Formula X for Sephora Nail Polish in Thrilling and Meteoric - Review and Swatches

A few months back Tiffany D was wearing Thrilling and Meteoric on her nails for one of her videos. I don't fall in love with nail polish easily (despite my vast collection ahem...) but I was instantly intoxicated with those two colours. So I hopped on Sephora.com and ordered them stat. I finally got around to wearing them this past week. I don't do my finger nails very often and I only usually bother with my toes from Spring to Fall. Now that I am wearing these colours, I am more in love with them. Thrilling is one of Formula X's New Neutrals Nail Colors and is described as cloud grey. I think it has a bit of purple or lilac in it so it isn't blah at all. It's also kind of taupe. It's $13.00 Canadian or $10.50 U.S.

Here is the "swatch". I have Meteoric on my ring finger for a bit of pizazz. I have already had a number of compliments on these nail polishes. One of the reasons that I seldom do my finger nails is because nail polish doesn't last on them more than 1 day before it chips on me. Doesn't matter if I do my mails myself or I get a professional expensive manicure. I happily pay for a pedicure because they last a while on me, but manicure, forget it. Total waste of money for me. Last time I got a professional manicure was 6 years ago for a family wedding. I swore that would likely be the last time I paid for a manicure. One day and chip city.

I work all day typing on a computer and then when I am home I am doing laundry, washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, showering etc. I am not a lady of leisure. My nails go through hell. "What is the point Alexis?", you are likely now thinking. "Get back to the damn review already!"

Ok, ok. My point is that lo and behold I have had this nail polish on for a couple of days now and shock of the century, no chips!!! I know people have been extolling the virtues of these Formula X nail polishes, and I hate to say it, but they are actually worth the hype! Not one chip, not one crack!

Back to Meteoric. It is an Effects Top Coat or Transformers Top Coat. It retails for $12.50 U.S. or $15 Canadian. It is described as having black, white and rainbow glitter. So pretty! Even my husband likes my nails! The formula of both of  these is super easy to work with and very little streakiness issues to worry about. I love my O.P.I. but the formula of these Formula X numbers is superior. I have one other Formula X colour which I got for free from Sephora as a promotion back around Christmas time. Will have to try that one out too one of these days. I would definitely buy more Formula X!

Just as an FYI, I also used butter London's Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat (which I have mixed feelings about and will do a full review on soon) and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

Packaging: 10/10

Pigmentation: 10/10 

Easy to Work With: 10/10

Longevity: 10/10

Texture: 10/10

Price: 10/10

Ingredients: 7/10

Travel Worthy: 10/10

Attractiveness of Product: 10/10

Would I buy this again? YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

ELOTD - MAC's Naked Lunch, Wedge and Espresso with Swatches

Hello! I wore this look yesterday. I just slapped it together on a whim. Sorry, but the picture above does not show the shading, definition and blending that I did justice. I really need to work on my ELOTD shots. I was quite happy with how the look turned out. The look was, to me, very neutral, yet put together and classy. In other words, a "go to" keeper!

So I put MAC's Naked Lunch on the lid and the inner corner. I used MAC's Wedge in the crease and I shaded the in the outer corner and did a little "v" shape with MAC's Espresso. I topped it off with Clinique's Brush-On Cream liner in True Black and some mascara (which you can't see in this shot...damn). I didn't put anything on my lower lash but you could easily add some black or brown liner and tight line it or smudge it if you feel so inclined. Also, you could add Naked Lunch to the brow if you like or another lighter shade. I forgot.

On the top left is Naked Lunch. Bottom left is Wedge and bottom right is Espresso. Okay some swatches. I think you can tell which swatch is which I hope.

 

 

 

So that's it. Hope you liked it. If you have these colours, you should try them together. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they looked in combination.

Do you have any great MAC colour combinations that you love? If you do, please leave them in the comments section below.

LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Shadow Primer - Review

I love mini makeup products for 3 reasons. First, because they are usually free (tee hee). Second, they are great for travel. Third, even if you have to pay for it, it's usually cheap and you get to try out the product before you invest in a large, more expensive version. Before I get into this short review, I thought I would mention that Sephora no longer seems to be carrying LORAC products. Interesting...In fact, they only have one product listed on Sephora's website as of today. I must be one of the few makeup bloggers and addicts alive who was not impressed with the LORAC Pro Palette. The full review of that is on my blog if you are interested!

Back to the matter at hand. I received my LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Shadow Primer along with the LORAC Pro Palette. It's sad that I am only getting around to this review now. The one I have is a mini coming in at 0.19 oz. or 5.5g. The full size is 0.5 oz or 14.79g and retails for $21 U.S. I have mainly been using this tube when I travel which has been a bit this week. I was away for work for a couple of days this week and last night slept over at friend's house.

