The Importance of Swatching

                As many of you know, I am obsessed with swatching a product before I am interested in buying it. This has caused me to track down sets in Sephora with the precision and persistence of a celebrity stalker. While some of the bitchier girls who work at Sephora have greeted me with “Oh, it’s you again” I think a once a week visit while trying to track down limited edition products is perfectly reasonable. Recently, I broke that rule. I bought the BITE Beauty Collectors Edition Lip Layers set for a whopping $98 dollars.  I love BITE lipstick, and the idea of getting 20 colors that were half the size of their normal bullet was too much to resist.

If anything, the Kat lipstick is larger... ARRGGG!

                Well, there was a problem. As you can see in the picture, these bullets are small. How small? They are the exact same size as the Kat Von D Spellbinding Lip Stick set. (The Kat is the reddish color and the BITE is the brown/nude) So what is the big deal? BITE claims the lipstick amount in their bullet is .07 on one side, but Kat Von D claims that this bullet is .04. I know which one I believe. A full sized lipstick at .14 is about 4 times this large. While the quality of BITE lipstick is amazing, the minute I feel lied to, it is all over. I am returning this product. I wish I could have seen it and sampled it before buying, because I never would have. To make matters worse, while the formula is great, some of these pigments barely show on my skin. KAAAAHHHHHNNNN!!!! 

Sephora is on the top, Urban Decay on the bottom

                And, if you think that just getting eyes on something is enough, getting your fingers into something is even better. Every year, I get the Sephora Blockbuster gift set, until this year. Now the Sephora has moved into China, I don’t feel right buying their house brand. On the other hand, Urban Decay is not only still cruelty free, and their eyeshadow formula is amazeballs. Here is a picture of my fingers. Both are ‘reflective silver’ and both were swatches in the store, but do you see how much more pigmented the Urban Decay is? (Hint: it is the one that is NOT patchy). If they were both cruelty free and I had not swatched, I might have been seduced by the fact you get more colors and some lip product with the Sephora Blockbuster. In person, there is no comparison. Urban Decay rules, Sephora brand drools.

                The moral of this little tale is that no matter how many ‘cute’ comments you get, try out new products whenever possible. YouTube videos and beauty bloggers are great (duh! ) but everyone’s skin chemistry is different. What works for me, may not work for you. Test, swatch, and have fun. After all, Sephora is there to make you feel beautiful, and nothing is more beautiful than knowledge.

 

BITE Beauty Collector’s Edition Lip Layer Set

http://www.sephora.com/collectors-edition-lip-layers-set-P383027?icid2=bite_beauty_holidaygifts_carousel_P383027_image

Kat Von D Spellbinding Love Lipstick Set

http://www.sephora.com/spellbinding-lipstick-set-P382562?skuId=1525575 

Sephora Makeup Academy – Don’t BUY! NOT CF and a subpar product!!!

http://www.sephora.com/makeup-academy-palette-P381158?skuId=1534858
 

Urban Decay Vice 2 Pallet – MUST HAVE!!

http://www.sephora.com/vice-palette-2-P382584?skuId=1550623

http://www.urbandecay.com/eye-makeup/eyeshadow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Holiday Review

What: Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre Set

Where: http://www.loraccosmetics.com/, Sephora at JC Penney

How Much: $28 dollars

Animal Friendly Factor?: Cruelty Free company, no animal products

Quick Notes:

#1 – Value – You get 4 full sized bottles for $28. One bottle of Diamond is normally $16. That means this set’s value is $64, so it is a good value.  

#2 – Health – This product is free of parabens and phthalates.

#3 – Love Neutrals? – These are all neutral, if you can call glowing disco glitter ‘neutral’. However, if you wear nude or neutral shades during the day, these will work quite well to give them a huge pop at night.

#4 – Scent – There is no scent to this, so it will not irritate your eyes or skin.

#5 – Wear – These do tend to flake if they are on your eyelids, so live with the fact you will have some fallout.

