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The Used Up 2021:1
Time to go through all of the makeup and skincare items that were used up by me during the first half of 2021, January-June. A total of 22 items, whereas five of them are makeup items. I do not include body care, haircare or any SPF in this roundup post, since I do not care to have a follow up for those categories.
Some notes about my skin – I have dehydrated combination skin. I am noticing my skin changing a lot because of ageing (I’m 39) so I am slowly adjusting my routine to its evolving needs. I still get the occasional breakout and can get quite shiny during the day. My skin rarely reacts badly to products and I have no allergies.
Cleansers
I managed to use up a total of five cleansing products during this period and one is a mini. The Rose Cream Cleanser by Pixi (135 ml, 279 SEK) has been a steady part of mosts instalments of The Used Up and I used it as my only cleanser in the morning and as my second cleanser in the evening. I still think it is a lovely product – I love the texture, the scent and the effect. But I have noticed previously, as mentioned in earlier posts, that one tube does not last me as long as I want it to and I wish to find a replacement that lasts longer for the price.
The Olive Cleansing cleanser by Maria Åkerberg is such a replacement purchase. I used up a mini, that I bought as part of a spa kit, and enjoyed the texture and the smell enough to buy the large bottle (250 ml, 229 SEK). However after a while I noticed that the smell started to bother me so I think I might refrain from buying it again. For now at least.
The Rehydrating Rosepetal Cleanser by Elemis (200 ml, 365 SEK) was also purchased as an effort to replace the one from Pixi. The pump dispenser worked well and on a normal day I would use 2-3 pumps for my entire face. The rose smell was a bit too much for my taste but it is i no way off-putting. It is an ok product but I do not feel enticed enough to repurchase.
Nourishing Omega-Rich Cleansing Oil by Elemis (195 ml, 465 SEK) is a product that I used up back in 2019 and decided to try again. It is lovely and smooth oil that effectively removes makeup. I could use it on my eyes without any big problems. The big plus with this product is that it lasts for a long time, more than six months, which would warrant the price. I’ve not experimented with many cleansing oils previously, since I used to prefer balms, but I will try and see if I can find another oil that is a little less expensive or one from a brand that I have more feelings for, you know.
Toner & mists
One type of mist that I use quite seldom is a more hydrating and nourishing mist, like the Glow Mist (80 ml, 249 SEK) by Pixi. It contains oils and this I would use during the day when I want some hydration on top of makeup or in the evening as a last skincare step. I do not use this as a “glow getter” since I have combination skin and my natural glow, or shine if you will, will come naturally anyway. I use it more like a comforting and calming hug for the face when it feels in need. I have repurchased this specific product but in the Rose version.
I continue to mist my face after cleansing before I apply serums etc, both in the morning and evening. I have enjoyed the Nordic Hydra Facial Mist (50 ml, 99 SEK) from Lumene just fine. It is hydrating, has a nice scent and the mister works well. This and the Vitamin-C version have been in my previous iterations of The Used Up numerous times. However I am a bit out of love with Lumene as a brand and will phase out all of my recurring favourites from them. When I finished this last bottle I switched back to the Hydrating Accelerator from Josh Rosebrook again. I found it in the larger bottle (120 ml) and I currently enjoy using it a lot more than I did the first time around.
Essence & serums
A recurring product is the Nordic-C Glow Boost Essence by Lumene (30 ml, 289 SEK). I go through these quite quickly and have another bottle in use right now. But after that I will break the habit and find other hydrators.
The theme continues – two tubes of the Rose Caviar Essence by Pixi (45 ml, 399 SEK) emptied in six months yet again. I have continued to use this product twice daily to layer hydration but I’m not really comfortable with the fact that I go through four tubes in a year. That is a bit much since I combine it with the Lumene essence and those seem to go in a similar rate. That is a lot of money for my hydrating sandwich. I will probably buy the Caviar Essence again in the future but for now I’m going to try some other serums and see if I can get my hydration boost for a little less money.
Niacimide 10% + Zinc 1% by the Ordinary (30 ml, 69 SEK) is what I use whenever my skin is prone to breakouts and I usually apply it over the affected area or the t-zone. I have another bottle in use right now. It feels like it calms everything down a bit.
Moisturisers & oils
This is my second jar of Hydration Recharge Overnight Cream (50 ml, 209 SEK) by Lumene from their Nordic Hydra series. I used it as a night cream on top of serums and/or oils. I’m not repurchasing because – Lumene.
I purchased the 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil (30 ml, 134 SEK) by The Ordinary primarily to use when doing face massage on myself (I have a tendency to tense my jaw and a massage really helps). Then I also started to use it in the evenings whenever I felt like my skin needed a “blanket”. I rarely use oils but this one works very well with my combination skin. It smells a bit interesting, like hay or something, but I’ve grown so accustomed to the smell that now I find it comforting. It did start to go off when I was a the end of the bottle so the shelf-life of 12 months after opening is about right. I have repurchased this product and I find it to be very useful.
Masks
The Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Masque (125 ml, 330 SEK) was a spontaneous purchase when I still lived in Gothenburg and had a Kiehl’s counter readily available. On paper it looked like a great product for me since I really enjoy moisturising overnight masks and it was a huge jar for a reasonable price. I’ve had previous positive encounters with the Ultra Facial series as well. But this product is really not for me. It’s a clear jelly-like product that smells very little but still has a slight chemical scent that is hard to describe. It does not sink into the skin at all but rather leaves a thick sticky surface that gets everywhere including my pillow. I hate sleeping in it and that totally defeats the purpose. I’ve been doing masks really infrequently since I dislike this one so much and that is a shame. I’m so glad it is finally empty so that I could purchase a replacement for that category. I have done that and it’s by M Picaut.
I used the Blue Herbal Spot Treatment (15 ml, 200 SEK) by Kiehl’s on any blemishes to stop them in their track. It worked just fine but when dried down it did leave a film on the skin. Even if that was just a small area it did have a tendency to pill whenever I touched the skin. This tiny tube lasted me a very long time since a little goes a long way and that is a pro for sure but I do not feel inclined to buy it again. I would prefer something that does not form such a prominent film. I’ve purchased a replacement from Pixi.
I really hated the Lumene Deeply Purifying Birch Charcoal Mask (75 ml, 129 SEK) from day one. The consistency felt like applying liquid plastic on my face and the mask did nothing for my skin. The scent did nothing for me either, it was a pain to remove and every time I used it felt like a chore. But I did it, I finished the damned thing! And I will never ever consider buying this product again. I am yet to find/buy a replacement for its position.
Base makeup
My last pressed powder by Soap and Glory, One Heck of a Blot Mattifying Powder (9 g, £12), is now used up. I stocked up on this lovely product when I was in London many years ago and now I have used all of them up. I can highly recommend it if you like a translucent pressed setting powder and can get your hands on it.
Following with two Lumene base items, one being the Under Eye Concealer (5 ml, 149 SEK). This exact packaging does not seem to be available anymore but they have a similar product in their line. It worked well for me but it is not available in any other shades. It’s an apricot corrector type shade but I have a hard time thinking this would work for everyone. I will not repurchase.
The Blur Foundation (30 ml, 199 SEK) in “0 Light Ivory” has been repurchased over the years but Lumene has changed the shades, the formula and even the artwork for this product so many times over the past years that I have lost count. Every time I repurchase there seems to be a new version of the same product/shade. This version of Light Ivory was way too pink for me and I have another one in rotation and surprise surprise, it’s different. I currently have both “0” and “00” and this time around the formula seems to be thicker. The shade match is better now but neither of them are the perfect match. I am a bit over trusting Lumene with this foundation since it is so inconsistent in shade and formulation. I will use up the two tubes that I have and that’s it.
Mascara & brows
After trying to find an option for the Lash Power mascara by Clinique I found out that Surratt made tubing mascaras and wanted to try them out for myself. First i bought the Pointilliste Mascara (2 g, 300 SEK) by mistake, not realising it was such a small tube and therefore also a small amount. It is aimed to be used for the lower lashes and has a tiny brush, but I could use on the top lashes as well. But the price point is ridiculous for such a tiny amount of product. When the Relevée Mascara (6 g, 320 SEK) cam in stock I bought it and used them both simultaneously. Now that I have finished both I will only repurchase the Relevée but I will clean and save the brush for Pointilliste. As with most tubing mascaras the result is quite basic but I do find that Relevée is buildable if I wait a little bit before applying more. Not too long so that the mascara dries, but just going back and forth between both eyes a bit allows it to build somewhat. Not a fat lash by any means, but thicker and a bit more definition. I did suffer a tiny bit of fallout “smudge” on some days but nothing that bothers me at this point. I enjoy this product and as mentioned I have repurchased. The packaging is sleek and the brush is nice and slim, just how I like it. The big draw-back is the price tag. I am not too happy with 320 SEK for a consumable like this but it will do for now.
