LOOK by BIPA Matte Camouflage Concealer 

010

This became my favourite high coverage drugstore concealer, replacing Collection's after a very long time. Formulas are actually almost identical and you're not missing out much if you have that one already, but the shade is a lot more neutral, so it fits me a bit better. It covers a lot, from circles, redness to spots and it has a matte finish, plus I find the staying power is better than at Catrice Liquid Camouflage, so if you live in a country with Bipa, this is a great concealer to try.

TREND IT UP Powder Blush

050

I tend to stick to the same type of warm muted pinky mauve blushes and so I don't neglect any in my collection, I rotate them in my routine - this blush had its turn in January. It's one of the best shades in our drugstores and it's one of those colours that gives the cheeks a bit of definition, but doesn't overtake the look. The formula is nicely pigmented, silky and this shade even has a bit of a glow. It's not as long-lasting as the old Catrice ones or L'Oreal's, but for the money it's a great one.

J.LO Glow

This isn't in any way a ground breaking fragrance, in fact it's what I consider a very plain scent, but that's what I like about it. It's a simple clean scent, like laundry detergent or a body cream, so really a type of scent that's appropriate for any occasion. Notes mention musk, which I detect, but none of the floral notes of rose, jasmine, neroli and orange blossom are very obvious, though I do notice roses, but in a Chloe type of way, not the granny rose kind of way. If you're looking for something very simple, clean and on a budget, this is a nice option.  

BATH AND BODY WORKS Pocketbac

Spiced Apple Wood

It's weird to put a hand sanitizer here, but I'm almost addicted to the scent of it. It's a very unisex scent and the name pretty much says it all. There's a strong wood note with some spices and to make it a bit fresher there is a crisp apple note. I was so impressed by this scent that I ordered Twilight Woods body mist, which is a much more girly and cosy wood scent, but man doesn't BBW do woody scents well. Also these Pocketbacs are great and I love that they come in such a cute size because I can easily carry it anywhere and they always have such a great selection of scents.

ESSENCE Wood You Love Me LE Makeup Sponges

Sponges that come with cushion foundations are, apart from my oval brush, my favourite applicators because they always blend the foundation so naturally. I was glad to see that Essence released their version in their latest limited edition, so I got two for about 2€. It's the same as sponges I got in Korean cushion foundations and if you still see them anywhere, they are worth it.

MISSLY Pretty Mermaid Rainbow Highlighter LE

I only talked about this on Instagram so far and I haven't had it for very long yet, but it's a limited edition worth mentioning because Misslyn did a great job. I had their powder products before and only their bronzers are nicely smooth, while the rest tends to be on the powdery side, including their highlighter in the permanent line, but this limited edition has much better quality powders. There are three highlighters, one is a pink cream that I thought wasn't that good, but the gold one looked fantastic and I was going to buy it until I tried this rainbow one which looked even better for my skin tone. It's got the same type of very fine shimmer than Catrice's Kaviar Gauche highlighter, so it looks amazing on the cheeks. It's not super metallic strong, but still among stronger ones and it has a subtle pink tone to it when you mix all colours together.

UPDATES

Birthday Makeup

As usually I used my favourite makeup bits on my birthday, even though my makeup actually looked pretty much the same I always wear and it's the look you've seen many times here in my reviews, which means it was the same light coverage + simple natural eyeshadow look with a black winged liner + glowly cheeks with a natural blush + my beloved Committed matte liquid lipstick. I used:

MAYBELLINE Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation

BOURJOIS Radiance Reveal Concealer

CATRICE HD Liquid Coverage Precise Concealer (new in the drugstores. I used it on my old, but still very red blemish mark on my chin and it wiped off too fast. I should have used Look)

KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow 05 Rosy Brown

TOO FACED Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette (Shade Amaretto and Cherry Cordial, both reddish browns)

CATRICE COSMETICS Liquid Liner 010 Dating Joe Black

MAYBELLINE Lash Sensational Mascara 

CATRICE Kaviar Gauche Highlighter

MILANI Powder Blush 01 Romantic Rose 

THEBALM Meet Matt(e) Hughes Committed 

CATRICE Ultimate Nail Lacquer Bloody Mary to Go (in the old formula, but same shade still exists)

