Beauty Product Reviews | Page 4

Revlon's PhotoReady 3D Volume Mascara us the latest addition to their very popular, and growing line; PhotoReady, and also their newest mascara. The formula is supposedly reflection, giving the appearance of longer, more abundant lashes. PhotoReady 3D is available in 3 shades, and does not appear to have a waterproof version. Revlon makes no mention of this mascara being ophthalmologist tested, or safe for wear with contact lenses, so be weary if you have sensitive eyes. Revlon products are not tested on animals. This product was made in the USA of domestic and imported ingredients. I purchased my tube at Rite Aid for $4.99 on sale, but this mascara will normally run you about $10. I really love Revlon packaging in general packaging in general, and I'll do my best not to go on a rant about how lovely the packaging for PhotoReady 3D is. This mascara's packaging is sleek. A square, matte tube with a silver metallic cap. The base of the cap features a glossy black bit with "Revlon" written on it. The tube doesn't offer much information on the product, but it still has more than your average tube of mascara. I just love how sleek and functional Revlon packaging is. It's both modern and elegant. They definitely have the best packaging on the drugstore level. I'll stop now. According to Revlon, the brush has a "special lash accentuating tip that reaches every lash to provide dimension to the extreme". That means it has a rounded tip. The brush has plastic bristles that are short and pretty dense. The brush doesn't taper or curve at all, it just suddenly comes to a rounded tip. The round tip really does come in handy for coating the inner lashes, as well as the bottom ones. PhotoReady 3D is a very easy to apply mascara. The brush glides through the lashes. To apply this mascara, I use a combination of sweeping and wiggling motions. To elaborate, I sweep from the roots to the middle of the lashes, then wiggle my way upwards, to achieve best results for my lashes. Everyone's lashes are different so that technique may not be best for you. Any way you apply this mascara should give you beautiful results though. Beautiful results, like defined, full lashes that nearly touch my brow bone. Impresseddd. Revlon says two coats of this mascara will give "100% more magnified, multiplied, amplified lashes". Normally I wouldn't agree with such a claim, but when I was showing my boyfriend the difference between my natural lashes and my lashes with PhotoReady 3D, he said "they look 100% better." No, he didn't read the packaging. So maybe this claim is legit, or he was just being nice, but I'd like to think it's for reals. Though this mascara has "volume" in the name, I feel like this gives me more length than volume. I mean I get a substantial amount of volume, but I feel like the length I get from it is more noticeable. What I don't notice is this mascara being shiny or reflective in any way, so I'm not buying the "magnified lashes claim". This mascara lasts very well, even through 9 hour work days this mascara doesn't flake or smudge at all. Today I wore it for 13 hours and it was still perfect when I took it off. PhotoReady 3D is slightly difficult to remove, but nothing an oil based makeup remover can't take care of. This isn't "pull your lashes" out difficult to remove or anything. *side glance at Maybelline Falsies* Revlon's PhotoReady 3D Volume mascara is my new favorite and I highly recommend it. Just two coats give me beautiful lashes that could almost pass as fake. I love the easy application, interesting brush, and very sleek packaging. I'd repurchase this mascara if I could get if for half price or if I had a coupon. I might even shell out for it full price, but probably not. I'm too cheap. D=