That was it, six months of used up products. I’m currently very uninspired by skincare and there are few brands that pique my interest nowadays. I’m looking to try some more items from Josh Rosebrook, M Picaut and Pixi. I’m also looking at Swedish brand Acasia since I’ve not tried any of their products but heard good things about them. But what I really long for is to not have to experiment and try new skincare products a lot, but rather to find my core basics from brands that I like. And with a little luck those products will last me a long time so that I do not have to repurchase all the frakking time. Until then..
Thanks for reading!
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My Makeup Audit: July 2021
July was the month when I had my summer vacation and spent my days doing a mix of things, trying to slow down my brain after yet another hectic Spring. We had no major plans beforehand and ended up with a nix mix of activities and relaxed days. It was nice with a change of pace. I also wore makeup a bit less often than usual, mostly in the evenings, and I was a bit crappy at taking decent pictures when I did wear something. Despite the less frequent use of makeup I did manage to wear all of the items in my monthly arsenal and ended up with a clear opinion on what I wanted to let go. Here is how the month went down..
For July I had a total of 33 individual eye shadows to choose from including MAC, Emme Cosmetics, Inglot, Makeup Geek, Meow Cosmetics, Urban Decay, KvD, Illamasqua, Sleek Makeup and Sephora Collection. A smaller arsenal with an erratic colour scheme.
Top Row L-R: Brulé – Cozy Grey – Friend Zone – 331 – 299
Bottom Row L-R: Relish – Daemon – Walking Heartbeats
Eight pressed mattes were all I could put in this months arsenal since I’m running low on mattes to audit (as mentioned in previous posts) and for me this lineup is not ideal. It’s not a great variety and the only up side to this is that it will force me to be even more creative and make do with what I have. In the palette we can find three MAC shadows, where two are depotted from two different fixed 15-pan palettes (Brulé, Cosy Grey) and one is still in its original pot. That is Walking Heartbeats – a shadow from the In Monochrome collection that was released in early 2019.
We also have two Inglot shades (331, 299) of varying age. The green is most likely from my massive New York Inglot purchase in 2013 and the brown was bought online in 2016 when Inglot became available in Sweden. The Makeup Geek shadow (Friend Zone) is also a purchase from 2016. The darker red by Urban Decay (Relish) is from 2017. The newest shadow is by Illamasqua (Daemon) and that was a shadow I lusted over for a long time before finally buying it in 2018. So a lot of red and not that many neutrals to choose from. But the above were not the only mattes shadows this month, I did have some matte pigments too..
Top Row L-R: Pure White – True Chartreuse – Sunfest
Middle Row L-R: Magenta Madness – Neo-Orange – Zing
Bottom Row L-R: Full Force Violet
But matte pigments does not usually serve the same purpose as pressed matte shadows. I for one do not use them the same way. I would use them to mix with a medium to create a cream or liquid shadow or mix with a lip product to create an intenser and/or unique lip shade. An interesting thing this far into the audit is the fact that I have prioritised auditing my fixed palettes and singles over pigments. I’ve for sure sprinkled arsenals with my Meow shadows, that are loose shadows for sure but mainly shimmers, but I did forget my other pigments/loose shadows for a long time. I had them stashed in a separate drawer that I forgot about when putting my arsenals together. That is one reason why this arsenal is so matte pigment heavy, not because it is a great idea but because I had to since I wanted to finalize my audit of mattes. We have seven intense pigments this month, two from Sleek Makeup (Zing, Sunfest) and five from MAC (Pure White, True Chartreuse, Magenta Madness, Neo-Orange, Full Force Violet). The Sleek pigments are from 2013 and the MAC ones are most likely from around the same year.
Top Row L-R: Sweet Heat – Era – Patina – Shale – Be a Superstar
Bottom Row L-R: 17 – 418 – Sweet Lollipop – Stigmata – Up the Hill – Untamed
Moving on to the pressed shimmers and metallics. The oldest stuff is by MAC (Era, Shale, Patina) and out of those Shale is the oldest I think. The other two are probably from 2012-2013 but I am quite sure that Shale is way older than that. We also have an In Extra Dimension shadow by MAC (Sweet Heat) in the original pot, since I never depot that formula, and it is likely from 2014. The Inglot ones (17, 418) are from 2013 and the one by Makeup Geek (Untamed) was a gift in 2016. The KvD shadow (Stigmata) is depotted from the Saint & Sinner palette from 2017. Then we have two Sephora Collection shadows (Be a Superstar, Sweet Lollipop) that are a bit newer, from 2018, and the Emme shadow (Up the Hill) is from around the same time.
Top Row L-R: Peaceful Wings – Hot Wax – Bali Palace
Bottom Row L-R: Extraterrestrial – Lascivious – Bast – Torch
And finally we have seven shadows from Meow Cosmetics, all from around 2013. Some brights, some more neutral and two shades that can be used as inner corner highlights (Peaceful Wings, Hot Wax). Not that many lighter shades in this arsenal so it was welcome to have something in that capacity.
That was all the shadows in my monthly arsenal for July. Let’s move on to swatches of each shade and a walkthrough of my opinions after a month of wearing them all.
I must admit that it was a bit boring to only have these four more neutral matte shadows for an entire month. I’m used to have a lot more option and this was a stretch. But fortunately Brulé (MAC), Cozy Grey (MAC), Friend Zone (MUG) and 299 (Inglot) all worked beautifully and stood up to the task as core mattes. Cozy Grey was the one that got worn the most because it is a great crease and transition shade on me. I am gladly keeping all four of these. I must also add that since I did not have a dark brown or black matte, I did use my Eye Brow Cake in “Gaze” from Illamasqua to fill the purpose of liner and deepening shade when needed.
Then we have the bright green, 331 (Inglot). Not the type of green I wear a lot but it worked very well so I am keeping it for now. The three reds were only used once each and both Relish (UD) and Daemon (Illamasqua) are still as wonderful to use as I remember them being. Walking Heartbeats (MAC) on the other hand is not. It was thin and patchy on the eye and I just could not care less about it. So that one can go, the other two reds can stay.
Then we have the more intense matte pigments. Let’s start with the ones from MAC. Out of the really bright ones, I enjoyed wearing Neo-Orange and Magenta Madness but I must admit they were a bit of an effort to work with. However I feel that their neon quality makes them stand out a lot and I have few other shadows like them. The final verdict is that they are staying. Full Force Violet on the other hand was so patchy and messy that I had to wipe the look I did (or tried to do) off. Not keeping that one. True Chartreuse was lovely to use and Pure White was just fine. A white shade like this is hard to get a nice layer of but I see its potential as a mixer for other shades or as a mixer to create a liquid liner or another white effect. So it can stay for now.
Out of the two Sleek pigments Sunfest did just not look good. The colour was fine but the formula made it hard to apply nicely. Zing on the other hand worked fine and the shade is more of a burnt bright and I really like that. So one can stay and one can go.
The old MAC shades were ruled out from just one use. Era, Patina and Shale all used to be favourite shades and they are just not great anymore. Most likely due to age because they do not perform at all as I remember and the colour payoff was dismal. They will go into the bin. Sweet Heat (also MAC) is a great beige that is pale enough to be a very discreet eye look on me but dark enough to give some dimension to my lid. It still performs just fine formula-wise so I’m gladly keeping it.
The two green shimmers by Inglot, 17 and 418, are so old that I really just should throw them away. But I won’t, because they are beautiful. 17 looks great layered on top of darker shades like 418 and I can just not let them go just yet. Be a Superstar and Sweet Lollipop (Sephora Collection) are also very shifty and great for layering on top of something darker. Sweet Lollipop is riddled with pink glitter and the above swatch picture does not do it justice. Be a Superstar is pink on a purple base with tiny silver glitter running through it. Both are so much nicer on the eye than they look in the pan.
Finally we have the the Meow shades. I did not use a primer for the pictures above and the result is bland and flat swatches. These are stunning and complex shimmers in reality and I always wear them with a tacky primer underneath. Out of these seven I loved all of them except Peaceful Wings. It is a pretty cool white pearl but it is not special enough to keep. Hot Wax is a creamy yellow shimmer and it works very well like a neutral yet interesting inner corner highlight. Bali Palace is a pale yellow with a delicate pink shift, a very pretty shade. Torch is a great fruity orange and very flattering on me. Bast is this an almost plummy brown and I enjoyed wearing it more than I had expected. Lascivious is a gorgeous yellow green, with intense gold shimmer, and Extraterrestrial is a very intense bright blue. Both beautiful in their own way and effectual on the eye.
And those were all of the shades in my July arsenal. Let’s have a look at some of the looks I wore during the month and the products I used to create them. It was an ok month makeup-wise but as mentioned I did go quite a lot of days without makeup.
