No Reason To Pay So Much…

Hi ladies!

If you are an avid YouTube watcher like me then you probably have heard the raves about MAC pigment, one of which being Tan by MAC. Everyone has been talking about this pigment for a while now because it is beautiful. This is one of those pigments that will honestly look good on every single eye color eye single skin color and just make your entire eye makeup look more glamorous.. For about $21 you can go and purchase one of these amazing pigments but you should also pick up some kind of adhesive for our pigments to stick to or else they will be sliding all over your eyes. These adhesives can be anywhere from $10-30 depending on the brand and type. With my MAC pigments I will use Fix + or some kind of glitter glue. Honestly though, I don’t use pigments all that often… When I’m doing my makeup in the morning the last thing I have time for is spraying a brush a couple of times with Fix + then dipping the brush in the pigment then packing the pigment onto my lid, sorry but I’m too impatient to do this. Paying $21 for something is fine, as long as I get a good use out of it and honestly I haven’t been. After realizing that I was probably over paying for this pigment I decided to go on a hunt for a similar color and texture.

Disclaimer: I’m not saying that this is an exact color match to MAC but I do think it has the same sheen, shimmer, and overall look to it. It is a bit darker but if applied lightly you get a very similar color.

I was going through my makeup collection one morning when I wanted to do a simple eye look and can across my NYX Cream Shadow which comes in what looks like a lipgloss tube with an applicator… I had forgotten all about this product! I bought this about a year ago at Ulta and bought the shade musk because I really love gold toned browns. I think I might have only used this once the entire time I have owned it but decided to try it out. This product comes out so creamy and so opaque, you don’t need to reapply or continue to add layer upon layer, you add one layer and you have a beautiful creamy color on your lid but not overly creamy where it will crease or run down. This product is an incredible all in one. It seems like with the MAC Pigment you need to do so many steps just to get the color onto your lid but with this cream shadow you simple swipe it on with the applicator and your done! I always find myself wondering why I don’t use more NYX products because they are so affordable and they are always incredible products that put high end items to shame. Another highlight about the NYX cream shadow is that I ran my hands under water just to see which of the products could with stand a little water and the NYX cream shadow did not even move! The water actually made the shadow look even prettier! On the other hand with a little water applied the the MAC pigment it started to look less vibrant and when I wiped both colors with a napkin the NYX stayed perfectly and the MAC pigment wiped right off.

If you are interested in MAC pigments head to your local Ulta or CVS and make sure first that NYX doesn’t already make a cream shadow in a similar shade!

Verdict: Save your money and try a cream shadow, you will love them! Also no primer needed!

XOXO

Glitter & Gold…

Hi Ladies!

The title of this post seriously explains my two favorite things, glitter and gold. I attended PHAME last weekend which was such a great experience if any of you live in the LA area you need to make a trip to it next year but don’t worry I have an entire post coming about the expo. Anyways while I was there I stopped by Makeup Geek to pick up some new pigments and more importantly ones that are ALWAYS sold out on their site. The first pigment I went for was Utopia (if you have seen this pigment then you understand why) then I got a few other more neutral colors but picked up one called After Glow on a whim. When I first swatched this color onto my hand I thought it was just going to be an everyday beige but this color really surprised me in a good way.

The Look:

Yesterday I decided to experiment with some new goodies like my gel liner from Inglot and my new pigment from Makeup Geek. I started with a neutral base for my eyes and a light crease color using all Makeup Geek shadows then I sprayed a flat concealer brush with Mac Fix + and applied the pigment After Glow onto my lids and let me just tell you…It was beautiful! This pigment has so many different colors packed into it but what really stands out when it is applied wet is the gold shimmer in it. This pigment was very easy to apply and did not flake off at all, I also did not have to put a color underneath it because it was so pigmented. I finished the look off with some dramatic eyeliner and lashes. I’ve really been trying to step out of my comfort zone recently when it comes to makeup so I’ve been forcing myself to use gel liner (I used to just use powder or a pencil). While I think gel liner can be a little too much for my eyes sometimes and I prefer the soft lines that my black shadow creates its been a nice transition from what I usually do. Another new thing that I have been trying if you have yet to notice is instead of cutting my lashes basically in half and applying them that way, I have been applying the entire strip which for me is scary every time I decide to it but I’ve been loving the results of this more right now. I have found that if I let the glue get really tacky and then apply them onto my real lashes (with no mascara on) they glide right on and I have no problems with them.

Let me know if you guys would like an entire product list and step by step also! 

XOXO

Blending Brush Dupe…

Hi Ladies!

Recently I did a post on a foundation dupe and it got me to thinking, do we really need to spend so much money on makeup brushes? If you’re like me, there are some things when it comes to makeup that just have to bite the bullet on and invest in. I personally can not live without some good quality brushes but today there are so many brands out there that have affordable brushes, these brands do not get the attention they deserve and honestly they are just as good if not better than our expensive brushes. 

I kind of found this dupe on accident. I’ve been doing the same eye makeup look everyday recently which is a dramatic cut crease with a copper color and some liner but to achieve the perfect crease, you need a really good blending brush. I keep all of my brushes in jars on my makeup counter and when I went to grab my usual MAC 217 brush I accidentally grabbed my Crown Brush C433 Pro Blending Fluff brush. After I finished with my makeup and was totally happy I went to darken the color a little bit and that’s when I noticed that I had been using the Crown Brush, at first I checked in natural lighting for streaks, patchiness, and just blotchy color but to my surprise I didn’t find any. In the photo you can see that the brushes are almost identical, they are both sleek black brushes with cream bristles. Both of the brushes are an oval shape with densely packed fibers making them easy to really pack on the colors. I’ve always thought that the MAC 217 did all of the work for you, you barely had to blend it at all and it always looked perfect. I found that with the Crown Brush it also did the work for me, the only difference was that the head of the brush was a larger oval so if you want a thinner crease you need to be careful to not pack on to much color onto the brush. Although I would recommend the MAC 217 to someone who is looking to get a thinner cut crease look, you can achieve the same look with the Crown Brush if you use a lighter hand. The MAC 217 brush is $24 and the Crown Brush is $6… So I say save your money and order the Crown Brush, you will not regret it.

XOXO