Smashbox Full Exposure - Review and Palette Parade Check-In

What's a palette parade? See this post.

Smashbox Full Exposure palette ($49 at Sephora, Ulta, Beauty.com, Nordstrom, and Smashbox.) 

For the past week, I've been using the Smashbox Full Exposure palette. You might have seen the black shadow from this palette in last week's black shadow round-up. 

The packaging is pretty good - I love the rainbow lettering on the front and the magnetic closure palette is pretty standard these days. Nothing over the top or special but it feels substantial enough to protect the shadows inside. Sorry to say, I neglected to take a photo of the palette open. Like so many others, this palette has a mirror inside but no way to prop the lid so that you can actually use it. I'd really like to meet the person that applies shadows from a 14-pan palette holding the palette or with it flat on a table somewhere. The included brush is decent quality, natural hair on one end, duo natural/synthetic on the other; I'd say more actually versatile and usable than the brushes that come with any other palette.

I swatched from left to right, top row and then second row. These shadows don't seem to have names, they're referred to by Smashbox as Shimmer 1 through 7 and Matte 1 through 7. 

Smashbox Full Exposure swatches

I'm sure you've already spotted the main problem with this palette. The shimmer shades suffer from major fallout and wash out to a very similar color in all but the darkest shades. The mattes, however, do not suffer from this problem. In fact, I think this palette is worth purchasing just for the mattes, if you're looking for matte neutrals. However, I have the Naked Basics palette along with Urban Decay's Buck, Laced, Tease, Secret Service - I'm well-served in the neutral matte department.

Even worse than that, though, was what happened when I applied these without the shimmer shades sticking around:

So similar. Still fighting with the eyebrows.

No matter what application method, tools, or look I used, they just kind of washed out to being the same. I don't have this trouble with Urban Decay's Naked Basics, which only has six shades. It's disappointing, at least to me, to spend between ten and twenty minutes standing in front of your mirror to walk away looking like you did the day you spent five minutes on a look.

Overall, I'd say this one is a pass unless you're really looking for basic mattes that will give you a consistent look day to day. Honestly, I think that may be part of the design, as the packaging describes Smashbox's process for choosing these colors - colors that can be used to create a "natural" look on a variety of skin tones for makeup pros. Certainly, you can choose the shades that work best for your skin and eye colors and have a standard look that's easy to pull together quickly - but don't expect versatility out of this one - but it seems an awful shame to buy fourteen pans of product to only use three or four.

This is why you didn't get full-face at all - my glasses were uncooperative this week.
F-Bomb is still awesome, though.

Coming up this week I have swatches from Urban Decay's Electric Palette (oh, come on, you knew I'd buy it) and a short review for the Paw Palette I recently purchased.

Black Shadow Showdown Redux

You might remember my disappointment that Sugarpill's Bulletproof didn't live up to the hype or Urban Decay's Blackout. A generous friend sent me Makeup Geek's Corrupt because she was pretty sure it could slay the competition.

Of course, between now and then, I've managed to obtain a few other black shadows. Who doesn't need more black shadow? Before I move on to the swatches, I wanted to say that I bought two pans of MAC's Carbon, certain that I had a defective one. Both pans swatch exactly the same and the MAC counter rep I spoke to told me that "you don't actually want a shadow that black, because it wouldn't blend well!" I disagree, clearly, and so do many other cosmetics companies, apparently.

On to the main event:

My ten black shadows, in natural light

1. Sephora Collection No 54 Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer from Sinner 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave from Naked Basics 10. NARS Pandora II

Do you see the lengths we have to go to in Washington state to get 'natural light' photos? I'm hanging my shadow-covered arm out of my kitchen window for this. I think the MAC shadows are the most disappointing here - Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) are practically the same color and neither are what I would call black - they're clearly gray shadows.  I was a little surprised by (3) Smashbox M7 from the Full Exposure palette. That palette has taken a beating on a lot of reviews I've seen as being poorly pigmented. I'm going to do a review for that palette next week but spoiler alert: buy it for the mattes.

The MakeupGeek Corrupt (7) and Blackout (8) seem to be going head-to-head. Blackout is smoother in texture and Corrupt seems to have a little glitter in it but they're both very dark, deep black shadows.

Let's look at these shadows inside, shall we?

1. Sephora Collection Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave 10. NARS Pandora II

I feel like you can see which shadows lean brown or gray with indoor lighting a little better. I also think the difference between Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) is more clear here but I'm still not impressed.

