Review: Sephora Color Flip Palette

SEPHORA COLOR FLIP PALETTE
A travel-sized, colorful, layered palette. It has three layers: eyeshadow, lip color, and cheek color.

EYESHADOWS Range from purples to neutrals to blues and greens. Unfortunately, the quality is uneven. I found the two matte shades on the far left to have the strongest pigmentation and the purples to have the weakest. With a base and a firm hand, I was able to "make them work!"

LIP COLORS A fun range of mostly fall-themed shades; there are neutrals, berries and even bubblegum pinks. My favorites are pictured in the second row from the top; a sheer, shimmery neutral brown and a vamp deep berry.

CHEEK COLORS Supposedly one is a bronzer, but I find the two shades to be more of a highlighter (left) and a blush. The highlight is pink-toned with shimmer; the blush is a lovely deep rosey color, but is unfortunately a total glitterbomb. I don't mind it so much, but some might.

OVERALL The quality is lacking in places, but it's a cute idea and encourages me to try new color combinations. It's compact and easy to toss into a purse.

TO BUY Sephora, $15.

What do you think of the Color Flip palette?
Love, Val

PS - Sorry for the long, long break - school has gotten really overwhelming. I've missed blogging so much and am glad to be back!

Nuance Salma Hayek Launch, Reviews + Swatches

This month, a new brand of makeup is launching to CVS drugstores! Nuance, by Salma Hayek, is inspired by the subtleties, or nuances, of beauty. From what I've seen, it features earth tones and a variety of finishes. In addition, the line does not test on animals!

I have two quads: a lip quad in "warm," and an eye quad in "smokey." 

Eye Quad

Shades: "Cool Charcoal," a shimmery black-based green; "Warm Smoke," a satin taupe; "Pearl Teal,"a shimmery almost-teal; and "Silver Mist," a pinky-cream.

Packaging: Interesting! A black plastic bulb that opens into a "flower." Comes with a detachable smudge brush in the center. (There is a lot of empty space in the center; therefore, the item is not as compact as it could be.)

Pigmentation: All of the shades have nice pigmentation and smooth texture; my one gripe is that Silver Mist swatches a bit unevenly. 

Lasting Power: Unfortunately, the shadows fade quickly. Use with eyeshadow primer for a full day's wear.

Pearl Teal, Warm Smoke, Cool Charcoal, Silver Mist

Lip Quad

Shades: "Red Hot," a berry red; "Mauve Berry," a muted beige/pink; "Sheer Champagne," a sheer pink with gold shimmer, and "Plum Shimmer," a muted rose with shimmer.

Packaging: Same as the eye quad, but with a lip brush. 

Pigmentation: All are comparable to lipsticks; Red Hot is most pigmented, Mauve Berry and Plum Shimmer are close, and Sheer Champagne is, yes, sheer.

Lasting Power: The shine will fade soon, but the color lasts nicely as a stain throughout the day.

Plum Shimmer, Sheer Champagne, Red Hot, Mauve Berry

Price: I'm not sure of the particular prices of these items, but I do know that the line ranges from $7.99 to $19.99. 

Overall: Worth a shot if you're looking to try a new brand! The quality is great and the products are well thought out. 

All for now! Will you be trying Nuance?

Love, Val

I got these items for free; they were passed out at BlogHer. I am in no way affiliated with or sponsored by CVS or Nuance.

May Faves!

For me, May has been a month of glowy, fresh skin with subtle eyes and coral lips. On to the faves!

FACE
Stila Tinted Moisturizer is an illuminating, glowy start to any makeup look. I love its barely-there coverage; just enough to even out the complexion.
I like to follow up with a tiny dot of Stila Perfecting Concealer, which covers blemishes and redness beautifully.
Atop the cheeks I apply Revlon Colorstay Brighten Finishing Powder for a sheer highlight - right above whatever blush or bronzer I wear that day.
EYES
I adore this $1 e.l.f. "Day 2 Night" Quad; the pigmentation is excellent and the colors are fab. I use the cream shade on my lid with the taupe brown blended through the crease.
LIPS
I like to finish off the look with Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Coral Reef for a glossy coral finishing touch!

