 Recently I had a birthday and we hit 175,000 total page views here (insert: applause and cheers), so I got some new stuff of course. I wanted to try some stuff out that I was excited about, that was new, and some that I was just very intrigued about. So before I get into it, thank you for the birthday wishes, gifts and good vibes and also thank you for reading my blog. This has been a huge blessing from God and I couldn't be happier and more pleased and yet so grateful and overwhelmed with his mercy and kindness. I will continue to thank him everyday for not just this blog but the many other opportunities and blessings he's sent my way. SO here's the list of everything I got and I'll talk briefly about them as I go.
 Top left: Dragon Li lashes from Nubounsom Top Right: Feral loose shadow and Saint lashes from Sugarpill Bottom left: Bengal lashes from Nubounsom Bottom Right: Sasha lashes from Huda Beauty  Top left: Feral loose eyeshadow from Sugarpill
Top right: Nude Stix sculpting pencil (highlight mainly) and Marc Jacobs Re(Marc)able foundation in 14 Bottom left: Eyelure Vegas Nay lashes in Classic Charm Bottom Right: Radioactive stack from Melt
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So everywhere I look and every email I get is new color correcting products. EVERYWHERE. So I thought "lets talk about it". Firstly, color correcting is great but not every one needs it and just because it's everywhere you look, doesn't mean you need to start being as in to color correcting like we were with contouring and highlighting. Cause lets face it, it got pretty crazy with the contouring tricks and they're still going. So color correcting can be a little overwhelming and confusing so we're gonna go over the basics. I've included all the color correcting products that caught my eye, might be good, or are just trendy.  The basics of color correcting go back to the color wheel. I did a whole post on it. Opposite colors neutralize each other. So here are some easier ways to look at it. Green cancels out redness (helps with rosacea, and blemishes) Yellow cancels out redness and purples and helps with dull skin Peach cancels out blue/purple and helps with dark spots (typical for helping dark circles under the eyes) Lavender balances out yellow skin and brightens the skin Blue cancels out sallow skin Pink brightens dark areas Orange for deep blue/purples, deep grey and dark spots So that's the way I look at it. The main ones you see in correctors are Yellow, Green, Pink and Peach. I rarely see blue. Lavender is becoming more popular as well as Orange and Papaya shades. There's something for everyone now and that's great but it's confusing too.  From top left of the picture above is: Marc Jacobs Beauty Cover(t) Stick Color Corrector $42 for .56 oz. This comes in 3 shades each of them being infused with two colors. It looks really cool and you get a lot of product but I just don't see this as something anyone would "need". There are cheaper options that do the job just fine. Although I'm sure this is a great product it is not something I am interested in I find it more trendy. It looks cool though and I won't disagree with that. This is VIB only right now. Next is Besame Brightening Powders $22 for .21 oz. These are not new necessarily but they're included some new shades. The one above is a pink powder. I have the Lavender powder and love it. I will get the pink powder as well because they are great for setting the under eye area. That's really the only place I would use these powders, is under the eye. I think these are a fair price and usually you do need to set your under eye area if you've used concealer and what not. Smashbox Color Correcting Stick $23 for .12 oz. This has 4 shades. It's very similar to the contour sticks which you'll find several products that are the same packaging as their contour counter parts. This comes in 4 shades which are peach, orange, lavender, and green. So no pink and no yellow. This is a buildable product, but "creamy". I find stick/crayon products tend to be a little dry and look cakey but Smashbox usually does a great job. I'm not sure how I'd feel about dragging this around the eye areas. That's not a good thing to do for the delicate eye area, but if these were more pigmented instead of "buildable" I wouldn't be near as worried. These are also VIB only right now. Stila Correct and Perfect Palette $45 for .46 oz. This includes two powders and 5 cream correctors. I think this palette is really cool and I would be tempted to get it. Yellow and Lavender are the powders. A larger peach cream corrector for dark circles and four smaller Green, Pink, Orange, and Yellow creams. The packaging is beautiful. It has both powder and cream which is handy. This has every corrector though and there will be at least 1/3 of the palette that you won't use maybe even half. If you're a freelance artist, I think it would be great. If you want it just for yourself I might would pass. This is also VIB exclusive. Beauty Blender correct.four micro mini set for $30. If you like the mini beauty blenders it might would be nice to have as extras but I wouldn't get sponges in color correcting colors because that seems like a lot of time and space. If it simplifies things for you though as a freelance artist then I think it would be smart or like I said a great way to have back ups. This is limited edition.  