The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - 88 Palettes

Left to right: 88 ultra shimmer palette, 88 original matte/satin palette

It was about a year ago when the Coastal Scents 88 Palettes were discovered, and ever since then they've been hyped up as a must have for your collection. With 88 colours, can you really go wrong? So back in March, my sister and I decided to order the palette online from Coastal Scents, the 88 original matte/satin palette for myself, and the 88 ultra shimmer palette for my sister based on raving reviews online.

After having the palettes for a good couple of months, here's what I really think about them..

The Good:
- 88 colours! You can't really go wrong.

- Most of the colours are pretty pigmented.

- Can be an asset to someone just starting out in make-up (or maybe not.. but more on this later!).

- The palettes are pretty small, so they can be good for travel, just be careful with them.


The Bad:
- You definitely need a good base. I honestly don't think you can go without one with these shadows. So for someone just starting out, a good eye primer like UDPP or TFSI or a MAC paint pot is definitely something you need to invest in.

- I ordered my palettes off of Coastal Scents, and it took 2 weeks to get to me, and on top of that I payed around $20 for shipping and then another $12 when I went to pick it up from the post office. That was more than the cost of one palette itsself. A lot of places on ebay sell these palettes which are really the same thing and there's probably a lower shipping cost.

- AND, on top of that, when my sister recieved the 88 ultra shimmer palette, the little pans of eyeshadow kept falling out. It was no biggie because my sister just used regular white glue to glue them back in, but I contacted Coastal Scents and let them know, and they shipped out another palette to us for free - but, the 2nd palette had the same problem.

- The pans of eyeshadow are pretty small, about the size of a dime.

- Most of the shadows in the 88 original matte/satin palette are chalky.

- The hinges on my palette attaching the cover and the shadow part isn't put well together, so now on both my palettes the top part detaches whenever I open them.

The Ugly:
- Honestly, I've had these 2 palettes for a couple of months now, and I hardly reach for them, it seems like I can't do a complete look using JUST the palette, and even then, most tutorials on YouTube or online are using just one or two eyeshadows from the palette and the rest of the look is made up from products from other brands.

- The 88 ultra shimmer palette is complete rubbish. You can't use the shadows dry, you have to foil them to get a good colour pay off.

- The 88 ultra shimmer palette shadows are very soft, so they crumble and make a mess easily.

- For both palettes you really need to PACK the colours on to get the colour in the pan, otherwise, when you apply them with a brush, the pay off is very sheer. Also, as soon as you blend the colours get washed out and disappear, so you have to keep going back and forth to build up the colour.

- Since you really have to pack the colours on, after doing one-two looks you already start seeing the pan on the bottom of the shadow. So if there's a favourite colour you use frequently, it won't last very long.


All in all, if someome asked for my opinon on purchasing these palettes, I would say skip out on these. The 88 original matte/satin palette is just medicore for those random shadows that you probably wouldn't use often. And the 88 ultra shimmer palette is useless, I honestly feel like you can find similar shadows or even better shadows at the dollar store.

Here are some swatches to give you an idea about the payoff with these palettes. All of the swatches are with no base.

This a blue from the 88 ultra shimmer palette. Most of the swatches you see online are swatches like this, and honestly, I don't trust swatches like these. Yeah they are pigmented when you swatch it with your finger because you have the smooth skin of your finger and the amount of pressure you use to pick up the shadow makes it look really pigmented.

This is the same blue as above from the 88 ultra shimmer palette. The swatch on the left is applied with a brush dry - and you can really see how sheer and barely there it is here. The swatch on the right is applied wet with water, and the payoff is a little better than the swatch on the right, but you'll definitely need to go over it repeatedly to get a really good payoff.

A black from the 88 ultra shimmer palette, you can also see on the left of my finger a missing pan.

Here's the same black eyeshadow from the 88 ultra shimmer palette swiped with my finger on the left, and swatched with a brush on the right. The black is one of the few pigmented shadows out of the bunch. You can kind of see the shadow fall out on the left swatch.

A finger swatch of a blue from the 88 original matte/satin palette.

