Tarte Limited Edition Dream Big Palette: Day Dreamer or Dream Deferred?

Tarte is the star of limited editions. They regularly come out with a few small palettes that sell and then fade into oblivion. This palette is one of them. I thought it would be a good idea to get in depth and see if it’s any good. 

🍎It should be noted that this is my first experience with Tarte eyeshadow so I’m not at all equipped to say how this palette holds up against any palettes in Tarte’s permanent collection🍎

This palette was $30.00. I’ve taken a picture of it in natural lighting and the swatches match that setup starting at the top from left to right in the palette and right to left on my arm. 

So from right to left on the arm we have ‘this is it’, ‘all in’, ‘go for it’, ‘you can’, ‘happening’, ‘hustle’, ‘ambitious’, and ‘risktaker’.

The mattes are very soft and buttery. The shimmers are very smooth feeling which I think will play well even with textured lids. 

So, I did this palette review a little differently today. I went much more in depth than normal because I really wanted to be able to tell you how Every shade works. 

I did my eyeshadow before anything else. I primed my eyes with Nyx Proof It eye primer. I also swiped Vaseline onto my cheeks and the sides of my eyes. I did that because not only will the Vaseline catch any fall out and make it easy to wipe away, but it also makes fallout much more visible on camera. That means you’ll really be able to see how the palette does. 

Before we get to the look. I want to go over the shades that didn’t really get Incorporated into this look today.

 🥀Yes, I have used every shade in this palette. I’ve had it about two weeks and I’ve played with it quite a bit🥀

‘All in’ is by far my favorite shade. It’s an absolutely beautiful rosy peach with no fallout. It really is true to pan. I use ‘ambitious’ as a base color. It’s very buttery and let’s the other shadows play well together. ‘Risktaker’ is very beautiful. It has minimal fallout and I think it would make a gorgeous highlighter.

Now on to the shades I used in today’s look. 

While ‘go for it’ blended into the crease pretty well, ‘hustle’ hit me hard with a bunch of fallout. It literally looked like I had smudged it all over the end of my lid, which was Not my game plan. 

I wiped awaybthe fallout from ‘hustle’ and added more Vaseline. It was just too distracting.

I packed ‘happening’ all over the lid. The fallout on this was pretty minimal and I really liked how it looks on the lid. 

I put ‘this is it’ in my inner corner. At first I thought this shade was too similar to ‘risktaker’ but they actually look quite different on the eye.  I then used ‘you can’ on the brow bone and it is just shimmery gold goodness. I also think it would be a beautiful highlighter.

Here’s the finished look up close and personal.

I have to admit, Tarte made a solid first impression. The fallout isn’t horrible. In fact, only ‘hustle’ has any real fallout. I love the range of colors and the packaging is adorable. This is definitely a win for me. 

What do you think?

 Until Next We Meet, 

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick: A Good Fit?

More and more brands are coming out with foundation sticks these days. I’ve always really wanted to try one , but I’ve never wanted to spend much money on one (at least not until I know that I even like foundation sticks). Then comes Maybelline to the rescue. Let’s see if they pass the test.

I paid around 10 bucks for this and I have it in the shade ‘Toffee’. 

So I’ve been using this for about two weeks and I kind of have a method down. I swiped it all over my face. It’s a wonderfully creamy texture. It glides like butter. 

So here’s half my face blended. I would suggest using a brush to blend. When I used a blending sponge because the product is so creamy it hadn’t set and the wet sponge just picked up product. It blends really well. 

It’s definitely on the sheer side. It kind of comes off as my skin but better. It’s a nice even coverage and I think it can definitely be taken up a notch. When you pair it with the Fit Me concealer it works like a dream. I think those two products go together seamlessly. 

In all honesty, I’m a bit of a fan. I think it looks beautiful on the skin and it doesn’t settle into pores or my laugh lines. If you’re looking for a more natural finish I would suggest giving this a go.

Until Next We Meet,

Eyeshadow Palette Declutter (July, 2017)

I love palettes. Eyeshadow palettes are my particular love. I have this odd habit of picking them up from just about everywhere. Being that I have a limited amount of space, and you guys have let me know monthly declutters should totally be a thing via Snapchat, I thought this month’s declutter should be an eyeshadow palette declutter.  Yep, this is a long one. So just like last month, you can view that declutter here, I’ll show you the palettes and talk about why I don’t use them. Fyi, I consider anything with 3 pans or more a palette. Also Fyi, these products will be donated to the Hope For Domestic Violence Program here in Atlanta. It’s a wonderful program that branches a few states. They help women find employment, therapy, education and so much more. You can learn more about the program and how to donate here.