This is my 1st anniversary for my favorites posts! Read last May's here.
Have an excellent day!
Love, Val

Review: CoverGirl Smoky Shadow Blast

Hello lovelies! Sorry I've been gone so long, the last few weeks of school were brutal, and then I was a camp counselor for a week. But now I'm free to blog as much as I want!
So, I went to CVS a few days ago and picked up three things. Two Revlon ColorBurst lipsticks in 'soft nude' and 'peach' - I love them both!! Then, on my way out I saw CoverGirl's Smoky Shadow Blast, and I picked it up as well because I thought a cream eyeshadow would be nice for summer.

The color I chose is called 'Purple Plum.'

The 'gimmick' here is that you can easily achieve smoky eyes by applying step one (the rounded side) all over your lid, and step two (chiseled) into the crease and upper lash line.

This is going to be a long one, so please read my entire experiment/review after the jump!

Final Score: 1/5 Stars

Haul coming soon! Thanks for reading-

Love, Val

Drugstore Dupe: Stila's 'Kitten'

Hi girls! So I was looking through my eyeshadows the other day, and my Stila trio was right next to my CoverGirl trio. I realized then that Stila's color 'Kitten' (their most popular shade!) looked practically identical to the lightest shade in CoverGirl's trio (in 110 shimmering sands). Both shadows are a beautiful soft frosty pink with some shimmer. Here's a couple photos so you can decide for yourself:

Stila on the left, CoverGirl on the right.

(Sorry for the green blob  in the second pic - it's my lamp. Also, my fingers are not red, the lighting is weird!)

As you can see in the swatch, the colors are similar, though Stila's is more gold, CoverGirl's more frosty. Also, the Stila shade of course has better pigmentation. However, on my lids I can't see a difference, so I'd say if you're lusting after Kitten, try out CoverGirl next time you're at the drugstore.

Buy Stila's 'Kitten' here ($18); buy CoverGirl's trio '110 Shimmering Sands' here ($5).

All for now! Let me know if you like and want more 'drugstore dupes'! :)

Love, Val

P.S. In case you're interested in the trios - a couple more pictures after the jump.

CoverGirl Haul!

Hey girls! So I went to CVS a week ago (NEVER let me loose in a CVS. I will want EVERYTHING!) and I got five things. One was a Sally Hansen eyelash curler, another was Revlon Photoready Liquid Foundation, and the other three were all CoverGirl products. Since eyelash curlers are pretty self-explanatory, and I'm going to review PhotoReady soon, I decided to haul the CoverGirl products. Enjoy!

• First is a relatively new product, LashBlast Volume. I have never owned the famed LashBlast, but I love my LashExact, so I decided to buy. The applicator is very thick, with rubber bristles. I only had to apply a few strokes to get excellent length, volume, and fanned-out lashes. New favorite? Definitely. However if you layer this mascara too much it will clump and look fake/spidery, so avoid coating this on.
• Next is WetSlicks lip gloss. I've needed a clear lip gloss for a while - great when you want to add shine to your natural lip color, or gloss over the perfect lipstick. As far as glosses go, this one is pretty standard. Kudos to CoverGirl for the non-stickiness and the yummy scent, though.
• Finally a product I have owned before, CG's eyeshadow trio in 110 shimmering sands. This was my first eyeshadow ever and it ran out a few months ago, so the time was ripe for a new one. Fabulous quality, especially considering it's drugstore, and very pigmented. The colors are perfect for a shimmery neutral eye.

All for now! Look out for a Revlon PhotoReady Foundation review soon, and see more photos of the CoverGirl stuff after the jump!

Love, Val