Maybelline - The Nudes

I was really excited to see Maybelline come out with what looks like their version of the Urban Decay Naked Palette but sadly I've been really disappointed with this purchase. Although this palette is a new release and has classy packaging with great colour selection, the eyeshadow formulas seem to be exactly the same as the ones they used to have in their eyeshadow quads.

 I read that these were extremely pigmented and good dupes for the original Urban Decay Naked palette but only one colour in this palette has great pigmentation (the shimmery bronze on the first row). Otherwise the black shade has decent, medium-level pigmentation and everything else is powdery and sheer.
 

It was actually pretty difficult to get the colours to show up on the swatch above. For many of the lighter colours I had to layer them quite a few times for them to appear. I actually think this palette has some great colours but their consistency is just far too sheer. If you're looking for some light neutrals to blend with, this palette would be perfect. I found it really hard to create a smokey eye with these shades because of how much I need to layer it for that colour payoff. On the other hand, their dry texture also minimizes fallout so this palette might be a good fit for anyone who wants to create a really natural look. The matte colours might prove to be great for contouring, I actually use one of the older maybelline nude eyeshadow quads as a eyebrow powder because its sheerness makes it difficult for me to accidentally overdo my brows.




To sum it up, I find this to be just Maybelline's old eyeshadows put together in a new package. Low pigmentation and a powdery finish on most colours with one vibrant bronze shade. Great transition/blending colours but not the best eyeshadows for a smokey eye look.

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maybelline mineral power foundation

overall 9/10
for the last few weeks this has been on my face a lot! it applies really well, its nice and light but has great coverage and matches my skin tone. this is a product i'm really sorry to be saying goodbye too, i picked this up around January when London Drugs said it was being discontinued and had it on sale for $7 (reg. $14CAD). its such a shame! that was the first time i bought this and i wish i bought more. i really like this foundation, i have it in Light 0 which is the lightest shade. it's warm-toned and seems to have slight yellow undertones which makes it a great match for my asian skin.
i'd say it gives medium coverage, i know people say that rimmel's lasting finish foundation is full coverage but i think this has more coverage and definitely beats them in their shade selection. 


it's packaged in a squeeze bottle which is more a lot more precise than the tube bottles a lot of foundations are in but squeeze too hard and oops you've got too much product. really would prefer a nice pump bottle. that's my only complaint.

i've been using this as concealer too, it layers alright but it takes time to set so you have to wait for quite a bit before reapplying or you'll just move it all around. i've used it on my under-eyes to prep them for concealer and to conceal redness which this is amazing for because it blends so well and is so light. a lot of the foundations and concealers i've tried sort of "settle around" the little bumps around my t-zone and get really cakey when i try to hide blemishes underneath them but this hasn't done, it just covers smoothly. there's also has spf 18, which should be enough for cloudy winter months, and spf is always a plus.  

you do need to moisturize well before using this or mix some face lotion with it, i have a friend with slightly dry skin and when she used this it brought out her flakiness, because i have oily skin and it has a soft matte finish, this works well for me.

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maybelline dream mousse concealer

shade: porcelain ivory (light 0-1)
overall rating: 6/10
i got this last month, the drugstore in my area said this was being discontinued (i guess they'll be replacing it with the new Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse line) and i heard good stuff about it so i thought i'd give it a try. I've only used it a few times and you can see that i've made a huge dent in it already! i've been afraid to use it because it disappears so quickly! the jar seems big enough but the layer of product in it is quite thin. I also don't use it often because its a bit too dark for me, this was the lightest shade my drugstore carried (they only had 6 shades but the website shows 16 shades), on the maybelline website it shows a shade before this one , light ivory (0) but it doesn't look really look lighter but has a brighter tone. it looks like the shades with even numbers are for warm skin tones and the odd numbers are for cool skin tones.

the consistency of the product is really soft, it picks up in lumps and you can see some of the air bubbles from being whipped(i've been applying this with my finger)and it spreads smoothly and feels kind of creamy but dry. It starts to get cakey as you try to build coverage, it drys matte so too much makes it look very powdery and it accentuated lines under my eye i didn't even know i had. As for blemishes it covers redness ok but it sort of bunches up around the zit and makes it look more apparent. Also, jar packaging isn't very sanitary so i would recommend this to go around break outs because it would probably just add more bacteria. so far this is my impression of it. its definitely not an HG for me, there's no spf and its not light enough to brighten up my under eyes but i'm still glad i tried it out.

year of the bunny

on another note, it's chinese new years today!

its the year of the rabbit this year, my parents are both rabbits and are turning 48.

people that are born in the year of the rabbit are thought to be calm, gentle, thoughtful and persistent.
(erm, calm and gentle, my parents? no way. but persistent? my mom? definitely)

famous rabbits

Albert Einstein, Leon Trotsky, Frank Sinatra, Pope Benedict XVI, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt (he's the same age as my parents!),Johnny Depp and David Beckham.

happy chinese new year everyone ~  eat lots! 

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