December 2017 Hits, Misses, & Pans
I told myself I'd update more while on break from school but the holidays happened, and everything was chaos. So here I am with a monthly update, once again. Just stuff I've been using.
Hits:
Real Techniques Instapop face brush. This brush claims to be great for loose powders and I was struggling a little bit with my loose powders. My brushes kicked up powder for me to inhale, but I kept applying too much when I used a sponge. I thought I'd try this guy, and I'm glad I did! I'm not sure what wizardry is at work but you tap it into a loose powder and the powder actually sticks in the bristles. It doesn't get kicked up in your face when you apply. It's similar in shape to my Hakuho-do Wedge Sloping Powder Brush, but I think softer, and it works much better with loose powder! If you like to use loose powder, save your money and go with the Instapop.
Urban Decay Troublemaker palette. Bought this in the Sephora VIB Rouge sale. I almost didn't get it because I already have a full size Relish, and I have Sugarpill's Feline Fancy palette. Relish and Girl Crush combined are reminiscent of that palette.
Was this necessary? Probably not. But I thought I was just collecting it. It turns out to be a really great little palette for the kind of simple looks I tend to do. I wear darker/brighter looks but my method is really simple, I swear! I almost always slap a matte in the crease and a shimmer on the lids, blending out the browbone with some kind of matte white/off white. I may or may not use a matte mauve or lighter brown as a transition shade. I may or may not deepen the outer V with some black.
I can do all of the above with Troublemaker. I reach for it pretty often when I'm feeling rushed. I love that you can fully open it. Makes it easy for me to shove the mirror right into my blind face to do makeup. If I don't feel like dealing with Dipbrow, I can also use the matte black to darken up my brows. I did that when we traveled for Christmas. I didn't want to deal with storing a dirty Dipbrow brush on vacation. It's a creamy gel formula and that sounded messy. I packed Troublemaker as my only palette. I did brows with the black shadow and a clear brow gel. I did not have regrets.
I have no opinion on the mascara that comes with it. By the time this post goes up, it will have gone into one of my kids' Christmas stockings. I don't tend to like that type of brush, but my kid does.
Misses:
L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise mascara. It was an okay mascara for about a month and then it dried out. That's annoying. I added Inglot Duraline after it got too dry and that helped it for about two days. I don't want to keep adding Duraline. It's not the world's greatest mascara. It made my lashes hit my glasses about 25% of the time. It flaked on me a couple times. I'm over it. I got it free with purchase so I'm not mad but if I paid for it, I'd be returning it. Mascara should not dry out that fast.
Eyeko Sport Waterproof Mascara. I got this free with purchase so I'm not mad but it's terrible for me. It is well reviewed at Ulta, but the two times I used it, my eyes were streaming tears all day. I thought it was from smoke from nearby wildfires, but when my eyes wouldn't stop burning and crying at any point during the three hours I was in a movie theater, I felt that it was the mascara. Tocopherol acetate is pretty high on the ingredients list and that's probably soy, which I react to. There are also multiple plant extracts. Eff it. Gave it to my kid only because I couldn't quite bring myself to throw out a $26 mascara that I only used twice even if it was free to me. They didn't like it for the other reason I didn't like it -- it barely covered lashes. Trash!
Nyx Ultimate Multi-Finish palette in Smoke Screen. Bought for the teals. The teals are disappointing. They're murky and dark. On the eyes, they could be gray or brown or black. They're just...nothing. Even over a white base, they're not saturated enough. The palette's clasp arrived broken too. It's getting returned -- definitely returned, and not exchanged.
Panned/finished off:
Hit pan on Jilted from UD Electric! Jilted ("bright metallic fuchsia w/blue shift") is the reason I bought the palette. It's among my favorite eye shadows of all time. Already repurchased an Electric palette just for that shade because it was on sale for $15, and Jilted is not currently available as a single. UD singles go for $19 each so that was basically necessary.
Finished Biosilk Rock Hard Gellee. This is a holy grail product that I've repurchased several times. Not repurchasing for the time being only because I'm trying Free & Clear's allergy-friendly gel.
LunatiCK Cosmetics Labs Mystifying Mattifying Powder: This is my second or third one that I've gone through. It's a great powder. I'd definitely buy it again. I'm just not buying it right now because I have several other powders I need to use. This particular one crumbled up and broke into pieces in the pan when it was on its last legs but I just poured the leftovers into a little glass jar and used it from there. No big deal. Just putting it out there that it happened. I don't touch up my powder away from home but it you wanted to keep it in your bag, that might be an issue.
