Review: Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadows

I have been so busy ever since I got here, so I wanted to start off by saying thank you for bearing with me! Classes don't even start until next Tuesday but there are events and random things to do all the time.  It's so much fun.
I haven't bought any new makeup since the three MAC eyeshadows I posted about last weekend (Nothing at the drugstore has caught my eye, and I'm trying to budget my money right now), but I wanted to do a review today of a product I purchased a few weeks ago.  This is a Revlon Illuminance creme shadow in the color Not Just Nudes.

What Revlon claims:

"Discover an endless spectrum of luminosity. Play with all 4 shades and watch your eyes light up a new way every time."

Price: Between $4.99 and $7.99 

Availability: You can find this at most drugstores- anywhere that carries Revlon products.

I got mine at Walmart for $4.94, so it all depends on where you buy it and if it's on sale.

I chose the color Not Just Nudes because I wanted something I could use as a base for most of my eyeshadows.  I use these over my eyeshadow primer and underneath powder eyeshadows, mainly to make them "pop" more.  This particular quad comes with a dark brown, a medium brown, a dark champagne, and a light nude/skin-tone color (The one I use most often- it's so versatile).

Formula: These are like your standard cream eyeshadows, but they blend effortlessly and are really smooth.  It doesn't take much to get them out of the pan- one swipe and product is on your finger.  I typically use one or two swipes for my eyelid.  

These don't crease as long as you're careful to use them over an eyeshadow primer and don't go too far into your crease.  I make sure I blend them out enough and don't use too much.  They really help my eyeshadows look more vibrant along with giving them something to adhere to!

Pros:

- Nice base for eyeshadows, don't crease

- Affordable and easily available

- Four eyeshadows in one compact

- Blendable and creamy

- Come in a variety of colors

Cons:

- If you can't get used to cream eyeshadows or dislike them, I wouldn't recommend these

Have you tried these?  How did they work for you?

EOTD: Neutral 'smokey' eye with MAC Club+Naked Lunch

Hey everyone, today I have a really simple EOTD to share with you.  I was anxious to test out my new MAC eyeshadows so I didn't waste any time.  :)  This shows how Club transforms depending on how you use it a little better than I can describe.  I used it along with Naked Lunch to make a look pretty wearable for everyday.
(PS- sorry about my eyebrows in advance, lol!  I need to trim them)

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Products used:

- VS Pro eyeshadow primer

- MAC Naked Lunch (all over lid and up into crease)

- light color for highlight

- MAC Club (outer corner and blended into outer crease, along upper lash line)

- Clinique eyeliner in Roasted Coffee (upper and lower lash lines, smudged)

- L'Oreal Bare Naturale mascara in Black

I applied the Clinique eyeliner (it's a retractable eyeliner pen), and then applied Club over it and blended it upwards.  This is where Club really shines!  When layered over brown it looks like it does in the pan- a dark, duochrome-y greenish blue.  So pretty.  When it's on your skin, though (mine anyway), it looks more reddish brown.  The warmth of it pairs wonderfully with Naked Lunch.

(Top- Naked Lunch, Club)

(Bottom- Clinique eyeliner, Club layered over it)

Naked Lunch is really close to my skin tone, which is why it doesn't show up well in pictures, sorry about that!

Thanks for reading, guys!  Hope you're all having a nice Sunday.  I just took a walk up the street that my dorm building is on, only to find a Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, ULTA, Sephora, Charlotte Russe, and more just minutes away!  So I'm doing alright.  ;)  

<3

I feel like heaven with MAC!