Hard Candy's Glamoflauge Concealser is a set of two, heavy duty concealers, a liquid concealer, and a pencil. This concealer supposedly is pigmented enough to cover tattoos. Hard Candy is a former high end brand, sold at Sephora. It's not exclusively available at Walmart and <a href='http://Walmart.com' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>Walmart.com</a>. How the mighty have fallen. Hard Candy does not test their products on animals and makes their products in the US. Glamoflauge is only available in four to six shades, which is an unacceptably small range. I purchased this concealer at Walmart, in the shade Light, for $6 for 20g of product. Packaging for the liquid concealer is a clear squeeze tube with tribal tattoo designs, so you know it's cool! Removing the black plastic cap reveals a needle nose applicator the dispenses the product in a thin ribbon. Packaging is functional and kinda cute. I wonder if the tube got it's tribal tattoo in the late 90's when it was trendy, or more recently, for irony's sake. Before I move on to the bulk of the review, I'm going to talk about the concealer pencil. I don't know what to do with this thing! Hard Candy's included instructions say that it's for outlining your tattoo before concealing it, but I don't have any tatz that need concealing. I can't find any use for it. Halp? It seems well pigmented n'at, so I'd hate to just toss it out. No one else mentions the concealer pencil in their Glamoflauge reviews, so I guess no one else knows what to do with it either. Moving on to the liquid half of Glamoflauge. Nobody was kidding when they said this concealer is intensely pigmented, and you only need the smallest amount possible. They're like the OCC Lip Tars of concealing I guess. The texture of Glamoflauge liquid concealer is very thick. The kind of thickness that comes along with rich pigmentation. At first it feels very creamy, but the more you blend it and work it into the skin, the drier it gets, turning almost pasty in consistency. Hard Candy says that Glamoflauge blends into the skin seamlessly. Disagree. Glamoflauge sits on top of my skin, feeling heavy, uncomfortable, and mask-like. No me gusta. To be honest, I don't think Glamoflauge provides the super amazing coverage that everyone raves about. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but it's not Holy Grail good or anything. When it comes to under eye coverage, I feel like Rimmel's Match Perfection Concealer is better. Actually I don't think Glamoflauge should be used under the eye. It's too dry and has a tendency to cake and settle, which won't look very attractive. Though it may not be great for the under eye area, Glamoflauge does well at covering redness and pimples. However the way people talked about Glamoflauge, I thought it was going to be way more full coverage than it really is. Full coverage enough to cover my chicken pox scars, and the freckles left over from my childhood as a ginger. It doesn't. Not even with three coats. For the record, I don't normally try to cover up my freckles n'at, I was just trying to test out Hard Candy's "heavy duty coverage" claim. Because of how thick Glamoflauge is, it wears all day long. I guess it's dryness makes it a moisture magnet though, because this concealer cakes like no other on me. It's also very stubborn when it comes to removal. A facial wipe, or merely washing your face does not do the trick. For this concealer, I need a cotton round with some oil based remover on it. I guess it think's its a waterproof mascara. I forgot to talk about the coloration of this concealer. I have the lightest shade, Light, and in my opinion, it's not very light. It's at least a shade or two too dark for me. It's also quite yellow. This concealer tends to oxidize as well. It's not severe oxidization,but there's a definite orange cast to it that isn't there when first applied. Another point worth mentioning is the oil. When you open your tube of Glamoflauge for the first time, you will not get concealer out of it. You will get copious amounts of oil instead. At first it's straight up oil, but if you keep squeezing it out, it'll morph into a bizarre, icky oil-concealer mixture. Eventually, you'll squeeze most of the oil out, and then there'll be room in the tube for you to squish and mash the concealer and remaining oil back into the concealer. It kinda freaked me out at first, and I thought I got a bad tube, but this is a common complaint in reviews. I have really mixed feelings about Hard Candy's Glamoflauge Concealer. I feel like it's another one of those over hyped product, like Revlon Lip Butters or Maybelline Color Tattoos, that everyone gets excited about, and I find them to be only average. Glamoflauge covers well, but it's not Photoshop in a tube, like some say. For reals, I'm not sure how this stuff conceals tattoos if it can't even cover a few freckles with several coats. I'm definitely not a fan of the pasty, dry texture, or the pasty, dry wear. Removal is way harder than it should be fore any concealer. But on the bright side, it's a definite value win. You get a ton of product for a few bucks, and you only need to use a drop at a time. All in all, I don't think Hard Candy's Glamoflauge is a bad product, it's just not for me.

