One Direction Makeup: Take Me Home Collection

*Press Sample from BrandBacker* Hey everyone! You have probably seen these kits floating around on different blogs, but I just received the One Direction Box Makeup Set in the variation Take Me Home, which is out now, and retails for $28.50 at Macy's and Dillard's.

Granted, I am not the target audience for this kit, but for the purposes of this review, I will keep on my beauty blogger hat and put on my One-Directioner fangirl hat (which is made up). First of all, I was impressed with the packaging. The tin is metal and has a brick pattern on it. There is a plastic sleeve with a picture of all of the boys and their autographs. Upon opening the kit, everything is boxed neatly and there is a look card that can help with makeup application.

For the price, there is a fair amount of makeup. You get a Stencil kit with 5 different patterns, a nail polish, a lipstick, a lip gloss, an eye shadow palette, a mascara, and a eye pencil!

Last First Kiss: This is the lipstick. It is a creamy light sheer pink. It is less pigmented than I expected from the bullet and is housed in a square case embossed with the brick pattern. It has a light, sweet smell but only lasts about an hour.

Kiss You: This is my favorite product from the kit. It is a UV gloss which glows under black light (perfect for teen parties? What do those young ones do these days? Haha) but is a very pretty orange with yellow and blue sparkles. Cool!

I Wish: A chubby eye pencil. This is VERY creamy, which I like but also don't. It is a chocolate brown with no shimmer. Unfortunately, it is a bit too creamy and needs to be set with a powder for it to work on my oily lids.

This is the eye shadow palette, which includes 4 shadows and 1 cream shadow. 

Back For You: This is a matte cream color. It is a little chalky, but blends nicely on the eye.

Change My Mind: My favorite color in the set! It is a peach with shimmer that has nice pigmentation.

C'Mon C'Mon: Is a gray/dark taupe that is a nice blending shade

Little Things: Lacked pigmentation. A miss for me

Take Me Home: This is a cream glitter that is gold and a bit patchy, but younger makeup lovers will find this fun. I am a bit over the glitter thing now.

The Little Black Dress Mascara: (cute name!) has a slightly off-putting smell. I wasn't going to put it on my lashes, but decided to throw caution to the wind because I like this brush. No negative reaction or anything. Nice dark color and good separation but nothing spectacular. Will probably throw this out just because of the smell.

I do like the natural look it gave to my lashes though! 

The stencils are meant to be used with the cream shadow stick, but I find it too creamy to get nice lines. These are fun if you want to look like Ke$ha or whatever.

I love the way the eye shadows look and the lip gloss is in my rotation now.

Overall:

From my perspective, the set was hit or miss. I think it is MUCH better quality makeup than I expected and the packaging was cute. There is a lot of fun stuff to play with.

From a parent buying this for my kid's perspective: This is a great set (particularly the Take Me Home coloring which is more neutral. There is a blue set that is more out there). The eye shadows are impossible to overdo, the lip products are easy to wear, and there are fun extras along with the packaging. Mostly good quality that I would feel fine with my child wearing.

From a One Directioner perspective: I would want this SO BAD. One of every color. The packaging is collectable, I like how everything has a fun name (which you don't even see in some high end brands) that fans can relate to the songs, and the stencils would be fun to mess around with. A great holiday gift for sure!

What do you think of the One Direction "Take Me Home" Kit?

Check it out here!!

Exuviance #PeelChallenge

*Powered By BrandBacker*   Sometimes brands send you things. And sometimes they aren't what they told you they would send. Brandbacker was going to send me the Exuviance Illumination Duo, but instead I received two samples of their Performance Peel with the Evening Restorative Complex, which is in the Illumination Duo. Regardless, I was really excited to try the peels, but because I am leaving so soon on my big adventure and didn't want my face to accidentally react badly to a peel, I tried it on my hands first. Let me walk you through the process.

This peel is supposed to be extremely gentle and Exuviance is a brand that I trust, so I wasn't too worried, but I have always stuck by the rule of the patch test, which is what I did on my hand with one pack.

The first pack is the Activator Pad, which is a small circular pad drenched in the solution. You apply to clean dry skin and you can leave on up to ten minutes or until you see any irritation. I left mine on for five.

