Twenty-Five Years Of Viva Glam
This is going to be one of those nostalgic posts where someone lets you in on how old they are by telling you about how great things were “back in the day” (but not in a creepy, racist “Make America Great Again” kind of way), but because it’s me it’s going to be a nostalgic post about makeup. I recently picked up the 25th anniversary addition of the original shade of MAC Viva Glam, and it brought me back to my earliest experiences with high end makeup and reminded me of when MAC was the absolute leader in...
read moreThe (California) Golden Touch: Midas Cosmetics Sparks Up Some Glam With The High Times Palette
Ready for more cannabis-fueled makeup goodness? Strap in! If you’re keeping track, this is the 4th makeup palette I’ve reviewed on this site that is marijuana-themed. I started with the OMFG Kush palette from OMFG Cosmetics in April, and in May I did a double review on the Melt Cosmetics’ Smoke Session palette and the Kush Queen palette from Peachy Queen. But pot is huge in the beauty space right now, so here we are again, this time trying out a 12-pan palette from a new indie brand I’m trying out: the High Times...
read moreGettin’ Lucky With Irish Beauty Brands
Recently I had a weeklong work trip to Cork, Ireland. Besides being an amazing opportunity to see a new place, try some new food, and get a sense of another culture, I figured it would also be an opportunity to check out some Irish and UK-based beauty brands. I had a little bit of knowledge of some indie brands from the UK, but I wasn’t sure what kinds of brands might be based in Ireland, so I started searching on YouTube and I found a makeup artist from Cork, Christine O’Connor, and watched a couple of her videos and then...
read moreCome As You Are: Invoke 90s Grunge Vibes With Karity Cosmetics
I was an 80s kid and a 90s teenager, so I’m loving the wave of nostalgia that’s coming now – mostly because it’s been taking the BEST of those eras and making it bearable. Seriously, if you look back at what the 90s were really like, there was some awful, ugly stuff happening then. Bib overalls. Flannel. Chunky heeled shoes. But there were some elements in terms of color stories and influences that actually look pretty cool. The end of last year into this year is when we really started to see this trend emerge...
read moreSparking Up Some Glam: Melt Cosmetics’ and Peachy Queen’s Pot-Themed Palettes
I’m definitely late for 4/20, but I’ve got a couple of palettes that will help you spark up some glam at any time of the year. Marijuana is sort of a trend in the cosmetics industry, with some products like Milk Makeup’s Kush mascara actually including CBD oil, and there are a number of palettes that are getting in on this green trend. If I’m honest, I’m not a huge fan of marijuana personally because the smoke irritates my lungs terribly (though in Seattle, where they have legal dispenseries, I’ve been...
read moreGetting A (Mild) Sugar Rush From The Bombshell Cosmetica Sour Blast Palette
Bombshell Cosmetica is a brand I discovered through one of my newer favorite YouTubers, Nerdy Girl Makeup, around the time that they released their Candylicious palette. It was the same size and shape as the Box of Crayons palette from The Crayon Case, but seemed to get much less love on YouTube (which is a shame because it’s a pretty good palette!). But even though I really enjoyed that palette, I was skeptical when they announced three new candy-themed palettes: Sour Blast, a rainbow palette modeled after sour gummy worms; Oh Hubba...
read moreThe Low Buy Is Dead. Long Live The Low Buy.
Well, we gave it the old college try. Low Buys and No Buys are all the rage right now, with a lot of creators on YouTube creating videos, series, and sometimes entire channels around their desire to buy less makeup and skincare. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and so I decided, with the best of intentions, to have 2019 be the year of the Low Buy. I knew a No Buy would never, ever work for me – I don’t finish enough stuff to wait until all of the products I had in a category were used up before buying more! – and I...
read moreRedesign Series LIVE! Feat. ColourPop x Disney Villains Misunderstood Palette
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a palette redesign, and I you saw my recent post on the ColourPop X Disney Villains Misunderstood palette, you know that I felt like it could use some serious re-tooling. Since I have a ton of ColourPop palettes, and because the pans are attached with a magnetic backing in the palette instead of with glue, I thought it might be fun to get out of PowerPoint and see if I could use the ColourPop shadows in my collection to make a better version! While I was at it, I also put together some new...
read moreFeeling Naughty-cal: ABH’s Riviera Palette (FINALLY!) Brings Vivid Color
So, #UnpopularMakeupOpinion: I don’t understand the cult of popularity around Anastasia Beverly Hills. Modern Renaissance dominated the beauty world for several years, but it wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for Lime Crime’s original Venus palette paving the way, the same way Venus 2 paved the way for Subculture. Speaking of Subculture, it was a dry, powdery mess and the tones are kind of odd – grungey, but also just…kind of…off. The Glow Kits are pretty bomb, I will give them that, but is it...
read moreWhy Does Tarte Bring Out The Worst In All Of Us? Plus, The High Tides & Good Vibes Palette
Poor tarte, they just can’t catch a break! I’ve been ragging on them for years about being 50 shades of beige, and I stand behind that. Their tartelette and tarteist palettes series are nothing but a huge collection of repetitive beige, brown, and champagne shades. I bought the Rainforest of the Sea palettes 1-3 when they were daily deals on Sephora.com just so that I could see if they really were that basic, and trust me: they were. That’s tarte’s thing: they do basic neutrals and, at least according to people who...
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