NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette - Review & Swatches

 I have been waiting to get my hands on this palette for a few months now! Ever since I saw MakeupByTiffanyD do a review on this in April, I knew I wanted to pick this up! I don't own any other contour palettes because I haven't heard great things from pale girls. I have extremely pale skin, I needed a palette that had highlight shades that were light enough to show up and contour shades that weren't too dark.

Now I was a little on the fence about buying this palette because a few people had described the colors as chalky. I don't agree with that at all. The color pay off is AMAZING! I wouldn't expect this for a drugstore brand. The quality is very high end and each shade is butter smooth. You do have to tap off the excess on your brush but I do that with any highlight/contour product anyway. You do have to be careful doing your contour...if you're pale don't go overboard on the color!

This palette gives you everything you need as far as highlighting and contour go. I don't use any other product to do my makeup! I don't use every single shade in the palette but when I show you the swatches I'll go through what they can each be used for.

 This palette comes with 4 lighter shades that you can use for highlighting and 4 darker shades that can be used for contouring. These shades don't have names or number so for the purpose of this blog post I have assigned them numbers so you know which ones I am talking about.

 1) This is a very white frosted shade. It is great for highlighting and I like to mix the color with #4

2) This is a matte cream shad. I like to use this for setting concealer that I have used on my face and down the center of my nose.

3) This is a yellow or banana shade, this is great for setting concealer under your eyes

4) This is a peach frosted shade. It is great for highlighting and again I mi this with color #1

Shades 5-8 are all bronze shades. There is a great variety for contouring and bronzing. I like to use a mixture of  5&7. Depending on your coloring and complexion you can create and combine any of these shades to get your perfect contour! 

I highly recommend picking up this palette. It was a little difficult to find, I got mine at London Drugs (I had to order it online because the stores closets to me didn't' have it in stock) the price was $27. 

Let me know in the comments if you've tried this palette and what your thoughts are.

Cover FX Customer Cover Drops Review

 In last weeks post I mentioned that one of my April favorites was the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops. This product is so amazing I decided it deserved its own separate blog post. I picked this product up at Sephora, it was $44 but I bought it during the VIB Rouge sale so I got 15% off.

 Normally I have a hard time finding my shade in foundations as I have a hard skin tone to match and I'm as pale as a ghost. There are 23 shades to choose from which is a great color selection! I picked up N10 and its surprisingly a really good match for me.

The product is meant to be mixed with another product. It's pure pigment and mixing it will allow you to customize the coverage you are trying to achieve. I think this is a great theory behind this product as I have liked foundations/BB creams in the past but because they didn't provide enough coverage I don't wear them day to day.

The product comes in a dropper which makes it easy to control how much product you use. It can get a little messy so be careful.

 These drops can be mixed with moisturizers, serums, oils, primers, foundations, tinted moisturizers, and BB/CC creams that re water, oil or silicone based. You can use 1-4 drops when mixing this product. 1 drop will get you a sheer coverage and 4 drops will give you maximum coverage.

 On my  hand right now is about 2 drops, as you can see because it's pure pigment it covers really well!

I've had a lot of fun testing this product! I've using it with my moisturizer when I want a light makeup day and I've used it with some of my medium coverage foundations for some extra coverage. It's a product that you can use with just about anything!

I love mixing this product with my moisturizer, the consistency that you get reminds me of BB cream. Since I'm so pale I haven't been able to find a BB cream that works for me yet. With this product I can make my own BB cream!

I have tried to use this with a primer but I didn't like how it turned out, I preferred mixing it with my moisturizer much better.

The great thing about this product is not matter what your skin type is you can use this product. For myself I have really dry skin so I'll be mixing this product with more moisturizing products. If you have oily skin just mix the product with something that has more of a matte finish.

Be your own creator and make your very own foundation cocktail. Let me know what you like mixing your customer drops with?

Physicians Formula Eye Booster Instant Lash Extension Kit

 Yes another week, another makeup Monday, and another review on a lash product!! I went out to the drugstore on Friday and picked up the Physicians Formula Eye Booster Instant Lash Extension Kit.

 This kit comes with a mascara and extensions, it supposed to be a 24 hour wear. Same consept as the Younique 3D mascara wear you brush on the mascara then the fibers and seal it with the mascara again.

