Summer 2015 Makeup Haul!

Hi again!

I have been working on this blog post for about two weeks now, as makeup keeps getting delivered to me in chunks, and every time I plan to write more, I get more! So finally, here it is: my [End of] Summer Makeup Haul! I received five items from NYX, in these beautiful little lace bags. Unfortunately for me, these came in two shippings, as I oredered two of the new Liquid Suede lipsticks when they were apparently on back order. 

First of all, can we talk about how cute this packaging is? Black lace, yes please! Although I was upset to not see the first bag be slightly fuller, the excitement was still there. 

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

NYX Retractable Lip Liner in Nude

NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Brown

Now, I have been interested in buying Milk since I first became interested in makeup, but my local target never had the color--to my knowledge, it is one of their more popular colors. It is stunning! Nude is my first ever lip liner purchase, and unfortunately, I need a color that is a bit pinker, rather than a true nude like the color I purchased. True nudes do not suit my skin tone, but it may look nice layered under other colors. The eye liner was a bit of a random purchase, as I have simply never owned a brown eyeliner.

Left: No flash/ Right: Flash
(Top to bottom): Nude, Brown, Milk.

As you can see, the lip liner is way too close to my skin color to look natural. It very much washes me out. I can see Milk looking great on the water line, though!

Once my two Liquid Suedes came in the mail I was super excited, but I had a sinking feeling that the lighter color I ordered would look absolutely rotten on my skin tone... and I was correct. I ordered the two colors Vintage and Sandstorm. Vintage is this beautiful fall lip color; a kind of dark burgundy in some lights with some purple undertones. Sandstorm is more of a grey than a brown, which disappointed me quite a bit.

In the pictures Sandstorm looks quite pinker than it truly is, and I personally find the color to be much more appealing in the packaging. Once swatched or worn on the lips, it's a much flatter color in my opinion. Vintage is beautiful in the packaging and worn on the lips.

My one concern with these lip creams is that it is a cream. This means that it is not matte and though it does not feel drying, it does worry me that this may slide across my lips and beyond. I probably need to find a nice lip liner to go underneath to prevent that.

Left: Flash,/Right: No flash. Top: Vintage/Bottom: Sandstorm

Moving on from NYX, I bought five ColourPop products about a month ago and I am seriously in love. Their lippie stix smell like vanilla and the eyeshadows are so pigmented they probably don't even need a primer.

For those of you who have are new to ColourPop, be prepared to be amazed. The company is only one year old, but they have affordable prices and high quality products. All lip products and eye shadows are $5, while bronzers, blushes and highlighters are $8 and also come in a larger pan.

The two lippie stix I bought were from the summer collection and did not come with matching lip pencils, but the colors were still gorgeous! Topanga (on the left) is a satin finish, and Toucan (on the right) is a matte finish.

Left: Flash/Right: No Flash. Top: Topanga/Bottom: Toucan

For some reason, Topanga appears sparkly when swatched on my hand, but that may be due to the satin finish. It is a very comfortable lip color, but if paired with a chapstick does tend to fade and give you the ring of death, (you definitely know what I'm talking about). Toucan is a very bright, almost out of my comfort zone type color, but it has been very fun to experiment with!

Left to right: Lunch Money (highlighter), La La & Mittens (eye shadows)

Lunch money is a beautiful highlighter, especially for someone like me who is just starting to experiment with them. I do not want anything too in your face, (um, hello strobing!), but I want that extra bit of shimmer that a highlighter provides. La La is a rose-gold color, leaning more on the gold side. Mittens is a purple-y brown color that looks very nice as a deeper crease color.

Left: Flash/Right: No flash. Left/Top to Right/Bottom: Mittens, La La, Lunch Money

Lunch Money swatches the best in my opinion, and the camera cannot do the eyeshadows justice. La La really needs to be packed onto the lid to show how beautiful and shimmery it is, unless you are interested in a light gold-brown color, which would look beautiful as a light transition shade. Mittens can go on very lightly or can be built up with ease. I find Mittens to be easier with a brush than La La is.

I recently purchased these two lipsticks from Target shopping trips. On the left I purchased the Maybelline Creamy Nude lipstick in Daringly Nude. This was a color I admired so much on YouTuber Kayleigh Noelle. Unfortunately, it is too close to my skin color (not my lip color) that it completely washes me out.

The right is the Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Berry Rich. It is very moisturizing! The color will be lovely around the holidays, and is a very nice deep pinky red. A rich berry is exactly how I would describe it.

Left: Flash/Right: No Flash. Top: Berry Rich/Bottom: Daringly Nude

As you can see, (or not see... at all), Daringly Nude blends basically right into my skin! While it may look beautiful on others, this color did not suit me whatsoever. Berry rich is killin' it though!

The last two products I want to talk about are the Benefit Big Easy Liquid to Powder SPF 35 Foundation and the e.l.f. Translucent Matifying Powder. I purchased the Translucent Powder after watching a [Kathleenlights?] YouTube video. They said it was very good for setting the under eye area after applying concealer. I personally have not had great luck with this powder, though I may be in need of a better brush for the application.

The Big Easy foundation is a seriously nice summer foundation, especially with the high SPF built into the product. However, idiot me did not test the color before purchasing, and I got a color that is waaaay too light on me! I bought it in light/medium, which pretty much describes my skin color, even in the summer with a tan. I am hoping that once I lose my tan in the later months that this color will match me better, but for now, I just look upon it in my drawers with a really sad look.

I hope you enjoyed hearing a bit about my opinion on some of these makeup products! Stay tuned for some more posts from your favorite blonde finding her way through the world.

Abby