Let’s get on with it! 

So this isn’t an eyeshadow palette, I know, but I use it as one regularly. I found it at a Burlington. I actually really like this, but as time went on, I stopped using it as cream eyeshadow and discovered the magic of a purple concealer on my golden/yellow skin. It’s the perfect brightener and it just doesn’t make since to keep the whole palette just for the purple shade, so I got Nyx’s Lavender concealer in a jar (which I’ll be reviewing soon) and called it a day. 

Next are these two limited edition Bebe vanity box palettes. They are the natural eye and the smoky eye palette. I honestly hate these. The moment you swatch them the natural oils in the finger cause the shimmer shades to go crappy. Also the mattes are not blendable. This is really disappointing because I also have the Bebe catwalk palette and that one is gorgeous!  At first I wanted to keep them just for the pretty holographic packaging but I just can’t bring myself to do that so they’ve gotta go. 

 Next is the Wet N Wild Comfort Zone palette. I know it’s surprising. So many youtubers swear by this but the palette is just a no for me. The only color I was excited about (the green) doesn’t even show up on me so…nope! 

Keeping with Wet N Wild, these trios are also a no go for me. The pastels are too plain for my eyes and just look like slightly different shades of white. 

Next are these E.L.F Flawless Eyeshadow quads. These have been very well loved. Last year when I just started getting into makeup I bought these because I liked that I didn’t have to come up with a look. The pigment is decent and etched into the shadows are the names of wear you place them on the eye. I think these are great for beginners, but as I’m branching out and finding who I am as a beauty enthusiast, I don’t need them as I’m able to create looks on my own. I love them, but now there’s no point in keeping them around. 

This is the Profusion Treasure Box palette from 2016 I think. (I know they release new ones each year). It came with 35 shadows, two blushes, a highlight and contour, an eyeliner, and 10 lipsticks. I’ve already depotted the blushes because they are Beautiful! I kept the eyeliner because I love how sharp it gets. Everything else can go. These shadows are Not the best Profusion can do. They don’t have pigment although some of the shades are pretty. The lipsticks are dry as all get out. I really think this palette is just too big for my taste. I don’t ever reach for it and I feel like that has to do with the size, so I’m saying goodbye. 

Next is this Profusion ‘Radiant eyes’ palette. It was limited edition and I like this just fine. The pigment is decent and the shades are beautiful. I’ve put serious dents in this as it was my very first full eyeshadow palette. Unlike the elf quads, this has no guide and is like regular palettes. I got a Lot of practice with this, but again, I’m growing so it’s time to pass this baby along. 

Next is this Jasmine La Belle metallic palette in ‘Luxury’. I picked this up with the sole intention of keeping it as a travel palette. The packaging is pretty. It’s cheap but is a nice gold it reminds me a little of Tarte. The shadows are subpar. They just don’t have enough pigment for me. The colors look really pretty in the palette though. 

Up next is this Real Her Playbook Palette in ‘Be Your Own Kind of Beauty’. This palette just kind of bores me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice palette and the shadows are pretty good, but these colors just don’t interest me. I find myself reaching over it quite a bit. I know this has nothing to do with the quality and is just personal preference, but there you have it. 

Next up is this Broadway Colours goddess palette in ‘Metis’. Don’t the shimmers look lovely? That took a Ton of work. I’m so pissed at this palette. I had to Scrub with my fingers to get any kind of pigment on the shimmers. Once I did though, they came out gorgeously and stayed gorgeous. This just makes me even angrier because I Know they have better in there, but for whatever reason they just aren’t showing it. I also know this brand is pretty new, so I’m interested to see how they grow from here. 

Lastly is this Naked Cosmetics Palette in ‘Urban Rustic’. It is aw inspiring, but I just don’t reach for it. For me it’s a palette I can’t get a complete look from and I wind up reaching for other palettes. That’s fine, but I hardly ever use it. Maybe if one of the colors were a matte. I get the fall outdoorsy them but I only ever use one of these at a time because it just doesn’t read for me.

Whew! Let’s all take a deep breath because we are done. 17 palettes are finding a new home. That’s half of my collection and I couldn’t be happier! 

I’m so hype to try new things! What kind of clutter should I do next month?

Until Next We Meet, 

Wet N Wild Color Icon Glitter Single: Oh Yes, Or Hot Mess?

I love Glitter. I love it so much but it somehow managed to ruin little pieces of my life when I encounter it. It’s ruined my laptop, my nails, and I Always get covered in it. So the thought of putting it near my eyeballs is such a no for me, but this got such mixed reviews I Had to try it. 