If you're looking for a velvety-smooth true-matte black shadow, I still think Urban Decay's Blackout ($18 alone or available in the Naked 2 palette) is the best you can get - but at one-third the price, Makeup Geek's Corrupt ($6 in a naked pan, $8 in a single compact) is a serious contender, even with a little bit of shimmer.

Ellis Faas Milky Lips in L201 "Ellis Red"

Let me start off by saying I'm very picky about lipstick. I want it to either not smell at all or have a gentle or soft enough smell that I don't mind - soft mint sometimes works, vanilla is a safer bet. I want it to last most of the day, I don't like constantly fussing with my face when I'm out. I want the ingredients to be something I wouldn't mind terribly appearing in colored frosting for my kid's birthday cake. I want vibrant, versatile colors with nice pigmentation and easy application. I ask a lot from a lipstick. I want it to do all of that and generally be $20 or under - it's a tall order.

Ellis Faas had my attention because their Skin Veil foundation, while too dark for me, feels amazing on and lasts pretty well all day. I figured I'd try one of their lip products to see if they're worth the $35 price point - a Givenchy lipstick price point. The short of it? They're not.

Sleek packaging is great but you also need the color to be a reasonable approximation of the description (for this one, "blood red" - my blood isn't orange but maybe I'm doing it wrong.) It should also be able to last decently without transferring to everything in sight - this transferred to my hand, my phone, my face when my hair blew in the wind, my kid while we were shopping today, and every drinking vessel I came in contact with for the first few hours. As you might imagine, this meant that the lip... liquid? It's not really a stain if it doesn't last and it's not a lipstick. It's not a gloss, either. I have no idea what to call this stuff ... didn't last. It was a patchy mess an hour in and I sheered it out with my finger so that I didn't have to mss with reapplication and an hour later, that was a patchy mess again.

Here's a swatch on my arm:

Ellis Faas Milky Lips in L201 Ellis Red

On the left, as it applies.
On the right, what it looks like when you even out the application with the brush.

It's not what I'd call blood red once it's actually applied but it doesn't look terrible here, although the application is uneven by nature - you can't smooth this stuff out. Then I put it on and all of the orange tones came out to play:

Ellis Red on my face

Not what I wanted or expected from something described as "blood red." Worse, within ten minutes of taking this photo, I noticed feathering on the edges - even though I used a clear lip liner.

If you're looking for something that's more gloss than stain but it somewhere in between, this might be the thing for you. It had no discernable odor, which is great and rare in something gloss-adjacent. Beware the color descriptions - seek out swatches if at all possible.

This product is not vegan - it contains carmine. Have you noticed that the ingredients on higher-end products tend to not be as healthy or non-hydrogenated as some mid-range lines? The ingredients for this product:

Hydrogenated Polydecene, Isododecane, Hydrogenated Styrene/Isoprene Copolymer, Dicalcium Phosphate, Hdi/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polyethylene, Propylene Carbonate, Octyldodecanol, Candelilla Cera, Prunus Domestica Seed Extract, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Silica, Tribehenin, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Sorbitan Isostearate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide. +/- May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), Red 7, CI 15850 (Red 6/Red 7 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake)

Worse than all of that - at the end of the day, my lips feel like I've been standing in a wind storm. It's going to take some serious repair to make them feel soft and happy again and that's just with one wear!

For me, for the price, this just isn't worth it, sorry to say.

(I purchased this product for my own use. I think I've mentioned before that no one send me free stuff for blogging - all products so far are my own and nothing else. :) ) 

Ellis Faas website product listing - also available from Nordstrom and Sephora online. 

Sugarpill Bulletproof is not a Blackout

So, the day before yesterday I raved about Sugarpill's matte, pigmented shadows. Today, I am here to show you that Bulletproof can't really hold a candle to Urban Decay's Blackout. (No really, it would be pointless, in a good way.)

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I kept hearing that Bulletproof was the black shadow to end all black shadows. I'm a fan of dark shades and use a lot of black shadow - as liner, as a setting powder for liquid liner, as a smoking-out shade for lighter colors, as a blending color to deepen bright shades, and so on. Given the great experience I had with Burning Heart and Sweetheart, I took this rumor at face-value and bought a single of Bulletproof when I picked up Cold Chemistry and Heartbreaker. I've got to say, I'm disappointed.

