L.O.V. disappeared from our drugstores, but we recently got the good news that two large online retailers, Click2Chic and Ličila.si, will carry this brand. L.O.V joined the by now a rather large club of brands that felt inspired by the success of very warm palettes in recent years and released their own with some reddish-copper shades. I look awful in such warm shades, so the colour selection isn't my favourite, but the quality is pretty good. 

There are 12 eyeshadows in the palette, 4 are metallics and the rest are satins. There are no matte shades in this palette which I sorely miss. Pigmentation varies from shade to shade, but overall this is a nice quality palette. None of the shades stand out for being poorly pigmented and all blend nicely. Four shades are too similar on the eyes, so I feel like they wasted space instead of adding some useful shades, such as a cool taupe crease shade. The shade Ambitious is the most impressive in the palette, as it's very creamy, super pigmented and very metallic looking on the eyes. It's too bad all four metallic shades aren't such quality.

Fearless - a satin medium taupe. It's more brown and warm on the skin than in the palette.

Courageous - a bronze that again looks much warmer on my skin than in the pan.

Bold - a satin burnt orange.

Smart - a metallic/shimmery champagne.

Confident - a satin light peachy pink.

Successful - a copper. 

Ambitious - a metallic burgundy. The most pigmented and impressive shade in the palette, it's fully opaque with a thick, very cream formula.

Powerful - a satin pale pink.

Passionate - a satin white gold.

Energetic - a satin cool deep brown.

Brave - a satin deep purple.

Daring - a satin/shimmery pale warm pink.

Staying power is good at this palette. Eyeshadows tend to last well on me because I don't have oily eyelids and these last like most eyeshadows do. They fade a bit toward the end of the day, but I got no creasing.

Packaging is cardboard with a mirror and magnetic closing system. It's quite heavy for such a material.

Price and availability: It costs 16.99 € and here it'll be sold on Click2Chic and Ličila.si.

If you want something in those modern red tones that my colouring just clashes with, this is a nice one. Pigmentation good at most shades and especially the red metallic shade Ambitious is super soft and crazy pigmented like a cream eyeshadow (similar to Milani's, but thicker, less smooth compared to those). What I miss at this palette are matte shades. It just doesn't have a selection of crease appropriate shades for me as everything is either a satin finish or metallic. 

Have a great day!

*PR product

A few months ago, I decided to embark on a project pan to use up or hit the pan of several makeup items. My goal was to finish 12 products before Christmas/the end of 2018. And as you will see below, I not only hit that goal, but I surpassed it! I used up/hit the pan of 19 makeup products!

In this post, I'll walk through all of the products I used up and discuss if I plan on repurchasing or not.

Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot
Goal: Finish
Status: Will not repurchase

As you can see with this dirty pan, I accomplished my goal of finishing the setting powder. The powder developed hard pan, which made it difficult to use, so I needed to repress it to get rid of the hard pan and give myself an even pan again. This is what it looked like before repressing:

And after:

Once I repressed the powder, it was much less densely packed, which meant that I picked up more product with my brush. While I liked this product and I think it does a good job of keeping the face matte, with the loosened product, I found that it left a white cast on my face and make me look really powdery. This didn't happen until I repressed the product, which, again, was generally difficult to use before repressing. 

I don't like to keep more than one powder in my collection at a time, so I have replaced this product with the Hourglass Veil translucent powder. So far, I really like that one. 

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel

Goal: Hit the pan

Status: Will continue to use, but will likely not repurchase

Back when I was living in New York and using makeup as a coping mechanism, I purchased the very expensive and not at all inclusive Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel cream bronzer, which is also known as the "universal bronze." This is not a universal bronze. This is the first and only cream bronzer I have ever used, and while I think it's a good product, I have to really blend it out or else it leaves my face with an orange/brown stripe. Obviously part of this could be my application or user error, but the shade just isn't right for me or what I would want. With that said, the product works, and I would like to use it up since there is nothing wrong with it and I spent quite a bit of money on it. 

Generally, I find that I prefer my powder bronzer (Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light), so while I intend to use up this product, I doubt I will repurchase. 

