Blush Collection and Swatches!

Wet n Wild Color Icon blushes
L-R: Pearlescent Pink, Heather Silk, Mellow Wine

Physicians Formula Happy Booster blushes
L-R: Rose, Natural

Cargo blush - Key Largo

Milani Minerals blushes
L-R: Sweet Rose, Sunset Beach, Mai Tai, Luminous

Jordana Powder Blush
L-R: Redwood, Coral Sandy Beach, Tawny Beige

ELF Studio blushes
L-R: Pink Passion, Candid Coral

Milani Baked blushes
L-R: Terra Sole, Red Vino

Cream Blushes
L-R: NYX Hot Pink, Boho Chic, Sally Hansen Bloom

All swatches are done on my bare arm, both blended out and just to show the straight color. If you have any questions about any of these or would like to see them differently, let me know! If I've used it in a FOTD post on here, you should be able to search for it and it will come up.

Except the baked blushes, Cargo blush, Jordana blushes, and the creams, they've all been depotted for ease of storage. I would depot the Jordana blushes but I don't have a good palette for them currently.

Let me know if you'd like swatch posts of any specific brands or products!

Swatches - Cargo Products!

Recently, I took notice of the Cargo brand at the Sephora in my local mall's JC Penney. A few products specifically caught my eye and seemed to be an excellent price for the amount and quality of the product. After discussing it on Facebook, it was brought to my attention that the brand is being phased out of the stores and as such is greatly discounted! I went back as soon as I could to get the products I wanted just in case they ran out quickly.

The products! (Without flash)

Blush in Key Largo. It's a similar shade - although not an exact dupe - to the Make Up For Ever eyeshadow/blush in  #99 which I think is gorgeous. I think I'll probably use this as blush and eyeshadow! I love this color.

Eyeshadow quad in Tahiti. I love these colors so much!! The shades are similar to a lot of colors I have since they're often favorites, but these seemed so wonderfully pigmented and they're all together in this nice palette. 

I can't wait to try these products out! Have you used them or anything else from the brand? I'd love to hear about it!

Kmart Haul - Jordana and Wet n Wild

I stopped in Kmart today and saw that Jordana was buy one get one 50% off, so I figured I would see if there was anything I wanted. I've been  hearing a lot of positive things about the Best Lash mascara lately, and I've had good experiences with blushes and single eyeshadows before, so I chose a few colors that looked nice.

L-R: Blush in Redwood, Blush in Tawny Beige, Eyeshadow in A Classic

Best Lash Volumizing Mascara

In addition to the Jordana products, the Wet n Wild section at this Kmart had many more of the Megalast lipsticks than any other stores I've been in lately, so I was able to get a few of the newer lipstick shades I hadn't seen yet.

L-R: Dollhouse Pink, Pinkerbell

I'm really happy with all of these things, especially the Jordana products! The eyeshadow looks like it might be quite similar to MAC's Coppering eyeshadow, which I've been wanting for quite some time - but at just $0.99 after the sale, I'll definitely take this one! 

I noticed a few similarities to products in my collection that I thought I'd share with you as well:

Top: Wet n Wild Megalast - Pinkerbell
Bottom: Covergirl Lip Perfection - Temptress

Left: Jordana - Redwood (blended, then heavier)
Right: Milani Minerals -  Mai Tai (heavier, then blended)

Have you tried any of these products?

What are your favorite Jordana products?

P.S. In case you missed it, check out my previous post, which puts a few of these new things to use!

Face of the Day - Trying New Products!

Products Used:


Urban Decay DeSlick Spray
Boots Instant Matte
Revlon Colorstay foundation
ELF Translucent Mattifying Powder
Jordana blush - Tawny Beige

Prestige Brow Perfection pencil - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara

MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Jordana eyeshadow - A Classic
Wet n Wild Vanity palette - lightest matte
Milani Liquif'eye - Black
Wet n Wild Greed palette - matte black
Jordana Best Lash mascara

Revlon Super Lustrous gloss - Coral Reef

Wet n Wild - Flora & Fauna Collections

Fauna Collection

Flora Collection

Saw these at CVS tonight and somehow they just magically ended up in my basket...
Honestly, the only thing I like in the entire Fauna set is the turquoise-y shadow. I was so disappointed by the purple! It looks so pretty in the pan but it swatches horribly - so little pigmentation! Which I don't understand since they're clearly able to make properly pigmented shadows...I already have the blush that color, although the small size is nice for travel. I'm really pleased with the Flora set, though! Although I doubt I'll use either of the lipglosses.

