Eye Shadow -Urban Decay - Deluxe Shadow Box
AmyAngel96 2/24/2013 1:17:00 PM
I just got this since it was on sale at UD, and I had a $5 off coupon code. I'd been looking at it forever but never gave in and bought it. Now I wonder what I was waiting for! This is at least tied with my UD Ammo palette as my favorite of all time. The shadows are very pigmented and go on easily and smoothly. I have super-oily lids but they stayed on fine with a primer, though I'm still searching out the best primer for me. I just did a look yesterday with Peace on the center of the lid, Grafitti on the inner third, Ransom on the outer third and a bit of the crease, Honey on the inner corner, and Fishnet in and blended just above the crease. It was super-bright and colorful and looked amazing! I'm a huge fan of this palette and wish I'd bought it long before now.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Maybelline - Volum Express The Falsies Flared
AmyAngel96 12/30/2011 4:53:00 PM
Love this mascara. I liked the original Falsies also, but this one is even better. It really does flare out my lashes, as well as lengthening them a bit. Not quite a false-eyelash look, but very good. I have found for me it holds a curl the whole day, doesn't smudge or flake (well, if I forget and rub my eyes it might flake slightly, but that's to be expected) and wears well. I will definitely buy this again when it's time to replace it. I went for 4 lippies instead of 5 since it's not the best mascara I've tried (I think I like Benefit's Bad Gal Lash better, but it's too expensive for me to justify buying) but it is the best drugstore mascara I've tried.
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Eye Shadow -Urban Decay - Midnight Cowboy
AmyAngel96 12/18/2011 8:16:00 PM
You know, I kept seeing people write about the glitter fallout, and I kind of thought they might be exaggerating a little. "But I like glitter!" I thought. I have quite a few Urban Decay shadows (including a few that require glitter cleanup), but somehow hadn't gotten this one until just recently it arrived in a palette I had ordered on sale. So, I tried it. In the pan, it's very glittery, but when I put it on my eye - before foundation, over a base, with a damp brush, tapping off the brush well before applying, patting gently... I was careful with it - it was just a lovely pinky champagne sort of color with a few sparkles. Just a few. I was surprised at how little glitter there was on my eye. I thought I must have tapped most of it off the brush. "Nice!" I thought. Then, I checked under my eye, expecting to see some glitter. I have a couple other UD shadows that leave a light sprinkle of glitter underneath my eye, so I was expecting to see glitter there. And I did. And people were NOT exaggerating. Under my eye looked like it was paved with silver glitter, like the surface of a disco ball. It was a solid coat of glitter. Not a few sprinkles, not a nice highlight, not a little sparkle; full-on completely solidly covered in glitter. I have glitter creams that would be jealous of the glitter coverage left under my eye. So, I brushed off what I could, and wiped off more with makeup remover. Later, I washed my face (twice), and the next morning I took a long shower including both a facial cleanser and scrub. At lunch, I noticed there was STILL glitter on my face. Not a lot, but still there were a couple glitters here and there, after four full face washes and a wipe with makeup remover. So be warned (again), people are not exaggerating when they call this a glitterbomb. That said, I really do like it. It's a beautiful color! I've just gotten some Pixie Epoxy from Fyrinnae, and on a swatch it did seem to help control the glitter a bit. This isn't a shadow I'll wear unless I have time to do my eyes first and clean up before putting on foundation, and I'll definitely not be using it ever without the Pixie Epoxy, but I'm glad I have it.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Urban Decay - All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray
AmyAngel96 12/3/2011 10:35:00 PM
