Stila In The Light Palette : Swatches and Review

I bought the Stila In The Light Palette a few months ago and have been loving it! Most of the shadows are smooth and buttery with amazing pigmentation. This has easily become my go to palette because of great arrange of neutral colors. This was my first Stila purchase and I'm sure that I am going to be making another purchase soon.

This palette contains four matte shades and six shimmery shades. The four matte shades are Bare (matte ivory), Bliss (matte nude beige), Sandstone (matte chocolate brown), and Ebony (matte black). The other six shades include Kitten (shimmery pink champagne), Sunset (shimmery bronze copper), Bubbly (pale gold shimmer), Gilded Gold (golden brown with gold shimmer), Luster (deep gray-eggplant with golden shimmer), and Night Sky (gray-blue with silver shimmer). Stila In The Light also contains a Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Damsel, a dark blackish brown.

Stila In The Light Palette

Still In The Light Palette

1st Section of Stila In The Light Palette
Bare, Kitten
Bubbly, Gilden Gold

2nd Section of Stila In The Light Palette
Bliss, Sunset
Luster, Night Sky

3rd Section of Stila In The Light Palette
Sandstone
Ebony

Swatches of Top Row of Stila In The Light Palette
Bare, Kitten, Bliss, Sunset, Sandstone

Swatches of Bottom Row of Stila In The Light Palette
Bubbly, Gilded Gold, Luster, Night Sky, Ebony

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Damsel

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Damsel Swatch

Best Performing Shadows: I found the shades Bubbly, Kitten, and Sunset to have the creamiest textures with the best pigmentation. Every single one of these three shades is so smooth and also has a beautiful sheen that is not chunky or too glittery. They are intensely pigmented and require very little work to look good on the eyes. 

Mediocre Performing Shadows: The matte shades Bliss, Bare, and Sandstone also all had great pigmentation. However, I feel that the textures were a bit drier and not as buttery smooth. However, I love Bliss because it is the perfect transition color for me. Ebony wasn't as great as the other matte shades but was not a poor quality eyeshadow by any means. I found that it wasn't the blackest black on the market, but I still enjoy it.

Worst Performing Shadows: The remaining three shades Gilded Gold, Luster, and Night Sky were the shades that performed the worst, but were not bad. As you can see from the swatches above, these three shades have shimmer that is more likely to fall out than the other shimmery shades. These three shades are more like a satin eyeshadow with shimmer thrown in it instead of being a smooth metallic sheen (like Bubbly, Kitten, and Sunset). 

Eye Liner: The liner in Damsel is so pigmented and rich that it could almost pass as a black eyeliner. It was very smooth and didn't tug on my eyelid and waterline when I put it on. On my waterline it lasted just about a whole day and is indeed waterproof. I needed to use heavy duty, oil based eye makeup remove to get every bit of the liner off. It is become one of my new faves! The only thing to be aware of is the it does not retract. When I first opened it I twisted it up too far and could not get it to go back in.

Overall Rating : 8.5/10

Pigmentation : 9/10

Texture : 8/10

Application : 4/5

Wear Time : 4/5

Would I Repurchase Again?
Most likely, yes. Bubbly and Bliss are go to colors for me, and I love them so much. If they were sold individually I would definitely purchase again.

*I purchased this with my own money*

Urban Decay Naked Basics Review and Swatches

I am a huge matte eyeshadow lover because I feel as if they appear the most natural than any other eyeshadow finishes. One of my favorite palettes that I use pretty much every time I wear makeup is the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. This palette contains five matte shades and one shimmer shade.

Venus is the only shimmery shade, it is an off-white almost satin (leaning more toward demi-matte) shade. Foxy is a matte light yellowy beige. Walk of Shame (W.O.S.) is a light matte creamy pinky nude. Naked 2 is a matte medium cool toned taupe. Faint is a matte medium-dark brown, which leans more warm than cool. Lastly, Crave is a deep, dark matte black/brown.

Front of Naked Basics Palette

Back of Naked Basics Palette

Eyeshadows in Naked Basics Palette

Closer Look at the Eyeshadows in Naked Basics

Swatches of Naked Basics
Venus, Foxy, W.O.S.

Swatches of Naked Basics
Naked 2, Faint, Crave

As of now, this palette retails for $28. Personally I believe it is a great deal, because individually one Urban Decay shadow retails for $18 and after doing the math, each shadow in the palette comes out to cost about $4.67 each. That's a total steal in my book!

