Bourjois "Smokey Eyes" Review(+Swatch)!

Well, hello!

I know I said I'd do this, like, a lifetime ago, but I never had the chance to. Anyways, this is a product review for the Bourjois "Smokey Eyes" eyeshadow trio. I own it in #o6 - Violet Romantic.

Boy, have I got stuff to say about this one...

On the company's website, they describe this product as:

"Contained in a modern and feminine compact case, are three hues of complementary intensity. At the back, professional make up artist tips will help you to achieve step by step a “classic smoky” or a “fashion smoky” eye look.

Manufactured with the same process which has made our Little Round Pots famous since 1863, these eyeshadows possess the same qualities of flexibility and softness: an ultra fine, silky, micronised formula for an amazing blend, lasting 8 hours.

The ergonomic, double-tipped applicator has been specially designed to outline your eyes according to your wishes.

And what’s more, its formula respects the delicate eye area :

- Enriched with mineral powders

- Free of fragrance

- Dermatologically tested

6 combinations of 3 shades are now available in store for a different smoky look everyday!"

On the other hand, my opinion of this product is that it is utter nonsense. I have to admit, I was more than excited to purchase this the minute I heard Bourjois finally launched in Israel since I've heard nothing but great reviews about their products. Also, I didn't really want to purchase a "Little Round Pot" without getting to know the products first - so the girl at the counter offered me this trio. I can't remember, for the life of me, how much it cost, but I do remember it was cheap. Thus, I walked out of the drugstore with a new eyeshadow trio in my favorite color (purrrrrrrrple...) and a skip in my step. Little did I know what I was about to find out...

When I got home I was more than happy to rip open the packaging and get in on all the fun. After I did "get in", however, I was SO disappointed to find out that all those great reviews I've heard about Bourjois' eyeshadows were either completely false or just biased. This is what the product looked like when I swatched it:

As you can see, the trio is based on a dark/medium/light color scheme. The dark color is insanely pigmented, I admit, but the other two are just a big blooper for Bourjois in my opinion. This was taken at daytime, by the window with NO FLASH. You can't see the medium and the light colors AT ALL.

"Still", I told myself, "people DO talk very highly of these products. Try them on yourself!"

BIG MISTAKE.

I wanted to post an EOTD using this trio. I tried numerous times to create a look (that doesn't look like a 3 year old did my make up) - but success just wouldn't come. The fallout from this product is just insane. It doesn't blend well AT ALL. Also, brush-wise, I could pick up color with my brushes AT ALL. I tried the crummy applicator it came with - and things just went downhill.

I honestly think "hate" is a really strong word, so I'll just put it this way:

Bottom line? I INTENSELY DISLIKE this product. I feel like I threw my money in the trash with this. I will never ever purchase eyeshadows from Bourjois. I didn't even "rate" this product like I usually do because it's just NOT WORTH IT. I am beyond disappointed and pissed off with this.

Has anyone else had any problems with Bourjois products, eyeshadows or other?

FOTD/EOTD and Reviews

Hello my lovlie readers!

This is just a bright, natural look I have on right now.

*Face: 
- Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer
- Smashbox High Definition Healthy FX Foundation
- Sleek Makeup Translucent Pressed Powder (Mainly on my forehead to make it less shiny and sweaty looking)
*Cheeks:
- Sleek Makeup Rose Gold Blush
- Smashbox Soft Lights - Prism (Highlighter)
*Eyes:
- Smashbox High Definition Concealer
- Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer
- Sleek Makeup Gift Basket Eveyshadow
- Sleek Makeup Organza Eyeshadow
- Sleek Makeup Bow Eyeshadow
- Sleek Makeup Noir Eyeshadow (I used it as eyeliner though)
- Sleek Makeup Waterproof Mascara
- Sleek Makeup Kohl Pencil Liner (Black, used it on my top waterline to make my lashes look super thick)
*Lips:
- Maybelline ColorSensational - Mauve Glam (Only used one coat though to make sure my face won't look insanely "made-up")

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Reviews:

First of all, I'd like to review Sleek Makeup's Waterproof Mascara. Just as a reminder, Sleek Makeup's Website says that this is:

"A long-wearing waterproof mascara with conditioning and softening properties. Defines the eyes without flaking, clumping, smudging or smearing and yet is easy to remove." 