Fragrances are such an important thing for me, I've said it before that after matte liquid lipsticks they are my second favourite thing, even though I don't put a big emphasis on them here because frankly no one cares, but I'm one of those weird people who changes their fragrance a lot, even in a day. So I couldn't quite decide which scent to wear on my birthday and I sprayed a different one every few hours (none apart from Olympea last terribly long). My favourite of the day was the sadly discontinued L'Occitane Fleur D'Or Acacia (such an amazing scent, L'Occitane always discontinues the best things), but I always love a bit of Hugo Boss Ma Vie and also their The Scent, plus I mustn't forget the lovely Olympea, while my newest Twilight Woods from Bath and Body Works is the only proper cosy wintery scent.

Skin Care

January was the month of trialling new products. Since my favourite serum Banila Miss Flower Mrs Honey has been discontinued, I've embarked on finding a replacement, plus I was sent the new Vichy Idealia Peeling which I trialled first. When I try new products I always go to my basic routine, so I can truly see what the product is capable of doing on its own without interference from other products plus so I can be sure what breaks me out. My basic routine consists of a cleansing oil (Biobaza) and cleansing gel (Balea), while serving as my moisturiser is my trusted Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse.

VICHY Idealia Peeling

I've already reviewed this in my New in, but it's pretty much the same product to me than COSRX BHA Blackhead Liquid in terms of effect, except it also makes the skin feeling soft. I have a couple of prominent red blemish marks right now which I expected this to at least tone down if not fade significantly, but unfortunately this is just too weak. But it did keep my skin completely clear and as I said soft and smooth. 

HOLY SNAIL Honey Shark (7ml sample)

My first proper potential replacement for Banila. It contains a large percentage of niacinamide and plenty of other goodness, so I expected a lot from it. I've been using it for a good three weeks now and I see absolutely nothing. No brightening or at least more hydrated skin and so far I'm not impressed despite the fantastic ingredients. It terms of texture this is a light serum that absorbs within seconds.

ETUDE HOUSE Moistfull Collagen line samples (Toner, Essence, Emulsion and Cream)

I'm trying this as a replacement of the collagen part of Banila serum. Toner is so wonderful as it feels more like a luxurious serum than a toner, so that's the product I would purchase full size. The Essence is ok, but nothing special and emulsion is just a light lotion, so an alternative moisturiser. The cream is another lovely product with a gel cream type of texture that fits oily/combination/normal skin and it's a great base for makeup. All have this divine orange scent that makes me want to buy at least one of these in full-size even more, but it's not an amazing collection of products, just hydrating and when I use it without other products I noticed my skin wasn't quite as smooth/soft feeling.

COSRX Galactomyces 95 Whitening Power Essence

I finally got a bottle of this, which I already mentioned was one of my favourite products based on the samples I used. I've been without a galactomyces based essence for over a month and it showed, but in a couple of days with this my skin looked more radiant and smoother with more refined pores. I'm calling it: this is the best product ever.

Some more skin care products I'll be trialling in the next months:

HADA LABO Super Hyaluronic Acid Face Moisturizing Lotion - I already gave this one test, but then my skin broke out and I got scared this could be it (or hormones because I wasn't using CORSX BHA). It's a hyaluronic acid based serum that's even cheaper than The Ordinary (170 ml is about 15 €, mine is a mini 30 ml size for 5 €) and it feels so amazing on the skin, it's like mini heaven with its hydrating, plumping and comfortable formula (same as EH Moistfull toner), so I'll be gutted if it really turns out it breaks me out. 

LEE JIHAM DR.'s Care Vita-Propolis Ampoule - My second choice for a replacement for Banila. This is a light serum that absorbs pretty fast and leaves no stickiness behind unlike Banilla.  

BENTON Snail Bee High Content Essence- Combination of snail mucin and bee venom (sounds crazy I know) in essence form that's it's very popular in the K-Beauty community, especially among those with unclear skin. It's a gel type of essence that absorbs very fast. 

HOLY SNAILS Hanbang Shark - Same thing as the Honey Shark just with ginseng and ceramides. Formula feels the same.

