IPSY: For the Beauty Experimenter

 

The Pink Envelope

You might need this: https://www.ipsy.com/new?cid=ppage_ref&sid=link&refer=z7dtc

 

Any person who loves to try new products but not pay the hefty price for samples, IPSY is the subscription you need!
Side note, keeping it on track with the Youtuber topic, IPSY was created by beauty guru and Youtuber Michelle Phan.

Within this pink envelope you get a cute makeup bag, some in the past have looked like this:



 

You also get 5 samples of beauty brands like Urban Decay, The Balm, Kat Von D and Trust Fund Beauty... There are many more brands involved in this experience. You also receive things like face masks, lip scrubs, primers and beauty tools such as brushes.

 

The best part is....

Drumroll please......

 

It' Only $10 a Month with Free Shipping!

 

 

This is a monthly subscription that you can cancel at any time. There is typically a waitlist for signing up but there are a few things IPSY asks you to do in order to get off the list. It includes messaging friends and sharing IPSY on Facebook and other social media websites. The website offers deals that aren't typically offered by certain brands. Each month you are asked to review your products in order to narrow down your preferences for what you would like in your next bag. You also earn 15 points each review which can later exchange to getting another sample sent in your bag.

 

♥ Sign up for yours here! https://www.ipsy.com/new?cid=ppage_ref&sid=link&refer=z7dtc ♥

 

jill



♥ Youtube Collab: Carli Bybel x bh Cosmetics♥

Youtuber Carli Bybel collaborated with bh Cosmetics, a personal favorite of mine and created a palette of 10 eye shadows and four highlighters. I stumbled upon her account in search for Youtubers who have collaborations and after the Power of Makeup price and performance- I wanted something a little more affordable and budget friendly. This beautiful palette can be found on bh Cosmetics website and a direct link will be listed below. The packaging is cute, the price is right and the product is amazing!

Product: bh Cosmetics collaboration with Carli Bybel

Price: $20.00   $14.50

My Rating: ★★★★

** bh Cosmetics is reported to be cruelty free

 This product is incredibly under hyped. Not too many people talk about it, or Carli Bybel in general. She has amazing skill with makeup and comes along with a positive message for her viewers that you can see under the mirror (Aspire to Inspire). Here are some swatches of the eye shadows in the  palette.

This palette is not only affordable, it is so impressive. The metallic are so smooth and buttery when swatched and applied. Buttery and creamy eye shadows are best for blending and I have been testing this for a few weeks now and I can attest that they are incredibly blendable and as you can see, highly pigmented. I have nothing bad to say, except that the mattes are very brush sensitive meaning that they like certain brushes and apply better with those bruhes than others. Even in their worst application state it still applies very impressively.

The highlighters. Oh, the highlighters. Here are some swatches.

Oh my goodness, these highlighters! So as you can see, the glow is unreal. These apply amazingly. I am usually very weary of powder highlighters giving the chalky appearance after a days wear but these highlighters stay hydrated and creamy all day. The formula for this is amazing and these are probably some of the best highlighters I have in my collection. Also, in the beauty world a lot of people of color find it hard to find highlighters that aren't obnoxiously white and bright. This palette offers a great range of pigmentation and color to fit the light skin tones and the dark and beautiful! If you cant make the highlighter work for you it can absolutely double as an eye shadow.

All in all, I 10/10 recommend this palette to all who go for a natural eye and don't want to splurge on Urban Decay palettes and other high price palettes. Or a collector who wants to add it to their collection ;)
They are LIMITED EDITION, so make sure you get yours while you can here!!!

-Jill



♥YouTube Collab: The Power of Makeup by NikkieTutorials x Too Faced♥

The excitement was REAL when YouTuber Nikkie de Jager (NikkieTutorials) announced her palette collaboration with Too Faced Cosmetics. As a fan of her extravagant makeup tutorials and her skill, I was hoping that this palette would be just as good. I hate to say that it has fallen short.

Product: THE POWER OF MAKEUP : Too Faced Collaboration by NIKKIETUTORIALS
Price: $56.00 ($209 value) via Sephora. Product is no longer available on Ulta.com
My Rating: ★★★☆

**Too Faced is openly cruelty free

So, there has been a lot of discussion on this particular palette. A lot of people love it. and a lot hate it. I find it to be one of Too Faced worst palettes quality wise. A lot of makeup collabs with YouTubers have been flops (Jaclyn Hill x Becca Cosmetics). I'm not sure if the formula has changed or what but this doesn't make the cut in my top Too Faced products. 

Here are some swatches of the 9 shadows, 2 blushes, bronzer and a highlight.

Now, I was lucky to have gotten a palette that swatches impressively. Look at some others here. I was impressed after hearing some of the reviews and even reading some on Sephoras website. 

