What's in my Unii Palettes?

[One purchased by me, one given by a friend]

The Unii palette is the sleeker, modern version of the DIY palettes floating around the web.  It also happens to be kinda pricey and the only reason I ended up with two is because I bought one myself one Christmas thinking I wouldn't receive one ever as a gift.  Lo and behold that Christmas a good friend who knows me oh so well, purchased one for me!  

My curiosity was ignited by the de-potting craze that swept the beauty community with its promises of improved storage capacity, Back to MAC realness and fun flatiron times.  I actually depotted all my shadows with rubbing alcohol which was pretty easy and only ended up with a few casualties.  

In the end (and zero burns later) I ended up putting a lot of the products with the bulkiest packaging in my collection into these two palettes and I thought this was a good idea for a post for those interested in a Unii palette.

In the white palette I have some of my brights:

The two big pans you see are part of the Hard Candy Punk Palette which was actually from back in the day when Hard Candy was sold in Sephoras.  Don't judge me!  I am a hoarder I know.  The highlighter in this is too pretty to throw away and I don't reach for this too often because of the full-on glow it gives.  The bottom left three shadows are from the Covergirl Tropical Fusion quad.  I never got the lime color to work for me so it went in the bin.  The semi-circle shade is from a L'oreal HIP duo in Flamboyant.  I hit pan more because the color doesn't show up very well unless you back it on versus actual usage.  The turquoise shade is from Sephora which revamped their entire eyeshadow line so I'm not sure if the shade even matters.  The lilac shadow is from a very random eyeshadow palette that was probably from Claire's or something.  The right three square pans are actually a Covergirl blush trio.  The shades are really soft and nice looking and I actually should use this more.

The pink Unii palette houses my brown tones and some dark purples:

The black shade is from Covergirl and I actually never wrote the name in.  The middle purple shade belongs with the other two smaller square pans on the other side as part of the Hard Candy Punk Palette.  The glittery purple is an Inglot shadow a friend got me in Vegas in shade 491.  On the other side, the top left square pan is NYX Iced Mocha, a supposed dupe for MAC's Satin Taupe.  The round matte shade is an old Jane eyeshadow that makes a great crease color.  The shade stamped EYELID is from the Wet n Wild trio I'm Getting Sunburned which a friend sent me but the other two shades shattered.  I made these pics smaller because there's a lot of uh-ohs in my de-potting here.  Lastly that gold shade is the other half of the L'oreal Hip duo.

So, in general, would I recommend the Unii palette to everyone?  Yes and no.  These are expensive at about $30 each.  If you're someone who has a lot of eyeshadows to depot the cost can really add up.  Also, since they're sturdy plastic with full size mirrors, these are definitely a little hefty for a palette.  It beats any cardboard palette I have in terms of weight.  However, these really do look nice, are compact, and are a fun way store the small part of your makeup collective that takes up a huge amount of space with their unnecessary packaging.  

I have some space in the pink palette for more shadows.... I'm thinking MAC? 

Maybelline and Dior Summer 2013 

Hi-Lo Impulse Purchases (Vol. One of Many)

[Purchased by me]

Inspiration strikes me at random times and judging by my self rationalization from a few posts back, impulse buys and long-time wishlist front-runners make up the majority of my beauty purchases these days.  I don't really differentiate between high-end and low-end in terms of preferences for most things, but for impulse purchases, it seems low-end is the way to go.  If something doesn't work out for you, your wallet feels a lot better than if you splurged on something on a whim.

With the overwhelming blogger attention to the Maybelline Color Tattoo launches, I usually get interested in every collection that comes out but rarely bit the bullet and purchase anything because I know cream shadows dry out and it's not something I've incorporated into my everyday routine.  However, when I heard the Summer 2013 collection was duochrome, a lightbulb went off in my head and I thought "I want that."  For all you movie buffs out there, imagine the lady from Napoleon Dynamite whispering this to her husband as Uncle Rico presents a model ship as part of his sales pitch.


I found these at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $5 which is pretty much a crazy great price for a really great formula....BUT sadly there was a hit and a miss.

Seashore Frost and Icy Mint

Seashore Frost is a gorgeous periwinkle/lilac duochrome with a yellow sheen that has medium pigmentation that's buildable.  I think this is really nice on it's own and a really unique color for cream eyeshadow.  This was the one I wanted the most from looking at other blogs and I'm glad I got it.  I'm a sucker for duochrome. 

Icy Mint is a sad disappointment.  The color is sheer and not buildable.  I wanted it to use as an inner corner eye highlight (an obsession of mine recently as you've seen) but it barely registers.  All that really shows up is a light green sheen.  I managed to make this work as a base for neutral shades surprisingly.  Under a wheat brown shade, it lends a very very subtle green sheen underneath that's a slight twist on the usual neutral eye look.

