Zoeva Brushes... worth the hype and shipping costs...?

To answer what you are thinking... YES, they are worth it!! 

Zoeva is a German brand that sales (possibly manufactures...?) these amazing brushes and also makeup. Check out their website if you want to check out their selection -> Zoeva Website. 

I want to mention briefly that the shipping costs for international customers is steep haha like scary steep. I was hesitant to purchase for a few weeks but when I saw the amazing selection and heard the great reviews, I knew I had to place a medium sized order to make the costs worth it. I paid $18 for shipping *insert dramatic sad face emoji here*. But I felt like it got to my house relatively quickly, I want to say about 10 business days. I was totally expecting to wait about a month or something ridiculous ha!

~Getting back on track now~

I purchased four (4) brushes total and as you can see from the picture, they are relatively unique shapes for brushes - except for the pencil brush haha.

  

To list off what I purchased, here it is from Left to Right: 126 - Luxe Cheek Finish, two of the 105 - Luxe Highlight, and 230 - Luxe Pencil

Thoughts on the Luxe Cheek Finish brush - UM AMAZING.

I absolutely adore this brush!! It is very multipurpose and so incredibly soft. I have been using this for my cream bronzer but you can use this for foundation (it is VERY similar in shape to the Tom Ford Cream Foundation brush btw...), highlighting products, cream and powder blush, setting powder... basically all your face product application needs can be met with this brush alone.

Next, the Luxe Highlight brush - perfection.

Yeah...so I purchased two of these bad boys and I'm so glad I did!! I use one for setting powder and the other for powder highlights. It's the perfect shape to do both! Of course, this brush also has multiple purposes but I primarily purchased these for under eye setting powder application and highlight application.

Lastly, the Luxe Pencil brush - makes smoking out the lash line effortless!

This the most boring brush of the bunch haha but works amazingly! The bristles are so soft and do not irritate my lower and upper lash line, unlike other brands. The blending of the products, whether it's smudging out an eye pencil or blending out shadow, it's effortless and gorgeous. The product is never blended too far down nor apply/smudge the product in a patchy manner. It's amazing!

So folks... I think can forget about the obscene shipping costs and buy from Zoeva again. The quality and prices are unbeatable. Each brushes was less than $15 each, I think. Which is AMAZING.

I use these brushes EVERY day and never once have their shed or stained or anything. They are just amazing brushes that are worth checking out.

I hope you enjoyed this review, if you have any questions feel free to ask. I will answer your Q's as best I can.

Hope you are all well and I will talk to you all later :)
Bianca

Amrezy Palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills - Swatches and First Impression Review

I don't know how they kept this a secret haha. This came out of nowhere and I'm so excited it's in my hands!!

In case you didn't know, this palette was made in collaboration with Amrezy on Instagram. She is a makeup artist and insanely popular on IG (over a 1 million followers). Also, she is insanely gorgeous and so so talented.

I purchased this palette at my local Ulta on July 15th (two days before Ulta officially would have it in stores - BOOYAH). 

This retails for an amazing $29. I'm still in shock over the price haha. So affordable for the quality of the eyeshadows you get.

So let's take a gander over to the packaging. 

The outside is gorgeous. I adore the cheetah print on the packaging plus the metallic golden background. It gives it a very exotic appeal. 

It is cardboard, not exactly the nicest but it does its job in holding in the eyeshadows. I do wish the packaging was nicer or more sturdier. I think that most consumers are getting use to the nice metal, tin, or whatever non-cardboard material palettes are made in these days. I honestly would pay an extra buck or two so I have piece of mind that if I travel or accidentally drop my palette that my eyeshadows will be okay. It cheapens it a little bit but it's not a deal breaker.

Now, the inside *ahhhh*.

You can see that is a very warm toned neutral palette with 2 brights in the bunch. This palette to me screams: exotic, sexy, goddess-like, and beautiful.

Without a doubt, this would be THE palette to reach for as we transition from Summer to Fall. But it's versatile enough that it can be used year round.

I believe that Amrezy took her most used shades and eyeshadows that many people can pull off and make it into one convenient palette. If you follow her in IG, you will see that she gravitates towards neutrals, especially warm toned, when she posts her looks.

Onto the review and first impressions of it.

In swatching the top row, I was blown away at the quality. Very smooth and incredibly pigmented. The bottom row, it was a little "meh" for me. I think you can see what I'm talking about in the swatches.

The bottom row, except for Vanilla, are all mattes. If you are a eyeshadow junkie like me or know a lot about makeup, we know that matte formula eyeshadows can be a little tricky. These are no exception. In finger swatching, Deep Plum and LBD were patchy and had to be layered a little more heavily than the other swatches (still didn't look too great :\).