First up, the packaging is cute and sleek, which is nice. It seems durable and the shadow in the package gave me hope - you can't even see the black design on the clear lid because the shadow is dark behind it.

So, like any over-zealous package-opener, I swatched it on the back of my hand. Whomp-whomp. I knew immediately that Urban Decay's Blackout would be darker - so I grabbed it and threw it on the back of my hand next to Bulletproof. See:

Okay, maybe it just needs some primer or something to hold it on a little better - I mean, after all, those red and pink shades from Sugarpill have a little bit of a fallout issue, right? So I dragged out all of my black shadows still currently in service and put down a layer of Urban Decay's Primer Potion (if you remember my foundation swatches, you know my skin is lighter than it appears here. I love Primer Potion but don't let anyone tell you its colorless.)  Here are the results of that:

1. Sephora Collection Black Lace (matte, single, 2013)

2. Sugarpill Bulletproof (matte, single, 2014)

3. Kat Von D Lucifer (matte, Sinner palette, 2011)

4. Urban Decay Blackout (matte, Naked 2 palette, 2013)
5. Urban Decay Crave (matte, Naked Basics palette, 2013)

As you can see, some colors that claim to be matte come out more satin (Crave) or have shimmer in them (Lucifer.) Bulletproof definitely out ranks three of the five shades but Urban Decay is the clear winner here on pigmentation and even application.

I'm sure I'll have a use for it, so I'm not upset that I spent the money but I officially refute any "it's the blackest" claims out there. When I brought this up on a makeup chat forum I participate on, someone suggested that Makeup Geek's Corrupt was blacker than Blackout. A challenger has appeared. (Clearly, to be continued.) 

Foundation Swatches

Quick - you're pale, your favorite foundation has just been discontinued (again,) and you haven't even looked for a replacement in years. What do you do? If you're me? You panic and go and get, I'm not exaggerating here, 24 different foundations color matched to you by a variety of counter sales folks, make up artists, and other pros to swatch and find the next foundation for the CPTB (Cosmetic Powers That Be) to discontinue. (This seems to be a thing with pale foundation - in fact, Torq (my spousal compatriot) jokes every time I find one - "So, how long until they discontinue this one?" or most recently, "Are you going to send the company a condolence letter on their impending discontinuation?")

(Super long post and swatches after the cut)

Pale Skin and Blush/Bronzer/Highlighter

A question I often see posted around forums is, "I'm pale, so I don't use bronzer, right?" Well, not if you don't want to, of course but you can if you want to. The issue with bronzer when you are pale is that it's so very often orange-based which works well on a medium skin tone but not so much for us pale folks. I also find that very soft, pink shades are recommended as blushes for pale folks and that may not provide the flushed look you're going for.

Many people have recommended the Too Faced Milk Soleil to me but most unfortunately, it contains sodium saccharine. (I have a sulfa drug allergy and this goes along with it. Too Faced uses this to make the bronzer smell sweet, like chocolate.) I will see if I can find a similarly-toned guest swatcher for that one.

A lot of folks recommended Urban Decay's Naked Flushed. Possibly because it was new, probably because it was failing for folks with medium skin tones and they assumed that meant it was geared for the pale. I'm sorry to say, not for me - the bronzer is very orange, the highlighter is very dark, and the blush is too much for me. The highlighter shade is actually comparable to NARS Orgasm.

NARS is the eternal favorite of the blush world and I can see why. I've been using Laguna for years and just recently jumped on the Orgasm bandwagon. Where I think NARS falls flat here, though, is the highlighter. Copacabana is the commonly recommended highlighter and it's too bright and too light, in my opinion, for most highlighting needs.

Here's a (poorly done, I'm sorry to say) swatch set of the Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette (highlighter, bronzer, blush) and the most commonly recommended NARS items (Copacabana highlighter, Laguna bronzer, Orgasm blush) each in a heavy and then blended swatch.

The NARS colors disappear into my skin, leaving not much else than a healthy glow. The Urban Decay palette leaves a bold look - which works for some but may not be what you're looking for. Stay tuned as I try Francois Nars's suggestion for contouring shades for pale skin - taupe eyeshadows.

Up Next: Foundation Swatches - They're here! Sephora finally got around to discontinuing my Kat Von D Light 42, so I finally got around to finishing the swatches.

MAC Hautecore - Quick Black Lipstick Update

Long time, no post, right?

