Makeup Geek Face Brush Bundle

September 8, 2018February 1, 2016 by Beauty Skeptic

Makeup Geek Face Brush Bundle

I’m a firm believer that good tools, used properly, will take you far. I also believe in investing in quality products in general. The brushes created by Marlena and her team receive consistently great reviews, so my interest has been piqued for a while; I’ve had the Makeup Geek Face Brush Bundle on my wish list for many months but had some other priorities so I hadn’t pulled the trigger.

My husband doesn’t tend to get me makeup-related gifts, so imagine my surprise and delight when I unwrapped the Makeup Geek Face Brush Bundle. SHEER. FREAKING. JOY.

Inside, there was a note from her team reminding me to wash the brushes, and a handwritten one thanking us for the purchase and sending holiday wishes. So, naturally, I washed them and dried them upside-down. It was excruciating (because I was dying to use them), but I got through it.

Makeup Geek Face Brush Bundle

Rose Quartz & Serenity: Pantone Colors of the Year 2016

November 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Beauty Skeptic

Rose Quartz is pretty, but aside from a pale blush, eyeshadow, I can’t see it in makeup. Sephora always does a collection of silly things that more often than not end up in their Sale section until, heavens, the following holiday season.

In fact, I’m trying to figure out this year’s collection…

Rose Quartz: Pantone Color of the Year 2016

Rose Quartz (via the Wayback Machine) lipstick is not reviewed favorably, with many buyers reporting sheer application, lack of pigmentation, and an inconsistent formula. I’m not seeing any reliable looks with it on its own; it needs to be married to a liner or other lipcolor to be remotely useful. Shame, considering it’s supposed to be a, “high coverage, pigment-loaded,” shade. At $18, nope.

UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded is Actually Pretty Cool

September 30, 2022January 15, 2016 by Beauty Skeptic

I’ve expressed my boredom with the litany of Vice Palettes from Urban Decay, but I’m actually excited about their newest one, UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded.

UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded celebrates Urban Decay’s twenty (…what?!) years in the industry, and features a mix of vintage (read: discontinued shades that people pine for), bestselling, and new shadows. Check it out:

UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded

Of course, stock photos never do products justice. Regrettably, I don’t have one (and probably won’t be able to get my mitts on it) – but there are some sneak peaks from people who have already secured one or gotten a PR kit.

The $56 Ulta-exclusive UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded features three new shades, five vintage shades (Gash!), five previous Vice-exclusives, and seven bestsellers (like Smog, Midnight Cowboy, Twice Baked).

The full complement of shades, according to Ulta’s site:

2015 Favorites

December 23, 2022January 13, 2016 by Beauty Skeptic

I’m approaching my annual favorites post a little differently than I did last year. Instead of breaking it down by section, I’m just going to slap all my 2015 Favorites together. I liked plenty of things, but these are what I liked most.

2015 Favorites

Naked2 Basics, $29 – has been my lifesaver. Even when I first swatched it and decided I required it, I didn’t imagine I’d come to use it as much or as often as I did and do. Personally, I think it is superior to its predecessor…but I don’t own its predecessor, so I haven’t run it through the gauntlet, yet.

e.l.f. Studio Blush in Tickled Pink, $3 – is a very subtle, pleasant peachy-pink hue. I wear it the most of all the blush I own; it’s hard to overdo, and isn’t too much for work.

MAC Creme in Your Coffee, $17 – Such a nice MLBB, it stays and wears away well. Reapplies easily, and has that lovely signature MAC lipstick scent. I will repurchase a billion of these.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder – Dim Light

December 23, 2022January 11, 2016 by Beauty Skeptic

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light

If you’re looking for the Ambient Strobing Powders, sorry to disappoint. I haven’t tried one.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder line launched a couple years ago, and since then many have adopted them as their holy grail powders. They were firmly out of my reach, however, at $45 a pop. Lovely though they may be, are they worth almost fifty bucks? I’m skeptical.

Some months ago, a travel size of Dim Light (what appears to me to be one of the bestselling shades) came available at Sephora for only $22. I was lucky enough to win a wishlist-based contest in which the winnings were your choice of items of up to $X amount, so I chose the small (only 0.049oz) Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder to give a shot, for science and curiosity and, well, I don’t own any highlighters (really!).

MAC 217 vs bdellium 776

May 20, 2016January 8, 2016 by Beauty Skeptic

Finally.

What?

217vs776

I got my hands on my first MAC brush. I’ve actually had it for a couple months now but have waited to share (I do that). In truth, I expected my first MAC brush to be a 242; you know, all that pigment-packing glory? Oh well.

So I finally got what many consider to be the Holy Grail of blending brushes – I was able to use Plenti points at the MAC counter in Macy’s to get a few bucks off it. Let’s put MAC 217 vs bdellium 776 (what I’ve been using and have been just OK with) – and see which is better.