The product is flesh coloured. It works. It does. It keeps my eye shadows from creasing for a number of hours. I find it works better paired with an eye shadow base than it does on its own with just eye shadow on top of it. This is of course true of most eye shadow primers. I have to say that it does not perform or work as well as my Tarte Clean Slate 360 Eye Creaseless 12 hr Smoothing Eye Primer. Also, the ingredients are better in the Tarte product. Without using an eye shadow base, the Tarte product is superior to the LORAC version.

Packaging: 10/10

Pigmentation: 7/10
Easy to Work With: 7.5/10
Longevity: 8/10 
Texture: 7/10 (it's a bit wet)
Price: 8/10
Ingredients: 7/10
Creaseless?:  8/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 7/10
Would I buy this again? Nah
Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Fig, Bite for VIB Rouge and Pepper - Review and Swatches

In my last post I raved about Bite lipsticks. I will spare all of you who read the blog a repeat performance. Everything that I said about the quality of these lipsticks in my last blog post applies to these colours as well. I will really just give you an overview of these particular colours here. For those of you who didn't read my last post with the full Bite lipstick review, here is the link:

http://mymakeupissues.blogspot.ca/2014/04/bite-beauty-luminous-creme-lipstick-duo.html

As you can see, I have two mini Bite lipsticks - Bite for VIB Rouge and Pepper and one full size tube in Fig. I got the Bite for VIB Rouge because I hit VIB Rouge status late last year. Shameful, I know. This lipstick colour is a gorgeous blue red though! I have had a number of compliments on this colour when I have worn it. I believe you can purchase this colour in the full size version and I totally will as long as it remains available.

Ack! This picture has a yellow hue to the background again. I am really struggling with this new camera.

Pepper is described as a dusty rose. I find it quite beige on me and it reminds me a bit of MAC's Twig lipstick only Pepper is more pink. The colour is a bit boring for my taste, but it is a very nice nude shade.

Finally, we have Fig. There is a lot of hype surrounding this colour. This colour is described as a nude rose. It is a very pale pink, but a true pink. For me, it's a tad too light for my taste. I usually pair it with a darker pink lip liner and some darker gloss. I just prefer to darken and pump it up a bit. Personal taste. For those of you who like neutral lips but are tired of the same old nude beige routine, you might very well find this shade to be a winner. Here are the swatches...

Just look how vibrant and pigmented the colours are! Amazing! The top colour is Bite for VIB Rouge as you might of guessed. The middle colour is Pepper and the bottom colour is Fig. It looks lighter on me than it appears in the swatch above. So that's it! You really need to check out these lipsticks if you haven't already. Love, love, love them! Same rating applies to these as in my previous post.

Sorry I have been M.I.A. for a few days. I went away for work for a couple of days to Ottawa etc. and I am just getting back in the swing of things.

I am going to do my best to get my Naked 3 palette review up in the next few days. I am so late with that.....

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Violet and Palomino - Review and Swatches

I have been keeping my light under a bushel so to speak for the past few months. Well not really, since most people who are into makeup already know about the hype over Bite Beauty lipsticks. I now own 5 and I will own more....these are fantastic. Words cannot begin to describe how great these truly are. They are super pigmented and ridiculously creamy. They also stay put. No bleeding, no feathering. They are long lasting and are extremely mositurizing. They feel like butter on and don't move around on your lips. If that wasn't enough, they also are made with awesome, safe ingredients! Food-grade ingredients! You could eat these...but you shouldn't. Is there anything more that I could ask for in a lipstick???? I think not.

I bought one of the two Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipstick Duos that Bite carries. I went for the bold coloured one. The other one is more neutral and I think I will likely go ahead and pick that one up too! The two colours I got were Violet and Palomino. Both are part of Bite's permanent lipstick line. This duo was $15 Canadian or $12 U.S. If budget is an issue, buying one of these two duos is an excellent way to get your hands on some Bite Beauty for a fraction of the usual cost. Each of these two lipsticks is 0.05 oz. The regular size is 0.13 oz. and are $28 Canadian each or $24 U.S. Even full price, they are worth every damned penny.  Here are some swatches:

Just look at how vibrant and beautiful those colours are! Palomino is on the left and Violet is on the right. Before Bite lipsticks, Elizabeth Arden and NARS made my favourite lipsticks, but now Bite has moved into the top spot. I will show you my other 3 Bite lipsticks in my next post. I recently wore out Palomino to a big dinner. Afterwards, I noticed that I still had a lot of lipstick on but it was a fit faded. I put some gloss over it and it was like the lipstick reappeared as a full coat again! It went on moisturizing for the rest of the night! Phenomenal stuff! There isn't much else to say. You've got to try these! Violet is my favourite of the two.

Here is Palomino:

Here's Violet:

Don't even think about buying a drug store lipstick, likely loaded with cheap ingredients, when you can get these two colours or the more neutral Bite duo for this price!

