Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette Swatches & Comparisons

I was at Walgreens and finally decided to purchase another Wet n Wild 8 pan palette. I really love the blue palette, Blue Had Me At Hello (see my other post here! It's one of my very first blog posts too! hehe) and decided why not! It was $4.99 and for this type of quality, its a complete steal. Here's some pictures and very hastily done swatches!

Swatched the left column top to bottom first, then right column! Are these pigmented or what!

The Wet N Wild eyeshadows are really buttery soft and very vibrant. The only bad thing is that they are almost too soft, so you have to be very careful when applying. Make sure to pat them onto a good base to avoid lots of fallout and don't over blend! That's just my two cents on how to use them! :)

Left Column 

Right Column

Tried finding some dupes among my eyeshadows. You may have to click on the pictures to enlarge in order to read the eyeshadow names on the pictures!

 Ambition is more gold, femme-fi is more peach, and virgin is not as shimmery!

 Mac Jardin aires is a more shimmery pinky coral while Wet n Wild is more brown while Urban Decay Sin is more cool and pinker.

 Mac tempting is much lighter and a touch more orange while Urban Decay is a bit darker but in the same shade!

 Now THIS is a dupe! Can you even tell which is which? Wet N Wild is on the left while Nars Mekong is on the right. The color is almost exactly the same, but to be honest I prefer the Nars texture for this one. For such a dark color, I find Wet N Wild's buttery, soft texture to be more difficult to work with than the Nars (which is also buttery, but not as crumbly if that makes sense!). Also, all the fallout you see in the picture is from the Wet N Wild. Other than that, this is a really amazing dupe and if you want a cheaper alternative to Nars Mekong, you won't get closer than this!

 Couldn't find anything similar to the right column browbone color. I've heard that it's supposedly a dupe for Mac Vex, but I don't have that color.
For the right column eyelid color, I don't have any dupes (I really don't own many true greens! So this is great for my eyeshadow collection!) Rock & Republic Chronic is a darker.

 Couldn't find a dupe here either. Mac Humid and Rock & Republic Envy are much more green while Rock & Republic Snakeskin is not nearly as dark. In person the Wet N Wild color has a much greener tinge to it (the camera didn't pick it up completely).

Ahhh my favorite color of the palette. I don't have any dupes for this duochrome although I've heard Mac Club is supposedly similar. I swatched Mac Shimmermoss next to it since I thought I thought the teal/blue flash in the Wet N Wild looked similar! On the right is Nars Dogon, which is also a duochrome (completely different shade though and is more taupe than brown). Very pretty color and I would have gladly paid more just for this color!

Hope the swatches and pictures were helpful! I found mine at my Walgreens. I honestly feel that these eyeshadows are incredible quality for the price tag. I can be somewhat of an eyeshadow snob since they are my favorite makeup product and these are definitely in the same league as many of my more expensive eyeshadows! I also love that many of these colors are unique to my collection (especially the right column since I don't own a lot of greens!).

Have you tried Wet n Wild eyeshadows? What do you think?

Nars Dogon Eyeshadow Duo

I finally got my hands on Nars Dogon last week with a gift card! This is one of the stand out items from the Nars summer 2011 collection and I have to say...it definitely did not disappoint. I am absolutely loving this duo.

Nars describes this duo as "metallic taupe with icy green sheen & charcoal black" That description is much to simple for the actual complexity of the colors.

No Flash

With flash, but this looks pretty close to real life

Please be patient as I attempt to describe the color, you are more than welcome to laugh at me! haha Dogon features a somewhat icy rosy/taupey/grey/silver base that flashes green/teal/gold? Yeah...that makes no sense in writing. But trust me, it IS beautiful. The pictures really don't capture it. On the right is a darkened charcoal/navy/teal blue with a hint of glitter. It's definitely not a plain black. The colors are wonderfully complex and the left side especially looks different in various types of lighting because of the "duo-chrome." If you google swatches of this duo the left side looks different on every skin tone! They look beautiful separately and especially layered on top of one another for a unique effect.

The left side does blend a little better than the darker right side, but as usual with Nars shadows the pigmentation is excellent and they are very easy to work with. Only thing is that the right side comes out more matte if you do not apply it carefully (blending it out too much diminishes the micro shimmer so make sure to pat!).

Now here's some comparison swatches. I don't have anything similar to the left side of Dogon so the comparison is a bit useless. I have no dupes to show you. I have read that Mac Club is similar because of the duo-chrome, but I don't own it so I can't tell you for sure. Anyway, you can definitely see how there is a green sheen in comparison to more typical taupe shades pictured.

Left: Nars Cairo is a light brown taupe. It's a staple taupe and has a bit of the rosy hues from Dogon but it's not similar at all really.
Middle: Bare Escentuals Night Owl is a darker more purple taupe. No icy green sheen here either!

