Dre Does a Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette Review

Congrats Too Faced! You have officially figured women out; an eyeshadow palette that smells like chocolate! Does it get any better than that? (Ok maybe if it came with chocolate you could eat...but let's carry on with the review)

I had been hearing multiple things about this palette and all of them were great. I received a Sephora gift card so as I made my way to the store I had this palette in mind. With one look and smell of the palette I was sold. Not only does it smell amazing (the shadows have cocoa powder in them giving them a magnificent aroma), but the colors are gorgeous! This is the description on the back and I agree with it all: "Indulge your craving for chocolate with these 16 antioxidant-rich cocoa powder infused matte and shimmer shades of natural browns, delicate pinks and luscious plums. Inspired by our best-selling cocoa powder infused Chocolate Soleil Bronzer, the collection of decadent shadows is the perfect complement to any skin tones. Chocolate Bar comes with our signature Glamour Guide with three beauty looks to get you started." First of all, I lost that guide so whoops haha but yes you get that! Secondly I highly agree with the statement that they are perfect for any skin tone. There are cool, warm and neutral shades that will work for anyone. Instead of picking up the next Naked Palette (don't get me wrong those are nice too but work for specific skin tones instead) I would get the Chocolate Bar palette. I love how the plums and pinks are included to give you something more than just neutral looks. 

As far as the packaging goes, I love it. It's a brown metal palette with a magnetic closure. It feels very solid and durable. I'm a huge fan of this styling of packaging. There's also a nice sized mirror on the inside of the palette that's wide enough to see both eyes up close at once! 

The little plastic overlay with all of the shadow names comes out. While I like that this makes for a smaller palette because you don't have to make room by the shadows for names, I don't like that this is easy to lose and not keep track of what the colors are called. 

The picture above shows the shadows in indoor lighting with no flash. The picture below shows the shadows in natural outdoor lighting with no flash, which is a more accurate depiction of the actual shades. 

Overall, this palette has 7 matte shades, 3 shimmers with actual glitter, and 6 satin sheen shades. I would say the satins are the creamiest and most pigmented shades, then the mattes are shimmers are just slightly less pigmented and buttery. Overall the quality is amazing though and I find the colors easy to blend and work with. I also love that there is a great mix of finishes within the palette, especially that there both matte and satin highlight options (the two larger shadows). Below I've swatched and listed all of the color names for easy reference. The names are to the left of the corresponding swatches. 

If you're looking for a good neutral palette, I'd definitely get this one. Women who have a more neutral skin type like me (have equal parts warm and cool so you can wear either), I would highly recommend this palette because there's a good mix of undertones. Even those who are specifically warm or cool, I think you'd enjoy it as well, because let's be real. We women love chocolate and makeup and Too Faced certainly hit the nail on the head with this one!

If you have any requests for reviews please leave me a comment and let me know!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does an Ipsy Review

I'm back with a review on my March Ipsy Glambag and it was an awesome bag this month! I only received four products compared to the normal amount of five, but as you'll see in the totals later, this didn't decrease the value of the bag at all. Three out of four of the brands were higher end products which is great to see! Below is a summary of all the products and the bag.

The bag this month was really unique and featured the artwork of the artist Klari Reis. The design was inspired by the neighborhoods of San Francisco and I love the unique print. I think this is an awesome aspect of this months bag! 

First product up is the Marvelous Moxie Lipstick by bareMinerals in the shade Get Ready. It's a great natural shade that will look good on most skin tones, as it isn't extremely cool or warm. I absolutely love the formula of this lipstick and would definitely look into purchasing more after trying this mini one. As a typical woman I'm obsessed with the cute little size of this lipstick and I think it's a great shade and size to keep in your purse for everyday wear since it can match any makeup look and outfit choice. This 1.5g mini lipstick is valued at $7.71 (full size is $18). 

Next up is the Chella Felt Tip Eyeliner in Indigo Blue. It claims to be water resistant, smudge proof, and stain resistant as well, while being free of parabens which is awesome. While I found all of these claims to be true when I wore it, I did have a problem with the application using the felt tip. When you swatch it on the back of your hand it has great flow and pigmentation, but when you hold it up to your eye to draw a wing like I did, I found the tip didn't get enough saturation so it took a long time to get an exact fine tip to my wing. The color is gorgeous however and I received many compliments on it, so I'll definitely keep testing it out! This is a full size product valued at $24! This brings the total so far to $31.71.

