Maybelline Bleached Neons collection swatches

When I heard about the Bleached Neons collection coming out for a limited time for Summer 2014, I heard nothing but good things which made me immediately keep an eye out for it around here.

The main hype in this collection is the color tattoos. They are apparently identical to the ones that came out for a limited time last year...just under a different name! This is a bummer for people who bought both unknowingly but awesome for people who were sad they missed them the first time around (guess which camp I fall into)

So the one thing I remember most about the original color tattoos was that they were fine on their own but they really shined when over a black eyeliner/eyeshadow. I couldn't wait to buy these and try the technique out for myself.

My goods! Left to right. Maybelline master drama Chromatic eyeliner in turn on the teal, Color tattoo in Sunwashed Sky , Color Show nail polish in Bleached in Peach, and Color Tattoo in Shimmering Sea

Here's a close up of the color tattoos and nail polish

I tried showing the tip of this eyeliner. It's soft and wonderful.

Maybelline Chromatic eyeliner in Turn on the teal - with flash

Take a look at that swatch. I'm in love! I'm actually sitting here wondering this asking myself why I haven't used it in any looks yet. I don't know why, it's gorgeous! 

Maybelline chromatic eyeliner Turn on the teal - daylight bulb, no flash

Anyway I'm definitely smitten with this eyeliner it's probably one of my favorites! 

I am very tempted to go and pick up some other shades, as there was a pink, purple and more.

Unfortunately i don't have any better pictures of the nail polish. I purchased it to use in a Easter manicure which I never got to post because after a certain point it seemed odd to post an easter mani, am I right? 

Swatches of that polish soon. But for what its worth, I liked it!

Now for the real star of the show- the color tattoos

Maybelline bleached neons Color tattoos

Here are the two side by side...they look a bit different in pictures but in person they looked very similar to be honest. If you can't see the lids, Sunwashed Sky is in the left, and Shimmering Sea is on the right.

Let's take a look at Sunwashed Sky first.

Right away you can tell it's beautiful

Here I have a swatch of the color tattoo on its own on the left, and over black eyeshadow on the right. As you can see, the shadow really comes alive when placed over a black base.

I love the duochorme shift that becomes much more obvious over a black shadow. I had some trouble layering it but I think it's because I tried doing it over a powder eyeshadow. I think these would look good over a creamy pencil liner- like the cheap wet n wild ones I got in the packs I've reviewed lately. 

I think Shimmering Sea is my favorite of the two!

I like the way Shimmering Sea  looks on its own. It looks good over black but not as much as Sunwashed Sky does. 

All in all I think there are several things worth picking up if you see this display. Basically everything in this post! Haha! I highly recommend all of it. 

Have you seen this display in your area? I'll be honest I was surprised when I saw they restocked ours after I picked htese up. It still remains mostly full when I pass by! So you should still find them near you but don't wait too long as these are limited edition!

BA Star Spicy Natural eyeshadow palette review

*This post is sponsored by Brandbacker. I was able to try this in exchange for my review

If you've been reading my blog for a while you may remember that I have gotten to review this brand a few times before. So when I saw the opportunity to try their eye shadow palettes, I was all for it. Their products have always surprised me with their quality.

BA Star is a brand that specializes in performance makeup- for cheerleading, dancing, or stage makeup. Because of this you can usually bet on them being pigmented and long-lasting.

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I got the Spicy Natural eyeshadow palette. I don't know what type of name that is...I definitely don't want anything spicy near my eye. The thought makes me cringe in pain!

But I suppose it gets it's name from the fact that the first half of the palette is natural shades, and the last two are a pop of color, to "spice it up". It also came with the BA Star eyelid glue.

The colors are nice but I must admit it's a strange collection of colors. When I think of palettes I think of being able to have a whole look inside one item. But this isn't always the case. I'm assuming the first 3 colors are meant to be the base colors and the purple and yellow can be added for small pops of color.

Notice the nick in the yellow eyeshadow...these shadows are definitely soft and just swiping my nail against it accidentally took out a chunk.

The bottom half of these swatches- aka the right side of the picture- are on top of the eyeshadow glue. You can see that the colors are more vibrant on that side.

