Haul Time

The past few weeks I have gone crazy shopping for cosmetics! I’ve decided to do a haul, swatches and a quick review of the products that I have purchased. Enjoy!

Here’s a list of the products:

·         Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Roman Holiday

·         Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Sin

·          Nars Illuminator in Laguna

·         Origins VitaZing SPF 15 (No shade name for this product)

·         Physicians Formula Happy Booster in Light Bronzer

·         Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 52

·         Tarte Amazonian Clay Long-Wear blush in Dollface

·         Tarte Amazonian Clay Long-Wear blush in exposed

·         Tarte Smooth Operator

I’ve been obsessed with bronzers and as you can see almost half of the products are bronzers or bronzy-type products. Here are the swatches and I’ll give a mini review on the products. Unless I haven’t used the product long enough, but I’ll let you know. I’ll be showing it in the same order that I listed the products above.

This is the Nars lip pencil in Roman Holiday. It’s such a pretty color! It gives me the perfect pink lip. I usually top it with a gloss (any gloss), but sometimes I leave it as is.

This is the Urban Decay pencil in Sin. It’s great on its own. I’ve been using it as a base and it really holds eye shadow throughout the day. I think I need to test it a bit more though.

This is the Nars illuminator in Laguna. I absolutely love this product!! It gives me a sun-kissed look that I’ve been trying to perfect. The bottom is the illuminator applied directly onto my skin without blending it in. The top is the illuminator slightly blended. It may look intimidating at first, but it blends to a really nice glow. I use it two different ways.

·         The first: I apply a small amount all over my face then apply my foundation over it. The result is a great glow to my skin with a natural bronze look to it. If I apply too much (which I have) it doesn’t look natural on me, so I’ve learned a little at a time and I can layer it.

·           The second: mix a small amount with my foundation and apply all over my face. It gives the same result, but this application is faster. I did it the first way in the beginning to figure out the perfect amount of bronzer for me, now I usually apply it the second way.  

This is the Origins VitaZing. I heard about this product through some of the YouTube beauty gurus and I wanted to try it. When I looked online and read the reviews I decided not to buy it. A lot of the reviewers said that product gave their skin an orange tint. Call me crazy, but I don’t want to look like an Oompah Loompah! Well I obviously bought it, and I really like it! It doesn’t give my skin an orange tint; instead it’s more of a light bronzy glow that evens out my skin. If you are interested in the VitaZing test it out first. I have tried products in the past that have left an orange tint on my skin and it was supposed to be a bronze tint. That’s definitely disappointing. The bottom is the VitaZing applied directly onto my skin without blending. Above it I applied a little and blended it in. If you look closely you can see a bit of coverage from the product with a nice tint to it. It gives a light coverage on my skin. This product is perfect for the beach, pool, and day-to-day wear. Perfect for the summer season!!

These are the two powder bronzers. Physicians Formula is on the bottom and Bourjois is on top. The PF bronzer has a lot of shimmer to it and is a very light bronzer. I have used it as more of a highlight color. I admit I bought it because of the packaging and I was curious to try it. If you look at the picture at the very top with all the products it’s the bronzer with hearts all over it. When you mix all the colors together it gives a great color combo. What I didn’t realize is it has a “mood boosting effect!!” What’s that, you ask… Let me fill you in. It is infused with natural plant extracts that have been shown to promote a feeling of happiness. It smells like Violets. I really like the smell of it. I usually apply a small amount over my blush to give it a little more of a glow.  I’m not sure about the happy booster effect; I think I need to test it out more. The Bourjois bronzer has very subtle gold flecks mixed in it. I saw this one a lot on YouTube (pixiwoo & SWalkerMakeup), and I wanted to get it. It was a little bit of a hassle, since they don’t sell Bourjois in the States anymore, but I managed. This bronzer is scented and it smells like chocolate, it’s pretty amazing! It applies nicely and doesn’t look muddy. I apply it with a light-hand, otherwise it would look overdone.

These are the two blushes from Tarte. The bottom is dollface and the top is exposed. The packaging says it is a long-wear blush, and it does last longer than my other blushes. I really like dollface, it’s a matte pink and absolutely gorgeous! It gives your cheeks the perfect pop of pink. Exposed is still growing on me. I thought it would be more bronzy, but it’s more of a dusty rose.

Finally, smooth operator by Tarte. I had a sample of this a while back and it lasted me over a month and I really liked it. I use it mostly under my eyes to set my foundation or concealer.

Hope you all enjoyed my haul, swatches, reviews, and my obsession with bronzers! J Let me know if you’ve tried any of the products I’ve shown and tell me how you liked it in the comments below.