The absolute newest release from Kaleidos is the Sound of Winter Lip Clay Collection. I purchased a custom bundle so I could buy the Willow Wisp Tin with Golden Rosin from that set, Pink Himalayan and Tundra from the Polar Placid Vault, and Terra from the original Sand Castle Vault. I nearly forgot that I purchased Mahogany from the Flora Noir Vault as well in one of the November or December orders, so I will include demonstration photos of that too. The release prior to that was of the Symphony Contour Trios. I purchased the option in Dark. There are five of them in total with one version darker than mine and three that are lighter. I’m impressed with these offerings considering how their first contour palettes weren’t very inclusive and only came in two options. Then, the third newest release was their line of Epiphany Glow Melt-On Eyeliners. I purchased the one called Night of Creation.
I bought the face trio and multichrome eyeliner during Black Friday, but I didn’t receive it until late December. The newest Lip Clays were available for purchase mid December and did not arrive until early January, so I have spent less time with these Lip Clays, but they’re no different than the ones I’ve used throughout 2022.
Photos I take in this spot tend to wash out my skin, but I’m not posting these face-foward pictures for color accuracy. I just wanted to show examples of the Lip Clays on the face without being zoomed in so closely. Also, I frequently wear two different eyeshadow looks on testing days, so please excuse that.
I now own twelve Lip Clays. My opinions of them haven’t changed, and those who wish to see my reviews of the rest can find them here and here. I’m still impressed with how long wearing yet comfortable it is on the lips. It’s transfer resistant, as long as oil from food hasn’t broken it down, and it’s easy to touch up. I love the plush velvety texture, although it’s not as completely unique as I thought. I recently learned that Colourpop’s line of Lux Velvet Liquid Lipsticks are similar enough that I would recommend those as an alternative if Colourpop happens to be more accessible to someone than Kaleidos. The lip products have similar price points, though Colourpop tends to have deeper and more frequent discounts. Kaleidos makes unique shade options though for the more daring and color-loving makeup wearers.
The only new development about the Lip Clays I’ve experienced is that Wild Apple separated a bit. Unlike all the other Lip Clays that maintained their mousse-like texture, my version of Wild Apple was giving me fully liquid swatches until I stirred it in the tube and it mixed back with the rest of the lingering thick creamy product inside that I’m used to seeing. It’s even visible in the swatch photo above with all except Wild Apple having mostly dried down in spite of me waiting a few minutes for it to dry. Wild Apple was part of my oldest custom set that I purchased a little over a year ago. The other three Lip Clays that came with it haven’t changed. The smell is slightly more chemical-like, so it might be starting to turn early considering the 18 month period after opening date.
I’ve been using the Symphony Contour Trio quite a lot since it arrived. The powders feel super soft to the touch and remind me of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting and Laura Mercier Candleglow Perfecting powders, put more heavily pigmented. The fill shade is supposed to be the illuminator that, “delivers soft, from-within radiance with buttery smooth powder that expertly blurs skin textures and naturally brightens targeted areas.” I’m a bit confused that this is considered a glow product when I am unable to see any shimmer or sheen to the powder whatsoever. The only glow I get is from my foundation. The powder imparts a natural finish at best, which is why I feel so comfortable using it to set my under eyes. Kaleidos also sells the “fill” compacts separately and I was considering getting a lighter shade since this just sets things in place and doesn’t deliver on the brightening effect (possibly due to the color depth), but I’m not sure if the Tan version would be too light for me. Had this product been less of a setting powder and more of a finishing one with shimmer or a sheen like the Guerlain meteorites, I’d have been willing to give another shade a try. But I only need it for setting and am perfectly happy to have this one for that purpose. That also being said, kudos to Kaleidos for the fact that all my comparisons to this product are high end brands because that’s the quality level of this product and for a really great price!
The packaging is surprisingly weighty metal while also being sleek and easy to hold in the hand. I’m quite impressed with the design!
When it comes to using the sculpting contour shade or the chisel brontour color, I get near airbrushed results when my base makeup is matte. When it’s on my typical slightly dewy or natural finish foundations, it can require a little more effort on my part because it may stick a tiny bit where I first lay the product down. Because the sculpt shade is a bit deep for me and I already have to use a controlled hand to have it blend into my skin, I have to be especially careful to apply a little at a time and with a brush that will disperse the product lightly while also aiding in the blend. With the chisel shade, I don’t have to worry about being as precise with it because the color match suits me better. In fact, when I use this trio, I often reach for the fill shade and chisel shade and skip trying to contour. The sculpt shade is cool-toned and deep, so it does have a sculpting effect, but I prefer to have a little more grey so I can actually create a faint shadow. So, if I’m in the mood to contour, I still reach for my Hindash Beautopsy palette instead.
Although not completely perfect, I like this a lot and foresee myself continuing to get use out it!
My review of this liner is a first and second impression, so please keep that in mind. I will update this post in the future if I discover anything that differs from what I experienced initially.
I love multichromes, so it’s only natural that I find multichrome eyeliners super appealing. However, I know how to turn eyeshadows into liners, so I’ve tried for the longest time to prevent myself from buying them for the convenience/ease of not having to scrape some off and mixing it with a liquid product (like MAC Fix+, isododecane from TKB Trading, Inglot Duraline, or Mehron Mixing Liquid) and applying carefully with a brush and then having to clean off the tools, etc. So, I ultimately skipped getting the $28 Natasha Denona Chromium Liquid Eyeshadows, the $26 Danessa Myricks Twin Flames, and JD Glow MultiChrome Gel Liners for $18.50. It was also easier to pass since those are liquid products. I was a lot more tempted when I heard Sugar Drizzle had multichrome eyeliner crayons, but I don’t think they are sold individually and I’m always wary about purchasing from small indie brands for the first time. So, when I was already making that Black Friday order from Kaleidos, the $12.80 (regularly $16) was too good to pass up on. Around the same time, I got the Danessa Myricks Beauty Infinite Chrome Pencil in my Mystery Trendmood Box, so it’s only natural to want to compare them.