It’s 99¢ and I grabbed it in the shade ‘Brass’. When I first finger swatched it I noticed it had a weird texture. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was so I went back to the reviews and voilà! 

Noticing a theme?

 
There were so many reviews calling it Vaseline and Glitter and that’s exactly what it felt like! 

Even the swatch looks like it!

Before I show you how my eyes turned out, I think it’s important that we discuss application first. I want everyone that gives this a try to be able to get the same result. 

Application 

Now, combing through the reviews I noticed a lot of people admitting to trying various things to get this to work well. Some people were just putting it directly on their lids but curiously had a problem with it creasing. My guess is because like Vaseline, whatever the base is for this Glitter will just slide around. The base can hold the Glitter but it can’t keep the Glitter in place. This probably also affects how long the product lasts. For oilier skin I’m thinking just putting it on is Not gonna be an option. Some people used a base shadow or base pot. This didn’t seem to work well either. A simple base shadow or base pot doesn’t have much tackiness and before you know it, the Glitter is spreading. Others tried a regular eyeshade primer, and while these are more tacky than base pots, they dry relatively quickly and can be difficult to work with when using a Glitter, since Glitter requires more precise placement. I also wouldn’t bother using a brush because the Glitter will just get stuck in there and still won’t apply like you want it to. 

I think the best way to go about it is with a Glitter glue or Glitter primer and your finger. Treat it as if it were a typical loose Glitter because the base is kind of pointless. I used Nyx Glitter primer and my index finger to tap it onto the lid. 

All things considered I think it worked out quite well! 

Let’s look a litte closer

We’re so close you can see the texture in my skin!

Sorry if the close-ups are bit off putting, but I really wanted to show you what it looks like up close and personal.  I will say, this is Super messy. Because of the base Glitter sticks to your finger and you can wind up getting it everywhere if you use a brush. If you’re going to use a brush do your eyes before you do anything else since you’ll have fall out. If you’re going to use your finger just be sure to wash your hands before continuing with your makeup and your day. 

All in all, I like these little singles! They’re only a dollar and once you get into the groove of applying them, they work out wonderfully! 

Until Next We Meet,

Beauty News (July 24, 2017)

First, a little letter from the editor/curator/writer. 

 

Lorac is certainly stealing the show this week. They’ve started out with 8 new palette releases. That’s a lot of eyeshadow! 

They’ve hit us with 3 new Unzipped palettes apart of their new Lorac Unzipped Sunset series. These palettes are apparently a love ode to Southern California’s famous sunsets. They feature 10 shades and are $42.00 each. The palettes are available on Lorac’s website as well as Ulta.com. 

We got the old 1,2 from Lorac this week. They sent five new smaller palettes our way. These are the Lorac LA palettes (each one named after a much beloved place in California). These babies sport four eyeshadows and two blushes. They are $24.00 a pop. So far they’re only available on Ulta.com. In fact, Lorac doesn’t even mention them!

IT Cosmetics saunters on by with their new Bye Bye Pores Blushes. They’re $24.00 each and so far only come in 3 shades. These blushes are supposed to minimize the look of pores and help with discoloration. They don’t hit stores until August 6 but are available on Ulta.com right now.

Stila’s trying to catch our eye this week. They’ve released a new Stay All Day foundation and concealer in one, along with a One Step primer and One Step illuminator. The foundation and concealer is $40.00 and the primer and illuminator are $36.00. All three are available through Stila and Ulta.com. 

Bobbi Brown is making waves this week with the new Peace, Love, and Beach collection. The collection features 3 $40.00 trios and can be found via Bobbi Brown and Macy’s (Macy’s has free shipping and returns on any beauty purchase online).

Macy’s and Tarte seem to have a thing going on with Macy’s carrying 3 limited edition palettes just for their store. 

Three more Tarte palettes have graced our presence. The “Dream Big” and “Leave Your Mark” palettes are $30.00 and the “Make Magic Happen” palette is $32.00. All three are available via Tarte and Ulta. 

Chloe Morello is Pretty, Fun, and Fearless with her new collaboration palette. The beauty guru partnered with Ciaté London for a beautifully pigmented set of 15 shades retailing for $42.00. 

Smashbox is making moves with their new Macy’s exclusive. It’s a $20 gel cushion applicator. It kind of looks like the Evie blender and Silisponge had a textured love child. Interesting…

Clinique just partnered with Johnathan Adler to bring us the lovable Chic Colour Set. The packaging is definitely unique on this limited edition item. Eye shadows in a clutch! The clutch/ palette is $39.00 and available via Clinique and Macy’s.