I like the packaging personally - sleek and satiny. Some people may find it drab but the tubes are solid and are well made. The lids do seem to snap closed very well which is important.

Packaging: 10/10

Pigmentation: 15/10 (is that possible?)
Easy to Work With: 10/10
Longevity: 10/10
Texture: 10/10
Price: 7/10 (worth every penny though)
Ingredients: 10/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 10/10
Would I buy this again? IN A HEARTBEAT!!!!!!!!!
Overall Rating: 10/10 (Best Product so far of the Year)

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks in N9 Copper Pink and N45 Red - Review and Swatches

I don't own many Make Up For Ever (MUFE) products. Maybe I should? Well I have two of their lipsticks in a mini format and that is what I am going to share with you today. I have two of the Rouge Artist Natural Lipsticks in N9 Copper Pink and N45 Red. One came from the Sephora birthday gift thing, and the other I think I got with some Sephora points awhile back.  I have to say that I was shocked with the formula of these. They are really creamy and moisturizing. They feel great on. I would totally recommend this formula for the winter months.

OMG I am such an idiot! I just realized that the one on the left I photographed upside down! That isn't 6N, it's N9 I swear! It took me 20 takes to get the shot as clear as I did so I apologize for the end result. Anyway, N9 is described as a Copper Pink. I would say that is fair and accurate. It's a beige pink basically. The colour is nice, very matte but a bit too neutral for my personal taste. Lots of people would love this colour though. If you like MAC's Twig or Milani's Pretty Natural, this will be right up your alley.

 

N45 Red is on the left and N9 Copper Pink is on the right.

As for N45 Red, this is like no red lipstick that I have ever owned. Most red lipsticks are either blue reds or orange reds. I like and look best in blue reds for the record. N45 is a pink red. It's loud but not crazy. It is also really sheer. I personally like my red lipsticks to be either matte or satin, not sheer. This one threw me for a loop. I have had a number of compliments on this colour though. I would recommend wearing this colour with a lip liner so that it appears less sheer and stays in place.

Here are the swatches: N45 Red is on the left and N9 Copper Pink is on the right.

I find these do stain the lips. For some people that is good thing, for others not so much. Although they are long lasting, I would recommend touch-ups throughout the day so that the "stain" doesn't look funny when your lipstick does eventually wear off. I don't find these to be goopey which is great. I would definitely consider picking up a full size version of a MUFE lipstick now that I have tried these. They are $23 Canadian and $20 U.S. For a lipstick in Sephora, that isn't such a bad price!

Packaging: 6/10

Pigmentation: 10/10 (N9) and 7/10 (N45)
Easy to Work With: 10/10
Longevity: 9/10
Texture: 10/10
Price: 8/10
Ingredients: 8/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 8.5/10
Would I buy this again? YES
Overall Rating: 8/10

theBalm Instain Blushes in Argyle and Toile - Review and Swatches

I bought these two blushes from Hautelook several weeks ago. They retail for $22 U.S. each. I think I paid around $10 or $11 U.S. for each of them. Sometimes I love Hautelook, minus their shipping and handling charges! I got the colours Toile and Argyle. I really wanted Lace and Houndstooth but those shades were already sold out. Typical! I had heard so many good things about these blushes that I thought I would take a chance on well.....all of them! Sadly, I only have 2 of the 6 so far. I normally love anything that theBalm puts out so I figured that this would be a no brainer.

These blushes are described as Long Wearing Staining Powder Blushes. They are potent so I beg of you to use a light hand when applying these, especially the first time so you can get a feel for them.

In both pictures above, Toile is on the left and Argyle is on the right. Toile is described as a strawberry colour and Argyle as a petal pink. Given how potent these are, I would imagine one of these would last you a ridiculously long period of time. Perhaps your lifetime. Each is 6.5g or 0.23 oz. which is value for your money. I have tried to wear Toile over the last few weeks but I am struggling because it is simply too dark for me at the moment. If you have dark skin, this blush would look phenomenal on you! I think I will have to wait until I have a tan this summer to attempt it again. The colour is lovely though.

Argyle is quite pretty and is light enough that I can wear it now at the tail end of winter. These blushes are not super creamy. They are a bit dry but that is not a big deal. They blend well if you blend right away. They are matte, so no shimmer here. The packing is super cute as per usual with theBalm stuff. These blushes are super slim and are ideal for travel in a purse or to take on a vacation. Here are the swatches with Toile on the left and Argyle on the right:

If you like matte blushes, these are a very good choice!

Packaging: 10/10

Pigmentation: 10/10
Easy to Work With: 8/10 (it is a stain so blend quickly)
Longevity: 10/10 
Texture: 7/10 (a touch dry for my taste)
Price: 10/10 (both on sale and full price)
Ingredients: 8.5/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 10/10
Would I buy this again? Hell Yes
Overall Rating: 8.5/10