The colors are rather pigmented and I like the orange-toned one more than I thought. The yellow ends up being more of a gold, and not as bold as I expected.

I think this product falls nicely into the spectrum with BA Star's other products. They are nice and affordable but they aren't mindblowingly unique. However they have never let me down, and that's nice.

I personally would prefer to use a different primer. I don't like the way their primer feels on my skin but as you can see it definitely improves the look of the shadow.

You can buy this and all their other palettes at bastar.com for $8.95.
A cool thing is that if you buy 6 or more the price drops down to $5 each. This is mainly for cheer and dance teams that might need to all have the same makeup. I think it's a nice deal since that is their target audience.

What do you think of these eyeshadows? Have you tried BA Star before?

Profusion Neoperle eyeshadow palette (green version) : swatches & review

It seems like forever ago that I first talked about the Profusion Neoperle eyeshadow palettes.

and I know it's pretty far after Christmas so it may be hard or even impossible to hunt down these shadows. But I just feel like they are worth talking about.

As you can see they look the same as the blue version, just obviously green. 

Coming in at just $2 a pop, and housing 15 eyeshadows, you can't really go wrong. 

When I opened it my eyes zero-d in on one particular shade- can you guess which one it was??

I'll give you a hint: it's not a neutral!

The 2nd shade from the left, in the middle row is one of the most gorgeous colors I've ever seen.

It's a mint green hat has a beautiful golden sheen to it. The color is truly unique and very pretty.

The rest of the colors were your standard earthy tones. I also like the 2nd to last one on the bottom row.

I will tell you the one thing that was wrong with this, and you can see it in the picture above. It was really sloppily glued into the cardboard palette. Of course, it felt cheap. It was uneven. However this really didn't bother me. I mean, for $2? Wasn't expecting great packaging. Not a deal breaker for me. You get what you pay for, right?

I personally feel like the one mint green shadow was worth $2 all on its own. The rest were just bonuses!

In my swatches there is a strip of primer down the center. Since I prepared this post a while ago I can't remember if I used UDPP or Milani primer. But you can see the outline of where the primer is in most of the swatches. As with most swatches, they look better over primer. Brighter and a bit foiled.

However you can also tell that they are pretty pigmented on their own as well!

These swatches were done with a few back-and-forth motions as opposed to a one-swipe type of swatch.

Beautiful 2nd row. I am obviously smitten with the mint, and I really like the one in the middle as well.

So beautiful I had to include it twice.

I feel like this row embodies the jewel-toned mindset of shadows. You can barely even tell where the primer starts, because it is so pigmented on its own. Has a great finish and is very pigmented yet blendable as you can tell at the edges.

Here is after I wiped my arm with makeup remover a few times..as you can see most of the shadow is gone except for what was clearly on top of the primer. Which leads me to believe that these shadows, when on top of primer, have some GREAT staying power!

Did you get a chance to pick up any Profusion shadow kits this holiday season? What do you think of these colors?

There will definitely be many looks that I use that use these shadows in the future!

Profusion Neoperle Palette (blue) review & swatches

I was perusing my local Walgreens last week when I started eyeing all the holiday gift sets that were out.
I have to admit- I hit the jackpot!
I found every thing I was looking for! And more! Such a great haul. But instead of doing a haul post I love all the products so much I want to just post a review/swatches of each product!

So basically this product falls under the "more than what I was looking for" category. I didn't even realize it existed. I was looking for some $1 Profusion products I had heard about and stumbled onto this instead.

Priced at $2 and sized a little smaller than a checkbook, this little palette or "journal set" packs quite a punch!

I have no idea what a journal set is, and I have never heard that in reference to eyeshadows. But ok, Profusion. You keep doin' yo' thing.

That's right, 15 eyeshadows for $2! I literally could not say no to this deal.
[moment of realization. This is actually not the first palette I bought. Notice the title says (blue). This palette also comes in 2 other colors. I first bought the green one and was so impressed I HAD to go back out and get the other two.]

Anyway, I couldn't wait to get home and swatch these shadows!

