The Good, The Bad and The Blah of February

 I'm doing something a little different this month. Along with the products I loved and hated, I'm also doing some products that I used that I felt were pretty mediocre. I didn't hate them, but I didn't think they were all that good either. Also, if you are interested in non-beauty favorites, click here.

The Good

Pur Minerals Beautiful Creatures palette swatches

I've never tried Pur Minerals before. The thing is, I get sucked in by TV and movie inspired palettes... even if I don't like the movie or show. I personally didn't love the Beautiful Creatures movie (though I did like the book). I do like this palette, though. The eye shadows felt really nice.

Khroma Beauty Kourtney's Kardazzle Face Palette swatches

When I was ordering from Ulta online, I had about $11 or so that I needed to add to my cart if I wanted free shipping. I looked around and decided on the Khroma Beauty palette called Kourtney's Kardazzle for $12.99. I haven't heard much about the Kardashian makeup line and I haven't seen it at all in the store near me.

Overall, I don't think it's a bad palette. I think the 4 matte shades are terrible but I like everything else. I'm not sure I'd run out and buy more Khroma products, but I'm not mad that I bought this one.

Wet n Wild Toppings Frosted Over nail polish swatch

I saw these cute Wet n Wild nail polishes at Walgreens the other day. They look like cake pops, which sucked me in. It's not the most practical for storing, though, seeing the cap is so big.

Lime Crime Geradium lipstick swatches

I got the new Lime Crime Geradium lipstick in yesterday. It's described at a vivid coral-pink.

Sinful Colors En Vogue Shadow eyeshadow trio swatches

I found this Sinful Colors eyeshadow trio at Walgreens. I've never even seen Sinful Colors eyeshadows before, much less tried any. I also haven't seen them since I found this one. I did find singles on cherryculture.com.

I'm not sure if I'd buy more, though. I wore the second and third color in this trio and the light gray faded after only a few hours and was practically gone by the end of the day. There's a possibility that a different primer might make it last a little longer, but it wore like I had no primer at all. The dark gray is good for people like me that kind of fear using dark colors.

Flower Lighten Up! Brightening Concealer Review

One of the Flower items I picked up was the brightening concealer in BC1. There are 4 shades and it is $7.98, which seems to be on par with other drugstore brightening pens.

I've tried this concealer out several time over the last 2 weeks. I have incredibly bad dark circles under my eyes and this concealer was not something I could use on its own. If you don't have dark circles or only minor ones, then it may work alone.

I do find that it brightens, though. I normally use Benefit Erase Paste to conceal and Benefit Eye Bright to brighten. I replaced the Eye Bright with the Flower brightening concealer and I liked the way it looked, though Eye Bright is pinky and the Flower concealer I got is not. It does seem like 2 of the shade options are more pink, but I can't say for sure because I don't know how true to color the pictures on the website are.

A little goes a long way, too. I only needed a little dab under each eye. At first, I put more on and it was just too much.

I can't compare it to any other similar concealer pen because I haven't used any before. I do think that this is one of the better Flower products.

Blackheart Beauty Purple Eye Shadow Quad swatches

Hot Topic is right outside the department store that has the MAC counter so, when I was picking up the Archie Girls collection, I decided to visit Hot Topic and see what kind of stuff they had. I haven't bought anything from Blackheart Beauty since it came out and I wanted to try something else.

I think the palette is okay. The darkest color is not very good and the first purple isn't pigmented, which is pretty common in purples. I do like the two middle colors, but they aren't amazing. I got this palette on sale as part of a buy 1 get 1 half off sale, but I would not pay $8.50 for one. I have one more of these, but I don't think I'd get any more in the future.

Flower Kiss Stick High-Shine Lip Color in Ginger Lily

I got one of the Flower Kiss Stick High-Shine Lip Color lipsticks in the color Ginger Lily. These lipsticks are $6.98. I like this lipstick and think is a reasonable price for the product.

Despite the name, I wouldn't say this lipstick is high-shine. There is some shine when it's applied, but I didn't notice it being particularly shiny as I wore it. It is really creamy and incredibly pigmented. I'd say the worst thing about this lipstick is the smell. It's smells like cheap crayons.