 I'm having mixed thoughts on this one though.

Pros: 

- It made my eyelashes super longer and more defined, which I loved.

- It only took two coats and it dried quite fast so there were no "accidents".

- Very comfortable wand - not too short, not too thin/thick.

- Has a whole lot of product in it.

- Very easy to remove 

- Lasts forever under hot, humid weather conditions :P

Cons:

- Clumpy as hell - even after I wiped the wand with a tissue, it seemed to take out too much product on the wand.

- Because of the fact it's clumpy you need to "play" with your fingers on your eyelashes to make the chuncks of mascara vanish, leaving you with a hell of a mess on your fingers when you're done.

Overall:

Quality: 4.8/5

Packaging: 5/5

Price: 5/5

Will I Buy This Prodoct Again?: Probably.

Do I Recommend This Product?: Only for those who have lots of time on their hands to play with chuncks.

Next, I'd like to review Sleek Makeup's Kohl Pencil eyeliner. Again as a reminder, Sleek Makeup's website said that this is:

 "An ultra creamy-matte formula pencil used to define the eyes. Can be applied on the lower and upper eyelid for long-lasting, stay-in-place colour which glides on effortlessly, to achieve a perfect look." 

No mixed thoughts here. As a pencil liner, it's smooth, creamy, doesn't feel like it's about to hurt your eyes or "pull" on them and just does its job.

Pros:

Doesn't smudge unless you want it to.
Pigmented - you only need one stroke and it's perfectly applied.
Cons:
None :)
Overall:

Quality: 5/5

Packaging: 5/5

Price: 5/5

Will I Buy This Prodoct Again?: Sure!

Do I Recommend This Product?: Yes, yes yes!!!

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That's all for now, folks. Hope you liked my makeup and found my reviews interesting enough.

Have a beautiful day!

Sleek Makeup Haul and Swatches!!!

(Can you tell I'm super excited???)

Hello my lovlies! This has been long overdue, I know... But since I had the package shipped to my folks' address and not mine, it took me a while to get to the package. :P

As far as the international shipment - I couldn't ask for more. I practically live halfway across the world from Sleek Makeup HQ and whatnot, and the shipping took EXACTLY one week to get here! The package came with the lovliest pink tissue paper (I felt it was so fancy, I took pictures of the products with it, lol...) lining the inside and bubblewrap on the relevent products. Most of the stuff came in smaller cardboard boxes though, inside a very nice sized (and pretty stiff) cardboard box - so nothing broke while it travelled!

My shopping list was:
 Sunset i-Divine Palette ($10.00)
Molten Metal Gold Leaf & Pewter Cream Eyeshadow Duo ($10.50)
Oh So Special Palette ($10.50)
Kohl Pencil - in Black ($4.00)
Translucent Pressed Powder - in Light ($8.00)
Blush - Rose Gold ($6.50)
Waterproof Mascara - in Black ($6.00)
** I also got a Mini High Shine Crystal Glaze as a gift! **
International Shipping ($13.50)
- Total: $69.00 (Super worth it! Look how much stuff I got!!!)

And now the moment we've all been waiting for... Pictures and swatches! I'll go by the shopping list order just to make it easier on both you and myself while looking at the stuff.

*Sunset i-Divine Palette:

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L-! The colors came nameless and I couldn't find their names on the Sleek Makeup website either, but here's the product description: 

"The Sunset i-Divine palette contains 12 highly-pigmented complementary shades representing the sun, sea and sand. With a blend of shimmering golds, reds and blues, this palette is perfect for that sun-kissed look. 

The velvet-touch consistency gives full and shimmering coverage to the eye lid for maximum effect. Each shade can be applied alone for a dramatic effect or mixed to create a personalised look."

Honestly, I couldn't agree with it more. The colors are insanely pigmented, the texture is smooth and light on the skin, and after dipping my fingers in for swatches the eyeshadows stayed put and the palette didn't get messy at all (unlike my Smashbox In Bloom palette that turns into a hot mess if you only breathe in its direction...). It also has a huge mirror which I like, even if I don't use very often. The applicator is quite useless in my opinion though.