The top left is: Algenist REVEAL Concentrated Color Correcting Drops $38 for .5 oz. These come in four colors I think. This seems really awesome. Algenist is mainly skincare and so this product is also marketed toward skincare and makeup. It can be used alone or added to makeup. It can soothe, balance skin's texture, and brighten. It's featuring Microalgae, microalgea oil, and alguronic acid to not just neutralize and balance but also treat and cover the skin. I think this is really cool. If I had a lot of redness I would get the green one for sure. Pigment drops are really popular right now so it's not surprising it would lead into color correcting and that's fine with me because added to foundation or it would be far less products to layer. This is also VIB exclusive right now. Sephora+Pantone Universe Correct and Conceal palette. $49 it has 15 shades in the palette there are two palettes available. I think this is a great palette for artists to have in their kits. It has correctors and concealers. I don't know how great they are as far as pigmentation and what not, it has no stars on Sephora but of the reviews it has it's apparently really nice. This is also VIB exclusive right now. Becca Backlight Targeted Correctors $30 for .16 oz 4 shades of Peach, Green, Lavender, and Papaya. I love the pink brightener for dark circles and I have no doubts this would be wonderful. These have been out for a few months and have really good reviews. I would definitely consider this if you wanted something color correcting. Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Wipeout Color Correcting Palette: this is $45 it has 6 shades in it. It's in the same set up as the contour palette. This releases on February 29th online and March 14th in stores. Cover FX Correct Click $18 for .19oz it has 6 shades. Peach, Lavender, Yellow, Green, Orange, and Brick. I think these are neat they are a good price and you have the option to customize them with the Click Stick, or get two in a set for $44. I would be interested in giving these a go. Plus they have a nice shade range that include dark orange and reddish orange. Which you won't see hardly anywhere else.  Now we're getting to last of the new/new-ish products.
Kat Von D Lock It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer $25. This is neat it's skin tone shades that mask any veins on the lid as a concealer would all while being a good base for your eyeshadow. It's stick form or crayon, .049 oz. I would look into this especially if you like using a base that masks your natural lid for veins or darkness like MAC paint pots or colors concealers. Urban Decay Naked Skin Color Correcting Fluid $28. It comes in 5 shades and if it's anything like the Naked concealer (which I think it will be) it's gonna be amazing. I would seriously consider this because it's liquid and light weight and if I was just guessing has great pigmentation. This is for VIB's right now and it's also Sephora exclusive right now, it's not on the Urban Decay website yet. Sephora Collection Bright Future Color Correctors $14 for .14oz it comes in 7 shades. I have it in peach and I really love it. I think these are great for dark circles I don't know how good they would be for redness on the face or blemishes but for dark circles I do recommend it the peach tones. YSL Neautralizers $38 for .08oz. It has three shades. This is the same packaging as the Touche Eclat Radient Touch that people use as brighteners, highlighters, and concealers. I do really like the Radient Touch but I don't even use that very much because there are equally good or better products out there and for the price I just feel like it's a bit of a unnecessary splurge. Which is how I feel about this and it doesn't have a lot of product or shades. So there you have it. That of course is not the only ones available. Color correcting is not a new thing by any means. LA Girl has good ones and has had them for about a year. So does NYX. If it were me, the ones I would consider getting would be the Urban Decay, Becca, or Sephora Bright Future. My color corrector shades that I use are usually only yellow and peachy tones though. So everyone is different. Keep in mind if you're someone with texture the more products you layer the more noticeable it's going to be so maybe consider the Algenist drops if you need something. Take into consideration if your dry or oily as well, as really creamy products may not be ideal for oily gals just as powders may not be ideal for very dry gals. A lot of these are VIB exclusive right now meaning you need to be a VIB member to get them. A VIB member is the 2nd level in their rewards program meaning you spend $350 in a calendar year. They will be available to everyone shortly I'm sure and there are plenty to choose from that are oldies but goodies as well that have stood the test of time. These you will find at Sephora. Don't forget to use Ebates and get 4-8 percent cash back on purchases.  This glorious product is the Melt Cosmetics Radioactive Stack. If you know me you know this is right up my alley. It's bright, it's pigmented, and it's a lot of product. Which I always love Melt for is their huge shadows. This is like all Melt Stacks magnetized and can be separated and re arranged. It's the same price as all Melt stacks which is $48.  These are the swatches, the only one that seems not matte is Xenon. It's a satin finish. These are kinda powdery because they are so pigmented and large, you're naturally gonna have some dust to them. Bright colors tend to have a lot of white powder in them which make them naturally dry and dusty. So the fact that these are still so pigmented and keep their intensity really says a lot. Even the yellow is insanely bright which is hard to pull off. Yellows tend to be patchy and sheer this is not.  This is an artistic look that I done with this. It's obviously not "everyday" for some of you, with the colored brows and what not, but to each their own. Neon is in the crease above Radon. Radon is on the outer half of the lid and top lip. Xenon is in the inner corner and lower lash line. Radioactive is on the inner half of the lid.
