Anti – Haul: Products I WON’T Be Buying – Palettes & Eyeshadows

Welcome back, or if it’s your first time here, welcome to Makeup In Montana!

Today’s post will be a bit different from the usual content, I’ll be talking about products I WON’T be buying. As far as I know, the ‘anti-haul’ idea was started by Kimberly Clarke on YouTube, but I’ve seen many other people doing it lately and decided to do one myself!

Basically, I’ll be talking about products I won’t be buying and why I won’t be buying them. So, let’s get into it!

1. Too Faced Peanut Butter & Honey Palette.

(Photo belongs to Ulta.com)

This palette is the continuation of their Peanut Butter & Jelly palette, but after hearing tons of negative reviews on this guy, I’m really not interested in purchasing it. The three highlight shades on the left look exactly the same, and the only unique color is ‘Honey Buns’, which I’m willing to bet I could get in a single shadow from someone else.  For $36, I expected more. Ultimately, this missed the mark for a lot of people and because of that, I won’t be buying it.

2. Colourpop Pressed Eyeshadows

(Photo belongs to Colourpop.com) 

Colourpop recently released a ton of new pressed eyeshadows, which is different from their Super Shock formula, which is kind of a moussey cream formula. The reason I don’t plan on purchasing this is because  Colourpop kind of stresses me out with their constant releases. I feel like they never give you any time to blink before releasing new collections or collaborations or products. By the time I would order any of these, 15 new ones would pop up and I’m just not into that. I really wish Colourpop would just slow down a little with that. These are $5, but for the amount of product you’re getting it really isn’t nearly as affordable as it seems to be. I would much rather purchase Coastal Scents Hot Pots for $1.95, or $0.99 when they’re on sale.

3. Morphe Brushes 35R Palette

(Photo belongs to Morphe Brushes) 

First things first, Morphe is a very polarizing brand. A lot of people aren’t particularly fond of their cosmetics, and I am one of those people. The palette I have is decent and has nice shade selection, but isn’t anything special and certainly isn’t worth the $23 they sell them for. The shadow quality is sup par, and in the instance of this particular palette, the shade selection bores me. The market is so saturated with neutral shadows. With that being said, if you’re a beginner, these are great shades to start out with. I personally prefer the formula of Coastal Scents Hot Pots and a palette of 35 would come out to about $35 when they’re on sale for $0.99. Little more expensive, but the quality is significantly better.

4. Too Faced Natural Love Palette

(Photo belongs to Ulta.com)

This retails for $59, and contains 30 ‘natural’ tones. Several of the shadows in this palette are either already in existing Too Faced palettes or from discontinued/LE palettes, but there are original shades as well. I’ve heard that the quality of this palette is good, but it just really bores me. When I look at this palette, I don’t have any particular shades jumping out at me or screaming my name. For me to spend $60 on a palette it needs to be something special, and this isn’t it, so this is definitely not something I’ll buy.

5. Tarte ‘Make Believe In Yourself’ Eye & Cheek Palette

 (Photo belongs to Tarte Cosmetics.com)

This is limited edition,  has 10 eyeshadows and one face highlight and is going for $40. One thing I will say is that I’m happy to see something slightly more unique coming from a brand, but I still think these shades are easily dupable. When I purchase a palette I really want it to be cohesive, something that has everything I need, and this isn’t that for me. I’ve seen good reviews about this, but it just really isn’t for me.

 

And that’s it for today’s anti-haul! What new releases are you NOT buying?

Thank you for reading today’s post! If you’ve enjoyed it, please take a moment to subscribe to receive email notifications of future posts like this.

-Samantha

 

*Post is NOT sponsored. No affiliate links used.

Tarte Shape Tape Concealer – Worth The Hype?

(Affiliate links are specified by an asterisk. I do receive a small commission through purchases made or clicks through said links) 

Welcome back!

Today is a long awaited post, we’ll be talking all about the very hyped up Tarte Shape Tape Concealer*.

This concealer has absolutely taken the makeup world by storm. Every influencer and beauty guru is talking about and using this product. So naturally, I bought it. And I’m here to tell you if it’s really worth all the hype it’s getting.

This concealer has some huge claims. It claims to be hydrating, longwearing, full coverage (also lists natural and radiant coverage…) works for all skin types and softens the look of fine lines and pores. So basically, this is supposed to be God’s gift to makeup wearers.

Shape Tape retails for $24, which is $4 cheaper than my favorite Too Faced Born This Way concealer. However, this has .33 oz of product, which is .10 oz more than the Too Faced concealer. Shade selection is not terrible with 14 shades, and my shade is “Fair.”

Now, with all of the details out of the way, let’s talk about the concealer.

The applicator is a massive doe foot.

I honestly don’t really get the appeal of such a large applicator, since it ends up depositing too much product at once and I have to scrape it off anyways. Very unnecessary in my opinion.