 The longer brush is the mascara and the shorter brush are the fibers.

 The left eye in the above photo has one coat on the physicians formula eye booster and the right eye has nothing.

I will say that this mascara isn't as messy as the Younique mascara, however, the fibers do shed a lot more. After putting on the mascara make sure you have a powder brush near by to sweep over your face and brush the fibers off. I will say that through out the day they will not flake it's just when you initially put the fibers on. These fibers are also less dramatic than others that I have tried, however, I'm interested to see what a second coat could do! This mascara isn't clumpy at all and is very easy to work with.

Have you tried this product out? I recommend that you do! Tell me your thoughts.

Younique 3D Fiber Mascara

 I'm a little late to the party with mascara but oh well. Better late than never!! I recently went on a girls trip and someone I went with recommended that I give this mascara a try. She knows that I love me some lashes but I'm not a fan of false lashes.

 You get two tubes in the package. The first is a gel that you use before and after the fibers (that's the longer tube). The shorter tube are the fibers.

 The gel is black and pretty much looks like regular mascara.

 The fibers are black which I really like, it blends into your lashes and the gel without any worry of them showing up funny.

 The left eye I have the 3D mascara and the right eye has nothing...HUGE difference.

Even though I love this mascara I will throw out one caution...you have to practice putting it on!! This can quickly turn into a hot mess if you aren't careful. Don't expect to get this perfect on the fist try. I found that it transfers very easily and can get all over the place. It took me a few trys to figure how to best apply this on my eyes but now that I've perfected the technique it's a definite keeper.

Have you tried this mascara out yet? What are your thoughts?

Rimmel Wonder Lash Mascara

Recently I picked up the Rimmel Wonder Lash mascara, I was very interested in trying this out because I saw that it had argan oil. 

The tube is a little interesting. It's twisted so you have to make sure you click the tube closed. The formulation isn't super wet or dry. 

 I like the brush but it's very flexible which I don't really like. I like stiff wands so that I get really get into the lash.

The results gives you a very natural look. You'll notice on the left I have one coat of the Rimmel mascara on, the right has nothing.

I don't have too many complaints about this mascara. It's advertised to be clump free and I can say that it defiantly is. I've been using it for less than a week so I can't really say that I notice the argan oil but I'm hoping that over time I'll notice that the mascara conditions the lashes. 

The mascara definitely lengthens but I don't notice any thickening.

All and all I would say that this is my new favorite mascaras. I don't typically gravitate towards drug store mascaras but I will be keeping this one into the mix.

Nars ITA Brush Review

The Nars ITA brush was featured on my September favorites, I've had this brush since July and I've developed a love hate relationship with it. I really wanted to jump on the banded wagon, there have been tons of reviews on this brush done by bloggers and YouTubers (I'm sure most of them paid so they're not completely honest). I purchased the ITA brush directly from the Nars website and when I first got it I LOVED IT!!! However, as time went on the brush quickly started showing some signs of wear and tear. 

The bristles are extremely soft and have remained soft wash after every wash. It blends really well and keeps a sharp contour. I only use this brush when I want more of a dramatic look, it's not for everyday contouring (unless of course you like a dramatic day to day look). 

 The brush is extremely thin and is very easy to grip and work with. The handle does get pretty dirty, as most Nars packaging does.

Now for some of the negatives...after a few uses even before I washed the brush, I noticed that it started to shed. At first it wasn't so noticeable but after about a month it got really bad!! After putting on my contour I would have to go back and pick off all the little fuzzes it left behind. Every time I wash it I'm worried the whole brush will just fall apart. As you can see from some of the pictures the bristles are no longer even.

As I've said I know there are a ton of great review on this brush, now it is possible that these reviews aren't honest because these bloggers and YouTubers are getting paid. But there is the possibility that I received a defective brush. Maybe this brush really is amazing and there are other people out there who have the Nars ITA and theirs isn't falling apart like mine. However, for the price I'm not willing to re-purchase another one to test that theory. 

All & all I think this is a great brush but I am disappointed with the wear and tear. There are other great contour brushes that are more reasonably priced and more durable options. If you can afford to splurge on this brush then I would say go for it but just know it isn't worth all the hype.