I chose Night of Creation because its the type that no matter what lighting situation it’s in, the angle, or whether it shows a visible shift or not, I would love it and use it in the same way. Kaleidos describes the colors as, “Ultramarine, Violet, and Dark Plum,” and I often use deep and vibrant blues and purples on my lower lash line as a pop of color to a neutral look or as a secondary color to an otherwise monochromatic eye. The other liner color options, for example Limelight, goes on the spectrum of blue, blue-green, green, and yellow-green in a look that I might not want any yellow because the warmth could clash with an otherwise cool tone look, for example. Of course the benefit to having a multichrome is to have a shift, but not if the shifting color might look off next to the tones of other eyeshadows I would be wearing. Night of Creation has all cool tone bold colors, which means it’s most likely to all look good or not at all. That makes it simpler to know when I want to incorporate it in a look or not.
Night of Creation applies so easily to my hand, but on my eyelids with my lines and texture, I had to go over the same spot for a full minute in order to get the opacity level shown all over my eyelid in the photo above, and at least ten times to just my upper lash line. This isn’t due to a lack of creaminess. The product is soft, but it’s as if I get a coating of the black base and have to keep rubbing over and over until the sparkle part with the actual pigment comes off. For this reason, I haven’t thought to use this in my waterline and don’t plan on it either. The product tip is very thick and not easy to apply precisely. I’m someone who loves doing a wing and had to switch holding the pencil from 180 to a 90 degree angle to try and get a thinner line using its side. I still had to sharpen up the edges with concealer in the examples above. Also, I can still see patches in the full lid example, so I don’t plan on using this pencil for that in the future and will stick to keeping it on the lower and/or upper lash line.
One advantage the Danessa Myricks pencil has over the one from Kaleidos is how thin it is, which makes it so much easier for me to use precisely. I know a big complaint from customers about it is how little product one gets in the Chrome Micropencils, but as someone who normally takes six months to use up a black eyeliner, even if it was in almost every eye look for those six months, a product like this one that I’m going to use a lot less frequently should last me ages. Kaleidos has 0.20 grams compared to Danessa’s 0.15 grams, so I’m fine with that difference. Some brands give a ton of product, but among the micro pencil category, the Hourglass 1.5MM Mechanical Gel Eye Liner is 0.06 grams and the Shiseido MicroLiner Ink Eyeliner is 0.08 grams, so those have even less for around the same price and they’re not multichromes.
They’re both beautiful on the eyes. Because they’re very different colors, I don’t think it would be fair of me to compare shifting ability and shine between them (dark vs light color and contrasting shifts vs similar color depths in shifts), but Tina compared several in her video here. She actually owns Charoite, which is most comparable to Night of Creation.
These are also both waterproof. I do not recommend trying this on without a waterproof makeup remover or an oil of some kind to help break it down because these are truly waterproof, especially the one from Kaleidos. Most of the time when a product is waterproof I can still remove it from my skin with Bioderma, but neither of these budged at all when I made multiple passes over my swatches with Bioderma and my Makeup Eraser cloth. I then used regular hand soap and water, which only the tiniest bit of the Danessa Myricks came off at. I then used Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Liquid Soap that contains oil in it and that removed about half of the Kaleidos and most of the Danessa Myricks. Ultimately, I still pulled out my Sephora Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover which did the trick but was still not a breeze to do like I expected. So these are no joke! When I was using the Kaleidos liner on my actual lids, a piece of it broke off (during the attempt to cover the whole lid when I was rubbing the eye repeatedly and forcefully) and fell somewhere on my laminate wood floor. I couldn’t see where it was, so I assumed it rolled under the bed and I planned to deal with it later. What I did not realize was that it didn’t roll under the bed. I accidentally stepped on it when I got up, and since I was wearing socks I didn’t feel a thing. I started walking to my door and then realized I had a trail of probably fifteen spots of deep shimmery purple smudges into the laminate. I grabbed a paper towel and some water to start wiping it up, and when it wouldn’t budge I remembered in horror that it’s waterproof.
So, I had to use oil to remove the trail of liner smudges from across the floor, and then use soap and water to get the oil residue off the floor, and then dry it all up again so I wouldn’t accidentally slip and give myself a whole new set of problems.
The moral of the story is not to underestimate the waterproof power of these liners! Haha.
As for longevity on the eyes, they both live up to the claims of being smudgeproof, but because I get oily lids and I tend to rub my eyes, these had some spots that wore off by the end of the day. My upper lash line was fine, but the inner portion of both my lower lash lines had missing product. The Kaleidos held up better though than the Danessa Myricks one did. Those that get oily lids, but don’t rub their eyes, plus those that don’t have an oily-lid problem should have no trouble with longevity. And I should also mention that even though I have oily lids, removing the leftover liner was not an easy task.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 28, 2023: I ended up buying two additional Danessa Myricks liners and thought I should add swatches of them here since I will be unlikely to re-review them again.
Well, that’s everything I could think to mention! I hope you have a great week and thank you for checking out this post today!
I wish it was possible to have reviews for my February purchases up quicker, but two of the orders were from international brands, which took nearly a month to arrive. I then needed adequate time to test out the makeup, but I was away from home quite a lot in the month of April. So, here we are now!
Some of these items have already been reviewed by now, so in order to give the unreviewed products their time to shine and not be repetitive, I will just add links that open a new tab to the locations of the previously discussed products.
KVD Beauty Good Apple Lightweight Full-Coverage Concealer in 167
This feels like old news by now since so many reviews have been released about this super hyped up concealer, but I may as well give my take on it too. This product, in terms of performance, has surpassed the identically priced and beloved Tarte Shape Tape Concealer! I have to use it in specific ways though in order to get it to last all day.
