Another
month, another "meh" bag. I think I've fallen into a rut of having a
subscription for far too long. Bright side, I just got a year's subscription for Birchbox as well so there will be something new to complain about! I no longer know what I would get excited
about, product wise. Just discovering new brands at this point, but I
have so many duplicates that it feels like a waste when I don't get to
something I love a bit less. That and I can't justify giving things away
once I've tried them and I feel obligated to try everything at least
once. I sound extremely entitled and critical though so let's tuck it in
and be objective about this. Scroll down for some incredibly shitty
photos due to a combination of not knowing how to utilize technology,
inability to operate a phone camera, zero sunlight for days now and poor
apartment lighting.
And a closeup of the bag
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| Angry muppet! |
Would anybody actually use this as a clutch? Do you want to run around with a logo on your clutch proclaiming "I'm so cheap that this hot pink muppet was essentially a 'freebie' in a set of purchased freebies!" Oh yes, it is a furry muppet. The girls will like it. On the other hand, I got a lot of (low value) full sized items this month.
NYX Prismatic Shadow (Full Size $6, cruelty free)
Jersey Shore Cosmetics Lip Balm (Full Size $10, cruelty free)
Tarte Tarteist Glossy Lip Paint ($3.33, vegan)
Aurora Intensively Precise Eyeliner (Full Size $7.99 currently on sale)
Total bag value: $33.31
I'm
not overly thrilled to receive the Royal and Langnickel angled shader brush because I just don't know how I would use it. I hit the jackpot
last month with a brush that was a clear upgrade to one of the re-glued
ELF brushes I've been using in the past. This seems redundant, but maybe
it will be useful if I ever buy a transition shade (or learn how to use
transition shades) and develop a more complex makeup routine.
Update:
so, my husband stole my ELF brush to pollinate his strawberries.
Multiple times. I suddenly have immediate need for a second brush.
I
was actually most excited about the NYX prismatic shadow (I got the shade Bedroom Eyes), as evidenced by the plethora of photos. It's a similar shade to my Nomad shadow but a
richer, cooler
hue. Not that I need more shadows (I have enough to survive off of) but
it's nice to have some variety to make me look like a functional adult.
I've always wanted to try NYX products but never committed to buying
them. I wouldn't want to waste money (again) on something I'm not sure I
would like. Nor would I want to go into an Ulta to buy NYX. It just
seems like a waste when I'm surrounded by other high end brands to
travel that far for drugstore. And the drugstore NYX displays are pretty
measly so that's out. I'm still holding out on a reddish shade though. I've been hoping one would fall into my bag for 3 or 4 months now.
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| Aurora Liner, Tarte lip gloss and NYX shadow swatches |
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| Aurora, Tarte and NYX swatches with flash |
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| NYX swatch in daylight |
Whoo...
more Jersey Shore Cosmetics lip balms (sigh). I'm still working on the
one from August, but I always say I can't have enough balms. Until I'm
drowning in them. But somehow my Pur-lisse from October is near dead and
I finally killed off my Hanalei lip treatment from May (also offered in
December).
Don't
know how I feel about the Tarte Tarteist lip paint. It's a deep berry,
Mississippi church-lady shade and I wonder why it's called WCW (I
imagine Trish Stratus and other Divas would wear a most frosty pink like
anybody from the Rock of Love Bus). At
least it looks less threatening on than it does in the tube. It's only a
1ml sample though, keeping in line the tiny, overpriced full sized
Tarte products and even tinier sample sizes. I will note the full sized
product is $20 at 6ml. Way to go, Tarte *sardonic applause*
Note: I
looked it up (yeah, I'm that out of touch) and it's a branch off from
throw back Thursday's (TBT) and WCW stands for women crush Wednesdays
(meh on that non-trend I didn't know was a trend)
And
finally the obligatory felt tip black eyeliner. I'm drowning in them as
is but why not? I'm not sure if I would prefer felt tip or pencil at
this point. I can't use pencil for anything other than tightlining but I
have a ba-thousand felt tip liners right now. Ok well, three
retractable and (now) three felt tip but that's a ton. Not to mention my
embarrassingly old Clinique cream eyeliner in dark brown, which I'm
afraid my eyes will fall out if I try to use it.
All
in all, not a bad bag. Not a good bag either though. There's nothing
that I won't use, that's only happened once with my Boo-Boo Cover-up (reviewed here),
which I loved the idea but hated the shade. The eyeshadow I think I'm
pleased with, everything else is just useful and I will probably die or
be left behind in the rapture before I get to the Jersey Shore Sun balm
and Aurora liner. And even with a low value bag, it exceeded the $10
price point and I got 4 full sized items (including the brush) this
month so yeah, I'll stop complaining now. Sorry again about the photos. If I waited to get a good daylight shot of flat lays (ha, I used the word "good") or me wearing some of it this wouldn't get posted until late March. I do intend to do a follow-up with better swatches, in depth comments and maybe a pick of me wearing the items, but don't expect that before New Year's with how busy it's been between Toddler/Infant Christmas and an unexpected flight to L.A. (urgent West Coast family stuff). I'm setting my personal timer for 2 weeks. Come flog me over it later after it's past due.
Full disclosure: My Ipsy subscription was a birthday gift and Birchbox was a Christmas gift. I apologize if I sound overly critical in my analyses but I'm simply trying to provide an objective critique based off of product quality, shade matching and overall cost.
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| My poor husband hasn't wised up and decided to leave me yet. I came home to this the other day. |
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