Ordered

Angel Wing Cuff Earing// Butterfly Cuff earring // Flower cuff earring // Dragon cuff earring // Butterfly hollowed cuff earring // Chain cuff earrings // Crystal climbers earrings // Leaf climbers earrings // Simple pin climber earrings // Angel wings climber earrings // Flower double sided earrings // Mini Pirate Pop up Toy // Assassin's Creed necklace // Gold snitch necklace

Expect them in my next AliExpress Bargains post.

Wishlist 

I'm just posting the same birthday wishlist I did on Stories a while ago. I still haven't bought anything apart from BBW Twilight Woods, even though my birthday is already gone.

Have a great day!

In response to the cool-toned looks I did earlier this week, I started off the weekend wanting to do a non-traditional (for me) warm-toned look. But after one day of that, I was back to the cool tones. I don't think I'm necessarily a cool tones convert (after all, I do have a warm olive undertone), but I do think it's a really refreshing departure from the kind of looks I've been doing for many months and years.

I'm curious to know how other people do their makeup. Do you repeat looks often? Do you have a set number of looks and rotate through them? Or do you get bored easily (like me) and try to come up with new looks all the time?

Here are the looks I did this weekend.

Look 1: Morphe x Jaclyn Hill

Lid: Creamscicle

Crease: Pukey

Inner corner: Beam

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Creamscicle

Look 2: Stila Shimmer and Glow in Kitten and Cool Tones

Lid: Stila Shimmer and Glow in Kitten

Transition: Viseart cool brown and Coloured Raine Moments

Crease: Urban Decay Boom and Untitled

Inner corner: Kat Von D Saphyre

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Urban Decay Untitled

Look 1: Morphe x Jaclyn Hill

(This palette was given to me as a gift.)

We all know I love a good mustard brown, but recently, I've been thinking how much I want a pure mustard. I saw that Urban Decay released one in a recent collaboration (that I personally don't want to purchase), and I genuinely didn't think I had one in my collection. However, when I was looking for Blue Honey dupes in my collection, I realized that I sort of had this mustard shade already in the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palette. It's not quite as yellow as I would like (it leans more orange), but it was close enough for me to try out this kind of look and see how I like it. And I feel kind of mixed on it. On the one hand, I really liked how it looked up close and how it looks in photos, but in person from a slight distance, it almost looked like I wasn't wearing any eyeshadow at all. And I don't know if that is because I'm so used to dramatic eye looks or because the shade is somewhat close to my skin tone. But it blended in a little too much for me. Similarly, while I liked the look enough to want to wear it again, I would want to invest in a higher quality eyeshadow. In terms of this palette, while I am grateful that someone thought enough of me to gift it to me, and while I also feel that this palette is of higher quality than other Morphe palettes that I have tried, I don't find the quality to be up to far with other similarly priced palettes. I'll certainly keep this palette and continue using it as I don't dislike it, but I don't think it's as fantastic as other influencers claim. 

Look 2: Stila Shimmer and Glow in Kitten and Cool Tones

So, this was my return to cool tones. And I have to say, I really, really love it. I wasn't entirely sure how this was going to turn out, but I just felt this intense craving for more blue. This was the first time (I think?) that I ever applied blue shadows in the crease with a neutral shade on the lid. I could be wrong about that, but I can't think of another time I did that. And man, do I love how this look turned out. It reminds me a bit of a mod look from the 60s (in person, not in photographs), and I couldn't be happier with it. I've written about the Stila Shimmer and Glow in Kitten before, and I still love it just as much. Since it can lean cool or warm depending on the complementary shadows, I think it pairs just so beautifully with these blue shadows. After the week I've had using and loving cool tones, I feel like I have to ask: Why have warm tones been on trend for this long? I don't even have a cool-toned complexion, and I still think these colors are fantastic. I'm hoping we see a shift soon. 

I mentioned a few times in the past month or so that I was getting a little tired of my eyeshadow looks and felt like I was always doing the same things. And I realized that what most of my favorite looks have in common is that they are warm-toned. 

