Products Worth the Investment | Artistry Automatic Eyebrow Pencil Review

This week's Products Worth the Investment review is on the Artistry Automatic Eyebrow Pencil which has been sent to me by the company to review.
Just to make it clear, this is my first time working with a company to review products for them, meaning I purchased all the products that I've previously reviewed/featured with my own money and even if this product and the mascara on my previous post has been sent to me to review, the following is my own honest opinions on the product.

Alright now that I made that clear, lets get on with the review!

Close up of the product. I got the shade Soft Black.

This brow pencil comes in three neutral shades in Taupe, Brown, and Soft Black and retails for $13.55 for the actual refill (0.15g/0.005oz) and $15.05 for the refill holder (has a brow brush on the opposite end) at aogoods.com.

My bare brows.

My brows filled in with just the pencil and blended with a bare brow brush (no brow gel to set).

I tend to do a more natural brow look and I find that this pencil allows me to easily do so as it provides a beautiful soft-focused look on the brows.

Pros:

-Beginner/user friendly

-Looks very natural

-No sharpening needed

Cons:

-Doesn't provide any hold to the brows, requires an additional step of setting with a brow gel

-Lightly pigmented (could also be a pro because it gives a very natural look to the brows)

-Pricey...definitely a debate on whether its worth the investment or not

Over the three weeks of testing this brow pencil, I found that this works best for giving natural looking fuller brows. With this brow pencil, you really can't go wrong, its very user friendly and quick to apply. The only downside is that you have to buy the refill and the refill holder separately which are both pretty pricey alone and will total to $28.30! Overall, I think the Artistry Automatic Brow Pencil is not worth the investment. There are tons of other brow products out in the market that are far more affordable and will give better, if not equal, results.


Any brow product recommendation? Leave them in the comments below!


-Mary

Products Worth the Investment | Artistry Signature Eyes Volume Mascara Review

This week's Products Worth the Investment review is on the Artistry Signature Eyes Volume Mascara which has been sent to me by the company to review.
Just to make it clear, this is my first time working with a company to review products for them, meaning I purchased all the products that I've previously reviewed/featured with my own money and even if this product has been sent to me to review, the following is my own honest opinions on the product.

Alright now that I made that clear, lets get on with the review!

This mascara retails for $26 at aogoods.com...before the price tag scares you away, I'd recommend you to stay and read on the see the results.

Here's a close up of the brush.

My curled lashes without any product.

My curled lashes with one coat on the top and bottom lashes.

My curled lashes with two coats on the top lashes and a light coat on the bottom lashes.

With the Artistry Signature Eyes Volume Mascara I feel like I could get the results of two or three layers of other mascaras with just one coat of this one. I definitely see a slight bit of length and tons of volume with one coat of this mascara and going for a second coat would just be unnecessary for day to day wear. At just one coat, I feel like my lashes are already big and volumized to my liking and by the second layer it starts to clump and feel heavy.

Pros:
-Effortlessly allows volume and length with just one coat
-Slightly waterproof, it can last through tears and the rain
-Holds a curl all day
-Doesn't flake throughout the day

Cons:
-Has a slight plastic-like smell
-A huge pain in the butt to remove
-Can give clumpy and spidery lashes


Over the three weeks of religiously using this mascara, I found that this would be a great mascara to use on those days you want super big voluminous lashes. I think you could definitely pull off a second or even a third coat as long as you comb you lashes in between layers. Even if I really like this mascara, I would probably not repurchase it because its just too much of a hassle to take off. Even if it gives me really good results, I debated with myself every morning on whether big lashes was worth the extra eight minutes of taking it off at night and for the price of $26, it slightly steers me away.



Have any mascara recommendations? Leave them below!

-Mary

Products Worth the Investment | LA Colors 16 Color Eyeshadow Palette | Review and Swatches

Hello there!!

Today's Products Worth the Investment review is on the LA Colors 16 Color Eyeshadow palettes.

If you've been following me here or on Instagram, you probably know that I've had these palettes for a while now and it took me soo long to finally review these because I wanted to make sure that I've used each palette well enough to make a clear and honest review.

Here are the three palettes from top to bottom: Haute, Smokin', and Sweet.

The first thing I noticed when swatching the shadows is that even if they feel very smooth, creamy, and buttery, they are very powdery and have tons of fall out! You've been warned!

Haute

Swatches of Haute without primer underneath.
I'm a little disappointed with this palette as I wish they didn't have two very similar cool toned pink shades and I find that the orange and light green shades are less pigmented than the rest. I think that golden olive shadow from the top row is also very random and doesn't fit the theme of this palette. With all that madness going on with the top row, I am obsessed with the bottom row, especially with the four shades to the right!

Smokin'

Swatches of Smokin' without primer underneath.
I have no complaints about this palette only that I wish the black was a little darker rather than being a charcoal shade. Aside from that, I completely adore this palette!

Sweet

Swatches of Sweet without primer underneath.
You all know I love my neutrals! This palette offers a decent amount of  neutral shades that gravitate towards the warm side. With the handful of shades available, I still think it is not enough, it lacks transition and definer shades. The black shadow in this palette is a bluish black so it isn't the same black shade as from the Smokin' palette.