Tarte Exposed blush

Goal: Hit the pan

Status: Will continue to use, but will not repurchase 

This may be the only powder blush I have ever hit the pan of, and the only reason I have is likely because I have to use so much product just to get any color payoff. I do like the color of this blush, but Tarte is not a brand that I want to support. I'm tired of how non-inclusive the brand is, and until that changes, I don't want to purchase anything for them. I don't know if Exposed will stick around in my collection long enough for me to use up the entire thing, but if it does, I will not repurchase. 

Physician's Formula Butter Highlighter in Pearl

Goal: Hit the pan

Status: Will continue to use

I have a lot of highlighters in my collection, but this is one of my favorites. I'm not a huge fan of the twist packaging or the swirl design, but I really love the product. It has a duochrome finish, and I find that it lasts longer on my skin than many mid-range or high-end products. I don't hear a lot of people talk about this, but it's certainly a product that I love. This is only the second highlighter that I have ever hit the pan of, and the other is Becca Moonstone, which is my all-time favorite. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light

Goal: Hit the pan

Status: All-time favorite

After I finished my Dim Light powder last year, I immediately replaced it with this one. I love this product. I use it as an all over finishing powder, and I find that I just don't like my makeup without it. I will continue to repurchase and love this product. 

Physician's Formula The Healthy Foundation and Milani Conceal + Perfect

Goal: Finish

Status: Will not repurchase 

I am usually a huge proponent of "do not use a product that you hate just to finish it," but I made an exception for these two foundations. In an attempt to find a more inclusive foundation to support (we will get into this more in the next product), I purchased both of these foundations. On their own, I hated both of them. Mixed together, I hated them less. The worst offender of the two was The Healthy Foundation. This looked so dry on my skin, and I have combination skin. The coverage was very thin, and while I don't like full-coverage foundations, this one didn't even seen to be able to provide an even layer of coverage at all. The shade I purchased was also too light for my skin tone. Conceal + Perfect, on the other hand, was way too full coverage for me, and the shade I purchased was too dark. I was able to mix the two of them together for shade and coverage/texture, and while that was better than either on their own, it still wasn't great. 

It's worth noting that the cap on The Healthy Foundation continually broke and splintered off as I worked through the bottle, which made this miserable to use. I can see both of these products working for people with skin types that are different from mine, but I will not repurchase. 

It Cosmetics CC+ Cream

Goal: Finish

Status: Will not repurchase until the shade range improves 

If you've been a longtime reader of my blog, you'll know that this is my all-time favorite foundation. Truthfully, I would be very happy to just use this foundation and not even try another one. But, this foundation shade range is unacceptable, and I cannot support it. Until recently, there were only four shades in this range, and none of them were dark enough for deep skin tones. The range has expanded to 12 shades, but seven of those are meant for light skin, three for medium skin, one for dark, and one for deep. So, even though the range is slightly better, it still skews too heavily toward light skin, and it is not something that I am comfortable supporting. 

To replace this, I have recently purchased the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r foundation, and I absolutely love it. 

Elf Mineral Face Primer

Goal: Finish

Status: May repurchase one day, but not now 

I used up a few primers during this project, and I think this one is good value for the money. I liked it just as much as the Make Up For Ever mattifying one, and think it gives generally similar results to the Hourglass Mineral Veil. I didn't love it, however, and I have found other primers that I like more.

Samples: Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Primer, Becca Backlight Primer, Becca Blurring Primer

Goal: Finish

Status: May repurchase Becca Backlight Primer

I had three primer samples, so I used them all up in this project. 

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Primer: I hated this primer. It was impossible to pump (but that may just be the sample), the smell was off-putting, and the texture was very waxy and thick. It clung to the foundation and my Beauty Blender—making it impossible to wash—and I did not like the results on my face. 

Becca Blurring Primer: I also hated this primer. I left behind a powdery residue on my fingers and face after application, and I found that it didn't work well with my foundation. 

Becca Backlight Primer: I've purchased this before and didn't care for it or notice any difference with it, but it looked absolutely gorgeous with the Fenty foundation. I am currently using the Australian Gold mineral tinted sunscreen as a primer, and I love that, but I can see myself buying the Becca Backlight again soon. 

