Review: Morphe Jaclyn Hill Palette (Bling Boss)

                This beauty is the first Morphe Palette I've ever bought and now 
                reviewed. I've heard mixed reviews on their brand as a whole, but I 
                wanted to try this palette out and come to my own conclusion. The first 
                thing I noticed when I opened the box is some bubble wrap protecting 
                the eyeshadow palette inside. This is the only palette I've bought that 
                had this protective feature which I really appreciate.
      

            The packaging in clean and simple. Making it even more affordable
            and appealing to newbies trying out Morphe products. Despite it's
            super affordable price it has a decent sized mirror, and the matte
            silver packaging makes the ten shades inside pop even more.
      

            There are four matte shades, four shimmer shades and two foiled 
            shades. As for blending, the shimmer and foiled shades blend beautifully. 
            Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for some of the matte shades like 
            'Rockstar'. As you can see from my swatches, it went on chunky and 
            took 8 swatches to get to the point you see in the photo! It's such a 
            pretty shade but the formula seems so different from the others. 
            However, I'd say my favorite shades are 'Gem', 'Ballsy' and 
            'Berry Treasure'.

Amazing pigment; Gem blended out very well

You can see where 'Rockstar' was not blending out

            Would I recommend this eyeshadow palette?

            I would for those on a budget who want some glam in their life, 
            and with patience when it comes to carefully blending out a couple 
            difficult shades.

My Fav Swatches Coastal Scents 120 Five Palette

As you probably already know from this blog, I like to test products before fully
reviewing them. This palette was no different, and I wanted to give it the time

and respect it deserves by testing out a variety of colours. Coastal Scents put
out quality products that are also pretty damn affordable. So here some of my
favourite swatches from the 120 Five Palette.


The formulas vary from Matte shades that need building up. The foiled shades
are pigmented and go on so smoothly. Shimmery shades that have a buttery
formula which barely needs to be touched for a decent swatch. I did not apply
primer before swatching these shades. Each swatch took between 2-3 swipes,
but the matte shades needed to be blended more than the foiled and shimmery
shades. 

Number 3, 14 and 18 are comparable in quality to some of the shades/formulas
I have found in Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette. Yes, that is a big claim and huge
price difference between these two products. You get quite a bit out of this
diverse Coastal Scents Palette. They give you quality eye shadows that can
almost be compared to larger premium brands for just 1/4 of the price tag. 
If you want a wide variety of colours to play with without having to commit 
to buying an $80 (AUD) eye shadow palette...I highly recommend this one or
any of Coastal Scents range of products. 



Note: All images above are property of this blog and the owner.
          Please do not use without expressed permission.

Making My Own Pressed Glitter Palette

I'm sure many of you are familiar with pressed glitter palettes 
and single pans. If you're in the beauty community and you love 
DIY projects this is a must for you! I have read several different
methods of making your own Pressed Glitters

To be clear this is the how I made my pressed glitters, and I don't 
consider this a tutorial. I am simply documenting my first experience
making them. 

I had ordered a mixing tray and batch of isopropyl alcohol for this DIY,
and it was lost in the mail during my move/change of address. 

Therefore, I had to improvise on a couple things.

As you can see I'm using cupcake wrappers instead of a mixing tray
to mix the glitter together to make the specific colour that I want. I
have my palette, empty pans, mixing bowl, syringe (no needle
necessary), Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera Gel, Assorted glitter, tooth picks
and a Citrus note based Perfume (80% Alcohol). 

I mixed the Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera Gel and 80% Alcohol together by
using the syringe to suck it up and plunge it repeatedly until the solution
is a cloudy colour.

These are the three colours I used to make 'Unicorn Horn'

Colour combination: Matte white, Shimmery white and baby

pink iridescent sparkle. I ended up adding a larger amount 

than pictured, but it was easy to mix together with enough
of the solution (I filled the pan with solution before hand). 

I filled the syringe pretty much around the '1' mark but I added a
few drops while mixing if the glitter seemed a bit clumpy/dry. I put the pans in the palette, and the palette went into the refrigerator
for 24 hours. 

Here are the results

Here are all the finished pans inside the palette. After fully drying they are even more
vibrant than in the single pan photos above. Swatches on the right were done after the
24 hour drying period.

I was very pleased with the results. It is much easier than I originally thought
it would be. The biggest issue you might have is the glittery mess that is left
over. If you intend to try this, I would highly recommend that you wait the

24 hours for your pressed glitters to fully dry. Some of mine dried quicker
and some were still moist. Either way, I am glad to have to have successfully
my own palette.

Is it safe to buy 'Fake Makeup' from overseas?

This is a question that I'm sure you have asked yourself when
comparing the price difference between the real and 'fake'
makeup that will come up on online shops such as Ebay.
Suddenly, an eyeshadow palette that would normally cost
around $80 AUD ($50 USD) can be compared to a fake
eyeshadow palette that seems to look the same or close 
for around $6-$12 AUD ($3-$8 USD). 


We assume that the formulas and colours will be close and 
that actual effort would be put into making these safe for 
us to use. While you may find the occasional decent product,
the truth is there is no quality control for where these products
are manufactured and/or packaged.

According to other blogs/news sites (such as Dailymail.com.uk
& Mashable.com) these products allegedly can contain anything
from traces of rat feces to household cleaning products. Some
can even be tainted my cyanide. Needless to say the so-called
'quality' is a big question mark, and you are taking a gamble on
your health by using them.

Over this last year I have tried many different products that 
have come from places like China (the world capital for fakes),
Malaysia,Philippines and Singapore. For me, it is absolutely
worth the 'peace-of-mind' to pay the full amount for an authentic
product. I want to be able to trust what I am putting on my body
thoroughly tested as well as safe to use. 


Not only is it important that it be tested, but not tested on any
helpless animals! This is a practice that really needs to be 
eliminated from the cosmetic industry, and hopefully worldwide 
one day. 


Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope this post helps you. 

Latest Beauty Haul

I have seriously felt so spoiled by my partner. He got me the two main items I 
am going over with you in this post (Case & UD Palette). This week has flown by, and I have a few vlogs in the works for next week. So you can check them out at my YouTube channel when it is updated!


So, I have finally decided on a make-up organizer that is big enough to hold all of my make up that had originally been split up in around 5 places. This will make getting ready easier, and it also has a two separate locks on each latch. Great for anyone who has roommates that like to 'borrow' your stuff, or just great for when you're traveling and don't want your case to open accidentally. So far I have not had any issues with the case.

I am really excited about anything Urban Decay and have been for over 6 years. They have to be my favourite brand when it comes to eye-shadows. Their pigmented colours are long-lasting and unique. I started collecting their 'token' sized eye shadows, and went to the larger compact (w/ mirror) eye shadows. The palettes are always something I've aspired to get but talked myself out of many times over because of the price and replicas floating around Aus. My partner saw this and snagged one off of ebay for me, and it is the one I have wanted for so long! The Naked 2 Palette!!! Which is the highest rated of all the naked palettes. It came yesterday, and I've been so excited about using it. BUT I haven't. I may do a vlog about it with different swatches...but that will be decided later.

And lastly, I also received a generous 14-day(14 packets) sample supply of Revitalift by Loreal Paris. You can get this offer by just going HERE and filling out the form. It only took me around 2 weeks to get in the post.