Today my parents and I did a little shopping around in Chicago's "Magnificent Mile"- it's a strip of Michigan avenue that has basically every retail store you could ever imagine.  And there are a ton more stores down the side streets!  If you like shopping, it's an awesome place to be.
My mom and I were walking around when I remembered I wanted to find a MAC counter- I've been so anxious to see these products in person (And actually buy something), after not being able to for a few years.
The MUA was super helpful and nice; she tried out a few products from the Fabulous Felines collection on me, but nothing really stood out.  I loved the look of the Superslick eyeliners, the eyeshadow quads, and Mauvement pigment, but I just wasn't sold.  She basically went through each type of makeup (Blush, lip gloss, lipstick, eyeshadow), and the three things that I fell in love with were Club, Trax, and Naked Lunch eyeshadows.  Naked Lunch and Trax were the ones I got years ago, so I'm not surprised I still love them!  I am so excited that I got these.  :))

(Clockwise from bottom: Trax, Naked Lunch, Club)

Naked Lunch

Club

Trax

Naked Lunch, Club, Trax

Naked Lunch is probably my favorite champagne-colored eyeshadow.  It's lovely as a lid color with another shade in the crease.

Club is the one I've never tried before, but I just fell in love.  It's so cool!  It has so many different colors in it, so while it looks like a muted dark green/blue/gray in the pan, it has some red/brown in it that shows through when you swatch it.  Really, really pretty- I've read that you can get away with just wearing this as your eyeshadow.

Trax is a gorgeous deep reddish purple with gold shimmers in it.  The swatch above doesn't do it justice- I can't believe I didn't like this one years ago when I first tried it.  If you have green eyes I'd definitely recommend it.

Naked Lunch is a frost, Trax is a velvet, and Club is a satin, FYI.  

I'm definitely going back on September 2nd when the Viva Glam lipglasses are launched!

Do you love or own any of these eyeshadows, too?

PS: That Revlon finishing powder I talked about in my last post isn't anything special- it's pretty, yes, but for its normal price of $11.99 I wouldn't recommend it.  If you find it on clearance like I did, I think it's a good buy!

My home away from home & Revlon Mineral Finishing Powder

You guys, Chicago is amazing!  I'm all moved in (finally) and have been having so much fun.  Busy, but it's all really exciting.
Here are a few pictures I took "post" move-in, plus some of our view! (We're on the 17th floor)

My closet area

Bed/desk (I forgot to bring my "decorative" pillows, lol)

We have a teensy view of the lake, lol!

View down the street

At night

We made the trek to Target this afternoon and I found one of those Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing powders on clearance for $5.98!  They had it in the color Brighten- of course I had to get one.

This gives a really pretty glowy highlighted look to my face- I love it.  Do you guys have any of these?  I think they come in a couple different shades.

I went to the CVS across the street from me- it's pretty small and picked over, but I'm happy with it.  :)

Have a good weekend, everyone!  <3

Coastal Scents 88 Palette!! First Look

Tonight my parents, boyfriend and I went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday before I leave tomorrow.  It took my boyfriend and I probably an hour to finally say goodbye- that was hard.  He just left a little while ago so I'm still sad about it, but my mom had me open up one of my gifts to help cheer me up (I knew it was the palette ;).  It really made me feel better- I've been wanting this for so long!  I know what I'm going to be doing in the car ride tomorrow.... swatching these and taking pictures!  Haha.

(I actually expected this to be huge- it's big, but not ridiculously big.  Which is good!)

(Without flash)

(With flash)

These are just some random swatches to show you the awesome pigmentation!

I know these palettes are talking about endlessly in the makeup blogging community- I've read both great things and horrible things about them- but I'm really glad I have my own now.  The pigmentation of a few I tried was just so-so, but all the others were nice.  I'm so excited to play around with different looks.  

I also love that there are a lot of cool-toned colors in this, and enough neutrals to balance out the crazy-bright colors.

What other Coastal Scents palettes should I try?  Do you guys like this palette if you own it?  I'd love to hear any thoughts/opinions you have.

Before I forget, here are some pictures from tonight- I had my mom be our photographer so I'd have some photos of just the two of us!  These make me happy to look at.

(Does anyone else notice that pictures uploaded on Blogger lose their quality a little?)