But once you apply them to the lid, blending helps blur out the patchiness and they blend quite nicely.  That is a plus for sure.

The first time around, Caramel and Deep Plum were patchy upon application to my lids. I had to spend a lot of time blending; more than what I use to in comparison to other eyeshadows I own. Like I mentioned above, the shimmery shades were a breeze to work it and blend in seamlessly.

The second go around, it was MUCH better. I used a different fluffy blending brush to apply the shadows and it worked out perfectly. It was very easy to work with the blend to create a look. I used Iridescent Purple and Emerald in the second look and the colors were beautiful! They aren't obnoxiously bright, they were sultry but wearbale. Combined great with the Caramel and Deep Plum. :)

Check my IG if you are interested in how my looks came out :)

I hope you all found this helpful!

Have you purchased the palette? Are you going for something else and passing on this?

Let me know in the comments!

Talk to you all soon,
Bianca

YSL Rouge Volupté Shines - Review and Swatches

Hi everyone, I thought I would share with you my small collection of YSL Rouge Volupté Shines. 

I must admit that these are some of my favorite lipstick formulas out there. They feel on the lips are so smooth and lightweight. On top of that, they are long lasting.

These YSL Rouge Volupté Shines were purchased at either Sephora or Nordstrom (or if you are interested in these, check out anywhere that sells YSL makeup products). 

They retail for $35 and there are approximately 18 shades in the range.

The packaging is timeless and so luxe. I love how expensive and kind of heavy it feels in the hand. If you are going to be spending more than drugstore prices, I would expect nice quality and durable packaging that fits the price tag.

In the middle of the casing, you can see a "swatch" or a color indicator of the lipstick which is great because it does not look cheap and somewhat accurate.

As you can see from the picture above and below that I have used these lipsticks. Some more than others haha.

I absolutely love #12 in the summer months because it brings so much life to your face and look. It's so effortless to slap it on and go. When I wear #12, it will last me a solid 4-5 hours with a nice gradual fading/staining effect.

#9 is my go-to, ultimate favorite nude in my entire lipstick collection. It might be too dark for some but it's perfect for me. I have pigmented lipstick and this helps tone that down but has a little shine and some color. LOVE this one.

I would go for #5 and #17 during the fall or the transition from summer to fall. I think they are a touch too dark for the spring and summer. But the pigmentation is on point and apply beautifully.

Here are the swatches:

I LOVE this formula from YSL. They make a lipstick that stays on the lips and provides a slight staining effect. I think they are well worth the investment because: the packaging is gorgeous, the formula is perfection and provides a nice glossy finish to your lips, it stains your lips a little, and the color selection is great!

That's it for me. Do you have any favorites from YSL, whether they are Rouge Volupté Shines or anything else from the line? I would love to know them in the comments!!

I hope you enjoyed the post. And I will talk to you all soon :)

Bianca

MAC Pressed Pigments - Swatches and Review

Today, I am bringing you another post on pressed pigments but from MAC this time. These are sooo gorgeous... :D

I have here to show you from left to right: Day Gleam, Deeply Dashing, and Jet Couture. They retail for $21 for 3 g of product. Sold at CCOs, MAC (online or in store), Nordstrom, Macy's, etc.

I love these kinds of products. Like I had mentioned in my Urban Decay Moondust shadows post, these really amp up a look and add that sparkle that makes your eyes stand out.

A cool thing about these Pressed Pigments is that they are great on their own on layered on top of a cream or powder eyeshadow. Though, personally, I like to layer just so I can get the maximum amount of pigmentation for my look.

They are so gorgeous! Seriously, it's tempting to buy more... *must resist*.

Below are the swatches of all three. Um, how beautiful are these?!?!?!

*dead*

MAC's website describes the whole range of pressed pigments as "An intensely creamy highlighter offering extreme pearlescence and versatility of finish. Apply dry for high shine or damp for a dramatic wet look".

Personally, I would NEVER use these for face highlighters... haha. Glitter is a no-go for a face highlighting... at least for me because it would accentuate my pores like a mofo. Obviously, Jet Couture is simply a pressed pigment shadow as opposed to Day Gleam that could potentially be a face highlighter.

For my own personal use, I adore these for layering on top of my eyeshadows. They make your eyes stand out and be the focus on your entire look. They are buildable in coverage which is great. Keep in mind the swatches I have provided here are layered on considerably so my readers to see the what it looks like with full pigmentation.

I love these. I know these types of glittery shades are not for everyone but they are great for that extra something to add or amp up your eye makeup :) Or heck, even for stage/theater/halloween makeup, these would be AMAZING!

I hope you found this helpful! Any questions, leave them down in the comments. I would love to know your favorites from this range if you have any or your favorite pressed pigment type of shadows.

Thanks for stopping by as always <3,
Bianca