Each shadow in the palette is great quality. However, the shades I find to be superior to the others are Naked 2 and Crave. Both of these shadows have an amazing buttery smooth texture with intense pigmentation. I found the shade Foxy to be the worst performing compared to the others because the texture was a bit dry. Keep in mind, none of the shadows are considered bad or even average. I didn't see any fallout with any of the colors.

Throughout the day I did notice some fading with the shadows, especially the lighter shades W.O.S. and Foxy. However, none of the colors drastically faded and my makeup still looked nice by the end of the night. 

Overall Rating : 9.5/10

Pigmentation : 9.5/10

Texture : 9.5/10

Application : 5/5
Wear Time : 4.5/5

Would I Repurchase Again?

Yes! Amazing quality and good value.

*I purchased this with my own money*

Tag : This or That - Beauty Edition

Hey everyone, for my first post here I thought I would introduce myself and my beauty choices. Here is the this or that beauty tag... I will try to incorporate more personal but still beauty related posts along with reviews, tutorials, etc.

MAKEUP
Blush or Bronzer : This is probably one of the hardest questions on this, considering I love face products. But if I had to choose, I would pick blush.
Lip gloss or Lipstick : I love both, but I have to go with lipstick.
Eyeliner or Mascara : Definitely mascara!
Foundation or Concealer : Another easy one, concealer!
Neutral or Color Eyeshadow : On an everyday basis I just use neutral eyeshadow.
Pressed or Loose Eyeshadow : I always end up spilling loose powders, so I prefer pressed.
Brushes or Sponges : I prefer brushes but sometimes I will use sponges here and there.

NAILS
OPI or China Glaze : China Glaze is easier for me to get a hold of and it's cheaper, plus I believe it is about the same quality of OPI. But I love nail polish and I love both brands.
Long or Short : Medium to long length.
Acrylic or Natural : Au-naturale nails.
Brights or Darks : Brights but I really wear almost any color of nail polish.
Flower or No Flower : No flower but I wouldn't mind a flower every once in a while.

BODY
Perfume or Body Splash : Perfume, but sometimes I use body splash to freshen up throughout the day.
Lotion or Body Butter : Body butter because I have dry skin.
Body Wash or Soap : Usually I will use body wash but sometimes a piece of soap sneaks its way into my shower.
Lush or Other Bath Company : I love lush, just wish it wasn't so expensive.

FASHION
Jeans or Sweat Pants : Jeans. But when at home, sweats!
Long or Short Sleeve : Short sleeve.
Dresses or Skirts : I prefer neither, but between the two I choose dresses.
Stripes or Plaid : Stripes!
Flip Flops or Sandals : I wear flip flops basically every casual moment I can.
Scarves or Hats : I don't wear either, but hats.
Studs or Dangly Earrings : I love me some dangly earrings!
Necklaces or Bracelets : Bracelets!
Heels or Flats : Without a question, flats. However, I do love wearing heels from time to time.
Cowboy Boots or Riding Boots : I rarely ever wear boots, but riding boots.
Jacket or Hoodie : I prefer jackets.
Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe : Charlotte Russe for sure! One of my favorite stores.
Abercrombie or Hollister : Hollister! Another one of my favorite stores.
Saks 5th or Nordstrom : Nordstrom! Not one of my favorite stores, but I like it.

HAIR
Curly or Straight : I have naturally wavy hair and I think curly hair suits me better.
Bun or Ponytail : I'm a bun kinda gal.
Bobby Pins or Butterfly Clips : Bobby pins for the win!
Hairspray or Gel : Hairspray, just because it's so much easier to work with.
Long or Short : Loooong hair!
Light or Dark : I want my hair to be dark brown with subtle light brown highlights.
Side Sweep Bangs or Full Bangs : Although I don't personally like the look of bangs on myself, I like side sweep bangs better.
Up or Down : Down! I will have my hair down 95% of the time.

RANDOM 
Rain or Shine : Shine but not too hot.
Summer or Winter : Where I live there is not a huge climate difference between seasons, I do like summer because there is no school but then again, winter is extremely cheerful and joyous! I can't decide!
Fall or Spring : Spring!
Chocolate or Vanilla : I love plain ole vanilla.
East Coast or West Coast : West coast!