Beauty Scoop: Tarte Neutral Eyes II Palette Review

I purchased this at Sephora for $44, which is the price it goes for everywhere else as well.

Tarte neutralEYES natural eye palette volumer ll

Quicktake: I've used this everyday for a month--so I think it's safe to say I like it a lot. With these ten colors, you can achieve great natural looks. With only two shades that are highly pigmented, however, I would say this palette is best reserved for daytime use.

As you can see from the swatches, the first three matte colors are extremely nude and hardly show up in the picture--they do show on on your eyes though, they are just not heavily pigmented.

I really love the consistency of Tarte shadows.  They go on smooth and even without creasing and I think this palette has colors that would be flattering on any skin tone. They also go together nicely and I've been able to do both very simple day looks and smokey night looks.  The double ended brush that comes in the palette is probably the best brush I've ever gotten with a palette, but I don't use it as much as my other brushes. The double ended brush is better than drugstore quality, but Sephora brushes are definitely better, in my opinion.

I wanted to love this eyeliner because it's so deeply pigmented and it's brown (usually my preference over black for daytime looks). Unfortunately it is pretty hard to work with.  Sometimes it will go on smoother if I use my angled eyeliner brush, but it definitely shouldn't be in a pencil form. If this came in a pot like other gel liners, I think I would be able to work with it easier.

Not photographed is the sample size of Tarte's Lifted Natural Eye Primer. Overall, I was not impressed by this eye primer. It seemed like it was already dried out by the time I bought it so that was kind of a bummer. I found my Lorac eye primer works much better with these shadows.

Overall, I like this palette for light daytime looks and I would recommend it for that purpose, but not over Urban Decay's Naked. Basically I'd say buy this for the shadows, not for the extras. Another cool thing about this palette (and Tarte in general) is the products are formulated without parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and sodium lauryl sulfates. Also, Tarte palettes usually come in cute packaging which is a nice touch!

Thanks for reading ♥ Danielle

Beauty Scoop: Make Up For Ever Restored My Faith in Primers

A few months ago, I had pretty much given up on primers due to acne breakouts and the fact that many of them made my oily skin more oily.  I've tried quite a few primers, both drug store and high end.  In the past year I've tried the Rimmel, No. 7, Lorac, and Smashbox primers. If you've read the title of today's blog, I'm sure you've already guessed those brands did not work out.  

The Rimmel Fix & Perfect primer had a weird tint to it--like a peachy pink--and left my skin feeling greasy. No. 7 Mattifying Makeup Base was too thick and made me break out--my skin always felt gross and dirty when I had this on and it really highlighted any dry skin on my face. At first, I thought the Lorac Oil Free Aqua Prime Makeup Primer was good, but I noticed after a couple of days that my face was getting shiny/oily MUCH faster than usual (like within an hour of makeup application) so that had to go. Smashbox's Anti Shine, Anti Brilliance primer is thick, clogs my pores horribly, and if I don't carefully pat it into my skin it leaves a residue that makes my makeup look worse than if I had foregone it altogether.

So after so many bad experiences with primers, why on earth would I try another one? Well, one, because I have no self control. And two, I use the Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet foundation so I thought may be, just may be, their primer would be the one I've been looking for. I have also had a weird acne breakout recently so I really wanted a primer to help cover it up--probably a horrible idea, but whatever, I'll try anything if I'm having a bad skin day. Lastly, it's from Sephora, so I can return it if it doesn't work out.

Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting Primer, $32 at Sephora.

I've only been using this for a couple weeks, BUT my skin and breakouts have gotten better, which means this primer isn't making it worse. This alone sets it above the rest.

What I like about it: It doesn't feel gross or like product build up on my skin.  I don't really notice it any more than my normal makeup.  It really helps my make up last longer and I don't think I'm getting oily as fast.  It comes in a pretty large bottle, and is definitely at least twice the size of the other primers I've tried and considering how little I need to cover my face, that's a huge plus for the price. Yeah it's still 1 oz. like many of the others, but it's more lightweight and I don't need as much to get the job done.

Is it a Holy Grail item? Probably not.  I think for now it will become a part of my daily routine.  I haven't found the green tint to help a lot with the redness around my nose area, but that is kind of a blessing in disguise since I use it on areas of my face without redness. It has definitely restored my faith in primers and I'm glad there is a brand out there that doesn't break me out!

Thank You for reading! Have a happy and healthy August everyone!  ♥ Danielle