July 1
Eyes: Sunfest – Bali Palace – Era – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Buff (blush, MAC) – Taupe (contour, MAC) – Play it Proper (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Velvet Fawn (Lisa Eldridge)
July 4
Eyes: 17 – Cozy Grey – 331 – Hot Wax – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Pink Cult (blush, MAC) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua) – Deity (highlight, Illamasqua)
Lips: Nougatine (H&M Beauty)
July 6
Eyes: Neo-Orange – Cosy Grey – Gaze (Illamasqua) – The New Noir (cream shadow as base, H&M Beauty)
Cheeks: Rapture (blush, Urban Decay)
Lips: Muse gloss (Lisa Eldridge)
July 10
Eyes: Bali Palace – True Chartreuse – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Spring Flock (blush, MAC) – Taupe (contour, MAC) – Glow from the Filmstar Bronze & Glow palette (highlight, Charlotte Tilbury)
Lips: Love of My Life (Lisa Eldridge) mixed with Mull It Over (MAC)
July 16
Eyes: Magenta Madness – Neo-Orange – Torch – Stigmata – Up The Hill – Sweet Lollipop – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Sculpt (blush/contour, MAC) – Lightscapades (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Painterly (Lisa Eldridge)
July 24
Eyes: Stigmata – Walking Heartbeats – Cosy Grey – Brulé – Sweet Lollipop – Peaceful Wings – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Sur (blush, MAC)
Lips: Pink Opal (LH Cosmetics)
July 27
Eyes: Extraterrestrial – Cosy Grey – Brulé – Hi-Def Cyan (water line, MAC)
Cheeks: Habana (blush, Nabla), Glow from the Filmstar Bronze & Glow palette (highlight, Charlotte Tilbury)
Lips: Kitten Mischief (Lisa Eldridge)
This month ended with the culling of seven shadows, a small but steady number. I look forward to getting through all of my matte shades, I only have one month left, and then I can start Round 2 for those. I’m looking forward to that a lot.
Parallel to the eyeshadow audit I’m still focusing on wearing as many different cheek and lip product as possible during the course of a month, wearing an item once and putting it away to force me to choose something else the next time. An effective method right now. In July I wore 18 blushes, 5 contour shades, 6 highlighters, 18 lipsticks and 1 gloss. I’m definitely getting closer to making further decision on cheek products to let go of.
Thanks for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:11
These twelve shades were worn between mid April all the way through May. A bit more light and bright shades to accompany the move towards sunnier weather. The lineup this time was an even mix of smaller and bigger brands; A England, Smitten Polish, Mentality, Barry M, Revlon, H&M, Ciaté, Essie and Butter London. The verdict is as follows..
Hell yes!
Crown of Thistles – A England 
Blue Grape – Barry M (Gelly Hi-Shine) 
Captive Goddess – A England 
Nuclear Sunshine – Smitten Polish 
Key Lime – Barry M (Gelly Hi-Shine) 
Masala Chai – H&M 
Bikini So Teeny – Essie Maybe
Gold Chroma Chameleon – Revlon Gold Chroma Chameleon by Revlon is nice but how many similar items do I have? Takes quite a few layers to get good coverage as well.
Snow Globe – Ciaté Snow Globe (here pictured over Masala Chai) is pretty but I think it only looks good on darker polish. The shape of the glitter particles is unique but I need to think about how many glitters topper I own in relation to how infrequently I wear them. Which ones am I most likely to use?
Hell no!
Tanzanite Chroma Chameleon – Revlon Tanzanite is just not my shade. If the murky shift that was prevalent in the bottle had been stronger on the nail it could have worked, but that is sadly not the case.
Rigoberta – Mentality Rigoberta is just not my speed. At tad too light I think and something about the shade itself does not speak to me.
Frilly Knickers – Butter London Frilly Knickers has sadly dried up on me. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of this polish over the years and I’m a bit bummed to see it go.
That was the final polish in this instalment of The Twelve! I ended up with seven keepers, two maybes and three noes.
Thanks for reading!
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My Makeup Audit: June 2021
For June I had a total of 37 individual eye shadows to choose from including MAC, Nabla, Lethal Cosmetics, Makeup Geek, Meow Cosmetics and Sephora Collection. I’m running low on mattes to audit and I’m starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel so to speak.
Top Row L-R: Hajar Karim – Marsh – Well Behaved – Charcoal Brown – Fabulous Fit
Middle Row L-R: Lime – Club – Red Brick – Brulé – All Woman
Bottom Row L-R: Sour Lemon – Goldenrod – Gameela – Red Alert – Deep Cravings
The big palette consisted of only MAC shadows of varying age. The newest is from 2015 (Well Behaved) and the rest are 2014 or older. 12 mattes or near mattes and three shimmers. A nice variety of colour and a small but ok variety of neutrals. I did not have a really dark matte, but the almost black shimmer Deep Cravings sufficed to do liner duty on most days. On some days I did use my Eye Brow Cake in “Gaze” from Illamasqua for that purpose as well.
Top Row L-R: Euphoria – Equinox – Glitter Dress – Hey
Middle Row L-R: Pixie Dust – Flame Thrower – Deception
Bottom Row L-R: Grandstand – Casino
The newest shades in this smaller palette are the two Lethal Cosmetics shades (Euphoria and Equinox) from 2019. The oldest are by Makeup Geek (Pixie Dust, Flame Thrower, Grandstand, Casino) from 2013-2016 and in between we have the two depotted ones from two different fixed MAC 15-pan palettes (Hey, Deception) that I got for my birthday one year and a single from the Sephora Collection (Glitter Dress) that I managed to date to 2018.
Top Row L-R: Mystic – Selfish – Alchemy
Bottom Row L-R: Danae – Nereide – Juno Moon
I purchased many Nabla shadows back in the day and I think these are from around 2016-2017. As mentioned in previous posts I tend to reach more for my Nabla mattes rather than my shimmers and its been a while since I wore these.
Clockwise from top left: Modern Pewter – Radiation – Cat Days of Summer – Silken Robes – Oddity – Cirque du Meow – Tattooed Lady
I tried to look up how old this Extra Dimension shadow by MAC (Modern Pewter) is and my best bet is that it is from the 2012 collection Reel Sexy. The product has come loose from the pan but somehow I have still kept it since I remember loving it many years ago. It used to be one of my favourites. The rest are Meow Cosmetics shadows and they are from around 2013.
Let’s move on to swatches of each shade and a summary of opinions after wearing them in some capacity over the course of a month.
Starting with my MAC palette. Hajar Karim is just not my type of green. I wore it once and quickly decided it is not for me. A poor purchase to be honest, since I think I bought it due to the (then) unique shade and then never wore it. Lime is an interesting mid green that reminds me of avocado. It is quite powdery but nothing that stopped it from performing well on the eyes on the two occasions I wore it. Sour Lemon is interesting. The shadow leans a lot more yellow on me when applied than it looks in the pan. At first it bothered me but then I enjoyed the shade more and more. I will keep both Lime and Sour Lemon for now.
I barely had time to use Goldenrod but I am quite confident that I want to keep it. It is a deep pollen shade and I know I wear a lot of yellow so i do not mind having a plethora of choice. Marsh was a great crease shade this month, when I got bored with my neutral options. I loved pairing it with a cooler lid shade. Club can also stay. I only wore it once but I do think it is a pretty shade and I need it to go through Round 2.
Well Behaved and Red Brick both work very well. Gameela on the other hand was very poorly pigmented and that makes it less useful than a more pigmented counterpart. I know I have at least two dupes of mattes in this colour that have passed through the audit already so I can easily let this one go. Red Alert is a rusty red with a pinky sheen, a feature that surprised me. I only wore it once but liked enough to warrant keeping it.
Brulé is another old trusty everyday shade. I wore it on eleven days this month as a last hurrah and now it is time to let it go. It’s old and I’m sure I have another matte pale shade like it that can fill its shoes just fine. Charcoal Brown was the only brown matte shade this month and it was used repeatedly. It is a cool brown with an almost green tinge. A versatile shade all in all. Deep Cravings was used very little but this black with a slight sheen was easy to blend and gave an easy soot when I used it. I wish I had used it more to see what it really can do but that will have to be a thing for the future. Finally we have two greys, All Woman and Fabulous Fit. Both suck. Bad payoff and non-flattering shades one me. So out of theses nine, four will go (Gameela, Brulé, All Woman and Fabulous Fit) and the rest can happily stay.
Moving on to my other palette, the all shimmery one. I did not manage to wear all of these. Equinox (Lethal) and Pixie Dust (MUG) were never worn but I can safely say that they can stay for now. In fact I have decided to keep all of these. Euphoria (Lethal) along with Equinox are newer shades and I enjoy them both. Flame Thrower and Grandstand (MUG) are both in the lovely Foiled formula and they are still gorgeous. Hey (MAC) was my main inner corner highlight this month, due to a lack of options, and I must say I really love it as that. It adds a creamy brightness that looked lovely with almost every look. I’m glad I got to know it so well, a thing that would never have had happened outside of this audit.