I also bought Dior Addict Lipstick in Delice.  If you've read my lip product post you know I'm actually trying to use one up right now in another shade, Beige Casual.  I swatched this at Sephora and couldn't resist picking it up during the Chic Week sale.  It lends a sheer orange sheen to the lips that looks really nice but is essentially a glorified tinted lip balm.  I haven't found anything at the drugstore that's a worthy comparison to this texture but my main justification was to be able to wear an orange lip in any type of environment, even the conservative.  

Dior Addict Lipstick in Delice

Top to Bottom:  Dior Delice, Maybelline Seashore Frosts and Icy Mint

Almost impossible to capture the true sheen of Seashore Frost but believe me it's awesome!

This is just such a gorgeous shade and I totally justified it.  I was thinking of doing a monthly favorite post but I actually rotate through my collection pretty regularly on a daily basis and these new things are probably what I'm reaching for most otherwise.

Spring Edit: Part Two

[Everything purchased by yours truly, or gifts from friends]

I should've probably updated this a bit sooner, but weekends seem to be my only down-time these days.  Ahh, c'est la vie.  So this week I'm coming at you with FACE! NAILS! SCENT! RANDOM EXTRAS! I hope that was exciting enough for you. Let's get started

Face products in the Spring center around oil-control and light textures.  With my oily skin there are way too many bases that feel heavy year-round but especially in the warmer months.  I stay away from traditional long-wearing formulas even if they claim long wear on oily skins just because they're uncomfortable.

My picks basically center around a darker bb cream and a couple oil-control products that happen to work nicely for my skin ("happen to" is an exaggeration, this was all very much researched).

Missha Make Up Fix

This doesn't do much in terms of oil-control, even though there is powder that you shake up that are supposed to set your makeup.  What I find it useful for is the times when I over-powder my face.  This usually doesn't happen with the loose powder I use but Rimmel Stay Matte powder can sometimes leave my skin looking too matte.  In the Spring, there's nothing worse than seeing a heavy, cakey complexion so mist away my friends, even though I'm pretty sure this has no real added benefits to my skin.

Bareminerals Mineral Veil in Translucent

Given to me on a couple occasions by friends, this doesn't seem to be a hit with them but I like it for a very natural finish to any foundation I wear.  It doesn't add color but it adds a slightly silky finish to any base I wear.  I like to apply this around my nose and chin with the Real Techniques Contour Brush because the smaller shape fits the curves of my face better than a big powder brush. 

Nanoce BB Moist Cream in 02

This was also given to me by a friend who thought this shade was too dark.  It is a bit darker than any of the other BB creams I own but I'd say it would still suit someone in the NC-25ish range.  Because this is a Japanese BB cream, it has more of a traditional tinted moisturizer texture and finish.  It doesn't have a very dewy finish and is easy to set with a powder for a more matte than usual BB cream finish.  

Nail polish for me is an essential.  I think it's fun to wear whatever color you want any season of the year, but I definitely gravitate towards these shades in the Spring.

2% Milk on the nails, 3 coats

Sephora by OPI in Havana Dreams

I initially bought this polish to pair underneath the next nail polish in the picture, but I ended up loving it on it's own.  A milky baby blue polish with good staying power, it does need 3 coats for completely opaque coverage but the result is so worth it.  

Revlon in Whimsical

I bought this hoping it was a dupe for a Deborah Lippmann polish and it turned out to be a great polish.  It has a sheer baby blue base with sparse blue and pink glitters and is a relatively conservative glitter to wear.  I think the name suits this polish and I know I wear it a lot in the Spring.

Wet n Wild in 2% Milk

This was an emergency purchase.  I had on Essie's Turquoise and Caicos but needed a more conservative nail color pronto.  This was my pick and I have been obsessed with it since.  It's a pretty unassuming shade of pinky-nude that looks very elegant and polished (hehe) on the nails.  It isn't super opaque but I prefer that in a nude nail shade.  I prefer this so more than Essie's Fiji.

This portion of the post will be entitled, "A Study in Contrasts, or A Study in Pink."  I hope someone gets the Sherlock reference.

Bath and Body Works Honey Sweetheart

Why do I choose to smell like a tween?  I couldn't tell you why honestly, but something about this sugary sweet scent appealed to me.  If you guys guessed packaging, you'd definitely be half right.  I love the scent of honey in most body products but this is probably not going to smell like honey at all to you.  Bath and Body Works has conflicting scent descriptions but I think "sugared violets" would be somewhat accurate.  My best attempt at a description would be "that scent that the popular girl in your middle school always wore that smelled like sweet flowers."  So, basically, sweet and flora and pre-teen.  Not really my comfort zone actually but it doesn't linger very long because it's a body splash so that's also why I am ok with liking it so much.