These apply great and a little goes a long way. If you love color you will love this. Melt has awesome eye shadows and this has been a while in the making and I understand why it takes them so long to put out new stacks, because they're near perfect every time. These are Vegan as always and come with a mirror on top. ***you need to know that Radon and Radioactive include ingredients that aren't technically approved for the eyes. Most pink shadows are not approved for the eyes because of something in the pigment, some companies do have approved pink shadows though. I had no reactions to this except a little staining on the lid from the pink but that didn't last when I actually used my cleanser to take it off and not makeup remover. I want you to know that just to be aware. In saying that though there are hardly any glitters that are approved as "eye safe" and yet there are a ton of eye glitters out there. So just putting that out there.  Recently I've been liking/loving some new skin products. Mainly I've changed up my night time game. My morning routing is still the same and my cleanser hasn't changed but I've found some moisturizers, eye creams and lip balm that I really like. I actually will have a separate post on some new stuff that I'll be getting that's organic and from Etsy in the next little bit, which I'm really excited about. For now though we're gonna talk about these because I've been using them for over a month except the lip conditioner which I've had for about 2 weeks. The picture above is what I've been using the longest. It's the Tatcha Soothing Triple Recovery Cream. This is ridiculously expensive but I got mine as a promo. The reason I love this is because it's very "anti inflammatory" and I prefer soothing cream. This is super thick and it's a blue tinted cream. It feels wonderful and if you have super dry skin or irritated skin you would like this. However, it's so expensive that there are other options that are a fraction of the cost. I have honestly been loving this and I use it every night which is why I wanted to include it.  This is Korres Black Pine Night Cream. It's firming, lifting, contouring, anti wrinkle cream. You are to use this right before bed and sleep in it. I use this when I don't use the Indigo Cream. It's very thick and I really felt my skin tightening and it wasn't too heavy. I love Korres products. I have a set that this came in that was Korres Black Pine, Korres Greek Yogurt (super popular), and Korres Wild Rose Sleeping Facial. All three were sleeping facials. One was firming (Black Pine), one was soothing (Greek Yogurt) and one was brightening (Wild Rose). I usually was just using the Greek Yogurt because everyone talks about it. This one I like better though. You also need to be using "anti aging" products as much as you can. You'll thank yourself later.  Next up I decided to try some Kiehl's products. Kiehl's has been around since 1851. This is an night time eye cream. I bought this because Kathleen Lights said this really helped her dark circles. I didn't have a night time eye cream at all actually so I decided to go with this. I do really like it, it's thick and feels really nice. My dark circles have gotten way better but I don't know if it's this alone. I have another eye cream I'm using in the mornings as well. Kiehl's is expensive so I got the baby size just to make sure I liked it. I've used this for over a month and it does seem to have helped my under eye issues.  The other eye cream I'm using is also from Kiehl's. This was recommended to me by an employee for Kiehl's and it's so hydrating!! This is the stand out product to me that I can't live without. This makes my under eye area so much smoother and brighter, it kicks Origins Ginzing eye cream out of the water in my opinion. It's kinda thin which I really love as well and it's just so hydrating I can't explain how much that changes the game. I no longer have to use corrector under my eyes because I've started using these Kiehl's eye creams, which is huge. I like this one a bit more than Midnight Recovery. I don't go a day without applying it. Even if I'm wearing no makeup that day I always use this so it will stay hydrated and look better.  Lastly I've been using Aerin Rose Lip Conditioner. This is super thick and gooey. I really like it though. It's way better than Rose Salve balm in my opinion. I love wearing it by itself though cause it makes your lips so nice and juicy almost. Plus it is very hydrating and it doesn't get tacky or weird. It soaks in after a while and makes your lips feel so nice. I love to exfoliate my lips and use this directly after and at night time.
