INGLOT Eyeshadows & Freedom System

Happy Thursday, everyone! Hope you're all having a fan-dabby-dosey of a week. I'm finally back from my trip to Canadia (that's not a typo, I really do call it Ca-nay-diya) It was a really great trip that I think I'm going to do a post on with some pictures for anyone who would like to see. I did manage to pick up some beauty-related things whilst I was there (some that you can't get your hands on in the US) and I think I'll have a haul of that up quite soon. In the meantime, today I'm going to share with you a fantastic brand of eyeshadows that you no doubt have already heard about, and if not woah, mama get ready. I can't even remember how I was introduced to the INGLOT brand in general, but I do know that it was love at first sight. My favorite thing about INGLOT is their Freedom System. This Freedom System lets you choose from an assortment of different sizes and styles of palettes and a gigantic array of eyeshadows - in practically any color and finish you can imagine. You get to pick and choose which palette you want and want colors go inside, which is awesome! 

Every eyeshadow I've tried or bought is extremely pigmented - one gentle touch to the powder and your finger is left opaque with color. The shadows are smooth, easy to work, and blend able. Some are really buttery to the touch like the Pearl finishes and some are a bit stiffer, but that has no indication of quality because they all perform so well! The INGLOT shadows aren't labeled by name - they are labeled by number and finish, which makes it really hard to remember them when they're stuck in your pan or even go searching for one. It's a bummer, but if you right them down on the back or on a sheet of paper it shouldn't be a problem! Now this impeccable quality must come with an impeccable price tag, yeah? NOPE! INGLOT eyeshadows are $6 for the pan and you're getting about .08 - .11 oz of product (depending on the finish)! A MAC shadow only has about .05 oz. They're super affordable and there's absolutely no skimping on quality of the shadow. You're def. not settling and you won't find yourself saying "that's amazing for a $6 shadow" They are just incredible shadows, overall!

The eyeshadows and palettes are magnetic (super strong magnets) which is great because they'll never pop out and not so great because they usually never come out after you've placed them inside, haha. There are tons of tips and tricks to pop them out of the palette, the first being that you take the magnetic edge of the palette cover and place it on any of the corners of the eyeshadow pan. That method only works on one of my pans and not the others, so I had to go searching for other ways of taking them out. You'll see people telling you to use tweezers to sort of pull them out but honestly, all that ever did was break pieces of the eyeshadow and that drove me bananas. I have a baby Swiss Army knife that's thin enough for me to squeeze between the palette and pan edge to sort of pop it out. I find that's the best method if the magnets aren't working because your palette and shadows come out unharmed. 

As for the finishes, the Shine finishes are the sheerer of the bunch but have such an amazing sheen to them. They're not glittery or shimmery, just ... shiny, haha. The Pearl finishes are the ones that have the buttery texture when you go to swatch them. Each of the shadows with the pearl finish that I own has a golden sheen sort of running through them - super rich color! I can't seem to find what DS stands for but these colors are matte shadows that have little shimmers running throughout. I was hoping they'd be matte when I bought them, but the shimmers make these colors GORGEOUS and better than what I wanted. Lastly, the Matte finish is the most self-explanatory - they are matte, but they're not chalky or powdery - like I said before, super rich in texture and pigmentation! 

PHEW, that's one heck of a review, huh? I pretty much raved about all the shadows in general so I won't go in too much on the colors I have. I've included the numbers and swatches for all them anyway, and the swatches seriously speak for themselves! I've never had such glorious swatches! (click on the picture to get a closer look) I'm always so thoroughly impressed with INGLOT eyeshadows and the fun I have with the freedom system that I'm always excited to get more! You can find INGLOT eyeshadows on their website inglotusa.com or check to see if there's a store near you. If anything you can pretty much always find them at an IMATS show! 

What do you think about the INGLOT eyeshadows and their Freedom System?

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NYX Single Eyeshadows | Hot Pink, Lanikai, Lagoon Sparkle & Light Green

Don't you just love it when you take the time to dig through your stash and hoards of make up to discover some new gems? These little beauts are the NYX single eyeshadows. I had bought four of them at IMATS last year and really haven't touched them since except for one. Then again I didn't get the most practical colors did I, haha! Since this year a lot of beauty gals are embracing color I thought it was time to give them some much needed love and love them I have!

Hot Pink is, well, a hot pink shade. It's semi-matte and I say 'semi' because it does have a little iridescence running through it. 

Lanikai is a frosted cobalt shade. Normally I'm not a fan of frosty shades but this doesn't have frost overload.

Lagoon Sparkle is a gorgeous teal color that's loaded with silver glitters.

Light Green is a matte yellow-green shade. Every time I look at it I think of lemon-lime soda. 

