Pro Kit: Mac Pro Palettes and Inserts

I really have been working on my kit and I purchased some Mac Pro Palettes and inserts to really stream line my lipsticks and foundations. Cream products are great for makeup artists because you can put them in palettes instead of carrying around 30 different lipsticks tubes or 10 different foundation bottles. The process of de-potting or de-tubing is pretty messy so I didn't take any process pictures but I have re-organized all my lipsticks and foundations. I am really happy with the whole process and I wanted to share it with you guys.

The Mac Palettes are really decently priced. I looked at other brands and there palettes were 40 to 35 dollars while I spent 16 for the palette and the insert. All mac palettes are empty and then you buy inserts that click inside. There are a range of different inserts for different functions. I bought the 24 well insert and the twelve well insert for cream products. I bought two palettes, the doubled sided and the single.

For the single palette I put in the 24 well insert for my lipsticks. The wells in the 24 insert are very shallow and are for lipsticks and concealers. The reviews on the Mac website told me that they would only hold about 1/3 of a lipstick which was true. Personally this wasn't a problem for me because I was taking de-tubed lipsticks and putting them in the palette. The single palette has a clear top so you can see what goodies are inside. 

For the double palettes I put in two 12 inserts. The 12 wells are very deep and are able to fit entire NYX Mineral Stick Foundation but only a little bit of my ELF stick foundation. The process of putting foundation into the wells was so messy and the palette looks kind of gross. But this is about function not esthetic.

If you are looking to consolidate your kit or your personal collection I would definitely recommend getting these palettes. I am not sure if you can buy these in store. I purchased mine online and they came so fast all wrapped up in perfection.

NYX Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer . . . So Amazing

I am a concealer junkie. I love concealer because it is a highly pigmented product that can be used in so many ways. When I am looking for a concealer I want something that can be doubled up as foundation. It needs to be creamy, highly pigmented and last all day. I also want a product where a little goes a long way. I purchased the NYX Above and Beyond concealer in November and really haven't stopped using it. My shade is in CJ01 Porcelain which is a lightest shade in the range with blue undertones.  

This concealer comes in a little jar that contains 18 M of product for 5 dollars. You really get a good amount of product for the price point. All NYX products are cruelty free and have the little bunny symbol on label. This concealer is advertised as being able to cover dark circles, blemishes and has a long wearing formula. I would agree with all of those statements. This is a creamy concealer that covers everything and sets to a long wearing powder finish.

I apply this concealer all over of my face with a brush and then I blend it in with either a foundation brush or a sponge. I like to set my face with a powder but if you have dry skin you could skip the powder. I couldn't say enough good things about this concealer.

My only problem is the color range. I was able to find my color but if you have dark skin this isn't the concealer for you. I wish NYX had better color ranges but they sadly don't. I picked up this product at Ulta but you can get it at Target.

New Drugstore Cream Eyeshadows From NYC

In general my local drugstores are understocked, messy and never get new releases but I was strolling through the isles and I came across new NYC cream eyeshadows. NYC is one of the most inexpensive drugstore brands. It isn't a huge brand and I only tend to find them in CVS. I think you can get it on the West Coast but I assume it is a mainly East Coast brand.  

NYC is a total hit and miss brand. Sometimes there products are amazing like NYC sunny bronzer while other products are abysmal. The whole line of cream eyeshadows are marketed as long wearing. The eyeshadows are called City Proof 24 hr Hydrofuge. The packaging on these are lovely. There have a large tip and twist up. The cap is really secure and you have to press it down and you know it is closed when her hear an audible click. 

The Two colors that I purchased are 610 Tribeca Taupe which is a purple/grey taupe with a satin finish. Unfortunately when I opened up the stick the shadow broke. However the tube is so deep that I just popped the broken part back in and it is still usable. The consistency is a little dry but it doesn't tug on the lids. The color is build-able but in general the pigmentation isn't out of this world. By no means is it as creamy as a NYC jumbo pencil or my Jordana jumbo pencil. The color pretty much disapears on the lid once you blend it out so I like using this as a base. 

The second color that I picked up is a matte black in 635 New York at Night. This pencil is creamy and make a great eyeliner or base for a smokey eye. For eyeliner I take an angled brush and sweep it on the tip and then apply it to my eye. As line it sets in place and is long wearing. 

There are a lot more colors in the range I think I might pick a few more up. 

Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette. . . Disappointing

I purchased this palette at the beginning of last year so I could play around and I have a one stop shop eyeshadow palette for my kit. The palette has 88 eyeshadows so I really took my time experimenting. Now after a year I am ready to review it.

I purchased this palette on Costalscents.com and it retails for around 17 dollars. I bought in on sale for a few dollars less during the a flash sale on the website. The palette is a sturdy matte black case with a mix of matte and shimmer eyeshadow. Each eyeshadow is the size of a dime and I did the math and each little pan contains .025 oz of shadow. That is basically nothing but because there are so many colors it is ok. The palette doesn't have much organization. The colors are grouped together pretty much randomly. Shimmers next to mattes and colors aren't really separated into families. In general I would say it is separated into loose sections . One with light whites colors, silver/grays, midtone peach/brown, purples, and browns. 