So those are some new skin care products I really am liking. Not all are necessary. I just wanted to change things up and try some new stuff. Check these out if you're interested.  Benefit has released a new "Porefessional", don't worry the original is still available as the two are very different and made to work with one another. This one being a mattifying gel and the original being a "primer". You are to apply the Matte Rescue before primer. This is water based which I really like. I don't care for the original Porefessional (primer) it just didn't help pro long my foundation and slipped right off my face. This does what it says it will do though. I really do like it. It's great for you oily gals. I think it's a good concept as well to make the skin matte with one product and then use a smoothing/pore filling primer on top for the best application possible for your foundation. I apply it with a brush and not my fingers though because it tends to ball up if I rub it too much. So test it out to see how to best apply it for yourself. The first time was a disaster the other times I got the hang of it. I use it with a smoothing primer or blurring primer not necessarily the Porefessional but things with similar texture. This is $28 for 1.60 oz. at Sephora. The OG Porefessional is .75 oz for $31. You can also buy this at Ulta, they were offering free gifts with a purchase of a Benefit product. I don't know if that offer still stands though, it should tell you if you get a free gift with purchase though. 
 The swatches above is Dew the Hoola on the left and Shy Beam Dandelion on the right.  So Shy Beam Dandelion is on the top of the cheek bones, center of the nose and forehead. Warm Soul from MAC is the blush, and Dew the Hoola is on the sides of the forehead and areas where I contour or bronze typically like under the blush application and sides of the nose.
If you're interested in getting these from Sephora or Ulta be sure to use Ebates and get you some cash back.  Valentines Day is upon us. So I've put together some looks that range from dramatic to neutral to festive. The one above is typical girly and festive. It has glitter, it's soft, and pink. The star of the show is Makeup Geek Halo Sparkler which is a soft cool toned pink glitter. The other shades are Makeup Geek as well and they are Sorbet, Cupcake, Bitten, Corrupt, and Mai Tai. Lashes are Violet Voss "Vamptress" lashes. The key thing to remember, as always is: Bigger blending brushes for lighter colors, smaller blending and dense brushes for darker colors. I use a pencil brush for black, dark brown, and greys. Going back to that biggest fluffy brush to blend out harsh lines. Then using a flat stiff brush to apply glitter or pigment. If you use glitter or a sparkler you'll need glitter glue if your using a pigment you can just wet the brush with eye drops or facial spray.  This look is very neutral, it's rose gold. I used Smashbox Art. Color. Love palette and the color Oxidize specifically. Also Ardency Inn Rose Gold is another good option. I'm just blending it with brown colors, but not taking away from the Rose Gold look. So basically you could achieve this by just sweeping a Rose Gold all over your lid and blend. It's that easy. The lashes are House of Lashes "Siren" lashes. Also very simple looking. Lips are YSL Tint Oil in 5. Which is Cherry I think. So basically just a super glossy lip that magnifies your natural lip color.  This look is super dark and dramatic with very festive lips. The eyes are: MUG: Corrupt, Mai Tai, Sorbet, Cupcake, Poppy, Bitten Star Crushed Minerals: Phantasmic glitter House of Lashes: Siren lashes Lips are: Vamp and Sweet Talker from ABH. This is an ombre lip. Here is the link for another ombre lip you could do that's very Valentine's Day appropriate and also the same technique as this one.  This is a super colorful, dramatic and edgy look. The colors are pretty simple: Ardency Inn "Royal" MUG Curfew, Corrupt, Mai Tai, and Poppy (Mai Tai is in the inner corner and lower lash line some) Violet Voss Wendy Glitter Colour Pop Swerve gel liner Nubounsom lashes in Dragon Li. (Which are really dramatic, you could also use Violet Voss Vamptress or Iconic lashes from HOL)  This look is very soft and neutral with just a touch of pink here and there.
