2021 Project Pan- Update 1

Today, we are doing an update on my project pan. For those who missed my first post, here is a quick overview of this project: I am doing a rolling project pan with check-ins every other month. I am running a little late with this post, but I’ve actually made some good progress!

The first product I wanted to work on was the 100% Plant-Derived Hemi-Squalane by the brand The Ordinary. This product has gone down minimally as I have been very bad about using it. I have noticed that while pregnant, this is not providing as much hydration as I need, so I have been using other moisturizers and often forget to add this as a second layer. I am going to make more of an effort to use this product, even if it’s on the body also.

Next was the Urban Decay Primer Potion. Exciting news! I finished up my mini! I will be rolling in another product to replace this one. A mini review on this product: I loved it! I have very oily eyelids and therefore my eyeshadow tends to crease easily. This primer creates a matte surface on the lid so the shadows don’t crease, but still allows for enough slip to blend shadows on top of it. If you suffer from oily lids, I highly recommend checking this primer out.

The next product in the project was the single eyeshadow by Wet n Wild in the shade Sugar. My goal was to hit pan and we have another success! I have created a decent-sized pan in the shadow and will continue to use it, but for now, I am going to remove it from the project since I completed my initial goal. As you might be able to tell, I enjoy this shadow and I plan to continue to use it regularly. For this project though, I will be rolling this product out and replacing it with something new.

The last product was the ColourPop Pretty Fresh Hyaluronic Tinted Moisturizer. I have made some progress on this product but not as much as I would have liked. If I’m honest, I did a lot of “no makeup, makeup days” where I didn’t use a base or foundation product. I have also been trying out a new base product and I am finding I might like that one a little bit more. As we move into warmer months, I might remove this product and replace it with something else, but for now, I think I will keep it in the project and see if I can get further use out of it.

Now, it’s time for the exciting news, the new products that I will be adding into the project! The first product is the Morphe x Jeffree Star Set and Refresh Mist. I am not a supporter of Jeffree Star, and I only picked this up because I wanted to try the formula that everyone was raving about (and it was on sale at the time). I would like to finish this up and remove it from my collection.

The second item I am adding into the project is a Super Shock Shadow from ColourPop in the shade Sailor. Keeping with my “achievable goals” theme, I do have a pretty sizable dip in this shade, but I would like to hit pan in this shadow. If possible, I would like to uncover the first round disc in the bottom of the pan, not just see the pan. This is one of my favorite shades and it shouldn’t be hard to achieve this goal, but again, I’ve never hit pan on a Super Shock Shadow.

Bonus: I wanted to also toot my own horn as I was intending to add in a brow product. I use the Ulta Beauty eye shadow in Desire to fill in my brows. My goal was to hit pan on this product, but it turns out I already have so I will not be adding it into the project, but I was still very proud of this accomplishment and wanted to share.

Valentine’s Day Makeup

This year, as we celebrate the season of love at home, you might not be in the spirit to do some sultry makeup. It’s completely understandable how you might not want to get dolled up just to stay in, but honestly, it can be kind of nice to have a reason to do some fancy makeup. Below I am going to list the different items that work well for Valentine’s Day.

My first picks are going to be eyeshadow palettes. Now, of course, we have the sultry palettes such as the ColourPop Wine & Only or All That. These palettes encompass darker shades that make for a great date night smoky eye. But if you’re looking for something a bit lighter, more on a flirty track, ColourPop has you covered with their new Cloud Spun palette. And if you’re looking for a bougie option, Natasha Denona can help. You could go with her new Mini Love palette which only has five shades. This is perfect if you struggle to pick shades that work together, but the Love palette (one of her middy palettes) has plenty of options if you don’t like to be cornered into one specific look.

Next up, to finish off the eye look, you need a good eyeliner. I know it’s not the sexiest of makeup products but playing around with these palettes to create looks, some of the looks were completely made by adding an eyeliner to the waterline. I prefer using either a white or a black. If I am doing a sultry look, a white eyeliner in the waterline can lighten the look and keep the eye from looking too heavy. On the other hand, if you are doing a lighter look but you want to amp it up a bit, black in the waterline can truly make a statement.