Then apply Step 2, the Neutralizer Pad, on top of the wet Activator Pad solution. This solution is more watery, and you should immediately rinse with water after rubbing this in. 

Here is the peel on my hand. My skin got a bit red but nothing hurt or stung.

I then applied the Evening Restorative Complex, which is supposed to soothe and improve skin texture and appearance. It is light and soaks into the skin quickly with a light almost aloe fragrance.

Here is my hand after rubbing in the Restorative Complex. Now I can't stop touching my hands! They are so so soft and hydrated and I had no negative reaction to this peel, so I am going to have a spa day and use it on my face for a nice glow. 

According to Exuviance, this peel can be used daily because it is that gentle and it retails for $52. It is definitely something I will look into when I see my skin starting to get more fine lines because I love the immediate results!

*Update* Have successfully used on face with fab results!!

And Exuviance is now carried at Ulta, or you can buy direct Here!

Have you taken the #PeelChallenge?

BA Star 5-Pan Eye Shadow Palette in Spice Natural: Review and Swatches

I've talked about BA Star Cosmetics here before and now, thanks to Brandbacker, I have a chance to introduce you to my favorite product from this brand.
For those of you not familiar, BA Star is an affordable brand that curates their collections around cheerleader, dancer, and performer needs. But considering the most strenuous thing I do is Zumba, I don't need my makeup to last through a sweat-session. However, the long-wear BA Star provides for athletes means that my makeup is going to last through a hot day easily.

This palette is called 'Spicy Natural' and is one of BA Star's 5 pan high pigment palettes. I also recieved a sample of their Body Shimmer Base (which is an allover glitter primer). These palettes retail for $8.75 on their website: http://bastar.com. The packaging is plastic, thin, and rounded, which makes it easy to store. My gold/yellow shadow came a bit chipped but I don't mind at all. It was nothing major, just kicked up some of the fallout you see in the pan. It also comes with a double-sided eye brush (one else a brush, the other a sponge tip).

These shadows have a creamy texture and I recommend patting them on instead of swiping, and then you can blend. Blending does fade them a bit, but they can easily be built back up to the desired pigment. The first three colors are a beige, a gorgeous orange/bronze, and a deep cocoa. They are all extremely shimmery.

The last two colors add the 'spice' to this palette: a plummy purple and a yellow/gold. 

Here are all of the shadows without any primer. Decent pigmentation. Average fallout, but nothing that ruins your look or you can't brush away. 

But...it gets better!

With a thin layer of the BA Star Body Shimmer Base underneath and much less of the eyeshadow, the results are spectacular. Just pat on to well-primed eyes and you get luxurious, almost 'foiled', looking color. I am so loving that purple!

Wear time is great. Lasts the whole day on me! (so 12+ hours) There is some minor glitter fallout throughout the day if I am in a rush and missed a tiny spot during priming because these really perform their best when held to the skin with a base. 

On the eyes, they are very, very glittery, but a wash of the beige on my brown bone is subtle enough for some daytime sparkle!

Every time I try BA Star products, I honestly like them more and more!

Studio Gear Hydrating CC Cream SPF 20 in Linen: Swatches, Thoughts, and Review

This is my first CC Cream ever! So, naturally, I was so excited to try it when I received the Studio Gear Hydrating CC Cream in Linen for testing purposes through Brandbacker.  I am already familiar with and like Studio Gear, and because the weather is starting to warm up in California, a CC Cream would be a nice break from foundation on the weekends.

Studio Gear Hydrating CC Cream SPF 20 in Linen retails for $34 (again, my sample was powered by Brandbacker). There are three shades: Linen, Natural, and Wheat. Linen is the lightest and this also has an SPF of 20. Here is a little bit about the product: "Hydrating CC Cream transforms and enhances your complexion in an incredibly light, smooth formula. This foundation simultaneously fights aging, retains moisture, and covers and treats blemishes with a non-oily, perfectly radiant finish".