Chanel Chance Eau Tendre

It is the total opposite of Honey Sweetheart (my guilty pleasure) in almost every way.  A very fresh but mature floral with a hint of grapefruit, this is really a stand-out scent that lasts a long time and is the only Chanel scent I could be comfortable wearing.  The main note is Jasmine Absolute, or as I like to call it, jasmine.  If you love the scent of white florals, but want a younger perfume, this is the one for you.  It has the slightest hint of pink grapefruit, but after having finished DKNY Be Delicious Spring Blossom, I can say this is definitely more floral.  

Lastly, we have random extras I can't help but use repeatedly in Spring.

Ello Percy water bottle

This is a glass water bottle that looks super cool and fits in my cup holder. That is all you need to know to know why it's amazing.

The Body Shop Shower Gel in Pink Grapefruit

The picture came out pretty dark but it's not really a hard-to-find product so I'm sure you've all seen it.  I'm not someone who likes taking showers in the morning so citrus scents have always been kind of a no no for me.  This one is invigorating and fresh and it instantly perks me up.  I reserve it for after morning yoga sessions.

There you have it folks!  Long-winded and not too informative.  Will try to get better at this.  

Spring Edit: Part One
[Everything purchased by me, or given by friends not companies]


Spring is in the air!  And even if it's not, it seems as if we're all ready for it anyway.  With the huge influx of Spring related beauty posts and videos out there, I thought I'd join in the fray with some stuff I am excited for as the weather gets warmer and the world gets brighter.

This part will focus on lips, cheeks and eyes with a second post on face, nails, scent and random extras.  

I'm a fan of the bold lip and it doesn't get much springy-er (?) than mixing up a bright lily or orchid-hued lip and making a statement.  The other side of the spectrum that I turn to for Spring is a lightly stained pink lip with a little bit of shine.  These are my picks for this season:

L-R: Milky Tint, Antwerp, Charm, Sweetheart, Charm+Sweetheart

The Face Shop Milky Tint in 01
A cheaper alternative to Benefit's Posietint, this stain has a gel texture and a pretty light pink shade that isn't too light or too dark.  I rarely use this on the cheeks since the area that these stains are first applied tend to stain the most.  It's too much fuss for daily wear so I stick to this for the lips.  The color lasts about 4-5 hours on me, which isn't stellar but I like this mostly for the super natural finish it gives.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp
This shade is surprisingly bright aside from being an interesting matte texture.  I like the wear time on these, a good 3-4 hours on me.  However, with all mattes, you have to make sure your lips are exfoliated and moisturized before you apply. 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Charm and Sweetheart
I bought these shades together thinking Sweetheart would look exactly like the Sweet Tart Lip Butter which I don't own and thought it would be a good stand-in.  The shade reads much more fuchsia on me than expected so I tone it down with Charm.  Charm is very very Barbie pink, which can look unflattering on my paler skin tone but also pops very nicely.  Both of these are bold colors.  



Next up we have blushes.  I am not super into blushes because most of my acne scarring is on my cheeks and I also have a hard time applying blush and getting it to show up.  However, these two products are pretty much fool-proof and great standard pieces to own for the Spring.

T-B: Natural and Fresh Pink

NYX Cream Blush in Natural
One of my favorite blushes ever, this lends a neutral pink flush to any makeup look.  It goes with cool-tones as well as warm and is just as pretty on the lips as a pinky nude.  The best way to apply this blush is with a stippling brush as it distributes the color really evenly.  I love that this is so effortless and adds a healthy glow to the cheeks.

Merle Norman Luxiva Lasting Cheekcolor in Fresh Pink
The first may be a limited edition product but it's from Merle Norman, a brand I pretty much hear zero buzz about.  I believe it's a franchise of stores that has locations across the country.  Prices are about mid-range to higher end.  This blush is completely foolproof as the color is, again, a very flattering neutral pink shade.  What can I say?  I love pinks for Spring.  It is a great product to use for more intense eye looks as it isn't overpowering.


Lastly, my favorite topic ever! EYES! 

Surprisingly I have very few picks for eyes.  This is mostly because I don't change up my eye make-up too much depending on seasons.  I do lean towards greens way more in the spring but these are more like "edits" and "add-ons" to my current eye makeup rotation.