I was inspired this week to separate my single shadows (that aren't already in existing duped palettes) into warm and cool tones. And to my complete surprise, I was really drawn to my collection of cool shadows. I did one look this week with a cool shadow on the lid and warm shadows in the crease, but after that, I just wanted nothing but cool tones. So that's what I did. 

It was a nice departure from what I typically do, and it was great to get some use out of shadows that are typically very ignored. I guess this could almost be considered a one week, one palette, but I did not use every shadow in this palette and also pulled in some other shadows. 

Here is a closeup of the palette and shade names:

And here are the five looks I did this week. 

Look 1: Ardency Inn Heaven

Lid: Ardency Inn Heaven

Transition: Kat Von D Ludwin

Crease: Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear

Brow Bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Look 2: Juvia's Place Chi

Lid: Juvia's Place Chi

Center of lid: Ardency Inn Heaven

Transition: Viseart cool brown and Coloured Raine Moments

Crease: Urban Decay Untitled and Juvia's Place Chi

Inner corner: Kat Von D Saphyre

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Juvia's Place Chi

Look 3: Coloured Raine Royal Highness and Ardency Inn Violet

Inner lid: Coulred Raine Royal Highness

Outer lid: Ardency Inn Violet

Transition: BH Cosmetics pink

Crease: Colourpop Silver Lining

Inner corner: Urban Decay Roadstripe

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Ardency Inn Violet

Look 4: Costal Scents Lakeshore

Lid: Costal Scents Lakeshore

Transition: Viseart cool brown

Crease: Urban Decay Boom

Outer corner: Urban Decay Untitled

Inner corner: Kat Von D Saphyre

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Makeup Geek Caitlin Rose

Look 5: BH Cosmetics taupe and Colourpop Glass Bull

Lid: BH Cosmetics taupe

On top of lid: Colourpop Glass Bull

Transition: Viseart cool brown

Crease: Coloured Raine Moments

Outer corner: ABH Rosette

Inner corner: Urban Decay Roadstripe

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: ABH Rosette

Look 1: Ardency Inn Heaven

Heaven is an odd shadow for me. When I swatch it on my hand, I am so blown away by how gorgeous it looks, but when I apply it onto my lids, I tend to feel like it is too cool-toned for me. It almost comes off as a silver, which I know sounds strange, but that's usually how it looks. I paired it with warm-toned shadows in this look, and while I think it looks nice in photos, I didn't really like how it looked in person. I contemplated decluttering it from my collection, but when I moved it into the cool-toned palette and away from the other, warmer golds, I became much more drawn to it. 

Look 2: Juvia's Place Chi

This was one of my favorite looks that I did this week. It was also the first that I did with the completed cool-toned palette. As soon as I saw Ardency Inn Heaven next to Juvia's Place Chi, I knew that I had to use them in a look. I'm really happy with how this turned out and enjoy the the "moonlight on the ocean" look that it has, but I would be curious to see how Heaven would look on the majority of the lid with Chi on the outer corner. This was much more of a "midnight" look than I originally anticipated, but I absolutely loved it. I also love how great Coloured Raine Moments looks within the eye look because that is a shadow that I have not been able to utilize much. 

Look 3: Coloured Raine Royal Highness and Ardency Inn Violet

I might sound repetitive in this post, but this was another look that I really liked this week. I have several purples in my collection, but I feel like they don't get a ton of use, which is a shame. I don't think it comes across this way in photos, but this was a very smoky, dramatic look, and I loved it. The combination of the BH Cosmetics pink shade and Colourpop Silver Lining made for a really pretty glow in the crease, and I think it transitioned well into the colors on the lid. Again, these aren't colors that I ever would have paired together on my own, but seeing them in a cool-toned palette made them make sense for me. 

Look 4: Costal Scents Lakeshore

This was my absolute favorite look of the week. Lakeshore is such a fantastic and underrated shadow, and I was excited to do a monochromatic blue look with it. And this look could not have come out better for me. I depotted two shadows from the Urban Decay Jean-Michel Basquiat palette (Boom and Untitled), and I'm so glad that I did because I was contemplating decluttering the entire palette from my collection. Instead, I depotted the blue and green shades and decluttered the rest. The two blues performed like a dream in this look. I was also really impressed with how great it looked with the Viseart cool brown shade as a transition, as that is a shadow that I haven't used much because I don't wear a ton of cool shadows. I thought about running one of the blue shadows on my lower lash line, but decided to use the coolest-toned purple in my collection, and I think the result is really, really pretty. I feel like I say this often, which kind of minimizes the sentiment, but this is really one of my favorite looks I've ever done. 