Key Benefits:

"Prevents fine lines and wrinkles with collagen-building ingredients
Restores skin elasticity by promoting moisture retention
Brightens and illuminates skin with a non-oily, complete coverage application".
Do I agree with these claims made by Studio Gear? Yes...I do...from what I have tested so far.
This CC Cream is very hydrating and my skin feels good, but not oily, when wearing it, which is great because my t-zone is prone to being oily. It is also radiant and has that light, smooth formula . I do feel my skin is illuminated, but the coverage is very very light for me. It does not cover my acne well.
If you have a flawless face, this is all you need, but I needed to set this with a bit of powder to have more coverage, which is fine, because it is still lighter than foundation!
I cannot comment on the treating of acne or the preventing of fine lines and wrinkles because I have not tested it long enough to see long term results. However, I can say it has not aggravated any blemishes of mine further.

This is the first stage of the CC Cream--- (and this is about enough for a full face): Goes on white with little granules in it that produce the color.

Above it is smoothed out and rubbed in half way.

Sorry the picture is a bit blurry, but the tone is accurate. This is the CC Cream on my skin. Matches my skin well (maybe a bit too yellow right now, but will be perfect in summer---keep in mind I am VERY fair) and as you can see it minimizes redness but does not fully cover acne. You can layer on problem areas, but the overall effect is just dewy, healthy skin.

I can be into that...I need to let go of my fear of people seeing my skin anyway. Maybe Studio Gear CC Cream will help me with that!

Overall: Great product...and for my first CC Cream, I am surprised at how much I like it. It does smell like sunscreen, which does not bother me. Also, if you are very fair, like me...this is a good summer product but may be too dark for winter skin. Everyone else...go for it!

Want one for yourself...check it out at Studio Gear's website!

To help you try it out...or anything else from Studio Gear, the brand and Brandbacker has given me a discount code for you guys!

Reader Discount: 10% Off
Reader Discount Code: bloggercc

Happy CC-ing!

Studio Gear Holiday Palette Swatches, Review, and Look

*Sponsored Post: Powered by Studio Gear and Brandbacker*Hey everyone! Can you believe we are right on the cusp of December? With the holiday season looming before us with all of its festivities, parties, and good eats in store, your makeup has to be ready to match the glam of the winter season.I was given the opportunity to test the new Studio Gear Holiday Palette ($25), which includes 4 eye shadows in the perfect holiday colors and one blush (which in my opinion is worth the price of the whole palette).

The palette comes in a slim, small cardboard container with a step by step-how to on the fold out of how to create a holiday smokey eye. The shadows and blush do not have names, but clockwise from top left, I will give you descriptions:A frosty cream white, a little patchy, performs much better on the eyeA dark, sparkly black. Perfect crease colorA beige gold which can also be used as a highlighterA shimmery medium grey, perfect all over lid colorBlush: Bright pink with gold shimmer

The outside sleeve of the palette is festive and looks like holiday lights. Pretty! Got me in the mood to decorate instantly!

This is my first experience with Studio Gear. I like the sturdiness of the packaging and the clean layout of the products. You get a lot of product here and everything coordinates well. There isn't that one color that is 'off'.

The texture of the shadows is buttery and smooth, but they don't swatch well on hands...luckily they perform much better on the eyes, which is where they are meant to be anyway. This gives you an idea of the colors. All are sparkly or shimmery, so if you like mattes, this is not the palette for you. But hey, its the season to be glimmery! 

The blush was my favorite part. Smooth, easy to blend, and this brilliant pinky-orange with a hint of gold. Gorgeous! A great compliment to the smokey eye look that this palette creates. Careful though, a little goes a long way. This is super pigmented!

I created a very simple look with this palette in under five minutes to show you that holiday glamour can be as easy as can be! I took the silver shade and applied it all over the lid, blended the black into the crease very lightly, added the cream on my brow bone, and lit the inner corner with the gold highlighter. You can see a hint of the blush on my cheeks here too!

Here is an up close. Sorry my lashes are so wonky (I took a nap before I did this look and they are a little smushed). A smokey eye doesn't have to be intense and black, and you can use the shades in this palette to create looks ranging from day to night easily!

Get the palette here: HERE

And because Studio Gear is so awesome, they have given my readers 10% off any purchase!