Have a good night everyone.  <33

Going, going, going (Rant & Smoky EOTD)

We're leaving for college tomorrow (My parents are driving me out there/helping me move in), so today is my cram day.  And by cram, I mean crazy nonstop packing.  There is so much that I keep remembering to pack and there's not much time left- I'm definitely a little stressed, but as long as I keep moving I think I'll be ready to go tomorrow.  We're leaving at 6:00am!  My boyfriend is coming over later tonight to go out to dinner with my parents and myself (We're celebrating my birthday before I go), so that's just less time I'll have.  I'm glad I get to see him, don't get me wrong, but it's going to be really hard to say goodbye.  I think every time we've hung out this week I've cried, lol.  Thank goodness for water-resistant makeup and eyeshadow primer!  That stuff didn't go anywhere!
Anyway, my point in telling you all this is because I probably won't have a chance to update for a few days (Unless I have time tomorrow night at our hotel).  I do have a few posts in mind and an EOTD/tutorial lined up, but I've got all my cords packed away.  I know you all understand but I'm actually sad I won't be able to blog!  I love coming on here and reading your updates as well as blogging myself.

I think that's all I needed to mention in this post- thanks for bearing with me, everyone.  Have a good day!
<3

Update:
I'm taking a little breather right now, so I just decided to get out my camera/cords and upload pictures of my makeup today.  I was going to give this a separate post but I think it'll be fine right here.
This is my interpretation of a "daytime smoky eye"- it has that smoky effect but isn't too dark for daytime.

What I used:

- VS Pro eyeshadow primer 

- Clinique eyeshadow trio in Totally Neutral (Lightest shade all over/highlight, medium on lid, and darkest in "outer v" and to line lash lines

- L'Oreal Bare Naturale mascara in Black

I paired this with my Clinique Long Last Glosswear in Stellar Plum:

I actually just "uncovered" both of these products- I used to keep my makeup in my desk drawer because I'd do it there in front of my mirror, and when moving everything to my bathroom last year I left some things in my desk.  These were in there!  I love the lip gloss; it's pretty sheer but gives enough color to tell it's still a "plum" lipgloss.  There's a really good makeup artist who works at the Clinique counter here, and she recommended me this one.  

Anyway, that's all I have time for.  Thanks again for reading!

I Found It! Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

You guys, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Hidden Treasure really suits its name.  Don't you think?  It's definitely a hidden treasure in my opinion.  It was always sold out at my Walgreens when the LE collection was available.  The first time I saw it in person was a few months ago at Walmart, although I didn't buy it because I was really tight on money and spending $7 on a nail polish still felt like too much.  However, after that, I knew that if I saw it again I needed to buy it.  Pictures of it online just looked too beautiful not to!
So when I found it today at Walgreens, I snatched it up.  It was just sitting there by itself on the shelf next to the Revlon Just Add Sparkle LE collection.  I used my $.50/1 Sally Hansen nail polish coupon from Redplum which helped a little, too.
Time for pictures!

This one really is ridiculously hard to capture in pictures- I know people had said that, but I didn't realize how true it was!
I swatched this over five nail polishes: Rimmel Violet Metal (thumb), ELF Innocent (pointer), ELF Moonlight (middle), Wet 'n' Wild Through the Grapevine (ring), Revlon Lilac Pastelle (pinky).

Over Wet 'n' Wild Through the Grapevine

(Blurry, but it shows the different colors in different lights!)

Over Rimmel Violet Starlet

I'm really glad I just got this.  I kept telling myself I did "need" it because it would be too "flashy", but it's really not.  And I can't wait to pair this over a nude nail polish- it'd be the perfect way to make nude nails more interesting!  

I'm sure a lot of you own this already- how do you like it?  

Close-to-Dupes!