This product is full coverage but spreads very easily within the first half minute or so. The applicator feels lovely on the skin, but the amount it picks up is too much for my entire face, even when I scrape the excess product off the tip. With the scraped off amount, if I try to blend in the same spot, it still spreads outside of the brush zone, so I have to continue blending out the edges to get it to seamlessly fuse with my foundation, which can lead to it moving too far. How I minimize this is by applying a thin layer of concealer to the areas I need coverage, but I leave a little room on the edges and try to avoid my under eye lines. Then I wait at least 45 seconds to let it start to dry. Then I start blending and tap my brush onto the wettest parts that haven’t settled yet and use that to spread and cover all the blank spots. If I’ve lost some of the coverage by then, I dot the tiniest bit of extra product to those areas and smooth it out. This technique allows me to use the least amount of product, but prior to this, I learned it’s better to apply the concealer in two light layers rather than one heavy one. It also helps that I use the Sonia G Jumbo Concealer brush which doesn’t trap the product in its bristles or pick it back up off the face.
I don’t follow the inner and outer corner concealer application spots, the concealer triangle, or other shapes beauty gurus show because my dark circles and discoloration are unique and must be applied in the way that suits my face. I was in a bit of a rush when I took this picture, but that initial application doesn’t have to be perfect. The key is to cover most, but not all, of the undereye darkness and discoloration so that even less product will be able to settle into those lines later when I blend in the rest of the concealer. This is the method I use exclusively with the KVD Good Apple Concealer.
I’ve also been content with leaving my concealer as is and not setting it with powder, though without powder, I’d need a decent amount of product in order to keep it lasting all day. Denatured Alcohol is fairly high in this concealer, as the fifth ingredient. This probably helps with the quick dry down/partial self setting aspect, but it does concern me as someone with dry skin to have a drying ingredient in it. However, I decided I will continue using this concealer, at least until I’ve used it up because I like it so much. I love that it’s so lightweight but builds up to full coverage and looks a little more hydrating under my eyes than Shape Tape, even with the alcohol. It’s also longer lasting than Shape Tape. I think it’s important to prep my under eyes, but if I use a moisturizer (I don’t use eye creams anymore) with too many oils, it will break down my concealer quicker than usual. I’ve had better success using my primers/priming moisturizers like the Bobbi Brown Face Base, Tatcha Silk Canvas, Touch in Sol Pretty Filter Glassy Skin Balm, MILK Hydro Grip Eye Primer, etc. If I use something under my concealer, that’s when I make sure to set it with powder.
Regarding the color options, I recommend paying close attention to the swatches because some of the shades are randomly darker than the swatch above and below. Several shades are also essentially the same depth, but just have different undertones. When I was trying to figure out which one to get, it was quite confusing. If KVD created something between 173 and 177, that would be my ideal color provided it’s actually darker than 167 but lighter than 177. My current shade works under my eyes, but it’s too light for the hyperpigmentation around my mouth and gives a grey look when I cover it up. And for those who don’t know, I prefer having a concealer shade that matches my face, rather than being a few shades lighter. The dollops of product depicted for each shade are also much deeper than in reality, so I recommend going by the swatches or seeing these in store to be safe. My nearest Sephora never has anything new but both malls closest to me are closing, so I know that’s not possible for everyone to do.
For those curious, here are some swatches and shade comparisons. I only have a mini of the Deep Shape Tape right now, which I suspect is lighter than the full size, so I would say take that with a grain of salt, along with the Pat Mcgrath concealers which are nearly used up and also changing in consistency and should probably be tossed out. I typically mix PML’s 22 and 24 to get a better match and Lancome’s 460 and 495 to get a better match as well.
One thing to watch out for though is that after using it for a month, the color seemed a little darker than when I first got it. I think it’s due to repeated exposure to air. I will continue to monitor what happens with this concealer as time goes on and update this post if necessary.
Nyx Marshmellow Smoothing Primer (Mini)
I was always intrigued by the idea of this primer, but I held off buying it until I tried a sample of it and loved how it gave me what I wanted out of the Touch in Sol Pretty Filter Glassy Skin Balm, but with more of a shine to my skin. The sample I got was perfectly blended and mixed, but in my $8 mini, the oil and rest of the product is partly separated so much that it leaks out of the tube every time I open it. I know this is common in some products, but it’s quite the annoyance trying to apply it evenly to my face and not get too much oil in one spot. Before every use, I rotate between shaking the tube and massaging the packaging a few times to try and get them to mix back together.
This has a light marshmallow scent to it. There are quite a few claims on Ulta’s website like, “This primer smooths, softens, extends makeup wear for 16 hours, hydrates, soothes, evens tone, minimizes texture, blurs lines, adds a soft focus finish AND keeps makeup fresh.” After several wear tests, the longest being ten hours, I can only confirm the skin softening, minuscule amount of line blurring, and keeping makeup fresh. I hoped that the initial shine I got on my skin when first applied would continue throughout the day, which it does sometimes, but at other times this primer actually partially mattifies my skin. I would not have noticed if I hadn’t done several wear tests using the NYX primer only on one side of the face. Sometimes it goes on perfectly clear and at other times it leaves a slight white cast, which at least is undetectable once foundation is on top, but still it’s quite the strange phenomenon. The only explanation I have is the separation of the formula and me being unable to consistently mix it back together in the tube. So, on those matte days, I don’t know if my skin is actually being hydrated. It at least feels hydrated, so that’s a good thing for me.
I don’t wear makeup for long enough to know if it would last 16 hours and I have no idea what a “soft focus finish” from makeup would look like in real life, so I can’t confirm or disprove those claims either. I still like this primer, but not enough to repurchase it unless I somehow start noticing the other supposed benefits like a more even tone, minimized texture, and an increase in the blurring power.