Next I received a Love in Rio Eyeshadow Trio from NYX Cosmetics in the shade Voodoo Love Spells. I really like these shades. It's a great little everyday palette as there are two mattes (the darker shades) and one shimmer (the lightest). While these shadows aren't the most pigmented that I've ever tried from NYX, they are still good for that everyday eye look. This is the full size palette and it's value is $6.00, bringing my bag total to $37.71 so far!

Pixi is a brand that I always seem to swatch and look at when I'm in Target, but due to their larger price tag (for Target) I have never actually bought anything from the line before. I'm a sucker for face primers so I was really excited to see this really deluxe sized sample in my Glambag. It has a great sheen to it but it doesn't make you look oily. It doesn't have that silicon texture that a lot of primers have (i.e. Smashbox photo finish and Benefit's Porefessional) so if you don't like that, I recommend trying this one out. It has a subtle pink undertone to it, but it doesn't show up when blended out on your skin. I really like the smooth texture it gives my skin before applying my foundation. This deluxe sized sample is valued at $9.00 so my grand total value of my March Ipsy Glambag is $46.71! This is an awesome value for only getting 4 products! It's the second highest valued bag that I've gotten so far! Good job Glambag :) 

As usual I've linked my previous month's bags and my link to sign up if you're interested! 

February Ipsy Review ($45.02)

January Ipsy Review ($38.17)

December Ipsy Review ($57.17)

Click here to subscribe to Ipsy yourself!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does an Ipsy Review

It's that time of month again! I'm here with my February Ipsy Glambag Review and I'm sorry that I'm a little later than usual. You will see why though when you read on!

My apologies but my overall shot of all of my Ipsy products doesn't include all five. I did however snap individual product shots before I either a, gave away a product because it smelled so bad...(yes haha read on) or b, used it up! Whoops! I got a little excited...The bag itself is adorable as usual. It's pink and a great wipeable material. The inside has a cute pink leopard pattern which is fun. But let's get to the good stuff :) 

The first product I want to talk about is my favorite from the bag. A full size Zoya polish! These babies retail for $9 and are 5-Free! Incase you're unfamiliar with this nail term, it means that the polish is formulated without Formeldahyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate, Formeldahyde Resin, or Camphor, which are all harsh chemicals that we don't want to be putting on our nails. (3-Free nail polishes are also good which are formulated without Formeldahyde, Toluene, or Dibutyl Phthalate! The 5-Free just takes it a step further!) Polishes formulated without these chemicals are generally more expensive so it's awesome that Ipsy included a full size one this month! I love this gray/purple shade called 'Odette'. I feel like it's a happy medium between nude and color. I just got a gel manicure last night though so this is why I had to swatch it on my hand...haha However, I can tell it's a nice cream formula that would apply well. I've only heard great things about Zoya. 

The next product is a face mask and being my background in esthetics, I was ridiculously excited to see this included. This post is a little delayed because I wanted to wait and use this mask when I had enough time to really enough it. It's the Fresh Start Mask with Ice Age Mud by Skyn ICELAND. It's a two Phase mask which means that there are two pouches of product that you apply on top of each other. First you apply phase one which is made of Blue Clay and 13,000 mud from the Ice Age (haha this made me chuckle). It had a cooling sensation that feels nice and is supposed to oxygenate, smooth, and clarify your skin.Then you apply phase two right on top, which is a clear AHA gel complex that refines and detoxifies your skin. You massive the gel into the blue clay and it becomes warm and foamy. It's pretty fun to do, not going to lie...hahaThere's also Aloe in the mask which makes it soothing and good for all skin types, even sensitive. Overall my skin felt really awesome afterwards. I would definitely consider purchasing the full size product which is $39 for 6 mask sets (six of each phase). That makes this mask worth $6.50 and brings our Glambag total to $15.50 so far! 

And because what's a face mask without an awesome selfie for you to see what it looks like on? :) 

Next up we have lashes from Jcat Beauty. While I don't wear fake lashes very often, they're always a nice thing to get and have on hand. I've never tried lashes from this brand but they look like a nice length and shape, while I don't normally use it, it's awesome that they come with a mini sized lash glue incase I ever forget my favorite one by Duo. I'll keep you updated on how I like them when I use them! These retail for $3.99 bringing our total up to $19.49!