L'Oreal Color Riche Balms are slightly tinted, glossy balms available in 8 shades. I have Rose Elixir, the second lightest shade of the collection. Color Riche Balms have SPF 15 and contain Shea Butter as a moisturizing agent. Unfortunately L'Oreal products are tested on animals, and this balm contains non-vegan ingredients such as carmine. L'Oreal promises that this balm will give kissable, luscious color that will smooth the lips instantly, all while delivering 8 full hours of continuous hydration, resulting in lips that are softer and more supple. I'm having a hard time finding conclusive information about where L'Oreal products are made, but after some digging, I found that 20 of L'Oreal's 37 production plants are in France, 8 more in the US, so It's safe to assume that this product was made in one of those two countries. I purchased my Color Riche balm at Rite Aid for $3.75, with a $4 off coupon. The MSRP is $7.95, but I've seen prices vary from $5.25 to nearly $9, so these balms can get quite expensive. May I say that the Color Riche balm's packaging is beautiful? It's so fancy and elegant! I give it 5 Quites. It looks so high end compared to most of it's drugstore counterparts. Lol I'm ranting about packaging again. A square, gold base with gold twist up mechanism is matched up with a pink, translucent, plastic cap that snaps on securely. The cap slants slightly and features the word "Balm" in gold lettering, written sideways. This packaging is a thing of beauty, but also functional and sturdy. I've dropped this tube onto concrete with not even a scratch of damage done. In the tube, Rose Elixir appears to be a medium, neutral, rosy pink. However, once swatched onto the skin or lips, Rose Elixir shows it's true color; clear. There is a slight, super sheer pink tint, but it's negligible. If you have any natural pigmentation to your lips, this won't add any color, just a tad of glossiness. Don't get me wrong, the glossiness is pretty, and natural looking, but I was really disappointed with the near complete lack of color pay off. I mean it's called Color Riche. I assume that would mean it's rich in color, but I'm no French expert. Honestly, I don't feel like L'Oreal was upfront with how sheer their Color Riche balms are. Pretty sure they mentioned "luscious color" in their product overview. Luscious and Sheer are not synonyms. I have a feeling L'Oreal was trying to play on their Revlon Lip Butter fad with this product, but didn't bother to come up with as pigmented of a formula. Despite failing in the color category, this is a pretty good balm. The texture of this balm is kinda a median between the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butters, which to me, are dry and waxy, and the greasy, slippy texture of Maybelline's Baby Lips balm. On the lips, it wears very comfortably, like a smoother, more moisturizing Chapstick. After L'Oreal's balm has sunken in a bit, it feels like what healthy lips should feel like. Silky, smooth, and a little bit moist. It's really enjoyable. But do you really get 8 hours of continuous hydration? Sure, if you apply this balm 3 or 4 times in that eight hour span. From one application though? No. It's really about two or three hours of moisture. I feel a definite need to reapply after hour three. I don't really mind though, in my opinion three hours is a good amount of wear for what is essentially a clear balm. Unfortunately, because of frequent reapplication, I'm going through Rose Elixir rather quickly, not that you get a ton of product in the first place. L'Oreal claims that their Color Riche balms continue to condition the lips even after removal. Normally I'd totally discount a claim like that. It doesn't really make sense does it? But I kinda believe it. Even with fully bare lips, my lips look much smoother and healthier since I've started using this product. Impressed. These balms don't have an assigned flavor, but they do have a taste. Rose Elixir has a light but noticeable sunscreen taste and smell, which I partially expected considering the SPF content. To me, it's mildly pleasant, but others might find it bothersome. L'Oreal Color Riche Balms are one of those products that has so many pros and cons that I can't really give it an appropriate amount of praise or hate. It's one of those product that you have to take a (slightly expensive) risk on and try for yourself and form your own opinion on. This balm is beautiful, never have I had such a perfectly packaged product before, the moisture and conditioning it gives is fantastic, and it's natural, glossy shine is pretty, but the utter lack of color payoff is a total put off, along with the nearly eight buck price tag. Rose Elixir is a product I'll enjoy while I have it, but I won't be repurchasing, unless I have another $4 off coupon.