Look 5: BH Cosmetics taupe and Colourpop Glass Bull

Rounding out my cool-toned week, I decided to go with a taupe-based look. To be honest, I wanted to use my Le Metier de Beaute single in Corinthian, but I thought it might be best to stay within the palette. I decided that I wanted to use Colourpop Glass Bull, and I have to say that I still don't quite understand the hype with this shadow. I tried to pull inspiration online, but when I searched for "Colourpop Glass Bull looks," the only thing that really came up was my own look the last time I used it (and, yes, that was quite a weird experience). I find this shadow really sheer and glossy. Maybe it's supposed to evoke the look of a Glossier model. I'm not sure. But it's not a look I personally want at this time. I decided to layer it with the BH Cosmetics taupe shade, and even though Glass Bull is on top, you can't even see it. I think it's a fine look, and I paired it with a raspberry lip, which really pulled it together, but it's not something I think I'll replicate. 

L'OREAL Paradise Extatic Mascara

While I agree with most that in terms of effect this is one of the best mascaras in the drugstore, I find it's too expensive (15 €) and what I resent a lot more si that it's dry within two months. European version also has less product than the US version and it's costs more, which I don't intend to support. There are plenty of similarly great mascaras that I'll buy instead.

Repurchase: Maybe, but unlikely.

CATRICE Liquid Eyeliner

My favourite liquid eyeliner and the second in a row I've used up. It's very black, matte and lasts perfectly on the lids.

Repurchase: Done.

BALEA Refreshing Wash Gel

Erfrischendes Washgel

A great and simple gel cleanser with a skin friendly pH that I use as my second cleanser after oil. The only minus is the men's cologne kind of scent (strong and fresh), but I got used to it.

Repurchase: Done.

SECRET KEY Starting Treatment Essence

Rose Edition

I've gone through two 30 ml samples that lasted me forever and I really love this stuff because I've been without it for a month or two because I was waiting for my order to arrive and my skin isn't quite as nice without it. It feels like a regular toner, so not one of those luxe K-Beauty ones, but like our regular toners and it has no scent. Regardless I chose a different essence to repurchase, COSRX Galactomyces 95, because I felt it did a bit more and it arrived just yesterday. Both are amazing essences that I think make the biggest change is how the skin looks out of all the new products I've tried and I recommend you try one through samples, since they are very cheap on eBay.

Repurchase: Yes.

TONY MOLY Panda's Dream White Sleeping Pack

My regular moisturiser that I use in the morning under makeup or I apply a heavier application as the last step of the night routine as a sleeping mask. It just agrees with my skin, adds moisture and keeps my skin in check.

Repurchase: Done.

DOVE Purely Pampering Nourishing Shower gel

Coconut Milk

My favourite shower gel. It's so creamy, non-drying and it smells amazing. I've gone through a few bottles of these and every time it gets almost empty, it's so difficult to get the rest out. This should be in a tube or have a pump.

Repurchase: Yes.

BALEA After Sun Duche

A shower gel that has a slight oily texture (so it washes off sunscreen) and a fantastic beachy/holiday scent. It's in the same family as Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess and Guerlain Terracotta, so mostly tiare flowers.

Repurchase: Yes.

BALEA Duche & Creme Coco & Nectarine

This is long discontinued, but I have a few bottles in stock because this scent is just amazing. Why did Balea discontinue this, it's a great peach scent. Formula is the same as other Dusche & Creme by Balea, so not nourishing, but decent if your skin isn't dry.
Repurchase: I can't buy this one, but I occasionally buy other Balea gels, so yes.

