The Summer Palette That Will Only Set You Back A Fiver

 

Hey Pandas!

Before I get into this review, I want to thank you all for the birthday wishes and support while I was in NYC recently! I am thankful for all of the positivity that Pretty Panda brings into my life and am glad to still be writing on this blog!

Now, enough of the mushy stuff. I know a lot of brands are releasing their summer palettes and shades right now and trust me...I want them all! But until you can afford one of those high-end ones, if you are on a budget like myself, tide yourself over with this little gem from Essence Cosmetics.

Essence has a line of palettes called 'All About...' and they retail for $4.99.  The one I have is called 'All About Paradise' and I found it in a summery Essence display at Ulta. There was also one called 'All About Sunrise', which had some neutrals and a pretty yellow, but of course I had to go with this one for all of the colors!

There are 6 pans in each palette. The top row contains a shimmery cream color, an orange/peach, and a hot pink. The bottom row contains a slightly greenish yellow, a teal, and a shimmery navy.

These are swatches over a thin layer of primer. Realistically, I never go without eye primer, so this is the intensity that will show up on my lids. I think for the price the quality is there. I love all the shades and they are easy to work with except for the navy, which pulls patchy and is a bit dry. It takes a bit of work to get right, but it won't stop me from using it.

Above are light swatches of the navy, cream, and teal without primer. Pigmentation without primer is only okay, as you can see, but there is potential to create a wash/watercolor effect if you choose not to wear primer. But pandas, you should be wearing primer! (I have my eye on the new UD Enigma for my next one!).

Here is a quick look I created with the peach shade in my inner corner, yellow in the middle of the eye, and the hot pink in the crease and slight outer corner. I blended everything with the cream shade. Wear time was 9 hours no creasing with primer and they were easy to blend. I do recommend a sticky or white base or at least a primer and a dense brush to really get vibrant results. I got tons of compliments!

For five bucks, you can't go wrong with Essence. They aren't the best eyeshadow formula ever, but they blow the water out of the NYX square shadows and Revlon, for sure! If you don't want to make a spendy commitment to bright colors, this is for you!

Flirt! Plushious Liquid Velvet Lipcolor: Swatches and Review

*Product gifted to me by a lovely friend* I haven't tried Flirt! Cosmetics, which are found at Khol's. I think I may have had a lip gloss from them years ago, but not anything after they reformulated their line. 

The Plushious Liquid Velvet Lipcolor formula is non-sticky and thinner than I would have thought. 

The shade So Naughty is a deep raspberry color in the swatch, but is slightly lighter on the lips. It has a yummy sweet scent and normally retails for almost $14 (why is Flirt! so expensive??) but is on sale for $6.75 right now, which is a perfect price-point.

This color is a great everyday color and I really like the feeling of it on my lips. It wears well for about 4-5 hours before requiring a touch up and fades well. I am pretty impressed with my first foray into Flirt! and I find myself reaching for this often in my purse.

Have you tried out Flirt! since they apparently re-invented themselves?

NYX Lip Primer: Quick Review

I love the idea of universal lip liners, but sometimes I can't be bothered to sit there and really line my lips. This is why NYX Lip Primer in Nude has become a must have cheap thrill in my makeup bag.

These are a relatively new product from NYX and come in two shades: Nude (pictured above) and Deep Nude. However, the Nude is practically colorless and works like an invisible lip liner that can be applied more like a creamy lip pencil. It saves me time and sometimes even a look in the mirror on the go because it covers the whole lip surface with little effort and won't tug or pull.

After the first use, which seemed to get rid of the 'film' I am finding so many products have now, this turns into a creamy almost-balm that smooths onto your lips, takes out just a bit of color from them (which makes your lip product of choice more true to color) and primes.

 This is a twist up product and retails for $7. I have tried it with a number of lipsticks: UD Revolution, Lancome, Rimmel, Maybelline, and NYX so far, and it extends the wear by at least two hours. It also helped make my tricky matte Lorac lipsticks easier to wear!

This swatch shows a large patch of slightly pinky, but otherwise colorless, primer. It melts into the skin and onto the lips and is very comfortable. This isn't a miracle product, but when I can turn 4 hour wear into 6-7 hour wear with minimized feathering/running, I am happy. Especially since it means no trying to line my lips, a skill which I do not have.

Do you have a favorite lip primer?