Covergirl's Lash Blast Length Mascara was released after the super success of the original Lash Blast, (now known as Lash Blast Volume). Covergirl claims that this mascara's "elasta-nylon" formula is flake free and flexible, and coupled with their "longest brush ever", Lash Blast Length will give you "extreme, look at me! lashes" that are 80% longer. Lash Blast Volume is available in 4 shades, and water resistant, and non water resistant versions. Unfortunately Covergirl tests on animals, so please be conscious of that when using their products. I received this as a Christmas gift from Mummy, she purchased it at Ulta. I don't know exactly how much she payed for it, but Covergirl mascaras usually go for $7-8. Packaging for Lash Blast Length is very eye catching. A long, thin, tapered, bright yellow plastic tube and cap. Covergirl and Lash Blast Length are written on the tube in silver. It definitely stands out in the mascara section. The shape of the tube reminds me of a rounded version of the Maybelline Lash Stiletto. Covergirl calls this brush their longest ever and I believe it. It's very thin, and about an inch long. Before you dip it into the tube for the first time the short, plentiful bristles were bright yellow, matching the tube. Aside from the long brush, the wand is also quite long and thin. I find it unweildy and intimidating. This mascara isn't the easiest to apply, it takes a little technique The wand, once correctly lined up with the base of the lashes, needs to be slowly wiggled through. Normally I'm not a wand wiggler, but it's necessary for Lash Blast Length. Without wiggling, the brush, you won't even be able to tell you've applied mascara, regardless of how many coats you apply. What kind of results do you get from Lash Blast Length? Do you really get 80% longer lashes? I don't know if it's 80%. Maybe 40 or 50%. Your lashes do get pretty long with this mascara. Look at mine, they're reaching for the stars! It's a really nice amount of length, but I wouldn't call it "Extreme", or "80% longer", but it's good enough for me. Many people complain that you don't get enough volume from this mascara, but keep in mind, Covergirl doesn't make any mention of volume in their product description. But really wiggle your dang brush. Hasn't LMFAO taught you anything? Wiggling is the key to success. With three, wiggled on coats, I can get a small, but noticeable amount of volume. To be fair, my lashes are naturally on the thicker side.The best part of Lash Blast Length is the lack of clumping. You couldn't clump this mascara if you tried. It's probably good for mascara n00bz. Like the other two Covergirl mascaras I've reviewed, Lash Blast Length holds up great through out the day. Even at work I don't get a single flake or smudge. That's impressive for any brand. Despite not flaking, Lash Blast Length removes super easily, with just water, or a little bit of makeup remover. I recommend this mascara if you have average lashes that you want to add a nice bit of length to, with just a smidgen of volume. This is a great beginner mascara, because of it's clump free nature, and fairly natural look. I like Lash Blast Length, but I tend not to reach for it often, that alone has made me decide not to repurchase. It's just too average.

so overhyped.

