DESTASHING PROJECT | Going Cruelty-Free: Eye Edition Pt. 1

Welcome to the first part of my De-Stashing Project! As you all know if you read the previous post, this blog is going cruelty-free. I have been limiting my purchases to cruelty-free only items but decided that it was finally time to go through my collection and either sell or use up the non-cruelty stuff. The process took me at least 3 hours plus photography time but it's been organized and being put to use. Since I have such an overwhelming amount, it was difficult to find things but with the way things are now, I am reaching for more products and getting use out of them. We're starting off with the eyes since it was the easiest to go through.

When I finished writing this post, it was super long and ain't nobody got time for essays. So, I'll be splitting it into two parts. This first part (going up today) will be single eyeshadows and palettes while the second part will be eye primers, eyeliners eye crayons and mascaras. The second part will go up on Saturday so you get an extra post this week--yay!

 I'll be keeping tally of what's staying and what's going to a better home. So let's get started!

•  L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow -- As you can see, I have collected several of these. When they first came out, I was intrigued by their waterproof claims. While I don't think you should submerge yourself in water and expect these to come out looking perfect, they have great staying power over an eye primer. I have quite oily eyelids and they tend to eat up my shadows. The foiled finish is gorgeous and doesn't irritate my eyes. My favorites would have to be Amber Rush (rose gold) and Liquid Diamond (blue toned silver). 
• Benefit Eyeshadow in Thanks a Latte -- I got this in one of their kits a while ago and as you can see, I hardly used it. This is the kind of color I like to wear but these days, I'm experimenting with different colors. Can't remember if I liked it or not.

Start: 8 // Pass: 0 // Keep: 8

•  Maybelline Color Tattoos -- These are my all-time favorite cream shadows. They don't need primer to last all day on my oily eyelids. I have some from limited editions and some from the regular line up. Still annoyed that I wasn't able to get Pomegranate Punk before it was discontinued but I have an acceptable dupe from Tarte. 
• Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow -- Cute they may be but creaseless they are not! I was going through a cream shadow phase a few years back and wanted to see if there were better options out there. No matter if I used a tiny bit or layered it thickly, these moved and creased on me. 
• MUFE Aqua Cream Shade 16 (product smackdown) -- Pink eyeshadows will always appeal to me. I got this without looking at my stash, not realizing I already had 2 pink cream shadows. I've even done a post comparing all 3 shades from MUFE, Tarte and Maybelline. I don't know if I had a bad batch but it was patchy and had abysmal staying power. 

Start: 11 // Pass: 3 // Keep: 8

•  Rimmel London Eyeshadow Quads --When these were getting discontinued, I bought a few of the ones that caught my eye. Numbers 28 and 31 are quite stiff and have poor color payoff; I have to dig my brush in there to pick up color.Numbers 30 and 33 are quite soft and pigmented and are my favorites. I kind of want to pick up another quad I found on Amazon but I'm resisting because they're not cruelty-free. 
• Lorac Princess + Duchess Eye Shadow Palette (first impressions) -- I blindly bought these quads because I love Lorac's permanent eyeshadows. Boy, was I disappointed. These shadows were very hit or miss. Princess and Duchess were the worst offenders and I'm letting them go. The other two aren't stellar by any means but perform much better so are allowed to stay...for now.
• Lorac Royal Eyeshadow Palette (first impressions) -- Same story as with the other Lorac quads. It seems like their holiday palettes aren't any good. I kept the Plum quad because I love purple shadows...but I think I found a dupe from the drugstore so I'm not sure if I'm going to keep that one too.
• Lancome Color Design 5 Pan Eyeshadow Palette -- Not sure what the name of this quint is but it isn't offered in their regular line-up. I find the shadows are very glittery and so I haven't done anything but swatches. Will probably keep for the holidays.
• Smashbox Full Exposure Duo -- I forgot which two shadows are in here but there's one matte and one shimmer. I didn't like the travel palette so I don't have high expectations for it.
• Maybelline ExpertWear Eyeshadow Quads -- Most of my eyeshadow collection is composed of high end so I wanted to find affordable options. These one apply poorly with a shadow brush but are much better when used with the included applicators. My favorite is Autumn Copper. I've done an Affordable Drugstore Makeup FOTD using this quad so check it out to see it in action!