Wow, this has a lot of mixed reviews. Here's mine. I have very oily skin, and even with primers my makeup sometimes vanishes by the end of the day. I bought this, and I really think it helps! I used it daily on a trip to Walt Disney World (temperatures were in the mid-80s that week) - and my makeup lasted well through the whole day. And a whole Disney day to my family means from the time the first bus runs at 7 or 8am until sometime between 10pm and midnight when we finally limp back to our room. When you first get the stuff, do the first spray in the sink; the first couple pumps likely won't spray anything, and you want to make sure the spray is nice and fine before putting it on your face! I use it after my makeup is completely done - I spray around 3-4 times from a good distance away (sometimes leaning into it if it seems too far out), with two of the sprays centered on my closed eyes and the others farther out to coat my whole face. I keep my eyes closed and let it dry for a few seconds before doing anything else. I still have to blot or powder my t-zone sometimes for shinyness (my skin is oily!) but the makeup is still there and my eye makeup stays right where it belongs. I wish this was less expensive, but I'm glad to have it!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -Urban Decay - Urban Ammo Eye Palette
AmyAngel96 12/3/2011 10:06:00 PM
Love, love, love this palette. I've had it for ages now (I don't wear makeup every day) and often if I'm going away for the weekend I'll just throw this in my makeup bag and that'll be it for eyeshadow. All the colors are gorgeous, some of them do have some glitter fallout, but that is fairly simple to manage. I'm surprised at seeing people say this is only appropriate for young people or night time, I am 37 and have worn these shadows in daytime and to work often. I use Polyester Bride and Shattered the least, but have used them. A current fave look is Mildew on the lid with Smog in the crease; and Chopper is one of my favorite shadows. These are all on the shimmery side, but can be used intensely or more sparingly for a less intense look. I have enough shadows that I doubt I'll ever use this palette up, but I definitely would consider buying it again... unless I'd managed to dupe most of the shadows in other palettes by then. I've already got two of Sin and Oil Slick!
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Cleansers -Neutrogena - Facial Cleansing Bar
AmyAngel96 11/6/2011 7:15:00 PM
So, in the late 80's when I was just coming into my teens, I started getting acne and the Neutrogena bar soap (plus the Bonne Belle 10-0-6 toner) was recommended to me by EVERYONE. I tried it, and over the years I've tried a ton of other things as well. Nothing has ever cleared my face up completely. Over the past year or two I've switched to using mostly Neutrogena cleansing stuff (gels and scrubs), and when preparing for an overseas trip I decided to pick up a bar of this, just to have one less liquid to go in the little quart ziplock bag. I hadn't tried it since the late 80's and was a little wary, but figured I could handle it for a week. And... I like it! My skin seems to like it, I don't break out any more than I used to and I think I may be breaking out LESS than before. My skin didn't freak out while out of the country - and often a change of water makes me break out - even though our shower and sink water was coming directly from a tributary of the Amazon river and was not exactly clean. It seems to be working just as well here at home, with my super-chlorinated city water. There is a scent to it (vaguely patchouli-esque, I think?) that took a little getting used to, but I don't dislike it. The trip was in June, and I cut the bar in half and threw away the half I took to Peru (so I didn't have to carry it home), so I've been using just the other half since I got back, and there's still TONS left. I'll stick with this until the bar runs out, and probably will buy another bar then. I ranked the price as dirt cheap, just because the bar lasts so long. It'll be months before I need to buy another, and a full bar will likely last forever! As long as my skin continues to cooperate, I think this is going to be my go-to cleanser. Cheap because it lasts forever, works well, easy to travel with... total thumbs up from me!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - Snake Oil
AmyAngel96 5/8/2011 10:24:00 PM
This scent is noted as BPAL's best seller for a reason - it's gorgeous! It's a very sexy pretty vanilla with spice and depth. I like it more in winter than in summer, but it is the one scent I keep in my office at work in case what I'm wearing fades or I didn't put any scent on in the morning. I will say I can NOT wear this fresh... the older it is the better it smells on me. No big problem, I just traded for an older imp, set the one I had aside (pencil the date you got it on the back of the imp label for this one!) to age, and bought a bottle or two to put away for future use (with the date marked on a sticker on the lid). This is strong enough that a tiny dab is all I need to wear, so it lasts a good long time. There are several BPAL scents that are horrid on me when new but are my top favorites once they're a year or more old, and Snake Oil is one of them. I mourn the fact my imp from 2004 is nearly empty - it's scent is heavenly and the oil is thick and dark like molasses. If this smells like play-doh on you, or otherwise doesn't work, put it away in a dark cool place for 6-24 months and see if it doesn't improve drastically. If it still doesn't work, you'll have highly desirable already-aged Snake Oil to trade!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Wet 'n' Wild - ColorIcon Palette in Lust [DISCONTINUED]