Top swatches:

Bottom swatches:

* Molten Metal Gold Leaf & Pewter Cream Eyeshadow Duo:

These are just incredibly fun! I bought them so they'd use as base colors for my everyday looks or just go solo. I'm loving the shine and creamy effects they have. Their descripion on the website says:

 "Molten Metal is a highly pigmented metallic cream eyeshadow duo.The palette consists of 2 gloriously rich and highly pigmented metallic creams that ignite the skin with intensity. The formulation is soft and fluid-like allowing easy application."

Again, Sleek are spot-on. Pigmented, creamy, intense and smooth eyeshadows. I do think the mirror is quite useless.

* Oh So Special Palette:

This palette comes with 12 "neutral" eyeshadows from dark to light colors. The description on the site says that: 

"It’s the ultimate i-Divine that every woman should have in her possession, with 12 flattering on-trend shades to suit all skin tones no matter what the occasion, the Oh So Special palette will always deliver the perfect results. 

Take your look from day time chic with matte browns and creamy beiges, through to sultry evening glamour with shimmering grays and smokey plums.   A make-up bag staple and a must-have i-Divine you can rely on, so no matter where you are or what you’re doing you’ll look Oh So Special!"

I have to say that while taking the pictures after swatching, some of the colors looked a little "washed out". This is NOT how it is in real-life though: the colors really are so pretty and the texture.... I feel like a broken record repeating myself, so I'll go no further - you know what I'm about to say. :)

*Kohl Pencil and Waterproof Mascara:

I haven't actually tried these out yet and I want to try them and write a full review, so bear with me. Sleek's site says:

 "An ultra creamy-matte formula pencil used to define the eyes. 
Can be applied on the lower and upper eyelid for long-lasting, stay-in-place colour which glides on effortlessly, to achieve a perfect look." 

and as for the mascara: 

"A long-wearing waterproof mascara with conditioning and softening properties. Defines the eyes without flaking, clumping, smudging or smearing and yet is easy to remove." 

We'll just have to wait and see.

*Blush - Rose Gold:

Sleek says: 

"Aruba blush provides the ultimate colour of paradise, sweep on lightly for a tropical wash of coral or layer to build an intense holiday hue.  Team with the Curacao i-Divine and Bonaire pout polish to complete your colourful Caribbean inspired look."

This blush is so pretty! It has a very golden undertone to it and when it hits the light it just shines and twinkles! So cute! The peachy color is also awesome, although when I swatched it it kind of made my arm look like I have a rash on it. 

*Translucent Pressed Powder:

This is something I got so I'd have SOMETHING to set my makeup with and finish up my face after my whole routine. Living in hot and humid Israel DOES NOT do justice to the face, no matter how longstanding and high-end your foundation is. I'm tired to having my foundation melt off when I touch it after walking outside for more than 30 minutes. Sleek says it's: 

"Suitable for light to medium skin tones, this ultra-fine powder provides an even, natural finish whilst ensuring make-up stays in place and eliminating shine.   For best results use a large, clean powder brush and apply in light strokes over New Skin Revive Foundation." 

Again, this is something I want to try out first and write a full review about it.

**********

All in all, for a first ever online shopping experience I have to admit I'm pleased. The stuff came within the time limit they said it would in tiptop shape and I totally feel like I got my money's worth. All I have to do now is wait for my MakeUp Geek's Stippling brush (which I ordered about two weeks ago and it still hasn't got here... *sigh*). 

Tomorrow I'll try on the eye pencil, mascara and some of the eyeshadows and the blush and powder (and take pictures, of course!) and let y'all know what I think. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Eyes, Eyes, Eyes!!!

Hello my lovelies! Long time no see!

I am loving the makeup geek life, my dears. Last night I went out on a second date (ooh, how exciting!) with someone, and we went to this fancy restaurant and I decided to make my eyes up accordingly!

