Sugarpill Cosmetics Swatch/Review

I first heard of Sugarpill on YouTube while watching one of my favorite Makeup Gurus, Petrilude. He was reviewing a local (I live in California) cosmetics line called Sugarpill created by none other than Shrinkle herself (if you don't know who that is, check her out on eBay. She sells her clothing line as well as other cosmetics.) From the moment I saw Petrilude's swatches and the pretty boxes and packaging it came in, I knew I had to have this cosmetics line.

Now, I know there are tons of reviews out there singing it's praise as well as many beautiful swatch reviews... and this swatch/review will be no different.

So without further ado, here is my Swatch Review on Sugarpill Cosmetics.

The website from which you can order is www.Sugarpill.net. It's a melange of pink and black print with flashing images of pretty models wearing the pretty makeup. There are tabs near the top that help you navigate your way around the site. Of course upon the site loading, the first tab I click is "Shop". It brings me to a page where potted shadows and pigments are on display, bedazzling my senses with what I call Sparkle Overload.

Her line carries 9 pressed shadows, two eye shadow palettes that carry four eye shadows at a time, and 18 loose shadows. She also sells lashes and other fun stuff like stickers that you can put on your cosmetic boxes. Each shadow is sold for $12.oo each and each eye shadow palette is sold for $34 (which, as I said before, come with four shadows in them. If you got both palettes, you would get 8 out of the 9 pressed shadows and would essentially be buying 3 shadows and getting one free. I'll go over the palettes when I swatch). When you click on each shadow to view it, you can also see the information of ingredients and whether or not it is vegan.

So after staring at the website for several hours (yes, literally, hours) I finally chose several pieces to buy. I ended up buying both of the eye shadow palettes and four loose eye shadows. Shipping took the standard 3-7 days and I waited impatiently every single one of those days, LOL. When it finally did arrive, it came in a non-descript white box that had what is becoming Shrinkle's signature pretty kitty stamped on the outside. When I tore it open, it was wrapped in hot pink tissue paper and came with a hand-written note from Shrinkle herself, thanking you for your purchase. Awesome customer service if you ask me. It also came with a sample of one of her loose shadows, a Sugarpill logo sticker and two business cards with bomb looking models wearing the makeup. I haven't even bothered to throw them away. I keep them in my makeup train case, haha!

Now comes the fun part! PICTURES!!! These are the pieces I bought.

Pretty, huh? It's enough to make you want to keep the boxes. So of course, I immediately opened up each box to see the treasure inside and of course, did swatches. First up are the palettes.

(back of the box the palette came in)

(cover of each eye shadow palette with the outside box removed)

So as I said before, she sells two palettes that carry fours shadows each. They are called the "Sweetheart Palette" and the "Burning Heart Palette".

The boxes are made of heavy cardboard which seem durable (although I don't plan on tossing it around any time soon) and also have a full sized mirror inside.

The "Burning Hearts Palette" contains the four pressed shadows called Flamepoint, Buttercup, Love+ and Poison Plum.

The "Sweetheart Palette" contains another four pressed shadows and they are called Dollipop, Afterparty, Midori and Tako.

The only shadow not featured in these palettes is the pressed shadow Bulletproof, which is a matte black shadow. I didn't get that one as I already have several matte black shadows in my makeup kit.

I swatched them on my arm over Urban Decay Primer Potion, no base.

Flamepoint, Buttercake, Love+, Poison Plum

Dollipop, Afterparty, Midori, Tako

The colors went on very smoothly and I love the color pay off Love+, Poison Plum, Dollipop and Tako. Buttercup's color pay off impressed me as yellow tones that contain no shimmer don't really show up very well on my skin without a white base underneath. Flamepoint was also impressive but being a warmer tone, it is still something I would use with a white base in order to get a more truer shade without my skin tone contributing anymore warmth to it. Afterparty and Midori are beautiful colors as well and I love the coolness of each color, especially Afterparty. I do feel that I had to rub on a little more of Midori for it to show up on my skin, so again, it's another shadow I would use with a white base if I wanted to get a truer shade out of it.

The two that stood out to me most of the 8 shadows would Dollipop and Afterparty. I could definitely see an eye shadow combo using these colors.

Next are the loose shadows. Each loose shadow jar contains a net weight of 5 grams and for only $12.00 that's a huge amount of pretty sparklies that will get any Makeup Junkie addicted quick. The lids of the jars are twist on tops with the label printed on.

The loose shadows I picked out were:

Stella, Goldilux, Absinthe and Asylum

The jars come packed with loads of product and sparkles. I found myself "ooh"ing and "ah"ing over each jar that I opened. Shrinkle was surely not stingy with distributing her product.

