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!

Eye Looks with Coastal Scents Hot Pots

After testing for wear on all 12 colors, I created 4 eye looks with different colors from the hot pots I picked up.

The first look uses Canary Gold on the inner corner blended with Raisin Berry on the outer corner. I blended with Chamois Nude to highlight the middle of the eye.

This look lasted through an 8 hour workday in the current California heatwave with no issues. I did use UD primer.

This next eye look incorporates all of the blues. Please excuse my pinky allergy eyes---this photo was taken after a 10 hour work day! The inner corner is Gypsy Blue and then blended with Elven and Mazarine Blue.

To create this look I used Parisian Green in the crease and outer corner and St. Topaz in the inner corner and along my bottom lash line. Held up well for a full day, but as you can see the shadow migrated a bit on the lower lash line. 

This final look is a mixture of Bungalow Gold in the inner corner blended with Chocolate Cherry on the outer corner and blended with Victorian Pear with Flesh Tone to highlight. I liked wearing this look a lot and it held up for 11+ hours before I took it off.

Overall Verdict: I saw no wear issues with these particular Coastal Scents hot pots. Just use a good primer! I found that many of the colors will sheer out when you blend, so I like to keep layering and packing the color on with a denser eye brush and doing minimal blending. The golds did not have this problem.

The blues also tended to stain just a teeny tiny bit!

What shades you need:

Gypsy Blue: Really easy to work with and an easy to wear blue but still unique.

Chocolate Cherry: Much more pigmented than Raisin Berry

Flesh Tone: a wonderful highlight

Canary Gold: So vibrant and creamy

Parisian Green: Very very opaque!

Elven Blue and Mazarine Blue are colors I think you could find in better formulas in other brands. St. Topaz and Bungalow Gold, as well as Victorian Pear and Chamois Nude are very dupeable and Raisin Berry just isn't as impressive as the others. 

The Birthday Palette: Lorac Pro

Hey pandas!
What? I'm back? You all thought I had fallen off the face of the planet now didn't you? Well...I sort of did. The last month has really been crazy. I am gearing up to take my first international trip next week, finishing grad school finals, working a ton to save for said trip, and enjoying festivities such as Easter and my birthday. I hope you all have been having a good last few weeks. I have missed you guys!
Speaking of my birthday, remember when I asked you guys for an opinion on a palette to get? Well, I finally made up my mind and it is Lorac Pro!

It was a tough decision and you guys gave me so many choices and good ones, at that! It came down to a few things--a mix of matte and shimmer and easy to travel with. 
I have had some time since my birthday to play with it and I am loving it so far! 

I love the thin, sleek look of the Lorac Pro Palette ($42), the fact that it comes with a small Behind the Scenes Eye Primer, and the range of neutral colors. The buttery soft feel of them, lack of fallout, and ease of blending make this my new favorite palette!

The left side of the palette has a range of sheerer creams, whites, beiges, taupes, and golds...as the names suggest.

Above is the matte top row from left to right. These are very light swatches (just one quick dip of my finger into the pan and then onto skin and no primer) so yes they are light, but I am fine with the opacity here.

Some shades really stand out, like the gold, and others make for great subtle highlighting and blending shades. The above photo is the shimmer (bottom) row on the left side of the palette.

To contrast the lighter half of the palette is a row of mattes and shimmers in darker colors, including a great brown and black that can be used in so many ways (liners, brows..)

The mattes are a bit patchy in swatching but blend just fine on my eye. I really, really love the espresso!

The shimmers in this section of the palette are so gorgeous! The garnet is definitely a favorite of mine to use in the crease!

I know this palette has been reviewed and loved by so many, but I wanted to show you guys my thoughts and swatches. I created a simple eye look from it below...

For this easy, literally one minute look, I patted Light Bronze all over my eyelid and blended Taupe into the crease. I highlighted with Cream.

Glad to be back you guys! If you have the Pro Palette, tell me your favorite combinations!

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Smoldering Plum Swatches and Review

I recently hauled some buy-one-get-one half off products at Ulta and this eye shadow was one of them. Retailing for around $6 (depending on location), I snagged this little pot of purple at the discount.

Smoldering Plum caught my eye, even though we are fast approaching spring, I am still hanging on tightly to the winter colors. I figured this might be a good crease shadow.

These shadows are packed tightly, and I feel would have a looser consistency if not for the plastic stopper in the package to keep the powder pressed. These are rather messy once you remove that, and I honestly find this shadow a bit of a pain....but I persevered on because of the color.

The darkened plum mixed with red glitter really got my hopes up. This is not a new shade, but I felt it may be something really unique in my collection. I did get a little OCD and clean around the packaging after taking this picture because I can't stand the messiness).

This is the initial swatch, done with a finger and no primer. I wasn't as 'wowed' as I hoped I would be, but the red glitter is still pretty apparent. The good news is this goes on smoothly and with little fallout, despite the consistency.

The bad news is that this is the best swatch of the product. It looks muddied on my eyelids and although it does wear all day with a good primer, it is nothing special in an actual look. Now I wish I would have picked out another color instead. But---all hope is not lost. I try to never give up on a product, and will continue experimenting, maybe placing this over a black creme base. 

