People and Posts that I'm Loving

New Favorite Youtuber or Blogger

This blogger isn't new to be actually but someone I recently rediscovered. Beauty and the BS is a blog written by the witty Rowena, a former cosmetics industry insider. She's the source for inside views on topics like why companies will discontinue your favorite shades and their efforts to release new products to convince you to buy them. She goes into what really goes into the statistics behind product claims and the definition of "difference" when it comes to how well your product works.

I love the writing style, how she peels back the layer of cosmetics industry intrigue and lays it all out bare. You'll find out who REALLY makes your lip and eye pencils along with what mascaras are really like.

Take the time to look through her popular posts, it will enlighten you about what you're really putting on your face.

Posts You Must Read

Why do these Jill Stuart Cosmetics look so enticing?

I really loved this look for fall, even though we're edging on into winter!

I love this series because finding MAC dupes is always a positive thing.

It's never too late to do a Sugar Skull Mask.

Do you have any recommendations for videos and posts I should look at?

*CLOSED*December Giveaway #1: Win A Sugarpill Afterparty Pressed Eyeshadow

Every Monday in December I'll be having a small giveaway for you guys. If you don't recall, I went to a big beauty event called The Beauty Social a little while ago and got an amazing gift bag. Well a couple things I got in the bag have been woefully unused so I thought you guys might want to benefit from that.

The first item I'm giving away is a Sugarpill Pressed Eyeshadow in Afterparty. This is brand new and unused! Afterparty is described as a bright turquoise with a semi-pearly sheen. If you didn't pick up this shade during Sugarpill's Black Friday sale, you can enter to win this!



Rules

Sorry but this giveaway/sweepstakes is only open to US only! If you enter, you must be the age of majority in your state. You must leave your email address in the comment box, just write it out in this fashion- blah blah at gmail dot com to cut down on spam. Comment each time you do an entry; I won't count additional entries if they're all in one comment. You can leave your email address in the first comment you make though!

Mandatory entry(1 entry in the giveaway): You must be a follower on GFC. Leave a comment telling me if you've ever tried Sugarpill and what is/would be your favorite product from them? Don't forget to leave your email address!

Optional Entry(Gives an additional entry): Follow me on twitter- @Maimaimaiii and leave your twitter username.

Optional Entry(You get an entry for each day you retweet this): "Follow .@Maimaimaiii and RT to enter to win a Sugarpill Afterparty Eyeshadow bit.ly/rsviUt". Since it's a daily entry, come back and leave a comment each time you do it with the url of the tweet!

By entering, you're agreeing to the Official Rules. There's no purchase necessary and it ends December 11th, midnight PST. Retail value of the prize is $12. I'll be emailing the winner and if you don't respond within 72 hours of my email, I will be picking a new winner. I'll be picking the winner randomly using Random.com Void where prohibited by law. This product isn't sponsored by Sugarpill.

Wet n Wild I Heart Matte Eyeshadow Palette: Swatches and Review

Unlike another company I know *cough cough Urban Decay*, when consumers asked for a matte palette, Wet n Wild delivered! It's unfortunately limited edition but I'm hoping demand will have them change their minds and make a permanent version.

I had hoped to get this posted earlier but hopefully some of you will still be able to find this or swap for this!

This palette retails for $4.99 for 8.5 grams of product, a little over a gram of each color. This means each color costs about 59 cents, not bad eh?

Lets get down to swatching. As always, these were swatched over e.l.f. Mineral Primer. I swatched down each column so the order is Browbone, Eyelid, Crease, Definer.


Close up of the first column


Browbone: This is a creamy matte white. I loved the pigmentation, it was soft but ever so slightly powdery. Be sure to pat it on and you can get an opaque white.

Eyelid: This is a bright spring green. It is a little darker in person. It was probably the best eyeshadow out of the palette. Soft, pigmented, not too powdery and applied so so well.

Crease: This is a satin royal blue with a bit of a sheen. This is probably my second favorite eyeshadow out of the palette and I'm not even in a bright colors mood. It does have subtle sparkles in it.

Definer: This is a red toned purple with slight sparkles. This was the worst one of the bunch, but it's a purple so it's not a big surprise. It felt very dry and I had to work to get pigmentation out of it.

Close up of the second column

Browbone: A creamy beige, perfect for a highlight. I thought this looked similar to the ColorIcon single Brulee so I did a comparison later in the entry.

Eyelid: A terracotta peach/orange. Nice texture and good pigmentation.

Crease: A dark brown with the slightest hint of a sheen. Pigmented with good texture.

Definer: A dark black, also with the slightest hint of a sheen. Pigmented with an excellent texture.

I feel like there's not much I can say about them because they're just good eyeshadows with the exception of the purple. The white, green, blue, and beige had nice soft textures compared to the rest. I'm glad that there's a nice mix of neutral eyeshadows with brighter colors!

TL;DR Review: Excellent eyeshadows, ignore the purple and get this!

Looking through my other Wet n Wild palettes, I didn't find a lot of overlap. I looked at my Lust palette but the purples weren't similar. The most similar item was Wet n Wild's Brulee eyeshadow.

The I Heart Matte Browbone Shade on the left, Brulee on the right.


I think Brulee may be the tiniest bit lighter but it's a subtle difference and they both have creamy soft shadows.

I was a little disappointed in the packaging though. The hinge on my palette was missing the metal barrel inside to attach the lid to the rest of the packaging. I can still open and close the palette like normal but it was a little annoying you know?

Please pick this up, it's an excellent matte eyeshadow palette and I'm glad to see a drugstore company do more mattes!

Paperdoll Plums EOTD

Here's a quick purple eye I did with Paperdoll, a color I recently got in a group share on Facebook. I really like the color but it takes work to make it show up well. I also like the color of Poison Plum but it always stains my skin pink afterwards, even over a primer. Oh well, the price I pay for to have pretty purple eyes.



Eyes:
e.l.f. Mineral Eye Primer
Darling Girl Glitter Glue
Sugarpill Paperdoll
Sugarpill Poison Plum
Physicians Formula Eye Booster Liner in Ultra Black