Category Archives: Reviews

Review: New Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pro Palette

March 6, 2014Makeup, Beauty, ReviewsCassie

I’m excited to share with you all the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pro Palette which will be released on www.anastasia.net on March 15th for $88.00, which is an extremely good deal considering each Brow Powder Duo costs $23.oo and this palette contains 11 duos.

I do own the original Brow Pro Palette, which only has 6 Brow Powder Duo shades. Those shades include Golden Blonde, Taupe, Medium Brown, Dark Brown, Strawburn, and Ebony. It also has a concealer and brow wax. (I will be inserting pictures of the original Brow Pro Palette soon).

In contrast, the new Brow Pro Palette has 11 Brow Powder Duo shades which allows for more versatility. It includes Blonde, Taupe, Soft Brown, Medium Brown, Caramel, Auburn, Chocolate, Dark Brown, Ebony, Ash Brown, and Granite. The new palette also has a brow primer but no concealer, which doesn’t matter to me since I almost never use concealer to carve out my brows.

The palette includes warm, cool, and neutral shades.

Warm shades:

Blonde
Caramel
Auburn
Chocolate
Ebony

Cool shades:

Taupe
Medium Brown
Ash Brown
Granite

Neutral shades:

Soft brown
Dark Brown

Each of the 11 pans contains 1.6 grams of product, which is a nice amount. (I have a Brow Powder Duo single which I’ve been using pretty much daily since July of 2013 and I haven’t even hit pan yet!).

I’m absolutely thrilled to have the updated palette. It will be awesome for experimenting with different colored brows. In my opinion, this palette is essential for a makeup artist’s kit. The palette is extremely compact and thin which means it’ll be great for traveling. All of the shades come in round pans which are removable and magnetic. Anastasia will be selling the pans individually on her site which I think is extremely convenient.

Overall, I’m definitely impressed with the new Brow Pro Palette.

P.S. I will insert more pictures soon.

Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Series Concealers

March 5, 2014Makeup, Beauty, ReviewsAnastasia Beverly Hills, concealer, new produtcs, reviewCassie

As you all may have heard, @anastasiabeverlyhills will be launching 10 Pro Series Concealers on March 15th. I was lucky enough to receive them prior to the 15th so I decided I would do a mini review and swatch them for you all. 🙂

The concealers arrived with a little “handout,” if you will, which had all of the information regarding the product. It read:

“10 shades to perfectly match skin tones. The shades feature warm and cool undertones for perfect color matching and blending.”

Will not settle into fine lines and wrinkles.
Long wearing. Will not fade off or smudge.
Formula is extremely blendable and sets to a long-wearing finish.
Full-coverage formula masks all sorts of discoloration, blemishes, and even dark circles.
Formula “floats” on top of skin and will not cake or fade.
To conceal discoloration or dark circles, simply apply concealer with the tip of the ring finger and tap to blend. Be sure not to rub.

It also showed the available shades and their numbers. Another thing it showed, was how to “carve” out your brow with concealer.

Now for my thoughts…

First off, I want you guys to know that these are literally the creamiest concealers I've ever used in my entire life! No joke! When I dipped my finger in the jar I was so surprised at how smooth and creamy it was! Also, they really are amazingly moisturizing and blendable.

I really had to scrub this stuff off of my arm so it's definitely long lasting! These will be great for under eye circles, blemishes, and I would even use these to contour. To say the least, I'm in love!

I also want to point out the fact that Anastasia has really created a great range of colors for the palest people to the darkest ones. She even mentioned that she plans on releasing 7 more shades this coming June (exciting, right?!).

They will be available in 10 shades on www.anastasia.net on March 15th. Each one is $20 and contains 10 grams or 0.35 oz. of product so they should last foreverrr! The #18 concealer brush will also be available on March 15th(not sure about the pricing yet).

Here are swatches of the new Anastastia Beverly Hills Pro Series Concealers. FYI, these are raw and unedited photos so you can see the true colors. The first set of swatches is without flash and the one below is with flash.

P.S. I will be adding additional photos and updating this review after I’ve had some time to use the concealers.

Update: I’ve been using these concealers daily for the past 5 days and I’m absolutely in love! I’ve been applying them with my finger tips under my eyes and they are really great for dark circles. These stay put all day long as long as I set them with powder, which isn’t an issue since I always set any type of cream or liquid product I use with powder. These concealers are also great for concealing any blemishes or scars you may have.

Review and Swatches of Tarte Spring 2014 Power Pigments

February 25, 2014Makeup, Beauty, Reviewslips, makeup, power pigments, review, spring, TarteCassie

How cute are the new Spring 2014 power pigments by Tarte?! As I stated in my previous post about the Tarte Spring 2014 Cheek Stains, the packaging is adorable. The power pigments have coordinating shades in the cheek stain line and each shade has matching packaging. The eight shades available are True Love, Natural Beauty, Exposed, Blissful, Tipsy, Blushing Bride, Flush, and Fearless.

These new power pigments are extremely pigmented and I really do enjoy them. In this post I’ll be showing swatches on my wrist and lip swatches.

