Travel Empties - Malta Edition

I just got back from Malta where I mostly managed to look ~okay~ despite the fact that every hotel I stayed at had the worst lighting ever and it was hot as shit outside. Not that any of that stopped me from attempting to wear makeup or black clothes every day.

I also cut six inches off of my hair before this trip because I did not want to deal with that shit every day. Or any day really.

Anyway, here are a few things I went through:

You know those paper perfume samples that fall out of you Ulta catalog? Don't toss those! I brought my stash along and it was nice to not only have a new scent every day, and to save some space while packing!

I was very disappointed with this Tarte Guard sunscreen sample. I got two small pumps out of it before it died.

The Ulta warming charcoal cleanser was weird. I don't know how or why, but it legitimately got HOT as I squeezed it out of the package and rubbed it on my face. I also got two uses out of this package, and it was warm both times. So that doesn't mean whatever voodoo is in here dies off as soon as it's opened. Strange, but I like charcoal products for my icky oily skin and this was nice to have on hand.

More perfume cards, and a Tarte bronzer/blush card. I got two uses out of the bronzer on this card, and four out of the blush. It doesn't look empty because the card is printed the same colors are the products. I liked the bronzer, and I already own this color of Tarte's blush, Glisten.

The other foil packet was some Elizabeth Arden face serum that was awesome. I slapped on the entire packet before bed one night and woke up with super hydrated skin.

I will be doing another post later on more details of my travel beauty routine and tips.

Ipsy - May 2017

I have gone back and forth with $10 makeup subscriptions. I was doing Sephora Play for almost a year, but last month I had enough with the repetition and switched back to Ipsy. Here's what I got for May:

The bag is really cute! Perfect for summer.

Inside I got an Urban Decay highlighter, a Pacifica eyeshadow palette, a tiny blush in a tin, a lip crayon, and a brush. Great variety! I will use absolutely everything.

Look how freaking tiny this blush is! It's supposed to be cream-to-powder, metallic, AND matte. We'll see about that.

Here it is with the Pacifica eyeshadow. I love these colors and have never tried their formula.

I like the color of this lip crayon, but Trestique's is so dumb.

I am very pleased with Ipsy this month and glad I switched back!

Tarte Custom Beauty Kit Haul

I love Tarte, and when I heard they were going to be offering their custom beauty kits again, I was all in! Even though they did raise the price from $59 to $63...I still bought two :)  Here is all of my loot:

First bag:

My husband says that every new makeup bag is my favorite makeup bag ever, but this is probably my favorite makeup bag ever. It's called "unicorn skin" and the photo does not do it justice. I'm obsessed.

In this bag I got:

Here are some of the colored items opened:

I love the minty smell of the Lipsurgence crayons, and I love all Tarte blushes. I have not opened the clay pot eyeliner yet, because I don't want it to dry out before I am ready to play with it. It looks super shimmery through the bottom of the glass though!

My next kit was in this gorgeous gold lined purple bag:

And the contents:

Some colored items:

I can't believe they had some of the Make Believe in Yourseld collection available! I am very excited to try this lip paint. I am pretty sure the CC stick is way too dark for me, even though it was the lightest shade they offered. The bronzer blush looks too pretty to use!

Including the bag in these 7 price kits, they break down to $9 an item. This is an insane deal for Tarte products. I am very excited to play with the sparkly liner and lip paint in particular.

BH Cosmetics Palette Haul

I love me some BH Cosmetics. They make some fun products with great price points. I think that their Galaxy Chic palette is what kicked off my eyeshadow addiction. I also own their Wild Child, Wild at Heart, Wild & Free, and the Wild & Alluring palettes. My biggest complaint about BH Cosmetics is that they take their sweet ass time shipping your order and they drag things out even longer by using Fedex Dumb Post.

Today I had my husband rescue my order from the post office because I had already waited 15 days for it and I was not willing to wait one more. Behold!

I couldn't resist both of their new highlighter palettes, and I have been wanting the Blushed Neutrals palette for a while.

Here is the much raved about Blacklight Highlight palette:

First of all, these suckers are HUGE. The powder isn't pressed very evenly into a few of the pans - if you look closely you can see lumps. I'm not complaining because the pans are so big and this is basically a hella cheap dupe for the ABH moon child palette.

Next is the Spotlight Highlight palette:

These are so gorgeous! The picture does not do them justice. I will post swatches in a separate post later because I am feeling lazy and there is a cat on my lap at the moment. These pans were pressed a lot more evenly.

Lastly, the Blushed Neutrals palette:

I can tell I am going to love this. I am not a fan of smokey themed palettes or most neutral palettes. Give me some warm tones! Also give me some weird blushes, like the ones on the bottom row. This palette is a very nice mix of mattes, shimmers, and satins. I can't wait to play with it! My only complaint here is the packaging. If you aren't going to give me a mirror, at least give me a clear lid! Also, the quality makes Makeup Revolution palette packaging seem high end in comparison. It's what's inside that counts though.