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Goal: Finish

Status: Have already repurchased 

This is my all-time favorite eye primer, and one that I will continue to repurchase. I have finished several bottles of this primer, and I will continue to repurchase it. 

L'Oreal Lash Paradise Base

Goal: Finish

Status: Have already repurchased

I haven't tried too many mascara primers, but I loved this one. I use it with Benefit Bad Gal Bang mascara, and I love the effects of it. I finished up this entire bottle (even before the two month expiration date) and immediately repurchased another. I love how it makes my lashes look. 

Sample: Benefit Bad Gal Bang 

Goal: Finish

Status: Have already repurchased 

I received a sample of this mascara, and, in an unusual act for me, I used up the entire thing. I have long loved many Benefit mascaras (They're Real and Roller Lash have been favorites of mine), but I always find that I get tired of paying the high price, and then I'll buy a drugstore one for a while. That tradition may continue, but I really love the combination of this mascara and the L'Oreal Lash Paradise primer. 

Physician's Formula Eye Booster

Goal: Finish

Status: Have already repurchased 

This is another boring one to write about as this has been my all-time favorite eyeliner for years, and it continues to be. I have used up many of these eyeliners, and I always immediately repurchase another. 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer 

Goal: Finish

Status: Undecided 

I find that I'm always torn on brow pencils. On the one hand, I really like the smaller brow pencils (like ABH Brow Wiz), but on the other, I hate how quickly I use those up. The ABH Brow Definer certainly lasts longer, but I like the precision that smaller pencils provide. This is the second Brow Definer that I have used up, and likely won't be the last, but I do like smaller pencils better.

NYX Micro Brow Pencil
Goal: Finish
Status: Will continue to use

A while ago, I was gifted several of these NYX brow pencils, so this is what I will be using until I finish all of them. I love this pencil and have purchased it before, and this is the size of pencil that I prefer to the ABH Brow Definer. The negative with this pencil and others like it is that there is so little product, and I go through it very quickly. Even during the time I started this project, I was able to use up two of these pencils (that were brand new) in a shorter amount of time than I used up the ABH Brow Definer that was more than half-finished. But, I'm happy to have a nice supply of them, and I will continue to use. 

So far I've only had great experience with Milani products and I'm especially a big fan of the Conceal + Perfect foundation, but this is my first time trying their eyeshadows and this has to be one of the most pigmented eyeshadow palettes in my collection. Only TheBalm Nude-tude is equally great and maybe Too Faced Chocolate Bar, but that one has more densely packed eyeshadows. Gilded Desires is a limited edition palette with 12 eyeshadows, 6 metallics plus 6 mattes, and two pearly highlighters. 

The texture of eyeshadows is so creamy and smooth, they are some of the creamiest classic eyeshadows I've tried. Only Colourpop Super Shock, Catrice's Metal Sensation and Essence Melted Chromes are softer, but they are not as pigmented as these. Metallics are super pigmented, though it differs from shade to shade, but all have a fully opaque look with very little effort and the effect is even better if you apply them wet (I haven't tried them that way, but I saw a review/tutorial with these and it looked like liquid metal). This softness does have a bad side at metallics, because you need to use light pressure on them to avoid denting them too much and there is some excess kick-off as well as some fall down. For metallics I prefer to use my fingers because I have a similar problem as at Catrice eyeshadows that a brush doesn't pick them up well, plus you use less if you use fingers. The mattes are a bit denser, less soft, but still super pigmented and very smooth. They blend a bit easier than metallics as you might expect, but it's not a big difference.  

The collection of shades is overwhelmingly warm, which doesn't make it my favourite selection, but that's the trend nowadays and there are some nice neutrals that I will use often. For me what's missing is a less intense crease shade as the matte mid brown in the palette ends up quite strong. The black in this palette is exceptional, it's not often you see such a strong black. Highlighters are both warm, but they vary in intensity as the gold one is less strong.

1st row:

Naked Truth - a matte light yellow-toned cream shade. 

Champagne Wasted - a metallic champagne shade, contains largest shimmer particles of all shades.