AmyAngel96 5/8/2011 9:52:00 PM
I was hoping for good things from this palette, after reading so many good reviews of it, but I am very disappointed. The lighter colors can be chalky, the pigmentation is just OK, and the darker ones especially were very powdery and soft with tons of fallout and seemed to smudge all over rather than blend. They are much harder to work with than the higher end shadows I have AND my slightly more expensive drugstore shadows. The colors are pretty in the palette and swatch decently, but in use they just don't work well for me. I don't have time to go cleaning up a huge mess on my face after doing my eyeshadow, I need it to go on reasonably easily, at least mostly stay where I put it and not lose it's shimmer or streak when it's blended. I'm sure I could finesse this into a nice look, but my other shadows take half the time and don't require major cleanup! For the price (and I got it as a BOGO) I wasn't expecting miracles, but I was hoping for "usable" at least. I'm going to keep trying it since I almost never throw anything away, but I don't see myself using this much and definitely won't re-buy. I'll be wary of other WNW shadow palettes as well... there will have to be a great sale for me to even consider them. EDIT - I upgraded this to 2 lippies, for one reason - the pale pink matte shadow on the upper left. It seems to me to be fairly close to the color of Benefit's High Brow pencil (on me at least), and I've been using it for the same purpose as High Brow. It seems to work well for me for that purpose. I've tried the rest of the palette again and again... still goes on blotchy, doesn't blend well (over primer or alone), the sparkly brownish black goes on as plain black, still has fallout issues and all of the darker colors look flat (and a little bruisey) on, no shimmer or dimension made it to my eye. There is ok pigmentation (too much in the top right white, for me, it looks stark and chalky; the others go on either sheer or too heavy yet streaky) though they don't all look like they do in the pan, and I still find this just doesn't work well enough for me to ever reach for it for more than to dab that one pale pink lightly under my brow.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - Plushglass - Hot Stuff
AmyAngel96 5/8/2011 6:19:00 PM
I got a teeny one of these in a set, and it's got a bit more color payoff than the others that were included. Still, it's very very sheer. There's a tiny bit of berry color, but it's mostly just sparkle. Very pretty, but not something I'd try to track down more of. I find myself rarely wearing the plushglasses I have because there's so little color, I think I need to stick to the regular lipglasses.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - Plushglass - Pretty Plush
AmyAngel96 5/8/2011 6:14:00 PM
I got a teeny one of these in a holiday set I think, at a CCO. It's a pretty very pale nude peachy pink in the tube with frosty shimmer, but on the lips it's basically just a touch of shimmer. Practically clear, no color to speak of. I imagine this might be nice over a lipstick, but by itself there's not much to it. I like it OK, but definitely will not be searching out a full size version. I almost never wear it because there's no color payoff, and if I want sheer shimmer I can find that at the drugstore for cheapo.
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Lip Gloss -MAC - Plushglass in Bountiful
AmyAngel96 5/8/2011 6:08:00 PM
I got a teeny one of these in a set from a CCO - a holiday set I'm assuming. It's such a pretty sparkly pink in the tube, but on my lips it really just looks like a shimmery gloss. It's very, very nude on me - my lips but sparklier and maybe slightly paler. The tingling is nice and not burny, I'm not sure if it actually plumps at all but I can never tell much difference even with the really strong plumpers so I'm not a great judge on how the plumping action works. It's pretty, but my favorite thing about MAC Lipglasses is how pigmented they are and no color shows at all with this one. I like it but rarely wear it since it really gives no color to my lips, and I won't be seeking a full size one or a replacement if this ever runs out.
