My Makeup Audit: August 2020
August is just over and the weather is starting to signal Autumn here in Sweden. Chillier winds, a lower general temperature and more rain. In general I really prefer this weather to summer. When the sun is shining you can be outside in normal clothes and a light jacket. No sweat and sunburn, just crisp air and nature is so stunning right now.
The August arsenal was significantly smaller than the previous month. In July I had the selection of 66 eyeshadows to choose from – this month I had 31. The cheek selection was more or less the same, a total of six shades. Brands included are Inglot, MAC, KvD, H&M, Urban Decay, Phee’s Makeup Tips and Nabla. Let’s start with the eye team first as usual.
Top Row L-R: 343, 292, 390, 287, 360
Bottom row L-R: 302, 348, 293, 326, 384
I chose two Inglot palettes as my main palettes, just because I’ve not shown them as much love as they deserve over the years. I made one with only mattes and one with mainly shimmers. Most of these are from 2013 but a few mattes are newer and from 2016-2017.
Top Row L-R: 461, 434, 26, 420, 44
Bottom row L-R: 153, 430, 446, 470, 25
Many of the shimmer shades smell quite a bit and even though I remember them doing that even when they were new, it does not feel too good seven years on. They are old and I’m sure some of them should be thrown out.
Top Row L-R: Pitch Black, Artemisia
Bottom row L-R: Capsize, White Truffle
To fill in some gaps in the arsenal I chose four Nabla shadows to complete the matte eyeshadow team. These are fairly new (2018) and I highly doubt that these will be anything other than winners.
The Alchemist palette adds some duochrome action to the arsenal. I remember loving this KvD palette when it launched, it was the greatest thing. But I do not reach for it any longer and it’s time to evaluate what it really means to me.
Top: Artisan Copper
Bottom L-R: Stargazer, Fireball
Lastly we have three singles full of shimmering goodness. Stargazer by Urban Decay is in the Moondust formula. Fireball by the same brand is a regular shadow and both of these were purchased in 2016. Then we have a limited edition shadow by H&M Beauty (Artisan Copper) which I think is even newer.
Moving on to swatches and a rundown of what my final opinions are of each eye product in the audit.
One thing this audit project has told me that I seem to really enjoy Inglot mattes. Very few of the ones I have are being discarded and most of them perform beautifully. 343 and 287 are solid brights and very useful to me. 292 is that lovely brown mustard type of shade that I adore. 390 is a great soft crease diffuser on me and 360 is a good mid neutral brown. 302 and 293 are very unique shades in my collection and 326 is a generally versatile shade. 384 was the one hanging a bit loose but is given a pass until further notice because I enjoyed this specific shade of green on me. However it’s the kind of shade I use very rarely so it has to be pitted against anything remotely similar in Round 2. The sole loser in the matte bunch is 348, the grey. I have no feelings for it whatsoever.
I really enjoy the Inglot shimmers as well. The fact that they smell is a big turn off though. 461 is a lovely sand matte with slight shimmer and it looks amazing on the eye. 434 was a surprise favourite for me. It’s a gorgeous dark purple grey and I have nothing else like it. Despite being a bit old this one stays until Round 2. 26 and 420 were lovely as well but less unique so they will have to go. 44 however is another surprise. It’s a forest green with an ethereal green shimmer running through it and it looks amazing on its own or on top of other shadows. I fell in love with this shade and cannot find anything similar in my collection. So it stays. The taupe silver 153 also gets to stay despite its age (and smell). I really enjoyed using this on the lid but also as an interesting inner corner highlight. 430 and 25 are pretty but nothing special so they can go. 446 is pretty enough but too dry for me to ever reach for it again. And the last one is 470, a lovely light coral shimmer that was a joy to use. So a total of five discards from this palette.
All four Nabla shadows are great and are staying. No contest.
The Alchemist palette (KvD) is in theory perfect for me. But during the month I’ve realized that most of the shades have a bit too much of a white base to really be what I want this type of shifting shadow to be. That base makes them less ideal to layer over other shadows because it dims the base shadow. They work ok as inner corner highlights but I still prefer to use other shadows for the job. I feel no need to keep this.
Stargazer, Artisan Copper and Fireball are all unique in their own way and all three are solid keepers.
Moving on to cheek products…
Top Row L-R: A Little Lusty, Phee’s Glow
Bottom row L-R: Gotham, Habana, Coralia, Obsexed
For cheeks I assembled four of my Nabla single pans in a palette – one contour (Gotham), two blushes (Habana, Coralia) and one highlighter (Obsexed). To this I added a MAC blush (A Little Lusty) and a loose highlighter by Phee’s Makeup Tips (Glow Highlight Powder).
I really enjoyed using this month’s blush selection. A nice late summer palette with a bit more muted shades. I have no reason to let any of the Nabla products go. I rarely wear contour nowadays but Gotham works well as that and as a blush. Coralia and Habana are nice blush shades and Obsexed is a fun duochrome pink gold shade that is quite wearable. Not quite as wearable was A Little Lusty (MAC) due to its deep pigmentation, but the colour is so gorgeous. Simply stunning. Tapping into the pan with a light hand and then swirling the brush in the palm of my hand prior to applying it to my cheeks made the application process less daunting. Finally we have the loose highlighter with no name, the original Glow Highlight Powder shade by Phee’s Makeup Tips, a pale white gold with quite a significant sheen. Initially I deemed this too glittery for my taste and that I would not continue to reach for a highlighter in loose form. But as the month progressed and I kept using it I learned that I really enjoy it. Applied lightly it gives a stunning glow and I would love to keep using it.
That completes the rundown of the products I used in August. Let’s have a look at a few of the looks I wore during the month.
August 1
Eyes: 25, 470, 343
Cheeks: Coralia, Obsexed
August 11
Eyes: 44, 293, 26
Cheeks: Coralia, Obsexed
August 14
Eyes: Artisan Copper, 430, 292
Cheeks: A Little Lusty, Gotham, Phee’s Glow
August 24
Eyes: 420, 434, 348, 343, 390, 360, Pitch Black
Cheeks: Habana, Obsexed
August 26
Eyes: 434, 461, 26, 360, 302
Cheeks: Gotham, Obsexed
August 28
Eyes: 470, 420, Emerald, Saphyre, Amethyst, Opal, Pitch Black
Cheeks: Coralia
This was a fun month. The arsenal felt reasonable in size and I managed to get quite a lot of use out of each shade. Out of a total of 31 eye shades and 6 cheek shades I am letting go of 10 of those shades in total. I’m glad some of the old Inglot shades are getting some love and that some of them are weeded out.
Thank you for reading!