Start: 13 // Pass: 4 // Keep: 9

• Lorac Pro to Go Eye & Cheek Palette (review) -- I bought this on recommendation of a Youtuber and while I think it's a neat concept, it's just too bulky. Sure, it's half the size of most palettes but it's just too thick. I don't travel very often, especially since moving back home so this just takes up too much space in my collection. When I did travel back and forth, I never reached for this, preferring to take my deluxe size items instead. I contemplated keeping this palette just for the bronzer alone (seriously, HG stuff, y'all) BUT for the sake of decluttering, this has to go. I seriously hope that Lorac brings that Bronzer shade in a single 'cause I'd be all over that like bees to honey.
• Smashbox Full Exposure Travel Palette (review) -- While I love soft and buttery shadows, this one just had too much powdery fallout. No swiping your brush over this unless you want eyeshadow powder all over your makeup station! Even with gentle tapping motions, I had so much fallout in the pan. Application and blending was fine but I can't stand messy makeup. The colors go well together and there's two darker shades for a glamourous glittery smokey eye but I just couldn't stand the powdery mess. For that reason, I have to pass on this and I'm so glad I didn't buy the full size. There's a second iteration with more colorful shades but Smashbox is not cruelty-free so I'm not going to get that (though I am tempted...help me resist, y'all!)
• "Be Your Own Tarteist" Eye & Cheek Palettes: Feb & June (unboxing) -- Again, I'm starting to find that I'm not really into these eye + cheek combo palettes. I'm a compartmentalizer-type of person so I tend to go to the same place for stuff. These palettes get forgotten since I don't really have a place to put them. The shadows are okay. I raved about them at first but as I look at them, they're not unique colors. The mattes are powdery and don't blend out the best. I'm not happy with the overall effect on my eyes. While the eyeshadows don't have the best pigmentation, the blushes are just too pigmented. I appreciate that aspect because it will show up on deeper skintones but on me, I have a hard time using them. Lightly tapping with a fluffy brush still gives me too much color and having to fix it afterwards is time-consuming. Makeup should make me feel my best and these palettes just don't. With all of Tarte's stuff, the packaging is gorgeous. The concept is nice for those who like to have all their stuff in one palette but for me, it's a miss.
• Urban Decay Anarchy Face Case -- I missed out on this the first time around so when I saw it on Sephora's site again, I immediately put it in my cart and purchased it. Again, I find myself not reaching for this. This was a holiday release, so I understand why there are so many glittery shades. 4 of the 5 shades are too glittery for everyday and the colors themselves aren't ones I'd wear everyday. Fray, a matte tan color, is perfect for my crease color but again, I cannot justify keeping the entire thing just for one shade. The 2 blushes and highlighter are just too pigmented for my heavy hand and I don't like having to deal with it. The Perversion eyeliner is a nice addition but I have tons of black eyeliners. The Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Scandal is a gorgeous red berry with glitters. I didn't think I'd like it but I loooooove this color. So sad that I can't find it anywhere but then again, I can't remember the last time I went through a lip color...
• Kat Von D Poetica Palette -- I am so embarrassed to admit this but I have never used this palette. The purples and oranges go so well together and are unique. The formula is top-notch, just what I love in an eyeshadow: buttery and pigmented, yet easy to blend out. The packaging is sturdy yet beautiful to look at. I rarely ever do out-there looks and I want it to go to someone who will show it a lot more love that I do. 

Start: 6 // Pass: 6 //  Keep: 0

• Sephora Mixed Metals Eye & Face Palette --  I got this as a present and am reluctant to part with it. I've only used the shadows a few times and find the pigmentation to be weak, even with my fingers. Baked shadows are not my thing as I cannot bother with wetting my brushes. It's quite bulky so I don't think it was the best design idea. With summer coming, I will give this a couple more tries but will probably let this go.
• Stila In the Know Eyeshadow Palette -- I believe this palette has been discontinued, which is unfortunate. The pigmentation and blendability is unmatched by anything else I have tried. My all-time favorite palette is the Lorac Pro Palette (review) but I have to admit the mattes aren't as good as Stila's. Sad that Stila is non-CF because I would've picked up more palettes.
• Tarte Treat Yourself to Gorgeous Holiday 2012 Palette -- 2012 is the year that I really got into makeup. I had just discovered that drugstore eyeshadows irritated my eyes and decided to spring for a brand that I knew worked for me. For some reason, I never even dipped into this palette. I picked up more and more palettes, forgetting about this one. Eventually, I dug it out of the dark corner it was in and realized that while the shades are gorgeous, I didn't want to dip into this palette, choosing to let it go brand new to someone else. Comparing Tarte eyeshadows, I much prefer their old formula to the recent ones. While the new formula is pigmented, there's just too much fallout and the glittery shades just suck. The old formula needed some building up but I liked that I could control the intensity and blending was easier. 

Start: 3 // Pass: 1 // Keep: 2

Wow, I can't believe how much stuff I had stored away. I had everything in three big bins, which should've tipped me off. Pulling it all out refreshed me on what I had and while I want to keep everything so I can try them out and see what I can recommend, they'll probably go bad before I can break into them. Besides, these are mostly non-CF makeup (as of this writing) so even if I end up liking it, I can't knowingly recommend them to y'all or repurchase for myself. Out of 41 items, I'm letting go of 14. That's so bad of me but a lot of the drugstore stuff is harder to sell so I'll just keep them for now and make use of them. And some of it is for sentimental reasons...don't judge me!

Would y'all be interested in a blog sale? I know most of my stuff has hardly been touched and some items haven't even been opened. If you are, let me know in the comments!

XOXO,

Cindy ♥

Twitter // Instagram // Facebook // Bloglovin