The Rundown:

I have a ton of makeup. I have makeup like Imelda Marcos had shoes. So, it takes something special to make me act like a blithering idiot in the middle of a store. That is exactly what happened last week. After going to the regular Sephora at my mall, I went to the Sephora in JC Penny’s. I thought the products would be the same, but I was wrong.  

Lorac 3D liquid lustre is liquid light, but so much more than that. It is an incredibly finely milled micro glitter suspended in a smooth liquid. It is meant to be a standalone shadow or it can be layered over another type of eyeshadow. My favorite way to wear this around the eye is to pop a bit in the middle of the eye as a highlight or at the corner of the eye. If you want a small touch of shine, you can easily mix this with lotion or moisturizer for a glow on your face or skin.

The Colors:  

Diamond is the star of this set. It is the only permanent shade included, and thank all gods that it is. It is beyond any easy description, save for the fact the color is much more fire opal than diamond. Not only is there an ethereal white base, but reflects of green, red, and gold. It must be seen to be believed. After wearing this, I understand why it is sold out at Sephora.   

Platinum is a dark silver. To me, the base color leans more toward pewter than platinum. It has blue, magenta, and green reflects. A touch of this on a black shadow is amazing. This shade is limited edition.

Amethyst is a plum base with tons of magenta sparks and a few flashes of copper. If you know me, you know I love all forms of purple, but this was my least favorite of the set, only because I loved the others so much more. This shade is limited edition.

Topaz is a light copper base with tons of green, pink and gold reflects. I hate browns, but I love this. It glows with an unnatural fire, and when paired with some of the coppers from my Urban Decay Vice 1 and Vice 2 pallets looks like dragon scales. This shade is limited edition.

FINAL WRAP UP:

This is a slightly unique product. It is not a shadow or liner, but it can be used in a ton of ways. The color payoff of these lustres is amazing, but the fallout is a bit of a bummer. I still love them. There is nothing better for a night out!  

Sigma Cosmetics Creme de Couture Collection

All three Crème de Couture Blushes

The new Sigma Crème de Couture collection debuted a few months ago with quite the splash. Several beauty gurus showed their eye pallets, which are amazing, but I felt their blushes got very little love. Though I did want to get the 16 matte eyeshadows, I really wanted the blushes. Like the eyeshadows, the blushes are also inspired by macaroons. Bright and beautiful I could not help but wonder what they could do for my pale skin. Would I look like Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games or would they look natural?

 

 

Wearing Blackberry Essence as a contour and Cherry Apple

Once my package arrived I noted what other had said. These blushes are small. They are approximately one inch in diameter, or the size of a 50 cent piece. Does anyone know how big those are anymore? :> In the pan, the blushes looked very bright. I thought the Strawberry Ambrosia would be wearable but I feared the other two. I should not have.  
I applied these with a fluffy powder brush from Sephora. It has been discontinued. The blackberry essence is the perfect contour color on my cheek. I cannot explain how a purple can do this, but it acts on me as bronzer has never been able to – it makes me look thin and healthy. I love this shade. I will never be able to live without it. Above that, I have been rotating Strawberry Ambrosia and Cherry Apple on the apples of my cheeks. It gives a hint of color without being bright or annoying.

These are my favorite blushes in my makeup wardrobe. They glide on, cause my skin to glow, and even make me look younger without being obvious. These are the best blushes I own.

If you have any doubt, buy these.

Value: I think they are a good value. You get .12 oz of product for $12, or the set of all three with the Crème de Contour eyeshadow pallet for $55. By way of comparison you get .20 oz of product in a Tarte Amazonian Clay blush for $24.

Wear: This lasts all day with my makeup and looks amazing.

Color Selection: Limited, but the colors they offer are great.

Other Notes: These are phthalates and parabens. Sigma is cruelty free and none of these blushes contains carmine.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.  

 

Where to Purchase: www.sigmacosmetics.com

Cherry Apple open, showing the card it comes with

Close-up Blackberry Essence

Close-up Cherry Apple

Close-up Strawberry Ambrosia

 

All three blushes, open