Which made me realize that this was a perfect time to review this palette, since now I had a brand new one in the box! So, let’s dive right in. If you’ve never tried this palette out before, you’re really missing out!

Physicians Formula’s Matte Collection Quad Eyeshadow

My Review

First Impressions & Packaging:
The first thing that grabbed my attention about this palette was the fact that all the shades were matte and varying shades of brown/taupe. 🙂 (You know this girl — all about them mattes!) I hadn’t really heard much about this palette, so wasn’t sure how the pigmentation or lasting power would be.

There are three different quads in this collection, and I picked up the one called ‘Canyon Classics‘. The packaging is really cute, compact, and easy to take on the go. There’s also a little double-sided doe-foot applicator inside, though I never used it and eventually lost it along the way.

Product & Application:
This compact palette quickly soared from an uncertain purchase to my all-time favorite eye palette to use. The colors are beautiful and suit my skintone perfectly when I want a more neutral eyelook for the day. Not that it’s sheer or doesn’t show up — if I want, I can get a beautiful smokey eye with this palette!

The shadows blend out beautifully and I find it really easy to build up the intensity of the color, depending on if I’m doing a day or night look. I know that two of the shadows look very similar, but they’re actually not. One works beautifully all over the lid and the other I blend into my crease as my contrast. They both work together perfectly.

Major Likes & Dislikes:
There are SO many things I absolutely LOVE about this palette. It’s pigmented. All the colors are matte. It blends like a dream. You can easily take a look from day to night. It’s travel-friendly.

You get the picture. 😉

When it comes to thinking of dislikes for this palette…I have a very hard time with that. One thing that I do notice is that if I’m doing a more intense eyelook and want to darken the outer V, I have to finish by using a different black (from my LORAC Pro to Go Palette) to intensify the color.

The darkest shade in this palette is more of a smokey black or gray then a true, pigmented black. I personally don’t have a problem reaching for another color when I need black. And for an every day look, the darkest color in this palette will suite me perfectly to darken my outer V.

Final Thoughts:
I’m pretty sure you can tell by this time (and because I said it’s my all-time favorite palette, obviously…), but I absolutely love the Matte Collection’s Quad Eyeshadows! If I’m ever doing my makeup and don’t know what eyeshadows to use, I instantly grab this one and know that I will love the end results.

Swatched twice

As you can tell from the picture of my current palette, I’ve hit major pan on all of the shadows.
That right there should tell you something — while I wear eyeshadow on a daily basis, I’ve never hit pan on any of my other shadows.

This palette is definitely one that you need to have in your makeup collection. It’s so dependable! And if you’re wanting to get your first neutral eyeshadow palette, this is a $7 well spent. It will last you for a while and has the essential neutrals to give you a beautiful eye look every time.

Question for My Readers: What is your go-to palette for a neutral eyeshadow look? Have you ever tried this palette from Physicians Formula?

I purchased the products mentioned above with my own personal money. I was not compensated in any way for posting this review. I only recommend products that I have used personally and believe will be beneficial for my readers.

Before I launch into today’s review, I wanted to make sure you knew that I’m running a giveaway for this product on my blog right now. Go here and enter to win the same color that I received for review below!

About LORAC‘s PRO Matte Lip Colors

My Review of Lorac’s PRO Matte Lip Color

First Impression & Packaging:
I love matte colors. Whether it’s mattifying face powder or matte eyeshadows…I just prefer the mattes over sparkles and shimmers. Several of the matte lipsticks and lipcolors that I own are so drying, I can only wear them when my lips are really well moisturized and not flaking (which isn’t often). Because of this, I was eager to put LORAC’s Pro Matte Lip Color‘s to the test and see if they would be any different.

Product & Application:
While this has the pigmentation of a lipstick, it’s shaped like a jumbo-sized retractable lip liner. I like the sleekness of the product, as it enables me to get a really precise application on my lips.

The cap does a little ‘double-snap’ when you close it, and I learned the hard way that you have to make sure you hear both snaps in order to ensure it’s closed. I didn’t hear both snaps the first time I threw this into my purse, and the cap ended up coming off and coloring my wallet a pretty mauve for me. 😛

One swatch of Mauve

Major Likes & Dislikes:
My favorite aspect of this product is that it looks matte, but is not drying at all! My lips have been really dry lately, but I’ve been able to wear this lip color and the application still looks smooth and flattering on me.

I wish this retractable lip pencil came with a sharpener somehow, as I really like the pointed tip that the Pro Matte Lip Color came with when I initially received it. After so many applications, however, it rounds out and isn’t pointed anymore. It still gives a pretty precise application, just takes a little more work for me.