So... Here it is:

I used my Smashbox stash for this look, and I finally managed to master the liquid eyeliner! YAY!!! Also, I didn't use false eyelashes. Those babies are all mine :) Sorry that the pictures aren't top quality, I had to use my cell's camera, but they didn't turn out that bad at all.

Also, I went home to visit my folks for the weekend and get my Sleek Makeup package from the mail (*squeel*) so I decided I'd do my eyes for that occasion as well:

I'm still LOLing at the last picture - deer in the headlights! I used my Smashbox stash for this one, too.

Bottom line, I used my Smashbox In Bloom eyeshadow palette for both looks, and more specifically Pink Lilly, Golden Rose, Shimmery Copper and Bone for the "evening" look and Bone, Pink Lilly and Golden Rose for the "daytime" look. My mascara is Revlon Colorstay in black and my eyeliner is a random eyeliner I stole from my mom by Jade, also in black.

Smashbox In Bloom Eyeshadow Palette - Swatches and Review!

Ugh, I'm not having a good time at all today. It's one of those days when nothing seems to work, you know? How frustrating is that?!

So! I've decided to swatch and review my Smashbox In Bloom eyeshadow palette (ahem, Jess *wink wink*) just because I love it so much and it is simply friggin' awesome. If you can't recall what palette I'm talking about, here it is:

This palette features 10 matte, soft shimmer, satin and matellic soft shimmer powder eyeshadows in lovely, delicate colors that I think will go great with just about anything.

As for the swatches:
From left to right: Pink lilly, Lavender Grey, Golden Rose, Warm Taupe and Bone:

Again, from left to right: Soft Orchid, Iris Blue, Shimmery Copper, Moss and Nude:

*** Pros:
- Beauuuutiful colors!
- Quite neutral, so they really would go with just about anything
- The palette is vertically coordinated, which means that if you combine one eyeshadow from the top line and one eyeshadow from the bottom line - you'd get THE most amazing combo ever.
- Variety of styles (shimmer, matte etc.)
- It comes with a normal eyeshadow brush in it - meaning NOT a crappy sponge applicator, which is a great plus.
- Very good quality!

*** Cons:
- Extremely powdery. I wouldn't applying makeup on your whole face before you apply the eyeshadow, you'd have to clean those cheeks up after the application or else you'll look like a hot mess.
- Not cheap - it cost me around 48$ (equals about 175 NIS)!
- The case is a little hard to open since it doesn't have a spring mechanism and whatnot. It took me a while to figure it out, lol.

*** Overall:
- Quality: 5/5
- Packaging: 4/5
- Price: 4/5 (it's damn good quality. totally worth the price, but it's still expensive)
- Will I buy this product again: I doubt it, I think it was a limited edition - but I'm addicted to Smashbox, so I'd go with HELL YES.

My Makeup Gear!

As I promised, here's my makeup gear:

Brushes:
Smashbox Tapered Shadow Brush (#7)
Smashbox Blush Brush (#16)
Smashbox Double Ended Smudger Brush (#20)
Smashbox Face & Body Brush (#19)


Primers:
Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer
Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer

Foundation and Concealer:
Smashbox High Definition Healthy FX Foundation - Fair (#F1)
Smashbox High Definition Concealer - Fair

Bronzer and Powder/Blush:
Smashbox Bronze Lights - Sunkissed Matte (#53012)
Smashbox Soft Lights - Prism (#52711)

Lips:

Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss - Sheer Color - Pop (#56101)/Pulse (#56192)/Radiant (#56127)

Maybelline Watershine - Rose Diamonds (#278)/Spiced Diamonds (#160)

Maybelline ColorSensational - Mauve Glam (#230)/Crazy Pink (#180)

I also have two lipsticks from Estee Lauder and Clinique that I got as samples:

Mascaras:

Two more samples from Estee Lauder and Clinique:

Eyeliners:

Smashbox Limitless Eyeliner - Golden Ivy (#50765)/Smoke (#50776)

Eyeshadows:

Smashbox In Bloom Eyeshadow Pallete

Samples from Estee Lauder, Clinique and Shiseido

I hope I didn't forget anything... But that's it so far. What do you think? :)