E/S Palettes – Sometimes Yaya

Contest Entry – Celebrity Smokey Eye

As a last minute entry to Rai’s Celebrity inspired makeup contest, I decided to do a black smokey eye a la Eva Mendes.

the inspiration:

the outcome:

the numerous outtakes:

what I used:

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Dark as bronzer
MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty (probably my most favorite blush ever)
Lorac Foundation sample (you’d think it wouldn’t last me this long)
Mehron Paradise Makeup AQ in White (as a primer on eyes)
Urban Decay Cream Shadow in Asphalt
Maybelline Professional Natural Lash Clear Mascara
Lancome Oscillating Mascara in Black
Styli-Style Lipstick in 1520 Nude
MAC Lustre Glass in Pinkarat
and all the white-to black shades on the 120 color palette

I used 2 blending brushes, a foundation brush, a medium shadow brush, and a blush brush…

Palette Review (pic heavy)

Remember my swag attack post here, where I bought an eyeshadow palette for $5.00? I received a request to do a review, but I have been a little late in posting it since there were so many photos involved lol.

All laziness aside, I have tried to do a variety of looks and wore them to a variety of places (from a BBQ to work, etc.). I also originally wanted to give you actual time stamps and which colors I used, but with every extra look, the information slipped out of my mind. Regardless! Almost all the looks have both an AM and a PM shot. The time span in between each picture is at least 8 hours.

Another point (as if you don’t have enough) is that I used cream shadow/primer and/or concealer under my eyeshadows as that is what I usually do. Using either of these products will always minimized the creases, and I also like to use my cream shadows as highlight colors by the brow.

What it is: A 98 shimmer color palette. I couldn’t find relevant product info online kiddies. It is a lot more shimmery in real life.

Review (5 highest, 1 lowest):

Packaging: 3.5 out of 5 (the applicators that come with it are practically pointless,
Price: 5 out of 5 ($9.99 at Duane Reade – I got it with my $5 coupon!)

Quality: 4 out of 5 (see verdict)

Overall: 4 out of 5

Here are some looks I created using the palette:

Look One in the AM

Look One in the PM

Look Two – sorry this one is a single!

Look Three in the AM

Look Three in the PM
(excuse the mess of the eyebrows – I was scheduled to get an eyebrow wax the week after my review!! 😦 )

Look Four in the AM

Look Four in the PM

Look Five – sorry this one is a single!

Look Six in the AM

Look Six in the PM

My Verdict:
When using this palette with good brushes (the applicators that come with the palette are super brittle and not really useful), the colors come on and stay on really well. Like I said previously, using a primer underneath this palette is KEY b/c the color fades. Just to make sure it wasn’t one primer that works with this palette, each look was created using a different primer (I used Too Faced Lockdown Cream Eyeshadow that has Shadow Insurance in it already, UDPP, Shadow Insurance, Victoria’s Secret Cream Eyeshadows – which by the way I think are too light to use as shadows on their own to begin with, and MUFE Concealer by itself).

The color of this shadow fades a little bit but I haven’t seen it disappear completely off my face. As you can see in some pictures, the lighter colors fade and the brighter colors stay on.

I think that though the colors could be a little bit more vibrant, and that I do occasionally wish the palette carried more diverse colors (too many pinks for my liking), I think for the price, it is an excellent buy. The pans are not tiny, and the colors grab on quick. If you have these in your area, I suggest you grab one and start to playing with your eyes!

Supplies R Us/Depotting

So I’ve finally gotten down to organization again as my shopping rises and my belongings multiply. After a trip to Pearl, Staples, and eBay, I think I’m ready to take on the task.

from Pearl: pack of 12 storage cups (they’re for paint but they are also perfect for storing pigments, etc.), various sized containers (for powders/mixing)
from Staples: labeling tape, magnetic tape (w/a dispenser how efficient!)
from eBay: two 28 pan eyeshadow palettes (this is good for depotting and pressing pigments, plus this is the generic size that fits the Urban Decay, Milani, and MAC shadows and it’s cheaper than the MAC pro palettes $6 before s/h). This is the seller I got it from: jolieeeee

I should’ve gotten more palettes, because I got super excited and decided to make one palette strictly Milani and one strictly Urban Decay – it makes it much easier than storing each stinkin’ e/s pot by itself.

Of course, I went to YouTube for instructions. The Milani shadows are super easy to depot, they have a hole on the bottom that you can stick a tack into and it comes right out. The Urban Decay ones are the same as the MAC.

These are the two videos I used:

Milani

Urban Decay

Here’s how I did (click on images for larger pictures):

First I started with the Milani.

This was fairly easy to do. Only thing was that you had to push really hard with the thumb tack. I used Vanessa‘s advice (Nessassary Makeup) and reused the label stickers from the e/s packaging to put on the top flap of my palette so that I wouldn’t be confused about the colors or color names. So far I am organizing them by the shadow number that comes on the packaging. Once I fill up the whole palette, I might have to redo it by color. Stay tuned!

and then the Urban! Man I had so much trouble with this one. It snapped my box cutter, and I cracked my shadow twice – thankfully only at the top though so it can still be used.

This is basically the same as depotting the MAC e/s pans and the directions are the same as well. I didn’t have much luck finding too many other videos on Urban Decay e/s. The video that I saw tells you to use snippers to cut away at the pot once you separate it from the packaging, whereas most other ones tell you to use a flame – after I tried to snip away, I used a flame and realized I like that much much better.

And this is the end result:

I went a little crazy with the labeling – my labeler had a candy wrapper option!

I decided to keep these two palettes as brand specific, and will probably buy another palette to load in the rest of my shadow stragglers.

And you? Have you done any depotting/organizing recently? How did it go?

Check out the poll at the side – I want to know what ya guys think I should do about my hauls. I’ve been on a shopping frenzy this month and the Swag Attack end of month entry might be a million pages long.