This haul was from a couple of weeks ago but I've only gotten around to editing photos and my thoughts now--very sorry for the delay. All of the items are eyeshadows and lipsticks from the drugstore, so if you need a cheap thrill or want to breathe new life into your collection, keep on reading!
I even added in some
Lorac Pro/ Pro 2/ Unzipped Palettes dupes to make up for the long wait. ;) As always, are swatches are done with no primer of any sort on clean skin with my clean fingers so the gloriness of the swatches are due to the majesticness of the products themselves! Lipsticks were done with one swipe--two for clean up :D
I've noticed that most of my eyeshadows were high end. I love them to death but I wanted to explore drugstore options just because I didn't want to be a makeup snob. I've only tried
Maybelline and
e.l.f. eyeshadows from the drugstore and they've irritated my eyes. I'm not sure what's in them but they make my eyes dry, red, and I get a stinging sensation. Not wanting to give up on eyeshadow, I ponied up a bit more cash for high end eyeshadow and haven't had any issues with the ones I've tried so far.
Fast forward two years later, I'm giving these
Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trios a try. If you've been living under a makeup rock these past few years, these eyeshadows are some of the best and most loved eyeshadows from the drugstore--and I finally understand the hype. I was worried that these would irritate my eyes but I've worn
Walking on Eggshells for about 5 hours now, and guess what---NO IRRITATION!! My eyes are very sensitive and will swell, itch, or sting with most eye products I've tried from the drugstore so I'm over the moon that these work for me--at least,
Walking on Eggshells does. I've been a bit busy (and lazy) to do my eyeshadow so I'll be trialling the other palettes over the next couple of weeks and update when I'm ready.
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Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio
I'm Getting Sunburned |
The texture and pigmentation of this palette is beyond amazing! Shadows are buttery smooth and with a very light graze of my finger, I pick up a lot of product but don't have fall out. A must have if you love golds and pinks!
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Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio
Silent Treatment |
I was expecting to like this palette out of all the ones I got the most just because I love light pinks and purples. However, the texture and pigmentation was the most disappointing. The shadows were very hard and chalky, even the darkest shade in the middle! The swatch above took about three layers to even get that kind of opacity. I've tried swatching them wet and application does improve but the photo above is dry with no primer--just my finger as applicator. Even with the affordable price tag, I would skip out on this and try the other ones I've mentioned.
**UPDATE 11/12/14** After trying it out my eyes with a brush and eye primer, I have to say it performs much better than the swatches. Though dry and hard, the lavender and dark brown shades are quite pigmented. The gold glitters in the dark brown don't show up on my lids, which is a plus for me. The pink still needed two layers for even and opaque color but it looked beautiful on. However, these irritated my eyes after about 15 minutes of wear, much like the e.l.f. eyeshadows did. My eyes got red, dry, and irritated. I realize after trying this palette out that the cooler tones definitely do not work to my advantage. Even if they are more pigmented using a brush rather than my fingers, the color selection and irritation is definitely not worth the $2.99 usd price tag.
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Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio
Sweet as Candy |
If you follow me on
Instagram, I posted a picture of this palette when it arrived with the pink shade completely shattered. I fixed it using the trusty ol' alcohol method and it's good as new again! The brown shade in the middle is my favorite in this palette and would look good on a lazy, one-eyeshadow kind of day :D
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Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio
I'm Walking on Eggshells |
This one is similar to the one above so I don't think you need both. As you'll see below, there are slight differences but, at least to me, I don't think I need both. However, I am going to keep both because the brown from
Sweet as Candy and the pale peachy pink from the
Walking on Eggshells are my favorites :D
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| Comparisons of the two palettes--they looked so similar when I was editing the photos that I couldn't tell which was which so I had to re-take the photos -_- |
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| From left to right: Wet N Wild Eyeshadow Single in Nutty and Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Collection in Comfort Zone |
Oh gosh, I don't even know where to start with these two.
Nutty is just a gorgeous taupe (my swatch below of it sucks) so I might just use it in a look and post it to
Instagram for y'all to admire the awesomeness that is
Nutty. It did have a pretty swirl pattern on it but the shadow arrived shattered but at least it still works beautifully. Be still my taupe-loving heart!
The
Comfort Zone Palette is probably the best drugstore eyeshadow palette I've ever come across. Granted, I've not tried them all but I seriously don't think I need to. I don't want to sound like a crazy person but I seriously think every one should own this! Just look at the swatches below. 'Nuff said.
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| Swatches of the left side |
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| Swatches of the right side |
Waahhh look at the shade at the far right...it's called the definer shade but I loveeeeee this all over my lid under a brown base. A brown base enhances the blue duochrome. I've heard it compared to
MAC's pigment in
Blue Brown and from pictures online, it's quite similar.