Then we have three shades that I am a bit torn about but have decided to keep anyway. Glitter Dress (Sephora) is a murky slightly green taupe. The shade is lovely but I generally dislike shadows with a lot of visible glitter particles in them. Glitter Dress is full of silver particles. But I did enjoy wearing it enough for it to stay. Deception (MAC) is a bit crumbly in the pan and it is also starting to form a hard-pan in the middle. But the shade is lovely, a light taupe and mauve mix with a golden sheen. Finally we have Casino (MUG), a shadow that looks really flat and boring in the pan but lovely on the eyes. It is a muted warm gold and I know I have many of those. But to be fair I loved wearing it so it should stay for Round 2 and face off with all my other gold shades.
Then we have the smaller palette filled with only Nabla shadows. Out of these I’m keeping three and letting three go, something I could not have foretold going into this month’s audit. If I look at the swatches I love them all, but when worn the flaws in the formula shows itself. Mystic, Danae and Nereide simply does not look good on the eye. Mystic just turns into nothing on the eye which is sad because I love the colour in the arm swatch. Danae and Nereide are both gritty in texture with large glitter particles throughout. Hard to work with and I just do not enjoy how they look on the eye.
The sole shade that was gritty but made it work was Selfish. When blended the initial grit dissipates and it turns smooth. A mix of hot pink and silver glitter on a somewhat translucent green base makes this one unique shadow. Then we have Alchemy, a rosy base with a strong blue shift. I love this type of shade a lot and it works well on the eye. Finally we have Juno Moon, a dark and almost blackened plum. I loved wearing this a lot more than anticipated, so it was a pleasant positive surprise.
Moving on to the single pots and jars. Modern Pewter (MAC) is a very old light olive shade that I used to love. Wearing it now just make it very clear that its time in my life has passed. It is nothing special anymore and I have no feelings left for the shade. It feels great to let this one go since it sums up the purpose with this audit so well. I needed to do this in order to be able to let the hard ones go.
Another old love that will have the same fate is Radiation (Alien Abduction collection by Meow). I remember this shade as a radiant spooky light yellow green with a visible sickly green shift. Something must have happened with the pigment, because now it just looks like a flat pale yellow. I’m a bit sad to be honest and I wore it on several days just to make sure I felt what I felt. But I need to let it go, since I do not enjoy wearing it anymore.
Shades that were sub-par on the eye besides Radiation was Oddity and Tattooed (Carnival collection by Meow), neither just not adding anything extra when worn. The rest of the Meow shades, Cat Days of Summer (Joys of Summer collection), Cirque de Meow (Carnival collection) and Silken Robes (Times Square collection) were all beautiful on the eye and I will keep those three.
Looking back at pictures from June I feel like I had some good makeup days and a lot of in-betweens. Many shadows turned to be meh on the eyes and I was unhappy with how quite a few looks turned out. My happy focus during the month has been to keep exploring my lipsticks and that made the process more fun than if I only had eyes to evaluate. Below are a few of the looks I enjoyed wearing in June.
June 19
Eyes: Alchemy – Well Behaved – Juno Moon – Brulé – Gaze
Cheeks: Habana (Sleek Makeup), OMG (highlight, Illamasqua), Next To Skin (contour, MAC)
Lips: Spirited Away (Lisa Eldridge)
June 20
Eyes: Nereide – Marsh – Hey
Cheeks: Mocha (blush, MAC), Play It Proper (highlight, MAC), Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua)
Lips: Rose Official (Lisa Eldridge)
June 23
Eyes: Juno Moon – Charcoal Brow – Brulé – Hey
Cheeks: Oh My! (MAC)
Lips: Striking (Revlon)
June 26
Eyes: Cat Days of Summer – Radiation – Caffeine primer (UD)
Cheeks: Flushed (blush, Sleek Makeup), Radiation (highlight, Meow)
Lips: Sultry (Revlon)
June 27
Eyes: Club – Goldenrod – Deep Cravings – Charcoal Brown – Brulé
Cheeks: At Dusk (blush, MAC), OMG (highlight, Illamasqua), Gotham (contour, Nabla)
Lips: Velvet Blush (Lisa Eldridge)
A total of twelve shadows are out after June’s audit. A very good number and larger than anticipated. Letting go of those Nabla shadows was a bit of a surprise and I am happy that I managed to let go of some old favourites (Modern Pewter and Radiation) despite sentimental feelings towards them.
Besides the eye shadow audit I managed to wear 17 blushes, 4 contour shades, 8 highlighters, 19 lipsticks and 2 glosses. That is fewer products than last month and one reason for that is I had more bare faced days combined with accidental repeat wear of some of my blushes and intentional repeat wear of my new Lisa Eldridge lipsticks.
Thanks for reading!
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My Makeup Audit: May 2021
A total of 35 shadows, all singles, made May’s monthly arsenal on the smaller side. Brands included were MAC, Meow Cosmetics, Urban Decay, H&M Beauty, Inglot, Makeup Geek, Nabla, Neve, Emme Cosmetics, and KvD. A bonus with this smaller arsenal was that i completed the audit fairly early in the month and it left me some space to wear some of my newly aquired shadows.
Top Row L-R: 288 – 363 – Saddle – Wedge – Petalescent – Free To Be
Second Row L-R: Epic – Exodus – Revelation -Orange- Passionate
Third Row L-R: Take Two – Aztec Gold – Rosary
Bottom Row L-R: Muffin – Cosmopolitan – 28 – Clementine
I filled an empty palette with singles and this is where all the mattes or near-mattes were kept. Most of the core mattes were older MAC shadows (Saddle, Wedge, Petalescent, Free to Be, Passionate, Orange) but I also had some by Inglot (288, 363) and some near-mattes by Neve (Muffin) and KvD (Revelation, Exodus) to make it an acceptable matte lineup. I did not have a dark shade to use as eyeliner so I used my Eye Brow Cake in “Gaze” from Illamasqua for that purpose. It is a nice firm cool dark brown.
For shimmers we have Makeup Geek (Epic, Take Two, Cosmopolitan), depotted KvD (Rosary), Nabla (Clementine), Emme (Aztec Gold) and a lone highlighter shade from Inglot (28). I cannot be bothered to speculate as to how old these items are but I know that Petalescent is ancient.
Clockwise from the bottom: Divine Blue – Lorelei – Smoky Mauve – A Natural Flirt – Round Midnight
Then we have five of the In Extra Dimension shadows by MAC. I used to love the formula and the light A Natural Flirt was my daily eye for a long time (when I apparently loved a less elaborate look). The large one, Smoky Mauve, is the oldest since they later stopped making that size and reverted to the smaller pan. Lorelei is from the 2015 collection Alluring Aquatic and the others are 2012 or older. I rarely reach for these but I have very warm feeling towards them and know I need this audit to be able to let any of them go.
Clockwise from the bottom: Holly Folly – Solstice – Diamond Dust – Deeply Mauved – In the Red
This lot are “newer”, maybe 2016-2018. I know that Holly Folly was part of the In Monochrome collection by MAC that was released in early 2019. I have a few shadows and blushes from that collection and these are the few MAC shadows that have not been depotted (yet). Solstice by Urban Decay is a favourite but it get lost in the masses. The three H&M shadows are random purchases that do not get the love they deserve since they are in compacts. The baked shadow, Deeply Mauved, cannot be depotted but the others two could. I would get more use out of them if they were part of my single pans.
Clockwise from the bottom: Xenophobe – Sorrow – Tome Foretold – Skee-Ball – Claddagh – Kiss Me I’m… – Rules
Seven loose shadows by Meow Cosmetics finalised the arsenal. As with most of my Meow shades, these are from around 2013.
Let’s move on to swatches and my opinions on each shade after a month of wearing them.
Let’s start off with the mattes from the large palette. Two green shades, 288 (Inglot) and Exodus (KvD), were interesting players that added a bit of much needed colour and brightness too many looks. Both perform very well and 288 is unlike any other green I have. It is such a luscious colour. Both are staying.
Orange and Passionate (both by MAC) added some more bright colour and I got along very well with these for a popping crease. I think I have quite a few bright matte pinks and possibly oranges as well but both of these can stay based solely on performance. For a more subdued pop of pink we have Free to Be and Petalescent (also both by MAC). I love a pink matte for a an all pink crease or as a pink diffuser of another crease shade. However great I think Petalescent is, it is time to let it go. It still performs nicely but it is so very old. The shadow has been used so much over the years and this month I noticed that it is starting to smell slightly off. A pale pink like this is a lovely thing to have but I have a similar Inglot shade that I can use in its stead. Free to Be is in better shape and can happily stay.
Then we have the more earthy mattes. 363 (Inglot) worked very well as a more cool toned crease and I think it did a great job. It can stay for now. Saddle (MAC) is the more warm counterpart and it performs nicely as well. I even used it on the lips one day, mixed with a creamy lipstick to create a nice fudge shade. I will keep this one too. Wedge (MAC) is one of my most used matte shades. It is the perfect transition crease shade for me and it has been worn oh so much over the years. This shadow has perfect pigmentation, not too much, for this type of shade and it blends effortlessly and is easy to build if needed. My instinct is to keep it, but after this month I think it has served its purpose in my life. The shadow forms hard-pan over and over again when using it and I know I have many other matte neutral shades that can take its place. And finally we have Revelation (KvD), a shade that did not live up to its name. The shadow has small glitter particles running through it and it did not look good on the eyes. The shadow was not very pigmented and it was hard to blend, so it is an easy pass for me.