SOAP & GLORY Smoothie Star Body Buttercream

I didn't like this as much as I like their Orangeasm version because this is a lot lighter and has a more whipped texture, while I prefer thick body butters that stay on the skin for a long time. It's not like a lotion that just sinks in in a minute, but it does sink in a lot faster than body butters and it nourishes the skin well (mine is occasionally flaky dry and this helps). The scent started to bother me in a while, since it's got a prominent almond note that at times smelled a bit fake to me, but it's a gourmand type of scent with vanilla, pistachio and almond fragrance. I just used it up quickly so I can get The Body Shop instead.

Repurchase: No, I prefer others.

BALEA Rasiergel

Fruity Dream

A staple of mine, I went through so many of these and through most LE's. This one had one of my favourite scents so far, as it smelled like plums.

Repurchase: Done.

L'OREAL Elseve Extraordinary Oil Nourishing Shampoo

I've mentioned this one so many times and I've been repurchasing it for a few years now. It's the only drugstore shampoo I've found so far that works for my dry hair. It cleans well and at the same time leaves it somewhat silky and nourished.

Repurchase: Already done.

JOICO K-Pack Intense Hydrator

One of my favourite hair treatments. The name says it all, it adds an intense boost of moisture to very dry hair. I've repurchased it many times..

Repurchase: Yes.

KÉRASTASE Nutritive Nectar Thermique

I still maintain this is one of the best heat protectant for really dry hair, however, if you don't have dry, thick hair, you probably won't see that much of a point of this product. My hair always needed more care and this works as a leave-in conditioner plus heat protectant in one, so it helps the hair staying nourished longer (my hair doesn't get greasy the longer I don't wash it, it gets drier instead). While this lasted me a long time, it's the price (which is getting higher with years actually) that is the reason why I won't buy this for a long time, plus I found a combination of drugstore products that do the same (Dove Super Quench for nourishment and Balea Wunder Serum for heat protection). 

Repurchase: Yes.

DOVE Advanced Hair Series Quench Absolute Supreme Crème Serum 

Luckily I have a few of these in stock, otherwise you'd be reading a lamentation for one of the greatest, yet difficult to get hair products for me at the moment (I can get it only on Amazon UK now). My dry, rebellious hair adores this stuff and nothing else in the drugstores tames it as well. In short it's a godsend for dry, coarse hair that is never silky. With this I don't even have to use a round brush when I'm blow-drying my hair, it just dries straight with no frizz. It's a silicone cream product, not the lightest, so those with thin hair won't like it (it's says on the bottle itself that's it's for wavy, curly hair which is usually coarse and thick) and it also works amazing on dry hair as a frizz tamer and shine enhancer. If you have Style + Care version in shops, this is the same thing.

Repurchase: Obviously.

OROFLUIDO Sahara

This is sadly discontinued, so a bit pointless to put it here, but it was seriously so good, one of the best things to have when my hair was extremely dry. So I'm looking for a replacement (recommendations welcome). It was an oil in spray type of product.

Repuchase: I definitely would it it still existed.

LADY GAGA Fame 

Edp

I love this fragrance. It's not quite the classic celebrity juice with a fruity sugary vanilla vibe, instead it's apricots with honey as a sweet base and some incense that gives it depth. One of the underrated treasures in the drugstores.

Repurchase: Yes.

Have a great day!

Kylie Cosmetics has released their latest eyeshadow palette, Blue Honey. 

And I won't be buying. 

I have a lot of valid reasons for not wanting to buy this palette, and I'll get to those in a bit. But in the spirit of transparency, I feel it necessary to say that I highly doubt I will buy anything from Kylie Cosmetics in the near future, and that is because this is a brand that I really don't like. I find Kylie herself to be incredibly problematic for a number of reasons, but I very specifically don't like what this brand represents, which is targeting a young demographic and charging a lot of money for a name instead of high quality products. 

And let me just step in right here to clarify that I am not saying that Kylie Cosmetics products are bad. I am saying that the price of these products is not related the quality of them. 

Kylie Cosmetics and Colourpop are owned by the same company and come out with extremely similar products and formulas, which is normal for brands under a parent company. The main problem I have with Kylie Cosmetics is what is so fantastic about Colourpop, which is the model of manufacturing trendy makeup at affordable prices. Kylie Cosmetics is a company that takes those same trendy products and upcharges more than double to have a famous person's name on it. 