For some reason, I thought this would be a thinner formula, but no, it’s very, very thick. By far the thickest concealer I own.

Now, how does it perform on the skin?

 (I know, my brow hairs are crazy long. But I’m way too afraid to trim them) 

I don’t have absolutely terrible dark circles, but I do have some significant veining through my eyelids and as you can see, this does have pretty good coverage. Not incredible, but good. Keep in mind I am under studio lights so it can be a bit difficult to see those darker tones in my under eye, but I upped the contrast in editing so hopefully it’s visible enough. A plus though, the color matches my skin perfectly.

The biggest thing to note with this concealer is that a little goes a long way. If you over apply this, you will have some really unattractive texture on your under eyes. Less is definitely more. I find that the best method of application is a damp sponge. A brush makes it look way too heavy, and blending it out with your ring finger doesn’t look great either.  It does have decent coverage, but full coverage isn’t possible for me with this product because of how heavy it is.

I have much better luck using this under my foundation as opposed to on top like I would typically do. You really have to have a light hand with this and blend it out well or it looks very heavy and dry, though it does have good staying power and doesn’t fade throughout the day.

With that being said, I’m really not crazy about this concealer. It isn’t terrible, but it does crease and settle into lines even when set (I’m only 20, so fine lines aren’t a big issue for me), and it’s difficult to keep it from looking cakey. At least if you’ve got a skin type that’s dry like mine.

My suggestion is if you’ve got dry or more mature skin, spend the extra $4 and pick up the Too Faced Born This Way Concealer. It doesn’t cling to dry skin and looks naturally beautiful. Maybe if your skin is more oily, the Shape Tape would work better for you.

To answer the question, is it worth the hype? My answer is no. I don’t see great coverage with it, it’s cakey, and just doesn’t look great on my skin. I hate to say it, but I have to give this one a hard pass.

I hate ending on such a negative note, but I gotta keep it real.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please subscribe to see more like this, and thanks for stopping by!

-Samantha

*This post is NOT sponsored, I purchased this myself.

3 Easy Valentine’s Day Looks!

(Affiliate links are specified with an asterisk. I do receive a small commission from purchased made through these links or via clicks) 

Welcome back! Last week I had the opportunity to do a guest feature on Glittered By Cassie’s blog, but figured I’d post it here for anyone who wanted to see these looks for V-Day!

 

If you’re anything like most people, when you think of Valentine’s Day, you think of pinks and reds, romantic rose colors. I wanted to incorporate those classic Valentine’s colors while keeping the looks wearable and easy to recreate. Without further ado, let’s get into the looks!

Look #1 – Simple Romantic Mauve  

Face: 

–L’Oreal Pro Glow Foundation* (201)

–Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer* (Fair) 

-The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer on cheekbones and bridge of my nose. 

–The Balm Cindy Lou-Manizer on apples of cheeks.  

–Vintage By Jessia Liebskind lip gloss in “Pink Sequin”.

This is such an easy look, but I love the soft matte mauves with the shimmery inner corner. The skin is very minimal and light with emphasis on blush and highlight, and I kept my lips bare and topped them with a sheer shimmer gloss.

Eyes: 

–Lorac Pro Palette* shades “Taupe” as a transition, “Mauve” in the crease, and “Light Pink” on the lid”.  

-Coastal Scents Hot Pots in “Fine Wine*” and “Maroon Berry*” in crease. 

–Naked Cosmetics pigment in “Sierra Nevada 02” on inner corner.  

–Jordana “Continuous Almond” liner in waterline.

–Ardell Natural 110* lashes. 

This will look stunning on any eye color or skintone, though specific shades will most likely need to be adjusted depending on skintone.

Look #2 – Smokey Liner & Red Ombre Lips.  

Face: 

-L’Oreal Pro Glow Foundation (201) 

–Tarte Shape Tape Concealer* (Fair) 

–Elf Cosmetics Contour Palette  *

-The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer highlight.  

–Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lip Crayons* in “Truffle” on lip line, and “Red Velvet” in the center, lightly blended together.  

This look is a little more flawless than the previous, with a stronger contour and emphasis on the subtle ombre lips. It’s a little different take on the classic red lips and winged liner look.

–Anastasia Modern Renaissance Palette* in shades “Golden Ochre” in the crease, “Tempera” on the lid and inner corner, and “Cyprus Umber” as the wing. 

–Ardell Demi Wispies* lashes. (If I were to do this look again, I would sub in more natural lashes or skip them completely. They add a beautiful cat eye effect, but did cover the wing quite a bit.) 

 

Look #3 – Greige  Eyes & Lips.

 (Still working on the ISO on my camera, which is why my skintone is off in this photo) 

Face: 

-L’Oreal Pro Glow Foundation (201) 

-Tarte Shape Tape Concealer (Fair) 

-The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer highlighter 

-Elf Cosmetics Contour Kit. 