Lastly, for our night in, you need to finish off the face. If you are looking to do a monochromatic look, Natasha Denona’s Darya face palette is perfect for this holiday. With shades of pink for the blush, and champagne colored highlighter, this will make for the perfect coordinated look. If that is out of your price range though, you can get similar looking highlighters from ColourPop. Two of my favorites are the shades Flexitarian and Seismic. These shades are perfect for my skin tone, but honestly, if you have a darker skin tone, ColourPop will likely have shades that work well for you.

I am personally not a huge lip fan, most days skipping it all together so I don’t have any special suggestions regarding this category. If you are a huge fan of lip products though, please put them in the comments below so everyone else can check them out!

Happy Valentine’s Day from me to you and stay safe!

2021 Project Pan – Beginnings

Welcome to a new year! First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and is excited for the new year. To start this year off, I am going to attempt my first ever Project Pan. As this will be my first attempt, I have no idea how long I will be going for, but my current plan is to make it a rolling project pan with about four items in the project at any given time. I plan on trying to go for the whole year and doing a check in every other month.

For those who do not know what a project pan is, it is a way to use the makeup in your collection. You can do this one of three ways: one, try to use up a product, two, try to “hit pan” or use a product so much that you are able to see the bottom of the container at some point, or three, set a number goal to use a product that number of times before the next check in.

The first product in the project is the 100% Plant-Derived Hemi-Squalane by the brand The Ordinary (not pictured below). I am currently about halfway through the bottle and I really love this for my super dry skin. I tend to get really flaky skin in and near my eyebrows especially. I would love to use this up as I do have backups of it and I know that skin care can go bad quickly. Also, by putting this in the project, I hope to get in the routine of using my skincare products more regularly.

The next product I am putting in the project is the Urban Decay Primer Potion. This product has been in my collection for a while and I am very close to using it up (which is my goal). I’ll admit that this one (and another product I will talk about later), I added into the project at the beginning as hopefully easy successes. My hope is I will be encouraged to keep going. This is my preferred eye primer and I do have a backup I would like to get to and use.

The other product that I added into this project as an easy success is the single eyeshadow by Wet n Wild in the shade Sugar. I have a noticeable dip in the pan already so that should help! I primarily use this shadow as an inner corner highlight. I have never hit pan on a shadow before (crazy, I know!) and would like to be able to say that I have. I think that I will be able to hit pan on this if I use it consistently by the next update.

Finally, I am going to include the ColourPop Pretty Fresh Hyaluronic Tinted Moisturizer. While this is semi-new to my collection, I really love this foundation (or that’s how I use it). I do have a shade that is slightly off for me and would like to get my right shade, but I also am trying to keep from adding to my collection in this category. So before I can get a shade that I think will work better for me, I want to use up what I have. I also know that I will be able to use this consistently as it plays nicely with my skin.

Are you guys going to do a Project Pan or do you have any products you want to use up in the new year? Leave a comment and good luck on any new endeavors you are embarking on in this new year!

Christmas Haul 2020

This year, with a baby on the way, I knew I wanted to add some key items to my Christmas list as I probably won’t be buying a ton in the new year. As you may know, I am a huge fan of ColourPop and there are some newer releases that I have not picked up. I do collect the 9-pan plastic palettes but besides that, I tend to save other releases for birthday and holiday wishlists.

This year, I was lucky enough to receive four palettes and a Sephora gift card. I don’t know what I am going to use the gift card for yet but I am thinking of saving it for a sale as I have a knack for not realizing that there is a sale coming up and buying things about a week or two before the sale and then I regret not waiting.

The first ColourPop palette that I got was a bit of an older one. I am so excited to say that I have added the So Jaded palette to my collection! This is the first of their 30-pan palettes that was released in collaboration with the wonderful Kathleen Lights. This is a beautiful jewel-toned rainbow palette and while it does have two pressed glitters (which aren’t my favorites), as a whole, it is just stunning and I am looking forward to testing it out and creating some beautiful looks with it.

