is very comfortable on the lips too. I did not experience any drying of my lips from using these lipsticks for a full week continuously (It is really cold and dry where I live and so I am even more impressed by this!).  They also wear away in a uniform fashion so it looks okay even if you do not reapply after a meal. The formula is comparable to many high end lipsticks I have tried.

Swatches of the Dirty Mind Cosmetics lipsticks

The darkest shade of the lot is carpet matches the drapes and surprisingly this turned out to be a favorite! This is definitely not an every day shade for me but I love the rich color and it looks great for a girls night out! I get compliments every time I wear this shade.

The swatches above are all single swipe swatches and you can see how pigmented these lipsticks are! Heart on and Just the tip are probably the shades everyone will gravitate towards for everyday wear. The shade Red Rocket is a beautiful warm red shade. The formula is consistent across all these shades and I really appreciate that. Many a times I have come across lipsticks where the lighter or darker shades are more patchy or uneven compared to the rest of the shades in the collection.

They have 2 more shades in their collection, a real dark shade called BJ and a purple mauve shade called Wanna Scissor. I would love to see them release more shades since their formula is excellent!!

Overall, I really enjoy these lipsticks and highly recommend them. Do check out their website HERE to see the other shades they offer!

 

*PR Sample. Opinions expressed here are my own. (no affiliate links)

Advertisements

The Jouer Ultra Foil Eyeshadow Palette

Hello everyone!

The Jouer Ultra Foil palette caught my eye so many times during the sephora sale, after the sephora sale and when they did additional 20% off on sale…every time  I came really close to buying it. Finally, this beautiful eyeshadow set was available on the Jouer website for 40% off on top of the sale price already listed! I finally bit the bullet and bought this beauty home for 18$! This palette is probably the best beauty steal I’ve managed to snag in a while 😀

The Jouer Ultra Foil Eyeshadow palette

The palette came with an eye topper which I never was interested in so I don’t know where I kept it and hence can’t swatch it..sorry about that. The palette is made of plastic and for some reason reminds me of makeup revolution palettes! The pretty dragon fly is a sticker and I really like the overall look of the palette. However, the original price of this palette is 52$ which I feel is too much for a plastic palette with a sticker on top.

Inside the Jouer Ultra Foil eyeshadow palette

Doesn’t it look gorgeous! If you love metallic lid shades like I do, this is a dream palette. This palette is full of shimmer shades so it requires you to pull out some matte shadows from your collection. I am okay with that since this gives me an opportunity to use some of my single matte eyeshadow shades 🙂 Formulation wise, I found a few shadows a bit different compared to the rest..some of them are more of a traditional shimmer eyeshadow without intense glitter.  Another interesting thing about these shadows is that they can be packed on for full intensity or sheered down a bit for a more subtle look.

Brush swatches of the first 2 columns in the palette

These are swatches build up with just one dip into the pan..if I want to make these really pop I can easily build it up. That my friends, is the beauty of this palette. I have worn these glittery eyeshadows to toddler story time hour with kiddo without people looking at me like i’m some glitter crazy mom. I have also worn these shadows packed on to look like foil for an evening out with the husband.

Brush swatches of the last 2 columns of the palette

The blue shade in the palette has a beautiful brownish shift to it which is very much reflected in the swatch above ( second from right). The purple shade which is the other bright pop color in this palette does not look as vibrant as it does in the pan. I do not mind this, but if you were looking for the exact vibrant purple you see in the pan, you might be a tad bit disappointed! The formula for the blue, the purple and the gunmetal grey ( third shade from right) is more like traditional metallic shadows and not what I’d call foil. Again, I am not complaining these look lovely on the eyes!

Depending on the shades you use in your crease and outer corners of the eye, you can get beautiful subtle shifts to these shades once they blend in with those shades. Speaking of bending, these guys bend beautifully and last all day with no fading (I always use a primer).

Overall, this palette is a winner in my book! Have you picked this Jouer palette up? Which other products do you like from Jouer?

 

Avon Iconic Beauty Palette from Holiday 2018

Hello folks!

My previous post was on the lovely lipsticks in the Avon Iconic Beauty holiday collection which I had ordered from their website. In order to get free shipping, I added the Iconic Beauty Palette too into my cart 😀 and today our review is all about this palette.

The Avon Iconic Beauty Palette

Avon gets an A+ for the beautiful packaging! I love the outer box and the inner palette cover looks nice too. This palette comes with 4 eyeshadows and 2 blushes. Out of these 2 products I’d say the eyeshadows were not the best. The shades look pretty in the pan, but the color payoff was not that great.

Inside the Avon Iconic Palette Holiday 2018

The gold shade was the biggest miss in my opinion. It has sparkle but is extremely sheer in pigmentation. I have to really really build up the shadow for it to look atleast somewhat close to how it looks in the pan. The other 3 shadows are better pigmentation wise. However, all of them are extremely powdery. The shadows do last on my eyelids when used with a primer. So all that building up of the color does not go waste! I do not think these shades will last very long without a primer, since they are so powdery I think they might just ‘dust’ away.