Eyeshadows/Top 9 Swatches: The metallics are a more gritty/grainy and had some extreme fallout. Using on my eyes I would have to dust it away and hit my face with makeup remover to ensure a fresh clean face. The mattes are disappointing, but not the worst. They are very buildable which is good for new makeup artists but I expect a pigmented shadow from Nikkie. Wham Bam and Mystic Hour are two very pretty shades but are similar to shadows in Too Faced a la mode palette, indicating its not as much of an original palette as Nikkie had claimed. All in all, I find the shadows to be decent but not the best. 

Blushes/ 10th and 11th Swatches: I Will Always Love You (here) is extremely pigmented, and is a pretty coral color. Its natural looking for people with yellow/neutral skin colors. Justify My Love (here) is a huge miss for me. It is not even comparable in pigmentation to IWALY, it took me 2 swatches to get the pigmentation above, it also has weird glitter chunks in it that don't apply well for every day use. If you're willing to put in the work to build it then this is  a good glamorous blush for cool toned skin colors. 

Bronzer/ 12th Swatch: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil is my absolute favorite bronzer. It is a great neutral look and has deeper colors as well. It has a light cocoa powder scent which is pleasant, and it is all around an amazing product, It lasts a long time, and applies flawlessly.

Highlighter/ 13th Swatch: Unlucky number 13. This highlighter is very good for a natural look, but coming from the mother of glows- it falls short. I usually reach for my trèStiQue Highlight Stick (**cruelty free) as a highlighter (10./10 worth the splurge!) for a natural glow, and if I want to have to wear sunglasses after application, I top it with Hourglass Ambient Lighting Highlighter (**cruelty free). Nikkie is all about the glow, and this highlighter just isn't there for me. It doesn't give me the wow factor I expect from a line designed by the glow queen herself.

Google results for NikkieTutorials Highlighter

The Goodies:

In the package, you receive:

♥Too Faced Glamour Dust in Gliterally (LOVE the name)

♥Full Size Too Faced Sketch Marker Liquid Art Eyeliner in Black
♥Too Faced Shadow Insurance (In my top 3 for eyeshadow primers)
♥Better Than Sex Mascara in a stunning purple color.

Glitterally: Applies like a typical loose glitter shadow. Nothing too special, or bad to report.

This palette is definitely a good introductory palette, but any person expecting high pigment payout, or has less patience to build it- this isn't the one for you.

I recommend this palette if you're willing to spend the money because it is a great palette. I just have too many than I know what to do with!

I hope you found this useful!

-Jillian

♥Up Next 10/10/16 ♥

So, I have been racking my brain trying to decide what I am going to do next on this blog. The idea behind it has shifted a bit and I am developing more and more topic that I would enjoy talking about.

I am an avid YouTube watcher for makeup tutorials and tips and I have specific youtubers that I trust and watch most of their videos. A huge craze is erupting where these youtubers are collaborating with makeup brands and making their own cosmetics either hitting or missing.

Up Next on This To That is going to be a series of 3-4 reviews of makeup palettes that are collabs with youtubers.

I am excited to share with you my experience with cosmetics and helping you to make a more informed decision on what you purchase!

-Jill

Animal Testing *** REPOST

Animal testing. We have all seen the traumatic pictures of bunnies, mice and rats being used for cosmetic companies to test their products for human use. As consumers of thing like cosmetics, soap, shampoo and lotion it is only right for you to know how your products get from a lab to your bathroom vanity. 

• Over 1 million animals are used as test subjects annually. Typically r-strategist species, meaning that they reproduce at rapid rates and have high growth rates, with low life expectancy to reach adulthood.
• Some tests include: skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any pain alleviation.
• The American FDA does not  require animal testing. When companies use new chemicals to better their product they have to ensure that it is safe for human use. Human subjects could potentially lead to lawsuits and loss income.  
•  92% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials.

The problem is the triviality of animal testing use in the cosmetic industry. They test new formulas that have high risk chemicals just to make the mascara smudge proof, or the shampoo more hydrating. My question is when there is a long list of chemicals that are historically proven to be safe for human use, why are we choosing new and potentially harmful chemicals? Why are we using chemicals with such potential risk that we have to test it in the first place? 

If you buy something titled "Argan Oil" shouldn't the only ingredient be Argan oil? Not Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclomethicone ( volatile silicone solvents), Dimethiconece and butylphenyl methylpropional. See this article to learn more about these chemicals.

Luckily, if you are against animal testing there are many drugstore and high end companies that are cruelty free!

Choose with your conscience. If you believe that animals deserve the same respect as humans, choose to go cruelty free! Take the pledge here: Cruelty Free Pledge- Global.

See if the brands you choose are cruelty free here. This is a great resource to stay informed!

Resources to help you make your decision:
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-Jillian

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