Well, with MAC's new Hautecore (from Black Friday 2013 and the upcoming Punk Couture collection on December 26th,) I'm sure you're all curious how it stacks up to the black lipsticks I posted earlier. I didn't do full-face looks for these because I recently had a jawbone/dental/sinus disaster repaired and am waiting for the swelling and bruising to go down but I wanted to get a swatch up for comparison for the curious. 

Here we have, top to bottom:
Make-Up-For-Ever Rouge Artist Intense in #50 Black Satin (1 pass)
Portland Black Lipstick Company in Black (1 pass)
MAC Hautecore (2 passes)
MAC Hautecore (1 pass)

As you can see, Portland Black Lipstick Company is still the clear winner - mint-scent and all. (I prefer the vanilla of MAC's lipsticks.)

Hautecore is pretty similar in pigmentation to MUFE's #50 but Hautecore is a little more matte and stays a little better with wear. It also has the bonus of not having MUFE's floral scent.

Just a quick post - sorry for the lack of detail.
What I'm hoping to post up next: pale foundation swatches from Sephora, Kat Von D, Urban Decay, and Jane Iredale - what's a pale girl to do when MAC no longer makes anything lighter than NC15?! (I mourn the loss of 5 and 10 shades.)

Black Lipstick Review

Finding a good black lipstick can be hard - some are too purple, too blue, too red, or just not right. My previous favorite black lipstick was MAC's Black Knight, which I sadly don't have any swatches of, nor any of said lipstick left. I tried MAC's Lipmix in black but it was far too glossy, when when mixed with another lipstick, applied lightly only had a very light effect similar to that of Urban Decay's (possibly discontinued?) Oil Slick and still feathered like I'd tried to use it as a gloss no matter what I did.
I previously tried Make Up Forever's black lipstick, 50 "Black Satin." It is horribly floral scented, has poor coverage, and didn't last at all. Worst of all, the migraine-triggering floral scent lasted long after the lipstick wore off.
Wet 'n Wild does a black lipstick that's usually available around Halloween but I was looking for something a little better and more reliably available. Mostly I use black lipstick to "blacken" other lipstick colors that are slightly too bright for what I'd like.
In my hunt, several people recommended Portland Black Lipstick Company, which had come up in my own searches already. I was a little wary of the white plastic chapstick tube (which is apparently now a black chapstick-style tube! It looks much better, even though it doesn't sound like it should make a huge difference.) I contacted the company and got a response from the owner/maker regarding scent - mint and it could be omitted if I needed a special order. Good to know! I paid my $9 and waited not-so-patiently for the few days it took to arrive in the mail.
The day after it arrived, I used it to darken some bright fuchsia lipstick I have and it did an amazing job - this lipstick mixes really well with other lipsticks. Well, at the least with Sephora's Rouge Creme and MAC's matte lipsticks. I've used it so far with four colors of Sephora's Rouge Creme and three of MAC's lipsticks.
Coverage is very, very opaque and even - no light spots, pulls or gaps in coverage. It's really smooth straight from the tube, which I wasn't sure was going to be the case. You can apply it straight from the tube, if that's your desire, but I think it looks better applied with a brush - I've included photos of both so you can see the difference.
Scent is definitely mint but it's clearly just enough to cover the scent of the lipstick's blackening ingredients. Speaking of ingredients - it's not vegan but they're working on it. I saw a blog post that indicated that they were test-driving some vegan formulas to see if they could get it just right.
Duration of wear is amazing - this stuff really isn't going anywhere. It comes off with waterproof makeup remover, but you want to be sure to check a mirror before you wander off anywhere after removal. I had to be extra-careful to get it all! You will leave little black lipstick marks on cups and things but I didn't find that it significantly impacted the look of the lipstick until after two meals - I'm a constant water drinker through a straw-and-cup, so my reusable straw definitely needed a good washing at the end of the day.
Appearance: somewhere between glossy and matte. It's not really a satin finish but it's close. Consider it somewhere halfway between MAC's satin and matte lipsticks. Black as black gets, no lean to another color at all; very 'neutral' black. Very opaque, full coverage. You can apply incredibly lightly for a darkening effect, if that's what you need but you can also get full-on black with a single swipe.
Onward to the photos! All photos taken in a natural-light filled room with an overhead compact florescent light on as well, no flash (and with a cell phone, sorry about that.)
The product itself: