Monthly Archives: March 2014

Review: Born Pretty Store

So I’ve recently come across www.bornprettystore.com and it’s awesome!  They carry everything from makeup to nail accessories to phone cases to even colored contacts.  And I haven’t even mentioned their prices… They’re great! Everything is such a steal.  Born Pretty Store also has free shipping worldwide.  And if that isn’t already amazing, if you use the code CASH10 at checkout you receive 10% off your order! 🙂

I received the 72 Matte Natural Colors Eyeshadow Palette and let me just tell you it’s fantastic.  It has easily become my most used everyday palette since it contains mostly matte neutral shadows that blend easily and are nicely pigmented.  I also like how it even contains a few vibrant coral and pinks shades.

Here’s a quick everyday look I created using the palette.

eyes

 

Another item I received is this cute antler bracelet covered in rhinestones.  I’m absolutely in love with it and it fits me perfectly.  

deer

Review: New Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pro Palette

Brow Pro Palette

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

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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.

Click image to enlarge

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.

My Go-to Everyday Look

Dramatic looks and false lashes are not something I do everyday.  I go for simple neutral looks for school and work.  I mean, who really has time to get super dolled up every single day? Lol.  Anyway, this has been my current go-to look as of late.  It incorporates bronze-y tones which are always a good option and don’t require much thought, in my opinion.  I can throw this look together and be out the door in no time.  I enjoy looks like this because I want to look put together but not overly done during the day.

See below for product details.

Everyday bronze look
Everyday bronze look

Skin: Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Loose Powder and @tartecosmetics Amazonian Colored Clay Bronzer Blush in Pink Bronze.

Eyes: @alexapersicocosmetics Tuscany Sunset palette and @tartecosmetics Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara on lower lashes.  On my upper lashes I did a coat of Maybelline The Rocket Waterproof to hold my curl and then Too Faced Better than Sex mascara over top.

Lips: @la_mir_cosmetics Lip Gloss in “Lavish Lies”

Brows: @anastasiabeverlyhills Brow Powder Duo in Medium Brown.

Brushes used: @hairandmakeupaddiction and @rccosmetics.