Color Pop? Or Color NOT?

There's not a single corner inch of youtube, makeup groups or blogs that haven't raved about the up and rising makeup brand Color Pop which has become well known for their endless variety of eyeshadows, lip liners, and lipsticks all for the mere price of $5.00 each! How can you possibly beat that? But even at such an affordable price one must ask them self, "Is it really worth buying?"

So this is but a small review. I am not sponsored or affiliated in any way so these few shadows were bought with my own money and this is my own honest opinion. This is an overlook of six of their shadows, both mattes and a couple of those electric galaxy beauties I simply could not resist!

Let's not drag this out anymore then it has to be, there's only six of these little puppies in my possession so I won't ramble on and carry you into a political overview that could go on for pages. These little shadows refer to themselves as "super shock shadows", so let's just see if how shocking they really are...

The colors I received in the mail are as follows: 

#1 "Effect" a very dark tint of a forest green. It appeared matte to the naked eye, but after swatching it I can see a slight trace of shimmer. Overall the color putout of this one seems pretty good. I can see myself finding better use for it over a good base and perhaps using it as a deepening transition color or perhaps used to darken the outer "c" of my eye for an emerald shadow look.

#2 "Hanky Panky" funny name, sad color putout. It's supposed to be a light warm toned sandy brown. On my olive skin tone this shadow is near invisible. The most use I would personally find out of this one is a base color or a setting shadow. It is a matte color, but a lousy one. I've had better.

#3 "Fairfax" Not bad, not bad at all. Like "effect" this deep, rich brown has a rather impressive pigmentation. A perfect color to use around the outer crease or to create a sultry smoky eye with. It's a nice addition to my collection of matte browns, though I won't say it's my favorite.

#4 "Girl Crush" though as a girl myself I can't say I'm crushing too much on this shadow at all. For the most part it's not bad. It's obviously has a better color putout than "hanky panky" and I can surely find some use for this matte grey toned brown. But spectacular it is not.

#5 "Envy" and I can say that some of my shadows would easily envy the uniqueness of this color. Aside from our next contender this is my favorite thus far. What a perfect color for a galaxy eye look. That's exactly what this color is to me, an electric, deep galaxy purple. Applied over the right base this shadow has the potential to be undoubtedly outstanding.

#6 "Rex" ... Oh Rex, I've never seen a deep sparkling blue quite like you. I think we're going to get along just fine. I'm already imagining the outstanding makeup looks I can create with you. Your beauty is so extraordinary that I can only think of one simple word to describe your magnificent color, and that word is beautiful.

So far even with my small purchase, on a scale of 1 to 10, I will give the color pop shadows a 7. I feel some of their products are better than others and the downside of buying from this company is you have to wait to receive a package to see which products those are and which ones you might be sending back. Would I recommend this brand? For anyone looking for some very unique budget eye shadows with a creamy texture and pretty good pigmentation I would... we all want to build up our makeup collection without spending a ton of money and this is a great way to achieve that.

Now, can someone recommend me a good sleeping aid? This insomnia has me blogging at 2:00 am...

Youtube needs to up the spam filter

Hello new youtuber who copied and pasted a comment on my video, the same comment you've already copied and pasted onto a hundred other videos that vloggers like myself have worked really hard on only to have their work bombarded with spam instead of receive the legit recognition it deserves... I did see the comment you left on my video... I saw it because I got excited thinking I had a very nice, supportive comment or even perhaps some substantial feedback on a video I stayed up until 3 am struggling to keep my eyes open working on because I had to redo the whole thing due to issues with my editor, but no....

"I know these comments are annoying but please come and check out my channel!" Does that sound familiar to anyone? Unfortunately you did not tell me what you liked about my video and for that I'm under the impression you did not watch it. I get a 100 girls/guys weekly always dropping the come check out my channel comments on videos I work hard on. It can be a little downing for me to think someone is only using my video to promote them self, and not the best way to do so at all. Yes it is annoying. It's also annoying when I see this happen to other youtubers both big and small because I myself feel their frustration.

