BH Cosmetics Solar Flare - First Look

BH Cosmetics Haul

Damn you BH Cosmetics!! I really wanted the Carlie Bybel deluxe edition palette, which lead me to buy a bunch of other crap. And I swear the very next day, Ulta started carrying this palette. And then BH Cosmetics dropped the Solar Flare palette! ARGH!! I didn't like having money any way I suppose.

Here is what I got sucked into buying on this order:

First up, the very hyped up Carlie Bybel deluxe edition palette:

Holy. CRAP. No pictures or swatches will ever do this baby justice. I am in love. I have not been this excited about a palette since...probably Too Faced Peanut Butter & Jelly. It is so good. All of the shades are gorgeous and apply like a dream. They are a little softer than other BH Cosmetic shades, but nothing too crazy powdery. They also blend like a dream. The highlighter trend appears to be going strong, and I have no problem with that.

Next, I got sucked into a 48 hour haul that got me both the Foil Eyes 2 and Essential Eyes palettes, plus a fluffy blending brush all for $16.99

Foil Eyes 2 is giving me major Morphe + Jaclyn Hill vibes here.

 I also got a little 6 color shadow set and a liquid liner for free, and lippies were BOGO so I decided to try the shades Icon and Lust.

Brand Spotlight - My Too Faced Palettes

In my vast sea of palettes, I have actually amassed a decent amount from Too Faced:

Putting them all together makes me realize just how fun and silly Too Faced can be. Since I am a cheapo, I did not pay full price for very many of these.

Top Row: from the Grand Cafe holiday set, purchased on HSN using a $20 off of $40 Visa Checkout code.
Cat Eyes: part of the 2016 mystery grab bag
Rock n' Roll: part of the 2015 mystery grab bag
Peanut Butter & Honey and Peanut Butter & Jelly: I actually paid full price for these because I am a peanut butter fanatic IRL.
Sweet Peach: I used another Visa Checkout coupon on HSN for $20 off
#TFNoFilter Selfie Powders: found at Nordstrom Rack for $12!!

Here are all of my pretties opened:

My current obsession is the Sweet Peach palette. While it does not contain a lot of actual peach shades, the entire thing is gorgeous.

BH Cosmetics Highlighter Palettes

In my recent BH Cosmetics haul, I picked up both the new Spotlight and Blacklight highlighter palettes. Here are some seatches and my first impressions. Photos taken in natural light from my sliding glass doors. Swatches done on bare skin with my large Sigma 3DHD kabuki brush.

Spotlight Highlight:

Very nice looking in the pan. The color range should work for a wide variety of skin tones.

Swatched top row left to right, then bottom row left to right:

Wow it is hard to photograph highlighters. I was swatching pretty hard to get these to show up, which quickly revealed and issue with some of these shades. Especially "Vivid".

I had some pretty large flakes pull out of the pan, which pilled up and flaked off of my skin.

Now I would never apply highlighter to this extreme on my face, but this is something I will watch out for with this shade.

Otherwise, these are all gorgeous. I especially like Dream, Glow, and Allure.

Blacklight Highlight

These are some more unusual highlighter colors (especially Kween) that makes me think this palette was made to compete with the ABH Moonchild palette or Kat Von D Alchemist palette.

Swatched top row left to right, then bottom row left to right:

These had way less issues than the Spotlight colors. Just Electra was a little flaky. Laser was the most subtle, which is likely a good thing considering it swatched green. I really like On Point. It's gorgeous and swatched the nicest.

Overall, the palettes are a great value. You get some huge pans with unique shades that are worth a little extra care in application. These retail for $12.99 each, but I don't recommend paying full price. If you are patient, BH Cosmetics has frequent sales.

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.