And while I have never tried anything from Kylie Cosmetics because it's not a brand that I like or particularly want to support, they also have not released anything that personally appealed to me. 

Until Blue Honey. 

If this was a Colourpop palette, I feel like I probably would have purchased it right away, without even considering what else was in my collection. And that is so disappointing because I know better by now! But luckily, Kylie Cosmetics released it and charged way too much, which brought me back to my senses. 

Let's look at the palette:

Do you know what I like so much about this palette? That it doesn't look exactly like every other palette that is available. I think it's really fantastic, truly, that we are hitting saturation in the makeup community. It has been an interesting phenomenon to watch people complain about new releases because they have similar/exact things already and they want to see something new, all while they are sitting in front of a miniature version of Sephora in their own homes. And I don't say that with any kind of malice, because I also have a large makeup collection. 

The fact is, for those of us with large collections, there just isn't really going to be much, if anything, that can be released that we don't already own in some way. People who still have a spending/makeup addiction or are caught up in the euphoria of buying new things will find saturation unpleasant. They have an itch to buy, but there isn't anything left for them to buy. And it is at this stage that we need to look inward to what we already have (which is, essentially, everything) and use that instead of always looking for what's coming next.

Blue Honey doesn't so obviously look like something I already own though. It looks different, and I like different. But for $38 (not including tax and shipping—we will get to that), I also know that this palette is not worth that price. 

Let's look at the colors as pigments:

When I look at this picture, I see a lot of things that I already own. I see a lot of red-toned warm brows, a taupe, a copper, and some blues. Breaking it down like that, I realize that I already have these types of colors. What drew my eyes in the most were the blue shades, but if you take those away, this is the same as everything we've seen before. It's a warm-toned neutral palette. 

So, I looked at my own collection to see what I had that was similar. I recently reorganized some of my custom palettes into warm-toned and cool-toned singles:

And I realized that between these two palettes, I probably had adequate duplicate shadows.

And I did. 

Here is Blue Honey:

And here is my duped version of Blue Honey:

I found that the pictures of Blue Honey were a little misleading in terms of what the actual shadow colors were (which is unfortunately not an abnormal occurrence in the makeup industry), so instead I referenced various swatch pictures. 

Here are the colors I used:

Top row: Zoeva Bitter Start, ABH Pink Champagne, and Makeup Greek Desert Sands

Middle row: Colourpop Two Birds, Urban Decay Boom, and Costal Scents Lakeshore

Bottom row: Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear, MAC Coppering, and ABH Fudge

Out of these shadows, two were depotted from existing palettes: Zoeva Bitter Start (from Cocoa Blend) and Urban Decay Boom (from the Jean-Michel Basquiat palette). The rest are singles. 

Additionally, if you own the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palette, you also already own Blue Honey:

I've enlarged and circled in red the shadows that I feel are duplicates of those in Blue Honey. They are:

Blue Honey Row 1: Enlight (Raw), Obsessed (Buzz Off), and Creamscicle (Sweet Like Honey) 

Blue Honey Row 2: Queen (Bumble), Jada (Blue Honey), and Pool Party (Royal Jelly)

Blue Honey Row 3: Roxanne (Busy Bee), Firework (Sweet Thing), and Jacz (Honeymoon)

The only shadow that isn't quite a dupe is Morphe Enlight, which is a shimmer, because Kylie Cosmetics Raw is matte. Otherwise, these colors are pretty close. 

Without knowing it, I not only already owned Blue Honey (which I thought was a really unique color scheme), but I actually owned it twice. (For those wondering, the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palette was given to me as a gift.) And, yes, it did look like a unique color scheme to me, but that was only because the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palette has more shadows in it. That distracted my brain and didn't allow me to see that Blue Honey was embedded into it. 