My friendly advice is if you want to gain subscribers and be successful then you need to legitimately be active and supportive in the community. Dropping a come check out my channel comment on someone's video they worked hard on and not even taking the time to tell them what you liked or even disliked about their video is very rude. I'm not being mean, I might be ranting just a bit, but I'm also just trying to help you newbies out. Sub for sub and using other videos to advertise yourself isn't the best route to take, trust me. People will take you a lot more seriously if you do some more research and go about things the right way. I'm not being a prude, I really do wish you all the best of luck. But I wanted to let you see this from the standpoint of other people and how you will be viewed when you do these things. About 90% of people find it super annoying and your comment will only get marked as spam anyway.

Hell if anyone knows how hard it is to get yourself out there it's me. I understand that. But do you really want to be marked as spam, blocked, banned, and viewed as another greedy little fish in the aquarium? If you produce the right content and work hard on your channel you will not need to waste your time dropping the spam comments, it won't get you any legit followers anyway. Hard work and dedication and being supportive in the community WILL. Think of it this way... one day you may actually get serious, one day you may post a video that you worked your little bum off, perfecting every inch of that 10-20 minute long video, and when people begin spamming you and not even commenting on the video you worked so hard on, will it make you feel good? Or will you feel used?

Youtube needs to up the spam detector. It's getting out of hand lately. Those of us who are serious about our channels and also make an effort to be respectful of other channels need more of the legit fans who will tune in weekly and support us, and less of the greedy little fish...

I hope someone reads this, learns from it, or passes it along to those who need to learn from it. We need to stop and think.

Make sure you watch my latest upload, JLo's golden globe look for LESS! And don't spam the comments section... please... the constant comment deleting is becoming exhausting to say the least...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU7ljlI1Ccg

HD Videos Are Here!

So those of you who follow me on youtube as well as all my social media, you may already know that I have upgraded my filming setup (see my Grunge Beauty tutorial)... It's great working with my brother's canon dslr and my new super nova diva ringlight from DVE Store. I absolutely love it. The ringlight is literally the only lighting I use, and the camera... wow... I must say the videos look outstanding, commercial/tv quality. Dslrs really do make a world of difference when it comes to photo and video alike. I am so proud of the quality and it really makes me not only want to film more tutorials, but also promote and get my work out there more. I want to share this outstanding setup with as many as I can! But honestly I am just so thankful to have awesome brothers always willing to help their sister out!

Kat Von D from Marshalls, Too Faced, Bestope Amazon Brushes (Sigma Dupes?) and Victorias Secret HAUL/REVIEW

So I decided to put together a lovely little Haul and Review/Swatch for you guys on some new items. Some of them were part of a Christmas gift from my boyfriend and family who knows how much I love Victorias Secret lotions and body sprays, the others are some really sweet items I scored at Marshalls (yes, Kat Von D and Too Faced, I kid you not) annnnd some interesting brushes from amazon - Bestope Brand.

 Marshalls Kat Von D & Too Faced:

Let's begin with the Kat Von D lippies and Too Faced shadow I miraculously happened upon while in Marshalls. So right after Christmas I was about town just hunting some good sales, I wandered in Marshalls and somehow I managed to time it right for once. Sadly I missed out on the Kat Von D eyeliner set that swept Marshalls and TJMaxx by storm, but I was amazed to find the Kat Von D lip products. Without a second thought I snatched up one of every color available. Of course I wish there had been more to choose from because finding products like this at no more than $6.99 each is a hell of a bargain knowing what they typically go for at Sephora. Correct me if I'm wrong, but apparently Kat Von D is changing up her packaging on a lot of items, which is why Marshalls and TJMaxx ended up with some stock.

So first we have the Kat Von D Foiled Love Lipsticks. I have to say, I was very impressed by the pigmentation and color put out of these babies. I am totally new to Kat Von D, so I am discovering a new favorite brand. I will easily admit I adore her lippies as much as I adore MAC's lippies thus far, and that's saying a lot. Below we have Adora (pic one) and Beranice (pic two). These lipsticks are both different but also appear to be in the same color family as they both have similar tones. Each reminds me of a vibrant, rich cherry red. Beranice appears to have more pink undertones from what I can tell. These photos are true to color but it's difficult to tell the two apart unless applied to the lips. These are swatched against my olive toned skin.