The white shadow from all three palettes are exactly the same shadows which is really disappointing!
Also, I wish the palette offered a wider range of finishes. All shadows have a pearlized or shimmer finish which is again, pretty disappointing because that makes these palettes not suitable for being "stand-alone" palettes.

Although I would always recommend using a good primer, all shadows show up quite impressively without primer underneath (No where close to the UD Electric palette or Lorac Pro palette). For onlt a couple dollars, these shadows are very pigmented on the eyes, especially the lighter highlighter shades, I find that even if I lightly tap my brush into the shadow and tap off the excess, I still have lots of pigment left on my brush to work with and give my inner corners and brow bones a good highlight.

Overall, I think the L.A. COLORS 16 Colors eyeshadow palettes are great palettes to add to your collection if you're just wanting to experiment with a little color and go out of your comfort zone. For the price of $3.99, you're not losing much. And if you already have great, highly pigmented, good quality shadows (not saying that these aren't!), then I think you can definitely skip on these.
I find Smokin to be great to use for adding a pop of color to your smokey eyes, Sweet for everyday neutral eyes, and Haute to add a definite pop of color to your everyday looks. Although these palettes claim to have both matte and shimmer shadows, the finishes range from pearl to shimmer. The Sweet palette offers a decent range of shimmer highlighter shades, shimmer transition shades, shimmer defining shades and even some stand-alone shadows, but no palette, in my opinion, is good enough on its own, you need a matte transition or defining shade unless you're aiming for an all out, bright, shimmery look.

I hope you found this quick review helpful!

Stay tuned for more reviews!

Thank you for reading!

-Mary

No Buy March

Hello hello there!

I've recently decided to challenge myself and go on a no-buy March!

This challenge is mainly targeted towards me not purchasing any makeup or makeup related products because I'm trying to use up some products that have been in my collection for a while. 

I think the second worst thing next to breaking makeup is having them expire on me! So I'm trying to use up my oldies before they go bad. 

Yes! This will definitely be a challenge for me because soo much companies are releasing new products that I am just dying to try!! And there's so much makeup sales/discounts going! Ahhhhh!! It's torture... 😩😭

I really hope this goes as planned! Anyone else joining the challenge? 

- Mary 

Products Worth the Investment | Sephora 12HR Jumbo Liner

Hello hello!!

Happy March! I hope everyone has a great month and year ahead of them!

Today's Products Worth the Investment review is on the Sephora 12 Hour Jumbo Liner pencils which are a collection of 28 multipurpose pencils that could be used as eyeliners or eyeshadows.

These jumbo pencils create a range of different effects and are resistant to water, heat, and humidity. From deep blacks to rich and shimmery shades, each is formulated with exclusive waxes and pigments to assure maximum color intensity that stays put for 12-hours, as it claims on the Sephora website.

There are 28 different colors available:

1. White                      15. Silver Glitter

2. Grey                        16. Grey Glitter
3. Taupe                      17. Beige Glitter
4. Beige                       18. Pink Glitter
5. Brown                     19. Dark Taupe Shimmer
6. Gold                        20. Brown Glitter
7. Khaki                      21. Dark Brown Matte
8. Green                      22. Green Shimmer
9. Turquoise                23. Peacock Blue Shimmer
10. Marine                  24. Electric Blue Matte

11. Violet                    25. Mauve Shimmer

12. Purple                   26. Purple Glitter
13. Glitter                   27. Purple Matte
14. Black                    28. Lilac Shimmer

Claims:

                                         O agree     X disagree

-O Can be used on the inner corner, outer corner, upper and lower lid, waterline and tight line.
-O Can create a dramatic finish or a soft blended out finish.

-O Pencil may be blended with fingers or a brush to spread color all over the eyelid. 

-O Layer two jumbo pencils to create your own custom look. 

-X Can be used as a base for your eyeshadows to make them last all day long. 

For some reason, you cannot use these pencils as an eyeshadow base because it will only create a really harsh, unblended look under your eyeshadows. It works better to lay it over your eyeshadows to create an even more intensified look.

Retail Value: $14 USD

One Swipe. Left to right: White, Purple Glitter, Taupe, Khaki, and Black.

Rubbed swatches.

Wet swatches after rubbing.

Overall, I think the Sephora 12HR Jumbo Liners are worth the investment, especially if you can get them on a discount or bundle. I would say though, that $14 for each pencil sure is a bit pricey, but these are absolutely great products that are super pigmented. With these, a little fefinitely goes a long way! I swipe these over my mobile lid when I just want a quick brightening color or I smudge it out for a nice cream shadow or waterproof liner. I find that these are the only eyeliners that I've tried so far that are actually waterproof and stay on for over 12 hours even on the waterline! As you can see the swatches from after smudging and wetting still stayed in place and are still very vibrant.

Let me know what you think of these Sephora 12HR Jumbo Liners and definitely let me know if you have any comparable products for less!


Thank you for reading!! 

-Mary