Yo Ho Ho! The Lorac Pirates of the Caribbean eye shadow palette and lip duos are on sale on Ulta.com. The palettes has dropped from $52.00 to $31.00 and the lip duos have gone from $26.00 to $15.00. If you were interested in trying this collection, there’s no time like the present! 

The Becca Sunchaser palette has gone from $34.00 to $20.00 on Ulta.com. The palette boasts a highlighter favorite in ‘Opal’ with an  exclusive limited edition bronzer and blush.

The Tarteist Contour Palette Volume 3 has dropped from $45.00 to $34.00 on Sephora.com. These contour shades are exciting. They look friendly for some deeper skin tones.

The Make Up For Ever Artist Palette Volume 3 in ‘Florals’ is $9.00 off right now on Sephora. Since the palette is Also limited edition, I suggest snagging it before it’s gone for good. 

the Balm’s Meet Matt(e) Hughes liquid lippies are 4 bucks cheaper this week on asos.com.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills foundation sticks can be found for $19.99 at tjmaxx. This may be a good time to give it a whirl if paying the normal price of $25.00 was little to steep.

Belk is giving us half off on Clinique’s acne clearing concealer this week. The medicated concealer is supposed to heal and help prevent blemishes. That’s one heck of a job for just over 8 bucks!

🌬ALERT: THE NEW ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS ‘SUBCULTURE’ PALETTE LAUNCHES THIS WEEK ON TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2017!🌈

This section will be updated regularly throughout the week on www.poisonedannie.com so if you wanna keep up make sure you’re following/subscribed. 

Most of Lorac’s sale items are already out of stock!

Hautelook’s upcoming sales look pretty good. Haute look is a site where you can get expensive name brand products at a major discount. They sell more than beauty, but this is Beauty News of course. 

Slightly similar to Haute look is Zulily. Again there are some beauty brands with discounts. The Sizzling steals hold L.A. Girl, St. Tropez, Crown Brush and more! 

Zulily’s Fall Beauty Sale gives us a taste of higher end brands like Estee Lauder, Clarins, and Prevage.

I sincerely hope you enjoyed this little webzine type thing! Stay Tuned for more! Until Next We Meet,

Highlighter Smack Down: Ofra VS. Wet N Wild

Everyone loves a good highlighter. The best part is that good ones are super easy to come by. That being said, you’ve probably heard a fair amount of feedback on which highlighters give the best glow. I figured a little competition would be fun and insightful.

The Wet N Wild highlighter is in the shade ‘Precious Petals’ while the Ofra highlighter is in the shade ‘Rodeo Drive’.  The Ofra one is $35.00 and the Wet N Wild one is $4.99.

Ofra is packing 10 grams while Wet N Wild only has 5.4 grams. That’s a little more than half so honestly, you could spend 10 bucks, get two Wet N Wild highlighters, and wind up with more product than Ofra. 

The shades are not exactly the same. ‘Precious Petals’ has rosier undertones than ‘Rodeo Drive’ but when applied, there’s no real definitive difference between the two. 

I decided I would wear both highlighters on a busy day to see how they hold up against each other. The gleams are ridiculously similar, although Ofra seems to come out on top with glow. 

💫Wet N Wild💫

✨Ofra✨

So with my midday check in I want to tell you a little bit about the conditions these highlighters are under. I live in Georgia and the South Always has very hot summers. It was 90 degrees (Fahrenheit). I got some groceries, ran to Target for craft supplies and ran a few more errands. I tend to park in the back of parking lots (the walk helps me figure out exactly what I need before I get in the store and spend like a mad woman). All of that being said, it was hot and I was starting to sweat. The Wet N Wild highlighter seems to be hanging in there wonderfully, while for some reason (maybe it’s just me) it looks like the Ofra highlighter is getting ready to check out. It also seems like it was spreading a little, but that could just be sweat.

💫Wet N Wild💫

✨Ofra✨

So after running errands, I spent the rest of the night taking photos and editing them to prepare for next week’s monthly declutter post. 🎈If you follow my Snapchat (poisonedannie) you know I’m decluttering eye shadow palettes🎈  It’s been 8 hours since initial application. I’ve gotta say, the Wet N Wild side looks so much better to me. It’s managed to stay in place and gleam all day. The Ofra side, not so much. I think once I started sweating Ofra was done. It started spreading down my cheek and lost some of its gorgeous glow. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it melted like butter, since it applied smooth like butter 😜.  