On to the more shimmery shadows in the palette. Starting with Epic (MUG), a rather unique shade that performed beautifully. I cannot believe I have not used this one more over the years, a real shame. Epic is in the Foiled formula, the same as Take Two (MUG) which is a little more subdued shade of green. But this shadow still performs great and this olive shimmer is a shade of green I find very wearable.
Aztec Gold (Emme) is a pretty intense molten gold that looks very vibrant on top of a creamy base. A real stunner that I am keeping should wear a lot more often. 28 (Inglot) is definitely on the older side but the blue shift is so stunning. I ended up wearing this shade as an inner corner highlight over and over again this month. It can stay for now, I want to see if I have anything else that fills a similar purpose.
Rosary (KvD) is a darker raspberry pink and this was a great surprise for me, it looked so good on the eye. I had anticipated this to be a dud, but it ended up a solid keeper. Clementine (Nabla) was used quite a bit, both as a lid shade and an inner corner. I do really enjoy the shade but I was unsure for a while if it was special enough to keep. It has a certain brightness that i enjoy and the final verdict is that it can stay for now.
Cosmopolitan (MUG) is one of those not so unique rosy gold shades that I feel like I have a plethora of from different brands. I do not know if that feeling is correct anymore, because of the audit, but I have decided to keep it until round 2 at least. The shadow performs beautifully still and I enjoy to wear a shade like this. And then we have the dud of the lot. Muffin (Neve) is a very useful shade in theory but it was difficult to work with somehow (I tried my best on four occasions) so it can safely go.
Moving on to the Extra Dimension shadows by MAC. Smoky Mauve is a rosy mauve with a silvery sheen. I really liked wearing it and I do not have many shades like this. It is such an old shadow but it smells fine and performs nicely so I’m going to hang on to it.
A Natural Flirt was as mentioned a firm favourite back in the day and I even had a back up of it at one time, since I had used so much up and it used to be limited edition. I gave the back up to my sister eventually when the shade became permanent. Having a back up of this shade was a somewhat logical thing then since I used to wear this type of shade all over the lid on the daily. During May I wore it mainly as an inner corner highlight (it’s just ok as that) and then extended its use to cheek highlighter as well. On the cheeks it looks great, but I have no need to keep this as a cheek product. It had its last hurrah this month and it has served me well all in all, but it can go.
Round Midnight and Devine Blue on the other hand had not aged as well as the other Extra Dimension shades. They performed very poorly with almost no pigmentation or impact on the eye. Lorelei however is a stunning neutral shadow and came through as a winner. A quite basic beige shimmer that is just dark enough to add a slight dimension to my lid. I enjoyed wearing this more than anticipated.
Diamond Dust (H&M) is a tricky shade. The formula is gritty and I found it not very suitable as an inner corner highlight. It is more of a lid topper and preferably on top of a darker shade or a really creamy base. I am not sure how useful it is but it is a very special shade and I am not ready to let it go just now. It will have to be depotted if it shall stay in my arsenal after round 2, I really want to minimize single pots like this.
I was quite surprised that I did not enjoy Deeply Mauved (H&M). It is a lovely taupe, and I love a good taupe, but it does not show up on the eye. When swatched on the hand it looks creamy and pigmented but that does not translate to the eye application sadly. So it must go.
In the Red (H&M) is a bright warm red “almost matte”. It has very fine golden sheen that runs trough it but it is not visible on the lid. It blended well I since I love a red shadow, it can definitely stay and will be depotted.
Holly Folly (MAC) is a very gritty metallic shadow, in the Frost formula which is a famously difficult formula to use. It’s a fiery warm red metallic, very intense in pigmentation, and it performed nicely over a creamy base. There is some fallout to be expected when applying this shadow, but it’s fairly easy to eliminate. This one will be depotted as well.
Oh Solstice (UD), you are so pretty! This Moondust shadow is just too pretty not to keep. The rosy base colour is quite transparent so I prefer to tap this on top of a medium to darker creamy base for full effect. I only wore it once but as I am very fond of I know I still want it in my life.
Then finally we have the loose shadows by Meow Cosmetics. Skee-Ball (Joys of Summer collection) is a stunning cool green that shifts in a light gold. Very pretty on the eye. Claddagh (St Patty’s Day collection) is a nice punchy chartreuse shimmer. I really liked wearing both colours and they can stay for now.
Kiss Me I’m… (St Patty’s Day collection) is a stunning swampy green matte. However stunning the colour is I know I would much rather use this if it was a pressed shadow. Matte loose shadows can work for me, but I do not enjoy using such a bright colourful shade in a loose format. So I will get rid of this.
Rules (Fifty Shades of Meow collection) is a dirty gold and I enjoy it. Maybe not the most unique shade but it can stay for round 2. Xenophobe (Alien Abduction collection) on the other hand is unique, it has a clear base with silver and pink reflects. I wore this as an inner corner shade a lot and I’m gladly keeping it.
Sorrow (Pandora’s Box collection) is dark teal that looks amazing on the eye. It has a grey base with a very strong teal shift and it’s very reflective. Stunning colour that is another keeper for sure. Time Foretold (Midnight Clear collection) is a very light blue with a shimmer shift that goes from gold to pink. A very delicate shade and I was surprised that I liked it on the eyes as much as I did. It suited my colouring and it was easy to use. Another keeper.
And that was all of the shades in my May audit. Let’s round this month off with some of the looks I wore and the products used to create them. It was a fun month makeup-wise and looking back at my looks I’m very pleased with the variety I created on my face.
May 1
Eyes: 288 – Exodus – Revelation – 28 – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Flushed (blush, Sleek Makeup), Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua), Perfect Topping (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Cream lip stain in “27” (Sephora) and Burgundy lip liner (MAC)
May 5
Eyes: Smoky Mauve – Wedge – Muffin – A Natural Flirt
Cheeks: Mocha (blush, MAC), Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua), A Natural Flirt (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Devoted to Chili (MAC)
May 8
Eyes: Aztec Gold – Take Two – Petalescent – Orange – Xenophobe – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Pink Cult (blush, MAC), Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua), OMG (highlight, Illamasqua)
Lips: Nougatine (H&M)
May 9
Eyes: Rosary – Exodus – Clementine – Passionate – Gaze (Illamasqua), Fireball (liquid liner, UD)
Cheeks: Bon Fire (blush, Sleek Makeup), Lightscapades (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Velvet Decade and Muse lip liner (both by Lisa Eldridge)
May 11
Eyes: Time Foretold – 363 – 28
Cheeks: Rapture (blush, Urban Decay)
Lips: Muse gloss (Lisa Eldridge)
May 12
Eyes: Clementine – Free to Be – Orange – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Furnace (blush, Sleek Makeup), Taupe (contour, MAC), Here Comes Joy (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Saddle (shadow, MAC) tapped over and Dolce Vita (Nars)
May 15
Eyes: Epic – Wedge – 28 – Diamond Dust – Gaze (Illamasqua)
Cheeks: Sur (blush, MAC), Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua), OMG (highlight, Illamasqua)
Lips: Velvet Muse (Lisa Eldridge)
May 18
Eyes: Claddagh – Exodus – A Natural Flirt
Cheeks: Stereo Rose (blush, MAC), Sculpt (contour, MAC)
Lips: Cream lip stain in “17” (Sephora)
To summarize a total of nine shadows are out after this month’s audit. Nothing revolutionary. I somehow wish I could find more duds, but I think the more major culling will come in Round 2. I already know some shadows I have kept earlier that I doubt I will keep with the mindset I have now this far in into the audit.
And as with the previous months I’m still focusing on wearing as many different cheek and lip product as possible, besides the eye shadow audit. In May I managed to wear 25 blushes, 5 contour shades, 9 highlighters, 28 lipsticks, 2 glosses and 3 lip pencils. I think it is some kind of record. I know I have bits that I can let go of in those categories in the near future. The feeling of truly using all the items I own over and over again is very satisfying. Keeping track of what I wear is very helpful and recently I have started to put a way lipsticks and blushes worn to make it even easier to choose something new and not repeat wear the “easy shades”.
Thanks for reading!
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Terra Moons purchase part one – swatches
Since I live in Sweden, buying from indie brands from for example the States can become an expensive venture due to customs/import taxes. So I rarely do it. Terra Moons is one of those brands that had piqued my interest for a while and I had curated a wish list of shadows for over a year. Not that I actually thought I would buy some, but I enjoyed making the list and checking from time to time if my interest had faltered. And it never did. So when my birthday/Christmas came around I did wish for them and my husband obliged. We completed the order together when there was an offer and, since the items were pre-order as well, I had to wait a few months to get them. In this case I did pay for tracked shipping since I wanted some sort of control over my parcel. When my package arrived to Sweden I did have to pay an import fee but they soon arrived safe and sound at my house in the end of February. I have nothing negative to say about my shopping experience or the shipping.