All the NYX single eyeshadows come packaged in plastic cases with a clear lid so you can see the color on the inside. Think MAC eyeshadow packaging but more square with shinier plastic, haha. These four shades are all highly pigmented and color pay off is great, although it does take two swipes to reach a nice opacity. The colors appear as bright as they do in the pan, are super smooth, and blend really well. I noticed they don't last very long on their own but with a primer or even cream shadow base they'll last for ages and without creasing! The fantastic thing about these eyeshadows is that they come in a HUUUGE variety of colors and finishes. It can be quite overwhelming to choose! I've heard that not all of them live up to the same great formula and pigmentation but rest assured that these four do! If you're curious about any of the other shades I found this fantastic post by Makeup Geek where she swatches what may be every single eyeshadow shade NYX offers!

Each NYX single eyeshadow is $4.50, which is such a steal as you're not settling for quality. You can get them at ULTA (they're on sale now for only $2.69! an even bigger steal.) I don't live near an ULTA (oh how I wish I did!) but you can buy them online at Ulta.com, the NYX Cosmetics website, or Cherry Culture.com! I'm thinking about getting so more neutral shades so I can wear them more often. May take Ulta up on their amazing sale ;)

Have you ever tried NYX shadows?

Which out of these four is your favorite?

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Bobbi Brown | Sparkle Eyeshadow in Ballet

Bonjour to all! Unless it's evening tim where you are right now, then bonsoir! I wasn't planning on writing up a post today as I spent all of yesterday night ripping my hair out trying to write a paper. I was too stressed to function and with only one page done went to sleep to save my sanity. Now it's a new day and I'm in school with a huge gap between classes freaking out again. I have so much trouble writing something "academic". I know what I mean to say in my head but getting it down on paper (or in this case a Word document) is just so difficult. So I thought I'd open up my laptop find a draft I had saved up and get in the swing of just writing something, stress free. /nervous breakdown

Today I'll be reviewing for you all a new favorite eyeshadow of mine! It encompasses everything a girl who is subtle but loves glitter could ever want or need in an eyeshadow. This shadow of course is Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eyeshadow in the color Ballet ($28). Ballet is a sparkle packed pink eyeshadow, although the color of the shadow doesn't matter as much as the color of the little glitters because it disappears. The glitters on this shadow are a mix of pink, silver, and gold micro shimmers. This shadow is very reminiscent of MAC's Paint Pot in Let's Skate with those same pretty shimmers! The texture of the shadow is stiff. If you want a super subtle sparkle (with a fleck here and there) than I would recommend using any sort of dense eyeshadow brush. If you're like me and think "the more glitter, the better" I'd recommend just swirling your finger in the shadow and patting right onto your eye lid. You'll only need one swirl for a nice wash of glitter so even if you use this every day it'll be ages before you even hit pan! My swatch below doesn't give it the justice it deserves! I mainly just wanted to show the amount of glitter one swatch will get you; the texture is stiff but the formula isn't a dry one! (It's just my pruney, old lady hands ruining it all, haha!) 

I'd also like to point out how sleek and chic I think Bobbi Brown's packaging is. There's not a lot of fuss with the amount of packaging and I like that it has the little wide window to see the beautiful color inside! Also you can pop these individual eyeshadows out to place them in Bobbi Brown palettes, although I have no use for that function, it's just a nice tip for you all to know! :)

Now I totally realize that this shadow isn't for everyone. Some might not like the glitter, the sheerness of the pink, or just the stiff texture of the shadow, but if you're looking for something to jazz up an everyday "natural" look (without looking like you're ready for your duties as disco ball at the night club) then I would definitely recommend this eyeshadow!

What do you guys think of it?

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Review: NARS Mediterranee

NARS eyeshadow duos are notorious for either being a total hit or a total miss. My take on this is that you've got to LOVE both colors or it's going to seem like it has fallen short. I have blue eyes and I know that what compliments blue is orange. Since oranges and corals are in, I've been dying to find an brilliant orange that I'd want to wear forever. Originally I had planned on looking at MAC Rule or MAC Orange but the orange in this duo caught my eye before I even got the chance to look at the former. 

I had only swatched the Orange when I knew I had to have it. The NARS duos retail for $34 dollars which isn't a steal, but it's not a total bust. The NARS Mediterranee duo comes with a very light, almost  peachy, shimmering orange and then a true, albeit slightly on the deeper side, orange. The color pay off of the lighter shade is slightly sheer, while the orange shade swatches like a charm. I can honestly tell you guys that I was about to buy this duo (the $34) without even looking at the other shade. But these two colors can be paired so well together and with other colors that I'm glad I gave it a glance ;) The few times I've used the duo together I put the lighter shade on 3/4 of the lid and then the orange shade on the outer V and a little in the crease. It's subtle and effortless. It's a very fresh, summery look that I think would look great on anyone. These colors really blend well and I think this is one of those knock out duos that NARS has created.

If you've got baby blues or are just loving the orange/coral trend, I'd highly recommend you give this duo a try!