Make-up Forever - Star Powder

So I went out a few weeks ago in search of new eyeshadow. I've been watching makeup tutorials on youtube, my favorite is xsparkage. She's awesome. She does tons of bright eye makeup and puts up awesome easy to follow tutorials. For a while, I was attempting to recreate her results with whatever cheap crap I had on hand. I've since realized that in order to really get vibrant makeup, you've gotta spend a little more to get the better pigments. Even M A C pressed shadows don't hold up. Then one day, as I was watching one of her tutorials, I discovered that she's not using pressed shadows. All her stuff is loose powder. Loose powder = more pigments!

So I started with M A C pigments, I bought a purple one, and I really like it. Its bright and vibrant and gives great coverage. You can apply it wet or dry (I haven't tried wet yet, I just know you can). The trick to really getting good coverage is plenty of eyeshadow primer.

Then I was in Sephora one day and something BRIGHT FREAKING PINK caught my eye. Make-up Forever Star Powder. Its a loose shadow, and i'm pretty sure its blacklight receptive, thats how freaking bright this is. I was with my friend Jess, we spied it at the same time... and bought it together. I wear mine thickly applied so you can really see how neon pink it is, Jess wears hers light and it looks pastel and very lovely. Either way, its awesome. Everytime I wear it, I get compliments. Its very noticeable and looks great with a lot of my other shadows. It does stain my eyelids though, just a little bit. And its tough to get out of the brush I use to apply it, ensuring that I taint my other shadows with it quite often. But its worth it for the look. Its not quite a pearlescent or a matte, its something in between (satin?). There are flecks of silver glitter in it, but very few. I recently purchased the blue in the same line. Its more pearlescent than the pink, so its a little easier to blend but its strangely overpowering. I've worn it a few times blended with a yellow CoverGirl shadow and its tough to get both eyes to look the same. I blame the CoverGirl mostly, its crap. With both colors, a little goes a long way, and I advise building layers rather than trying to slather it all on at the same time, the fall-out is pretty extreme, and tough to get off without wiping off your powder and foundation (fall-out = the powder that falls on your cheeks when you've got too much product on the applicator). I highly recommend it.


Incidentally, while I was at Sephora last week buying the blue shade, I also tried their cream eyeliner. I will be purchasing it very soon. Its wicked awesome. I also tried the HD Foundation. Also awesome. I may have to buy the entire line...
Thanks to www.mymakeupreviews.blogspot.com for this image, sorry i took it without asking...

My next post will be reviewing Arbonne and I hope to get it done before the end of the weekend.

Sephora Eyeshadow Primer

I've decided today to review Sephora Eyeshadow Primer. When I first heard about makeup primers of any kind I was skeptical. Why the fuck would I want to add another layer of stuff to my face. Well, the answer is this: it makes everything stay on better and for longer. I came home after 8 hours of work today, and only had to touch up the powder on my nose. Everywhere else was fine thanks to my foundation primer. And my eye makeup was fine thanks to my eyeshadow primer. Eyeshadow primer prevents eyeshadow from fading and creasing and also helps with getting really brilliant results from a minimal amount of product. Meaning, you only have to do a one or two strokes with that eyeshadow brush instead of ten to get the vibrant color that you see in the pot/package. My blacks go on richer and darker (instead of light gray) My lime greens go on bright lime green instead of pale, sheer green, forcing me to layer the product on really thick to get my desired results.

I wasn't really sure what type of eyeshadow primer to go with when I first bought some. So I went to Sephora and bought something cheap, just so I could experiment without having to spend a lot of money. I saw products from just about everyone, Stila, Urban Decay etc. Then I went to Sephora's proprietary brand (called Sephora, go figure...) and found a little pot of eyeshadow primer for $8. I brought it home and over the next few weeks figured out how to apply it. I use my index finger, and I put a thin layer across my entire lid and brow bone. I've discovered that, since its very thick that if you apply it too heavily it makes eyeshadow difficult to apply and blend without "skipping" (when the brush gets caught on loose skin and "skips" making a banded texture in the area of application). Its thicker than concealer (which I've also heard will work in a pinch for eyeshadow primer, but have never tried myself) so you don't need much. I've had this little pot for about three months now and haven't even begun to use it all. There are days when I've forgotten to put it on and I definitely notice a difference. I'm not 100% happy with it, though it does do the job for a minimal amount of money, because its not simple to apply, and if you goop it on too heavily it doesn't make for good eye makeup results. But, since its very inexpensive and lasts a long time, I do kinda like it, especially if you're just getting used to using professional grade products (like me). I look forward to trying other products so I can do an educated comparison.

Overall, I hesitantly recommend it.

Sorry its been so long since my last post. Work has been hell and the last thing I want to do when I get home is to sit in front of my computer...

I have a small bit of news. My friend Kyle over at FaceCandy gave my address to the PR rep for Maybelline and they sent me mascara to review. I'm about to take my makeup off for the night, so look for a review of it as soon as I've tried to for a few days. Thanks Kyle for passing my name along! I'm enough of a dork that I called a friend immediately to tell her the exciting news that the Maybelline (or at least their marketing company) knows that I exist. :)