I ended up choosing twelve single pans and one loose shadow. My order consisted of eight iridescent chameleons, one cosmic chameleon, three pressed and one loose duochrome.
Iridescent Chameleons
The iridescent chameleons are sold for 17 USD. Shifting shades like this is one of my favourite type of shadow to wear. I mainly use them as inner corner highlights, and when they have a transparent base I love to layer them on top of other shadows, mattes or metallics, to transform the base shade. The iridescent chameleons were the main pull to purchase from Terra Moons in the first place and I think I have nothing like these in my arsenal already. They might be similar to some shades I own but these are definitely amped up versions and they are very unique.
Top Row L-R: Timeshift, Eon, Light Year, Space Baby
Bottom Row L-R: Zero Gravity, Red Giant, Solar Flare, Astral
Timeshift is quite opaque, not as much as Light Year, but more than the others. It has a light mauve base and it shifts from peachy gold to gold to green/teal. The greener shift is not visible in these pictures sadly. The texture of the shadow is very smooth.
Eon has a transparent base that shifts from a peach to gold to green. The shift is similar to Timeshift’s but since the base and opacity is different they are distinctly different shades.
Light Year is a very special shade and the pictures speak for themselves. It is super smooth and the result is very opaque. It will be interesting to see how I will use this shadow, if it can be layered on top of other shadows without taking over or if it does not play well with others. It looks amazing swatched but in reality it has to look amazing on the eye. That is the place where eye shadows go.
Space Baby goes from green/teal to purple to blue. It is smooth in texture and the base is nearly transparent.
Zero Gravity is a little chunkier with a whiter base that reminds me of X-ray (mentioned further down in this post). It shifts from purple to pink.
Red Giant is super smooth with a blue grey base and a pink to peach/orange shift. A truly unique shadow. I’ve seen others wear this in the inner corner but I’m a bit hesitant on how the base colour will look there on me. If it will look like a shadow in certain lights it will defeat the purpose of using it to highlight that area. We shall see.
Solar Flare has a very slight gray base and it shifts from peach to gold to green. Smooth in texture.
Astral has got a similar vibe as Red Giant and a similar blue grey base, but it is not as prominent. The shift is peach/orange to gold to green. This one is also super smooth in texture.
Cosmic Chameleons
I purchased only one of the Cosmic Chameleons – Radiation. However, this is not my favourite type of green but the shift and (to be honest) the name made me keen to try it anyway. It did stain my arm when swatching but hopefully it will not be an issue on the eye.
Duochromes
L-R: Martian, Interstellar, X-Ray
Martian has a ruddy base and shifts from molten gold to green (the green shift can not be seen in the above picture, you just have to take my word for it).
Interstellar has a dark pink brown base and shifts from blue to pink.
X-Ray has a white, almost transparent (on me), base and a more chunky texture. The shimmer particles are more visible and it shifts from blue to pink. In the picture you can se a green base colour but that is just a stain from a previous swatch.
I also managed to purchase a loose shadow and this one is no longer available on the Terra Moons website so I suppose it is discontinued. The stunning Firefly is definitely a shadow (and name) I am deeply attracted to. Above you can se it swatched without (left) and with primer (right). I almost always wear an eye primer or another creamy base under eye shadows anyway but under a loose shadow it really transforms the shadow to its full potential. So beautiful!
I’ve had these for a couple of months now and I’ve worn some of them a few times in-between my commitment to my monthly arsenal. I will wear these for a while longer, long enough to form a proper opinion, and report back on how I get along with them and if I consider them a good purchase.
Thanks for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:10
After wearing darker shades for several months I wanted to take a different route. I was also eager to crack on with the audit and get rid of some older and unloved shades. First I considered to do a whole batch of only blue or green polish but then opted for the usual “two shads per drawer” from my somewhat colour coordinated nail polish drawers. These shades were worn between mid March to the beginning of April.
Hell yes!
Miley – Zoya 
Eleganza – Polish Revolution 
Mottle – Illamasqua 
Sani – Cirque Colors 
Arizona – Zoya 
Did It On ‘Em – OPI 
Don’t Talk Bach To Me – OPI 
Rouge Escarpin – Bourjois Maybe
I’m Not Lion – China Glaze This glitter polish is a mix of silver and gold and I think it is very pretty. I want to se how many similar polishes I end up with before I decide to keep this one.
Hell No!
Chopped Lavender – Kicks. Chopped Lavender is a Sugar Laquer aka a matte textured polish. I simply don’t enjoy this anymore.
372 – Depend A pale grey blue with bright blue shimmer. I love this and it’s mainly used up. It’s goopy now due to repeated use and its time has come.
Heavenly (on top of Don’t Talk Bach to Me) – Revlon I rarely wear glitter toppers nowadays and this is one I never reach for. I have some other toppers I know I will always favour over this one. It smells really strongly as well so I’m glad to see it go. That was the last one of the twelve!
Thanks for reading!
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My Makeup Audit: April 2021
April’s arsenal consisted of two pre-made palettes, two singles in individual packaging and a larger palette containing single pans. Brands included are Urban Decay, Illamasqua, Nabla, Makeup Geek, Emme Cosmetics, MAC and Lethal Cosmetics. A total of 42 individual colours to utilise with a nice balance of mattes and shimmers, neutrals and colours, brights and muted shades.
Kaleidoscope Dream palette – Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne The Kaleidoscope Dream palette by Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne was purchased in 2018 and has been used quite a bit since then. I was a bit infatuated with it at the time and I’m still attracted to many of the colours. I have no relation to Kristen Leanne, so it was solely the colours that made me buy it in the first place.
1st Row L-R: Embrace Me – Helios – Remission – Habitat – Relapse – Unearthed – Calcination
2nd Row L-R: Dark Brew – Spirit – Defiance – Gingersnap – Fortune Teller – Mesmerized – Glasswork
3rd Row L-R: Tiki Hut – Absinthe – Tribeca – Chemical Bond – Karma
4th Row L-R: Vanilla Bean – Drama Queen – Apricot – Mai Tai – Lemon Tart – Aurum
The singles palette was a mixture of older and newer shadows. The Lethal shades (all of the square pans) are from 2019 and they are the most recent of the lot. Makeup Geek is heavily represented (Fortune Teller, Mesmerized, Tiki Hut, Karma, Vanilla Bean, Drama Queen, Mai Tai) as well as a sprinkle of Nabla (Glasswork, Absinthe, Tribeca, Chemical Bond, Aurum). Then we have some MAC (Embrace Me, Dark Brew, Gingersnap, Lemon Tart) and one by Emme Cosmetics (Apricot).
The Fundamental Palette – Illamasqua The Fundamental palette by Illamasqua was picked up back in 2013 and I have almost never used it. A few times at the most. It consists of two matte shades (Hype and Inception) and two creams (Surge and Bedaub).
Apex and Fledgling – Illamasqua And lastly we have to single powder shadows by Illamasqua (Apex and Fledgling) that I think are from around 2013 as well. These have been use a bit but I rarely pick them up anymore.
Let’s move on to swatches and my feelings on these products after a month of use.
Kaleidoscope Dream palette – Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne The Kaleidoscope Dream palette by Urban Decay in collaboration with Kristen Leanne was interesting to audit. I decided quite early on in the month that I have no need to keep this palette intact and that I would prefer to depot the shades I still love. Let’s start with the keepers. Spitfire is a duochrome pink with a blue shift. Very pretty and useful. Stay Gold is a green leaning gold that is very flattering and easy to use. Tajin is another type of shade that I get a lot of use out of and it looks amazing combined with Spitfire. Leo is so stunning, a light sea foam green duochrome. Brixton is not very special but since the shade shares a pan with Leo it stays as well. Lime Time looks a bit dull in the pan but on the eyes it is a very bright and fun shade. Dye was a bit of a surprise as well. I thought to formula would be dry and hard to work with but it was the opposite on the eyes. A very rich and beautiful shade. And then finally Corona, oh Corona. Such an unpleasant name and such a lovely shade. It’s a rosy gold but the cool plum base makes it unlike anything else I have.
Then there are the rest of them, the ones that did not make the cut. 13th Floor seemed to be a great deep black, but it after a little wear time it fell under my eyes and left black smudges no matter how careful I was with my application. TRM is a very pretty blue in theory but very difficult to work with. The blending was a mess, as blues usually are, and it just looked like shit. I have a difficult relationship with blue eye shadow and this was not an exception. I did not even bother to wear LCW to be honest. Not a shade I’m attracted to at all and since I had already made up my mind to depot I sort of just skipped over it.
Let’s move on to the large palette of single pans. And starting with the mattes, all ten of them will be kept for now. Embrace Me (MAC) is a stunning matte hot pink, pigmented and easy to blend. Helios (Lethal) is such a lovely muted light yellow and it works well as an inner corner shade as well. Remission (Lethal) is a firm favourite and a I love using this as a way to lean a crease in the pink direction but the end look is still very muted. It blends well with so many colours. Habitat and Relapse (Lethal) are interesting shades and I do not think I have anything else like them. That is true for many of my Lethal purchases, they create such unique shades of eye shadow.