Next up we have the Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow and Base in One in the shade Violette which is a pretty lilac shade with shimmer (it's a nice nod to the 2014 Pantone shade Radiant Orchid). It's a cream base for your eye shadows that is supposed to be a creamy base and powder shadow in one (as the name clearly states haha). This combo is supposed to prolong the wear of your shadow by preventing any fading or creasing throughout the day. I have only used it once before I will have to play with it a little more to give a strong review on it, but so far the wear seems pretty average. It applies nicely and the color is beautiful. With a retail value of $18 since it is full size, I'm very happy to have received it. Current total = $37.49!

Lastly we have the item that smelled so terribly that it was given to a friend within seconds of opening my bag because they could stand the smell and wanted a free lip gloss...haha! It always disappoints me when companies don't spend as much time working on something like the smell of a product. I personally can be completely turned off from something even if I love the actual product, if it smells terrible (especially a lip product because hiiiii...my lips are pretty close to my smeller!). The actual gloss looked nice and pigmented and was a beautiful color but I couldn't get past the 'awful, chemical, disgusting, I don't even know smell'. I did however snap a photo of it before it was adopted. The full size 8.5g product retails for $16, so this mini guy is valued at $7.53 at 4g. This brings our grand total this month to $45.02! Not bad Ipsy, not bad.

Overall I really enjoyed this bag once again! Even without that gloss it was worth over $37 so I'm thrilled! Let me know if any of you have tried any of these products and if you are an Ipsy Subscriber let me know what you got! As usual Ipsy has all the discount codes for all of the brands they worked with this month, listed on their website so it's an awesome opportunity to try out a full size of something you enjoyed from your bag! Below I've linked my two previous months' reviews and the link for you to subscribe yourself if you'd like to! 

Click here for my January Ipsy Review.

Click here for my December Ipsy Review.

Click here to subscribe to Ipsy! 

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does a Maybelline Elixir Review

I wouldn't consider myself a huge lipgloss fan. I'd say my lip product collection is easily a 5 to 1 ratio of lipsticks to lipgloss. Due to the fact that I like my bold lip colors to be matte 95% of the time, I simply don't own many lip glosses. However, recently I've been getting more into nude lip colors and the look of a glossy finish is growing on me. I decided to try out some of 'The Elixirs' by Maybelline because I've been hearing nonstop positive things since they came out, so here we are.

(L to R): Nude Illusion, Blush Essence, Captivating Carnation.

To say I'm in love with a lipgloss is an understatement. Never did I think I would use that sentence. I'm really picky when it comes to gloss, so for me to be this obsessed with one is insane. I don't like sticky at all and I want a good cremey and pigmented finish. I don't like a super sparkley or glittery gloss either, so before these my go-to glosses were the NYX Butter Glosses. I still love those, but these Elixirs are amazing! Extremely buttery and smooth, great pigmentation, and they smell nice. I think the color range is good too. 

(L to R): Nude Illusion, Blush Essence, Captivating Carnation.

I purchased the shades Nude Illusion (060) and Blush Essence (095) the first time. After Nude Illusion created a new home in my pocket every single day, I went back and picked up Captivating Carnation (080). Nude Illusion is still my favorite but I love the other two as well. As you can see in the swatches below Nude Illusion and Captivating Carnation are both Creme glosses with no shimmer at all. Blush Essence (in the middle) has a slight shimmer to it but you can't feel it in the gloss and it's honestly not that noticeable. I really like the applicator as well because it's slightly slanted and the point at the tip makes it easy to be precise with your application.

Overall, I love these things. Watch your Rite Aides or Ultas because they will often have Buy One Get One 50% off sales for Maybelline (I know I will haha). At most locations around me I've been seeing them for $8.99 each! 

What are your favorite lip glosses? Leave me a comment below if there's one you think I should try!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does an Ipsy Review

It's already time for another Ipsy Review and I absolutely love this month's Glambag! It's a great mix of skin care, hair care, and makeup. It was my second bag and I'm still incredibly happy I chose to start my subscription with Ipsy. Read through to the end to see how much it's worth! Here is an overall glance at my January Glambag!