Essence Coffee to Glow Highlighter Beans
Calling this subtle wouldn’t be the right wording, but it gives more of a sheen or glow than a blinding reflect. It lasted a full eleven hours without fading during my longest wear test and with my best primer. The worst performance of it when combined with different base products left me with a very subtle sheen by the nine hour point. I’m quite shocked at how similar it actually is to the Guerlain meteorites in terms of performance, though it’s a little more toned down than those and the Guerlain is a little more friendly to texture.
It smelled like coffee when I first bought it, but a month later it smelled faintly like coffee but mostly like pencils. It’s the type of smell that is detectable when I put it on, but I can’t smell it after I finish blending it. According to Ulta and Essence’s websites though, these are somehow fragrance free. I skimmed several videos to see what others had to say about the beans, and theirs had a smell too, so I don’t know why this is the case if they aren’t supposed to be scented. Maybe it’s the foam or packaging itself that’s scented and not the makeup.
There are way less beans in the cup than I expected because there’s a foam layer that fills most of the space, as can be seen in my product photo far above. I don’t mind this since I’ve never gotten even a quarter of the way through a highlighter.
It is easier to get powder from the lid rather than trying to pick up product off the beans because I have occasionally gotten crumb size pieces between the bristles of the brush and when those fall to the floor it makes a mess. The beans stay mostly intact if I rub my brush over them, but they are not difficult to break. One shattered between my fingers when I tried to swatch each of the three colors against my arm and it got everywhere!
Considering I did not enjoy the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter Palette, I’m shocked how much better these are and how much more I like them. For those who like subtle highlighters and don’t mind scented makeup, I’d recommend trying these out if they’re still available. Also, those of a lighter skin tone can remove the darkest beans if there is a concern of this leaving a dark cast on the face. Conversely, those with a darker skin tone can remove the golden yellow beans if there is a concern of it being too stark, but I think it may be less of an issue for those on the deeper skin tone spectrum as can be seen here in this YouTuber’s video.
Essence Coffee to Glow Eyeshadow Palette
I should note that these two Essence products and the Nyx primer are all allowed in my low buy under the stipulation of “products that I intended to get last year but was prevented from doing so for one reason or another.” I tend to prefer colorful eyeshadow palettes, so the only reasons I wanted this palette were for the glossy and swirl shadows. I felt like it would somehow give me a taste of Huda Beauty’s Naughty Palette which has those types of shadows in it.
The #5 gloss shadow has a hard gel layer with all the pigment pearls at the very bottom, so I had to crush it down to the pan in order to get any color out of it. I expected it to just be a gimmick and it would certainly have been pointless wearing it on its own on my eyes if I hadn’t mixed it. It’s supposed to be a “universal eye shadow topper,” but that isn’t my makeup preference. Instead, I use this as a base primer and it greatly increases the longevity of the shimmers I apply on top, as I saw in an eleven hour wear test. I almost always get creasing on my eyes, and using the gel as a base does deepen the creases, but it also keeps my shimmers in place and prevents the transfer that I get from my lid to my crease when I use a regular eyeshadow primer.
With regular primers like the MAC Paint Pot and Gerard Cosmetics Clean Canvas, my eye looks using this palette are still fine past ten hours but the shimmers aren’t as intense. As for the mattes, I was impressed with the color payoff. They blend sufficiently. I just wish Essence included a deeper shade because I can’t get much depth out of shades #1 and #8 which are the two darkest colors in this palette.
I always use #3 to blend out the edges of the other mattes in the crease. For the inner corner, I use #2 or #6 but my favorite thing is to use them together for the inner corner highlight because #2 has the best reflect but it can be a bit dark depending on how much of the darker swirl is used, whereas #6 is lighter but not shinier. Those two shades don’t last as long on my eyes because I do touch my eyes frequently throughout the day and these are easily removed by touch, no matter what primer I use.
#4 is a nice metallic shade and both #4 and #6 feel like normal shimmers with some slip, but the #2 “bouncy swirl” shadow is quite creamy/wet feeling.
This palette is only $8 and is unscented. It was definitely worth me purchasing, even if it was purely for the fun of playing with some of these uncommon textures and formulas. The lightweight packaging feels like recycled cardboard and the palette is tiny and fits in the palm of my hand, but what it lacks in packaging quality, it makes up for with the eyeshadow formula.
Rephr Hydration Cream 1.0
I purchased this when rephr was offering a “set your own price” option where one could pay even as low as $0 to get it, plus the shipping cost. When I first used it, I applied way too much to my face and continued to get dewier throughout the day. In many subsequent uses, I learned that if I applied a smaller amount, it fully absorbs into my skin and is fully hydrated without leaving a trace of shine, which is fantastic for non-makeup days! I only like a little dew to my skin when I have a full face on; I don’t want to look shiny when I’m barefaced. I’m also impressed by this formulation because it meets the requirements of my dry skin as a powerful moisturizer that is also lightweight. Rich/Heavy products tend to clog my skin. It’s not the easiest to find something that lets my skin breathe while also lasting all day.
Some highlights about the benefits of this moisturizer are that it’s fragrance and essential oil free, it’s made in Korea, it’s made of recyclable lightweight aluminum packaging, and it contains:
Niacinamide (5%)
Dimethicone (3%)
Glycerin (3%)
Centella Asiatica Complex (2%)
Meadowfoam Seed Oil (1%)
Panthenol (0.5%)
Algae Complex (2.0%)
Soybean Complex (1.5%)
Other lightweight moisturizers for my face that can do the job are the Innisfree Jeju Cherry Blossom Jelly Cream ($25 for 50ml), Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Cream ($15-36 for 80ml), Laneige Water Bank Hydro Gel ($38 for 50ml), Saturday Skin Waterfall Glacier Water Cream ($39 for 50ml), etc. So, rephr is offering quite the deal at $26 (listed price) for 100ml. The only one of those I mentioned that I like better than this one is from Round Lab, though I believe the rephr cream may be more occlusive.