Maybelline Color Tattoo are a much talked about product among bloggers and makeup fans. These cream shadows debuted in drugstores sometime in early winter, I purchased mine in January, so I'm kinda behind on the review bandwagon. Maybelline says that the Color Tattoo shadows are their longest lasting shadows. Maybelline employed "ink technology to create super saturated color" and "cream gel" formula that "glides on without creasing and keeps color vibrant". Color Tattoo shadows are available in 10 shades, 1 matte and 9 shimmery, 4 neutral and 6 bright, a good variety. I have #35, Tough As Taupe, the lone matte shade. Color Tattoos are ophthalmologist tested and found to be safe for contact wearers and those with sensitive eyes. Unfortunately, Maybelline tests on animals, so please keep that in mind when purchasing their products. I got Tough As Taupe at Ulta for free (Maybelline was bogo 50% and I had a coupon). The average retail price is $6.99 or so. Lets see if these hold up to all the claims. I'm really liking the packaging of Maybelline's Color Tattoo. It's a clear, glass jar with a black plastic cap. The jar features a "Color Tattoo" Sticker, and the cap features a sticker with more info on the product including the name of the product. Color Tattoo have great packaging compared to other drugstore products. The glass jar has a good weight to it in the hand, so it's likely that it's sturdy. Sturdy as it may be, keep in mind it is glass, so don't go tossing it about. The texture of Color Tattoos is supposed to be a cream-gel hybrid with a smooth consistency, meant to glide onto the eyelid. "Cream-gel" is a weird way to describe something that feels an awful lot like modeling clay. Tough as Taupe has a thick, dense consistency that'll likely feel familiar if you liked playing with clay as a child (or as an adult, don't judge me). Because of the thick, dense, relatively dry feel of Tough as Taupe, application is a pain. Instead of "smoothing across your eyelids", it drags, and applies in a patchy, uneven manner. It looks awful. Maybelline says that Color Tattoos are buildable, and I agree, but no matter how much you apply, it'll still look patchy and uneven, and the more you apply, the more likely you are to have creasing. I can't imaging the disaster that would result from trying to blend Tough as Taupe with another shadow. I'm not going to go too far into detail about the color of Tough as Taupe, because there really isn't much to discribe. It's a matte, grey based, neutral taupe with only the slightest hint of brown. The color of modeling clay...am I sensing a pattern here? Tough as Taupe isn't a pretty color, but it's a useful one. A good, solid neutral shade to keep on hand. So lets examine the 24 hour wear claim. Do you get 24 hour, crease-proof wear? No. Close? Not really. I've worn this cream shadow with and without primer and it doesn't affect wear or application at all, so let's disregard that. When worn to work, in the greasy, hot kitchen, Tough as Taupe isn't so tough, it can't even hold up for six hours. Under regular circumstances, Tough as Taupe makes it for about 8 hours without creasing, but there is some fading. Not that bad, but it's not 24 hours. Though on it's own, as a cream shadow, Tough as Taupe doesn't make it anywhere near to it's 24 hour claim, as an eyeshadow base it's excellent. With a powder shadow layered over it, Tough as Taupe probably really could wear for 24 hours, it's indestructible. Even after a 9 hour shift, it stays perfect, not the slightest hint of fading or creasing. That's kinda cheating though, Tough as Taupe is supposed to be super long lasting on it's own, not with help from a powder shadow. With all fairness though, Color Tattoos do last much better than any other cream shadow I have ever tried. Those all crease on me instantly. I can give these kudos for not being an insta-fail, being a good base, and a useful color, but that's not enough to make up for poor texture, application, and solo wear. I'm really curious if this is somehow molding clay in a jar, and Maybelline some how fooled me into believing it's a cream eyeshadow. I definitely think Maybelline Color Tattoos are overhyped. Perhaps its the novelty of a drugstore cream shadow that doesn't suck, and has a fun, trendy color selection. To be fair, it seems like Tough as Taupe has a lot of texture based complaints. Being the only matte shadow in the bunch, it's probably a formula issue specific to this one shade. I'd have to try a different shade to prove that theory, I'll consider it. Despite having it's issues, Tough as Taupe is good for a drugstore cream shadow. It's a really good eyeshadow base. Packaging is good. It's sold at the perfect price point, you get a really good amount for it. It's a value score!

Lush's Fresh Face Mask in The Sacred Truth is a mask containing wheat grass, green tea, and ginseng, all of which are loaded with anti-oxidants. The mask also contains papaya, so its moisturizing as well. The Lush employee I spoke to was incredibly helpful. She said this mask is best for anti-aging, as the antioxidants in the mask restore collagen. Anti-aging skin care isn't exactly something I'm in the market for, but I'll give it a try anyway.I was given my 2.1 oz (60g) jar for free, as a sample, because its past it's selling point, but not bad yet. Lush's Fresh Face Masks retail for between 6 and 8 dollars. Fresh Face Masks come in a small black, plastic jar, which is recyclable. Lush has a program where if you bring back 5 of their black jars, you get a free mask. That's pretty epic. The packaging isn't anything to look at, its just straight up functional packaging. The Sacred Truth is green. It has a generally smooth texture, with a bit of chunkiness to it for exfoliation. It feels butter in the jar and on the skin. It's pretty pleasant to wear. As far as scent goes, The Sacred Truth is pretty strong. I can mostly smell wheat grass with a bit of green tea. I can't decide if I like the smell or not. I'm leaning towards not. It lingers for a long time. It makes my rabbit seriously angry. He tried to bite me not long after I rinsed it off. The smell is so strong, it permeates the jar, leaving my whole fridge smelling of the Sacred Truth. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. For a more in depth explanation on what a fresh face mask is, Lush makes these masks in Canada and ships them to their locations. They're made of fresh ingredients, usually foods even. They're preservative free, so they only have a three week or so shelf life. They're kept refrigerated in store, and should be at home as well. Lush recommends leaving the mask on for 5 to 10 minutes. For me it starts to get itchy around 8 minutes. When dry, the mask bunches up in places and looks scaly in others. Its pretty gross looking. Removing the mask is kind of a pain. You need to use a scraping motion with your nails to get it all off. Do be careful when removing the mask, as its pretty thick, so it could clog your drain. The difficulty of removal is worth the end product. Extremely smooth skin that feels like its had all its elasticity restored. My skin has a fun, bouncy feel to it but also feels very firm. It's kinda amazing. I know what I'll be using when I'm old. Lush's The Sacred Truth would be an excellent mask for someone with mature skin or for someone looking to give their skin a little more life. Like all Lush products, its also great for anyone interested in natural, mostly vegan skin care. The Sacred Truth has definitely gotten me interested in trying more of Lush's Fresh Face Masks. I really want to thank the excellent employees of Lush at Macy's in down town Pittsburgh.