L-R: I Dream of Greenie, Dystopia and Light Blue 

A better photo of Dystopia

Wet n Wild Eyeshadow in I Dream of Greenie
I bought this shade hoping to find a perfect mint inner corner highlight.  While the top browbone shade does look nice serving that purpose, this palette really blew me away in terms of pigmentation.  The middle crease shade is stunning.  I like any kind of grassy-green shade for Spring.  It just makes the whole eye look fresh.  Another good drugstore quad with similar tones is Maybelline ColorExplosion quad in Forest Fury. 

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Dystopia
A complete impulse buy, this was on my radar for a very long time.  I never shelled out for it since I always thought there'd be a dupe and I had loose glitters anyway.  Well, loose glitters tend to fall out of place while this stays on and on.  The glitter particles in here are a  blue-ish green tinge and the base is clear.  I use a tiny bit of this on my lower inner corner.  This whole green/blue inner corner highlight seems to by my biggest eye makeup edit for this season.  Anyway, I was inspired to be a little more adventurous and add some bling to my look by a Thai makeup artist named Pearypie on Youtube.  Check her out for super well-edited videos.  

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Light Blue
After purchasing this pencil in Taupe, I stumbled upon this and thought it looked interesting and unique.  Since I already own a nude eye pencil, I thought this was a cool twist on the lower waterline highlight trick.  This doesn't look as natural as nude shades (duh) but it does make a statement and it makes your eyes really pop.  I use it to highlight just my inner corner sometimes and I think it's a fun way to brighten up your eyes when you're doing a brighter eye look (cue Pearypie once again).


There you have it for Part One!  Hold on for Part Two coming soon.  

Stila Countless Color Pigments Review and Swatch [Purchased by me]

Or, The Law of Diminishing Returns (Makeup Edition)

Perusing Sephora recently has lost some of its excitement.  As my friend put it so well the other day, "I feel like I have reached a point of diminishing returns with makeup.  Which makes me the saddest [person in the world]."  Direct quote.  Sentence completed by yours truly.  My response was "I think I hit that point a while ago and now I only buy what I really like or complete impulse buys.  Those two make me a happy camper.  Not so much a hoarder so it works for me."  

That's a decent amount of justification for this purchase of mine which was totally unplanned and completely unwarranted.  This eyeshadow trio is part of Stila's Festival of Color collection for Summer 2013.  The product is called Countless Color Pigments ($22) and is a pressed pigment formula that's baked into a unique swirl of color.  I'm guessing no two pans are exactly alike but that's usually the case with these kinds of products.  Strangely, even though this is baked, it is not recommended to use the product wet.  It may be that a damp brush will cause the product to harden and you won't be able to swirl your brush and mix the colors together, which is the whole point of the product.  

Here's photos of the packaging:

I have the shade in Acoustic and while swatching like a crazy person in Sephora, I was immediately drawn to the red-orange shade in the left.  The other shades looked nice, especially the neutral one.  But I did swatch a pink trio that didn't impress me at all in terms of color payoff.  

On to the swatches:

The first two pictures were taken in artificial lighting and the last two were taken in natural daylight.  I swatched all three shades in both lighting but forgot to swirl all three shades together for the natural daylight swatch-sorry!  

My only other experience with Stila shadows has been one of their larger holiday palettes and wasn't blown away or disappointed with them.  These shades are smooth but also a bit loose.  You will definitely get fall out with this product but that also serves a purpose.  What, you may ask, do you do when all the shades get muddled together into one?

Swirl and tap away!  This is the pan after I brushed the top with a mini Bare Minerals kabuki brush.  Looks good as new.  I know some people may say this is a waste of product but considering I have yet to use up a full eyeshadow, I'm not too bothered by it.  Sorry again about the inconsistent lighting.  Still getting used to this whole blogging thing.

It took a couple swipes around the pan for the intensity you see in the swatches.  The light beige shade was the hardest to capture because the other two shades overpowered it.  The reddish orange shade seemed a little drier than the other two and the purple brown was nice and intense.  All the shades swirled together created a really gorgeous red-tinged burgundy shade. I will update this section for any wear issues I have, but so far, for a quick pick me up impulse purchase, I love the concept!  

One Down (ish), Four to go 

It seems like just as I was starting to buckle down about using these products, I hit a snag in the process.  I was going out with a nude lip and wanted something to "undead" the look.  Whipping my trusty Prestige lipgloss in Kauai out, I immediately proceeded to drop the wand on the floor.  There is no photographic evidence of this event since I didn't want to gross anyone out.  But trust me, this is the first time something like this has happened.  It could have been my subconscious worrying about not achieving the goals I set out for myself (such an overachiever).  Either way, I have the rest to go without a huge dent in sight.