Brush swatches of the Avon Iconic Palette

As you can see from the brush swatches above the gold has barely any pigment. You really need to keep packing on the shadow for any pigment to show up!

The 2 blushes are the saving grace of this palette. One of the shades is a peachy pink with gold shimmer ( NARS Orgasm style) and the other is a more deeper matte peach blush. The blushes are also powdery so expect some powder fallout all over the palette. These blushes are build able which is a good thing as far as blushes go! You have better control over the amount of color you are depositing on your cheeks. I found the blushes to be pretty long lasting too! I have dry skin so I generally do not have issues with powder products disappearing towards the end of the day.

Overall, this is an okay palette. I think I will stick to buying lipsticks from Avon since their formula on the iconic lipstick line was amazing 🙂

What are your favorite products from Avon?

Avon Iconic Lipsticks from Holiday 2018

Hello folks!

This review was supposed to go up in December but then I got caught up with so many things around the holiday season as we all do! I had purchased these lipsticks and an eye and cheek palette from the Avon Holiday collection on black friday. To be honest, I have never been interested in Avon as a brand, but when I saw these lipsticks on Instagram, I just had to have them!

If you are into vintage and retro makeup, this is your dream collection. Look at the beautiful outer boxes for these lipsticks! I have decided to keep these boxes..they just make me happy 🙂

The Avon Iconic Lipsticks for Holiday 2018

Now if you’ve fallen for the outer box packaging, wait till you see the actual lipstick cases 😀 They look fabulous..especially since these were 6 or 7$ a piece. Each lipstick case is gold metal and has a distinctive pattern on the lid. They have a nice weight to them so they don’t feel cheap.

So lovely! The Avon Iconic lipstick cases look fantastic 🙂

I usually buy a shade or 2 from a collection but with this one I just couldn’t resist getting all the 5 shades. The 5 shades are Sugar Plum: a magenta shade, Holly red : a classic holiday red, Holiday Chocolate: a pinky brown nude, Wine Kisses: a deep purple shade and finally a shimmery lipstick in the shade Merry Mauve. Merry Mauve is more light pink than a mauve so I’m not sure why they named it so!

Avon Iconic Lipsticks

Things get even better ;)..the formula of these lipsticks is amazing! They feel like a high end lipstick. Avon describes these as a satin finish, but they look more creamy than satin on my lips and I love it. They glide on very smoothly, have rich pigment and feel very comfortable on the lips. I even like Merry Mauve although it is shimmery. It did not look frosty on the lips thankfully! Except for Wine kisses, which is too dark for my personal liking I have been rocking these lipsticks all through December 😀

Swatches of Avon Iconic Lipsticks, from top to bottom: Merry Mauve, Wine Kisses, Holiday Chocolate, Holly Red and Sugar Plum

The formula is consistent across all the shades. There was no patchiness or skipping among any of them.

Overall, it is a beautiful collection which hit the mark with the packaging and the actual product too! I am impressed with Avon and would love to try more of their lipsticks in the future 🙂

What are your favorite Avon products?

Until next time, ciao!!

Bare Minerals Northern Lights Gen Nude Eye and Cheek Palette

Hello folks!

I am sure you have been in this predicament quite often..you are happily shopping online and to reach the minimum order value to qualify for free shipping you start looking for non essential stuff to add to your cart 😀 Well, that is the story of how this mini eye and cheek palette from Bare Minerals landed up in my hands!

Bare Minerals Northern Lights Gen Nude Eye and Cheek Palette

This is a really cute little palette which is a limited edition release for the holidays. I picked up mine from Ulta for 6$ and at this point of time it is still available on the Ulta website but at its full price of 12$. The packaging is cardboard, but the palette overall is quite sturdy and makes a good travel palette. I have heard good things about the gen nude line and this was a perfect way to try out the blush and sample eyeshadows from the line.

Northern lights palette from Bare Minerals

The Northern Lights Palette comes with a blush in the shade Strike a Rose and 2 eyeshadows: Girl’s Night and Couture. The blush is available in their regular line of Gen Nude blushes. I am not too sure about the eyeshadows since I couldn’t find the same shade names in their gen nude eyeshadow palettes. The palette is made in the USA so I am guessing they didn’t skimp on the quality.

I really like the 2 eyeshadows in this palette. They are perfect for every day office wear. They are not matte but have a nice sheen which makes them ideal for professional settings. The formula is great; nice pigmentation, no fallout, lasts all day (I always wear a primer) and are easy to apply. Both shades can be used individually for a wash of color or together to create a nice subtle eye look.

The Blush shade strike a rose is a neutral pink which again fits in with the eyeshadow look. The formula is a bit powdery and you have to be careful while dipping in your blush brush.

Brush swatches of the Bare Minerals Northern Lights Palette

I have used a brush to swatch the shades and as you can see the eyeshadows have a nice sheen as I mentioned earlier. This palette is probably ideal for light to medium skintones since I think the blush might look a bit ashy on deeper skintones.

Overall, I really enjoy using this palette and if you can grab it at a sale price, it is a steal!

Until next time, ciao!!

