KOHANA SKIN REVIEW AND GIVE-A-WAY

Please check out my Kohana Skin review and give-a-way on NViousBeauty!

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ELF GETS NAKED?

Some people have been saying that the ELF BeautyBook Neutral Eye Edition is a dupe for the infamous Urban Decay NAKED Palette. So I thought I'd show you side by side swatches to see if it's really true.

VS

So check out the colors overall in the pan first....

ELF Palette

Urban Decay Palette

Ok, so far, yes...they look pretty similar. But now let's swatch them...

As you can see, the UD shadow is a lot more pigmented, but the ELF shadow is still extremely similar.

Same thing here....

Now here you can see this is a different color completely. They are both soft browns, but the ELF is lacking that slightly redish undertone that the UD shadow has.

The ELF shadow is lacking the glitter that the UD shadow has--your opinion if that is good or bad. I don't mind the glitter. But otherwise, this color is very similar.

Very similar color, but I really had to build up the ELF to get it close to one swipe of the UD.

The ELF shadow has more orange in it here. And again, the UD shadow is more much pigmented.

The ELF shadow doesn't have the bronzed undertone that the UD shadow has here.

The ELF shadow doesn't even come close in my opinion. I had to really pack it on it get this color to show up .

Color is a bit similar, but you just can't compare these as far as sheen goes! Look how the UD ones just glow and they ELF fall flat.

Again, this color is just way off for me. The ELF shade has so much red in it whereas the UD shade is just a beautiful dark brown.

Again, no comparison here. Period.

I feel like these are pretty similar though. The UD is just a tad darker.

Overall opinion:

If you can't/don't want to shell out the bucks for NAKED, this is an alright alternative.

The ELF Shadows don't have the creamy texture or color payoff that UD has, but what else can you expect for a buck?

When the day comes that I finally go through my NAKED palette....I will probably not turn to the ELF palette, but will instead re-purchase NAKED.

Have you checked out my drug store favorites on youtube?

FTC Disclosure: I purchased all products shown with my own money. I have never accepted money in exchange for a review or product promotion. All opinions are my own.

DRUG STORE FAV'S PART TWO IS LIVE

Please check out my newest video for my Drug Store Favorites Part 2! It includes products from Almay, Phycians Formula, and Rimmel.

If you missed Drug Store Favorites Part 1, check that out too! I'd love to know what items from these lines I've missed and you'd recommend!

I'd appreciate any feedback on the channel and requests are very welcomed! If you've got a channel, feel free to leave me a message so I can check yours out too!

One more thing, I did a picture tutorial with my Sedona Lace 88 Metal Palette if you want to check that out also, I'd love your opinion if you think I should do more of these. =)

ULTA HAUL

Just thought I'd share with you all this little haul from Ulta!

Stila Smudge Pot in Kitten

Bare Minerals Well Rested

NYX Cream Blush Boho Chic

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils in Yogurt & Lavender

NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil Chesnut

So far I am obsessed with the Stila Kitten smudge pot. I've been using it as a base color of my lids and topping it off with Urban Decay's Sin. Gorgeous! I also love the NYX Yogurt Eyeshadow Pencil, similar look to the Stila Smudge pot, but a bit different.  The NYX Cream blush is also really creamy! I have several cream blushes and this one is def one of the nicest! The Bare Minerals Well Rested is a bit light for me right now. I was surprised at how much it brightened my under eyes! I think this will work better for me when my semi-tans fades away. Any tips in the meantime? Maybe there is something I can do to make it work.

What have you hauled lately?

FTC Disclosure: I purchased everything with my own money.

SONIA KASHUK LE SPRING BRUSHES

How cute are these Sonia Kashuck brushes? I guess these came out in the spring (and there's a new summer set as well) out at Target. I almost never go into Target anymore so when I popped in a few days ago I decided to see what they had in their makeup area---of coures!

I was tickled to see some cool looking brushes! The boxes they come in are too cute! (I'm using them now to store excess nail polish! As if there could be such a thing, right?!) There was an actual set of maybe 5 brushes, but these two that were sold individually were much more appealing to me---of course. There was one more brush sold separately (of course) that I may go back for. I love the design on the handle and I love flat top brushes!!!  I've heard good things about Sonia Kashuk brushes so I decided to check these out.

How adorable? These are hands down the cutest brushes I own. I wish they made a 12 piece set of these! Here they are up close:

So the blush/powder brush is fairly soft--not as soft as my Sedona Lace or Sigma brushes--but it's not scratchy either. It's fairly dense also. I wouldn't use this for blush, but I do like it for swirling on a little bronzer on my cheeks before topping it off with some blush on the apples. I used my Wet & Wild Mega Glo today and it was just so pretty! The brush really gave me a light application and I was able to buff it in to my skin and had such a nice sheen to it. Looked great!

Also, the fibers themselves are packed in and cut really nicely. =)

 

The angled coutour brush feels a bit softer than the other brush. I haven't used it for contouring yet, but I'm sure I will. I think it will give a nice, controlled application of contouring powder when I get around to using it that way! *hahaha* What I've been using it for is highlight on the cheekbones. It's just a great shape and really blends out highlighter really well. I love when brushes can be used for multiple things!

I've only washed these once so far. I did have some bleeding and a few fibers shed when washing the blush brush, but none with the contour brush. They didn't smell funky at all when I first opened them, which is always a bonus. They did retain the scent of the shampoo I used to wash them--very nice.

They are about as heavy  and a little shorter than my other makeup brushes. But again, they are by far the cutest ones I have! I will consider buying the other brushes that go with it...though I don't reallly need them. Do you have these? What do you think of Sonia Kashuk brushes?