Middle: Urban Decay Oil Slick is a shimmery black with silver shimmer. It's not similar to Dogon at all but I wanted to compare so you could see that Dogon definitely has a blue/teal tinge to it!
Right: This is the left column "crease" color in the Wet n Wild Blue Had Me At Hello Palette that you can see swatches of here. Wet n Wild is not as dark and is a much clearer, more shimmery blue. Dogon seems more navy/teal than blue in comparison.

Dogon is in the center! Very unique colors to my collection!

Dogon is limited edition (why, Nars, why!?) so if you're interested, definitely check it out soon! It's such a unique duo, I can see getting so much use out of it (especially for smokey night time looks!) Will post a look soon! Let me know your thoughts on the duo or what kind of look you'd do with it!?

Also, if you're in the US don't forget to enter my giveaway here before June 31st!

Nars Galapagos Swatches and Thoughts

Hello!! Sorry for the short absence, I haven't had much free time this past week because of end of the year stuff and i'm so happy and excited to say that I graduated from college last Thursday! Yay!!

Back to makeup, here's the beautiful Nars Galapagos that I treated myself to last week. I am absolutely in love...

Nars describes it as:

 "bitter chocolate infused with gold"

These pictures don't do the color justice at all! It's the most beautiful brown! You can sort of see the golden shimmer in the pictures, but it's even prettier in person.

The color is a gorgeous warm brown with gold shimmer. The pigmentation is excellent. It is not as smooth as my nars mekong (which is ridiculously buttery), but it is still incredibly soft, easily blendable, and pigmented. One thing that I was initially worried about with Galapagos was if the gold shimmer would actually show up on the eyes. It definitely does if you apply it correctly: packing it on with a shader brush (like the mac 239) over a good primer yields little fallout and makes the gold shimmer show up. Applying with a fluffy brush will not pack on the shimmer as much. One great thing about the gold shimmer is that it is very fine! You aren't going to see chunks of glitter on the eye, it just gives a nice sparkly effect on the eyes.

So far I've loved wearing this in the crease with lighter browns or shimmery champagnes on the lid. This week I'm going to experiment using galapagos in a REALLY brown smokey eye (and I'll post pictures when I do!) I really have no bad things to say about this shadow, it is so beautiful I think it would flatter any skin or eye color.

And some comparison swatches with my other brown shadows...

As you can see Nars Galapagos doesn't look like any of my other browns. In terms of color it's probably most similar to UD Darkhorse, since they are both deeper warmer browns, but Galapagos is a touch warmer and has the lovely gold shimmer. UD Smog is lighter and more gold, while Handwritten, has some red in it. As for the other Nars shadow, I was initially worried it wouldn't be worth owning both Mekong and Galapagos but they are really quite different. Mekong is much darker and cooler than Galapagos. I also think Mekong would be a little bit overwhelming as a lid color, whereas Galapagos could be pulled off being on the lid! I think they would look gorgeous together!

So overall, if you are a brown/neutral eyeshadow lover, Nars Galapagos should be at the top of your wishlist. I really love Nars eyeshadows, so if brown isn't your thing, don't hesitate to check out the other colors available!

Mac Ever Hip Lipstick with Swatches

Today I went by the mall near me and of COURSE i had to walk by the makeup counters...I was pleasantly surprised that one of the Mac makeup artists told me they had one Mac Ever Hip lipstick left in stock (from the recent "Fashion Flower" collection, see temptalia for more info!). Online it seems like makeup lovers have been freaking out over the repromotion of this lipstick, so I would have been crazy to pass up something so wonderful, right? Nothing else had really caught my eye but this lipstick so I went ahead and got it. This is my second mac lipstick ever and after trying it on I am SO glad i purchased this! It's the perfect color for spring and summer!

On to the pics...

Ever hip is an extremely gorgeous creamy pinky-coral. I think it pulls a little bit more pink on me, which makes it more wearable on my skin tone. It's also a Cremesheen formula. To be perfectly honest, the only other lipstick from Mac I have is "Fanfare" which is also a Cremesheen formula. I can't compare it to the other various Mac formulas, but I really love the texture. It's creamy, glossy, and not completely opaque (though you can build the color up to be!). It's extremely moisturizing on my lips, I just love this lipstick formula!

I attempted to find a dupe within my revlon lipsticks (my favorite drugstore brand for lip products!). Overall, I didn't find anything identical in my collection...

-Mac Fanfare and Revlon Pink in the Afternoon are much more pink. Fanfare is also a bit darker.

-Revlon Smoked Peach, is a matte, and is more orange

-Revlon Rosedew looked the most similar out of all of them when swatched lightly, but it was still much too rosy in comparison.

-Revlon Peach & Revlon Demure are both too orange as well.

No complaints from me for not finding a dupe, I love not having two of the same thing in my makeup collection! ;)

Hope the swatches were helpful! If you are a pinky-coral lipstick lover, then this is definitely one to get your hands on. It would also be a great lipstick to try if you're a girl that doesn't do really bright lipsticks (especially those bright oranges and corals that are very popular this season) but still wants to wear some color. I think it would be beautiful on all types of skin tones!