Unearthed and Calcination (Lethal) are two shades that I should love in theory, but on the eye I just feel that they are ok, nothing more. Not my favourite neutral matte formula these two. But since they are newer I want to keep on using them. Due to being the only mid neutral crease shades this month, I got some good use out of them.
Dark Brew (MAC) was cooler in tone on the eye than it looks in the pan and I found it to very versatile and easy to blend. It was used quite a lot of the course of the month since it was the second darkest matte shadow in the arsenal, and since 13th Floor had a lot of fall out, I opted for Dark Brew whenever I wanted some depth. Tiki Hut (MUG) is a great dark mustard and the formula works very well. And finally we have Vanilla Bean (MUG) a beige that is so close to my skin tone that you can barely see the swatch. I used this to soften or clean up edges and to add something powder yet invisible to my brow bone. A good tool to have.
Spirit (Lethal) is a great bright purple metallic and a keeper. Since it is a newer shadow I only had to wear it once to verify its status. The same for Defiance (Lethal), a vibrant and fiery pinky copper. Gingersnap (MAC) however was a disappointment. It’s a pretty pinky copper, that looks great swatched, but the formula was just not working on the eye. It mainly looked flat and nothing, there was no way to build up the intensity. So Gingersnap will go.
Fortune Teller (MUG) is simply an amazing intense yellow gold. The formula is still creamy and the pigment adheres to the eye in a satisfying way. Mesmerized is also in the Foiled eyeshadow formula by MUG, the same as Fortune Teller, and it’s a very useful mauve. This shadow is also still creamy and looks great on the eye. The shade is not as unique as Fortune Teller but I’m keeping it for now. I love the foiled formula and it is a shame that many of the great shades, including this one, is not around anymore.
Then we have the two Nabla shadows. Glasswork sadly does not work for me. The silver particles does not form the wet shine look on my lids, as the swatch might promise, just a silver glitter mess. If I apply the shadow with a finger on top of a wet primer on my hand it looks good, but the same approach on my eyelid, not so much. A shadow that does not perform well on the eye is worthless, so Glasswork is going. Finally we have Absinthe, a rosy base that shifts from dark pink, to blue to teal. It’s a subtle shift but I enjoy it. Absinthe may stay for now.
Tribeca (Nabla) is a bit dusty and I had no high hopes for it but on the eye it performs very well. It is a cool leaning bronzy brown and it looks amazing with most other colours. Chemical Bond (Nabla) is nice enough and this is a prime example of a shade I have multitudes of and will have to edit more ruthlessly later on in the audit. Right now, this shadow works well and can stay. Karma and Mai Tai (MUG) are old favourites. I love Makeup Geek pressed duochromes and sadly they are not around anymore.
Drama Queen (MUG) is simply difficult to work with. I have more use of a dark shade like this if it is a matte. As a shimmer it is not potent or special enough to have an effect on the lid and it is hard to blend towards the crease. I have no use for this. Apricot (Emme) is a peachy gold that flips rosy. The base is transparent. I wore this mainly as an inner corner highlight but is stunning on the lid as well. It does not look like much in the pan but packed over a tacky primer it really shines.
Lemon Tart (MAC) is a very pale yellow beige and one I’m a bit surprised that I’m keeping. It was very pretty as a neutral yet not boring inner corner highlight. That subtle yellow tone made it look great on the eye. Aurum (Nabla) is one I had to think about for a whole. It’s a very pale green but the cool tone makes it look ethereal on my lid and I loved using it. It’s a type of green that pairs well with many other shades both tapped on the lid or as an inner corner shade.
And the last lot are the Illamasqua shadows. The Fundamental palette consists of two powder shades, Hype (yellow) and Inception (purple), and two creams – Surge (quicksilver) and Bedaub (mint). I love the colour composition of this palette but I must admit that I have only used it a couple of times. I own a full size of Surge and that has limited the use of this palette further. Hype is a stunning yellow but I searched for a dupe in my total arsenal and found it in Chrome Yellow by MAC, a shade that has already come through my audit process. Hype is slightly less intense in colour even and that makes Chrome Yellow a better candidate to keep all in all. So the Fundamental palette will be leaving my collection in its entirety. In retrospect it was a pointless purchase since I have used it so little.
Apex and Fledgling are both great bright shades and I enjoy using both. I’m trying to move away from singles in pots but I love the Illamasqua packaging so I might keep them as they are if they survive round 2 We shall see.
April has not been a great makeup month for me. I’ve been a bit worn out by work and have felt less inclined to spend time having fun with makeup in the mornings and often skipping makeup altogether. A lot of looks have felt bland and uninspiring. I’ve also been in more meetings with external organisations and then I tend to be a bit more subdued and neutral with my makeup than I would have been otherwise. All of these pictures are taken in my day to day life with my iPhone, the same applies every month. I have a ring light and besides that I use whatever daylight that is available. Better settings and photo quality might be something for the future but right now this is what I can manage.
April 1
Eyes: Hype – Surge – Inception – Bedaub – 13th Floor
Cheeks: Rapture (blush, UD) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua) – Phee’s original highlighter
Lips: A mix of Velvet Muse and Velvet Fawn lined with Muse lip liner (Lisa Eldridge)
April 16
Eyes: Fortune Teller – Helios – Karma
Cheeks: Stereo Rose (blush, MAC) – Gotham (contour, Nabla)
Lips: A mix of Striking (Revlon) and Noir Moderne (Chanel)
April 18
Eyes: Dye – Spitfire – Apex – Remission – Drama Queen – Vanilla Bean
Cheeks: Breath of Plum (blush, MAC) – Taupe (contour, MAC)
Lips: Rouge Audace (Chanel)
April 21
Eyes: Chemical Bond – Unearthed – Lemon Tart
Cheeks: Legendary (blush, MAC)
Lips: Cream Lip Stain in “16” (Sephora)
April 23
Eyes: Stay Gold Caffeine primer (UD) – Lemon Tart
Cheeks: Sur (blush, MAC)
Lips: A mix of Cream Lips Stains in “17” and “103” (Sephora)
A total of ten shades are leaving my collection at the end of this month’s audit. Small but steady number. At the end of each month I feel like I have gotten to know each shade a little better and I’m so glad when I can weed out another one that is not up to par. I always feel like I want to move on tho the next monthly arsenal about half way into the audit, but the win in using a limited arsenal is that I am forced to be creative when I get bored. New combinations appear out of that boredom. I get more creative with using the other tools I have, like lip products and blush.
Besides evaluating the eye shadows I’m still focusing on wearing as many different cheek and lip product as possible. In April I managed to wear different 20 blushes, 4 contour shades, 9 highlighters, 23 lipsticks, 1 gloss and 3 lip pencils. I’m starting to form some opinions on some highlighters that can possibly go and that feels like true progress.
Thanks for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:9
These shades were supposed to be worn during December when i was doing #redlipsdecember on Instagram. An easy way to navigating colour combinations on my face (via my monthly arsenal) and body (via you know, clothes) without having to care about them clashing with my nails. I am the owner of a multitude of darker shades so it was nice to focus on them for a bit. However I was really crappy with evaluating and photographing them whilst wearing them so I decided to wear the lot all over again. That fact combined with skipping nail polish a lot in the beginning of the new year resulted in this ninth installation of the Twelve being worn between December 2020 to mid March 2021.
The lineup this time was mainly indie brands; three Pahlish, two Illyrian, and one each from Darling Diva Polish, LilypadLaquer, A England and CrowsToes. Bigger brands were represented by two by OPI and one China Glaze.
Hell Yes!
LilypadLaquer – Rainbows in Space 
OPI – Live and Let Die 
Pahlish – Le Bijou du Roi 
Illyrian – Demogorgon 
A England – Incense Burner 
OPI – Every Month is Oktoberfest 
Darling Diva – Dark Ritual 
Illyrian – Dream Hopper 
CrowsToes – The Terminal Engagement 
Pahlish – My Bespoke Psychopath 
Pahlish – La Belle Endormie Hell no!
China Glaze – Free Bear Hugs Free Bear Hugs by China Glaze is a brown dark red that I’ve used the crap out of. It’s too goopy to be saved (I tried) and has to go for that reason. I love this colour and have used it a lot both on my fingers and toes.
From an audit point of view this was quite an interesting round. I let go of one polish and that was a well loved one that had started drying out. All of the others are keepers. I know I love wearing darker shades but I never wear them back to back like this. I usually mix in brighter shades of varying lightness/darkness and some neutrals. A testament that I should really not buy any more “darker” shades, since I know I have many many more.
Thanks for reading!