Next was the Stone Cold Fox palette. This is a bit more recent of a release but also a 30-pan palette. I am not normally a huge fan of larger palettes but this and the above mentioned palette are both ones I am willing to make exceptions for. This one is a beautiful range of cool tones, which I prefer when it comes to neutrals. This is a stunning palette and I also am very excited to create some cool looks with this beauty! I also plan on using this as a companion palette. That may seem weird, but personally I find that larger palettes are harder to use primarily because I run into choice paralysis. However, when I use a larger palette in conjunction with another, much smaller palette, it can change a typical look into something unique and it makes it much easier because I am only initially looking for a shade or two.

The next palette that I got was the At Forest Sight. This is another ColourPop collaboration, this time with RawBeautyKristi. This stunning palette is so unique in my collection! It is so grungy and sultry but still a rainbow palette and I have just never seen a palette like this one. I will be honest, this is going to push me out of my comfort zone but I am really looking forward to using it and creating some looks that I can’t do with any other palette.

Lastly, I was surprised with a palette that I did not add to my wishlist but upon receiving it, I might be most excited about this one and that is the Nude Mood. I think I am most excited about this one because it is a 9-pan palette, which is my preferred size, but also it is full of neutral shades (which is not more normal interests) that are just stunning! It’s perfect for an everyday look, a one and done look, or even a sexy cat eye look. It’s one of those palettes that is great to use when practicing new techniques because no matter what, all of the shades meld together great and it is very hard to create a look with this palette that doesn’t look good.

If you celebrate a holiday during this time, then I hope you had or will have a wonderful celebration! If you received or picked anything up, I would love to know what your got and what you are looking forward to playing with. Drop a comment down below and let me know if there is anything I need to add to my wishlist!

Meet My Stash: ColourPop BFF Liquid Liner in Numero Uno

Today, we are talking about an eyeliner that is newer to me. I have always been interested to try the BFF Liquid Liner line from ColourPop as they are one of my favorite makeup brands, so I picked up the liner in the color Numero Uno (the black shade).

It’s worth knowing that my perfect eyeliner type is potted liners as I’ve found my favorite brush to use (let me know if you’re interested in a post about that), but I do enjoy a liquid liner in pen form with a felt tip applicator. You have to figure out what works for you and what you are looking for in a liquid liner.

This formula is rather wet and does have a tendency to bleed as you can see in the picture below. This formula is good for a beginner who is not interested in using their eyeliner to create a wing. It is also a good option to use if you prefer to have black eyeliner down before using fake lashes, as the bleeding isn’t too severe and won’t be noticed with the lashes sitting on top. The formula is also very black so it will work if this is your goal.

As I said at the start of this series, my goal was to limit some of my purchasing by using what I had in my collection. As I have played with this a bit, it is not my cup of tea and therefore I have decided to remove this from my collection. I have decluttered this product to my mother who likes to add a bit of definition to the lash line and I think she will enjoy this product for that purpose.

Meet My Stash: ColourPop Hyaluronic Tinted Moisturizer

Today, we are talking about my current go-to everyday foundation. Now I know a tinted moisturizer is not anywhere near a full coverage foundation, but ColourPop’s Pretty Fresh line has put out some great products for those with dry skin.

The Hyaluronic Tinted Moisturizer has an extremely hydrating formula, keeping your skin looking dewy fresh all day long. There is enough pigmentation that it helps to cover redness or discoloration of the skin.

Tinted moisturizers are good for people who don’t have a ton to cover up. They can also be good for people who struggle to find the right shade match for their skin tone. The nature of tinted moisturizers (less pigmentation than a full coverage foundation) allows for the shade selection to be less forgiving then a typical foundation, as it melts into the skin easier, rather than sitting on top of the skin.

