Category Archives: Comparisons

Jordana Balm Stain Swatches, Review, Comparison

Happy Black Friday! Have you bought anything today? Last year, the -->Jordana website --> did a 50% off everything sale for Cyber Monday. I don’t know if they are going to do it again this year, but just in case they do I thought it would be a good time to share some swatches of the new (-ish) Jordana Twist & Shine Moisturizing Balm Stains that have been sitting on my computer for a while.

There are -->eight shades available -->, and I bought four of them: Nude Chic, Honey Love, Cranberry Crush, and Rock N Rouge. Nude Chic has silver glitter, and the other three have no shimmer or sparkle.

As you can tell from the name, these are twist-up pencils; no need to sharpen. Like the Revlon Kissable Balm Stains, they are quite pigmented with a slightly glossy finish; unlike the Revlons, they don’t leave a bright, long-lasting, somewhat artificial stain after wearing off. They do fade evenly, much like the similarly packaged Tarte Lipsurgence pencils. I’ve read that other people find the Jordana pencils very moisturizing, but I find them neither moisturizing nor drying. Continue reading →

Black Eyeliner Swatches, Comparisons, Wear Test

Purchased Items & Press SamplesAffiliate Links

eyeliner overload!

I’ve done black eyeliner swatches before, and even did a post with a wear test way back when my blog was new, but I have different eyeliners now and I wanted to see how they compared.

Instead of trying to keep track of which swatch was which, I wrote an abbreviation for the brand on my arm. The follow table has the abbreviation, name of the eyeliner, and type of eyeliner. Continue reading →

Sinful Colors Shine with Gel Tech: Review & Swatches

Purchased

Manhunt // Blue Suede Shoes // My Kryptonite

Sinful Colors recently released a new line of permanent products, the Sinful Shine polishes with Gel Tech – supposedly five times glossier than the regular line of Sinful Colors polishes (many of which I find quite glossy, actually). Per the display, these can be found exclusively at Walgreens.

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Continue reading →

Wet n Wild Rereleased 2011 Ice Baby Collection — But They’re Not the Same: A Comparison

Purchased

Wet n Wild has a endcap display out at Walgreens called the Fan Favorites display. It’s mostly filled with permanent products, but at the bottom of the display, there’s something exciting: a re-release of 7 of the 8 polishes from the limited-edition 2011 Holiday Ice Baby Color Icon polishes. However, upon closer inspection, I have disappointing news: several of the polishes are different from the original release, and instead are rebottled Fergie polishes.

Continue reading →

Eyeshadow Primer Comparison, Review, Swatches

Purchases & Press Sample Affiliate Links

I realized that I’ve managed to accumulated nine eyeshadow primers / bases, so I thought it would be interesting to compare how they perform. I’ve worn each one enough to test wear time, so you’ll have to take my word for it on that, and I have swatches with a not-very-pigmented matte & shimmery eyeshadow so you can see how well each primer intensifies eyeshadow. Please do click to enlarge these so you can see the detail better.

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The primers / bases are:

1. Too Faced Shadow Insurance: This does an excellent job intensifying matte & shimmery shadows, and makes my eyeshadow last all day. It tends to separate in the tube, which is why I no longer use it regularly.

2. NYX HD Eye Shadow Base: This was my favorite primer for a long time; it does an excellent job with shimmery eyeshadow, but matte eyeshadow sometimes looks uneven over it — it does make my shadow last all day. Review here!

3. LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer: Very nice & smooth; I got this as part of the Lorac Pro eyeshadow palette, which I love!

4. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy: Not a primer; it goes over primer to help loose shadow and glitter stick! Works very well!

5. Wet n Wild / Fergie Take On The Day Primer: This separates in the tube a little, but does a really excellent job intensifying color and making shadow last all day. Review here!

6. ELF Studio $1 Primer: So bad, a waste of a dollar – makes my eyeshadow crease faster than using nothing. Scathing review here.

7. Lunasol Eyelid Base: Recommended for my dry eyelids by the lovely Kate of Drivel About Frivol as a moisturizing eyeshadow primer, I am really liking this lately. No creasing, intensifies color, and never leads to the too-dry texture I sometimes get with other, too-drying primers.

8. Senna Totally Transforming Eye Primer: I just opened this one (and I’m planning to do a full review soon), and I have mixed feelings. It’s very thick, opaque, and a bit difficult to spread, but it covers eyelid discoloration very well, and it does a fantastic job intensifying color – take a look at the swatches!

9. MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot: This is another base with some color; I wear it alone or under eyeshadow. I’ve heard that it doesn’t prevent creasing alone for those with oilier lids, but it works for me. I love the texture and it’s a great neutral color for me.

I would really like to try NARS’s primer – I’ve heard excellent things about it – but given the price and given that I have so many primers that work well for me, I just can’t justify the purchase.

What’s your favorite eyeshadow primer?

*The Senna primer was received as a press sample. I purchased all other products mentioned in this post. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information .

Revlon Chroma Chameleon Duochrome Polishes Swatches, Comparisons, Review

Purchase

Pink Quartz // Amethyst // Tanzanite // Aquamarine

Today at CVS, I found an untouched display of Revlon’s new Chroma Chameleon polishes. I think they’re very overpriced at $8.29 (prices may vary by store) for only .29 oz, but luckily CVS has a great deal on Revlon polish this week – $4.99 with $2 back in Extra Bucks. I had four $1 off coupons for Revlon polishes, so my total (per polish) was $1.99 – a much better price!

Since these are duochromes, I swatched them both alone and over black. I only have nail wheel swatches at the moment, since I wanted to get this post up quickly, but if I have time to swatch these on my nails, I’ll do that and add those swatches to this post.

All four of the polishes were thin, fluid, and easy to apply. They have small brushes which were easy to work with. Dry time was average. Note that some of the colors require three coats to be opaque when worn.

Below, each polish is swatched is two coats alone (left swatch), and one coat over black (right swatch) with no top coat.

Bright light, straight on: Pink Quartz // Amethyst // Tanzanite // Aquamarine

Shade, angled: Pink Quartz // Amethyst // Tanzanite // Aquamarine

Underwater: Pink Quartz // Amethyst // Tanzanite // Aquamarine

As you can see, Pink Quartz is a peachy-pink that shifts to gold. It is identical to China Glaze Swanky Silk, and very similar to Maybelline Pink Cosmo, but the Maybelline is very sheer. (My comparison photographs didn’t come out; I’ll retake them and add them to this post by tomorrow).

Amethyst is a purple with a strong green shift. When both are swatched over black, it looks very similar to TKB’s pigment Travel to Venus as nail polish, which I swatched yesterday. The Revlon has more brushstrokes.

Tanzanite is purple with a slight gold shift; I have a lot of duochrome polish, but I don’t seem to have anything similar.

Aquamarine is light blue alone and vivid blue over black. Either way, it has a slight purple shift. I don’t have anything similar to it swatched alone, but when each polish is swatched over black, it’s quite similar to Model’s Own Aqua Violet Beetle Juice (which I never would have thought of – this is why having all my polish on swatch sticks is so useful!).

For completeness, here are the remaining four polishes that I didn’t purchase:

Rose Gold // Gold // Topaz // Cobalt

Overall, I really like these polishes, especially Amethyst. I would absolutely recommend buying them at CVS this week for $3, but I am hesitant to recommend spending $8 on them when for only $7, you can get the gorgeous -->HITS multichrome polishes -->.

Do you have your eye on any of these?

Project Swatch

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