MAD ABOUT MATTES: Mehron INtense Pigment Palettes

Do you see that picture up there? The one full of gorgeous colors and twenty four matte eyeshadows? TWENTY FOUR MATTE EYESHADOWS! Not just your standard matte eyeshadow either, these are cream of the crop silky smooth pans of magic. I don't say that lightly either. Matte is my favorite texture to work with, it photographs beautifully, tones done shimmer, looks good on everyone and can add believable dimension to the face. And these palettes provide a nice range of color for all the matte lovers in the world.

Mehron describes them as: "super long-lasting matte finish shadows that are edgy, bright, and sophisticated. Our pigment rich, high-performing shadows offer an essential range of intense hues and a velvety matte texture. Formulated without shimmer, these completely matte shades have an incredible silky finish which allows for amazing color payoff."

The eyeshadows are housed in these glossy plastic cases. They are super durable compared to most palettes and are really similar to the Mehron Paradise Palette packaging.







The Earth Palette consists of eight colors: Red Earth, Desert Sand, Earth Crust, Mountain Moss, Carbon, Graphite, Night Sky, and Morning Sky. Carbon is the blackest eyeshadow I have ever come across. I think this palette is the most versatile because it includes color and neutrals which make it easy to do a variety of looks.






The Wind Palette consists of eight colors: Hurricane Blue, Island Blue, Palm, Turbulent, Tornado, Solar Wind, Ocean Breeze, and Tropical Storm. These colors are so rich, they remind me of jewels.  

 The Fire Palette consists of eight colors: Ignite, Purple Heat, Fire Island, Electric Green, Pure Lightening, Hot Pink, Inferno, and Yellow Spark. This palette is for the vibrant color lovers. Some of these are even fluorescent! 

If you doubt the pigmentation check out my swatching arm... I took this after rubbing a makeup wipe over the swatches pretty vigorously.












Overall opinion: Mehron you've done mattes justice!
Where to find the palettes: http://www.mehron.com/INtense_Pro_Pressed_Powder_Pigments_p/168.htm
Price: $52.95 per palette (Roughly $7 an eyeshadow and these suckers are HUGE)

FTC: Products provided for review by PR. All opinions are my own.

Wet N Wild Holiday 2012 Color Icon Palettes

WET N WILD RELEASED NEW COLOR ICON PALETTES FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!!!!
repeat NEW WET N WILD COLOR ICON PALETTES!!! GO! RUN! FIND THEM!
Yes caps lock was needed. I love these palettes and was super excited to see them in my local K-Mart recently. I tried to find them at three different CVS stores prior to my fateful K-Mart trip but alas they weren't to be found.

Retail: $4.99 per palette
Where: Drugstores, K-Mart

I love how the palettes are named, In this post I will be referring to them as Shimmer, Sparkle and Shine, just to keep it easier.

SHIMMER!!! This first palette is probably my favorite of the lot. It's PERFECT for smokey eyes or a fun colorful party look. That blue!!! Is to die for. Most of the eyeshadows are densely pigmented the only one I had an issue with was the dusty pink in the top right corner. It went a little patchy on me. I also didn't like that there was no matte brow bone color which makes it impossible to not have you eye look like a disco ball.  

SPARKLE!!! This is the perfect palette to make blue eyes POP! I really love these colors for fall as well. As with the Shimmer palette this palette has texture issues as well. Three of these eyeshadows didn't match up to the other five and again there is not a matte shadow to be found. This palette does include an incredible teal in the bottom left corner. I ADORE it! 

SHINE!!! Shine is a re-promote for lack of a better word. Wet N Wild released this same palette last year under a different name (I Heart Matte for those of you that remember.) And this is an INCREDIBLE palette. I believe I've mentioned before my penchance for matte shadows so to find this in a drugstore for $4.99 is a MUST HAVE!!! I will say some of the shadows can come off chalky and create a lot of dust when you touch them with a brush but this palette is worth it and I find myself reaching for it quite often. 