Sweet As Honey - a warm matte pale peachy pink

Most Covet Rose - a metallic light rose gold peachy-pink base with gold shimmer. 

2nd row:

Love addict - a metallic tomato red. It looks less warm in the palette than on the skin.

Desire for Gold - a metallic yellow gold

Crazy for Cocoa - a matte mid brown. 

Time to Un-wine - a matte dark/wine red

3rd row:

Just Bronzing Around - a metallic copper. This shade has the strongest metallic finish and creamiest, most pigmented formula in the palette.

The Olive of my Life - a metallic olive-bronze shade. My favourite. 

Wood you Join me - a matte dark chocolate brown.

Black Tie Affair - an intense matte black.

Highlighters:

Brighten up my day - a white gold with a very strong glowy effect.

Highlight of the day - a peachy-gold.

Staying power is impressive. I half expected these to crease on me because of the creamy formula (like Essence and Catrice do), but this is a very long-lasting formula that stays put. They looked almost like freshly applied at the end of the day with no creasing, excessive fading or any extra fall down.

Packaging is gold and it's an absolute fingerprint magnet. Luckily they wipe of easily. You get a handy big mirror in the palette.

Price and availability: in Slovenia (and Croatia) you can get it on Click2chic for 24.49 €.

If you're a fan of metallic eyeshadows this is an excellent palette. It's super pigmented and the eyeshadows are great quality. I'd absolutely love it if Milani made a cool toned version too, something with a more green gold, bronzes and Mac satin-taupe like shades because now this is a very warm palette and I look so odd in red, yellow gold and copper shades, so I just stick to the light neutrals, sculpting mattes and that gorgeous bronze olive shade. 

Have a great day!

*PR product

Sometime in the summer Rimmel launched a new line of blushes which are more than twice the size of their Lasting Finish ones and they are available in four shades, three are sold here in Slovenia. The other two are #004 Sweet Cheeks, a peach, and #006 Exposed, which is a very interesting neutral beige-dusty rose looking shade in the pan, but it swatches light pink on my skin tone.  

Texture: Compared to their old line of blushes, these are not as soft and are more tightly pressed. There is some kick-up and the texture could be a bit silkier, but I have such a dark shade that any texture is very unforgiving if you don't spend extra time blending it. My shade blends ok for such a deep shade, nothing out of the usual and the finish is matte.

Shade: Wild Card is a muted deep peachy-pink shade which on my cheeks looks like a strong warm pink. It's the deepest shade out of the three we have here and I need to be very careful with it because it's too much almost with one swipe. If you have a deeper skin tone than me, this will work great on you. I use my fluffiest brush with this, so I don't overdo it.

Staying power: The pigment in this blush is strong, meaning it can hold on longer than most blushes. It can last all day provided the base is good.

Packaging: The pan of this is larger than usual blushes and much larger than their Lasting Finish Soft Colour Blushes. It contains 9g, a big upgrade to the previous 4 g. The packaging is their classic plastics one that closes firmly.

Price and availability: These are sold in DM for 9.49 €.

I can't say they are as nice as Catrice's or L'Oreal's blushes, but they are still great for a drugstore offering. The shade range is rather small, but it contains interesting shades that aren't just your basic pinks and peachy-pinks. I'm interested in shade Exposed, so I might get it one day.

Have a great day!

*PR product

I conducted a poll on Instagram (a while ago at this point) to see what people wanted to see in my next anti-haul post. Readers selected the latest Jeffree Star palette, called Alien. 

And I won't be buying. 

As I've said before, I have talked about Jeffree's problematic behavior in other posts, so I'm not going to discuss that here. I will say that since I've written my other Jeffree Star posts, his series on Shane Dawson's YT channel came out (and let's call that was it is—a positive PR campaign), which changed a lot of people's opinion on him. I honestly think that all people who have associated with Jeffree are unreliable and manipulative, and I'm just tired of it all, so I have actively stopped reading about any drama surrounding all of these people. I would rather try to buy from brands with way less drama, but that is becoming an increasingly difficult task. 

Let's talk about this palette. 