I’m terrible about keeping to a consistent skincare routine, so I can’t say how this product performs on a regular daily basis, but I’ve used it enough these past few months to be able to say that it’s great and hasn’t caused me any issues.
Colourpop Pressed Powder Blush in 4ever Yours – That review is here.
This is was the first official breech of my low buy this month. I’m not supposed to buy blushes unless it’s one of the brands on the exceptions list, which this is not. Considering how similar it is to the heart shaped blush I bought from Colourpop last year, I should have stuck to my guns and not gotten it.
Colourpop Super Shock Highlighter in Champagne BB
According to the rules of my low buy, I should not have gotten this either. It’s the classic case of wanting it because I like the formula, but I don’t need anymore, especially when I have them in shades I already like. My only defense was that I at least removed the other highlighter and three blushes I had out of my shopping cart, but I just ended up buying those anyway in March. Oops!
This shade looks a bit too dark for me in swatches, but when it’s diffused onto the skin, it looks like the perfect depth and still brightens the area due to the sparkle. It lasts on my cheeks all day and I can’t even regret this purchase because it’s great! Unfortunately, this particular Super Shock has already been discontinued.
Oden’s Eye x Angelica Hela Palette – The review is Here.
This fits in line with my two eye shadow palettes per month rule. I’m doing quite well with that so far!
Kaleidos Lip Clays (plus Smokey Nostalgia Tin Box) in Skinship, Cognac, and Bare – The review is Here for both the Lip Clays and Blush listed below.
I purchased the custom bundle which requires 4 lip products, but the fourth was a gift for a friend. So, I’m not counting that last one as part of my lip no-buy and my total is currently 3 lip products out of the allowed 5.
Kaleidos Smokey Nostalgia Blush in P03 Sanguine – The review is linked above.
This is another purchase that technically goes against my low-buy. Kaleidos isn’t on the exceptions list for blushes, but I have always wanted to try one from them and couldn’t due to the shades not being suited for my skin tone.
MAKE UP FOR EVER Electric Brushes Set
This set with tax came to $36 from Nordstrom. The original price was $69 and has a retail value of $150. It includes :
106 Foundation Brush: a brush for applying and blending all kinds of foundation for an even result.
124 Powder Kabuki Brush: a brush with a short and slender handle for ensuring smooth and even application of all powders to create a lightweight, flawless result.
152 Highlighter Brush: a brush for easily and delicately highlighting your face and body with its soft fibers.
228 Precision Shader Brush: a paddle-shaped, flexible brush for applying, blending and smudging all types of eye products quickly.
Brush case
Today’s review will be about the foundation, powder, and highlighter brushes, but I’m going to give someone the shader brush. I rarely like synthetic eye brushes, so it would be a waste for me to even bother trying it. In general, I prefer natural hair brushes, but I’ve always wanted to try these, just not at full price. It was still very early in my exploration of makeup when MUFE decided to make their brushes fully synthetic. Regarding my no buy/low buy, I’m unofficially on a makeup tool low buy. However, I didn’t set any restrictions in writing.
The Foundation brush, I had seen in action during a Rouge event many years ago when a MUFE representative did my makeup and I wanted it ever since. I typically don’t like paddle style brushes, but this one works just as well as I remembered. I get zero streaks using this brush. I’m able to apply and spread foundation easily and get around edges and small corners with ease as well. I have a background with painting ceramics, and painting on canvas is an occasional hobby, so I can’t be sure if that plays into why this brush is so easy for me to use, but it is.
This brush can also apply a crisp line for cream sculpting products, though the shape of the tip isn’t the best for blending, but I can still do it with this brush. It costs $36 which ended up being the price I paid for the entire set. I personally think it’s worth $25 at most, but having this brush made the whole set worth it.
I find it so strange that this is listed as a Highlighter brush considering it’s bigger than my Smashbox Cream Cheek brush and many other blush brushes.
It applies far too much highlighter for my preference, so I consider this a blush brush instead. That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of this brush for that purpose either. There’s so much bristle for such a flimsy floppy splay that doesn’t feel like I have much control of the blend. It’s like it smears blush across the skin like a mop rather than buffing in the blush. When I use easy to blend and pigmented blushes, this brush works perfectly fine. However, with a sheerer blush or lower quality one, it takes forever since it’s lacking firmness and makes things look patchier. I figured if this is problematic with powders then maybe cream blushes will be better for this brush, but that’s not the case. It doesn’t allow me to fully work the cream products into my skin and it just sits on top of it. With even more emollient creams, it has the issue of spreading product too far out.
This retails for $37, which I don’t think it’s anywhere near worth that. If I had bought this #152 brush individually, I would have returned it. I don’t recommend this one.
The retail price for this one is $52! I can’t recall if I ever paid over $40 for a synthetic fiber brush, so it’s no surprise that I wouldn’t normally buy a brush like this. The handle on this one feels even sturdier than the others in the line.
It’s the most dense at the very center and looser packed around the edges. When I put this brush handle side up against my palm, it sinks in at like a centimeter before it forms what feels like a wall. It’s so solid that I can’t get the bristles to splay, it just stiffens. This does the same thing when I apply a powder to my face. If I grip the handle and use a normal amount of pressure to spread powder on my face, it feels incredibly firm to point that it offers very little movement and the bristles drag heavily across my skin.
The way I like to use it is holding it in a looser grip and just blending with the tips without applying pressure. This method still gives me a strong blend without feeling like I’m using the world’s densest brush or attempting to exfoliate my face. I’m not saying that these brushes are scratchy. The bristles on all of them are soft, just not the softest synthetic I’ve felt, especially when pressure is applied and it drags on the skin. These fibers actually remind me a bit of pony hair, but softer. Now that I know the trick to using this brush, I do like it and I’m happy it’s part of the set. It can’t compare to my natural hair powder brushes, but I use those for an airier and more blended finish. This brush is one that I’d use when I want to actually load on a thin solid layer, like with face powder, before blending it out.