First up, Stella:

Stella is a beautiful black based pigment with tons of sparkle that are almost chameleon like as they change in colors from blues and purples to greens and pinks. In the jar it is very pretty to look at, but this shadow is one that I would suggest be used wet. When applied dry, the shadow needs to be packed on which results in a lot of fall out. Also, when I attempted to brush it on, it only seemed to smudge the black base of the shadow and sweep off the sparkle. Something that I did find that helps with keeping the glitter on is using a duo-fiber crease brush.

Next, Goldilux:

There is so much to be said about this shadow. It is beautiful applied wet or dry. When applied dry, it creates a beautiful shine on the lid that is visible in any light. And when it's applied wet... all I can say is OMG!!!. It creates a dramatic, metallic sheen on the lids that is sure to catch anyone's attention. It stays its true color in either form and is almost too decadent to wear. Almost being the operative word....

Now for Absinthe:

The name itself made want to have this shadow. It is a beautiful metallic lime green shadow with a multifacetous glitter that changes in the light. The glitter color ranges from golden sparkle to pink and then green. This shadow can be used wet or dry but I prefer to use it wet so that it shows true on the skin.

Lastly, is Asylum:

This shadow is one that I actually had to wait to order because it was sold out. As soon as it came back into stock, I made sure to order it right away. When I first opened the jar, I thought that it looked a little darker, maybe more smokey, than the swatch that was shown on the website. This was definitely one that had to be swatched in order to see what color it would show on the skin. It is a pretty red brick color with lots of redglitter and one I cannot wait to use. I can already tell that this is something that I would use a lot during Halloween time.

These are the swatches on the skin.

(Dry/Wet over Urban Decay Primer Potion)

I see lots of sparklies in my future... ;-)

I know this has been a lengthy review, but I wanted to express my thoughts on a great line and let all of you know that it is truly worth the buy and wait. Thanks for sticking through the whole review and I hope that you enjoyed it.

Oh, and thanks, Shrinkle, for creating such a wonderful cosmetic line!

MAC Semi Precious Eye Shadow Review/Swatches

So MAC has a new line of mineral shadows out and for those of you who are MACjunkies like I, you know what I am talking about. They have come out with a line called "Semi Precious" and there are 12 shadows, 5 lipglosses, 4 skin finishes, 4 lipsticks, 3 blushes, 2 dual faced eyeshadow brushes, 1 face dual faced foundation brush, 1 dual faced kabuki brush and 1 mascara...


Whew, that's an extensive line! As much as I would have liked to own the entire collection, I focused on snagging three eyeshadows for myself. As beautiful as everything else was, I am pretty constant in the formula of foundation/primers/concealers/setting powders that I use. But being that I am a total eyeshadow junkie, I made sure to make my way to MAC and grab up the three I had been eyeing.


The line was released to the public in the States this past Thursday (7/5/11). I had actually gone to the MAC store on the Tuesday before release because I received an email from the MACpro site and the lovely ladies in the store (who now know me by face and name... o_O) were kind enough to let me go to the back room where they had the display set up so that I could peruse them and swatch them for myself.

The three that caught my eye were "Blue Sheen", "Unsurpassable", and "Hint of Sapphire"

Now, I've read and watched different reviews on the eyeshadows and many of them did not receive great marks. Maybe 4 out of the 12 were said to be considered worth buying. Though I totally respect the opinion of many of the Makeup Gurus on YouTube and Beauty Bloggers, I decided that this was something that I would have to decide for myself. I defintely take what others have said into consideration, but after swatching the shadows myself and liking what I saw, I decided to buy them when they were released. And also, because some of my friends wanted to see these shadows swatched as well, I decided to write out this review.

So these swatches were done wet and dry over Urban Decay's Primer Potion. Also please keep in mind that I am a darker skinned girl, so hopefully this will help all you girls (and boys) with a more golden-brown skin tone decide whether you'd like to invest in these shadows.

(from left to right: Hint of Sapphire, Blue Sheen and Unsurpassable)

First up, Unsurpassable. In it's pan, it's mix of greens, blues, pinks and sparkles galore. When it is swatched on the skin it totally changes the shade that would be expected if it were to be taken at face value. I personally like the sheer and sparkly effect that it gives on the skin. It gives that perfect wash of color that I would associate with a fairy or princess. (I know, I'm a romantic. lol.)

Dry, you can see more of the mixture of green and blues, giving it almost a jade-like appearance with small flecks of pink.

Wet, the pink seems to make more of an appearance almost canceling out the green. It becomes an indescribable neutral-like color but the sparkle is still there.

I personally like the shadow when it's applied dry.

Then there is Blue Sheen. It is a deep, royal blue with flecks of pink in it that I feel are very nice in contrast to each other. However, wet or dry, the color pay off looks the same to me. The wet swatch is only a tiny bit more intense than the dry swatch but I do think one way or the other, it would be beautiful to wear in either form.