Pink Punch

Maybelline Baby Lips is a moisturizing lip balm with SPF 20. Maybelline gives a lot of facts and figures for this balm, so I'll list them here: -82% saw visibly less dry lips. - 94% saw less rough lips -77% saw more supple lips -77& saw better looking lips. I'm not sure what scale of lip roughness Maybelline based this on. Either way these figures are based off of four weeks of use. Maybelline makes this product in the USA. Unfortunately they do test on animals, so factor that in when choosing whether or not to use their products. I purchased this balm at Rite Aid for for $3.49 for 4.4g or .15 oz. I purchased the shade Pink Punch. I believe Maybelline offers 7 or 8 shades in this line. I believe this lip balm started the trend of lipstick/lip balm hybrids that's currently super popular right now. The opinion on Baby Lips' packaging varies. Some think its adorable and modern. Others find it juvenile and tacky. Personally I like it, I think it suits the playful nature of the product. I mean it's called Baby Lips, can you really expect it to have some sort of sleek, metallic packaging? Frankly, I think Maybelline could've made the packaging for their Dream Bouncy Blushes more similar to this. Packaging for Pink Punch is a pink twist up tube with a clear cap with big, bold yellow letters that spell out the name of the product. It's a dynamic and eye catching color combo. Maybelline gives you 4 grams of product. That's tons! Scroll it up, and the stick of balm is nearly two inches tall. For the 6 or so weeks I've had this product, and I've been using it a lot, I've barely made a dent in the product, so one Baby Lips will last you a good while. Value Win. You know what else is a win about Baby Lips? The texture. It's the perfect texture for a balm. A little bit greasy, but in a good way. On the lips it feels so silky and comfortable. Because of of how silky Baby Lips is,it applies very easily. It glides right on with no effort at all. The color of Pink Punch is really cute. A bright, yellow pink with a sheer, satiny finish. Though this balm is sheer, it is buildable, and Pink Punch can be layered, and becomes a bright, light pink. Honestly, when layered, I think Pink Punch has a little better color way off than my Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter. Wear time for this balm is ok. I get about half an hour to 40 minutes of glossiness, and about two hours of color and moisture. Good for a balm, much better than a chapstick. Not quite as long lasting as a Revlon Lip Butter though. So does Maybelline Baby Lips really have clinical strength moisturizers that give you better looking, more supple lips? Yes. After using my Color Burst Lip Butter for a while, my lips became intensely chapped, dry, and painful, and within two days of using this balm, my lips started to heal. Within 5 days my lips were near completely healed. It was kinda amazing. My lips feel much smoother and deeply moisturized, and most importantly, healthy, since I've started using this product. Pink Punch as a light, delicate fruity flavor and scent. It's pleasant but subtle, so it shouldn't bother you if you're sensitive to lip scents. So do I recommend Maybelline Baby Lips? Hecks yes I does. I prefer them over the Revlon Lip Butters in both moisture, color, and value. I feel like these little lip balms are so underrated and over looked. While Baby Lips don't have the class, style, and color selection Revlon Butters and L'Oreal Color Riche Balms do, it makes up for it with value and moisture. I hope you pick a Baby Lip balm up next time you hit your local drugstore, your lips will love you for it. This is a definite repurchase for me. I may even pick up another shade, for variety's sake. This is my go-to lip product, so a backup can't hurt. I <3 this lip balm. :3

It's ok if you like the colors.

