Mini Haul & Review!
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Firstly,
I want to say welcome to AceBeautie! I
don’t know exactly where this is going to go over time, and I don’t really even
know where I want it to go, but there’s no better way to figure it out than to
get started. Eventually, I’ll get around
to making an about page, which will explain what kind of posts I’m hoping to
make and some more background about me.
But for now, here’s my first post!
Over
the past couple of weeks I did go a little bit crazy with buying makeup and
hair care products, so I figured I would talk about them on here. All of these products are cruelty-free, as
part of my ongoing journey toward a fully cruelty-free makeup, skincare, and
haircare routine. Luckily, there are
some really amazing brands out there that are cruelty-free, so there’s no
shortage of products to choose from. For
this “haul,” I have products from three different brands: ColourPop, Lush, and
Nyx. All of them are fantastic brands that I would definitely recommend if you’re
not familiar.
My ColourPop spree was inspired by an email I got from them, advertising their
“Puppy Love” eyeshadow shade. I’ve been
a ColourPop fan for awhile now, and yes, I’m on their email list—and in this
instance I was very glad about it. The particular shade of eyeshadow was a pretty light pink, but
what really caught my attention was the fact that all of the proceeds from this
shade were going to a charity called the Best Friends Animal Society,
specifically an initiative called No Kill Los Angeles (NKLA, which you can
learn more about here). This is a really important cause to me, and
on top of that, I loved the colour itself, so I had to get it. Plus, like all of their Super Shock Shadows,
Puppy Love was only $5! Of course, I
didn’t stop there, and I ended up purchasing two liquid lipsticks (their Ultra
Matte Lip in Shimmy and Clueless), a lip liner (the Lippie Pencil in Bound),
and a lip primer (the Lippie Primer from their Lippie Stix Collection) as well as the shadow, which is sadly no longer available. By now, I’ve used all of the products, and I
can easily say that they have all lived up to my expectations. Puppy Love is really pretty and shimmery with
a high colour payoff, the Ultra Matte Lip lipsticks are incredibly long lasting,
and the liner and primer are some of the best I’ve used. The one reservation I do have is about the
Ultra Matte Lips—like any matte lipstick, especially a liquid one, they’re
really drying, and using chapstick or lip balm under them can make them last
less long. Overall, though, if you’re
taking good care of your lips and you’re not feeling super dry to begin with, I
would recommend them. Definitely use a
primer, and apply one layer at a time—putting another coat on before it’s fully
dry is essentially like trying to put another coat of nail polish on before
your nails are dry—not good. For that
reason, I would definitely recommend this product in darker colours more than
the lighter colours, because you get a better colour payoff with a smaller
amount of product. On myself, I like
Clueless better than Shimmy, because Shimmy is a lot lighter than my natural
lip colour, and it’s definitely more dramatic than I like to go with on a
regular basis. Other than that, I have
nothing but good things to say about my ColourPop purchases, and I will
definitely be purchasing from them again in the near future.
My
next purchases were in the Lush store at the Orlando airport, where I was procrastinating
going through the security line for my flight back to Albany at the end of
spring break. There was a really sweet
employee who helped me find the best products for what I was looking for. I finally ended up picking out the No Drought
dry shampoo and Jason and the Argan Oil shampoo bar, and I got a sample of
Veganese conditioner. I definitely have
a love/hate relationship with dry shampoo, and No Drought is no exception. I find that dry shampoos in general tend to
leave a residue in my hair that permeates my entire life, and I don’t typically
see very good results. My hair doesn’t
do things halfway, and when it’s greasy, it’s really greasy—not the kind of
thing that can fixed with a little dry shampoo.
That said, they can really make a difference for a really short period
of time, so if I just need a few more hours I’ll definitely use a dry shampoo
to help. No Drought is definitely the
best one I’ve tried. It doesn’t leave
whiteness in my dark hair, and it leaves me feeling a bit cleaner overall. However, the packaging could be a lot better,
and it tends to make a mess all over me when I’m trying to get the powder out
of the bottle. As for Jason and the
Argan Oil: I love this product. This is
my first shampoo bar, and the different format does take some getting used to.
I would definitely recommend storing it outside of the shower and letting it air
dry to avoid crumbling and stickiness.
The other thing I would recommend is sectioning your hair while washing it in order to get the best coverage. Since it's not liquid like other shampoos, it can be more difficult
to apply it evenly, especially to the underlayers of your hair. I've found that sectioning my layers off
really helps. Other than that, I love
this product. It works so well for
moisturizing (thanks, argan oil!) that I'm honestly having a hard time finding
a conditioner that can keep up with it. The
Veganese sample I got unfortunately isn’t doing it for my hair, as it’s a really
thin, light formula. My hair really
tends to get dry, so I definitely need something with a little more substance
to it. Overall, though, my hair is
really happy with the purchases I made.
The final stop on
my haul was Ulta, where I ended up picking out three different Nyx
products. First, I picked up the
Conceal, Correct, Contour concealer palette, and then the Stay Matte But Not Flat foundation in two colours (Ivory and Creamy Natural), and finally the HDStudio Photogenic Finishing Powder.
Unfortunately, this was not my best experience with Nyx
products. I have really mixed feelings
about the Conceal, Correct, Contour palette, the Stay Matte But Not Flat
foundation was a lot heavier than I would have liked (not to mention I bought
the wrong colours), and I’m still a beginner with finishing powder so I’m not
really sure whether or not this particular one is “good” or not. The concealer palette, in my opinion, could
be good for colour correcting under the eyes, or contouring on the flat of your
cheek, but I found that it made my forehead and t-zone look really cakey when I
tried to conceal some small spots I had there.
I also felt that the shades in the Light palette might be a little light
for my skin, whereas the Medium palette is definitely too dark. I have heard, though, that the product takes
some getting used to, so I’m definitely planning on giving it another shot at
least, but so far I’m not really impressed.
The foundation also felt cakey on my skin, and didn’t provide as much
coverage as I would have wanted from such a thick product, but these issues
might also have been due to the fact that I am very unused to using
full-coverage foundations (read: this is the first one I’ve tried). So overall, these Nyx products haven’t been
my favourites so far, but I’m definitely planning on giving them another
shot.
I’m pretty happy
with the new products I’ve gotten and tried recently. I probably won’t be able to get anything else
new in the near future because I’m saving up to go visit my best friend in
Scotland at the end of the semester, but I definitely have more than enough new
products to keep me occupied!
That brings me to
the end of the first AceBeautie post! I
hope y’all have enjoyed this post and/or found it helpful!
See you next time…
Ella
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