The Pretty Fresh has a wide shade selection, with 24 shades available. I currently have the shade fair 2 w, but have since realized that a better shade match would be fair 4 n. Again, because tinted moisturizers are forgiving in shade match, I can make the lighter shade work still.

Meet My Stash: ColourPop No Filter Concealer

To kick off the “Meet My Stash” series on my blog, I picked one of my favorite concealers. The ColourPop No Filter Concealer is one of my go-to concealers, only recently dethroned as my ONLY go-to concealer. This concealer is fairly thick so if you like a lightweight concealer, this may not be your pick.

While slightly thicker, it does not seem to settle into fine lines any more then any other concealer that I have tried which is one of the things I love about it. Now, if you have extreme fine lines, you will get a little bit of settling, but nothing that can’t be fixed with just a small amount of powder. It is worth noting that this concealer is considered a matte concealer so using powder under the eye does not seem to alter the finish.

I have decided to “pan” this product, or for those who don’t know what that means, use it up. As you can see in the picture, I have almost completely used up a tube of this. I do have a second tube in my collection as I love using the shade Light 12 as a color corrector even with other concealers.

This range has a wide variety of shades which is great! There are 30 shades to pick from. The website gives you six different skin tones ranging from fair to deep dark and there are five shades within each category.

St. Patrick’s Day Palette Recommendations

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, you might be thinking, “what palette should I use, to encapsulate the holiday theme?” Green is a unique color that most really struggle to work with or have a difficult time using in a look. My hope is to help you pick a palette that you may already have in your collection, to help you create a simple, green look to celebrate the holiday.

A common theme you might see when looking at St. Patrick’s Day makeup is the combination of green and gold. The following will go from easiest application to more complicated.

For a simple one-shadow look, L’Oreal Infallible in the shade of Golden Emerald is beautiful if you apply it to the lid, then buff it into the crease. It is worth noting that this shade does have more of a dark base to it so it will still appear a bit smokey even buffed out. This color is green with specks of gold shimmer running throughout so it will give a glam effect when on the eye.

Next is Revlon Photoready Eye Art in Desert Dazzle. This is a dual-sided liquid eyeshadow. One side is an olive green opaque shimmer, while the other side is gold glitter. The simplest look has the green shade swiped on the eye with the gold glitter swept on the lid in either the center for a halo eye, or all over the the lid for a glitter glam effect. It is worth noting, if you haven’t used these in a while, let the green dry down before applying the gold glitter on the eye.

Huda Beauty Emerald Obsessions is another go-to palette when trying to create a green eye look. When looking at this palette, there are many options to go with but trying to keep it simple, take the lightest green shade in the crease, then apply your preferred green or gold shimmer on the lid. If you are taking this on a date night and want a little more depth, add in the darkest matte green or brown to the outer corner of the eye.

ColourPop’s Just My Luck palette is another go-to when creating a deeper green look. This palette has many options for the lid shade, using any of the middle row. Each one will give you a slightly different look, but using the color Chances Are… in the crease will work with any of them. Then you can use Act Natural or Charmed to deepen it up. Mo Bamba is also a great shade to smoke the look up a bit.

While ColourPop’s Mint To Be palette is not difficult to work with, pastels don’t always work best for everyone, so I moved it down the list. This is a great palette if you are looking for a more ethereal look or a daytime look. For the most simple look with this palette, use Get Fresh in the crease with a touch of Seltzer for a gradient look. Then apply Mintea on the lid with Play It Cool on the inner corner. For a fun touch, use Chill Factor to create a smokey liner.

Finally, the e.l.f. Hot Jalapeño quad is great to create a halo eye that is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Apply the shades from right to left on the outer and inner portion of the eye moving in towards the middle of the eye. Use the shimmer gold for the center of the lid and use the shimmer green to melt the matte green with the shimmer gold.

This happens to be my favorite holiday and color scheme to wear as it goes so well with my brown eyes so I have A LOT of options available to me. I plan on trying one of these looks out for mine and my husband’s date night in on St. Patrick’s Day. If you plan on doing a look with this color scheme, comment below which palette you will be using!