A lot of the shadows are very similar to each other. If you took away all of the repeats this palette really should have about 20 colors in it. The pigmentation in this palette is hit or miss even with a good base. The formulation isn't the same as the hot pots. Most of the shadows are powdery and just blend away into nothing. The dark colors matte colors are ok and some of the light highlight shades are nice. A few of the colors in the palette are really random there are two light pink shades and a blue color that isn't cohesive.

If you are looking for a great multipurpose neutral palette I would each great your own palette using the Hot Pots or buy one of the revealed palettes. If you are totally new to makeup and have no eyeshadows what so ever than I might suggest purchasing this. You can't really go wrong because the shades are so lightly pigmented.

I think I might deconstruct the palette and take out my favorite colors and put them in a z-palette. The palette is pretty large so it takes up a lot of space. I would rather make it more compact with the colors that have the best color pay off.  

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics My Tiny Collection

OCC has really blown up and I feel that 2014 was really their year. The liquid lipstick has become really popular and OCC had really lead that trend. OCC is a makeup artist brand and you can tell because of their amazing formulation and their packaging. The Lip Tars of course are their star product but I am really interested in trying out more products from their line. I have a few of their products and I wanted to share them with you.

My first purchase of OCC was of course Lip Tars. I wanted to be super adventurous and I got two really unusual colors. The texture of Lip Tars are a very thin gloss that dries matte on the lips. To be honest they are a little too watery for my taste but still pretty amazing. Because of the watery texture you have to apply these with a lip brush and I would recommend having a lipliner underneath. By no means is this an easy on the go product. If I am going to wear a Lip Tar then I want to sit down with good lighting and take my time applying. Lip Tars claim to be really long wearing but I find that to not be true. If you do any drinking or eating the color closest to the inside of your mouth will disappear. You do have to re-apply during the day which is such a hassle because you need a mirror and a lip brush.

Sebastian is a grey purple taupe that is surprisingly very flattering on the lips. With the right lipliner underneath it can take on a different undertone. I like to call this my dead mouth lipstick because when I wear it I feel like a beautiful corpse. My tips for pulling this off is to put it on top of a berry lipliner and to apply it in thin layers building your way up to an opaque finish.

Tarred is a matte black nothing special to it. This thing feathers so much you need a lipliner and you need to polish off your liners with a concealer. Tarred tends to separate into the black pigment and then this yellow oil that sits on the top. Because of the tube packaging you can't really re-mix it so when it comes out of the tube it can be a little nasty. I think that if you want black lips you want a more traditional lipstick. Tarred is such so watery and it gets messy. What I think Tarred is really great for is mixing. I will use it to darken a lipstick which is great because you can make endless colors with just two products.

My third OCC product that I have purchased is the Cosmetic Color Pencil in Black Dahlia. I bought Black Dahlia to wear under Sebastian and Tarred but the texture of the pencil is really disappointing. Cosmetic Color Pencils are made to be multifunctional so for eyes, lips and face. On the lips the pencil doesn't preform well. The product really tugs on the lips and goes on patch, if you have any dry or flakey spots on your lips the product will cling and be uneven. You could never wear this pencil alone of the lips it would look like a train wreck. I do think that this works better on the eyes because the color is even. If you are looking for a good pencil to use on your lips and eyes I would go for the NYX pencils. They are in the same format and they are a fraction of the price. The color is a straight up classic berry. This pencil costs 16 dollars .04 oz while the NYX is .04 oz for 3.50.

I think as a brand OCC is really nice because all of their products are vegan and cruelty free. But, I do feel that you can get other products for a better price. I do love the Lip Tars but I don't wear them daily. If you are interested in experiment with interesting colors and textures then I think OCC is a great choice.

Rimmel London Scandaleyes EyeShadow Paint

I picked up this cream eyeshadow a while ago but I never really used it. I know that when these came out maybe a year ago or so they were loved by the blogger community because they are so long wearing. These eyeshadows are advertised as long wearing paints with color impact that is waterproof and crease-proof for 8 hours. There are 9 shades total in the collection mostly neutrals nothing too colorful. 

The packaging for this product is standard lipgloss packing. The tube has a very flexible doe-foot applicator that is a magnet for the product. The shadow applies wet and then instantly sets in place which is a problem if you want to blend out the color in the crease or to soft edges. There is definitely a learning curve with this product. The minute you apply it on your lids you need to blend it out. If you wait too long it will set in place and when you go to blend it will flake off. 

If you are planning to use this shadow as a base I wouldn't recommend it. Once it sets the shadow is dry and powder products don't adhere to it. This product doesn't really work well with others. My favorite way to wear it is to apply it to my lid then quickly blend it up into my crease. I purchased Slate Grey because I wanted a product that would make a really easy smokey eye. The color is a really beautiful sparkly grey.