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My Makeup Audit: March 2021
My monthly arsenal in March was full of neutrals with pops of pinks, oranges and a variety of green. Two pre-made palettes by Sleek Makeup, two smaller compilations of singles (by Nabla, Lethal Cosmetics, Makeup Geek and KvD) and four loose shadows (Bare Minerals and Meow Cosmetics). Not the biggest lineup but a nice variety of options. A total of 45 individual shades.
Top Row L-R: Narciso, Desire, Unrestricted
Bottom Row L-R: Cleo, Mellow, Sugar
In a smaller palette I kept six neutral shadows by Nabla, a brand that I have purchased a lot of singles from and most of these are from 2016. I enjoy them but I tend to reach for the mattes more than the shimmers.
The Garden of Eden palette by Sleek Makeup
I purchased this palette by Sleek Makeup when it was released in 2014. I love the shade selection and the rosy mauve shades have been worn a bit, but it was many many years since I last wore this.
The Respect palette by Sleek Makeup
Another Sleek palette is Respect and it appears to be from around 2013-2014 as well. This palette has been used very little but it looks promising.
Top Row L-R: Release, Recluse, Enigma, Cycle
Middle Row L-R: Spawn, Fahrenheit, Vertex, Echo
Bottom Row L-R: Void, Ritzy, Vestment
A few more mattes and a bit more colour in general was added with another selection of singles. The shades from Lethal Cosmetics are newer (2019) but Ritzy (Makeup Geek) and Vestment (depotted KvD) are older.
Top Row L-R: Hallucination, Levitation
Bottom Row L-R: Velvet Lavender, Skeptic
Three loose shadows by Meow Cosmetics (Hallucination, Levitation, Skeptic) and one by Bare Minerals were included to add some lightness and brightness to the mix. All these are from around 2013 I think.
Those were all the shades audited this month. Let’s move on to swatches and my thoughts on each shade after a month of use.
Starting with the Nabla shadows, Narciso is a rosy milk chocolate brown and I used this primarily in the crease. A good work horse this month. Unrestricted is a ruddy plummy brown with gold sparkles. A very pretty all over the lid shade – easy to work with and I have nothing bad to say about it. I’m glad I rediscovered this shade. Desire is also a pretty all over the lid shade. Cleo is a basic antique gold and Sugar is a pretty soft light champagne pink. Neither is very special, but I enjoy wearing them and I generally like Nabla so they can come along to round 2. Mellow is a vey interesting dirty sand and I think it is quite special used all over the lid. So I’m keeping all six of the Nabla shadows.
The Garden of Eden palette by Sleek Makeup
I am so attracted to the shade composition in the Garden of Eden palette (Sleek) – the mauves, lilacs and greens. But after wearing it quite a lot this month I was conflicted. The mattes with glitter, Forbidden and Entwined, are not working very well. Adam’s Apple (pale green) is poorly pigmented and does not turn up on the eye as I would like. The darker mattes, Flora (brown)and Tree of Life (green) work well enough. The standout shade for me is Paradise on Earth, a gorgeous rosy lilac that I really enjoy on the eye. I tried to find another similar shade in my collection but lucked out with the pressed shadows. Initially I was going to depot and keep some shades but after some (a lot) consideration I just decided to let it go.
The Respect palette by Sleek Makeup
I used the Respect palette (Sleek) on two days this month and decided pretty quickly that I have no love for it. There mattes are underwhelming and the shimmers are not special enough to warrant keeping this. The black was used a lot but only because it was my only available dark shade so it did liner duty.
Looking at the last singles palette I feel wow, this array of swatches are really inspiring. Going in to this monthly arsenal I knew that I would keep most of these. I love the matte formula by Lethal Cosmetics and they are all quite new compared to most of my other shadows. Release is a muted purple and Recluse a murky medium green, both unique shades in my arsenal. Cycle is great as a bright crease or as a standalone all over the lid shade. I used Spawn and Fahrenheit as deepening shades for crease and outer corner. Subtle colours that can lean a look in a more brick or pink direction. Void is more of a pastel green and maybe not as useful for me as the other mattes. But I have noticed that I really appreciate having these lighter and brighter colours as accents, usually in the inner eye area, inner corner and above that area up to the brow. There are three shimmers by Lethal here and I really like all three. Enigma and Echo are my favourites but I really appreciate the bright pop of green that Vertex gives. So I am absolutely not giving up any of the Lethal shades. Ritzy by Makeup Geek is gorgeous and it is still lovely despite its age. The only one I’m letting go is Vestment by KvD. It is a very pretty shade but I found it to last poorly on the eye. It creased more than other shades and felt faded after half a day. Other shades do not behave in the same way on my eyes so I do not feel inclined to keep this shadow.
And finally we have the four loose singles. My main issue with Velvet Lavender (Bare Minerals) is the loose format. The shade itself is very nice and used as an inner corner matte highlight it adds brightness and a little something something to for example a more neutral lid look. However I think I will overlook it due to it being a loose shadow so I will let this one go.
Hallucination and Levitation (Meow Cosmetics) are both pretty inner corner highlights but out of the two Hallucination is my favourite. Levitation is not special enough to keep in a loose format.
Sceptic (Meow Cosmetics) is an interesting shade. A pastel purple with pink shimmer. But unfortunately it is not an easy shade to use and the pastel base easily gets a bit patchy when applied. Since it is part of the well loved (by me) Friday the 13th collection by Meow I wanted to keep it despite it being a bit finicky, but after some afterthought I will let this one go as well. That was all of the shades in this month’s arsenal.
So that was the rundown of the products in March’s audit. Below are some of the looks I created with said products.
March 5
Eyes: Gates of Eden, Eve’s Kiss, Paradise on Earth, Python, Forbidden, Entwined, Count Basi Beige, Roberta Black, Hallucination
Cheeks: Molten (Sleek)
Lips: Striking (Revlon)
March 8
Eyes: Unrestricted, Narciso, Velvet Lavender
Cheeks: Dandelion (Benefit, blush), Taupe (MAC, contour), Perfect Topping (MAC, highlight)
Lips: Cream Lip Stain in “01” (Sephora) and lip pencil in Redd (MAC)
March 11
Eyes: Gates of Eden, FLora, Narciso, Desire
Cheeks: Havtorn (Idun Minerals)
Lips: A mix of Goldstone and Pink Opal (Linda Hallberg)
March 17
Eyes: Eve’s Kiss, Desire, Cleo
Cheeks: The Perfect Cheek (MAC, blush), Next to Skin (MAC, contour), Glow from Filmstar Bronze and Glow (Charlotte Tilbury, highlight)
Lips: Sultry (Revlon)
March 19
Eyes: Fahrenheit, Vestment, Echo, Velvet Lavender
Cheeks: Demerera (Sleek, blush), Sculpt (MAC, countour), Obsexed (Nabla, highlight)
Lips: Mix of Burning Love and Mull it Over (MAC)
March 23
Eyes: Cycle, Spawn, Cleo, Sugar
Cheeks: At Dusk (MAC, blush), Silhouette (Illamasqua, contour), Deity (Illamasqua, highlight)
Lips: Dolce Vita (Nars)
March 25
Eyes: Cycle, Spawn, Fahrenheit, Ritzy, Roberta Black
Cheeks: Pinky Peach (Isadora, blush), Sculpt (MAC, contour), Phantoma (Meow Cosmetics, highlight)
Lips: A mix of Luxurist (H&M), Rouge Feu (Chanel) and L’éxuberante (Chanel) lined with Pillow Talk lip liner (Charlotte Tilbury)
March 29
Eyes: Enigma, Fahrenheit, Echo, Sugar
Cheeks: Sur (MAC, blush), Next to Skin (MAC, contour), Lightscapades (MAC, highlighter)
Lips: Goldstone (Linda Hallberg)
So two fixed palettes and four single shadows are leaving my collection. A total of 28 individual shadows. I’m very glad that I came to the conclusion to let the Sleek palettes go. In this part of my audit process, after a year and a half, I’m realising that most of the Sleek palettes are probably not worth keeping. I know I’ve kept some in the previous months of this audit but the further in I get, the more I feel that I will let most of them go. They had a place in my life many years ago but that time is over. I feel nothing for them at this point.
Beside auditing my eyeshadows, my quest to maximise my usage of my cheek and lip arsenal continues. This month I managed to wear 23 blushes, 5 contour shades, 12 highlighters, 22 lipsticks, 1 gloss and 5 lip liners. I’m starting to form some thoughts on some items that might be let go in the coming months.
I mentioned in last month’s roundup that I’m getting a bit fed up with the first part of the audit and that I’m keen to move on to round 2. But I also firmly believe that a completion of round 1 of this project will make an impact on my decision-making in the audit, and help me let things go, and in the long run as well. It will aid me in deciding on how I want my makeup arsenal to look in the future and to make smart purchases on the occasions that I find something I like. So in order to get a better picture of the remainder of the audit project, a few weeks back I went through all of the remaining items and divided them into future monthly arsenals. Mattes will only last for a few more months and then I can move on with Round 2 of mattes. But in total I have material to continue this audit until February 2022. That is how much stuff I have accumulated over the years. Something to think about.
Thank you for reading!
