Review: Covergirl Smoky Shadowblast

The two different, specially contoured ends of our SmokyShadowBlast stick make it easy to create a bold, colorful, smoky eye. A duo of expertly paired shades provide the bold, spotlight-ready looks loved by today's hottest makeup artists. I have it in the color "Onyx Smoke."


IMO: If you're looking for a really pretty frosty white, this may be your chance. If not, I suggest you skip this. I'd say this is a C.

The two different, specially contoured ends of our SmokyShadowBlast stick - predictably, the ends wear down, expecially the "step 2" pointier end made for lining and the crease. However these sticks are soft... too soft!

make it easy to create a bold, colorful, smoky eye. - I dunno what you think a smokey eye is, but to me it's a gradient of multiple eyeshadows from darkest to lightest, starting at the lash line. And I don't think the typical "lid shade, crease shade" is really a smokey eye, especially with the lighter color on the lid. From numerous other reviews, I've heard this creases like crazy. I haven't testing this for longevity, but I have dry lids and not much creases on me.


A duo of expertly paired shades provide the bold, spotlight-ready looks loved by today's hottest makeup artists. - I mean the look at the top picture. I didn't use any brushes, as the packaging claims to just use the tips. This fades SO quickly when I try to blend with my finger, as you can barely see the crease shade. The blending is gross :P.

(Picture courtesy of Temptalia)

Hi red camera! We missed you!

How I came across this product: I was just looking for the Covergirl Lashblast Fusion at Walmart, and there was a deal combining CG Lashblast Fusion (~$8 by itself) and CG Smoky Shadowblast (~$7 by itself) for $10. So, well, why not? The black is useful to separate swatches.

Review: Smashbox Brazilian Bronze Eyeshadow

Smashbox describes it's eyeshadows as "Gorgeous shades of velvety-smooth, superbly blendable cashmere eye shadow." Brazilian Bronze is described as "shimmery golden brown."

I picked this up at a CCO/S (Cosmetic Company Outlet/Store, maybe a post on that later) while searching for a medium/dark brown shade to use in the crease for a school look. They didn't have one in MAC, but suggested one in Smashbox. Smashbox is Estee Lauder's "camera" themed brand, and I hadn't tried anything from it at that point. However, it was only 11$, so I was wondering "why not"? This is a beautiful golden bronze color (no dip, Sherlock) with LOTS of shimmer. I mean enough shimmer to girl a Twilight vampire a run for it's money. It reminds me of a warmer, glittery-er Urban Decay Smog. The texture isn't as buttery as a UD shadow though, it's drier and stiffer.

I CANNOT find this shadow online! Apparently it was part of Smashbox's "perfectly polished lids" set, but not to be found as a single! So I'm sorry to anyone who is out looking for it at the moment. As said before, look at Urban Decay Smog as a less glittery dupe. I'm giving this a B, for the texture and glitter fallout.

Review: Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid eyeliner in Perversion

Company Description: Draw liquid lines so sharp they could cut glass. Our slender brush lays down long-lasting matte, slick and shimmery shades sure to satisfy your color lust.

Achieve clean, sharp WATERPROOF lines with shocking ease. The newest addition to our 24/7 franchise is available in a veritable rainbow of long-lasting, highly-pigmented, WATERPROOF color options – shades ranging from matte to glossy to shimmery! (And why would you only buy one? Try them all!) Use the ultra-fine brush tip to create lines that are razor-thin or thick, even and bold. The brush is also short and easy to control, making it ideal for liquid liner newbies. The slim pens are convenient – go ahead and pack ‘em all into your makeup bag – and are color-matched to each shade. 

IMO: When they say waterproof, they mean WATERPROOF. WARNING: Phone cam alert! (0.058 oz for $19)


I love liquid eyeliner. Gel is okay, pencil is meh, but liquid POPS! Nothing stands out more than a sharp winged eye "so sharp they could cut glass." Now for the breakdown...

Achieve clean, sharp WATERPROOF lines with shocking ease. - This liner has a brush tip, not a felt tip. I've never used a felt tip, so I'm accustomed to liquid. It's pretty easy to me, but more on brushes later.