Now for Hint of Sapphire. When swatched dry, it's another shadow that seems packed full of greens and blues and pinks, although in the pan it is more blue than green as opposed to Unsurpassable. It also shows up somewhat sheer but again, I like that and it's something I was looking for anyway. It swatches more blue on the skin with little hints of green and pink sparkles.

When swatched wet, the blue seems to come out more, over powering the green in it almost.

I think this is one shadow I would also prefer to wear dry.

Some things that I like about these shadows is that they're definitely attractive to look at in the pan and on the skin. I feel that these are something worth investing in. They are also multi-faceted. They change in appearance slightly. Unsurpassable and Hint of Sapphire show up one color on the skin until you view them from a different angle, as well as whether they are seen in artificial or natural light. Blue Sheen seems pretty constant although when applied wet, the deep blue over powers a lot of the pink sparkle that is embedded in it.

As for the other shadows, while they were definitely nice to look at, I am a picky buyer. Something has to really catch my eye for me to really want it (and that is after talking to the MACgirls, reading and listening to reviews and doing my own personal swatches.)

They can be bought for $20.00 at any store that sells MAC. I hope that this eyeshadow swatch review was helpful to you all!

Thanks for reading!!!

TKB Trading Haul/Review

recently, i found out a dear friend works for a mineral make up/distributing company based out of the Bay Area. she came to visit me at my school and even brought me a little sample of some shadow. (we had a good laugh because she walked to the bathroom and when she walked out she saw me testing the shadow on my hand. she said i looked like an addict of some sort. LOL. i AM a make up junkie after all.)

after her visit, i went home and checked out the site. it is called TKB Trading and has been around since the early 90's. my friend, who works in the shipping department, told me how far their business ranges all over the world, all the way from here to Australia.

the site is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate. there are a variety of things to take a look at from DIY mineral make up kits, to ready made eyeshadows, lipsticks, bath salts and dyes, etc. since my main attraction was the make up, i immediately maneuvered myself over the "Colored Micas" under the makeup tab. they have over 200 different eyeshadows, ranging from vibrant to muted shimmers, and enough sparkles to assuage any make up junkies next fix. after poring through the pages and pages of colored shadows, i finally came up with 14 shadows that i decided i had to have. TKBs Pop! Collection in Raspberry Pop, Strawberry Pop, Tangerine Pop, Lemon Drop Pop, Apple Green Pop, Blueberry Pop and Grape Pop. Then some metallic as well as some soft shimmers in Crucible Gold, Crucible Red, Sagittaire Mica, China Jade, Smokey XXX, Copper Basics and a beautiful brown red shadow with blue interference called Chameleon Fine.

14 shadows for only -get this- $1.50 per sample. and each sample consists of about 1 full tablespoon (approx. 15 grams)! shipping was only $3.25 and it took 4 days from when i initially placed my order. so for loads of product, cheap AND fast shipping, i only spent a little less than $25.00! sounds almost too good to be true, right? well, yeah, it does. there had to be something that wasn't adding up. so, naturally came the next question, "how does it show up on the skin?"

being a darker skinned girl, i usually have issues with shadows that aren't as vibrant on my skin as i'd like them to be without some kind of mixing medium. especially those that are yellow and purple based shadows. so i did what any make up junkie would do.

SWATCHES!!!

First up: Raspberry Pop, Strawberry Pop, Lemon Drop Pop and Grape Pop.

Dry w/ flash:

Wet (using MAC's Studio Fix +) w/ flash:

Next: Apple Green Pop, Blueberry Pop, Chameleon Fine, Smokey XXX and Sagittaire

Dry w/ flash:

Wet (using MAC's SF+) w/ flash:

Last: Crucible Gold, Copper Basics, Crucible Red, China Jade and Patagonia Purple (the sample given to me by my dear friend, Nancy!)

Dry w/ flash:

Wet (using MACs SF+) w/ flash:

As you can see, the color pay off is really good, especially foiled using Studio Fix + or any other type of mixing medium.

I also wondered about durability, so I decided to try out one of the shadows to a reception I was attending this past weekend. I chose Copper Basics for my eyeshadow over Urban Decay's Primer Potion and using MAC's Studio Fix + to set it.

Beginning of the night (please don't mind the wolf-woman brows, lol):

Copper Basics on lid, Urban Decay's Smog and Grifter in crease and Sin on brow bone.

I love how the copper shows up so vibrantly on my skin. so far so good!

End of the night after dancing and partying hard with my friends:

as you can see, the shadow stayed in place very nicely even though i'd sweat underneath it from all the dancing i had been doing. if anything, the only issue was my eyeliner which had run slightly into the corners of my eyes. there was minimal creasing and it was still as vibrant as when i'd walked out of the house some 8 hours earlier. the shadow was also very easy to remove with some make up remover wipes and didn't leave any stains or irritation.

so i can easily say that i am very pleased with this product and will more than likely be shopping at this site again!

Thanks for the heads up, Nancy!

hope you enjoyed this review!

XOXOX