Makeup.
If you know me personally, you'll know that I was the ultimate tomboy forever and didn't discover the amazingness that is makeup until college. I still don't consider myself an expert, or anything, but I LOVE me a good lippie.
Being the broke human services worker that I am, it isn't quite often that I'm able to splurge on makeup. (Plus, I spend most of my money on food, anyway.) Luckily, this is my birthday month and I got TWO free gifts to add to my collection. Hence, the title of this post: pseudo makeup haul.
I figured I'd take the time to swatch the items I've recently acquired (some for the first time - yes, you all are that special that I waited until writing this post), and let you guys know about some awesome small businesses!
Let's get started!
Ulta
If you're an Ultamate Rewards member and you haven't claimed your birthday present this year, GET YOUR LIFE. Hello?! Free stuff?! If you aren't an Ultamate Rewards member, and you want to become one, click here or visit your local Ulta! As a member you can get a free birthday gift every year (gifts change each quarter), earn double points on purchases during your birthday month, and redeem points earned throughout the year.
This year, the gift for July-September is this full size NYX Cosmetics eyeshadow palette. To get my gift, I visited my local Ulta, gave them my email (because I lost my card, lol), and was able to walk out with my gift. Eyeshadow is honestly my biggest struggle, but hey ... it's free! The size is really convenient, and I wouldn't hesitate to bring this with me in my purse if need be. It also comes with an awesome mirror that takes up the entire top half once you open up the palette. Super dope.
The palette comes with 6 shimmer shades and 4 regular shades (ten shadows total), and they generally all take a couple swipes to build up. I really loved the shimmer shades, with the green, red, and purple-ish color options, and the orange color really caught my eye. The shadows came off easily with a makeup wipe. Below you'll see swatches (don't mind my scratched up arm) with top row labeled as T and bottom row labeled as B. Shoutout to my husband for offering up his arm!
If you are not an Ultamate Rewards member, and you want to become one, click here or visit your local Ulta!
Sephora
Sephora joins Ulta in offering birthday gifts to their Beauty Insider members every year. This year, two options were given. Makeup from Tarte Cosmetics, or a skin care gift from Caudalie. I, of course, chose the makeup.
The gifts from Sephora are typically not full size, so these gifts are much smaller than the one from Ulta. To get the gift, I went to my local Sephora, gave them my email (cause I lost my card for them, too, LOL), and walked out with my gift. Very easy process.
The products themselves were extremely cute. Also, I've never bought from Tarte, so I was pretty excited to try them. The 'Birthday Suit' lippie formula was so creamy, that it put Tarte on my 'must try' list. The creamy formula made it difficult to swatch evenly on my arm, but there was no trouble when applying it to my lips. This color was thiiiiiis close to being that crazy 'thot' pink everyone was rocking about 2-3 years ago, but I ended up really liking it! The blush 'Paaarty' was also very cute. It doesn't come with a mirror in the compact, but I'm excited to try it out on a full face. I've provided swatches below! Both products came off easily with a makeup wipe.
If you are not a Beauty Insider with Sephora, and you want to become one, click here or visit your local Sephora!
Juvia's Place
You might recognize this company by their amazing packaging and Egyptian Queen Nefertiti on the cover of their palettes. Founded by Chichi Eburu, a Nigerian woman, Juvia's Place features "the most rich, vibrant, and highly pigmented essential colors" that I think would look bomb on any woman, especially women of color.
This was my first time purchasing from Juvia's Place, and even though I know absolutely
rien about applying eyeshadow, I HAD to have this palette when I saw it on Twitter. It was absolutely beautiful. In order to justify my purchase of an item I had no idea how to use, I just told myself that it was limited in quantity and that when I DID learn how to apply eyeshadow, I'd have it handy and be happy that I purchased it, LOL.
The buying process? Easy as pie. First off, lemme talk about the price. This thing only costs $17.50 + shipping. I purchased mine with discount code "WOC" (thanks to @MakeupForWOC on Twitter) and got it for UNDER $20 TOTAL. The shipping process was supah dupah fast. Like, I bought on a Tuesday evening, allowing at least 7-9 business days for processing, like their website said, right? It came on THURSDAY. Like ... whaaaaa?! Brownie points for Juvia's Place.