First off the bag is adorable. I really like the material of it because it's got that plasticy feel that seems like it would be really easy to wipe off and clean, so I look forward to using this for travel! Not to mention the cosmetic bottle cartoons are really cute. 

Now for the products, first off I got this MICA Cosmetics tinted lip balm. Seeing as I've never heard of this brand, at first glance this looked like it would turn out being a sheer tinted lip balm that wouldn't do much. Boy am I glad was I wrong! This is one of the most amazing lip products I've seen in a long time! It's a ridiculously pigmented product. Probably one of the best I've ever used. It's extremely thin and comfortable on your lips and even though it dries to a matte finish it didn't feel extremely drying. I wore it to school the night I got my Glambag in the mail and I got so many compliments on it! I love the shade I received (#6 Fiesta) and the wear was also really great through the evening! I found myself researching the price of these normally before the night was even over. So basically I'm already hooked and will be purchasing more of these as soon as possible, especially since Ipsy gives you a 40% code for MICA Cosmetics! A tinted lip balm normally retails at $30 for 4g, but this sample isn't too far behind at a value of $18.75 for 2.5g. So your bag is already paid for with this product!

The next product is from the new Proactiv + line. They sent me four Mark Fading Pads which contain Salicylic Acid in them. I like that they sent me more than one so I could get more of a feel for the product, but since fading is a gradual thing, four isn't really enough to see a difference and see if they work. I was excited to try them however because hyperpigmentation and dark spots are my biggest concern for my skin. The main thing I didn't like though is that Ipsy included a product that you can't buy on its own. You have to buy the whole Proactiv + line to get them so I probably wouldn't ever purchase them. It also made it pretty hard to calculate its value, but it looks like it only added a dollar so that brings our total to $19.75.

Now for something I loved. I have heard of the Nourish Organic brand before is I was excited to find their Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion in the scent Argan + Rose Water. It smells sooooo amazing and is a great sample size. You can get many uses out of it. The product is just like they say, lightweight and moisturizing so it's a great daytime lotion for me since I get oily throughout the day in my T-zone. The 1.7 oz full size retails for $21.99 so the deluxe sample at 0.5 oz is worth $6.47. This brings the current total to $26.22.

At first I was really excited to see a eye product called the Smooth Shadow Creamy Eye Pencil from the brand Elizabeth Mott because I love eye shadow bases, especially neutral ones. This one is in the shade Pearl and while I like the color, I don't like how much chunky glitter is in it. It was hard to photograph exactly how glittery it was but we're talking disco ball here. I will probably use it up since I have it and just place other eye shadows over it to tone down the glitter but I like bases that I can use on their own in a rush if needed. The 1.5g full size retails for $14.99 so this mini guy is valued at $7 at 0.7g. This brings our total to $33.22.

Lastly, we have the Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask. Depending on how much hair you have you can probably get a good two or three uses out of this sample which is pretty good! I recently got 9 inches cut off so my hair is pretty healthy. Therefore, I can't really judge it on how well it repairs but I can say it made my hair really soft and it smells nice. The 5.25 oz full size retails for $26 so this deluxe sample comes in at $4.95 for 1 oz. This brings our final Ipsy Glambag total to $38.17!! That's almost 400% the price you pay for the bag!

Overall, I'm still extremely happy I started my subscription with Ipsy last month. I loved this bag even more than the first, and as an esthiology student who loves skin, I was happy to see the broad range of types of products this month. I still recommend subscribing and will continue to review them every month! If you'd like to join the link is below!

http://www.ipsy.com/r/1ji4

If you'd like to see my review on last month's bag, click here!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does an Ispy Review

I've been eyeing the various beauty subscription services for a couple of months now and was deciding between Ipsy and Birchbox. I ultimately chose Ipsy because I'd been hearing recently that Birchbox was slacking on sample sizes, repeating products, and giving lots of perfume samples. For $10 I decided to get Ipsy and I was so happy with my first bag! One of the perks of Ipsy is that your products come in a makeup bag every month, made specially for them. I really like the black quilted faux patent leather pouch I received 5 full size products in and so far I'm really happy with everything I got. When you sign up you take a quiz that allows them to get to know you better and what types of products and colors would work best for you. Below is a summary of everything I got in my December bag!