-Lips lined with Essence “Satin Mauve” * lip liner and topped with Lime Crime Velvetine in “Cashmere”.  

This is my favorite look out of all three, specifically because it’s a little out-of-the-box without being over the top. Greige (grey-beige) is not typically a shade that comes to mind when one thinks of Valentine’s Day, yet it really seems to work. This look focuses on monochromatic lips and eyes, and the skin a little more subdued and natural.

Eyes: 

-Anastasia Modern Renaissance Palette in shades “Warm Taupe” as a transition, “Buon Fresco” in the crease, “Tempera” on the lid, and “Vermeer” in the inner corner.  

–Hikari Liquid Liner in “Iris” for the wing. 

–Ardell Soft Touch #162* Lashes.  

For me, these lashes make the look. They’re wispy, while still adding a lot of structure and shape but not overwhelming the eyes.

And with that, we end today’s post! I hope you’ve enjoyed it and gotten a little Valentine’s Day inspiration!

Thank you!

-Samantha

GUEST POST: Glittered By Cassie – Tarte Maneater Palette Review + Valentine’s Day Look

Happy early Valentine’s Day beauties!

I am so pleased to have the opportunity to guest post on Makeup In Montana’s blog. It’s so refreshing to know another beauty blogger in the last best place, Montana. Samantha’s content is fresh and valuable.

Now, on to my Valentine’s Day date night look.

I was so excited when I walked into Ulta last week and laid my eyes on the Tarte Cosmetics Maneater Eyeshadow Palette. I have been looking for a palette that can be both neutral and dramatic and this palette is definitely it. Plus, look at the cute printed packaging. We all know I’m all about cute packaging.

When thinking of a Valentine’s Day look, I wanted something fairly dramatic with a mauve undertone.

Here’s what I used:

Face: 

–Maybelline FitMe! Foundation in 110

–Lancome Blush Trio Subtil Palette in Petal Push

-Highlighter: Lace from the Tarte Cosmetics Maneater Palette.

Eyes: 

-Lancome Grandiose Liquid Eyeliner in Brown

–Kiss Faux Mink Lashes

-Tarte Cosmetics Maneater palette colors: Meow for the browbone, Saucy for the transitional color, Foxy on the lid, and Hypnotic in the crease. (IN LOVE WITH THIS PALETTE).

Brows:  

-Wet ‘n Wild Brow Kit

Lips:  

–BH Cosmetics Metallic Lip Stick in Lovey.

I am absolutely in love with this palette. It’s extremely versatile and highly pigmented.

 

I hope you all enjoy this look. What looks do you have in mind for Valentine’s Day? Would you rather have a more natural look for date night? Let me know in the comments below.

Also, be sure to check out my blog for more posts like this as well as product reviews and features.

Thank you for checking out my guest post on Samantha’s lovely blog! ❤

Cassie

glitteredbycassie.com

Tarte Maracuja Oil VS Botanical Beauty Maracuja Oil – Is It A Dupe?

(Affiliate links are specified with an asterisk. I do receive a small commission from purchases or clicks made through said links.) 

Welcome back!

I’m starting a new series called ‘Is It A Dupe?’! Basically, it’s exactly what it sounds like. We’re going to find products that other people say are dupes, or products I think are similar enough to be compared to each other and find out if it’s really a dupe or not.

Today, we’ll be comparing the infamous Tarte Maracuja Oil* and the Botanical Beauty 100% Pure Maracuja Oil*.

If you read my Top 5 Skincare Products of 2016, you’d know that I really, really love the Tarte maracuja oil. I’m starting to run dangerously low on my sample, so I decided to do a little digging and learned that ‘maracuja oil’ is actually just oil from a specific type of passionfruit. The only other ingredient in the Tarte oil is a vitamin E compound. After some research, I purchased the Botanical Beauty Maracuja Oil from Amazon for $12.95.

I purchased the .5 oz size, and the Tarte oil is $15 for the same size. The savings come into play when purchasing the full size. 1.4 oz of Tarte Maracuja Oil retails for $48, where 4 oz of the Botanical Beauty oil only runs you $25, nearly half the price of the other.

These both come with similar medicine dropper applicators, though the full size of the Botanical Beauty Oil does come with a pump.

 (Tarte, Botanical Beauty) 

Now the big question, how does the more affordable one stack up to the Tarte oil?

First of all, the texture does seem ever so slightly different, the Tarte oil feels just a bit thicker than the other. The biggest difference to note is the scent.

Many pure essential oils will have a natural fragrance, but this one is very pronounced in the Botanical Beauty oil. Personally, I’m really not fond of the scent. It’s kind of a salty nutty fragrance and it’s just kind of bizarre. The Tarte oil does have a fragrance, though not nearly as pronounced. The scent isn’t necessarily offensive, but it definitely isn’t my favorite smell.