Even though I’m not planning to use this brush, I wanted to show how it looks through the plastic. The retail price is $25.
I feel like I got an absolute steal on this brush set! Even though I don’t want to purchase anymore synthetic fiber brushes, I can’t regret buying these.
MAC Glow Play Cherry Blossom Blush in HD Cherry Tree – The review is Here.
Considering how many MAC blushes I own, this shouldn’t be on the exceptions list, but it is because I don’t have the willpower to cut off the brand that ranks number one with blushes for me. So this purchase is still allowed according to my Beauty Resolutions.
Tarte Amazonian Clay Best of Cheek Set (Holiday 2021)
This set went on sale for $22 on 2/22/22, so with tax it came to just under $24. I always wanted to try this formula of Tarte blushes because people have been raving about them since I started getting into makeup and they always said that despite the holiday items being notoriously lower quality, this formula from Tarte was always great. After trying these minis out for myself, I can understand why these are such beloved blushes! The longevity is insane. I’ve done several wear tests with the longest being eleven hours and by that point the blush still looked freshly applied!
I used the maximum amount of Exposed, a moderate to heavy application of Charmed, a heavy application of Captivating, a moderate amount of Delight, and a light to moderate amount of Fantasy on the cheeks. Charmed and Delight had more room for building up.
I bought this expecting to only be able to wear the darkest blush in the set and just test out the formula of the highlighter, so I was pleasantly surprised to see everything show up on me! Exposed is described as a “nude pink” and admittedly barely shows because the brown tones blend into my skin. The pink is what makes it visible, though it’s on that cusp of being too light for me, so I will probably find a new home for that shade. Charmed is a limited edition “bright pink” that I consider a light-medium tone that works for me if I spend a little time really blending it into my skin. The one that I’m actually shocked that I can wear because it’s even lighter than Charmed is the “bright peach” shade called Captivating. It looks crazy at first, but it warms up as I blend it in. I love the look of peach blushes, but they are usually ashy on me, which is why I go for corals as my closest equivalent of peach. It excites me to no end to have found one of the rare peach shades that I can pull off! The last blush is another limited edition shade called Delight. It’s a “deep rose” that’s a cross between Exposed and Charmed, but darker. It’s the most natural looking of the shades on my cheeks and it’s the only one I don’t have to build up for depth of tone reasons and not pigmentation reasons. All of these blushes have a good amount of pigment. As for the highlighter, the limited edition “rose gold” shade Fantasy is too light for me. Beyond the shade match, the way it reflects in the light emphasizes texture in a way that other highlighters I’ve used that are even lighter than this one don’t do. I don’t have enough experience with Tarte Highlighters to be able to say if this is indicative of their formulas, but I have an upcoming review where I tried another one that I liked much better and did not have the reflect and textural problem. That one went on smoothly, whereas this one sticks in places and takes a bit of blending in, so I think it’s just an issue with this particular highlighter.
So, in this set of five travel size products, I intend to continue using three of them. That makes the usable items worth $8 each in my eyes based on what I paid, plus the knowledge I gained in learning that I really like the Amazonian Clay blush formula! Each compact contains 1.5 grams of product, so the three I’m keeping equals 4.5 grams that I paid $24 to have. A full size blush from tarte is 5.6 grams for $29. For these reasons, it made the set worth it, but I wouldn’t have felt the same way if I paid the $39 full price. Tarte lists this as being a $75 value, but there’s a combined product weight of 7.5 grams, which means the set should actually cost $38.84.
This is why I always recommend waiting for Tarte’s holiday items to go on sale. Then it has a chance of actually being worth buying if the products are not 100% suited for someone.
We’ve now reached the end of the post! I had so many products to review, which I expected would slow down my purchases for March, but it did not! It worked in the beginning of March but halfway through the month things got a bit crazy. I would estimate that post won’t be ready until August. I hope you’ll visit my blog again soon! And if you missed January’s purchases, they can be found here.
From the Smokey Nostalgia collection, I purchased two of the four new lip clays and one of the five new blushes. There’s one more lip clay I purchased, which will be discussed later.
As an absolute blush fanatic, I was the most excited to try a blush from Kaleidos. The brand’s first attempt at blushes was a very non-inclusive release of two blush duos, so I was happy to see at least one deep skin friendly option this time. I will say that the Sanguine blush I purchased is not quite as deep as it appears on the website. This is why I’m not certain if the other shades are even lighter in person as well.
This shade is also difficult to capture accurately. It looks like a straightforward dark red in the pan, but I’d say it actually goes on the skin more like a deep rose shade. I was instantly reminded of MAC’s blush called Frankly Scarlet because of that reddish pink element.
The two blushes don’t look similar in the pan, but on my cheeks I can see that Sanguine is a bit more natural and red whereas Frankly Scarlet is a little more vibrant. I’m shocked to say this, but Sanguine is actually a tiny bit better! It isn’t often that I prefer another brand’s blush over MAC’s formula. The texture of the blush feels extremely soft, like velvet, and it’s both buildable and easy to blend. I honestly did not expect such good quality. Sanguine is pigmented, but I can make it as sheer or as intense as I want. I’ve done up to a nine hour wear test twice and it lasts on my cheek that whole time without fading if I apply a normal amount of blush. If I wear a light sheer layer, I can expect noticeable fading to start at 6-7 hours, but it was still clearly there by hour 9. If I wasn’t confident that the other shades won’t work for me, I’d probably have placed another order to buy more. If additional shades are released in the future though, I could be tempted to get them.
One thing I can’t explain is that I swear there’s a faint rose-like scent, but fragrance isn’t listed on the packaging.
The quality of the Cloud Lab Lip Clays in this collection are the same as I’ve experienced in the past. I really wanted the Smokey Nostalgia tin, plus at least three lip products, so I opted for the Custom Lip Bundle and reserved the fourth lippie as a gift for a friend. A small part of me wishes I actually used that fourth spot for the Mahogany shade instead of Cognac because that’s one that I originally wanted as a mixing shade to deepen looks or make some less colorful.