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Misc Beauty Tools -Sephora - Precision Pore Cleansing Pad
AmyAngel96 5/6/2011 10:27:00 AM
This little thing is awesome! I bought it on a whim at Sephora, not really expecting much. And truthfully, I've not noticed a huge difference in my pores over the two weeks or so I've been using it (only a few times a week). BUT... I do find that it removes makeup SO much more effectively than my cleanser alone, and my skin feels much cleaner after using it. I'm going to start using it nightly and see if my skin improves, but even if it doesn't I think this is wonderful just for the way it gently boosts the effectiveness of my cleanser and seems to really clean off everything that's on my skin. I also seem to need less cleanser when I use this, which will save a bit of money over time. I will probably pick up another little scrublet next time I'm at Sephora so I can keep one in the shower, and I will definitely be taking this with me when I travel.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -MAC - Sheertone Blush in Blushbaby
AmyAngel96 4/22/2011 10:36:00 AM
For ages and ages I never wore blush. Being a child of the 80's when blush was a scary bright angular thing, I was wary of looking clownish, so the few blushes I had were very light and pale and if I wore it at all I applied them with a very light hand. I finally decided I needed to get over it and find a blush that works, and the MAC counter artist put this one on me. She applied it heavily but it still looked great! I immediately bought it and it's the ONLY blush I've used since. It gives a perfect touch of color to the cheeks without looking unnatural (I'm NW15) and works with any color makeup I have on eyes and lips. It's made me braver, too... sometimes now I'll add a touch of highlighter to the cheekbones as well. I love this and if I ever use it all up (I do still apply fairly lightly, and don't wear makeup daily) I'll definitely buy another.
14 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -E.L.F. - Studio Angled Eyeliner brush
AmyAngel96 4/18/2011 3:56:00 PM
I got this brush because it cost less than the Sonia Kashuk one... I should have just spent a few more dollars. This one is just OK. It has stiffener in it for a pretty fine point while it's displayed in the store, but once that's gone it's not got the fine point that is needed to make a fine line when you actually use it. Also, the bend is closer to the brush than on the Sonia Kashuk one, which I think makes it a little more difficult to use. It's OK, but definitely not great, and I will likely end up replacing it.
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Lip Gloss -MAC - Hey, Sailor - Naughty Nauticals
AmyAngel96 8/3/2008 6:40:00 PM
I just got this, as it was still available on the MAC website. It was kind of a whim that I bought it, but I wear lipgloss more than lipstick, and really like the Lipglasses and Dazzleglasses I have. When it arrived I thought it was a beautiful color, and immediately went to try it on. I was pleased that it had a brush like the dazzleglasses rather than the doe-foot thing the lipglasses have, and when I put it on it was beautiful. Just slightly pinker than my lips adding just a hint of raspberryish color with a bit of sparkle. I had been thinking I needed to find a lipglass the color of Urban Decay's Carney xxx shine gloss, which is my go-to gloss but doesn't last long and mine is in a pot which is annoying. Hey Sailor is that color! I actually put it on side-by-side with Carney, and the color is the same on me. Hey Sailor has more sparkle and is less frosty in finish, but from a distance there is very little difference. I had a co-worker mention that my teeth look whiter with Carney on, and I suspect Hey Sailor will have the same effect. I did find this to be just the slightest bit gritty on my lips, but I have glittery glosses that are way, way worse (hello, Wet n' Wild!). It wasn't gritty enough to be bothersome, and seems to stay on a decent amount of time like my other MAC glosses do. I did get a slight tingle to my lips while wearing, but no reaction, and since I'm a fan of Lip Venom and the Big Fatty Lip Plumper a little bit of tingle is nothing to me! I rarely use up any makeup item, but am considering a backup of this as I suspect this will be the one that gets left in my purse to wear whenever I am running late and forget to put on gloss in the morning. Since I wear lots of pinks and purples on my eyes, this will get lots of use!
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