Estee Lauder Take It Away Makeup Remover Review

Hello Lovelies,

I've been feeling lazier these days. I miss doing a lot of things that I normally do but my road to recovery is on the right path. I only have to wear my boot for 2 more weeks but I've been getting frequent muscle cramps.

Today, I'll be reviewing this makeup remover that I purchased at the CCO for $20.00. Now, if you get this at any other Estee Lauder counters, you'll pay $25.00 for it.

What Estee Lauder says about this remover...
Quickly and gently removes all makeup, even long-wear or waterproof formulas.
Unique water-based creme-gel refreshes you with a crisp herbal citrus scent.
Rinses away easily and leaves skin feeling soft and smooth with no greasy afterfeel or oily residue.

Packaging

• Minty Blue plastic container with a pump. I'm a bit surprised it didn't come with a cap but when you move the head to the correct spot there is a lock mechanism that prevents the pump from dispensing products. The pump works well and is easy to control. 
• 6.7 oz or 200 ml. A pretty generous amount I'd say. 

Product

• This is a cream makeup remover. You basically apply to the area you need to remove makeup and wipe it off with a cotton round. 
• It doesn't work as effectively as I would like because it takes a lot of time for it to dissolve my eye makeups and it smears them all over my eyes when I try to wipe it off. 
• I prefer to use it to remove my face makeup because it's less messy.
• Because it is a cream and doesn't leave any oily residue, I also like to use this to fix and remove any makeup mistake I might have made. 
• It's non-irritating and has a fresh scent. 

Final Thought

Overall, this is just an ok remover. I would not recommend this for removing eye makeup and waterproof makeup since it doesn't do a very good job in that area. However, for removing face makeup, I find it handy. The bottle contains a generous amount that will last me a long time. I don't think I will repurchase once I'm done with it though. 

Rating: 8/10

Price: $25.00

Available at Estee Lauder and Cosmetics Company Outlet.

theBalm Shady Lady Eyeshadow Palettes Vol1, Vol 2, and Vol 3 - Swatches (Pic Heavy)

Happy Sunday everyone!

I've been slacking off these past couple days, hence the absence of my daily posts. I guess I just needed a break, aside from that my back has been sore and there's just so long I can sit up straight until it get really uncomfortable. Since I had that fall last month, my body just doesn't feel the same. My kids sarcastically make fun of me and tell me I'm just getting old. I'm sure part of that is true but I tell them "yes, I'm getting old but I've also been injured so that's different. Better have some respect or else your kids are going to threat you the same way when you get old."

I've had these eyeshadow palettes for a while and I've barely touched them, which is why I never did a review. To be honest, I don't wear eyeshadows on the regular. I don't even need all of these but I'm greedy, what can I say? Anyways, I figure I should at least show you some swatches. I'm sure any of you who are familiar with theBalm know that their eyeshadows are of excellent quality. I was fortunate enough to have gotten them on sale. Two of them from TJ Maxx and I can't remember where I got the other, I'm thinking TJ Maxx or Marshalls but I can't be certain. Hautelook has had some occasional sales from theBalm as well so if you wait around you can actually get a good deal on these without paying full price.

Each of these palettes comes with 9 different shades, includes a large mirror, and measures approximately 5" x 5". They contain a generous amount of products. Each retails for $39.50. Swatches were done without a primer.

theBalm Shady Lady Volume 1

Shady Lady Volume 1 comes with a cheetah print cover. Net weight is .68 oz or 19.4 g.

Luscious Lani - shimmery pinkish light beige
Curvy Cami - reddish/grey purple with some silver shimmer sparkles
Easy Wheezie - medium grey with a satin finish
Shameless Shana - shimmery golden medium brown
Risque Renee - dark grey with a bluish undertone and satin finish
All About Alex - shimmery golden olive green
Caught in the Act Courtney - dark brown with gold shimmer sparkles
Jealous Jordana - shimmery dark forest green
Jet-Setting Jennifer - shimmery light golden beige

All of the colors have a pretty good pigmentation and feel nice and soft but Luscious Lani, All About Alex, and Jet-Setting Jennifer are the softest, creamiest, and smoothest in terms on texture.


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theBalm Shady Lady Volume 2

Shady Lady Volume 2 has a zebra print cover. Net weight is .6 oz or 17 g.

