NYX: The Crimson Amulet Collection

While in Ulta the other day, I saw this palette and thought it was too nice to pass up.  I didn't swatch any shadows in store, and I had absolutely NO clue what Dark Shadows was at the time, but it had a nice assortment of shadows... and I am a sucker for full face palettes so in my basket it went! It retails for about $24, which isn't bad considering you get 24 shadows, 5 Blushers, an Illuminator, 4 lip glosses, a HD shadow primer and a liquid liner all in an artfully designed palette. 

 

The blushes all have very nice pigmentation, but I was kind of disappointed when it came to the shadows. I only swatched the darker half of the shadows to give you guys a basic idea of what I'm talking about. The deeper hues have decent pigmentation, while most of the lighter colors take an absurd amount of building on darker skin to show up as more than a simple wash of color/glitter. I might try to use them with a pure white base or the primer included instead of a fleshtone base to see if that will help any. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection:  based on the movie Dark Shadows

 (Back of the Outter Box)

 (Back of Acutal Palette)

 (Shadow Half of Palette)

 (1st Part of Palette: Shadows and a Mirror)

 (2nd Half of Palette)

 (Swatches of Dark Shadows- This was after some building of the lighter shades)

 (2nd half of palette: Blushes, Primer, Liner, Illuminator, Glosses)

Overall, with a great base for the shadows and for only $24, it's certainly worth a try. I personally am in love with the artwork and details of the palette... I'm such a Helena Bonham Carter/ Tim Burton fan! When I opened my palette I had to google "Dark Shadows" to see what in the world this movie was about... and now May can't come fast enough (I'm sooooo in the theaters for this one)!!!

Random thought: How did we survive in this world before Google? LOL

If you all want a full palette swatch let me know! So now that you've read my initial review, what are you thoughts: grab or pass?

-Miss Brina

Sephora + Ulta HAUL!!!

While out with the family, I made a few spur of the moment purchases that I wanted to share with you guys! I'll do a full review and swatches once I've used all the goodies a few times. Enjoy!

 Laura Geller Spackle Trio $33

Bottom of bottle

 L :(no flash), Top of Trio Label, R: (flash)

Sephora Moonbaked Shadow Palette $28

 10 Shadows: Top pic (Flash), Bottom pic (No Flash)

UltraFlesh Ultracover Concealer in Muted $24

 Stila Wonderful in Waikiki Palette $14

** Not pictured: Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara $25**

STILA E! Red Carpet Looks palette

I picked this baby up awhile back & am just getting around to posting. There are actually 3 palettes, all of which are gorgeous, but I chose the GLAMOUR GODDESS because it seemed the most useful for me since I like neutral looks for everyday wear, and it came with a liner. Each palette contains 6 shadows, a kitten highlighter & a convertible color + a bonus (either a liner, shadow or gloss depending on the palette choice) for $25. 

I've never picked up a Stila shadow before, and I should have, because they are GREAT! This brand has been surprising me a lot lately, so you'd think I would just stop BSing and get on board already, right? The shadows in this palette are so pigmented, soft and blendable... and they've arranged them in 2 color coordinated looks for you to pull off.

On the inside left of the palette, there is a mirror and instructions on how to create the featured palette look, which I thought was not only cool... but helpful for makeup newbies like myself. The palette itself is fairly thin, and about as tall as your standard memo/address book with a small magnet closure so it's handbag friendly. The look pictured below was done using the 1st two shadows (glitz & on the list) for the signature look and the crease shade (star) for the 2nd look, as I found it created a more natural and subtle look than the dolled up Glamour Goddess. And let me say, I am in LOVE with the waterproof smudgestick in LIONFISH (a deep bronze liner)... I'll have to grab a few more colors to add to my arsenal ;-)

I'd say it's a tremendous value for what you get, and easy/practical to use... so well worth your money to purchase. I'll be going back to Ulta to grab the other two palettes soon, as well as hitting up my local Nordstroms Rack to get a few Stila shadows.

Has anyone tried these E! Red Carpet Palettes? What do you think about them?