People seemed to either love or hate it. Unfortunately, I'm the latter. Typically, before I purchase new makeup I will check out reviews and tutorials from my most trusted influencers. In this case, I just went ahead and ordered because I love Anastasia palettes. The Modern Renaissance is a ride or die, I also really love the Self Made palette, which I felt was highly underrated. I really enjoy all of their single shadows in my collection as well. So I had no doubt that the quality would be great and those colors! The colors are so gorgeous and it was such a breath of fresh air after so many warm palettes. It was such a highly anticipated palette, the "sister of the Modern Renaissance" and I knew it would sell out quickly. Not only did I jump on that train, I bought a couple as gifts.
Then the reviews started coming in. Fall out and kick up is never a deal breaker for me, I really don't mind, but this looked pretty extreme. Also, it was a new formula that was highly pigmented, but very hard to blend out, patchy, people were not enjoying it. I still wanted to see for myself and though it was dubbed "not a beginners palette," I'm a certified makeup artist and figured I could make it work.
Narrator: It did not work.
The fallout wasn't too bad, but the blendability was horriffic. Some of the shadows oxidized in my crease and turned this really weird grey color. The colors did not play nicely with each other. The shimmer shades were really disappointing, i could not get the color payoff I wanted no matter what I did. I've seen people create absolutely beautiful looks with this palette and there are a few shades in the palette that I do like on their own, combined with other palettes that blend and do not oxidize. I would not recommend.
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Foundation
I thought I was really going to love this foundation. It had gotten pretty good reviews and seemed to have everything I want in a foundation. My skin is pretty dry and this was water based, but had good coverage. I once got sun poisoning in Mexico and it has spf, which I love because I need to be really careful with my skin. I don't HATE this foundation, but I definitely don't really like it. For some reason it actually enhanced my dry patches and it would break up on me after a few hours. I'm also not a big fan of the dropper applicator, though I could totally overlook that if I loved the foundation. Compared to my holy grails (Dior Forever, Too Faced Born this Way and Hourglass Vanish Stick), this one did not even come close.
Morphe Eyeshadow Palettes
Everyone was raving about Morphe (and pushing their codes) so I gave in and got the Morphe 35O Shimmer palette, because I'd heard the shimmers were better than the mattes and I have plenty of warm mattes in my collection. The shimmers did not shimmer. They barely showed up. They didn't show up with my finger. They didn't show up with a brush. They didn't show up when I was in a rush. A little poetry for ya. I gave that palette to a friend. Then Morphe came out with those two square palettes that sold out really quickly and Jaclyn Hill and Nikkietutorials were raving about them. I can't even remember what they were called. I always want what I can't have so as soon as the palettes came back in stock, I grabbed one. Big mistake. Huge. Once again, i was getting no color payoff whatsoever, the shadows were so dry. I gave that palette away. Quite honestly, I never planned to ever purchase another Morphe eyeshadow palette again, but then Jaclyn Hill came out with her palette and I had to have it. I have to say that I really do love that palette, it's definitely much softer, creamier and pigmented than the others. The shimmers actually shimmer, the mattes blend out really easily. So I'm still a little hesitant when it comes to the shadows (I do enjoy a lot of the brushes), but it does seem like they've really upped their game. We shall see.
The Urban Decay All Nighter Concealer
I've been on the hunt for something to replace my beloved Tarte Shape tape concealer. I'm kind of mad at Tarte right now for the horrific limited shade range they put out for the Tarte Shape Foundation. It's actually appalling and even more appalling is how they handled the fallout from excluding a huge group of people. Both Kathleen Lights and Babs Beauty really liked the concealer so I figured I'd give it a try. I do love the urban decay naked weightless concealer on days when i want lighter coverage, but if I'm being honest most days I like FULL coverage. This concealer made my undereyes look so dry and cakey. And I really moisturize and prime my skin and under eyes so I gave it a few tries using different hydrating products that have never failed me. So needless to say, I do not enjoy this concealer and now just use it to my cut crease.
Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer
This is such a cult favorite and I really thought I was going to love it. One of my biggest makeup pet peeves is muddy bronzer and this seemed like it would go on really smooth (buttery if you will). And I guess it did, but I really had to dig in there to get any type of color pay off. I'm pretty fair so I like for a bronzer to actually bronze me and this one did not. I also do not like the Makeup Forever bronzer that feels very similar so I guess I just don't like soft textured bronzers. Fortunately, I found the hour glass ambient lighting bronzer and it's changed my life. This bronzer does smell delightful though, I'll give it that.
Too Faced Just Peachy Mattes Palette
I'm really not a fan of Too Faced eyeshadows. I think they are dry and patchy and they don't wear well on my eyes. With so many amazing affordable eyeshadow options like colourpop and makeup geek, it seems silly to purchase any Too Faced Palettes in spite of the adorable packaging. Their packaging is always adorable. The only Too Faced Palette I enjoy is the Sweet Peach palette, but I will admit that i use it as a supplementary palette and often use another palette to help me blend, build up pigment and either a base of topper for the shimmer shades on the lid. It's a lot of work and probably not worth it, but I have it so I do it. When I saw the Peaches & Cream palette, the colors just called my name. I thought I could use it with the Sweet Peach palette and they'd be a match made in heaven. Sadly, that did not happen. Like so many Too Faced Palettes before her, the Just Peachy Mattes palette was dry, some shades were patchy and it did not wear well. I gave this palette to a friend and quite honestly will probably never purchase another Too Faced eyeshadow palette.
What makeup products did you want to love, but just didn't?