And there are other palettes with similar shadows and color schemes, like Juvia's Place Zulu:

Juvia's Place Festival:

Juvia's Place Masquerade:

NYX Earth:

NYX Water:

And ABH Subculture:

Remember earlier when I mentioned that Kylie Cosmetics and Colourpop are owned by the same company and come out with really similar products? Well, Blue Honey looks a lot like the Colourpop x Kathleenlights Dream Street palette:

Let's compare:

While Blue Honey and Dream Street are not exact dupes, they both have:

• A matte cream
• A matte mustard
• A matte blue-green
• A shimmery blue-green
• A shimmery gold
• A shimmery taupe
• A shimmery copper
• A matte warm brown
• A matte reddish brown 

They share nine shades in common, and in case you missed it, Blue Honey only has nine shades. 

I don't advocate to buy Dream Street instead of Blue Honey (for those reasons, please reference the anti-haul post on Dream Street), but it is pretty telling that Dream Street costs $16 for 12 shades, and Blue Honey costs $38 for nine shades. 

To make matters even worse, Kylie Cosmetics only offers free domestic shipping on orders over $40, and Blue Honey just misses that mark by $2 (and in case you're wondering, yes, this is intentional). And Kylie Cosmetics shipping costs a staggering and criminal $8.95 for domestic shipping and $14.95 for international shipping. 

So that means that the already overpriced $38 palette is really $47, not including tax, which would push it to over $50. And for that, you can buy a palette of better quality with nicer packaging and more shadows. 

Like Colourpop, Kylie Cosmetics does not accept returns or exchanges, and all sales are final. Colourpop claims that they do this in order to keep their prices low, so I can't see the reasoning for this with Kylie Cosmetics. And this means that if you spend the $50+ on this palette and don't find that it lives up to that price, you cannot return it and will be out that money. 

Blue Honey, in reality, is not that unique of a palette. And like I said at the top of this post, at this point, I think it would be difficult for a brand to be able to come out with a totally unique palette. Since Blue Honey only has 9 shades, it makes it pretty easy to dissect it and see how many basic, non-unique shades there are. And in my opinion, there is only one pretty unique shade, and that is Blue Honey, the matte blue-green. And if that is the shade that is drawing you to this palette, I would highly recommend looking into singles instead. Coloured Raine has two that are really similar, with one leaning more blue and one leaning more green.

They are Majestic:

And Gumby:

I know I say this in every post about Kylie Cosmetics, but I understand the pull people (especially adolescents) have to their favorite celebrities. And I know what it feels like to be young and want to buy whatever that celebrity attaches their name to. But those celebrities also know that they have this power, and often times they exploit it. (Why else do you think Justin Bieber came out with a perfume when he was 17 and at the height of his popularity?) I can say with close to absolute certainty that there is nothing about Blue Honey that makes it any better or more luxurious than products from brands like Colourpop or Morphe other than Kylie's name on the front and pictures of eyes. 

And while I can appreciate the slightly different color schemes that Kylie Cosmetics are bringing to the table, I just can't endorse them due to their grossly overpriced products, absurd shipping costs, and terrible return policy (or lack thereof). 

Recently, I have noticed that my collection of pre-made non-companion palettes is declining. That is because I have been focusing on my collection of single shadows, and I reorganize them to fit different trendy color schemes or color stories that I find inspiring. I currently only have five pre-made "complete" palettes (not including ones I consider to be companions). I also have five custom palettes full of singles (three of which are "dupes" of popular pre-made palettes), and I have found that I get far more use out of the custom palettes than I do the pre-made ones. This is relatively new to me as my singles used to be the most ignored shadows in my collection. But I'm so glad that I have discovered my love for them because they are the biggest reason why I don't buy new palettes. 

Blue Honey is a great palette to try to replicate at home. My guess is that most people would be able to come close to duping the entire thing. And if you need to buy one or two singles, look into brands like Coloured Raine, Colourpop, or Costal Scents. You might spend $10 or $15 on singles, but that's far cheaper than spending $50 for this palette. 

Like all of Kylie Cosmetics products, Blue Honey is overpriced. It's a palette that is easy to replicate and one that I have at least two times over in my own collection. Part of being a smart consumer is recognizing when brands are going out of their way to gouge you, and that is certainly what is going on with Kylie Cosmetics. They offer cheap, cardboard packaging and shadows that can be found for less money elsewhere, and I don't personally care about the Kylie name to look past that. I don't need this palette, and I won't be buying.