Flower Shadow Play Blue Lagoons eyeshadow quad swatches

I got the Blue Lagoons quad out of the 4 available Flower Shadow Play eyeshadow quads. It's actually one of the better Flower products that I've tried from the products I've bought. The eyeshadow quad is $9.98. My biggest problem with this product, as well as the majority of the line, is that I think it's too expensive. Despite the big name attached, I feel like all the Flower products should be priced more like the Fergie WnW products. So, while I like the quad, I don't think I'd buy another when I can get eyeshadows that are just as good or better from cheaper drugstore brands.

 

Lime Crime Carousel Gloss swatches

I got two of the Carousel Glosses that Lime Crime released recently. I liked the last ones that were released, so I wanted to try these. I'm also a sucker for strange colors so I got the green one though I have no idea when or if I'll actually wear it.

Like the blue, purple and gold from the last set, the green (Hollygram) needs to be opaque to wear on its own and look decent... and it takes a lot of work to get it that way.  I actually found it harder and didn't quite get it there. I think it'd look better layered over a lipstick and wouldn't require so much work. It's also really messy, so I'd suggest keeping q-tips or a makeup corrector pen handy.

Snowsicle is so pretty. If you don't like chunky glitter in your lipgloss, though, then you won't like this. When I pressed my lips together, I could feel the glitter on my mouth.

MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 swatches

I got both the lipstick and the lipglass from MAC's Viva Glam Nicki 2 release. The lavender lipstick doesn't really look good on me, but I wanted it anyway. I did find that the lipglass didn't actually show up that purple on my lips and looked pretty wearable.

Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons palette swatches

I got the Shadow Bon Bons palette for Christmas, but I just got a chance to swatch it. I always like Too Faced shadows and this is no different. I particularly like the matte shades. They feel so nice.

Flower Nail'd It Nail Lacquer swatches

I got three of the Flower nail polishes. According to the website, there are 16 colors and they are $4.98. The nail polishes are the cheapest product in the Flower line and about the same price as a lot of other drugstore polishes.

I think that these nail polishes are one of the best products that I've tried from the Flower line. The polishes went on well and the colors match how they look in the bottle. I didn't get anything sheer, though, so I don't know if those are as good as these.

Good Bud-Dy, Eye of Tiger Lily, Budding Romance

Urban Decay Theodora Palette swatches

I already bought the Glinda palette from Urban Decay's website but when I went to Ulta I ended up getting the Theodora palette as well.

On this one, I did see if the eyeshadows would pop out of the palette... and they do.

Flower Color Play Creme Eyeshadow swatches

I got two of the Color Play Creme Eyeshadows from the new Flower line. There are 12 available for $7.98 each. I tried both of the ones I got and they were decent. They are quite a bit sheerer than they look and I found that they worked best with a primer underneath. I wore Vine of the Times with no primer on one eye and I found that it faded a little more than the one with primer. I was expecting a lot of creasing, but they didn't crease on me (I do not have oily lids, though).

OPI Mariah Carey Mini Nail Lacquer set swatches

When I first heard about a Mariah Carey collection from OPI, I wasn't that interested. I've never been a fan of hers and, unlike Jennifer Lopez, I don't find that AI makes me like her more. The liquid sand thing also didn't seem that interesting. Then I saw the swatches online and I loved it. I decided on the mini set instead of any of the individual full size bottles because I wasn't sure which to get. The one I liked the most in the bottle was Stay the Night, but it ended up being my least favorite when I swatched them. I had a hard time deciding which I liked best, but I think it's Get Your Number.

Urban Decay Glinda palette

The Glinda palette from Urban Decay's Oz the Great and Powerful release is my favorite of the two palettes. It's in the metal tin like the Build Your Own Palettes and the eye shadows look like the ones you can buy as singles, though I did not attempt to see if they pop out. It also comes with a liner and a gloss pencil. The gloss pencil is not actually in the palette... it's in a corner of the box so don't toss the box before getting it out.

Flower BB Cream Review

Eventually I went to a Walmart to pick up some Flower products, but initially I ordered them from Walmart.com. From the display, it looks like there are only nail polish, lip products, and mascara and eyeliner but the Flower line also has face and eye products. I got the BB Cream in BB1 (the lightest shade). There are 3 other shades available so it's not much of a color range. It's $12.98, which I believe is a little more expensive than some of the other drugstore BB Creams.