Final Thoughts:
I really, really like this product! It gives a very matte appearance on the lips, but doesn’t feel drying at all. The price is really reasonable for being a high end product, so you can’t complain there. In short, I highly recommend you check out these LORAC Pro Matte Lip Colors the next time you go into Ulta. Especially if you like matte lip colors (which appears to be trending right now).

Question for my Readers: Do you like matte products? Or are you a sparkles-and-shimmer kind of girl? 

I
received one or more of the products mentioned above from LORAC in the hopes that I would mention them on my blog. Regardless,
this does not guarantee a review or feature on my blog. I only share information that I think will be useful for my
readers and I only recommend
products I have personally used.

Over the weekend From My Vanity hit 1,000 followers! I am SO excited to have hit such a big number — I would never have thought my blog would be anywhere close to having so many awesome readers, but I am so happy and thankful that it has.

I hope to put together a fun giveaway as a thank you to you all 🙂 Not sure when I can do it, I am going to be doing a lot of traveling in September, but hopefully before too long. So be on the lookout for that. 🙂

Love you all!

About The Balm’s Nude ‘Tude Eyeshadow Palette

My Review:

First Impression & Packaging…
First off, let me start by saying that I purchased the ‘Nice’ version of this palette. 🙂 The neutral colors in this palette really attracted me, as did the pretty shimmery finish of the shadows. Not all of the shadows are full of shimmer, but I’ll get into that in a minute. The palette itself is beautifully packaged and has a magnetic closure. I love the look of it!

Product & Application…
All of the shadows are really smooth and have nice pigmentation. As you can see from my swatches (and these swatches are without any primer underneath them), they are pretty pigmented. With a primer underneath, these colors really pop and show up well on your eyelid.

As I mentioned, not all of the colors have shimmer in them, thankfully. Sultry, Sexy, Serious, and Sleek are all really pretty matte shades. The black color in this palette isn’t a very intense black and I usually end up reaching for a different matte black or darn brown to get a really dark outer crease to complete a look I am doing.

Major Likes & Dislikes…
I like that all of the colors are natural — hence the name of the palette, Nude’tude (As if that’s not obvious, Katie, really…) Personally, while I love adding shimmer or color to my look, I still stay in the safety of the more natural colors like the pinks, browns, and greens. Nude’tude gives me all those colors in beautiful pigmentation, making this aspect a major like for me.

I think my only dislike is that the darker colors blend out a bit, making them not as dark as I typically like. You can build it up to a suitable level, but for me it’s just easier to use the black in my LORAC Pro to Go to get the job done quickly.

Final Thoughts…
While I am glad that I own this palette, I don’t think I would consider it a ‘must have’ to add to your collection. If you want a palette with neutral colors and don’t want to spend $50+ on any of the Naked, then I would definitely recommend you purchase this palette instead. But if you already have one of those palettes — or have a bunch of smaller neutral palettes from the drugstore (like the ones from Physicians Formula or Wet n Wild) — then I don’t think this palette is a must for your collection.

I used Stand-Offish, Sultry, Sleek, and Serious

It really comes down to if you want to buy this palette. The colors are soft and pigmented and you can create some pretty looks with it. I know I am glad I bought it and have it in my collection. I’ve only tried 2 or 3 products from The Balm, but I am looking forward to trying many more in the future.

Question for My Readers: If you were to purchase this palette, which one would you want to buy the most — the ‘Naughty’ or ‘Nice’ palette? Why?

I purchased the products mentioned
above with my own personal money. I was not compensated in any way for
posting this review. I only recommend products that I have used
personally and believe will be beneficial for my readers.

It’s Monday, y’all!

I always get so excited at the start of another week. I truly enjoy working on From My Vanity and love putting these posts together for y’all. 🙂

Now let’s dive right into the review for today!

About Maybelline Eye Studio® Color Tattoo® Leather Collection…

My Review:

First Impression & Packaging…
I was really excited when I saw that this line was coming out, as I am a die-hard fan of matte colors. Not that I don’t like sparkle or shimmer — I do, on occasion — but my go-to type of eyeshadow is definitely matte. This new addition to the Color Tattoo collection is packaged just the same as the original colors.

I bought the colors Creamy Beige and Vintage Plum from my local drugstore, as I knew these were two colors that I would use frequently. I was really excited to try out Creamy Beige, as it looked like a color that would be perfect to wear as the base to my eyeshadow.

Product & Application…
I was rather surprised when I found out that these two shades both swatched and applied differently from each other. As you can see in the picture below, Creamy Beige came off very rich and pigmented, whereas Vintage Plum was rather patchy and sheer.

I just swatched them both once on my arm. But just from that I knew I was going to like the Creamy Beige a lot more than the Vintage Plum. I’ve had the chance to try these both out on my lid over the past few weeks — both alone and with power eyeshadows on top. I definitely love — and constantly reach for — the Creamy Beige. On almost a daily basis! It’s just a great color to use as a base for my eyeshadows. And since (for me) it is just a few shades darker than my natural skin color, it suits me well for those natural eye looks.