Obviously everyone has different preferences, but a close friend of mine saw my poll on Instagram, and to this palette, she said, "Those colors are hideous." It made me laugh out loud, and she hit on something so obvious that I just couldn't articulate for myself. I agree. I think this is an ugly color story. And I typically love color schemes with mustard and green shades. But not this one. 

For example, I love Viseart Dark Matte:

I was gifted ABH Subculture, and have come to really like it:

And I recently purchased NYX Grind, which is also a palette that I love:

For me personally and my tastes, these are three palettes with this kind of color scheme that I like and think work. 

And Alien feels like a dull, unsuccessful, and clashing version of it. 

I thought about trying to dupe the palette, but I couldn't with the singles I have in my collection. For some of the shades, like the green ones, while I don't have them a singles, they are all in the Huda Emerald Obsessions palette:

Another reason why I can't fully dupe this palette is because these are not colors that I like. I haven't purchased them—because I don't like them. And I still don't like them, even when they are in a palette. 

This is something that I used to talk about a lot on my blog, and I feel like it's worth mentioning again. Earlier, in my makeup obsession days, I would look at shadows and swatches in the new "it" palette of the moment. And I would give each shadow a "yes" or "no" answer when asked the question: "Would I wear that?" If the palette had mainly "yes" answers, I would buy it. 

Now, when I look at a new palette, I still look at shadows and swatches, but this time, I ask: "Do I have this color already?" 

See, with my old method, if a palette had a matte cream or matte light warm brown, it would make me more likely to buy it because it had two shades in it that I knew I would wear. I wouldn't factor in that I owned at least five of these exact shadows already. But now, if a palette has those shades, I'm less likely to buy it because I have so many of those colors already that those are essentially wasted shadows. 

When considering a palette purchase, I also ask: "Would I buy this color as a single?"

This is a big one for me because if a palette has a significant number of shadows that I would not purchase as singes—either because the color is not my favorite, I already own one like that, or it just is not special enough—then I absolutely shouldn't buy those shadows in a palette. Just because shades that you don't like are grouped together with a few shades that you do like or already own doesn't mean you're going to like those same shades any more. You're won't. Because you don't like them. 

If you find yourself still wanting to buy a palette even after deciding that you wouldn't spend the money to buy the colors as singles, you have to ask yourself: "Why do I want this palette?" And if the answer is because I'm bored or I saw it on YouTube and want to be included or I look up to the brand owner and want to support them or I'm unhappy and this will make me happy—you may want to reconsider the purchase. 

In Alien, the only shades I would buy as singles are the matte mustard yellow and purple. Otherwise, I already have those shadows or I don't like the colors. 

But, assuming I did like the general color scheme of this palette, I still don't think it's worth the $52 (plus tax and shipping) price tag. The palette has 18 shadows, but several of the shadows will look the same when applied to the eye—like the three gray/black shadows; the white, cream, and pink; and the three shimmy golds. On darker skin tones, the differences between a lot of these colors will be subtle or too light altogether. 

Another big negative, at least to me, is the packaging: 

Personally, I don't like bulky packaging. I don't like cumbersome shadow layouts that don't serve the consumer and only serve the packaging. The shape of this palette is awkward, and depending on how you store your palettes, this will be awkward to store. It also bothers me that the layout has three rows of four shadows and then it tapers down. It doesn't feel like a natural tapering, and I just don't like the way that it looks. 

I also dislike the packaging because I honestly feel like this is the laziest and least creative way to approach an alien design. The only thing that sets it apart from every other basic alien design is that it's pink, but even then, the colors on the inside match that same basic design. There are endless ways to imagine an alien, and when it's your inspiration for a makeup product, at least put a little effort into making it look intriguing. But this is just the basic shape with the basic bug eyes. It's not cool, it's not inspired, and it's not interesting. 

I also think that the packaging is very impractical for everyday use, which suggests to me that this palette isn't meant for that. It feels much more like a "Jeffree Star fan collectible" than a functional makeup item. And I say that, especially, because this palette looks a lot like another Jeffree Star palette, Androgyny:

Like Alien, Androgyny has:

• A shimmery yellow gold
• A matte gray
• A matte mustard
• A shimmery bronze
• A yellow-green

So, if you're a diehard Jeffree Star fan—which, let's face it, that's clearly the target demographic here—you already have five shades in Alien that you have in Androgyny. 