Makeup Revolution Blushes: what even are they??

I discovered Makeup Revolution when I was in London last year. I brought home a small haul and instantly fell in love with everything. Then I discovered that Ulta sells a lot of their products. Dangerous!

One of the products I picked up in London at a Boots was the Sugar and Spice blush palette. This kicked off my blush addiction. I have since picked up three more of their blush palettes through Ulta, but they seem to just get weirder and weirder. Not that I am complaining, they just beg the question: are they even blushes at this point??

First of all, the only downfall of Makeup Revolution palettes I have found is the packaging. Super, super cheap shitty black plastic. That scratches very easily.

Sometimes with a nice big mirror, sometimes with a clear lid. I prefer the clear lid, since I don't really use palette mirrors and a clear lid makes things easier to find in my sea of generic black plastic palettes.

Here is what lies inside all of these:

Clockwise from top left: Sugar & Spice, Blush Queen, Blush Goddess, and Rose Gold 2.

All swatches are done with my finger, and all pictures were taken with my phone. Most are with natural light on an overcast day.

The palette I originally picked up in the UK is Sugar and Spice:

This palette is a fun mix. The second from the left on the top could be used as a bronzer. The top right is definitely more of a highlighter.

Swatched left to right, top row then bottom row:

Very pretty mix, with the highlighter shade definitely standing out as an outlier. These shades are all very pigmented. The redder shade especially so, which makes it a little tricky to use. You need a very light hand or you may end up looking like a clown!

The next palette is Rose Gold 2. I'm not sure if they still sell the first Rose Gold palette.

Calling some of these shades blushes is definitely a reach. There are some shades that lean more towards a highlighter. There are some that lean more towards a bronzer. Some barely show up on my pale skin.

Swatched left to right, top row then bottom row:

These didn't show up too well in the natural overcast light by my glass sliding doors, so I did another shot in my artificially lit bathroom:

These are all very warm and very much match the rose gold theme. While I would not classify most of these as blushes, they do layer well over true blushes and also work as highlighters and/or shimmery bronzers.

Next up, the Blush Queen palette:

These are all "merged powders" that look a lot different swatched than they do in the pan:

They actually all look like blushes! They all have at least a little shimmer, with the one at the end being the least shimmery. Lots of pretty colors here that look great against my pale skin.

And lastly and most confusingly, the Blush Goddess palette:

I'm not sure why they included the top four shades on a blush palette. The outer two barely show up on my pale skin. The inner two are definitely highlighters.

The bottom four are true blushes, and some very nice shades they are. I think the paler shades from the top row I may try as all-over illuminating face powders since they match my skin so well.

Overall, I love these palettes, be they blush or not. Makeup Revolution puts out some great products for great prices. All of these palettes are $10 each, and Ulta regularly has BOGO deals for this brand. They are a worthy investment if you like to hoard blushes or are trying to experiment with the weirder since of blushes. I am personally happy I own all of these.

Sigma Mystery Haul - Part 1

I went a little crazy with the Sigma mystery hauls lately. There have been two rounds so far. Hopefully there won't be more because I am weak. So very weak.

I had never tried any Sigma products before, so during the first round I splurged on the $50 "Must Have it" haul. I was not disappointed. And my free gift was super cute as well.

On top is the "haul" all packaged up. Below is my free gift, and cute little collection I have not dove into yet.

And here is everything in its glory:

I have read rave reviews of Sigma brushes, and I now see why. They are SO soft! I also got one of the neat little brush cleaning matts. And while it is tiny, it works wonders. I also got a some brush cleaner, a decent brown eyeliner pencil (which strangely I did not yet own a brown one), a huge pretty blush, a lipstick, and an entire eyeshadow palette!! What a crazy deal for $50!

I got the "Smoke Screen" palette, a deep fuschia lipstick, and a lovely pink blush.

This was such a great introduction to this brand. While I have not yet tried everything, I am definitely hooked now.

Mall Mini Haul

Mini haul from the St. Louis Galleria mall today.

Urban Outfitters: rose perfume ($18 for 1 oz) and the NYX Strobe of Genius palette for 50% off! I'm a sucker for rose perfumes, and I have been lusting after this NYX release. They had three palettes left - two were shattered but one was perfect!

Lush: tea tree water spray. I'm always on the hunt for something that will keep my greasies at bay. I got the smaller size for $10.95. It smells and feels great but the mister is a little over zealous. 

Sephora: my birthday gift! A mini blush in the shade "Paaarty" and a mini Tarteist lip paint in "Birthday Suit". I hope the lip paint isn't too pink for my warm skin tone.