The same blue as above from the 88 matte/satin platte swatches with a brush on the left and with my finger on the right. You can kind of see how both swatches are patchy and sheer. You definetly have to go over and over to get a good solid swatch. But here I just swatched it once.

Most of the reviews are online rave about both of these palettes, and I just wanted put in my two cents. These palettes just sit around in my collection and I thought maybe I should review them and shed some light on what I really think about them.

Till later guys! (:

Get The Most Out Of Your UDPP

We all know that Urban Decay's Primer Potion's packaging sucks butt - you'll never be able to get 100% of the product out with just the conventional wand. But, for those who decide to depot or cut open your UDPP packaging and transfer the product to a jar, you run into the risk of drying out the product. So what can you do?

I found a better way to get more of the product, without cutting it open. How? Keep reading!

On every (well, most) products with a wand, there is a stopper at the tip that wipes off excess product so that you don't end up with a messy wand with more than enough product, with UDPP, all you have to do is remover that stopper.


Quick and easy! First of all, it may make your wand a bit messy with excess product, but you'll get a lot more product out without having to worry about it drying out, just make sure you shut tightly after use. Also, since there's no stopper, you can twist the want inside to get all the product from the sides too.

You can use this tip for lipglosses also. Hopefully this will be helpful to someone.

Au revior! (:

New Hair & Haul

I took the plunge and cut my hair! I'm actually pretty happy with it, it's a bit different than I wanted it, but I love it. Everyone keeps telling me that I look older, my sister said that I looked like a nurse, haha. Anyways, here are the pictures. I should have posted before photos, but you can always look back on my posts to my longer hair.

My make-up looks so smudgey and messed. During school my left contact kept bothering me so I was rubbing my lid and that messed up my make-up, and I didn't even bother fixing it/touching it up when I got home before I went to work.

Yesterday me and my sister went to The Eaton Centre to shop a bit. I ended up returning Era pro pan that I bought from the MAC Freestanding store cause it honestly did nothing for me, and I returned my Nocturnelle pro pan and got another one, cause my last one's payoff suckedddddd so much I thought I just got a dud.

I was browsing the store and honestly, nothing caught my eye. Everything seemed so boring, so I was surprised that I didn't walk out with anything (except for an empty quad - but you know what I mean).

From Sephora, I made up with my MAC dud and bought MUFE # 92, it's sooo pretty, and I've been on a purple kick lately, so I can't wait to play with it. I also picked up a Sephora brow and metal lash comb.

And finallyyy, from Bath & Body works, I picked up two C.O Bigalow lipglosses (they were 3 for $15, my sister got the 3rd one) and 2 hand sanitizers for my school bag & purse.

I've been so busy with school, and working on top of that is not helping. So if I'm not blogging as much, I apologize in advance! (:

Threading! & I Need Your Opinion On HAIR!

I just wanted to do a quick post all about threading eyebrows. Hopefully this will give some of you insight on what it exactly is, how it works, the results, and all that jazz. (:

First of all, I may be a bit bias because threading is the only thing that I've done to my eyebrows ever since I started getting them done. Here's two of the main reasons as of why:

1) It's CHEAP!
The most I've paid for getting my eyebrows threaded is $2-$4. On average, usually where I go it's $3. Not that bad right? Especially if you're going every week or every 2 weeks, depending on what your up keep is.

2) It's PRECISE.
I have a lot of tiny, fine hair around my eyebrows, and threading get's all of them, so that I'm left with a very clean eyebrow. More on this later.

First, what is threading? Threading is a Asian/South Asian method of hair removal. It's done by using a cotton thread, made into a loop and twisted to remove hair at the root by twisting it out.
There's a good video by Pursebuzz on how it works exactly.

Does it hurt?
Honestly, the best way I can describe threading is that it's 'high-speed plucking.' If you have troubles with plucking, you'll have problems with threading!

Also, if you thread/wax/pluck your eyebrows the week before your period, your skin is a lot more sensitive, so it'll hurt more. So I'd advice you girls to go the week after your period, cause it'll hurt a lot less.

How Long Does It Last?
Threading lasts depending on how your hair grows, I get regrowth a couple of days after, and I usually wait and get my eyebrows done every 1-2 weeks, depending when I'm not feeling lazy.

