HOT drugstore products + swatches.

I made yet another drugstore products purchase, this time online. And I loved everything I got, thanks to online research. When I am in the actual store I tend to grab things emotionally. I do that online, too, but then I can sleep over and decide the next day what is a keeper in the shopping cart and what is not.
Anyways, here are great makeup items worth considering:

Wet n Wild
Color Icon Collection Eyeshadow Set, Comfort Zone 738
$4.99 at drugstore.com

Makeup Geek Blushes. Review with swatches

I recently purchased 5 Makeup Geek blushes for my kit. They retail for $9.99 a piece on their website. They come in pans without packaging, but you can also purchase the individually packaged ones for $12.99. Or you can purchase a Z-palette to store them as I did.
Shipping rates are very affordable + they ship internationally.
I was super very excited to get them. And now I am super excited to talk about them, because after playing with my blushes I have not a single bad thing to say.
Most of all I like that these blushes look like skin, if you know what I mean. Thanks to their buttery formula, they glide on easily and have this healthy skin look to them.

MAC Face and Body BREAKS ME OUT!

This post is more of the complaint how disappointed I am about MAC Face and Body foundation.
I am trying out different foundations right now to stock up my freelance kit. I had such high hopes on Face and Body. Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful dewy finish foundation. I love how it applies and how awesome it looks on your skin, but I advice to try it out maybe in the store first or get a sample to test it out on your skin before investing $27.
As soon as I applied it, I got like 1 million pimples in certain spots on my face, mainly around the bridge of my nose, chin and forehead (it clogs your pores like crazy). This is the biggest amount of  pimples I ever had in my entire life. My skin is on the dry side, so even when a teenager I had no problems with acne. No other product ever broke me out like this before either.
So so disappointed....
I know everyone is different, but I will definitely not include Face and Body into my kit.

 

'Morphe brushes' brushes review

YAY, my brushes arrived. I am beyond myself with happiness. I've been playing with them the whole day and they are awesome awesome awesome.

This is my third order with Morphe brushes. I did buy a travel brush kit for $18 in my first order just to get an idea of the brushes quality.

NYX haul with swatches

NYX is a totally new brand for me. I have never tried anything from them before, so I was pretty excited to place my first order with them. By the way, if you are like me and never purchased anything directly from their web-site, use the opportunity to get a 20% off your first order if you sign up for their newsletter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVE PEARL: Salmon concealer and Powderless Powder

First of, let me share a little secret with you and say that I got inspired to start this blog from Eve Pearl's class on becoming a makeup artist.
I watched it here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ampyj04UXrQ
Basically, the main idea is "stop overanalyzing and just DO IT".  There is no place for fear or weird thoughts if you are busy doing stuff. So simple and yet very inspiring. I personally decided for myself that I start this blog to motivate myself - build my kit and portfolio and share my experience with you, guys.

Eve Pearl is quite a pricy brand, but good news - they offer ProMembership for free. I applied for that, received my 30% Pro discount and made my first purchase.
I had to get the famous salmon concealer.  I also got intrigued by her Powderless Powder.

'MORPHE brushes' eyeshadow pans: real steal

'Morphe brushes' eyeshadow pans are $2 each.
Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Yes, it is real and they are great quality, too.
I guess, August and September were my busy months and I completely missed all the hype about 'Morphe brushes' eyeshadows on YouTube. I was back in track in October.
It was too good to be true, so I only ordered 12 single eyeshadows + case.
My order arrived. I played with it for a week and fell in love! <3 
I want them all now!
'Morphe brushes' has a ProMembership thing going on and I totally went for it. I sent them my certificate of completion, link to this blog and state ID and ta-da I have 20% off. This is an annual subscription and it costs $20. Totally worth every cent. I am all for saving me some $$$.
As soon as I got my ProMemebership, I ordered 24 more single eyeshadows.
I am not going to swatch them in this blog post, but if you guys are interested in a particular shade out of my collection, leave me a comment i'll swatch it for you! It is quite intimidating to chose shades at their website, they don't have swatches there (hopefully yet), but you can't really get wrong for this price, right?
Most of my eyeshadows are matt and I love them, they are pigmented and blend really really well.
I have also purchased brushes from them and 1 order is on the way, so there will be another blog post soon on 'Morphe brushes' brushes.



Eyeshadows come in individual packaging.

LIPSTICKS: sanitize and organize

Always-always disinfect your lipsticks if you plan on using them on other people, even if it was just one swatch on your hand. This is also a good idea if you have been using your lipstick while being sick.

Here is how I do it:

Step 1
Wipe the lipstick down. Some people even cut a top piece off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jordana haul with swatches

I heard many positive things about Jordana brand so I decided to check out myself how great \or not they are. I visited their web site www.jordanacosmetics.com to place an order. It is more of a “hit or miss” thing with your choice there, though. Because of the way they are displaying colors, it is very difficult to understand what color the lipstick really is – it is like a little stroke of color made by computer rather than photographed, if you know what I mean. The range of colors is overwhelming, so I got a little crazy and bought 10 matte lipsticks, 5 lip liners, 4 lip-glosses and a mascara. Each of the product is $1.49, except for the mascara that retails for $2.99. 

Drugstore haul

I've been a drugstore makeup junkie lately. I always like to watch YouTube videos about budget makeup finds. I was at Target yesterday and decided to try some things out on my own.  I'll give an overview and my first impressions.
1. Maybelline fit me concealer

I have a fair skin and my best match would be #10, but it seemed like all 2 available at the display tubes had been opened by somebody (why do you even do this, people?)  I went with #15 just for the sake of trying out the product. I really liked it, I usually have a problem with creasing if I use something else than my MAC concealer. This one is definitely a great catch. It perfectly covered my bluish under-eye area. It didn't look patchy and didn't crease. Now I got to get  the one in my shade.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Makeup Artistry Class

Like I said before I had an amazing experience studying makeup at my hometown in Russia.
The beauty studio owner and class teacher Julia Matak is a great MUA herself. The lessons were thoughtful and full of hands-on experience as I wanted.
There was only 1 other girl studying with me, so we didn't lack teacher's attention.
As any other studying process we had both theory and practice. We literally had tons of practice, I can't even remember how many models I worked on. We started with basics like only foundation application, then foundation+countoring, foundation+countoring+brows and only then all of the above+different eye makeup techniques.
We also had different types of skin (normal, oily, dry, combination), young girls & mature ladies, different eye shapes, day looks, evening looks, phantasy looks and so much more!
You don't have to go to school to be a makeup artist, but I  definitely got tons of experience from this course and don't regret spending money at all.
It was an epic time for me. Loved it loved it loved it.
Here are some of my works from that time