Makeup Geek also has a pigment called
Insomnia that is also quite similar but an eyeshadow is just less messy for accident-prone people like me xD
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| Swatch of Nutty |
I've also heard good things about the blushers so I picked out two colors I liked. As you can see from the photo above, the colors are exactly the same except
Berry Shimmer has sparkles. I kept
Mellow Wine because I prefer matte blushes.
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| Wet n Wild Color Icon Blusher in Mellow Wine |
Mellow Wine feels a bit chalky and isn't super pigmented like Tarte's blushes or theBalm's but I'm oaky with that. I don't want something intensely pigmented for my cheeks anyway.
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| Wet n Wild Color Icon Blusher in Mellow Wine swatched |
And now for the dupes I've found for 7 Lorac shadows. Some of them are spot on and others need a little work so take these with a grain of salt.
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| Sweet as Candy had the best match in terms of color and texture with Walking on Eggshells a close second. Comfort Zone was a bit too yellow and chalkier in texture. |
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| In direct light, these two look identical. However, in the shade, Comfort Zone is a bit more coppery. |
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| On it's own, Comfort Zone has a darker base and not enough gold shimmers. Layering the green shade above it did help lighten the green but it still lacks the gold shimmers of Jade. I could've added that in from a different palette but I just wanted to keep it to just one palette. |
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| Cocoa had the most potential candidates. I'm Getting Sunburned has the best match in terms of color and texture. Silent Treatment was just bleh. Comfort Zone has the color match but texture is drier and chalkier than Cocoa. |
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| In this photo, they don't look similar at all but in person they do if I'm not up close. Silent Treatment is a matte version of Nude. |
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| These two are a complete match in the shade but in direct light, Gold has a more foiled effect. |
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| In the shade these two are similar. In the light, Silent Treatment looks more purple. Over brown base, I think it would match Pewter more. |
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| This was a bad swatch but these were identical in person. Comfort Zone is not as pigmented but nothing that primer and layering can't fix. |
Finally, we're onto the lipsticks! I'm a huge lip junkie and am always on the hunt for some new colors to try out. Maybelline definitely has my heart when it comes to lipsticks. I didn't look for dupes of these from my collection but if y'all want it, I'll happily do so!
Not much to say but these are creamy yet matte. They don't feel creamy if I'm just dabbing it on lightly for a stained effect (my favorite way to wear dark or bright colors) and veer on the dry side but making sure I drink lots of water and use lip balm help remedy that dryness in a jiffy! I still want to get Daringly Nude but I hardly wear nudes...these are a permanent collection so you don't need to rush out now to get them.
These two are part of the limited edition Winter 2014 collection. I don't know if these are still available but I found mine at Walgreens. If you have Divine Wine from the Maybelline Creamy Mattes Collection, it's a dead-on dupe. I didn't look too closely to find a dupe for Crimson Crush but it looks like a lot of bright reds that many brands make so not a must-have IMO. These have a creamy texture and a slight sheen that keeps the from being a matte. Very comfortable on the lips and they leave behind an even stain. On my lips at least, the stain reminds me of what I get from Benetint.
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| They look the same! I couldn't tell the difference when editing but checked the orientation of my arm to make sure I labelled them correctly... |
All in all, I think the highlight for me is the Wet n Wild eyeshadows. They are so buttery smooth, pigmented and satin-y. Reminds me a lot of my beloved Lorac shadows. I wish some of the shadows were matte but they're varying degrees of shimmer so I can make it work. The lipsticks are also a nice addition--and I especially love Divine Wine (not pictured). I could've passed on the reds but the limited edition status reeled me in like a siren call, darn it. I love the Revlon lipsticks! These are the first two I've picked up. I have two more that I picked up at a later date--Coralberry and Pink in the Afternoon but Coralberry isn't a color I'd wear. I've heard it being popular so I picked it up on a whim. I'll include it in my upcoming blog sale as it's still unopened and sealed. They're so creamy and smooth but they don't migrate all over the place. Rose Velvet reminds of Charlotte Tilbury's KISSING Lipstick in Stoned Rose in the bullet. I'm giving the CT one to my mom so I'll ask her to let me swatch it to confirm for you later. Teak Rose is a more wearable red as it's not as bright as a fire engine red. It perks up my complexion even if I'm not wearing eye makeup or blush, which makes it a staple in my lazy day routine.
So that's all for my haul! For all my budget beauties out there, I hope this post helped you decide what you need to pick up ASAP. This was such a long post but I just wanted to let y'all know as much as possible :D
XOXO,
MWAH ♥
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Disclosure Statement: All products mentioned were purchased with my own money. I am not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned above and was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. Links are not affiliate links and are provided for the readers' convenience. I cannot guarantee that the product(s) will work for you. I do not approve or endorse the products or information available on these sites. Proceed at your own risk.
I've also heard good things about the blushers so I picked out two colors I liked. As you can see from the photo above, the colors are exactly the same except Berry Shimmer has sparkles. I kept Mellow Wine because I prefer matte blushes.
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