I’m gonna call it and say Wet N Wild won this round. Seems like Ofra had a really hard time hanging on once exposed to a little heat. 

What do you think of this smack down? Should I do more like it, or was it a little to brutal for the bloggersphere?

Until Next We Meet,

E.L.F Eye Refresh: Eyes on a Roll?

I am a fan of anything that loves my eyes. With all the products we cover our eyes with, (eye shadow, falsies, mascara, etc) they could always use a little love. This is especially important for me because my eyes are Extra. Since I’ve already reviewed this brand before, the fast facts can be skipped.

The reason my eyes are so extra is because they twitch like crazy. They twitch when I haven’t been sleeping well, or I’m angry, or nervous.  It’s great to have something that could help with that.

This retails for $3.00 on E.L.F’s site. 

According to the site, this is supposed to relieve puffiness and help with dark circles. While it probably does, I think it’s wonderful even if it doesn’t. It has a metal ball at the tip and acts a lot like an eye massager. This is great for especially tired eyes. It’s very relaxing to use. I pop mine in the fridge to make it nice and cooling.

The best part for me is that it calms my hyperactive lids. When I use this, the twitching actually stops which always amazes me. 

If you’re in the market to give your eyes a little love, I’d say definitely give this a go.

Extra Eyes Unite!

Until Next We Meet,

Ofra Liquid Lipstick: Lucky Lips?

Ofra is one of those brands that’s suddenly become a household name. I don’t know if I’m the only one that feels like this, but it seems like they started getting really popular out of nowhere. All that aside, they’re known for their liquid lipsticks so I figured I’d see what all the hype is about. Before we find out if these lips are made for talking, let’s go over a few quick facts about the brand:

1. The brand was created by Ofra Gaito, a therapist and makeup artist.
2. It’s home is in sunny South Florida.
3. The brand is cruelty free.

Now let’s get on with it. The lippies retail for $19.90, which is pretty normal for a liquid lipstick these days. I have it in the shade ‘Santa Ana’ which Ofra describes as a Berry Rose, universally flattering pink. 

When I swatched it, I immediately thought oh, no. The shade just seemed too pink for me. 

It turns out I was completely wrong. The shade looks great on me, though I still don’t think this would be a universally flattering shade but I could certainly be wrong. 

The site makes it clear that these don’t dry down completely which would explain the comfort of wearing them. It could also explain why after eating (hot wings and water) the lipstick wore right off. 

To be fair, maybe I shouldn’t have go e to town on hot wings and it probably would’ve lasted a lot longer.

All in all, I actually really like this formula. The lipstick is pigmented and incredibly comfortable. It may not be sauce friendly, but lippies rarely ever are.

Are these lips to love? 

Until Next We Meet, 

BH Cosmetics Liquid Foundation: Off To a Rocky Start?

Just the other day, I was going through my blog tr ying to figure out what kind of product I should review next. Suddenly, I realized that I’ve Never done a foundation review! How’d I miss that?! So BH Cosmetics gets the honors. Since I’ve reviewed something by them before, I won’t regurgitate any fast facts. If you’re curious, you could take a peak here.

Let’s get into it. When I snagged this it was on sale for $4.50, but the current, and regular, price is $6.99. 

I have the shade ‘D1’ or ‘Hazelnut’. It’s described as both on the packaging. The shade range leaves a lot to be desired, but there are some sufficiently deep shades which really pleases me. 

Here I am with half a face done, and this is definitely the right shade for me. 

This is a really great medium to full coverage. The finish is pretty dewy so if you have oily skin, you may want to use a mattifying powder with this or skip it altogether. 

I really do like this foundation. It settles well and isn’t oxidizing. It’s nice and moisturizing and I think the coverage is splendid. Who knew BH had it in them? 

Until Next We Meet,

L.A. Colors Single Blush: Cheeks on Fleek?

L.A. Colors is one of those brands that’s been catching my eye a lot lately. So far, I’ve only tried some of their shadows. I have two 16 pan eye shadow palettes in ‘Smokin’ and ‘Sweet’. I’ve already done an entire review on the majesty of the 16 pan palettes (you can view that here). I also snagged one of their 4 pan matte palettes in ‘Matteriffic’. This time I thought I’d try a blush. 

I grabbed it at Dollar Tree in the shade ‘Toast’. It’s a soft warm pink. 

It’s much more pigmented than I thought it’d be! It’s a beautiful pop of pink that makes the cheeks look so soft and flush. It’s amazing what a dollar can do these days.

Have you tried any dollar store diamonds? 

Until Next We Meet,