The newest addition to our 24/7 franchise is available in a veritable rainbow of long-lasting, highly-pigmented, WATERPROOF color options – shades ranging from matte to glossy to shimmery! (And why would you only buy one? Try them all!) - I have the color Perversion, a matte dark black. If you though the Zero pencil liner was black, you've seen nothing! It's darker than every other makeup item I've ever seen. My only quip is that this liner takes too long to dry, so I have to do my lashes before my liner.

Use the ultra-fine brush tip to create lines that are razor-thin or thick, even and bold. The brush is also short and easy to control, making it ideal for liquid liner newbies. This brush is actually a bit long, but it does make for fexilibility. Maybe a bit too much for some.

The slim pens are convenient – go ahead and pack ‘em all into your makeup bag – and are color-matched to each shade. - This is another hell yes. Unlike a traditional bulb (ex. Urban Decay's old liquid liner), this can fit into a makeup brush slot in a bag (see my vacation bag).

In conclusion? A all the way (+ if it dried just a HINT quicker)

High School Makeup 102: Wants, not Needs

(Picture courtesy of Seventeen.com)

Note: This post contains high end products I have used and loved for months! You can always find a dupe in the drugstore, but I'm sticking with my classics. I'm suggesting these more towards the high school students than the previous "school makeup" post.

My #1 must have (I've gone through 3 bottles) makeup remover is Clinique Take the Day Off. Just check out my review on why I love it so much!

One must have that you've probably heard of a few quadrillion times is the all famous Urban Decay Naked Palette. I know, I know. You've heard plenty of raves about it already (and if you haven't, where were you when makeup gurus were in an uproar over it?). Well, in short, they're all correct! I know, I know, 50$ is a big thing to drop when you've just escaped middle school. I slowly saved up and got it as a "welcome to high school!" gift for myself (or I made up an excuse, either way). And yes, I like the original better.

Another one of my essentials is eye primer! I use the cult classic Urban Decay Primer Potion -it really amplifies the color and prevents it from sliding around. This is another doozy at 20$ a pop, but a free travel size comes with the aforementioned Naked palette, plus I bought a tube in December, and it's still going strong. I've probably only used up 20% of it, and it's been my daily essential! It also comes in 4 colors variations - I've only used original, but heard great thing about the others.

A good product to have in your arsenal is blush. In pictures, you may notice that your face looks very washed out and pale under flash or other strong light. This can be reversed by using blush, which imitates the rosiness in flushed cheeks. Personally, I never get red or even pink, even when my eyebrows are waxed. My everyday blush is Wet n Wild mineral blush in Purely Mauve (I think it's discontinued). I'll admit the sole reason I bought it is because is was in the sale bucket at CVS. It's extremely pigmented, but a bit of a hassle to get out because it's loose. It's always good to pick up a blush brush too.

Along with acne, comes oiliness. I don't have oily skin, but my dry skin still casts shininess. When shopping around for a powder, I came across Clinique's Almost Powder. It provides a light coverage for minor imperfections, but is still sheer and best of all, hypo allergenic! However, I warn you that it has SPF 15 and is 13% titanium dioxide, which reflects badly in camera flash. I suggest finding another, non-SPF powder for picture
occasions. I use a kabuki brush by Essence of Beauty with this powder.

Finally, every girl should own a natural lipstick for dances when rocking a smokey eye (courtesy of that Naked palette up nya). I'm not a lipstick person, so I just use my Estee Lauder Pink Parfait that was in a GWP. However, some famous/popular ones by MAC are Angel and Blankety, the former being  more pink and and latter more peach. You'd be best off going to a counter though.

You don't need hot pink eyeshadow, or lipstick that stops cars. You don't need to wake up an hour earlier or skip breakfast to meticulously spackle on foundation you DON'T NEED. Makeup may be expensive, but it's fun!

