Colourpop Créme Gel Color, and Liner

Hello again readers!

I'm ready for this next installment of ColourPop items from my collection.

Créme Gel Color

These are branded as Créme Gel Color, but in reality they're gel liners in a more traditional pot. The packaging is really fantastic, as each of the pots is made of clear glass, and the lids are like a tin with the holographic ColourPop logo branded on top. Each of the products has the name listed on the sticker on the bottom, because it's easy to get them confused (especially with the darker colors in lighting conditions that aren't that great).

Best O: Deep burgundy

Fast Lane: Deep teal

Workout: Blackened forest green

The products that I bought were all matte liners. With the Créme Color range, they are mainly mattes, some metallic shades, and when they have limited edition releases – glitter. Mattes are ones that I know I would reach for most often.

Each of the products feels creamy, and intense, but when it came to application they each needed two coats for full opacity. Best O and Workout were my personal favorites, while I don't mind Fast Lane it's just not a liner that I ever find myself reaching for often. Fast Lane is also the liner that needs the most TLC to really shine, as I found myself sometimes going for three coats!

They also have an issue, where with the more coats you use, the more texture you get for your liner. They can become hard, clumpy, and even crumbly. I have had a few occasions where there would be too much product and it would crumble up in places. The downside is often I found myself needing those layers for perfect application. 

With the crumbling issue aside, these liners were incredible. Once they set, they were smudge-proof, waterproof, and even on my oily lids I noticed that they lasted all day with minimal fading. I was really impressed with the lasting power! Even for the swatches, they set, and I had to take an oil-based remover to remove the swatches from my arm so nothing would be left behind – a makeup wipe wasn't cutting it!

Make sure to keep them closed tightly at all times when not in use. I've heard and seen photos and disclaimers from other customers that their liners have dried out. Mine have been going strong since I got them in October, and I haven't had any issues. The only one that I'm worried about is Best O, because that is the liner that I use the most often and I can see that one drying out first though it hasn't happened yet.

Each of these liners has .11 oz, and retails for $6. I definitely recommend these!

-----

Créme Gel Liner

This was the product that I was most excited about trying from the Créme Gel line. It's an eyeliner pencil that's more up my alley, as I use them for everything for smudging on my lash line to lining my eyes for dramatic looks. The packaging is similar to the Lippie Sticks packaging, but the difference is that the tip where the product is is color coded. So, even if you manage to ignore the colored bottom, you'll notice right away if you grabbed the wrong product once the lid is off.

The product comes pre-sharpened, but the packaging doesn't include a sharpener. I haven't noticed any issues with the product not being incredibly sharp, so I don't mind it, but I do know that it bothers others.

The best part of the packaging, is that it's twistable! I don't have to sharpen the entire pencil (just the tip, if I so wish). It's such a wonderful feeling because I rarely (if ever) pack a sharpener when I travel.

I chose Best O, which, like the Gel Color pots, is a deep burgundy matte. This liner performed better than the Créme Color pots. It was smooth, pigmented, and I got the color payoff I wanted almost immediately. I rarely have to go over the liner I applied a second time, and when I do it's because I didn't put enough down the first time. 

These liners come in two finishes as of now: matte and metallic.

Though pigmented, this product was a lot drier than I was expecting. I was expecting a formula like the Rimmel London, Jordana, or Milani gel liners, but this formula had to be drier in order to twist the product. If you have too much product dispensed, it will break off, of that I can assure you. It will break off, and you will mourn the loss of a few applications of your liner.

These don't have the same staying power, minus the smudge-proof qualities. On my oily eyes (especially since I usually wear this on my waterline and tight-line where it's extra moist from being next to my eyeball) they don't last as long as the Créme Gel Colors. Not to say that they don't last long, because by the end of a long day there's still color there, it's just not as intense as when I first applied it.

Each of these liners has .01 for $5. I really suggest this product especially if you're interested in trying some out-of-the-box colors!

-----

Best O was the "best" choice to try out in both formulas, because it's the color that I reach for the most often. It's such a wearable color that's a little out of the box, and makes the blue in my eyes pop! I really enjoy both formulas in this shade, and it makes me eager to try other shades from the collection.

I have yet to try a metallic finish, so I'm looking forward to add one to my collection to see how it's different than the mattes (besides for the obvious difference in finishes!).

Thanks for reading!