Over time, Does The Hair Come Back Finer?
I've been threading my eyebrows for about 3 years now, and I haven't noticed my hair coming back less or finer, so I can't vouch for that.

Negatives Of Threading:

There are a couple of times when the lady doing my eyebrows has scabbed my skin. This is because she went over the same spot over and over again repeatedly to get out an ingrown hair or something. It hasn't left any scars or anything, but there are small scabs that last a couple of days.

You should probably exfoliate your skin a day or so before you go to get your eyebrows threaded, because motion can 'scrape' off the top dead layer of skin on the area and make you look flaky.

Most of the time, the ladies that thread my eyebrows don't know much about eyebrow shape or what would be the perfect shape with your face. So, I would recommend threading to someone who want's to just upkeep their brows. But, if you're looking to get them shaped, I would suggest going to a salon and then threading your eyebrows to maintain the shape.

Now, here are some pictures so you can get an idea of how it looks like:

Before:

After:

No close ups unfortunately, but you can clearly see the difference. If you guys haven't tried threading, I would highly recommend it!

In that look I used:
UDPP (as a primer)
MAC Woodwinked e/s (all over the lid and a bit into the crease)
MAC Mulch e/s (in the other third of the lid)
MAC Espresso e/s (lightly in the crease)
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara
Bonnie Bell Eye Definer e/l in Glow

I have this kick to get my hair cut, and I really like the new fall trend, "the lob." It's basically a long version of the bob. I would probably have to straighten my hair to keep it looking sleek, but I don't mind so much because I'd have a lot less hair. What do you guys think? Could I pull it off?

The look on the right, ovbiously, lol.

Let's leave off making fun of Kanye West:

"I hope Kanye doesn't show up to Patrick Swayze's funeral. "I'll let you get back to your funeral in a minute... but Michael Jackson had the best death of the year. Just sayinnn."

From Texts From Last Night

Till laterrrr! (:

Tagged: My Daily Beauty Routine

The lovely Rai @ La Morena tagged me, check out her blog if you haven't done so already!

I tag whoever wants to do this. (:

1) My contacts are the first things I put on. Even if I don't plan on wearing them that day, I still put them on when I'm doing my make-up, and then I take them off when I'm done and put on my glasses. I'm blind as a bat without my contacts or glasses.

2) Clean & Clear Eye Makeup Remover and Clean & Clear Morning Burst Shine Control Moisturizer. I put on my moisturizer first. The make-up remover is what I use to take my make-up all off at the end of the day, it's one of those dual ones that you have to shake up before you put it on a cotton pad, but it works good and it's quick.

3) I prime my eyes first before I put on any make-up. This gives time for the primer to dry and set. Even if I'm wearing just eyeliner or mascara, I'll still put primer on to stop my eyelids from looking oily. From left to right, MAC Soft Ochre p/p, UDPP, Smashbox Photofinish Lid Primer.

4) I didn't get a picture of this one, but then I put on whatever eye make-up (shadow & liner) I decide to wear for that day. Lately, I usually try to match my make-up to my shirt, so it doesn't look so clashing against each other, even though it's a faux pas to match your makeup to your outfit.

5) Then I curl my lashes and apply mascara. My favourites at the moment are Rimmel Sexy Curve mascara, I like to use this for "natural" looking days where I want to coat my lashes but not have it look like I have layers of mascara. And for the days when I want volume I use L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous mascara. To finish off my eye makeup, I apply Bonne Bell's Eye Definer e/l in Glow on my waterline.

6) Then I fill in my brows using MAC's 266 angled eyeliner brush and Annabelle's eyeshadow in Ebony which is a matte black. I usually just focus on filling the top arch part of my brows. Then I finish of with a coat of Maybelline Great Lash mascara in clear.

7) Finally, to finish off my face I apply blush. My current favourites are NYX Blush in Mauve and NYC Chroma Face Glow in Moonstone as a highlight. I apply using my Bella Brushes blush brush and I use that little kabuki to buff it out.