Nyx HD Blush in Taupe. I depotted mine a while back, because I was in a depotting phase. The idea of a custom face palette was appealing to me. That was a mistake because I chipped out a big flake of this blush in the depotting process and it weakened the structure of the whole thing. As I was using it, little chunks kept breaking off. Every day, a new flake would come loose. Within a few weeks, the entire thing was gone. I could have kept the flakes and repressed them but it didn't seem worth doing for a product that's just a touch warm and a touch dark for me. I made it work, but LunatiCK's contour powders work so much better for me. So I would probably not repurchase unless maybe I was having a contour emergency. Yeah, that will never happen. If I do ever repurchase, I will just leave it in its original packaging.
Sephora Colorful Face Powders in Tranquil (shade no longer available as of this posting). After killing that Nyx HD blush, I went back to using this as my contour and finally hit the tiniest bit of pan! Woohoo! I want to use it up and just have my LunatiCK palette.
Pink Heart from the ABH Moonchild Glow Kit. I use this almost daily so it's not surprising at all that it's the first shade I hit pan on. I use this almost daily, and look at the other five shades in the palette like "Why did I buy a damn palette if I'm only going to use one shade?" Whenever I run out of Pink Heart completely, I will probably power through the rest, toss the empty palette, and never look back. Unless ABH releases Pink Heart as a single, I'm probably never repurchasing. I'd go with a single of UD Aura instead. They're quite similar.
Nyx Dewy Setting Spray. I picked this setting spray based on it being on sale and me not being allergic to it. There's no fragrance, which is hard to find in a setting spray. There are a couple plant extracts but they don't seem to be bothering me. I have three more bottles and I'll definitely keep using it. Would probably repurchase too, especially if I get it on sale again.
Joico Co+Wash Curl. Finished off a full can and I still love it. I already have two backups on hand. Will repurchase if I get it on sale again but I feel like I went through that too fast to justify paying full price. I am not open to spending $24 a month on my co-wash! As it is, I paid $16 each and that is really pushing my limits for a product that only gets me through a month. I don't have to use a separate conditioner with it (not counting leave-in), so there's that. STILL.
Hits:
Real Techniques Instapop face brush. This brush claims to be great for loose powders and I was struggling a little bit with my loose powders. My brushes kicked up powder for me to inhale, but I kept applying too much when I used a sponge. I thought I'd try this guy, and I'm glad I did! I'm not sure what wizardry is at work but you tap it into a loose powder and the powder actually sticks in the bristles. It doesn't get kicked up in your face when you apply. It's similar in shape to my Hakuho-do Wedge Sloping Powder Brush, but I think softer, and it works much better with loose powder! If you like to use loose powder, save your money and go with the Instapop.
Urban Decay Troublemaker palette. Bought this in the Sephora VIB Rouge sale. I almost didn't get it because I already have a full size Relish, and I have Sugarpill's Feline Fancy palette. Relish and Girl Crush combined are reminiscent of that palette.
Was this necessary? Probably not. But I thought I was just collecting it. It turns out to be a really great little palette for the kind of simple looks I tend to do. I wear darker/brighter looks but my method is really simple, I swear! I almost always slap a matte in the crease and a shimmer on the lids, blending out the browbone with some kind of matte white/off white. I may or may not use a matte mauve or lighter brown as a transition shade. I may or may not deepen the outer V with some black.
I can do all of the above with Troublemaker. I reach for it pretty often when I'm feeling rushed. I love that you can fully open it. Makes it easy for me to shove the mirror right into my blind face to do makeup. If I don't feel like dealing with Dipbrow, I can also use the matte black to darken up my brows. I did that when we traveled for Christmas. I didn't want to deal with storing a dirty Dipbrow brush on vacation. It's a creamy gel formula and that sounded messy. I packed Troublemaker as my only palette. I did brows with the black shadow and a clear brow gel. I did not have regrets.
I have no opinion on the mascara that comes with it. By the time this post goes up, it will have gone into one of my kids' Christmas stockings. I don't tend to like that type of brush, but my kid does.