Insane Jane - shimmery metallic taupe
Just This Once Jamie - light shimmery lilac
Devilish Danielle - light shimmery beige
Feisty Felicia - dark greyish black with sparkly pink shimmers
Makeout Mary - shimmery golden green
Tempting Tara - ultra shimmery bright white
Caught in the Act Courtney - dark brown with gold shimmer sparkles. This is a repeat color from Vol 1.
Bossy Bobbi - dark metallic shimmery grey with a flash of teal in it
Mischievous Marissa - shimmery light bronze

All of the colors have a pretty good pigmentation and feel nice and soft but Insane Jane, Devilish Danielle, Makeout Mary, Tempting Tara, Bossi Bobbi, Mischevious Marissa, are the softest, creamiest, and smoothest in terms on texture. I was a bit surprised to see Caught in the Act Courtney again on Volume 2, but I'm glad it's the only repeat color in all of the palettes.


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the Balm Shady Lady Volume 3

Shady Lady Volume 3 has a giraffe print cover. Net weight is .51 oz or 14.4 g.

Racy Kacy - shimmery metallic reddish brown
Come-Hither Heather - medium greyish taupe with a satin finish
Guilty Gwen - matte black with teal and pink shimmer sparkles
Envious Erin - shimmery bright white
Runaround Rebecca - shimmery light green with a subtle brown duochrome
All The Way Annie - dark reddish purple, satin finish, with pink and teal shimmer sparkle
Lusty Lee - medium shimmery metallic grey
Safe Bet Annette - light shimmery pink
Open To Offers Olwen - shimmery teal

All of the colors have a pretty good pigmentation and feel nice and soft but Racy Kacy, Envious Erin, Runaround Rebecca, Safe Bet Annette, are the softest, creamiest, and smoothest in terms on texture.

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So here's the rundown about what I think about these palettes:

• As with any eyeshadow palettes on the market, you will find that some shades are softer and have a better quality and feel over others. I also find that to be true in these palettes; however, the overall quality of the eyeshadows are from good to excellent, which makes these palettes a pretty good buy. They are undeniably some of the best you can get and some of the best in my eyeshadow stash as well. 
• They have a good range of colors but most of them are pretty toned-down. 
• Most of the eyeshadows go from mildly shimmery to super high shine shimmers. Would have been nice if they had a couple mattes in each palettes.
• Though the size and packaging look similar in all of these palettes, I just noticed that the net weight indicated on the product has gradually decreased from volume 1 to 3. 
• If you like the colors and if you like shimmers, you can't go wrong with any of these palettes. 
• Similar colors
• Tempting Tara (vol 2) and Envious Erin (vol 3). Envious Erin looks slightly warmer but the difference is so subtle, it doesn't even matter. 
• Caught in the Act is both on Vol 1 and Vol 2. 
• Luscious Lani (vol 1) and Safe Bet Annette (vol 3). The color is very close but Safe Bet Annette is more shimmery. 

Hope you found this post helpful. Let me know what you think of these if you've tried them or if you plan on purchasing them. 

Sephora Chic Week Haul

Hey everyone!

I wasn't able to go to the store when the sale started so I made my purchase online and I just received my order yesterday. I don't know if you had the same problem as I did but it nearly took a week for me to receive my order, yet Sephora claims that it will be a 3-day shipping if over $50.00. I'm perfectly fine that it only took a week but it bothers me when a company promises things they can't deliver. Another thing is that I'm a VIB and I didn't get one of those VIB bag, not a big deal but I wonder if I entered the wrong code or something, IDK.

Anyhow, the sale ends 4/21. You can order online or go in-store to get 15% off your total purchase. When ordering online, use discount code CHICWEEK.

I'm rather proud of myself that I mostly picked up things I needed.

I purchased:

• Murad Skin Perfecting Lotion for my son, $35.00
• Sephora 8 hr Mattifying Moisturizer Sunscreen, $22.00. This is currently available online only.
• Sephora + Pantone Universe Glitter Strobe Eyeliner Set, $18.00. The tubes are rather small but considering that you're getting 4 of them. It's still a good value for the price. 

As you can see, these eyeliners are nearly as tall as a MAC lipstick. I was dying to get my hands on the emerald lid stain but it sold out before I placed my order. That was a huge bummer because I was so looking forward to it. Hopefully, they restock it. I probably will purchase it in-store once I'm able to drive again.

My birthday is next week and I was able to claim my free Beauty Insider gift. It includes a mini Benefit They're Real mascara and a mini Watt's Up highlighter. I know a lot of people love this mascara but I'm probably one of a few who dislikes mascara in general because they don't do anything but clump on my barely noticeable lashes and they end up looking like small insect legs, haha. Sorry for the graphic description but if your lashes are as little and thin as mine, I'm sure you know what I mean. I will get better uses out of the highlighter for sure.