Wet n' Wild's Pride Palette is one of the recently discontinued, but still available Color Icon 6 pan palettes. Pride contains three shades, a white, a green-turquoise, and a navy, in both matte and shimmer finishes. I'm unsure of the exact retail price, but I believe it goes for about $3.50-4. I won this palette as a giveaway prize from <a href='http://delabelle-k.blogspot.com/' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://delabelle-k.blogspot.com/</a>. Wet n' Wild claims that these shadows are highly pigmented and are "all day crease proof". These shadows were made in China. Wet n' Wild does not test on animals. Like all Color Icon palettes, Pride comes in a cheap, flimsy black palette with a clear, flip up lid. A small brush and sponge tip applicator were included. I tossed the brush right away, but the sponge tip is ok for packing color on. Despite being cheaply packaged, I like the lay out of this palette. The shadows are small squares with spiral-y design pressed onto them them. The shadows come in two vertical rows, the left, being matte, the right being the corresponding shimmery shades. I'm not going to review each shadow individually, but I will review and compare the matte and shimmer formulations. Swatches of all the shadows can be seen here. The matte shades in Pride aren't up to par with my expectations from Wet n' Wild shadows. By no means are they poor shadows, compared to it's drugstore competitors, these shadows are still top notch. However, they don't have the same softness as other Wet n' Wild shadows. They have a much harder, stiffer texture. They're decently pigmented, but no exceptionally so. They go on a little bit patchy, and you have to pat the color on to get true to pan pay off. I'll reiterate that they're good shadows, just not what I expect from Wet n' Wild. The shimmer shadows vary in texture. The shimmery white shade is no where near as pigmented as it's matte counterpart. It also has a chunkier texture. It's the weak link in the Pride palette, in my opinion. The navy and turquoise shades make up for it with their soft, smooth texture and rich pigmentation. They can cause a little fall out though. All six eyeshadows stand up to Wet n' Wild's all-day, crease free promise. They don't fade significantly. Despite not having the same textures and color pay off as the shadows in the 3 and 8 pan Color Icon palettes, the quality is nearly just as good. I'm not a big fan of Pride's color selection. There is so little variation between the matte and shimmer shades. And there isn't really much variety in the looks you can create with white, turquoise, and navy. I'd appreciate this palette more if Wet n' Wild gave more variation in color. Aside from lacking variety, and the flimsy packaging, Pride is a good drugstore palette if you like bright, but deep colors. The shadows aren't quite as epic as the rest of Wet n' Wild's Color Icon line, but that's probably why they got discontinued, so Wet n' Wild can reformulate, and when they do, the shadows will be fantastic. That being said, I wouldn't repurchase Pride. The colors just aren't for me, and I rarely reach for it. If you can still find this palette at your drugstore, and the colors appeal to you, snatch it before its too late, but otherwise, skip it.