8) For my lips I usually go with vaseline, and MAC's Bare Slimshine and Bare Neccessity Dazzleglass.

At the end of the night..

9) Lately I've been using The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Cleaning Facial Wash to wash my face after removing my make-up with Clean & Clear's Eye Makeup Remover. Then for any left over racoon eyeliner I use St. Ives Apricot Cleanser on my eyes cause it doesn't sting like the tea tree stuff does. Every couple of days I'll exfoliate with St. Ives Apricot Blackhead Remover Scrub.

Ugh, blogger is messing up again, it's not showing any blogs on my dashboard. Usually when this happens I'll log off and log in again and it'll be fine, but it didn't work. I know a lot of you guys have been having this problem lately too. Blogger needs to get it together!

Till later guys! (:

Back To School!

So today's the dayyyyyyy, back to school - after what seemed like a short summer. I'm sitting here watching The Tyra Show's season 5 premier waiting for my classes to start at 12:30pm (it's 10:30am right now.) So I decided to post before I officially start school! (:

I woke up today and straightened my hair because I thought I was going to have to take my school photo. I don't usually straighten my hair cause I get lazy and I'd rather sleep in, haha. So I walked to school to drop off my brother for his orientation, and I walked back and came home and noticed my hair got all frizzy. It's kind of foggy outside, but I have a pretty good straightener and never really had a problem before. Oh well, I'm going to re-straighten it abit and load it with hairspray, and hopefully i'll be good to go. (:

I also had no idea on what kind make-up to do for school either, I didn't want to do anything colourful and crazy, but I didn't want to do anything boring either. Know what I mean? So today I came up with this simple look.

Used
Eyes:
UDPP (as a primer)
MAC Soft Ochre p/p (as a base)
UD's Smog e/s from the UD Deluxe Shadow Box (all over the lid and into the crease)
MAC Espresso e/s (smoked in the outer corner & crease)
Annabelle Vanilla Chilla e/s (as a highlight)
Personelle random highlight e/s (right under my brow arch)
MAC Blacktrack f/l
Bonnebelle Eye Definer e/l in Glow (on waterline)
L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous mascara (I stopped using this for Rimmel's Sexy Curves mascara, but I remember why I love this stuff.)

Face:
NYX Blush in Mauve

Lips:
MAC Bare Slimshine

Last picture for the road. (:

Bitter Sweet, You're Gonna Be The Death Of Me!

Quick post.

Before work, as usual, I head over to Everything For A Dollar Store and pick up my usual chocolate/candy snack. What do I see in the cosmetic isle? L.A Colour cosmetic products! You couldn't believe my shock! Most of it was cleared out, but there was a good amount of stuff left!

I glanced quicky, but there were pigments in those weird bottles with the brush applicator lid, single eyeshadows, trio eyeshadows, and mascara.

Check it out, if you have one near you! I'm going to go look again tomorrow before work. (:

Blue Liner - Back To School FOTD

Ever since I was little, I was ALWAYS excited to go back to school. The new binders, notebooks, pencil, pencils, pencil crayons (I always hated wax crayons), etc.. excited me. Everything is so fresh and new, and this year is no different. I got my schedule already, and I'm looking forward to applying to colleges/university's and focusing on my future. (:

Here's a look that I did yesterday. I've been looking around for quick and simple looks for school, and this is something that I thought was quick and fun - and I love the pop of colour. I was inspired by a look that one of the members on the Makeup Geek Forum posted. I think this would also be perfect for fall with a gold eyeshadow underneath (which is what the member posted.)

Don't mind the towel turban, haha.

Used:
UDPP (primer on the lids)
Bonnebell Eye Definer e/l pencil in Indigo (on upper lashline)
88 Ultra Shimmer palette (royal blue, foiled, applied on top of Indigo)
L'Oreal Carbon Black Voluminous mascara
Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
Bonnebell Eye Definer e/l pencil in Glow (on lower waterline)

I'm also trying to get comfortable with going out with a bare face. I'm trying not to get "used" to wearing make-up everyday, and trying to be comfortable to go out without any make-up. I'm going to work today without any make-up! It's nice being 'free.' Haha.