Lastly, I redeemed a 100 points for a mini Tarte Amazonian Clay Double Detox Facial Mask. It's so small I'll probably only get 1 or 2 uses out of it.

I received a few free samples:

• Miss Dior Eau de Parfum sample
• Living Proof Prime Style Extender. This is the first time I heard of a hair primer. I just used it on my hair and it's a lightweight gel that has a nice citrusy scent with a little hint of floral. 
• DKNY Eau de Parfum spray Be Delicious Intense. I'm not typically attracted to sweet scents but I like the scent of this one. It has a fresh clean scent to it. 
• Make Up Forever Pro Finish Powder foundation

So that's it. I know it's a rather underwhelming haul but I'm most excited about the eyeliner set, which I will review for you soon. Did you take advantage of the sale? If yes, what did you get?

Current Favorite Nail Polish Layering - Copperhead & Oh Baby!

Hello Lovelies,

This is my 1000th post...Wow, I've never imagined that I would come this far. In a way, I'm proud of myself but being at home for the past few weeks really made me think about other aspects of my life. I'd like to cut down on how much I spend for myself, for things I don't really need, so I can invest on other priorities/project but I still want to able to keep my blog interesting and doing what I love. I have to come up with a good balance.

I haven't been nail polish shopping since I had my ankle injury and because I'm still recovering, I'm not able to do nail swatches the way I used to...like moving back and forth between my desk and my window. I decided to put some fresh paint on my nails but I'm too lazy to do designs so I figure why not just layer some nail polishes, hehe.

I absolutely love how this combo turned out so I thought I should share. I'm wearing two coats of Sally Hansen Copperhead and two coats of Pure Ice Oh Baby!
Once I layered Oh Baby over Copperhead, it was like some kind of cosmic reaction happened. It gave my nails a copper/purple duochrome effect with gorgeous scattered blue shimmers. I tried my best to capture the duochrome and you can see a bit of purple on the side of my nails. Honestly, Copperhead is pretty boring on its own but this combo really brings it to life!

Seriously, you need Oh Baby! It's one of my favorite nail polish layer. It's cheap and it pretty much makes any polishes look 10x better. What do you think of this combo? What's your favorite layering polish?

Stila Countless Color Pigments Acoustic - Swatch & Review

Hello Ladies,

I got the chance to try out one of the new Stila Countless Color Pigments and I'm ready to present my review to you. They have so many nice colors and comes in 10 different pot. It was really hard for me to pick one but in the end, I only got Acoustic.

Packaging

• It's definitely what attracted me to the product in the first place. Ok, so I don't really care much for the outside plastic container. It's rather plain and cheap. I just loved the fact that they had 3 different color pressed together.
• .1 oz or 3 g

Colors swatched on their own

Product

• The shimmery reddish brown has very good pigmentation and texture
• The orange has an ok pigmentation, it's matte, on the powdery side, and takes a bit of work to build up the color. It actually looks more like a muted coral now that I look at it more.
• The shimmery champagne is on the sheer side and barely noticeable. You really have to pack it on for this one to show up.
• One nice thing about the way the eyeshadows are pressed is that you can intermix the colors to create a different shade. There's not much variation between colors once they are mix on this pot to be honest. I think the Orange mixed with the champagne yield a gorgeous color that I can see myself applying on my cheeks. 
• These eyeshadows shouldn't be applied wet.

Final Thought

With a good primer, the colors do stay put through most of the day with only minimal fading. The pigmentation and texture leaves something to be desired. I like the idea of the versatility of this product but on this particular pot, the shade variations are rather subtle. I didn't find it amazing but just good enough to get the job done. At the price point, I would expect the formula to be better. Nonetheless, the color scheme and packaging is nice and I would still get some uses out of it.

Rating: 8/10

Price: $22.00

Available at http://www.stilacosmetics.com, 

Here's how Acoustic looks on my eye. If you didn't get a chance to see the full face makeup, you can view it HERE.

Orange Attitude Makeup Look

Hello Pretties,

This look features the Stila Countless Color Pigments Acoustic, which I will be posting the review soon. Isn't that ironic that I used the name of my favorite Color Whisper on the title yet I'm not even wearing it here. What can I say? This look kinda screams orange so I felt that it was appropriate.