After seeing Jamie's MAC dupes over at Maquilagem Masstige, I decided to look into my collection and see if I could find any!  It's always fun to find out you don't have to go high-end for some of these shades.
Today I'm talking about two eyeshadows that I had thought were dupes for two of my MACs, but after swatching them I realized they weren't quite spot-on.  In any rate, they are still very similar and give the same effect as their MAC alternatives.

First I have MAC Retrospeck and its dupe, an eyeshadow from the ELF Eye Brights palette:

Retrospeck

Dupe: it's the eyeshadow on the top row, second over from the left

Left: dupe, Right: Retrospeck

In the pan these look almost exactly the same (Even more so in person).  However, the ELF eyeshadow looks a little more brown in the swatch, whereas Retrospeck comes off more light gold.  When I use them on my eyes, though, they have the same "shimmery gold" look that is really pretty when paired with some slick black liner and lots of mascara.

Next is MAC Greensmoke and its dupe, the green eyeshadow from Maybelline Eyestudio quad in Mad For Mauve:

Greensmoke

Dupe: Maybelline

Left: dupe, Right: Greensmoke

I don't particularly like Greensmoke as an eyeshadow- it's a Lustre finish which I usually like (Retrospeck is a lustre as well and the pigmentation/texture is wonderful), but it's hard in the pan and takes a lot of effort to apply.  The Maybelline eyeshadow isn't the best in terms of pigmentation (Not bad, but not outstanding), but it blends wonderfully and the texture is soft.  I actually prefer that shade to Greensmoke, too.  I like that it has a little more green.

Do you own any of these eyeshadows?  

(PS- College packing is going well!  I have two more days before I leave and I think I'll be ready.  I'm so excited now!)

(Maybe) Back To School Outfit & A Few Randoms

I really hadn't thought about planning my "first day of school outfit" since I only have one class that day (My schedule worked out really nicely this semester.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes, then Wednesdays and Fridays I have one each.  Mondays I have off).  With all the posts I've read lately about back-to-school, though, I've been thinking more about it!  You guys have some awesome ideas for school hair/makeup and the like.  I'm pretty sure this is what I want to wear, but obviously it could change in the next three weeks.
The two clothing items here are actually ones that I "can't" wear yet- they're birthday presents, haha.  Typically my mom would come to the mall with me so I could show her a few things I really wanted, but today since I had been wanting to go to Pac Sun, I decided to just buy what I found and she could wrap them for me.
FYI, I haven't been to Pac Sun in YEARS.  When I used to go in there, it was all skater/grunge-type clothing.  They definitely have expanded!  They have a lot of clothes that are my style, and I was pleasantly surprised- they also are pretty affordable (I thought the prices were comparable to Forever 21).  They have all tops buy 3 get 1 free which includes cardigans/sweaters, so I was able to get a pretty good deal.
Anyway, excuse the rant!  This is what I'm planning to wear for my first class:

Knit dress: Pac Sun

Cardigan: Pac Sun

Belt: Urban Outfitters

Necklace: For Love 21 (F21 accessory store)

Sandals: Urban Outfitters

On another makeup-related note, I've been casually looking for a cheap makeup travel bag that holds makeup brushes.  I found one at Walmart today for a little over $5:

It doesn't feel of the highest quality (For $5 I didn't really expect that), but it's the right size I need for traveling.  I think I'll still look for a small pouch that I can throw in my purse or backpack (Something a little smaller), but if I need to use this, I think it will work.  I love the different slots for brushes.  These makeup taking your brushes along no problem at all!

Random question, but I'd love your opinions/answers.  I've been saving up my money hardcore, and what I really want to do is go to the MAC counter when I get to Chicago this weekend and buy something.  I never thought I'd be able to justify a MAC purchase, but I think I'm ready, lol!  As long as it's under $20 I'd be fine.  I'm lemming Viva Glam Gaga lipglass and I want to check out the Fabulous Felines collection, too.  Nothing has jumped out at me from collection previews but maybe in person something will.  I'm excited!  Any recommendations?  

Alright, time for bed.  Have a good night guys!