With that being said, once it’s on my face I really can’t smell it anymore, but it should be noted nonetheless.

As for the effectiveness of the Botanical Beauty oil in comparison to Tarte, I really don’t see a big difference between them. Both hydrate my skin beautifully and help keep my skin texture at bay.

When the Botanical Beauty is half the price, I don’t see myself purchasing the Tarte oil in the future.

So to answer the question, is it a dupe? The answer is YES! The Tarte oil is great, don’t get me wrong. But I feel like you’re really paying for the name. Botanical Beauty is just as effective at half the price.

And with that, we end today’s post. I hope you’ve enjoyed it, and if you have, be sure to subscribe to see more ‘Is It A Dupe?’ posts in the future.

As always,

thanks for stopping by!

-Samantha

 

*This post is NOT sponsored.

 

 

April 2016 Ipsy Unbagging + Review

Welcome back!

Today I bring you yet another look at my  *Ipsy from this month! I’ve done several of these posts so far, but in case you’re new, Ipsy is a $10 per month subscription service that sends 4-5 deluxe to full size products to your mailbox every month. So with the details out of the way, let’s get into the bag.

This month’s theme was “Dreamers”, so the watercolor bag is cute, and I much prefer it to the bag from last month.

The first product I was really excited to see was the Tarte Lipsurgence Lip Creme in the shade “Wonder”.  (This is a deluxe sample size, full size retails for $24) 

This is a really nice lip pencil, with excellent staying power and a very refreshing minty taste / feel.

 (Do you prefer lip swatches to typical swatches? Let me know!)  

The color is beautiful, and has really nice staying power for what it is. This is definitely a product I would consider buying a full size of. Really like this!

I’m always excited to see nail polish in my bag, and this month I received the Adesse New York Organic Infused Gel Effect Nail Lacquer  in the shade “Irina”.

 ($18) 

Right from the jump, I was NOT impressed with this in the slightest. The application was very streaky and patchy, and took about 3 coats to get a decent look on the nails. Not ideal at all, but I can get past that. But the smell? Completely rancid. I know nail polish isn’t exactly the best smell in the world, but this is next level disgusting, and the smell lingers for a long time.

I didn’t even get a chance to take a fancy picture with this polish on, because it chipped IMMEDIATELY. I didn’t do anything to cause my nails to chip and even used my regular top coat, and still had a ridiculous amount of chipping.

 (Very professional photo from my Snapchat [makeupinmontana…add me!]) 

This photo was after having it on for 1 day, without doing anything strenuous to chip it.

So with the struggle in application, disgusting smell, and immediate chipping, this is a total fail. I appreciate the organic nature of this product, but think it is WILDLY overpriced for the quality. Really unhappy with this product, and will never purchase another.

Moving on from that, my next product I received was the Trust Fund Beauty That Glo Tho Cream Highlighting Stick.

 ($20) 

I love highlighting, as I like to add a little bit of life back in to my dry, dull skin. But this product really didn’t impress me at all.

This has a really nice creamy texture, but unfortunately just deposits silver glitter onto my face, with no trace of the beautiful rose gold shade shown in the swatch.

I recently tried a nail polish from Trust Fund that I was very impressed by, but this one just really didn’t work for me. I prefer my highlighter to give me a natural glow with no glitter.

On to something that I did like, the Luxie 522 Tapered Highlighting Brush. 

 ($24)

This is a really good quality brush that works well for highlighting, as well as contouring, and blush application.

I have nothing bad to say about this brush, but it is relatively expensive for what it is. I always use my Elf Studio Blush Brush for my highlight, and it works just as well as this, and costs $21 less.

The last product I received in my bag this month was the Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask.

 (Sample size. Full size retails for $36) 

I honestly saw no difference in my hair after using this. Maybe it was a tiny bit softer, but not enough to go through the hassle of using this product. Not to mention the size of the sample. The instructions recommend using 1-2 “nickel sized amounts”. My hair is down to the small of my back, so I had to use almost this entire sample in my hair. So perhaps my thoughts would have been different had I been able to try it more than once. But upon first impression, I’m really not impressed.

That concludes this somewhat somber Ipsy bag review. I was so disappointed with over half of my bag this month, and only had 2 items I enjoyed. Typically, my bags are MUCH better than this, so this one was incredibly underwhelming. However, I did appreciate that I received so many full sized products. Let’s hope for a better bag in May!

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my post! If you’ve enjoyed, be sure to subscribe to receive email notifications of my posts!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Samantha

 

*This is my personal Ipsy referral code. If you’re not interested in using that, just visit www.ipsy.com.

 

**This post is NOT sponsored. All products were purchased myself.