Review: Clinique Lucky Penny eyeshadow

Clinique Lucky Penny eyeshadow is "A pearlized soft muted bronze with a hint of pink." Clinique is known to be a "safe" makeup brand, with sheer pigmentation and focus on soft, natural skin. (15$ for 0.07 oz)

This is my nirvana. This is my muse. This is my reason I even try to wear eyeshadow today. I got a quad last summer that featured this and KNEW it was my holy grail shade and snapped up another one. I'd grab 10 if I had to. If I want my personal look, I grab this, Smashbox Brazilian Bronze in the crease, Urban Decay 24/7 liquid liner in Perversion on top, and Covergirl Lashblast to finish in an immediate school look. I recommend this gorgeous, sorta shimmer goldy-champagne-with-a-hint-of-pink shadow to each and every person out there. If you haven't found your holy grail lid shade yet, I would like to introduce you to Clinique lucky penny. You'll be best friends for quite a while.

What's in my purse (makeup edition)?

 To continue the bad phone photo posts, here's a What's in my Purse makeup edition. The bag is by Clinique in a GWP a few months back, and it's a little bigger than a credit card and 2 or so centimeters wide, very portable. And as you can see in the next picture, can hold a lot!

It may seem like a bit -much- but I can do a quick formal or everyday look with this in a flash! Clockwise, from top left, is a mini Benefit Some Kind-a Gorgeous (foundation), random Clinique quad in neutral tones, sample size Clinique lash doubling mascara, random Sephora eyeliner, Wet n Wild liquid eyeliner, travel size  Smashbox photo finish lid primer, sample size Urban Decay glide-on cheek tint, a random brush head I use for blending, and Hard Candy glamoflauge concealer pencil.

Birthday Haul 2012

I'm sorry for the crappy quality, I couldn't find the camera so I used my phone. I'll promise to try to find it soon! So my birthday was over vacation, I can qualify my free birthday gift, and I had around 90 points on my Sephora card. I didn't turn in my points cause there was nothing in the 100 point box that I wanted (no makeup, just skin care and hair stuff, eww) but I did choose out some stuff I've been stalking on the site. Oh, and I stopped by a MAC counter too. I'll be reviewing some (or all) of these some time or another, so my opinions on this post are more first impressions. Here we go!

 This is my FAVORITE nail polish of all time - SOPI Already Famous. I was over the moon when I found it, cause I thought it was Limited Edition from last Christmas! I don't have to preserve the little baby bottle anymore! This, described by Sephora.com, is a "sheer pewter with medium champagne and silver glitter." I'll definitely be raving over this soon, and I'll have to pick up a few backups!

 My next hauling item was Benefit's Tan About Town set, motivated by the fact that I don't own bronzer and I didn't have foundation at the moment (I had a formal event during vaycay too). I don't need another mascara though, but the entire set was only 12$! I like it so far, but the foundation melts too easily and the bronzer packaging is super flimsy. I might review this soon.

 Here's Sephora's birthday gift this year - a lip balm duo by Fresh. I've already sworn myself to Sweet Mint EOS, but these have a pleasant lemony scent. For 22$ I wouldn't buy a full size, but they're nice.

 I've always wanted a purple streak but didn't want to commit, so I picked up a hair extension in my favorite "Royal Violet" (by Sultra). I had to straighten it before wearing, because the packaging made for an awkward L shape. I love that this stays in and grabs onto my hair really well, put it's quite a thin strip for being so expensive. And I have a really big gripe with this - the color bleeds a LOT. When I washed some hair spray out of it, the water turned purple and the hair extension turned more pink-toned than blue-toned. And I HATE pink, which sorta pisses me off but ah well.

And here's my lone MAC item that I picked up on the way, a classic Blacktrack fluidline. My other black creme liner I bought last year so it's all dried up by now. As said earlier, I only have used each of these once, but the one time I have used it this eyeliner GLIDES on. I'll definitely be reviewing and comparing this soon!

Makeup for a Trip

So I'm leaving for 2 weeks for a few personal reasons. AKA VACATION!!! I'm not in anywhere fabulous, it's mostly indoors but ah well! I thought I'd share my makeup hoarding packing I've done for the trip. The bag is the same one from my "If I was a MUA" post (my first post!) and will have some of the same products. My next post is scheduled to published on the 23rd.

Here's the two sides of the bag - brushes/stick shaped liners, and the real "meat" of the bag... MAKEUP!

Here are my brushes - I know it's minimal but it'll do. From left to right, there's the Ecotools Lash/Brow Comb, MAC 219, MAC 217, Urban Decay Shadow Brush, Ecotools Angled Liner Brush, and Ecotools Angled Blush Brush (softest thing EVER!).