I did not purchase Androgyny for many reasons, one of which is that I already owned Viseart Dark Matte, which is one of my favorite palettes. But, when compared to Alien, I much prefer the color scheme of Androgyny. I feel like it is more diverse, and even though there are less colors, it feels like Androgyny offers the potential for more looks than Alien. 

Something positive I can say about Alien is that it has a color scheme that I haven't seen a dozen times over, and it leans cooler instead of warm, which, again, is slightly different.

With that said, when you factor in tax and shipping, Alien costs upwards of $60 domestic, and I just feel that is too much to spend on a gimmick. And the reason I call it a gimmick is 100% because of the packaging. 

I've said this before, but the current trend in makeup seems to be "disposable" makeup that is on trend or has some other gimmick that will make people buy until they get bored with it and buy something new. Alien seems to fit right into this disposable trend. Green and yellow–based palettes are "in" right now, so what sets this palette apart from the others is that it's shaped like an alien head. It's a novelty item. 

And when you look at a brand like Colourpop, which sells "disposable" makeup at lower prices, it makes the $60 cardboard alien head feel like a ripoff. This palette was not meant to be a longtime staple in anyone's collection, but it is priced like one. A lot of that cost goes toward the packaging, which makes the boring design that much more disappointing. 

I don't think this is going to be a palette that people will talk about for very long, and maybe people have already stopped talking about it by now. It isn't meant for longevity—it's meant for diehard fans to collect. 

Personally, there just isn't anything that appeals to me about this palette, from theme to design to color selection. I don't want to pay mid-range prices that swing toward high-end for a palette that I can't even swatch in stores with tacky packaging. I think an alien theme could have been really cool, but this is about the laziest way it could have been approached. I don't like this palette and am frankly tired of internet brands, so I won't be buying. 

A few months ago a completely new makeup stand almost magically appeared in DM. It's a sort of a spin-off of Trend it Up brand with interesting products and some K-Beauty inspired cutesy packaging. I only took a superficial look of the stand the first time and walked out of the shop, as I tend to first check reviews online if anything is worth checking out and this liner with an interesting design was quite praised, so even though I am a die-hard fan of Catrice's liquid eyeliner and have a back up always in stock, I gave this one a try. Two versions of black eyeliner exist, a glossy and matte one, mine is the latter. There are also a couple of chrome colours, but those are rated poorly.

Applicator has an interesting shape of the handle, which I expected to sit comfortably in my hand, but unfortunately the stick with the felt tip is so long that it just doesn't balance nicely if I hold it low on the handle. I keep my finger close to the edge where it's thickest, so it's actually worse than Catrice's in that respect. But it might be good for some, I'm just used to shorter applicators. The felt tip is great, it's similar to Catrice's, perhaps even a bit better because so far it doesn't show sign of it splitting or becoming too soft with use. It's comfortable and firm just enough for me, so I can make a precise line with a flick.

Formula is very pigmented, very black, matte and completely smudge-proof when it dries (on my picture it's freshly applied, but trust me, it sets properly matte). It takes a bit longer than Catrice to dry, but it's not a big time difference. As much as I love how bullet-proof the formula is (it can survive rubbing and it doesn't fade during the day), one thing started to bother me so much - it's just too long-lasting and too hardcore. My usual double cleansing method with a cleansing oil and gel just can't remove this stuff. So I need an extra remover and a waterproof one as a micellar doesn't really do a great job. If you're looking for something super resistant and don't mind an extra strep in cleansing, this is a great formula, but I like my life to be a bit simpler in that respect, so I'll go back to my Catrice one when I use it up. One other thing that I noticed is that the formula gets thicker with age. For now it's still ok (I've had it for about a month), but I hope it doesn't thicken so much that it'll become useless soon.

It cost 2.99 € in DM. Apparently the name 183 Days means that this product will only be available for 183 days, then they'll swap the whole line of products for new ones. Pretty stupid if you ask me, but who am I to judge. So if you want it, you have about three more months to get it (I think it was launched in September or even August).

Have a great day!