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Smoldering Plum Swatches and Review

I recently hauled some buy-one-get-one half off products at Ulta and this eye shadow was one of them. Retailing for around $6 (depending on location), I snagged this little pot of purple at the discount.

Smoldering Plum caught my eye, even though we are fast approaching spring, I am still hanging on tightly to the winter colors. I figured this might be a good crease shadow.

These shadows are packed tightly, and I feel would have a looser consistency if not for the plastic stopper in the package to keep the powder pressed. These are rather messy once you remove that, and I honestly find this shadow a bit of a pain....but I persevered on because of the color.

The darkened plum mixed with red glitter really got my hopes up. This is not a new shade, but I felt it may be something really unique in my collection. I did get a little OCD and clean around the packaging after taking this picture because I can't stand the messiness).

This is the initial swatch, done with a finger and no primer. I wasn't as 'wowed' as I hoped I would be, but the red glitter is still pretty apparent. The good news is this goes on smoothly and with little fallout, despite the consistency.

The bad news is that this is the best swatch of the product. It looks muddied on my eyelids and although it does wear all day with a good primer, it is nothing special in an actual look. Now I wish I would have picked out another color instead. But---all hope is not lost. I try to never give up on a product, and will continue experimenting, maybe placing this over a black creme base. 

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

Unlock the Spell: L'Amour Mauve Eye Shadow Collection from Beautifully Disney

I didn't just try out the lippies from the Beautifully Disney line, but gave one of their eye shadow palettes a whirl as well!

The Unlock the Spell eye shadow palette by Beautifully Disney retails for $27.95 with four huge shadows in a gorgeous collectors palette with outlines of Tiana, Belle, and Rapunzel: the three Princesses who literally have to unlock a spell in their stories.

This palette is called L'Amour Mauve, which is no surprise considering the rose tones housed within it. I love how big the pans are, and the colors are easy to make a look out of!

There is a sparkling cream color, a dusty deep mauve, a red-toned violet, and a sparkling medium toned brown. All have some shimmer but no heavy glitter. 

Overall, they perform fairly well, although they are patchy on my hand. They blend into a nice eye look (coming soon!) and I really love the concept and packaging. I also like that they put together four shades that actually work well together!

However, you may have similar shades in your stash, and although this formula is nothing to sneeze at, it's not perfect. I also wish it had a mirror!

I will probably be sticking with BD glosses and polishes in the future, but I am glad I have this to pull out whenever I want to feel like a Princess!

Unlock the Spell: L'Amour Mauve Eye Shadow Collection from Beautifully Disney

I didn't just try out the lippies from the Beautifully Disney line, but gave one of their eye shadow palettes a whirl as well!

The Unlock the Spell eye shadow palette by Beautifully Disney retails for $27.95 with four huge shadows in a gorgeous collectors palette with outlines of Tiana, Belle, and Rapunzel: the three Princesses who literally have to unlock a spell in their stories.

This palette is called L'Amour Mauve, which is no surprise considering the rose tones housed within it. I love how big the pans are, and the colors are easy to make a look out of!

There is a sparkling cream color, a dusty deep mauve, a red-toned violet, and a sparkling medium toned brown. All have some shimmer but no heavy glitter. 

Overall, they perform fairly well, although they are patchy on my hand. They blend into a nice eye look (coming soon!) and I really love the concept and packaging. I also like that they put together four shades that actually work well together!

However, you may have similar shades in your stash, and although this formula is nothing to sneeze at, it's not perfect. I also wish it had a mirror!

I will probably be sticking with BD glosses and polishes in the future, but I am glad I have this to pull out whenever I want to feel like a Princess!

NYX Be Free Palette: Review and Swatches

 

Hi Pandas! I love when NYX puts out palettes, because they are usually really fun and affordable, and of course, cruelty-free.

 

This is the NYX Be Free palette that was released about a month ago. They are going on sale now, and Ulta always has coupons. I got mine for $10. It retails for $19.

 

 This set includes 25 eye shadows, 3 blushes, and 7 glosses, in a classy, sleek, two-layer case. 

 

I think this is such a cute palette, for reference it is about the size of a spread hand.

 

The eye shadows run in the cool category, with mostly browns, purples, blues, and greys. They don't scream summer, but they are nice neutrals. There are also a lot of mattes.

 

This post is picture heavy, so if you want to see the swatches...keep reading!

 

 

 This is the first row from left to right if you want to compare in the above full pan picture. Not my fave row. Neutrals, but not very pigmented. All swatches are without primer.

 

But moving onto the second row, we are getting somewhere. I love the teal!

 

 

The third row of the palette is my favorite. Fun colors, very smooth, and pigmented.

 

 

The fourth row has some mattes. They are pretty colors, but need a lot of TLC and buildup.

 

The last row is mostly matte dark colors. A little patchy. Not the best.

 

 

The blushes and lip glosses are in a separate drawer, which I like. I didn't swatch the glosses, as they were a bit too sticky for my liking. I will try to mix them together and play Frankenstein or something.

 

The blushes are very pretty and very pigmented. One of my favorite parts of this palette!

 

Overall, I am only 50% sold on the NYX Be Free palette. Since I only paid $10 and got 3 awesome blushes and about 10 shadows I like, I would say that is a good deal. If you don't see much you like, go ahead and skip it. Or opt for some NYX single products.

 Overall, it gets a B from me. What do you think?