Quick Fall Transition: High and Low End

[All purchased by me]

Revlon Berry Smoothie, Clinique Black Honey, NYC Wine n Dine, Bareminerals Daredevil

It's pretty easy to see these are all in the same family.  The Revlon Lip Butter and Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey feel similar on the lips. They're both balmy and light on the lips with a buildable pigmentation.  The Revlon is definitely more pink and less berry but the focus here is on the formula similarities, not the color.  Next up are two products that I just mentioned.  Emily Noel just did a blogpost on this NYC Liquid Lip Shine here and validated that this is a total steal of a product!  This Bareminerals gloss is good.  Check it out.

Discontinued Lancome quad, Chanel Illusoire, Wet n Wild in Silent Treatment

This is also something to show more of the color family, not necessarily the product.  I like the copper shade in that Lancome quad and the forest green adds something special to boring neutral looks.  If I hadn't just thrown the ELF quad in Luxe (only $1 and I dropped it on the train so not going to save it), then I would recommend it here too.  I actually like the way those colors work together better.  That Chanel cream shadow is everything.  It's a showstopper in shade.  It looks kind of similar to the shade next to it in the Wet n Wild trio.  It may not be as multi-dimensional as the Chanel shade but it has a similar effect.  That Smashbox pencil I mentioned a few posts back in Black Gold is also SUPER recommended.

Bourjois Healthy Mix, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk

 Out of all the bases I've used, the Giorgio Armani is probably my favorite of all time.  It just has a perfect airbrushed effect that still manages to be skin-like.  People rave about this fora  reason and I think it's the perfect pick-me-up base.  The closest thing I've found in finish to the Armani is the Bourjois foundation, another popular option around the blogging world.  It doesn't stay matte on me as long as Armani, so it's not highly recommended for oily skin but I think it's a solid one to consider and an all around good base. 

Impulse Purchase: Bareminerals Ready Eyeshadows

[All purchased by me]


Ulta is a total vacuum for the money in my wallet.  Their gifts with purchase, buy one get one and other promotions sucker me into spending more time and money in that store than is humanly necessary. I purchased an eyeshadow quad and two eyeshadow duos from the Bareminerals Ready line and have no buyers remorse.  Do I wish I spaced out my purchases?  Maybe.  But when you're recommending these eyeshadows to a friend IRL and not just through this blog, you also get tempted into treating yourself to a few.  

The Bareminerals Ready eyeshadow formula is something I'm already familiar with since I bought The Star Treatment 8-pan palette around the holidays.  As people who've reviewed or used this formula knows, the color payoff, blendability and lasting power is outstanding.  These are definitely some of the best eyeshadows in my collection and I think if you purchase the 8-pan limited edition palettes especially, the value for money is worth it for the medium-high range price.  My only complaint about the original palette I owned was the complete lack of matte shades.  I prefer shimmery shades but we all know sometimes a matte is just necessary for blending out an eye look.  There are still only a couple mattes in the new palettes I bought but it's enough to appease me for now.

L to R: The Happy Place, The Epiphany, The Phenomenom

I'd wanted The Happy Place palette since it was released and I was especially drawn to the grey-purple matte color in the bottom left and the bright metallic coral in the top right.  If you remember my last post, I LOVE pinky orange colors for the Summer. 

Top Left and Clockwise: Peace, Imagine, Euphoria and Exhale

Sorry about the shadow cast in these photos.  If I didn't use the lid to create a shadow over the palette the colors became very washed out.  This is a pretty good representation of their actual real-life shade.  

Next, The Epiphany is an absolutely knock-out neutral duo.  The metallic shade is reflective, smooth as butter and packs a punch.  I think this creates an amazing smokey eye when using the matte shade with a heavier hand and it also can be toned down by using less for daytime.

L to R: A-Ha and Foreshadow

Last but not least, the most impulsive of all of these was The Phenomenom.  I dragged my feet about buying more of these eyeshadow palettes for a while because the shades never jumped out at me besides the two palettes above.  The whole motivation for this purchase came from a buy two get one free deal above the display of these shadows.  This duo is colorful yet not gaudy at all.  I really think people who are scared of color should consider these types of shades because they're flattering and not showy.  I like using the light dusty purple all over the eye up to the crease and then blending out the gold shade above the crease.  Purple and yellow is one of my favorite bold shadow pairings but this duo makes it much more wearable and approachable.  Almost ethereal in a way which is a really nice way of describing any makeup look.  

L to R: Azure Iris and Golden Iris

I swatched all these colors together and you can see how the metallic shades really pop out.  The closest in formula to those shades would probably be the L'oreal Infallible eyeshadows that are essentially tightly packed pigments.  Bareminerals is known for their original pigment eyeshadows but none of the "wow" factor is lost in the pressed form.  Can you tell I'm a big fan?

Top Row: The Ephiphany (A-Ha, Foreshadow) The Happy Place (Imagine, Exhale, Peace, Euphoria)
Bottom Row: The Phenomenom (Azure Iris, Golden Iris)