First off is the Pop Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eyeshadow Trio in Smokin Hot. I'm not a huge fan of grays but since I don't own anything like this, it wasn't a bad addition to my collection. The shadows are pretty creamy and have good pigmentation. At first glance they look like the glitter might be chunky, but when applied, the shadows look more shimmery, which I was happy about. While you can't buy Trios from Pop Beauty, these shadows are from a 10 color palette that retails for $24 at pop beauty.co.uk. So this trio is valued at $7.20. 

Next we have The One Stick from Be A Bombshell cosmetics in the shade Sunset. This is a great multipurpose product that you can use on your cheeks, lips, or eyelids. It was really pigmented and blended really well on my cheeks. I also liked it applied to my lips, but have yet to try the eyelids (and to be honest I doubt I will haha). On beabombshellcosmetics.com it retails for $16! Bag total so far = $23.20.

Next up is the Mirabella Beauty Eye Blender brush. The handle is pretty heavy which I kind of like, but the brush head isn't that soft or dense. I'd say it's a so so brush. Don't think I'd buy it on its own. I was shocked to read the $27 price tag if you buy it through Mirabella, so I'd say if you're going to spend that kind of money definitely go somewhere else. Bag total so far = $50.20. 

Now we have the Salon Perfect Perfectly Natural Strip Lashes. I haven't used these yet so I can't really say much besides that they look like nice, natural looking lashes. I'll probably bust them out for New Year's Eve and make sure to update you all when I do! They retail at Walmart.com for $2.98. Bag total so far = $53.18.

Lastly in my bag, I got the J. Cat Beauty Big Lip Pencil in Red Rose. I love this pencil so far! I've worn it twice and it had a great matte finish, good pigmentation, and awesome staying power. I love the color and I think it's perfect for the holidays. Of all the products in the bag, I'd say this one is the one I'm most likely to purchase on my own. The only con that i can come up with is that this isn't a twist up pencil like some of the popular ones right now, but I already have a lip pencil sharpener so it's not really that big of a deal. It retails at jcatbeauty.com for only $3.99 which is awesome! I think it's a great product for the money. This brings the entire Ipsy bag total to $57.17 plus the value of the black bag it came it. 

I'm extremely happy with my December Ipsy bag and I would definitely recommend it so far. Paying only $10 but getting $57.17 worth of products is amazing! I'll make sure to keep reviewing these on a monthly basis! What subscriptions do you have? What ones do you have your eye on? Let me know in the comments!

If you'd like to join Ipsy yourself, click this link to get started!  http://www.ipsy.com/r/1ji4

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does Her Favorite Eyeshadow Palette

Eyeshadow palettes are always huge. It seems like every few weeks there's a new one getting hype from bloggers and YouTubers alike. I had my eye on the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette for a long time, but since it's 6 matte neutral shadows I figured it could be easily be duped with other colors. Boy was I wrong. The problem with most palettes today I think, is that they may have an array of beautiful colors in them, but they don't possess every color you need to create a full eye look. I found myself still having to carry a highlight color, crease color, and matte black. This is where the Naked Basics has changed everything. I think it is a must have because not only is it a stand alone amazing natural eye or even dramatic eye palette, but it's addition to whatever palette you already have allows you to completely multiply the possibilities of looks. You have highlight colors, crease colors, and that matte black can turn up the drama for any look.

(Naked Basics compared to my iPhone 5s)

If you travel a lot, being able to add one small palette that can do so much is beneficial. You could bring just this one, or you could bring another palette with some shimmery, more dramatic colors, and you would have all of your bases covered for any eye look you could want. Below are the eyeshadow colors in the palette and swatches without any primers or other products. 

(L to R: Venus, Foxy, W.O.S., Naked 2, Faint, and Crave)

Starting from the left, Venus is a light shade with only a slight satin sheen. It's so slight I wouldn't even call it a satin finish. It's a great inner corner color. Next are two wonderful highlight shades, Foxy (more yellow toned) and W.O.S. (more pink toned). Naked 2 is a great gray/brown/taupe color that I love for the crease. Next we have Faint which is a perfect matte brown color for adding more dimension to your look. Lastly, Crave is the matte black that is key in transitioning looks into more dramatic, night looks. 

Overall for only $27 I think this palette is an amazing addition to anyone's collection and a must have for those who like mattes or travel a lot. 

Have a beautiful day,

Dre