Mixing these together isn’t as seamless as I expected. I kept seeing Kaleidos ads on YouTube mixing one of the pink-red shades (I think Cactus Flower) with Agave to create a gorgeous purple lip. They did something else with Mahogany, so I expected them to essentially mix like paint, but my attempts haven’t yielded results as dramatic as that. Also, some influencer videos showed Cognac as being a lot closer to brown than it is, so I figured (possibly incorrectly) that Cognac would be better than Mahogany for what I needed.
Despite so many options, and similarly toned ones at that, I still haven’t found my perfect shade in this formula, nor been able to find the best combo for myself either. I will continue to keep my eye out though because it’s the only liquid lipstick I’ve liked in a really long time. The unbelievable lasting power and water resistance without feeling like my lips are drying out are worth that effort to find.
Lastly, I just wanted to add that I’m shocked that Bare isn’t as pale as I expected. If it was the tiniest bit darker, it would have been perfect to wear on its own.
I didn’t break my 2021 lip product no-buy/low-buy all at once. It was a series of mostly single purchase decisions throughout the rest of the year after my major lippie declutter. In the case of Propa Beauty, I wanted to purchase some lipsticks as gifts during a big sale and figured I’d get a new shade for myself. Ulta had Mented Lipsticks available for 50% off and I had been curious about the Semi-Matte lipstick formula for ages. The shade m5 held my curiosity as a super unique shade, but I didn’t want to risk getting the lipstick form when I knew this would make a great pencil shade. I needed to reach a price minimum for free shipping when I ordered the Colourpop lip stain. In my review of Oden’s Eye’s Alva Lip Stain in the matte formula, I mentioned I planned to order the cream version with a future order from the brand, and that happened to be with the Legendary Diversa Collection.
I actually don’t regret my decisions because I like most of the products I purchased and I was able to avoid buying a lot more lip products that caught my eye. The time I started writing this was November 2021, and I anticipated one final lip purchase before 2022. Black Friday had the biggest deals yet, and it ended up being two final purchases (Sephora Favorites “Give Me Some Shine” Lip Set and a Full Size Pat Mcgrath Lip Gloss), which I’m sure I will feature in a future post. Anyway, onto the review!
Kaleidos Custom Lip Clay Bundle (Trophy Tin) and Apple Glaze Lip Mask
I wanted to try this lip clay formula for so long because it was extremely hyped up among the beauty YouTubers that purchase from Indie brands. One went so far as to call this the best and most comfortable liquid lipstick formula she’s ever tried. Four different lip clay collections were released in sets of 4 and they could not be purchased individually at first. As soon as Kaleidos gave the option to create custom bundles, I placed an order immediately, especially because I was obsessed with the deep red tin named Trophy.
The lip clays really are unlike anything else I’ve tried. It has a mousse-like texture and literally feels like suede on my lips. I don’t know how they created this! It doesn’t transfer as long as I don’t eat or drink. When I do, I’m able to touch up the areas with missing product without any lines or darker spots to differentiate between the first application from the second one. I will say though that they aren’t the easiest to spread evenly across the lips, so there ends up being some sheerer patches of skin that have to be smoothed over several times to become more opaque while also avoiding having an excess of product on the lips. This sheerness is more obvious the darker the lip shade you wear. So, I prefer Kaleidos’ nude shades more than the darker ones. They truly are incredibly comfortable and one of the few liquid lipsticks I actually want to wear because it’s transfer resistant without drying out my lips! I’m thinking of getting additional shades to mix and match with, but if I do, I will immediately go on another lip product no-buy so I can get more use out of my current collection.
I’m shocked that I prefer Dune over Sienna, but I think light dusty pink looks prettier on me than light orange-brown. This is why I’m considering experimenting with mixing the shades so they won’t look quite so light on me. None of these are really a shade I’m crazy about on their own, but the formula is so nice that I’m willing to use lip liners or other methods to make them work. Also, I don’t detect any fragrance in these.
The lip mask has a nice apple/fruit punch scent to it that reminds me of fruit roll ups, but it feels tingly like mint on the lips. I’m guessing the mint is meant to produce a cooling effect rather than a plumping one because my lips don’t appear to be bigger when I use it. The lip mask barely gives a noticeable tint on my pigmented lips unless I build up an extra thick layer, which I realistically wouldn’t want. Since I wear it for hydration purposes, having a stronger hue isn’t a necessity for me. It stays well on my lips overnight when I use it. It makes my lips softer, but it doesn’t keep them from peeling. So, it’s not to the same conditioning level as the Nuxe Reve de Miel Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm or Sara Happ Lip Slip, but it’s almost on par with the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. The Apple Glaze Lip Mask ranks #4 among my balms.
Mented Lip Liner in m5
This is my second lip liner from Mented. I’ve already reviewed the Nude La La shade before and this one is no different in terms of how creamy, pigmented, and budge-proof (unless eating) it is. It’s a retractable pencil, which I prefer. The shade is a truly unique purple and brown tone that looks quite similar to the shade of my upper lip and dark pigmented spots on my lower lip. I usually try to wear lip colors that match the pink of my lips, but I was curious to see what it would look like if I matched the darker part. I think it looks super pretty when paired with the right eye look, but overall, I still prefer medium-pink lip shades.
Mented Semi-Matte Lipstick in Nude La La
I love this kind of warm pink shade and I’m partial to creamy lip products that mostly stay in place and aren’t so slippery on the lips that they move around. As I’ve mentioned before, I have two spots that are darker than the rest of my lower lip. If the formula of a lip product is too creamy, simply rubbing my lips together or talking can shift and uncover those spots I tried to conceal. I’m happy to know that the only time I have to worry about how this lipstick looks is if I’ve eaten something.