Here are the eyeliners... and not even all of them. I'm convincing myself that I don't have a problem. From left to right, there's a random pair of tweezers that I forgot in the last picture, Urban Decay Naked 24/7 Eyeliner Set (Zero, Demolition, Bourbon, Underground, and Stray Dog), Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in perversion, Maybelline Expertwear eyeliner in Slate Gray, then Sephora Nano Eyeliner in Pure White

I'm bringing a minimal amount of face products - one of each. Left to right, top to bottom - Clinique Almost Powder, Rimmel London Match Perfection Concealer (I LOVE this stuff!), Essence of Beauty Kabuki, Clinique All Over Color in Peony, and Estee Lauder Blush in Radiant Kiss (I think it's discontinued).

...I keep telling myself I don't have a problem, then I look at my 24 shades of eyeshadow for a 14 day trip. Meh... From left to right, top to bottom, there's a random Clinique quad, MAC Goldmine, MAC Melon, sample size Urban Decay primer potion, Urban Decay Naked palette, and some random Estee Lauder Deluze Signature palette.

Here's the makeup leftovers, and let's switch it up - bottom to top, left to right! Clinque Chubby Stick in Mega Melon, Smashbox Lipgloss in Infamous, Clinique Long Lasting Glosswear in Clearly Pink, MAC Lipglass in Girl on Board, ELF cream eyeliner in plum, Clinique High Impact mascara, Covergirl Lashblast, and Wet n Wild Creme Eyeliner.

This is the last of it - not quite makeup but eh I crammed it in there. Left to right, top to bottom, there's a random stick of deodorant, Tweezerman Classic Lash curler, Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer, Urban Decay Grindhouse Sharpener, a bottle half filled (or empty?) with Clinique Take the Day Off, and 2 perfume samples I need to use up!

I'll see you all in 2 weeks time!

Eye Brushes 101

I believe every girl should own, at the very very least, one eye brush. The one brush should be fluffy and dense, to both apply and blend. My one brush for this purpose is the MAC 217, made out of white goat hair. MAC's description of the 217 is "For shading or blending of colour or creamy products. This brush has fine, densely packed fibers that are arranged in an oval shape." I use this for blending in the crease, applying lighter colors to the crease to blend, and dusting my MAC Melon pigment on my lids in the  lazy days. It's super soft, but if you want to preserve the white goat hair you need to clean frequently. After washing, you might want to put the original plastic covering on so the hair don't get splayed around.

My second essential eye brush is a flat shader - the Urban Decay Shadow Makeup Brush that I got in my makeup palette. The company's description is "Get an all-over sweep of color with the flat side of the brush, or use the fine, rounded tip for more precise shading. Thanks to the tight bristles, this multi-purpose brush picks up a little or a lot of shadow, so you can shade, blend and define." Trusted, this brush is very smooth in a bad way. It's synthetic and plastic, and don't hold color well. However, it does what I need it to do and pats shadow on the lid more or less. The MAC equivalent is the 239.

My third essential is the pencil brush - an essential for smokey eyes. MAC's pencil brush is the 219, and fit to the name, is shaped like a pencil. According to MAC, the brush is, "For precision shading on lid, in eye crease or along lash line. The soft, smooth fibers of this brush are gathered into a pencil-shaped tip. It is ideal for blending eyeliner into eye shadow to create a smoky looking eye." My 219 is slightly pokey, but at an angle it's doable. I'd say it's too stiff, but I'll do with what I have.

My last need-to-have brush is an angled eye brush. MAC's would be either 266 or 263. The 266 description is "For creating sharp, precise lines. This brush has fibres which are carefully arranged to form a perfect angle." I use the Ecotools angled eyeliner brush, which is probably the second softest brush in the list after the 217, and by far the cheapest (3$!). I use this for gel/cream eyeliner, and either this or the 219 for my brows. Not too many purposes, but does the job well.

Now you may be thinking, "why not use the free applicators?" Well,

1. You can't wash them

2. You can't blend with them

3. They spread lots of germs as they cannot be washed

4. You'll just end up spending more on applicators

I hope you enjoy my take on brushes for beginners!