Insider Tip #257:  When you go to your annual skin check at the Dermatologist’s office, plan ahead and make sure you’re wearing your nice underwear.  Because regardless of who is looking at you almost naked, it’s less uncomfortable if you’re not sporting a baggy, pilled-up cotton, 6-year-old pair of underpants.  Not that I know firsthand or anything, I just randomly thought of it and figured it’d be a handy little tip worth sharing.

Look, I bought eyeshadow!

This is the Givenchy Prisme Quatuor eyeshadow quad in #7 Tentation and IT. IS. TERRIBLE.  It is also the only time I’ve ever received something that I put actual effort towards returning.  Well, would you spend $58 on something that doesn’t work AT ALL and then store it away under your bathroom counter for the next 15 years?  I mean, I would cuz I’m ridiculous, but would YOU?  Cuz when you’re Givenchy there’s a certain expectation to uphold, and this was not it.  Pigmentation was seriously lacking; even the glittery green looked muddy and matte on the eyelid.  These colors should have been beautiful.  And for once, the reviews on the Sephora site agrees with me.  I can’t speak for the other quads, however, but Buyer Beware.  This also has a six month shelf life, so what started out bad just got worse.

And now for a high quality, professional photograph:

Hush.  I know.  In my defense, I accidentally deleted the pic off my phone so I had to screenshot it from my Instagram, then crop it.  I went to a lot of trouble to present it for you.  Even more trouble when I tell you I’ve only used it one time.

I’m having bad luck with eyeshadow palettes lately, especially ones from designers.  However, this Tory Burch one in Cat’s Meow isn’t as bad as the Givenchy.  All of these shades had pigmentation, but the payoff wasn’t as impressive as I thought they’d be.  Surprisingly, the two darker shades on the bottom looked about the same on my eyelid even though they clearly are not.  The tones of them are more muted than vibrant, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on what you prefer.  They give you a more smoky effect than anything else, and they kind of wore off my eyeball by the end of the day (even with primer).  I am going to pull it out again this week and have another stab at it.  It cost me $60 so something tells me it’s the right thing to do.

I need to stop buying expensive eyeshadow palettes.  Case in point:

It’s the NARS Dual Intensity eyeshadow palette and it cost $79, which is clear evidence I make very poor decisions.  Yes, it’s pretty.  Yes, it’s limited edition (and therefore puts me in a brainwashed kind of panic).  But pigmentation on these is not as vibrant like you’d expect and I don’t find myself reaching for it much if at all ever.  The shadows can be used wet or dry, and when wet they do give off a much better, bolder color.  But who wants to be messing around with water in their eyeshadow?  Cuz although this palette is made to get wet, I’d somehow manage to ruin it.

These are pretty:

This is an eye look I created using the Colourpop Supershock eyeshadows in the Shaaanxo collection.  I will admit I bought this because I watch Shaaanxo on YouTube, and if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I do everything YouTube tell me to do.  So these eyeshadows are interesting.  First of all, they’re like $5 so super affordable.  But they are unlike any other eyeshadow I’ve ever had.  They are like a cream/powder hybrid.  They are kind of wet like a cream, a bit squishy when you poke your finger into them (the fun part!), but you can apply them like powder.  Granted, your fingers are the best tools to use with these shadows, but have you ever tried to blend your inner corner with a ginormous sausage finger?  It’s nigh on impossible.  I stick with brushes and somehow make it work.

More evidence that YouTube has made me its bitch:

What normal person has heard of Viseart cosmetics?  Nobody.  Unless you are a makeup artist – a real one, not one of those pretend ones on Instagram.  So when I saw another of my Beauty Gurus swatching this Sultry Muse palette – who then had the audacity to tell me where I could go buy one of my very own since Sephora decided to do us all a favor and start carrying the line – I took about 1.5 seconds to think about it before I threw it in the shopping cart.  And yes, they are gorgeous.  They are everything you’d want an eyeshadow to be – buttery, pigmented, blendable.  So naturally they cost a billion dollars (or $80, but close enough).  Can’t say I’m too regretful.  I don’t mind spending money on something I like.  I’d rather get it for free, but if that’s not available, what choice do I have?  Sephora is constantly out of stock on these – they are very much an in demand product.  Which means you are panicking and NEED TO BUY ONE RIGHT AWAY.  Or maybe that’s just what my brain does.