The lips are Gerard Cosmetics "Rodeo Drive" The eyes are: Makeup Geek Mai Tai, Corrupt, Bitten, Latte, Cocoa Bear. Brown shadow on the lower lashline and black on the top. Nubounsom Bengal lashes ABH Brow Definer The face products are worth mentioning as well. Becca Aqua Luminous Foundation for that really healthy look, Makeup Geek Romance blush for a healthy glow to the cheeks. Makeup Geek Break Up and Infidelity contour pans. I baked the face with RCMA No Color Powder (I get mine at Frends Beauty). Benefit Shy Beam Dandelion which is a matte highlight and there is a video here with how I use the RCMA and Shy Beam, and where I place it.  Again Makeup Geek has blessed us with another launch of products, contour powders. There are 8 shades 4 warm toned shades and 4 cool toned shades for porcelain to deep skin tones. The two I have are Cool Porcelain and Cool Fair. I tend to like a more grey based contour. I will say though that just from pictures and swatches I feel like both sides of cool and warm are wearable and a bit neutral. What I mean is I don't think the warms tones are overly orange, red, or bronze and the cool tones aren't like the shadow of death on your cheek bone. So I really love how they've done their colors and formula for these. Marlena done a video of swatches and explaining which skin tones need which shade and I will link that for you here.  The actual shades names are Break up (Bottom) and Infidelity (Top). They swatch darker than what it looks in the pan so don't underestimate these.   These swatch really nice and are very pigmented as well. The formula reminds me of Kat Von D contour palette. It's heavily pigmented and smooth like that. I've been using Break Up the most because I'm so pale right now but if I want a little extra or something more dramatic I can always do Infidelity to make the contour more prominent and in the summer it will probably be my go to shade.  The picture above is just for size reference and nothing else. I just wanted to show how big these are and for just $10 that's really saying a lot. The picture below is Break Up applied with a pointed contour brush from Morhpe and then buffed out to where it wouldn't be so harsh. These are super pigmented and the brush I used was dense so I picked up more than I intended. It's also on the sides of my forehead as well, just very lightly. These are .15 oz for $10 and most pan contours are anywhere from $12-$17 roughly. You can also buy all 8 for $65 as a bundle on the Makeup Geek website. So once again I'm pleased as punch with what Marlena has done and the products she's worked on. Such affordable products with amazing quality is very hard to find and especially to have a lot of options not just one or two things. I can't wait to see what they release later on. I hear highlighters are on the way for summer and a couple big collaborations. Along with working on foundations and concealers, they're really killing it and I have no doubt that they work hard everyday and it shows with the consistent product launches that are usually always good if not great. **I'm not paid to say this either, I'm just a genuine fan of Makeup Geek.  The picture below is using "Infidelity" with a angled brush. I find that I like a fluffier angled brush to apply these contours more than a super dense contour brush that is flat, domed, pointed so on. Only because these are SO pigmented.   This is the new Tarte Tarteist Lip Paint in Namaste, that just recently released. This shade is pretty popular right now cause it's a good pinky-nude. There are 14 shades all together that range from purples, nudes, mauves, berry, and orange. It's $20 for .20 ounces at Sephora and Ulta as well. It's also available in a lip set at Sephora "Give Me Some Nude Lip". It's available as a promo right online at Sephora right now with code "Bold Lip" both being deluxe samples.  As far as formula goes, it has a menthol/vanilla scent and mousse like texture. It goes on soft and it doesn't completely dry like most liquid lipsticks. Because of that, it also doesn't crack and crumble like very "liquid-y" liquid lipsticks. I really love that. I do find that it's a bit patchy sometimes when I apply it, not terribly bad but I have to build it up in certain areas. Also because it doesn't dry completely it does transfer some. It also seems to oxidize or at the very least stain my lips when it's off.