 

MAC Shiny Pretty Things Face Compact

Hello everyone!! A few weeks back I received a nice little coupon from Ulta in the mail and so I decided to do some makeup shopping although I don’t really need anything 😛 Most of the holiday releases this year from the big brands were kind of meh to me. This face palette from the MAC 2018 holiday collection caught my eye since I have never tried their extra dimension formula. The palette also had some good reviews on Ulta so I decided to pick this guy up.

Mac Shiny Pretty Things Face Compact

The face palette comes in 2 shades: Fair and Medium Deep. I was kind of torn on which one to get. The highlighter in the Fair compact looked lovely but I heard that the bronzer does not pick up well with a brush. The bronzer in the Medium deep looked scary but I eventually bought the medium deep because the blush in this one is totally my jam! The fair compact comes in a silver compact and the medium deep comes in a pink compact. Frankly, I hate the packaging! The cloth like material makes it look tacky especially in combination with the hot pink

MAC Shiny Pretty Things Face Compact in Medium Deep

The inside of the palette looks much better! The highlighter looks very golden in the pan but I was able to make it work on my medium skintone without it looking like gold stripes on the top of my cheek bones 😀 However, this is my least favorite item in this palette. When I apply this on my skin I do detect tiny glitter particles. This is not a very smooth formula compared to the blush and bronzer. You can see what I am talking about in my brush swatches coming up below.

Next up, the blush! This was what drew me in..I love peachy pinky blushes and this fits the bill. It look lovely on the skin. The formula is amazing! It becomes one with your skin and gives your cheeks a natural looking radiant glow.

The bronzer looks scary dark in the pan and I was quite intimidated by it! However, I found that when applied lightly it works very well for my skintone. It is quite pigmented but I still don’t think it is dark enough for very deep skintones. The bronzer reminds me of chocolate whenever I look at it.. 😉

All 3 products require a stiff brush to pick up the powders. There is minimal powder kickup if any actually!

Brush swatches of the highlighter (Soul Glow), Blush (Carolers) and the Bronzer in medium deep

As you can see from the brush swatches of the 3 pans, the highlighter swatch doesn’t look as smooth as the blush and bronzer. However, it is still a workable product and if you like the blush and bronzer, I think it is worth buying especially at the current sale price 🙂

Did you pick up anything from the Shiny Pretty Things collection from MAC ?

Until next time, ciao!!

Lucky Chick Cosmetics Master Piece Set Review

Hello folks!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the new year! I wanted to include this lip product gift set in the indie beauty gift guide series I did in December, but unfortunately the package arrived after Christmas. This is not a limited edition set, so you can always check this out when you need to buy a gift for someone 🙂

Lucky Chick Cosmetics Master Piece Set

The set comes in a beautiful cardboard box, which has a mirror inside and can be reused. I love the design, it is elegant and chic! Lucky Chick is an Indie brand and their products are all rooted in art and creativity which is very much reflected in their packaging and design. They also are all about bold colors and they do have some interesting shades of lip lacquers sold individually. Check out their website HERE.

The masterpiece set which they kindly sent me, has 4 lip lacquers and 1 of their lip glazes. It retails for around 80$, and considering that each individual tube retails for 20$, it is a great way to sample some of their shades. The set comes with the following shades; Desire, Joy, Royal, Sweet and the Lip glaze in the shade Shimmery.

Closer look at the shades, from left to right: Desire, Joy, Royal, Sweet and the lip glaze in Shimmery

The lip lacquers are described as high shine , nourishing and richly pigmented and I think they have delivered on all these claims. I found them really nourishing even in the cold (my lips hate the cold) and the lacquers are pigmented!

My favorite shade is the red (Desire), which is very pigmented and very comfortable on the lips! I love that it is a 1 swipe and done red. I would suggest a lip liner though, since it did bleed a teeny tiny bit after a few hours of wear. I kind of expected that to happen since these are not matte and have a lovely comfortable creamy texture.

The other lacquer shades also have a similar consistency. They are light weight and don’t feel stringy or goopy on the lips.

Swatches from left to right: Desire, Joy, Royal, Sweet and the lip glaze in Shimmery

The bright pink shade called Joy is perfect for the summer. I found this shade to be very pigmented too. The purple shade Royal and the nude one called Sweet needed 2 swipes to achieve full color potential on the lips. I like to mix the shades in the set together to make custom colors 🙂 I rarely wear a purple shade on its own so I had a lot of fun mixing it in with the other shades. Too much layering and mixing can result in the formula getting a bit thick and goopy so don’t over do the mixing 😉

The lip glaze in Shimmery is a great grown up glitter gloss! It does not feel gritty on the lips and is very moisturizing. As seen in the swatch, the fine shimmer catches the light beautifully and looks great paired with the lacquers.

I found that all of the lip lacquers and the glaze have a floral scent to them expect the shade Desire. It is not an over powering scent but it was noticeable upon application. I would have loved all the shades to be non perfumed like Desire.

Overall, I think this a cute gift set which will make any lip junkie happy 🙂 You can always gift it to yourself too 😀 Have you tried any of the lip lacquers or glazes from Lucky Chick Cosmetics?

Until next time, ciao!!!

*PR Sample. Opinions expressed here are my own. (no affiliate links)