The Vintage Plum comes off patchy (like in the swatch) but if you blend it in, it won’t have that patchy look anymore. Though it will be sheer. It still works well as a base under eyeshadows, though, and prolongs the staying power of my eyelooks — so at least I will still get use out of this product.

Major Likes & Dislikes…
The lasting power on both of these are great. I typically have oily eyelids and if I don’t have a primer underneath them my eyeshadows won’t last half the day. But I’ve used Creamy Beige under my eyeshadows (without a primer) and when I take my makeup off at night my eyeshadows still look as pigmented as when I first applied it!

A definite dislike would be the Vintage Plum. I like using purple in my eyeshadows (that was the color I used for my wedding eye look), so I was hoping this would be a rich base that would enhance the purple. But, as you can see from the swatches, it doesn’t apply well. And while you can blend out the patchy-ness, it leaves the color very sheer. I am able to build it up suitably, but it just takes extra work.

Final Thoughts…
From my experience (with just 2 out of the 5 colors), this looks like a hit and miss collection. The Vintage Plum is nice, but I don’t feel it gives off enough color to
be worth buying to wear under your purple eyeshadows. I, personally,
would just use Creamy Beige and then good, pigmented purples on top to
get a purple eyeshadow look.
 

(As if you can’t tell yet…) I definitely highly recommend you purchase the Creamy Beige. I think any woman would benefit from having this color in their collection, especially if you have a darker skintone. It works great for those natural, every-day eye looks. And even if you go for dramatic and colorful, it will still work great as a base and ensure that the look you worked so hard to blend to perfection will last all day long.

Question for My Readers: I’m trying to make my reviews more short, to the point, and not quiet so lengthy as I typically do that. Would you like that? Do the long reviews turn you off? Would you appreciate my reviews to be more concise? (I know this review wasn’t all that short, but I was reviewing two products 😉

I purchased the products mentioned above with my own
personal money. I was not compensated in any way for posting this
review. I only recommend products that I have used personally and
believe will be beneficial for my readers.

April is here! 😀 Such an exciting month for me and I hope you all have something fun to look forward to as well!

I was given the opportunity to review a eyelash curler and was really intrigued — I’ve only ever used one eyelash curler (ELF’s lash curler) and it works well for me, so I was curious to try something new and see how they compare.

About Crave Natural’s Whip Lash Pink Eyelash Curler...

First Impressions…
I don’t curly my lashes very frequently, but when I was given the opportunity to review this eye lash curler I decided to brave up and try something new. I’m always a little terrified that the curler is going to cut off my lashes, so I’m pretty picky and thorough when I look into a new eyelash curler. I gave this eyelash curler by Crave Naturals a good inspection and while it doesn’t look ‘high quality’, it does looks promising.

Packaging…
I really liked how the box was designed! As you can see from the pictures in this post, it had a ‘comic book’ theme to it and seemed like a very well made and sturdy box. Inside the curler was supported very securely and had a little booklet and a packet of extra eyelash curler pads. Which I thought was wonderful — they give you enough replacement pads to last you a good long while!

The quality of the curler was fair. It wasn’t outstanding, in my opinion — the pink handles were plastic and the connecting strip the holds the curler closed was made of very thin, almost bendable wire. Just looking at it reminded me of the way the ELF eyelash curler is made. And when I handled it and actually used it, they did seem very similar. So, something to consider.

Product & Ease of Use…
Using the Whiplash Eyelash Curler
was typical of any other eyelash curler I’ve ever seen — you get your lashes between the pad and as close to your lid as possible, then give it a good squeeze for a few seconds. It worked well and curled my lashes just fine. Once mascara was on, I never noticed the curl falling throughout the day. But then again, I don’t have hard-to-curl lashes. So for me, this worked well and did the job just fine!

Major Likes & Dislikes…
Hmm, there isn’t really anything about this product that really stood out to me as a ‘major like’. It was good, did the job well, but I didn’t notice a huge difference between this eyelash curler and my ELF one. And the price difference between the two is pretty significant — ELF’s is a $1 and Crave Natural’s Whiplash
is $14.88, on sale. So, pretty expensive, in my opinion! And, if you’re looking at the quality between the two lash curlers, I’d say they’re both the same.

Final Thoughts…
The Crave Natural’s Whiplash Eyelash Curler
get’s the job done. The design and materials used to make this product isn’t anything outstanding or heavy duty. With the high price tag attached to this curler, I don’t think I would repurchase this product. If you like the look of the box — and the fact that this curler is pink — than maybe this would be worth the price. So it really depends on what your preference is. 🙂

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Question for My Readers: What’s your favorite curler to use to curl your eyelashes?