The palette features nine shadows (6 mattes & 3 shimmer shades). Like I said, I'm not an expert in eyeshadow or anything, but I noticed that the matte colors could potentially need more buildup to become extremely pigmented, when compared to the shimmer shades. The shimmer shades were ohhhh so smooth and very pigmented. I did a couple swipes around each color for the swatches I've posted below. You'll see photos of the palette + packaging, as well as arm swatches in different lighting. I've labeled the swatches by their location (T = top, M = middle, B = bottom). Products came off relatively easily with a makeup wipe.
Juvia's Place also sells blush palettes, single eyeshadows, brush sets, bundles (no, not weave bundles), as well as eyeshadow palettes.
To purchase the Zulu Eyeshadow Palette, click here
Ultravixen Cosmetics
If you follow me on Instagram (@afrolatinas_) you might've seen me post about this company already. I figured I'd include them in this blog post because they're a Latina owned company! They're all about "old Hollywood glamor". Founded by Annelise Marceline (Puerto Rican & Uruguayan), this very small company is run basically by ONE person, makes their products in limited batches to ensure high quality, does not test on animals (yes for cruelty free), and offers some vegan options! Ms. Marceline believes that representation matters and "specifically chooses models of various nationalities and color ranges" to promote her products.
Ultravixen Cosmetics caught me with their Marble Gloss Lipstick in 'Crawford' wayyyyy back and I just had to try it. I love me a good purple lip. It cost $16 + shipping, and was delivered in approximately three weeks (and a day) - not bad at all for a small company. What I didn't know was that the thing would smell like amazingness! Because this product is a lip plumping agent, it's made with cinnamon (for those who are allergic). It smells like cinnamon and vanilla goodness and I literally wanted to eat of off my lips. I didn't though ... I promise. The applicator is attached, with a twist bottom portion.
The color when I first swatched it was actually kind of funky! It was a kind of blue-ish hue, and not as pigmented as I thought it would be. When I did full face, I tried lining it with a purple lip liner first, and then it ended up appearing more purple (photo below). I'm typically not a gloss girl, but this product was very unique. Me likey. I'd definitely like to try out Ultravixen's regular liquid lips in the future, though.
Unfortunately, this lip product is not longer for sale, as they just revamped their shop. But, Ultravixen seems to have lots of other beautiful lip options, including their Boudoir Companion collection that I have my eye on.
To browse around Ultravixen's other lip options, click here
Vive Cosmetics
This company is "by Latinas created for Latinas/Latinxs" and was founded by Joanna Rosario (Mexican & Puerto Rican) and Leslie Valdivia (Mexican). They pride themselves in being #BesoProof, #BeautyConCultura, cruelty-free and vegan, AND donating 25 cents of each unit to women and girls of color causes. They stick to their roots with cute product names like 'Spanglish', 'Chingona', and 'Selena Forever', and make products that cater to our indigenous roots. They believe that representation is important, and so do I.
This was my first time purchasing from Vive, and I was super excited. It cost $18 + shipping, and I paid via PayPal credit card (for those of you who don't have a PayPal account). It took about a week to arrive, and when I saw the bright pink package, I automatically knew what it was. Their packaging is super cute and vibrant, and they include confetti and authentic candy inside!
The lippie itself is very light. It has a regular applicator stick, and the formula is really thin. Don't let the formula fool you, though. One or two coats will definitely suffice. In my swatches below, you'll see my swatches - both arm and lip - were two coats, and my husband's darker arm was one coat. Not much of a difference at all, and the product is quite pigmented. I love that I don't have a color like this in my arsenal, so this purchase was exactly what I thought it would be, in terms of color. A+, Vive.
Now. When this company says their product is #BesoProof ... they mean it. I scrubbed my fully dried arm swatch with a makeup wipe for about a minute straight and there was STILL residue from the lipstick. (If you want proof, look at my swatches from Ultravixen above.) This thing is hebi-duty, which I appreciate, but if anyone has any tips on how to get this thing off more efficiently, let me know! LOL
To purchase 'Maria', click here
Use code 'SUMMER2017' to save some monies!
Happy Shopping!
- YAA