If you were wondering if these are similar to the LipSurgences, they are similar in shape but they are definitely much skinnier and contain less product. A regular LipSurgence contains 0.10 ounces of product, while the power pigments contain 0.04 ounces.

The power pigments retail for $24.00 USD each for 0.04 ounces.

*Click images to enlarge.

Here are close ups of each power pigment.

First up is True Love, a sheer watermelon color.

Next is Natural Beauty, a sheer rosy red.

Then we have Exposed, which is a nude pink shade.

The next shade is Blissful, a warm peach color.

Next up is Tipsy, which is a sheer coral color.

Then there’s Blushing Bride, a rosy pink color.

Next is Flush, which is a sheer berry shade.

Finally, we have Fearless, a pink coral color.

Now, here are swatches of the colors on my wrist–in natural light and direct sunlight.

And now for the actual lip swatches (Click image to enlarge).

Review of Tarte Spring 2014 Cheek Stains

February 20, 2014Makeup, Beauty, Reviewsblush, cheek stain, makeup, review, spring, Tarte, tarte cheek stainsCassie

All of the 8 cheek stains for Spring 2014

Here are the new Spring 2014 cheek stains by Tarte. I’m really loving the cute new packaging! These cheek stains are nicely pigmented and can be built up to achieve more intense stain if desired. The eight shades include True Love, Natural Beauty, Exposed, Blissful, Tipsy, Blushing Bride, Flush, and Fearless. The rounded top cheek stains are gel based, while the flat top stains are a cream based formula. All of the cheek stains are easy to blend and can be applied with your finger tips or a brush. I prefer using a small stipple brush to apply them.

Besides wearing the cheek stains alone, I like to layer a similar powder blush shade on top for even extra lasting power. This technique is especially great for hot, humid Summer days.

Tarte cheek stains retail for $30.00 USD each and contain 0.5 ounces of product. Even though 0.5 ounces sounds like a small amount, the stains are very well pigmented therefore they should last a long time.

Each of the eight cheek stains have a coordinating Tarte Power Pigment shade. I will be posting pictures and swatches of the power pigments in a separate post.

*Click images to enlarge.

The first cheek stain is True Love. It’s a beautiful sheer watermelon shade.

The next shade is Natural Beauty. This is a sheer warm rosy red color.

Then, there’s Exposed, which is a nude pink. It’s formerly known as “Awakening”.

The next cheek stain is Blissful. This is a warm peach shade.

After that, there’s Tipsy, which is a sheer coral color.

Next up is Blushing Bride, a rosy pink shade.

The next stain is Flush. It’s a sheer berry color.

Lastly, we have Fearless, a pink coral color.

Review of Vitagoods Spin for Perfect Skin Brush System

February 18, 2014Reviewsface, facial, Facial cleansing brush, gentle, skin, skin care, Spin for Perfect SkinCassie

Spin for Perfect Skin featuring the exfoliating brush head.

I’m absolutely in love with my new Spin for Perfect Skin Brush System by Vitagoods. Keep in mind that I also own a Clarisonic Mia2 and I feel that the Spin for Perfect Skin is pretty comparable. (I will do a comparison between the two in the future after I’ve been using it for a longer amount of time). The Vitagoods brush system requires four AA batteries and is waterproof so it can be used in the shower, which is extremely convenient in my opinion. It is available in black, gray, and purple. Of course I chose the most feminine color–purple.

On the back of the box, the system claims to:

Remove more makeup and dirt than manual cleansing.
Leave skin feeling and looking smoother and more radiant.
Remove th impurities and dead skin that keeps creams and serums from working their best.
Gentle enough to use twice a day.
Reduce oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes.
Minimize the appearance of visible pores and fine lines.
Safe for sensitive skin.
Recommended for use with any non-abrasive cleanser.
Waterproof for all around use in the shower or bath.
Use with your favorite skin products.

First off, the system comes with four different brush heads. The first one is a regular facial brush, which is the brush head I’ve been using most often. I find that it’s super soft and is really gentle on the skin.

The next brush head is the exfoliating facial brush. It’s bristles are more densly packed than the regular face brush. This brush is great for getting a really deep clean and exfoliating away any dead skin. I would only use the exfoliating brush about once a week just because I wouldn’t want to overdo it and over-exfoliate my skin.

Next, we have the body brush. It’s rather large which is great because it covers are large surface area. As with the other brush heads, the bristles on the body brush are soft but effective at cleansing the skin. After using this brush in the shower, my skin feels super smooth and my body oils/moisturizers soak in really well.

The last removable head is the pumice stone. This is awesome because it’s great at helping remove any rough areas on your feet.

Overall, I really love this system. It really does remove excess makeup that is left behind by manual face cleansing. It’s scary to think that for years and years I haven’t been removing every trace of makeup. Also, I think this cleansing system has a great slim shape and is comfortable to hold. The only possible con I can seem to think of for this system is the fact that it doesn’t come with the first set of batteries but honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal because most people usually have AA batteries laying around the house.

The Spin for Perfect Skin by Vitagoods can be purchased off of www.vanityplanet.com. Use the code BeautyC33 for a 70% discount! The final cost will be $30.00 and includes free shipping to the United States and Canada. The regular retail price is $99.99.