Next we have the Kat Von D Foiled Liquid Lipsticks in "Backstage Bambi", "Forever and Never" and "Adora" Adora being the glossy cousin of the one lipstick above, and a lovely Kat Von D Everlasting Love Lipstick in "Outlaw". Now these lipsticks are more of a lip "gloss", however they are much more pigmented than typical lip glosses you merely use to add shine to your lipstick. These glosses are a stand alone lippie, meaning you do not need to combine them with any lipstick because they are a full coverage on their own. All you need to go along with these beauties is a matching lipliner. Here is a swatch of all the colors. There are two elegant shades of red that are perfect for wintery date nights, then we have this amazing pink (my personal favorite) and a golden toned nude.

The swatches below are as follows demonstrated on my mom's olive skin: #1 "Backstage Bambi", #2 "Forever and Never", #3 "Outlaw", #4 "Adora"

To top this treasure find off I happened upon a single eyeshadow from Too Faced, one of my most beloved brands, all alone in a makeup bin in Marshalls... I just couldn't leave him there all alone, his beautiful shimmery green - I am already contemplating some tutorial ideals for St Patricks Day. I had to take him home! His name? "Nice Stems" and this swatch is against my own olive toned skin - my skin is a bit lighter than my moms right now, but we both have olive undertones.

Bestope Brushes:

So I know you guys are curious about these Bestope Brushes too. Aren't they pretty? I immediately fell in love with the cobalt handles... I'm such a sucker for cobalt. It's always fun to find dupes for those big brand names that cost an arm and a leg, but I'm here to give you guys an honest straight forward review. So are these brushes a real reliable dupe for Sigma?

First off, if you're looking for a backup brush set or if you're a makeup virgin starting his or her first collection and just need a beginners set to practice with then these brushes are great! As far as replacing Sigma or even MAC quality brushes, no no no. These little guys are a "you get what you pay for" type of product. They do not in any way or means replace my high end brushes. There's a reason they were under $15... for one thing, one of the angled kabuki brushes arrived to me broken off the handle so I had to glue it back on myself (luckily I'm pretty handy otherwise I would have sent them back). Another thing is they do not have the number of bristles you find on the Sigma Kabuki brushes, you can see a difference in the overall thickness. They are soft which is good, but at the same time there is the concern of them being too soft. Overall they look like good brushes. I'll admit I have not yet tested them out but from what I can tell they look like makeup application will be moderately impressive for what they are. I'm not going to ooooh and ahhhh over these guys. Like I said I am happy to have them for backup brushes, but as far as taking the place of my better brands, no way. I don't think they are built to last for one thing, the broken brush is a dead giveaway of that reality. But I'm still pleased to have them in my collection. The majority of them are very similar to each other so there's not much variety or flexibility in this set. But hey, the bag is cute... so far no shedding even with me pulling on them so that's impressive. We'll see how well they hold up after their first bath. You can find these guys on amazon searching Bestope Brushes.

 Victorias Secret:

So here we have a small part of the Christmas gifts I got this year. I got so many amazing things from my family and boyfriend this Christmas but thought I would share my new collection of Victorias Secret body lotions and body sprays, the little gift bag includes a sponge scrubby a small lotion and body wash - a gift picked out by my mom as a bonus stocking stuffer. And the rest are from the man.

First of all, the moment you spritz your wrist or pop the top open on one of the lotions the scents are amazing. A combination of floral and fruity goodness which I love. Neither is overpowering. The lotions and body sprays give you just the amount of scent you need to smell like rainbows and unicorns in a endless field of singing sunflowers. I'm happy to add these babies to my collection any day. Comparison to what you find at Bath and Body Works? Both lines I adore. I would say they are of equal quality and similarity.

So that's my haul, review and swatch. I hope you guys enjoyed! Make sure you subscribe to my blog for email updates and subscribe to me on youtube for all things beauty... until next time, stay foxy! I'm off to play with these Kat Von D lippies... *winks*