How about another photo of my eye:

I did not hear good things about the Hourglass Modernist eyeshadow palettes but I just felt like spending $58 on something.  One thing for sure, the pattern molded into the palette is enough to suck you in.  I love how ripple-y it looks.  When I saw that, nothing else mattered.  Is that shallow?  Probably.

There are 7 palettes in the collection and I picked Color Field, the green one.  Amidst the flurry of no-pigmentation claims, I created the eye look you see above and I was quite impressed.  I thought there was plenty of pigmentation, and everything blended together so nicely.  Perhaps some of the other palettes are not as good, but Color Field worked just fine.  Granted, I used it just one time then stored it under my bathroom counter never to be see again, but THAT IS NOT THE POINT.

Speaking of pigmentation, I give you these:

Do you hear angels?  I do.  These are the Makeup Geek Foiled eyeshadows and they are the best most pigmented, vibrant, luscious eyeshadows on the face of the planet.  This is not a joke.  One gentle swipe is all you need for maximum payoff.  They have an almost wet texture to them – apparently they have a higher oil content – and certain brushes give you better application.  The MAC #239 or any of its dupes works really well.  Or you can use your fingers, but again I don’t prefer that method.  If you don’t have the MAC one or a dupe, any shader brush that has dense bristles will work.

There are a couple of cons though.  The price for one eyeshadow is $10 so if you want to own the entire current collection, that’s $200 out of your pocket.  I’m not saying I spent the last few months buying every single Makeup Geek eyeshadow available or anything, but I probably did.  It didn’t hurt as bad until I got to the foiled shadows.  Ouchie.  But once I start on a project, I literally have to finish it because my OCD says so.  Yes, I’m quite aware I have a problem.

The other con is these shadows are very delicate and can crumble on you with no warning.  I swear I haven’t been throwing them around the room – they’ve been sitting gently in a Z-Palette the entire time – but two of my shadows have random chunks coming out of them.  Not a huge deal since you can just press them back into the pan, but it is kind of annoying.  And since they are $10 each, any crumb missing might as well be the Hope Diamond or something.

Let’s end on a bummer, shall we?

Who wants to buy a palette that looks like a quilt on the inside?  Me!  And who wants to pay $96 for it?  Me!  Wait … wait?!  I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought the By Terry Eye Designer palette but I’m pretty sure it has 97.93766% to do with that stupid pattern stamped into the eyeshadow.  Who’s the most ridiculous person on the planet?  I’m not even gonna answer that question cuz you already know.

These are new and come in two styles.  I bought the #2 Color Design because of the vibrant fun colors.  And yes, it is a beauty to look at.  And makes a very cool Instagram photo as evident by the 81 likes it’s currently received.  But good gracious it’s pricey!  And to be honest, I don’t think it’s worth it.  Sure it looks fancy, but I did not find the pigmentation on any of these to be particularly good.  Or not $96 worth of good.  And I don’t know about you, but if I’m spending that much money on anything, it bygod better be the best thing that’s ever been invented.  I’m keeping it until I die though because I figure eventually I’ll use it at least one more time by then.  Hashtag JUSTIFIED.

In case you haven’t noticed but I’m extremely behind this month already.  What is time?  Where does it go?  I dunno, guys. Sometimes I just paint my nails for three hours in the evening instead of doing something important.  Although painting my nails is pretty important, but I imagine my husband thinks scooping cat poop is more important.  He is WRONG.  Bye Friends!