Have you seen this around? What do you think of them?

Venturing Into High-End Cosmetics

For several reasons - including wanting to limit the growth of my collection and simple curiosity - I've decided to start experimenting more with buying high-end beauty products. Because these products are more expensive, I put more time and effort into making sure they are a product I want and will actually use. If possible, I sample products for awhile before finally buying them. Since so much more planning will go into these purchases, I think I'll spend about the same -if not even less- than when I go to the drugstore and pick up a bunch of random products pretty frequently.

That said, today I went to get some samples from Sephora of products I've been wondering about, as well as see some colors in person. I got these samples to try: (if any of you have any tips on how to best use these, I'd love to hear!)

I also tried the MUFE lipstick #37 and I loved it - the color, texture, and staying power all seemed really good. It - as well as NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Carthage and MUFE Smokey Lash mascara - are on my list of products to probably purchase eventually. 

I also stopped in the MAC store on this mall visit. I decided it was finally time to get the eyeshadow in Lucky Green that I think I've been lusting after for at least a year by now, and there were a couple lipsticks I wanted to see in person. I ended up getting the eyeshadow and the lipstick in Rebel. I am really excited for both of these and am very pleased with my purchases. 

In case you're curious, I swatched the lipstick straight from the tube and the eyeshadow with just my finger without any primer. 

Milani Cyber Monday Haul & Swatches - plus a high-end comparison!

Definitely click this one to see it bigger!

Paint Palette
Red Vino blush
Earthly Delights quad
Atlantis and Java Bean singles

All swatches done over NYX white eyeshadow base and applied with sponge-tip applicators.

I'm really excited to try this stuff out!! If you've tried any of these, I'd love to know your thoughts.

Also, while swatching the Paint palette I noticed some similarities so I tested it out:

L-R: Paint Palette, Makeup Forever #92, Paint Palette, Makeup Forever #75

#92 is definitely more pigmented and a bit cooler, but the pinks are extremely similar. And to think - the Paint Palette is about $8 (I got it for $4 with this sale) and the MUFE shadows are around $20...

October: Haul and Swatches

ELF glitter eye Beauty Book from Target

Wet n Wild I <3 Matte palette from Walgreens

Milk of Magnesia (to use as a primer) - I am really loving this!
L'Oreal go 360 cleanser for sensitive skin - I don't have sensitive skin but I love this because I can put it over my eyes and it doesn't burn at all, which makes it easier to get all the makeup off.
Bottom left photo: Wet n Wild blushes in Pearlescent Pink and Heather Silk.
Middle set (from CVS) L-R: Milani Infinite liner, Miliani Liquif'eye liner, (accidentally switched the order of the eyeliner swatches but the lipsticks are in the right order) Milani HD Advanced Lip Color in Vivacious Fuchsia, Wet n Wild lipstick in 908C
The lipstick on the right is Rimmel Lasting Finish in In Vogue - LOVE this color! I found this at Walgreens.

If you have any questions on my thoughts on any of these products, let me know! I'd love to know what you think about any of them too.

Top 5: Blushes

I have more blushes than these five, but I really only use these on a regular basis. 

Top Row, L-R: Physician's Formula Happy Booster Blush - Rose, Physician's Formula Happy Booster Blush - Natural, Milani Mineral Blush - Mai Tai
Bottom Row, L-R: ELF Studio Blush - Pink Passion, ELF Studio Blush - Candid Coral

Same order as above photo. L-R Rose, Natural, Mai Tai, Pink Passion, Candid Coral

I really like all of these and use them often. I've had Candid Coral the longest out of these five, so I've hit pan on it. I really like matte products in general, and blushes are no exception. I love both of the matte blushes I have (Mai Tai and Pink Passion). I think out of these blushes, Mai Tai and Natural are my most reached-for, depending on whether I want shimmer or not! I would recommend all these shades, however - great pigmentation on all of them, and they can all be applied with a light hand or heavier depending on how much color you want to show up on your face.