Product Used

Face

• Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush Blissful
• NARS Orgasm Illuminator

Eyes

• Urban Decay Primer Potion Original
• Stila Countless Color Pigments Acoustic
• The champagne shade on 2/3 of the lids
• The orange shade on the crease
• The brown shade on outer V
• Physicians Formula Eye Booster Ultra Black on upper lash line
• Sally Hansen Forever Stay Eye Pencil Deep Jade on waterline
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil Sin on lower lash line
• L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow Golden Sage on lower lash line
• Revlon Brow Fantasy Dark Brown on brows
• Peter Coppola lashes

Lips

• For the lips, I decided to play up some colors so I did an ombre lip color. 
• I applied Make Up Forever Rouge Artist Intense #40 all over lips
• I applied a layer of Motives Rich Formula Lipstick Raspberry Burst on the edge of my lips and blend them in. 
• I used a bit of a neon orange gloss from Dots on the center of my lips. 

This looks very summery. Isn't a bit sad that I'm digging more the lip color than the eye makeup? Even though the eye makeup is a bit colorful, I think it's simple enough to wear during the day if you pair it with a muted lip color.

What's your favorite lip color combo? Have you tried the new Stila Countless Color Pigments?

Stila Long Wear Liquid Lip Color Set - Review & Swatches

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope your weekend is going good.

I was so excited when I was able to snag this lip color set for 20% off during a sale couple weeks ago. Hello! Look at the gorgeous colors! I couldn't help myself. I did look up some review before actually purchasing and didn't read any negative so I proceeded with my purchase.

What Stila says about this set...

A collection of four pigment-rich, creamy-matte, liquid lip colors that deliver intense moisture with bold, long-lasting color and stay in place for up to 6 hours of continuous wear.
The texture is weightless on lips and delivers superb comfort and its color-rich formula will not bleed or transfer. enriched with vitamin E and avocado oil, stay all day™ liquid lipstick hydrates and softens the lips so they look and feel beautiful!

Packaging

• Simple and cute! They have a nice weight to them and the amount is generous for what you're paying.
• Doe foot applicator. 
• Each tube contains .10 oz or 3 ml, which is a generous amount for what you're paying.

From left to right: Petal, Coral, Caprice, Muse

Petal is a somewhat bright matte medium pink with blue undertone. Honestly, I did not like how it looked on my skin tone. I looked like a clown, lol, seriously! That's frustrating.

Coral it is but this one had like a pearly finish to it. Looked so obnoxious on me. I can't even look at myself without wanting to barf. This is another color that made me look like a clown. I wasn't expecting that. I need to top this off with some kind of gloss. I would not leave the house with this alone unless I plan on going out with an 80's theme look. Maybe I should do an 80's makeup look with this...Hmm that might just work...

Caprice is a slightly muted darker fuchsia with a matte finish. Now this color, I loved! It's my favorite out of the pack. That's more like me! It's fun and flirty.

Muse is a mauvy rose shade with a heavy grey undertone and matte finish. I'm a bit on the fence with this color. It doesn't look clownish at least but I don't feel like it suits me either...IDK, perhaps I can make it work with a different makeup look, like a smokier darker eye look.

Product

• Finally! Now on to the fun part and the real deal about these lip colors. I tried really hard not to spoil it at first. The shades all looked really pretty in the tube but they didn't really translate that way on my skin tone. That partially killed the excitement for me. However, I'm hopeful that with the right look, I can manage to make them look halfway decent. 
• Colors are very saturated and feel smooth and creamy before it sets.
• Application was a bit of a nightmare and requires some speed and accuracy. First, the applicator was a bit too small so what I did was start with the top lip, apply a generous amount on the center and then quickly spread the color with a wider lip brush. Then repeated the process on the bottom lip. The color sets rather quickly, within 10 seconds or less, you will actually need to be quick before it sets otherwise, you end up with uneven and patchy color. If you make a mistake, you're better off wiping off and doing it all over again. A second layer can't fix it, I tried. It makes things worst actually. 
• Once it set, I feel like it sinks and wraps around my lips, making my lip lines looking more obvious. You must exfoliate and prime your lips prior to using these. 
• It feels heavy and dry but it didn't make my skin look dry or flaky...It's weird. I dunno how to explain it.
• I got up to 8 hours of wear with minimal fading. The fading mostly occurred after I had a meal. 

Final Thought

Two of the colors make me look like a clown. I am not a fan of the texture, it feels heavy and dry, yet it's not drying. Application was tricky because the color sets way too fast. The only good thing is that they are truly long-lasting but the lack of comfort makes me reluctant to reach for them. 

I'm actually disappointed in these because I had high hopes for them and what shocks me even more is that most of the reviews were good so IDK, I guess you either gonna love it or hate it. 

Rating: 7/10.

Price: $32.00
Available at http://www.stilacosmetics.com/,