All posts filed under: Reviews

The Quest for the Fudge Dupe

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I mentioned in an earlier post that I was on the lookout for a Fudge dupe, since I couldn’t figure out if it was actually a dupe-able color. It seems like a simple warm medium brown with a somewhat frosty/metallic finish, but I had to make sure if it was complex enough to recommend it to someone who may encounter it in the future. So! Here are most of the shimmery browns I have. I didn’t include obvious too-cool shades. The Contenders: MAC eyeshadow (Amber Lights) Urban Decay Naked 2 (Snake Bite) Urban Decay Naked 1 & 2 (Half Baked) Urban Decay Naked (Dark Horse) theBalm Nude ‘Tude (Seductive) Addiction eyeshadow (Fudge) shu uemura x Karl Lagerfeld Prestigious Bordeaux Palette, the brown Silk Smooth Eyeshadow Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette, first crease color Urban Decay Naked (Smog) Wet n Wild Eyeshadow Single (Penny) Hmm, as you can see, there aren’t any super close dupes, so if you have your eye on Fudge, I think you could go for it. If you do already have …

Drugstore Finds: Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palettes

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For people starting out with makeup, it’s not really a good idea to splurge on high-end eyeshadow palettes. I mean, just look at this douchebag. Some of the best purchases a budding makeup enthusiast could make are the Wet n Wild eyeshadows and eyeshadow palettes. Here are two of the best ones on the market, a trio called Walking on Eggshells and an eight-pan palette called Comfort Zone. It got a lot of rave reviews, and honestly, it was the only color trio that I felt safe enough to try out just because it was a neutral brown palette. As is typical of Wet n Wild Eyeshadow Palettes, Walking on Eggshells has designated specific functions for the shades. The lightest, cream shadow is for the browbone. The light, champagne color is for the eyelid. The darkest shade, a medium brown, is for the crease. Once you’ve been playing around with makeup, this will feel like a sort of affectation, but it is a very helpful and very simple guide for beginners. This is also helpful …

Let Addiction’s Cheek Stick in Revenge Help You Get Cheeky This Summer

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With this post, the Addiction train has finally come to the end. At least, for now. It’s crazy how much I bought from this counter on my trip and how I still feel like I missed out on some good shades or products. I don’t think it points to a hoarder mentality, necessarily—though of course a hoarder in denial would say that. Seriously, though, I think I’ve found another favorite brand. Funnily enough, NARS, which is where Ayako used to work with, has been one of my favorite brands even before I got makeup-crazy. 🙂 (Whoap, too bright!) LOL I am so sorry about the titles, but I just need to put something up there other than the name of the product and the shade. I mean, really. I HAVE TO. This is a cast-off title: Getting Cheeky with It. Get it? Will Smith? Ahem. So far, I’ve shown you the lipsticks and the lip crayon. I have only two more full-sized Addiction products to show you, and I got some samples of their tinted …

Drugstore Finds: e.l.f. Stipple Brush

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e.l.f. is pretty much the Mecca of all baby makeup lovers on their merry little way to becoming hoarders beauty connoisseurs. It’s not a surprise either since their products are generally decent and the price point is something that everyone can agree with. I haven’t explored many e.l.f. products, aside from the eyeshadows when I was starting out, and of course, their brushes. Many people have graduated from e.l.f. color makeup to using higher-end alternatives, but a lot of pros and full-fledged beauty nuts still use their brushes. I’m particular about my brushes, to an extent, but I’m not above looking for cheaper alternatives to MAC or Hakuhodo. A while back, I purchased a relatively cheap set of brushes and while most of them were pretty good quality, I wasn’t really happy with the stippling brush it came with, so the search went on and on. I wasn’t really into the thought of splurging for a stippling brush because I would honestly just buy more for eyeshadow, so I looked into the e.l.f. one from …

Going on a Midnight Drive for Fudge is Always A Good Idea: A Quick Look at Addiction Eyeshadows

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All of the products I’ve tried from Addiction have been excellent, and these shadows are no exception. I got two very different shades. Midnight Drive was a surprise for me. I don’t know why I purchased it, or why I even swatched it. I do not really wear a lot of “bold” colors. Though this is technically a light color, it is still a bold one for me, in that it’s out of my comfort zone. Midnight Drive is a super-pale grey-toned seafoam green with a hint of a shimmer. It is not very “me,” but it felt “right” to get. If that makes sense. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. The next one I got was Fudge, which is a warm medium copper-y brown. Again, I saw this somewhere and wanted it. So I got it. The texture on this one is impeccable. It is silky-smooth and butter-y, and is extremely pigmented as well. Swatches, L-R: Addiction Fudge, Addiction Midnight Drive The texture of Fudge reminded me so much of the shu …

Big in Japan: Drugstore Finds Part III

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Welcome to the third installment of my Japanese drugstore “haul”! So far, I think I’ve shown four products in each post, and I have four (sort of) to show you today. I haven’t actually opened one of them yet (you’ll see why), so it’s just going to be a peek at it. Anyway, let’s start! Here is my face that looks like it is shaped like an egg: Media Creamy Lasting Lipstick in PK-20 Ah, the last tube of my drugstore lipsticks. This purchase was really sort of like an afterthought, and although it is a good lipstick, I kind of wish I got one more Lavshuca instead (see here). These are almost half the price of those at ¥895 or about $9. PK-20 is a dusty pink with no shimmer, which is quite unusual for Japanese drugstore lipsticks, at least from what I observed from my excessive swatching. The tube is a bit flimsy. It reminds me of the way my Avon lipsticks felt in my hand, kind of like the pieces don’t really …

Draw on a pretty pout with Addiction’s Lip Crayon in Day Trip

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I originally had my eye on three lip crayons. Aside from Day Trip, I wanted to get Spy Pink and Endlessly, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get more than one Lip Crayon (like a dumb ass) so I ended up with what I think is a happy medium. Day Trip is a muted coral beige (in my opinion). It’s a light brown, but very warm with a tiny bit coral. I swatched this together with Spy Pink, which is a pale pink, and Endlessly, which is a pretty straight-up nude. This felt like it would suit my skin tone better, so I went with this. These remind me a lot of the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, but they did away with the hassle of sharpening. Addiction Lip Crayons come in a plastic, twist-up tube for easy application. My experience with both have been similar, in that they are not drying on the lips at the time of application. I find that NARS VMLPs tend to dry up a bit while you …