2nd Rock and Republic Eyeshadow Haul & Swatchesl!!

So I made one more R&R haul on hautelook last month and picked up a few more eyeshadows since they are being discontinued! Here's some pics and swatches of what I got!

Ambition (will have to re-do this pic!): shimmery yellow- gold that flashes yellow and gold and cream
Chronic: forest green

Envy: dark emerald green

Twisted: blue based purple

Ambition, Chronic, Envy, Twisted

All my R&R babies

Tried to show some comparison swatches above!

-Ambition: couldn't really find a dupe in my shadows. Mac Creme de miel is not as shimmery and is more yellow

-Chronic: Nouveau Monde is much more olive than green

-Envy: same color family as Mac Humid but richer and darker

-Twisted: Nocturnelle is more red based. UD Purple Haze is in a similar color family but has more of a sheen and is a bit lighter. Twisted also has more blue in it than Purple Haze.

The quality of the shadows is really wonderful. Buttery, blendable, pigmented, and long-lasting. Get your hands on them if you can!

If you're interested in seeing my first post on R&R eyeshadows please click here.

Hope the swatches were helpful! Do you have any R&R eyeshadows you love!? let me know ;)

Rock and Republic Haul & Swatches from Hautelook

I ordered some R&R eyeshadows and their blending blush off of Hautelook last month and it finally came today! I had such a hard time choosing colors since EVERYTHING was on sale, but here's what I ended up picking...

Blending brush! It's very very soft and a perfect size for blending the crease!

Diffused (this one photographed lighter than real life, its more medium brown. darn flash!)

Snakeskin

Skintight

Tempting

-Tempting is a really pretty shimmery medium toned lavender purple with a touch of gray in it. It's a very, very unique taupey purple!

-Diffused is medium/light taupe brown (i love all shades of taupe as you can see haha!) It's a perfect everyday brown, I think this will be perfect on the lid or in the crease. It also has a very subtle gold shimmer in it. Beautiful!

-Skintight is a very shimmery cream color with a touch of gold. Lovely highlight or lid color!

-Snakeskin is a really complex color. it's the perfect mixture of grey, green, brown, and gold. I can't even tell if it's warm or cool, but this color will be gorgeous for a smokey eye!

Here's some more swatches and comparisons with some other eyeshadows I own...

I didn't really have anything comparable to Diffused. It's more brown than satin taupe and darker and more gray than Patina!

Tempting is probably closest to the taupe "lap dance" from the Too Faced Naked Eye Palette, but Lap Dance is a bit more gray and much more shimmery. As you can see from the picture, it has more gray and taupe in it than the rest of the other purples.

Had a hard time getting a good picture of Skintight. I think it's a tie between Femme Fi and Skintight for my favorite skin toned/highlight eyeshadow. Skintight is more cream than gold when compared to Femme Fi while shroom runs more peach and Virgin runs more white!

Lastly, Snakeskin is completely unique to my collection. In the pan I thought it would appear much more olivey green on my skin, but it's definitely a complex mixture that I didn't have anything to really compare it to. Nars Nouveau Monde is much more green, Mac Henna is more gold, and Urban Decay Darkhorse is more true brown!

I hope these swatches were helpful! If you can get your hands on some of the Rock and Republic eyeshadows you won't be disappointed. They are buttery smooth and incredibly pigmented! They also blend beautifully. I'll do some looks with them soon!

Let me know what you think about them or if you have any favorite R&R eyeshadows! ***and note to self, I am NOT allowed to buy anymore eyeshadow!!!

Nars Luster Blush

Here is Nars Luster blush! Another one, like madly, that looks a little lackluster (heh heh) in the pan. But don't be fooled! Luster is a warm, frosty golden peachy apricot with subtle golden shimmer. There's no glitter in this blush, but it does give off a nice sheen. If you don't like shimmery blushes, stay away! For me, Luster is THE perfect golden goddess summer cheek, I always reach for it in the summer months. I especially love it when my skin is more tan; the golden shimmer is just stunning. It would be lovely on pale skin tones but with a lighter hand so it doesn't get too orange!

Nars description: "Sheer Golden Apricot." Pretty accurate description in my opinion.

Swatched on the left and blended on the right. The swatches above are more true to color!

Many makeup lovers online have said that if Orgasm didn't work for them, Luster definitely did. They both have a similar effect on the cheek as both are quite shimmery, but I find Luster to be much softer in texture. They both have peachy golden undertones & golden shimmer but Orgasm leans more pink while Luster leans more gold (at least on my skin-I'm about nc20-25 right now). Both gorgeous and different enough to justify having both ;) I forgot to swatch it with Madly, but Luster is much more shimmery and golden while Madly is beige.

As with all my other nars blushes the pigmentation and texture is perfect--smooth, buildable, blendable. This is definitely a shade, like orgasm, that will be flattering on most skin tones! If you're looking for a glowy blush, don't hesitate to try Luster!