Halloween Makeup: Spider Queen

PRODUCTS:
FACE-
Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation in Classic Ivory
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transparent
Smashbox Contour Palette
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

EYES-
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer
Maybelline Color Tattoo Creme Eyeshadow in Pomegranate Punk
BH Cosmetics 28 Color Palette Smoky Eye Edition
Snazaroo White Face Paint
NYX Collection Noir Liquid Liner in Black
Voluminous False Fiber Lashes
Milani Liquif'Eye Eyeliner in Black
NYX Eyelashes in EL111
Salon Perfect Demi Eyelashes in 102

LIPS-
Mac Lipliner in Night Moth
BH Cosmetics 28 Color Palette Smoky Eye Edition

80's Retro Tutorial for the NYX FACE Awards

For those of you who don't know I was chosen as a contestant in the NYX Cosmetics Face Awards.  I am so incredible pumped to be a part of this, even if it's just a small part.  I feel like I've worked really hard on Youtube for years now and this could be an amazing opportunity for me to grow as an artist.  The competition takes place in a number of challenges.  Our first challenge is to create an 80's Retro look.  

I racked my brain trying to decide what to do.  I spent hours researching makeup, looking at fifty thousand pictures of Madonna only to come to the conclusion that there were so many different subgenres of makeup that there was not "one look" that defined the decade.  I decided to create my own look from my memories of the 80's (mainly Lisa Frank folders, Thundercats and musicians).

I decided to make a "mood" board for this 80's Retro challenge.  Even though I didn't go the way of the Cyndi Laupercorn I did manage to create a look that I'm happy with.  It's not true authentic 80's, but it's my version.  And I took inspiration from all over.  The hair was totally Sebastian Bach.  Boy George-y lips. Cyndi Lauper's True Colors and Lisa Frank's Rainbow Unicorn.  Totally tubular.

For the video I decided to do a take on a cheesy 80's movie so I did a 80's makeover.  I had more fun filming that than spinning around in a grassy field.  No wait that was fun too... until I fell down.  I plan on editing vlogs of my experience in this contest btw.

Also NYX sent some amazing makeup to work with.  Big thanks to them for believing in the beauty community and hosting this MONDO contest.

 

Avox Girl from the Hunger Games Inspired Makeup

Quick run down of products used:

EYES-

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Inglot Creme Eyeliner in #77

Sugarpill Eyeshadows in Poison Plum, Dollipop and Bulletproof

Mac Eyeshadow in Blanc Type

Sugarpill Chromalust in Tiara

Milani Liquif'eye in Black

FACE-

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF100

Makeup Forever HD Foundation in #115

Ben Nye Neutral Set Powder

Makeup Forever Eyeshadow in #33

LIPS-

Milani Liquif'eye in Black

Polka Dot Nails

I am a huge fan of all things polka dot... so I tend to wear them on my nails a lot. Lately I've enjoyed mixing creme finish polishes with wild metallics. For example my nails this week are Essie's Big Spender (A raspberry creme finish polish) as a base with Sally Hansens Golden-I (A super metallic light gold) for the dots. I LOVE how they turned out. It's so fun to play around with, do you guys have any fun combinations?

Raquel Reed Inspired Makeup Tutorial

Loved this request posted on my Facebook page so I decided to film a tutorial based on it. I didn't have the right eyeshadow for the lid but I made due with a sparklier version. I love the way this turned out and I hope all you purple lovers will enjoy it!

Products:

PRODUCTS:

EYES-

Urban Decay Primer Potion

NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk

Raving Beauty Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Spring Violet (http://www.ravingbeautycosmetics.ecrater.com/)

Sleek Acid Palette (http://devucosmetics.com/)

Sugarpill Eyeshadow in Poison Plum

Makeup Forever Eyeshadow in #92

Inglot Gel Matte Eyeliner in #77

Black Mascara

False Lashes (unsure of the number)

FACE-

Revlon Colorstay Foundation in 110 Ivory

RImmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent

Black UP Blush in BL01

LIPS-

Hot Pink Lipliner

Milani Lip Flash Pencil in Flashy

Milani 3D Glitzy Gloss in Fashion Diva