Full disclosure about these swatches: they are not one-swipe swatches. I do not find those to be accurate considering when I put on eyeshadow I don't expect to only use one swipe. Also, half of the swatch is done over Urban Decay primer potion and the other half is over bare skin. As you can probably see, though, you can't tell at all where the primer is. So while the primer would help to keep the eyeshadow on longer, it does not do anything for pigmentation.

As we start with row 1 you can immediately see that these shadows are super pigmented. The shadows themselves are so soft- maybe even a little too soft. But they are silky smooth. Look at that blue! So bright!

Since my camera only focused on the first 2 shadows in the first picture here's another picture with the focus shifted to the last few shades.

Row 2 of this palette includes one of my favorite colors- the third one. So pretty! :)

Come on! Look at these colors! THEY'RE SO GREAT!

Again with the focus issue so here you can see the second shades better.

Ughhh look at these babies!

All in all- while I wouldn't call any of these shades groundbreakingly original, they are so, so freaking pigmented!
And all for only $2? Consider me sold!

I really urge everyone to try and go out and find these palettes. There are 3 different colored packagings, and I have reviews coming for all of them!

What do you think? Is this palette worth $2? Are you gonna try and find these at Walgreens?

Let me know below!

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling

p.s. I am changing something MAJOR about my appearance this week! o0o stay tuned to find out what it is!

OR head over to Budget Splurge Beauty's Facebook to see it first, before the blog! ;)

Smoked Crimson Eye Makeup FOTD

Here's a look I threw together one night while messing around with some makeup I had never used before.

I have a simple pictorial and the eyeshadows I used but I don't have any of the other products I used that day. Sorry!
However I think this pictorial really highlights the fact that when it comes to makeup- it gets worse before it gets better. Hah. At first you look like a mess and ask yourself, what am I doing? But you keep trekking on and in the end you are left with something you can be proud of! Looking at the first pictures in this compared to the final product proves my point.

The first thing I did for this look was covered my eyelids with Nyx's chubby pencil in Milk. If you are a beauty fanatic and haven't heard this trick, you must live under a rock! Putting a white base first helps boost the pigmentation of eyeshadows that are too sheer on their own. Plus they are a little sticky to help it adhere better.

I swept the nameless color - so I'm calling it crimson- all over my lid. The coloring in this picture isn't the best. The pigmentation was a lot better in person.

Next I loaded the 2nd darker color onto the top of the lid. I was experimenting with different color placement...this isn't normally how I do my eyeshadow FYI haha

Next I blended out the two colors and added a highlight, then added the rest of my makeup.

The first color I used in this was this coppery red shade (marked with a daisy) from this small compact palette. It's called "Halo-the palette" from Profusion. I found this little guy on clearance for, like, 60 cents after christmas last year at Walgreens. I bought a few of them since I figured why not? So cheap! And, plus side, they don't suck! They aren't the greatest but I have no complaints, particularly for the price.

It's funny that I'm finally posting this (belated) post featuring Profusion when I have quite a few more Profusion goodies coming up!

For the crease I used the definer color in the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette. I need to get better pictures of this because it has a beautiful duochrome that didn't really show up in pictures.

So that's that. Just a simple look I played with one boring night, using all very cheap makeup products!

What do you think? 

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling

My First Cut Crease

Part of being obsessed interested in makeup means constantly trying to challenge yourself and improve your skill. I had used much of the same techniques for 95% of my life. It wasn't until recently that I found the thrill of challenging myself to try new things. 

I find inspiration on youtube, pinterest, and instagram. There are two ladies that live near me, @jemapellebree and @janeenersss on instagram (seriously- check them out) that always created such beautifully blended perfect cut creases. Seeing their work and knowing they were self-taught gave me the inspiration to attempt a cut crease myself.

For my first time trying something I was pretty pleased with the results. I have a LOT of room for improvement! But I've got to say, I am still happy with how it came out. 

All constructive criticism is appreciated! However if you don't have anything nice or constructive to say, then keep it to yourself. Don't have time for any hate!

For the sake of full transparency, I must say that some of these pictures have been edited by way of attempting to color correct. These pictures were taken on my cell phone so the quality and color were not great. I did the best I could to correct. 

E.l.f. Little black beauty book (cool edition) swatches & review: Is it worthy of being Holy Grail?

