Kylie Cosmetics Birthday Edition Mini Matte Liquid Lipsticks Review + Swatches

Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?

I was lucky enough to win yet another Instagram giveaway!  Katie (mrslanglam on IG) held a giveaway for reaching 20K followers and the prize was this Kylie Cosmetics mini matte set.  I haven't tried anything from this brand before (I don't want to deal with the super fast sell outs and shipping costs), so I was pretty excited to win this.  First off, these smell amazing!  Everyone says they smell like cupcakes, but my first thought was actually red licorice.  Second, the packaging is beautiful.  I'm loving the gold details on the tubes.  Next, these do not budge!  After swatching these I really had to work to remove them.  Lastly, I like that this set includes a nice range of neutral shades, a brighter shade, and a vampy shade.  There's definitely something for everyone in this set.

Exposed

Dolce K

Koko K

Candy K

Kristen

Leo

Swatches

I also swatched some of my other liquid lipsticks to see if I could find any dupes.  L-R: Rimmel London Apocalips Show Off Lip Lacquer in the shade Nude Eclipse, Kat Von D Beauty Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in the shade Bow N Arrow, KVD Beauty Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in the shade Lolita, Ofra Cosmetics Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in the shade Pasadena, and Buxom Cosmetics Wildly Whipped Lightweight Liquid Lipstick in the shade Centerfold.

As you can see, KVD Beauty's Bow N Arrow is a veryyyy close match to Dolce K.  Ofra's Pasadena is pretty close too.

I'm excited to try these all out on my lips, but I'm really looking forward to wearing the shade Leo this Autumn.  It's such a nice color.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have a nice week!

*Thank you again, Katie, for sending me this prize and the nice note!  You're incredibly sweet and generous.*

 

My Makeup Brush Set - Oval Brush 10 Piece Set

Hello, everyone!  How has your week been?

I've been incredibly busy and I'm so sorry I've been MIA these past few weeks.  With school being out, I have the two children that I watch all day long 4-5 days a week.  We're also still working on our front and back yards, which has been quite the chore!  David's father and grandmother are flying up from Texas at the beginning of next month to visit and we want the yards done by then.  *Fun Fact: in the nearly 10 years that David and I have been together, I've never met his father or anyone on his father's side of the family - they all live in or around Texas.  I've talked to his father on the phone, and I have some of his father's side of the family as friends on Facebook, but I've never actually met any of them in person.  (David's father does not like to fly and I believe is only doing so now because his mother, David's grandmother, is also coming up to visit.)*

Anyway, I'm sorry that my blog posts have been sporadic at best these past couple of months.  I've just been very busy, and when I have a day off from work it's usually spent working on the yards, working on a project inside the house (painting may just be the death of me), or cleaning.  My regular schedule should be back in full force by mid-September after all of our house related projects are finished, the kids go back to school, and David's family has gone home.

Now, onto the blog post!

I recently won a flash giveaway by the sweet @kristyna.tisdale on Instagram and received my prize in the mail earlier this week.  The prize was this amazing oval makeup brush set by the brand My Makeup Brush Set.  My set came in the color silver, but this set also comes in black, black/gold, and gold.

 The handles on these brushes are plastic, which I don't mind, but the bigger face brushes feel a bit flimsy if you apply too much pressure.  As long as you don't push too hard with them they should be fine!  I did also have to trim some of the bristles on most of the brushes (only three brushes didn't require any trimming), but it only took me about a minute to trim all the brushes that needed to be trimmed.

These brushes are velvety soft and the density of the bristles is more than satisfactory for me.

I haven't had the chance yet to try them out on my face, but when I do I will definitely come back and update this post with my findings.

If you would like to check this brush set out for yourself (these sets are currently on sale!), the link to the web page is here.

***Thank you so much Kristyna for this giveaway!***

 Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a nice weekend!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Self Made Palette Review + Swatches

Hello, everyone!  I hope you had a fun New Years!

Today I have the Anastasia Beverly Hills limited edition Self Made palette to review and swatch for you.  If I'm being honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to pick this palette up when it first came out.  The only other palette from ABH that I own is the Artist palette, and I rarely use it.  I purchased the Artist Palette after seeing someone's makeup post on Instagram where she used it.  After I recreated her exact look (step by step from her blog), I was really disappointed.  I think the woman on Instagram may have edited her photos because the shades from my palette were not showing up as dark or as pigmented as hers were in her pictures.  So ever since then I've been a bit put off by ABH palettes.

However, after seeing reviews and swatches of this palette from multiple people, I decided to give ABH another chance.  I like the packaging on this palette much more than the Artist palette.  The top is fabric and doesn't feel or look cheap.  It has the typical magnetic closure and a decent size mirror inside.  This comes with the exact same double ended brush as the Artist palette.  This palette, however, has 14 shadows instead of 12.  There is one shade (Buttery) that is in both the Self Made palette and the Artist palette, but it's a shade that I like so I don't mind the repeat.  These shadows are very creamy and because of that there's quite a bit of fallout.  The shades are beautiful.  Looking at the entire palette for the first time the choice of shades seems so random, but I heard someone say they are meant to be used as quads.  When you look at with that knowledge, it doesn't seem so haphazardly put together.

Did you pick up this palette?  If so, what are your thoughts on it?  Some of my favorite shades are Metallic Plum, Self Made, Blossom, Treasure, Hot & Cold, Isla, and Hot Chocolate.

I hope this was helpful.  Thanks for stopping by!

Too Faced x Vegas Nay Stardust Palette Review + Swatches

Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?  Is anyone else as excited as I am that Christmas is next week?!

I finally, FINALLY caved in to all the hype and purchased the limited edition Too Faced Stardust by Vegas Nay palette.  If you don't already know who Naomi is, she is a social media beauty guru who goes by vegas_nay on Instagram and has 7 million+ followers.  She collaborated with Too Faced Cosmetics to produce a Las Vegas and Instagram themed palette.  This set is sold exclusively on Too Faced's website and at Ulta.  The palette comes with 12 shadows that are a mix of matte, shimmer, and glitter, a deluxe sample size Better Than Sex mascara, a deluxe sample size Shadow Insurance primer, and a deluxe sample size Glamour Dust Glitter in the shade Nude Beam.

Most of these shadows are smooth and pigmented.  However, the three glittery shades in this palette aren't as smooth and are actually very chunky.  They're still beautiful colors though.  The only shade whose pigmentation is disappointing is Follow Me.  I had to go over multiple times and really dig into the pan to get pigmentation from this one.  But I have plenty of purple shades to pick from in other palettes, so it isn't too big of a deal for me.  I haven't tried the Better Than Sex mascara or the Shadow Insurance before, but I've heard good things about both so I'm pretty excited to try those out.  I like that this set comes with six eye makeup pictorials (which all look stunning) for anyone who is unsure of what looks to do using this palette or for anyone who is a beginner in makeup.

Packaging & Swatches

Have you picked up this set?  What are your thoughts?

I hope this was helpful.  Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!