Please check out my youtube channel and subscribe with you like what you see! Follow me on Twitter as well! I love chatting with you all! Links are to the side!

FTC Disclosure: I purchased these with  my own money. I am not affiliated with Sonia Kashuk or other companies mentioned in this post. I have never accepted money in exchange for a review. All opinions are honest and my own.



TARTE GLOW YOUR WAY TO GORGEOUS

In case you have been living under a rock lately *lol*, this is the Tarte "Glow your way to goregous 8pc Maracuja & Clay collection" from QVC. I have never had anything from Tarte, so I was really excited to get to try so many different things for such a good price!! I'm going to take you through the whole kit! Let's get started!

The left side holds a ton of stuff! As you can see, there is more than 8 items in this kit. I think at the last minute Tarte decided to include a few more items, which is fab!

You guys know I'm a total  brush junky, so I'm showing you those first. These are actually really nice brushes! You get a blush brush and a cream shadow brush.

Blush Brush

The blush brush is a on the smaller side--which I've heard some say they don't like---but I do. It's also not super dense, so it really picks up color and puts it down lightly. I think that is perfect because the blush in the kit is SUPER pigmented and you can't have a heavy hand with it. I think this brush is perfect for this blush.

Cream Eye Shadow Brush

This is a pretty basic cream shadow brush. It's pretty stiff and it small so you can really pack color on the lid. I wouldn't recommend trying to use this brush to spread product out. I just pack some color on, then use my fingertip to blend it out a bit.

Here's the makeup in this side of the pocket! Maracuja Creaseless Concealer (I picked Fair), Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara in Black, Lip Luster in Sweet,  and Amazonian Clay SmolderEYES eyeliner in Fig.

No idea where the picture of the up close concealer went!! Whoops! But here's the swatch for you:

As you can probably tell, this is a pretty thick concealer. Though it says creaseless in the title, I found that it did crease after several hours of wear. It gives pretty good coverage though. Maybe I just need to play with it and try it a few ways. Pointers welcome. =)

This is the Lip Luster in Sweet. It has a really nice color, nicely pigmented without being over the top, and has an awesome minty feel that I love. At first, I was afraid this color would be too pink--like bubblegum. But much to my surprise, I love it!

It's such a pretty, sheer color. I also love that it's like a jumbo pencil. It also clicks at the bottom for more product. This color is exclusive to QVC until this fall.

This lip luster feels so good on the lips! It's so light, I just feel like I'm wearing a bit of balm. Smells nice too!

This is the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara in Black. Besides the high price tag and the bulky packaging (that is cute!) I wasn't sure how this was going to go. The formula isn't too wet,  but isn't dry either---if that makes any sense. The brush is a nice smaller size!

Not the most focused picture, sorry. But I do like the brush a lot. It grabs and separates my lashes nicely and is also pretty black. It doesn't do much for volume though, so I still reach for my Carbon Black mascara when I'm done with this one.

This is the Amazonian Clay SmolderEYES eyeliner in Fig. It has the liner at one side and a great smudger on the other.

Again, not super focused...so sorry!! But this is a creamy, gorgeous liner!!! I love the color. SO glad they didn't do black or brown---have millions of those. Purple is such a great color for all eye colors.

This is a really nice smudger. It's soft and does a really nice job at moving product around without tugging at your eye.

BEAutiful!!!!! I love this and can't say enough! It goes on so smooth and really does last all day!!

There's also a pocket in front of the slots where these products were so you can store even more goodies! This is such a great bag for travel or for just throwing it on your purse for touch ups.

Ready to see what's in the pocket on the other side?

So many goodies....where to start? =)

This is the 12-Hour Wear Clay Blush in Peaceful. I have been wanting to try these blush since they came out! People are not joking when they said how pigmented these are. The first time I put it on....I put WAY too much to put it on. The color isn't too pink, like it looks in the pan. Also, the glitter you see in the pan comes off as a nice sheen on the skin. I love this blush! For me, this is the superstar in the set!! These do last a long time, though I think 12 hours is a stretch.

Looooooooooooove this color. =)

This is the Amazionian Clay Bronzer. This is one of the extras Tarte decided to put in and I'm really glad they did! It's not a full size, but it's a deluxe sample.

You can see glitter in the pan, but like the blush, just has a nice sheen on the skin when applied lightly.

So glowy!!! I love this! This is perfect for that bronzed goddess look for summer!!!

This is the Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Shadow in Shimmering Taupe. Something else I was really looking forward to trying. Again, I don't think this is a full size product, but cream shadows go far and last a long time, so I think this is a good size.

This is such a pretty color. The texture of this isn't as smooth as I would have liked. It is a bit on the drier side. MAC paint pots are much smoother. But it's not bad...just a little harder to work with. The cream shadow brush puts color on well, but you only have a short window to move it around with your fingertips before it locks itself in place. This does last a good while with nothing else on top of it, but not all day. When placing a shadow on top, it makes a really nice base.

I have to show you the swatch with the others! Sorry! But I think you can see all these are just beautiful. The bronzer here isn't as sheered out, but you can see it better in the picture above.

I didn't take another picture of the bonus Maracuja oil sample they added to the collection. You can see it pictured above. The scent is a little meh. I used it on my face one night. Feels similar on the skin as Argon oil. I'm not big on the scent, though it's not awful. I think I'll stick with Argon oil. Also not pictured up close, the pencil sharpener....seen one you've seen them all!

Well, that's the collection! I hope you enjoyed nosing around in my bag! Please leave me your thoughts on this kit in the comments below! If you'd like to know more about any of these products, just ask. You can still get this at QVC! Tell me if you get it/have it!

FTC Disclosure: I purchased this with my own money. I am not affiliated with Tarte or QVC. I have never accepted money in exchange for a review.