Maybelline Color Tattoos - Creamy Beige, and Dramatic Black

Hello again readers!

These aren't new by any means, but they're recent additions to my collection. I went out and started adding to my Maybelline Color Tattoo collection once again (remember when I was really obsessed with this killer fomula and went crazy trying to buy all the shades?) and I stopped myself at buying just the two ...

Creamy Beige: A nice neutral brown with slight glitter.

I bought this shade to use as an all-over-the-lid shade, as well as a base for certain looks. I was a little shocked to find sparse glitter, but I was happy with how pigmented and creamy the formula is (no big shocker). This is like how I often find the color tattoos to be, and I was pleased to have added it to my collection.

Dramatic Black: Matte black.

I bought this because someone on YouTube mentioned they love it as an eyeliner. I was excited to try it, because they tend to last so long on my eyes, but this one was a disappointment. It wasn't as pigmented as Color Tattoos tend to be, as it was patchy and took a few coats to build up the true black opacity. The wear time was tragic. I don't know if it's the formula for this particular shadow, but it smeared, and didn't last on me at all. It faded and by the end of the day looked patchy. I wanted another black "liner" to be added to my recommendation list, and this just fell short.

Thanks for reading!

Wet n Wild Summer 2016 Lost in the Wildflowers Collection

Hello again readers!

Wet n Wild released some new limited edition products for Summer, and for once I found the display at my local Walgreens (usually I have to travel to get my hands on anything limited edition such as this). I couldn't resist trying a little bit of everything, aside from the nail polish. There were 4 Megalast Nail Polishes in this collection, but I wasn't fond of any of the colors, so I passed on them.

-----

Megaglo Multi-Stick

This is not my first time using a highlighting stick from Wet n Wild, but when there were three new options; pink champagne (Marigold Round), light rose pink (Light Up My High-Biscus), and a peachy-coral shade (Carnational Anthem).

These sticks can be used on the face, eyes, and lips, making a very cohesive all-in-one look. Marigold Round I chose because I am a sucker for good highlighting shades. The downside of picking such a light shade (for myself) is that I never found myself using it for anything other than a cheek highlight, perhaps a little bit of a brow-bone highlight. I didn't like it much as an eyeshadow without adding other shades in the look, and I didn't like it as a lip color either.

Like the stick product I've used before, I was blown away with the lasting power. Even with my oily skin, as long as I set the stick with a powder, it lasted all day on me, without fading or losing intensity.

For comparison's sake, I compared the new Marigold Round stick to the Pocahontas Great Spirit Highlighting Stick from the Disney Dare to Dream collection from last summer.

They're both champagne shades, with Marigold Round a more pink toned champage and Great Spirit a more yellow-toned champagne. They're just different enough in color that I can justify keeping both in my collection.

I loved this stick so much, I went ahead and bought Carnational Anthem, since I fell in love with the beautiful warmth of the shade and I can definitely see myself using that shade all over my face.

This product retails for $3.99.

-----

Megaglo Highlighting Powder

There were two highlighting powders in the collection; Precious Petals, and Crown of my Canopy. I chose Precious Petals as Crown of my Canopy was far too dark for me to use as a highlighter, as it's directed towards more medium to deep skintones. The packaging is a sleek black plastic with a clear plastic lid so you can accurately see the product.

The powder is absolutely gorgeous. It has an embossed petal design, perfect for summer. It looks very delicate and really luxe for a drugstore highlighting powder.

Precious Petals is a very pink-toned champagne. It's really dark in the concentrated swatch, but it blends out into a much more wearable highlighting shade if applied lightly.

This powder is absolutely gorgeous, even to the touch. It's very soft, finely milled pressed powder and blends out so very effectively that I don't find it to be a hassle at all. I found it to last through the day on my skin while looking incredibly natural. It caught the light in the perfect way, giving my face an incredibly healthy glow.

The biggest downside of this powder, is that it's SO soft that the decal in the powder I find will be brushed away quickly, unless you work at the corner and work your way to the other corner first.

This product retails for $3.99.

-----

Metallic Liquid Lipstick

This was one of the products that I was both really excited to try and also sort of dreading. I remember ages and ages ago in the late 90's when I would wear a frosty lipstick (handed down to me from my really cool aunt!) and ... it looked awful. Then again, as a kid I thought they looked great. As I got older, every time I tried a frosty, metallic looking lipstick I wasn't a fan.