Misses:
L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise mascara. It was an okay mascara for about a month and then it dried out. That's annoying. I added Inglot Duraline after it got too dry and that helped it for about two days. I don't want to keep adding Duraline. It's not the world's greatest mascara. It made my lashes hit my glasses about 25% of the time. It flaked on me a couple times. I'm over it. I got it free with purchase so I'm not mad but if I paid for it, I'd be returning it. Mascara should not dry out that fast.
Eyeko Sport Waterproof Mascara. I got this free with purchase so I'm not mad but it's terrible for me. It is well reviewed at Ulta, but the two times I used it, my eyes were streaming tears all day. I thought it was from smoke from nearby wildfires, but when my eyes wouldn't stop burning and crying at any point during the three hours I was in a movie theater, I felt that it was the mascara. Tocopherol acetate is pretty high on the ingredients list and that's probably soy, which I react to. There are also multiple plant extracts. Eff it. Gave it to my kid only because I couldn't quite bring myself to throw out a $26 mascara that I only used twice even if it was free to me. They didn't like it for the other reason I didn't like it -- it barely covered lashes. Trash!
Nyx Ultimate Multi-Finish palette in Smoke Screen. Bought for the teals. The teals are disappointing. They're murky and dark. On the eyes, they could be gray or brown or black. They're just...nothing. Even over a white base, they're not saturated enough. The palette's clasp arrived broken too. It's getting returned -- definitely returned, and not exchanged.
Panned/finished off:
Hit pan on Jilted from UD Electric! Jilted ("bright metallic fuchsia w/blue shift") is the reason I bought the palette. It's among my favorite eye shadows of all time. Already repurchased an Electric palette just for that shade because it was on sale for $15, and Jilted is not currently available as a single. UD singles go for $19 each so that was basically necessary.
Finished Biosilk Rock Hard Gellee. This is a holy grail product that I've repurchased several times. Not repurchasing for the time being only because I'm trying Free & Clear's allergy-friendly gel.
LunatiCK Cosmetics Labs Mystifying Mattifying Powder: This is my second or third one that I've gone through. It's a great powder. I'd definitely buy it again. I'm just not buying it right now because I have several other powders I need to use. This particular one crumbled up and broke into pieces in the pan when it was on its last legs but I just poured the leftovers into a little glass jar and used it from there. No big deal. Just putting it out there that it happened. I don't touch up my powder away from home but it you wanted to keep it in your bag, that might be an issue.
Nyx HD Blush in Taupe. I depotted mine a while back, because I was in a depotting phase. The idea of a custom face palette was appealing to me. That was a mistake because I chipped out a big flake of this blush in the depotting process and it weakened the structure of the whole thing. As I was using it, little chunks kept breaking off. Every day, a new flake would come loose. Within a few weeks, the entire thing was gone. I could have kept the flakes and repressed them but it didn't seem worth doing for a product that's just a touch warm and a touch dark for me. I made it work, but LunatiCK's contour powders work so much better for me. So I would probably not repurchase unless maybe I was having a contour emergency. Yeah, that will never happen. If I do ever repurchase, I will just leave it in its original packaging.
Sephora Colorful Face Powders in Tranquil (shade no longer available as of this posting). After killing that Nyx HD blush, I went back to using this as my contour and finally hit the tiniest bit of pan! Woohoo! I want to use it up and just have my LunatiCK palette.
Pink Heart from the ABH Moonchild Glow Kit. I use this almost daily so it's not surprising at all that it's the first shade I hit pan on. I use this almost daily, and look at the other five shades in the palette like "Why did I buy a damn palette if I'm only going to use one shade?" Whenever I run out of Pink Heart completely, I will probably power through the rest, toss the empty palette, and never look back. Unless ABH releases Pink Heart as a single, I'm probably never repurchasing. I'd go with a single of UD Aura instead. They're quite similar.
Nyx Dewy Setting Spray. I picked this setting spray based on it being on sale and me not being allergic to it. There's no fragrance, which is hard to find in a setting spray. There are a couple plant extracts but they don't seem to be bothering me. I have three more bottles and I'll definitely keep using it. Would probably repurchase too, especially if I get it on sale again.
Joico Co+Wash Curl. Finished off a full can and I still love it. I already have two backups on hand. Will repurchase if I get it on sale again but I feel like I went through that too fast to justify paying full price. I am not open to spending $24 a month on my co-wash! As it is, I paid $16 each and that is really pushing my limits for a product that only gets me through a month. I don't have to use a separate conditioner with it (not counting leave-in), so there's that. STILL.
Comments
Post a Comment