Affordable Glitter Glue and Mixing Medium

Hard Candy's Show Girl's Secret is a liquid glitter "glue" meant to be used with Hard Candy's Show Girl glitters, which I have not tried. Hard Candy is a former high end brand that can now only be purchased at Walmart. How the mighty have fallen. This product is made in the USA and is not tested on animals. I retails for $5 for .86 fl oz and includes a brush. Show Girl's Secret comes in a clear, hard plastic bottle with what I think is a metal, pink cap. Actually it might be that really hard plastic with a metallic lacquer on it. It's probably that. Either way, it's pink. The cap features the Hard Candy logo and a small heart, which is a cute detail. The bottle features a stylized version of the Las Vegas sign, featuring the words "Show Girl's Secret". Packaging is pretty cute, though some argue it's functionality. The top of the bottle has a dropper. A lot of people complain that they have a hard time getting product out, but I've developed a technique. The key is to hold the bottle at an angle and give it a small flick. This'll dispense one perfect drop. Maybe this is the Show Girl's other secret. Either way, my technique is fool proof. You're meant to put a few drops and mix the glitter in there, or directly dip the brush into the dropper hole. Either way isn't particularly hygienic, but it is a great way to get a ton of glitter into the liquid, forever contaminating it. I much prefer to put a drop of Show Girl's Secret directly onto your brush, and going from there. I'll warn you that this'll stiffen the bristles of your brush if you let it dry that way, but a quick rinse will fix it. Hard Candy included a small brush with Show Girl's Secret. It's pretty useful for applying glitter as a liner. The brush is pink, with pink, stiff bristles that come to a point. It's quite small, and I tend to lose it in my brush jar. Show Girl's Secret is a clear, thin liquid that looks like water and has about the same viscosity. To be fair it's pretty much just a mix of water and a few types of alcohol. Something more DIY oriented girls might want to make at home. Straight out of the bottle it feels just like water, but as it dries it develops a slight stickiness, and thickens. It eventually dries down to a glue like residue, there's a bit on the side of my bottle, its kinda gross. Used to adhere glitter, Show Girl's Secret works pretty well, but not how I expected. I expected a denser, more solid application of glitter. I guess I watch too much xSparkage. This glitter glue gives a much better application of glitter, and makes the process much less messy. It doesn't entirely prevent fall out, but it prevents a majority of it. I need two coats of glitter to get my desired effect. Though I don't see any mention of it on the label, I assume Show Girl's Secret can also be used as a mixing medium for pigments and the like. I love using it for this because it gives a beautiful foiled effect. However it can cause the pigment to get kinda bunchy and hard to work with if you don't use enough glue. It's something you have to play around with. Show Girl's Secret is only an application aid, it doesn't make shadows or glitters last longer. If you touch glitter you applied with this glitter glue, it'll still come off. You also still need to use a primer for your shadows or glitters. I get a lot of use out of Show Girl's Secret, more than I thought I would. It vastly improves the application of glitter while decreasing fall out, and it works great as a foiling agent. This was my first Hard Candy product, and it has me interested in trying more. It was also my first glitter glue, so forgive me if this wasn't the best review for it. I definitely recommend Show Girl's Secret if you're looking for an affordable glitter glue or mixing medium.This is the only one I know of from the drugstore level. I'll likely repurchase this product, it gets the job done for a good price.

Not so good, unless you wanna look like Kesha

NYX's Black Sparkle is a cruelty-free, hypoallergenic eyeshadow. This shadow was manufactured in China. NYX Can be purchased at <a href='http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/</a>, <a href='http://www.cherryculture.com/' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>http://www.cherryculture.com/</a>, Ulta, and select drugstores and e-tailers. I purchased this shadow at Ulta for $4.99 for 2.5g of product. NYX Single shadows come in small, black, square compacts. These compacts are quite durable and are recyclable. The small size, and clear window at the top of the flip up lid make these shadows easy to store. I love NYX packaging, because they've mastered making packaging that's cute, functional, sleek, and sturdy. NYX Eyeshadows are some of my favorites, but unfortunately, Black Sparkle is an exception. The formulation is quite different than the usual. Black Sparkle has a much more powdery texture, and is no where near as densely packed as your average NYX shadow. Because of the powdery texture, coupled with chunky glitter that isn't pressed into the shadow well, Black Sparkle is difficult to work with, and causes a ton of fallout. If you're super careful with your application, you only get glitter fall out, but chances are you're going to have grey cheeks when you use this. This isn't a problem I've had with NYX shadows before. Black Sparkle has very poor color pay off as well, once again, this stems from the powdery texture. In the pan, Black Sparkle looks like a rich, blue tinged black with tons of silver glitter. Once applied, Black Sparkle is more of a muted, sheer grey that can be built up slightly, but not without the risk of intense amounts of fall out. Black Sparkle may not be black, but it is sparkly.Very pretty in the pan. However, the silver glitter isn't bound well into the shadow and falls straight to your cheeks. It's nothing that a little scotch tape can't fix, but still, I expect better from NYX. Black Sparkle doesn't crease when worn over a primer, but it does fade significantly. This is the first product by NYX that I've been truly disappointed by. I expect better texture, pigmentation and wear from them. I'm tempted to think I've got a bad shadow, but I've read other poor reviews on Black Sparkle. Unless you want to go for a Ke$ha-esque look, I'd skip this shadow, and go for another one of NYX's 160+ shades.