This range came with 6 exciting, unique colors: Peony Express (rose pink), My Tulips are Sealed (pink nude), Coming up Roses (cherry red), Chrysanthemum's the Word (warm bright pink), Days of Fuchsia Passed (bright fuchsia), and Indigo Your Own Way (light violet).

The packaging is the most impressive part of this product (to me, since the metallic lipstick I find to be a fad more than a huge wishlist item for me). It's incredibly sturdy, has a weight to it, and with the black cap it looks more like a mid-range product than a cheap lipstick from the drugstore!

The wand is absolutely perfect. It has a doe-foot applicator, but the kicker is it has a little indented reservoir to hold onto more product. It holds just the perfect amount that I found I never had to go back in (at least with the shade that I chose).

Multiple swatches on the left, one swatch on the right.

The shade that I chose was My Tulips are Sealed, which I found to be the most unique out of all the shades available. Most of the shades had a traditional metallic finish, where it has a sort of white/silver shimmer to catch the light. My Tulips are Sealed has a gold shift, and I was instantly smitten with this trendy lip color.

I'm going to start this off with that it's NOT a liquid to matte formula! It will not dry down to a matte finish. Rather, it's more like a traditional bullet lipstick, just in a tube. It does dry down a bit so it's not as slick, but it remains creamy and moisturizing on the lips. It's a very comfortable lipstick to wear.

It looks incredibly bright, washing me out a little bit. The lip color almost looked fluorescent in some lighting, and because of the metallic finish it always looked incredibly glossy. I managed to get 4 hours of wear before I noticed that it faded too much and only left behind the gold shimmer.

The biggest (and really only issue I truly had) is that with the shimmer, sometimes it would feel gritty if I pushed my lips together too much. It wasn't something I took notice of often, but on the off time that I would notice it I wasn't a fan. I took it as a good trade-off to have.

This product retails for $2.99. 

-----

Thanks for reading!

Urban Decay Smoked VS ELF Smoke Prism Eyeshadow Palettes

Hello again readers!

This is more of a fun post, rather than a full-on review. I was going through my collection and picking out things that have gone bad (which I try to do relatively often) and I took notice on some similar shades in my Urban Decay Smoked palette, and my ELF Smoke Prism Eyeshadow Palettes. I thought that it'd be fun to put them together, and compare the shades.

First off, the packaging for both are great in their own ways, The UD Palette is larger (as it holds more shades!), with a cloth coating and a zipper opening. It's a bit of a hassle to have to unzip it and re-zip it (especially if you *think* that you're finished with your look, only to notice you didn't blend a shadow far enough and it doesn't match up.

The ELF palette is much more sleek, and easier to access. It's smaller, with a matte black plastic packaging. They both have mirrors, but the elf mirror is the entire length of the palette, making it better for the space.

The UD palette has a total of 10 shades, where six of them are shimmery shades, and four of them are matte. The ELF palette has 6 shades, all in a shimmery metallic finish.

The UD palette is better for creating a variety of looks without having to pull in shadows from other palettes. With the addition of the mattes, there are shadows to add definition, transitions, and overall a better look compared to the ELF palette, which I feel needs other shadows pulled in to make the look complete.

The only shadows that I found truly similar were the jewel tones, which are the reasons for this post in the first place. Both palettes have jewel toned violets, blues, and greens

In comparison, the UD shades are more intense, and have a deeper color to them, while the ELF shadows are more muted. It's one of those things that I don't reach for jewel toned shadows often, but if I did I would want them to be incredibly intense.

Both shadows are good quality, easy to blend, and feel really smooth to the touch.

-----

The UD Smoked palette is unfortunately being phased out. It's a shame, because this is the first mid-ranged palette that i ever wanted to get my hands on, it's the palette that's held my interest for the longest amount of time. It was more expensive (originally $50, down to $30, and you can still find it for $20). Most of the shadows can be bought in singles, which is great if there's only a shade or two that you're interested in.

The ELF palette is a lot more affordable ($10, but if you wait till ELF has a 50% sale you can get it for $5 like I did!) and has a lot more shimmery shades to make really interesting smokey metallic looks.

If you're someone that craves those deep jewel tones, check out the UD singles, they're really interesting and really great pigmentation.

If you're someone who doesn't reach for jewel tones often, or prefer a more muted look, invest in the ELF palette.

Thanks for reading!