Use discount code: SGHOLIDAY

Do you love studio gear? Have you tried this palette? They are having good Black Friday deals too so go and shop your little heart out!

Studio Gear Holiday Palette Swatches, Review, and Look

*Sponsored Post: Powered by Studio Gear and Brandbacker* Hey everyone! Can you believe we are right on the cusp of December? With the holiday season looming before us with all of its festivities, parties, and good eats in store, your makeup has to be ready to match the glam of the winter season. I was given the opportunity to test the new Studio Gear Holiday Palette ($25), which includes 4 eye shadows in the perfect holiday colors and one blush (which in my opinion is worth the price of the whole palette).

The palette comes in a slim, small cardboard container with a step by step-how to on the fold out of how to create a holiday smokey eye. The shadows and blush do not have names, but clockwise from top left, I will give you descriptions: A frosty cream white, a little patchy, performs much better on the eye A dark, sparkly black. Perfect crease color A beige gold which can also be used as a highlighter A shimmery medium grey, perfect all over lid color Blush: Bright pink with gold shimmer

The outside sleeve of the palette is festive and looks like holiday lights. Pretty! Got me in the mood to decorate instantly!

This is my first experience with Studio Gear. I like the sturdiness of the packaging and the clean layout of the products. You get a lot of product here and everything coordinates well. There isn't that one color that is 'off'.

The texture of the shadows is buttery and smooth, but they don't swatch well on hands...luckily they perform much better on the eyes, which is where they are meant to be anyway. This gives you an idea of the colors. All are sparkly or shimmery, so if you like mattes, this is not the palette for you. But hey, its the season to be glimmery! 

The blush was my favorite part. Smooth, easy to blend, and this brilliant pinky-orange with a hint of gold. Gorgeous! A great compliment to the smokey eye look that this palette creates. Careful though, a little goes a long way. This is super pigmented!

I created a very simple look with this palette in under five minutes to show you that holiday glamour can be as easy as can be! I took the silver shade and applied it all over the lid, blended the black into the crease very lightly, added the cream on my brow bone, and lit the inner corner with the gold highlighter. You can see a hint of the blush on my cheeks here too!

Here is an up close. Sorry my lashes are so wonky (I took a nap before I did this look and they are a little smushed). A smokey eye doesn't have to be intense and black, and you can use the shades in this palette to create looks ranging from day to night easily!

Get the palette here: HERE

And because Studio Gear is so awesome, they have given my readers 10% off any purchase!

Use discount code: SGHOLIDAY

Do you love studio gear? Have you tried this palette? They are having good Black Friday deals too so go and shop your little heart out!

The Stay-All-Day and Then Some Perfect Holiday Red with BA Star

 **Press Sample** Powered by BrandBacker, I was able to have another try with BA Star Cosmetics, and just like the first time, I was not disappointed. BA Star is makeup formulated for the stage, cheer, and dance competitions, which means it has incredible staying power and vibrant color. 

 Being somewhat of a red lip connoisseur over here...when I got the opportunity to try the BA Star Holiday Red Lip Pencil, I nearly jumped for joy! 

  The Holiday Red Lip Pencil retails for $8.75 and I am telling you...it is worth every penny and then some. This baby stays ALL DAY. I am talking I need to scrub it to get off...which is great because I love my red lip to stay strong and not feather or fade through even the toughest days in Grad School. 

 The color on this is a true, vibrant red...although it looks a little deeper on the pencil. The pencil is thicker, but not too chubby, and you can line lips and fill them in easily. It needs a sharpener, but it applies creamy and even has a light vanilla smell. Love it! 

 It takes a lot for me to be really impressed by a red lipstick nowadays, seeing as I have a drawer full...but the wearing power, lovely texture, vibrant color, cheap price tag, and lack of feathering will make BA Star's Holiday Red Lip Pencil a permanent fixture in my rotation! 

 

And because BA Star, BrandBacker, and I want you to try it out as well...there is a code for you lovely readers! Reader Discount: 50% Off
Reader Discount Code: BBLIPS So grab one for you and one for a friend! Perfect Christmas gifts! Also, check out all of their other cosmetics here: http://bastar.com