I will say though that as a lipcolor, and formula, I still like it since it's very neutral. I don't know if I would like the bolder colors though because it does transfer. The texture is very similar to Ofra Cosmetics, but I like Ofra better because it doesn't seem to transfer and it's less expensive and better application. This is a great color though, it's a "go to" color when nothing else stands out or to take with you on the go or a trip. It's packaging is no where near as big and long as ABH or KVD and I like that because it fits into smaller pockets and cosmetic bags. Other brands of liquid lipsticks and prices are as follows:
 Here we have the Becca Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation. This is the newest foundation from Becca. I talked briefly about it in my post about "new products and spring launches". I wasn't exactly excited when I seen this or the other "serum like" foundations that are coming out. I prefer foundations with fuller coverage. UNTIL I saw Samantha from Batalash and Wayne Goss both talk about this product. It looked beautiful and it looked like it had more coverage than I originally thought. Plus it applied easily and beautifully on their skin so I had to try it. It has 8 shades, it's 1 oz, and $44. The shades are not necessarily geared toward the color of your skin but as to how easily you burn from the sun or tan. Which I think is a cool concept. So this is shade "Light", it works well with my skin tone. This is also 32% water.  First off, the only thing I don't really care for is this is a dropper bottle situation. I prefer a pump or even an open top. None the less that's just a minor issue. This is a truly gorgeous foundation. It really is luminous. It's thin but it has surprisingly good coverage for being such a thin consistency. I was really worried it would be very sheer coverage and not apply well it actually applies great on it's own! It has more coverage than you would think and even then you can build it up if you want to. I have other "luminous" foundations that apply normal and basically get "dewy" as the day goes on. This is luminous directly. Right off the bat it has a healthy glow and not overly dewy. I have a small video on how I apply this here. As I mentioned before this is over 30% water, I find most of my primers I've tried don't work with this. I have not tried the Becca Backlight Primer though so it might possibly work, I don't know. Basically for me this works best without any primer on. It goes on easily, looks the way it's supposed to, and doesn't get patchy. I find with the primers I used that it doesn't go on as smooth and it looks very patchy and takes more time blending. Looking at the ingredient list though the second ingredient "Dimethicone" which is a common ingredient in primers that give them that "silky" feel. Which makes me wonder if primer is that necessary at all as far as a "smoothing" effect at least. You have to shake this really well (as you should be doing with all your foundations), then you twist the cap and the button pops up, which is neat. You press the button to fill the dropper while its in the bottle and press the button again to put it on the brush or whatever applicator you choose. I use a kabuki brush with this to stipple it on for higher coverage. I use about two drops on the first application. You can build from there. This has decent wear. I wore it from 12-7 on my birthday. It didn't get more dewy as the day went on it stayed the same amount of luminous. It did wear off some as the day went on but that was to be expected. I don't think this would be the best for oily skin types. I'm normal skin, so I think normal to dry and maybe even combination skin could use this and really like it. If you have problematic skin then you might need a good amount of concealer cause I'm not sure this would cover large breakouts. If you just have some/minor redness or minor discoloration I think you'd be surprised at how much this would cover, and it can be built up so bear that in mind. This is one of those times though that I encourage you very much to get a sample or try it on at Sephora because it is a different type of foundation and some of you will not like the serum style, lighter coverage foundation.  This is the swatch of "Light" on my hand. It's a bit warmer and darker than I wanted but it works out just fine, once it's blended in. I'm trying to show this in natural light. Hopefully, even from the swatch you can see the luminosity.  The picture above is just foundation, light blush applied on the cheek bones (Kat Von D: Hansel+Gretel), some highlight on tops of the cheek bone and nose, and concealer and setting powder under the eyes. No other powder on the face, no contour. The picture below is only the foundation with very little under eye concealer and some mascara and Benefit Gimme Brow. You can buy this at Sephora, they had a code for VIB and VIB Rouge members that gave you 10% off it *should* be "VB36CB" if it still works. Don't forget to use Ebates and get some cash back for your purchase.  |
ErinI'm from Tennessee. I'm a makeup and skincare lover. I have always enjoyed creating looks but I love to help people with product knowledge and application even more. I've been able to start blogging and do these things I love because God has seen fit to bless me with the opportunity. Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me! 
  
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