I’m very impressed with these two types of lip products from Mented. I can see myself buying more lip liners in the future. As much as I enjoy the lipstick, I prefer Propa Beauty’s formula a little bit more. They feel a tad more moisturizing and I like that they are shinier. Lastly, this has a vanilla scent.
Juvia’s Place Bronzed Lip Liner in Brownie
This lip liner is long wearing, but it doesn’t fully dry down or become transfer-proof like some of the other lip liners in my collection. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a shade like brownie before, which is a deep vampy chocolate brown with a hint of burgundy-red. I can get a very smooth application. Although it’s quite a bit darker than I normally wear for lip liners, I can smudge the edges to create a softer look that isn’t in such high contract to the lipstick shades I pair with it. Also, I like the fact that it’s in a retractable pencil form.
PropaBeauty Luminous Satin Lipstick in Profits
This lipstick is exactly like the other Propa Beauty lipsticks I have reviewed in the past. It has a nice vanilla scent, it’s moisturizing, glossy, and is a flattering shade for my skin tone. Profits, Her Magic, and Victress are probably my top three favorite shades of the seven I own.
Colourpop Glossy Lip Stain in Clap If You Believe
This is quite the unique stain-gloss hybrid formula. It feels like a liquid lipstick when I put it on the lips, but it has a gel-like slipperiness that is typical of a lip stain. In a few minutes, it gets to the point that feels like it has set, but when I actually press my lips together, it feels quite sticky. The stain factor and stickiness helps with longevity. The stickiness also aids in the comfort level to keep the lips from feeling dried out. The glossy element certainly helps to keep the lips looking moisturized. The downside to the slippery aspect though is that it takes some time to get the stain to cover the pigment spots on my lip. I have to smooth it out evenly to the best of my ability, and then add additional product to cover the darker parts while keeping my mouth immobile until it has set.
The topmost layer comes off easily, but because of the stain feature, there is still a fair amount of color underneath. I can also easily reapply the lippie after eating and drinking without it looking strange. One thing I wasn’t expecting though is that the lip color looks quite light for the first hour or two, but as the day goes on, it darkens up to be as dark coral and bright as the Oden’s Eye Lady Camellias color! In fact, looking closely at the wand of Clap If You Believe, I can see that the product collected on the center of the applicator is warm pink-brown, but the fibers around it are darker pink. That’s the shade it becomes as the day goes on. This also contains flecks of shimmer/glitter; and be prepared for a chemical smell and taste. Thankfully, it isn’t strong enough to smell just from opening the tube. I had to actually put my nose near the tip to smell it.
There are some pros and cons to this product, but I think I will continue using it. However, I won’t be buying anymore in this formula. There are just other lip products I prefer.
Oden’s Eye AlvaCreamy Lip Stain in Lady Camellias and Little Jasmine
I’m happy to know that my hunch that I would prefer the look of the Cream formula over the Matte one was correct. This still feels a little drying despite how glossy it looks on the lips, but it’s not as bad as Ripe Papaya which felt like it turned my lips into the Sahara Desert. Lady Camellias is a beautiful shade, though it’s still a little darker than what I envisioned. I really wanted Little Jasmine, but since it’s the lightest one, I didn’t want to risk getting one that may not work for me, so I went with Lady Camellias, but I probably should have taken the leap anyway*. This formula is shockingly long lasting considering it easily transfers. In my official wear test, I was able to actually get through eight hours with two meals before all of the glossy layer was gone. Since it’s a stain formula, I was still left with quite a bit of color on my lips. It’s a bit sticky, but not as sticky as the Colourpop Glossy Lip Stain. It also doesn’t have the gel-like consistency that the Colourpop Stain has. The downside to this one is that the pigmented spots on my lips did peek through midway through the day, but because this stain ends up being a dark fuchsia underneath it all, it’s not as noticeable. The final result for this product was that by the third meal at the twelve hour testing mark, the stain was mostly gone but my lips still felt balmy as if there was still a protective layer over the surface of my lips!
*I did take the leap on Black Friday and purchased Little Jasmine in the Cream formula, but it did not arrive in time before I went on my trip, so it’s a last minute addition to this post.
I was definitely right that I should have gotten Little Jasmine from the beginning because it’s exactly what I wanted, doesn’t leave a strange stain color behind, and it’s a nice medium tone. Based on this information, I’m forewarning those who don’t like dark lip shades that the colors in this line do seem to run dark, especially when built up. Little Jasmine is on the sheerer side and is glossier than Lady Camellias, so it did not have anywhere near the same staying power.
The best video I’ve seen showcasing the available shades are by Anna ZhuXuan on YouTube. Her video is the only one I’ve seen from her, but I loved how she included large arm swatches and showed what the lippies look like in a sheer layer versus a thick layer. I recommend those seriously considering getting these lippies to check it out! Also, these are the most heavily scented of all the products discussed today. It’s a very sweet candy-like smell.
No Buy/Low Buy and Goals
Almost exactly one year ago, I posted about the Tower 28 Lip Gloss and how I hated it at first until I learned how best to use it. Oh boy, did I use it! In my May 2021 lip declutter post, I showed that I was halfway through the tube and from that point onward, I made a conscious effort to try and finish it before the year was up. I didn’t exclusively use only the Tower 28 gloss, but I made a valiant effort.
I completed this post prior to my trip, so the photo above shows my progress as of then. Below is what it actually looked like at the end of 2021, which was down to scraping the sides of the tube, so I consider myself as having successfully accomplished my goal of finishing a full size lip product!
The fact that it took a year for me to finish something I actually enjoyed is the reason I will try even harder to curb my lip product purchasing habits. Out of all the categories of makeup, this is the one area I should be more successful at keeping to a manageable amount. My goal for 2022 is to do a lip product no-buy for a full year, with the exception of allowing myself to replace items with ones that may have gone bad, plus getting those Lip Clays I already mentioned wanting, but these exceptions cannot result in more than 5 lippies for the year. Let’s hope I can stick to it!
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