Fine tuning of my collection

Hi everyone,

As my makeup collections is getting smaller, I am actually having way more fun using it. I have bought some new products this year (there was a Sephora sale already this year after all), so I am at the point that I have a very curated makeup collection that I love. However, after the last declutter, I was able to find some holy grails products within my collection that I use all the time, so I had a chance to weed out the products that would work better for someone else. Having my friend in mind, who is a True autumn and has a light skintone like me, I knew this products would look great on her. They are warmed toned to begin with, so hopefully she will be able to love them as much as I have, but actually use them. All of these products are really lovely. Let’s take a look at them.

I think Essence has really lovely bronzers and this one is no exception. It is a really lovely formula, however it is a bit too dark for me. When I swatch it, it looks like it would be ideal, but applying it on my face, it would get too dark on me, especially if I am not careful and go with a more dense brush. I needed to use the fluffiest of the brushes to make it work for me and not go overboard. I really wanted this EM cosmetics palette in Rodin and I used it for a bit since I got it in November, but ultimately, I reach for my lighter palettes. Formula is nice, but I don’t reach for it over my Natasha Denona or Lisa Eldridge palettes. The same with Elf Keep it Ethereal palette. I heard it was a dupe for Make up by Mario Ethereal palette (that was a limited edition) and since I was trying to lean into more neutral palettes, I was happy to have a chance to try it out. The price of 10$ (5$ if you are lucky as I was when buying it) in comparison to 50+$ for Mario’s palette, was worth to try it out. The mate formula in this palette is great, pigmented, blendable, top notch. I didn’t care for the shimmer formula. I didn’t expect it to be so dry. I do understand it is supposed to be a topper kind of shimmer, but some of them seemed too hard to work. Since I had enough brown shades, and shimmers didn’t impress me, I didn’t want to keep it. However, if you are in the market for a blendable mate formula, Elf is your brand. I guess they are hit and miss, but these 10 pan palettes have overall good reviews. I am also letting go of the other Kaja trio I had. The shades are stunning in this Toasted caramel trio. I just don’t want to bother with an eyeprimer for shimmers, which I don’t even own anymore. I am letting go of two blushes as they are too pigmented for me. Rare beauty is lovely. I loved the shade Virtue, perfect for Autumn people, but it is too pigmented for me. I have to use the tiniest bit and I can still go overboard. Persona blush in Terracotta is a great shade, like bronzed blush, but I can also go overboard very quickly if I am not using the right brush. I tend to use a lot less pigmented blushes these days, and in much more subtle shades, which guarantees me to have more blended and subtle blush days.

I am also not using the Laura Geller highlighter in French Vanilla. I was on the hunt for a subtle highlighter, but this one ended up to be too subtle. It looks like a powder shade. It might brighten a bit, but it is not doing much for me. I would use it as a powder, but I have other powders that I use as a powder, so I am letting it go. It is also quite new, so it has a lot of shelf life in it. Finally, I am letting go of three lip products. Two of them were just bought at the Sephora sale. Merit lip liner in Beverly Hills was described as neutral leaning warm shade, peachy pink. It pulls straight up cool on me. Ilia lip oil in Tahiti was described as burnt coral, but it is more like pinky coral. When it fades on my lips, it fades to pink and that was not the look I am going for. The formula is great. A few years ago I had a shade Only you that was nice and I thought more warm shade would be even better. Well, you can’t always trust the descriptions online. The final product is my beloved Lisa Eldridge Baume embrace melting lip color in the shade Red curve. I bought it late last year, hoping that sheer warm red would be my ideal red, especially in this less saturated formula. It is beautiful, but it is a bit too bright on my skintone. I have found Ilia lipstick in the shade Amberlight in this last Sephora sale and it is literally everything I was looking for in a lipstick color, reddish, but not too bright, not orange nor pink…it is just right. I almost went for the Merit sheer lipsticks, but decided to give the Ilia a try and I am so happy I did. So having that lipstick made me think that this Red curve would go underutilized in my collection, but it would look divine on my friend. I believe all of these 10 products would look fabulous on her and I hope she enjoys them.

That is all for now from me and I will catch you next time.

XOXO, Iva