Let me start off by saying I'm a fan of Elf cosmetics in general. While a lot of their inventory is hit or miss, it is so cheap that you can afford some trial and error.

So when I saw the Elf little black beauty book -cool edition- at my local target for only $6, there was no way I was passing it up.

Now, I'm ever so glad that I snatched it up! There is such a wide range of colors, they are pretty pigmented, and the price cannot be beat.

Could the formula use some work? Yes. But I am pretty sure that these are some of  the best drug store eyeshadows I have ever encountered. What they lack in formula they make up for in pigmentation and color range. There is a mix of both matte and shimmer finishes. As is expected, the shimmer shades are much easier to work with than the matte shades, as you will see in the swatches. 

See swatches and my full review after the jump- 

September Ipsy glambag: Classic beauty

{I know this is SO overdue! Where has the time gone?! I got this bag late & then was very busy so bear with me!}

September's Ipsy glambag theme was classic beauty. I'm not quite sure how these products play into that, but nevertheless.  

I also wanted to put off writing this because honestly, I didn't know how I felt about it. On one hand, I was disappointed. Not that the products I got were bad- they aren't. But because I was hoping so much I would get the Jesse's Girl liquid eyeliner along with the Butter london nail polish. I know I probably didn't get the Butter London because I got the Urban Decay lipstick last month. It's only fair.  But I WAS hoping for the liquid liner. 

All in all this month's just feels...uneventful. The products are not great, not bad. I'll use pretty much all of them. I got my money's worth. It's just nothing to write home about, ya feel me?

But alas I will go through each item with you. Mostly because while looking through blog posts last month I found that I think most subscribers got very different bags. So in that regard, I'm intrigued if not impressed.

September Ipsy glambag

This month's bag was a cobalt blue with black design that resembled lace. It's a little bright but I do like the pattern. 

Find out the contents after the jump!

makeup look featuring Benefit's THEY'RE REAL! mascara

A while back (an embarassing amount of time back, if we're being honest) I got a sample size of Benefit's They're real mascara from Sephora for my birthday. 

I created a look with this mascara but before I could post it, my computer was dunzo (10+ points if you get that reference)...but now it's finally here!

Feast your eyes on a purple eyeshadow look I did featuring They're Real!

cranberry and lavender makeup look

More pictures and products used after the jump! -->

August Ipsy glambag: Glamour Academy

This month's theme for Ipsy was back to school, glamour school that is!

The bag itself is really cute in my opinion. It's a great wine shade and has gold "coat of arms" decorations with beauty products. Pretty fitting for glamour academy! 

August Glambag

Keep reading after the jump for all of this month's content, and LOTS of pictures!

Ariel Storylook palette look: FOTD

Of course the first night after I tracked down the Sephora Ariel Storylook palette, I had to create a look using only those shadows.

This is what I came up with.

I don't have a lot of pictures for this because I was at a friend's house (I literally couldn't wait to get home) and didn't have the best lighting. But I think you can still see 

an eyeshadow look using only products from the Ariel Palette

I created this look using the following shadows of the palette:

shadows used in this look

First color I used was Sea Witch, the purple at the bottom right. This went on my lid over Urban Decay Primer Potion, and over Nyx's eyeshadow pencil in Milk. 

Next, I took dabs from both Flotsam and Jetsam, mixing the two together to create a smokey look that wasn't black. I think these colors worked really well with Sea Witch, even though they have blue and green undertones, I thought they looked good together.

To highlight below my brow bone and to brighten the inner corner of my eyes I gabbed a dash of Sick of Swimmin' (not circled, but in the middle of the 2nd row from the bottom, and Sea Shells

with eyes partially closed

The look ended up looking only subtly smoked, but I still liked the tinge of darkness on the edges

I didn't use eyeliner, which is pretty rare for me. I just smudged some darker shadow in the outer v.

So this is the first (and so far, only) look I created using my Storylook palette. I look forward to mixing some of the brighter colors with some neutral colors to create some stunning color combinations. I think what I love most about the palette is that the colors work together well. You don't need anything else than this palette if that is what you are using.

Is this something you would wear out? Or is the purple a little too bright for your taste? Let me know in the comments, and again let me know if there are any colors you'd like to see a look for!

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling