Em cosmetics mini review

Welcome back my lovelies!!!

Today I'm doing a mini review of a sample I received. If you received last month's Ipsy bag, you also received a sample card of a look from the Career Life Palette, a product from YouTube guru Michelle Phan's new cosmetic line "EM". Since this was a sample card, I don't have a lot of product to judge from so I'm gonna give you a first impression and one time usage review.

The sample card had three shadows and a cheek color to sample. I used a brush to swatch them on my arm without primer and they seemed pretty pigmented. I was pleasantly surprised, especially since many of the reviews online tended to be on the negative side. When I put them on my eyes, they felt nice, not gritty, and blended fairly well. They also stayed on my lids during work (I used Jesse's Girl primer on my lids) and I didn't notice any creasing. I love, love, LOVE the blush color, it gave me the perfect glow without looking chalky but only lasted for an hour or two. Again, I didn't have a huge sample to work with, so I'm not going to say it doesn't have staying power. I think that the company would benefit from giving an actual sample to its Ipsy testers but the eyeshadow sample did last all day. I used primer, I didn't think it would be fair to judge it without a primer since I ALWAYS use a primer for my eyes, weather it be a cheap Wet n Wild shadow or a pricey Urban Decay shadow, so it wouldn't be fair for me to treat it a different way.

The eye colors didn't impress me, they are basic colors that I already own in other makeup lines, but I appreciated that the colors would work on many skin tones so I took a look at the other palettes on her website. I feel like there aren't too many unique colors for me to choose from since I already have a huge MAC and Urban Decay  shadow collection, but I'm interested in trying more shadows. Considering the price point and that it IS a new makeup line, I don't feel comfortable spending $75 for a huge life palette, but I may consider buying one of the smaller blue or purple palettes if they go on sale for the Holidays. Her blush palette might also interest me, I'll have to find out what this blush is called. I can't really say if Em cosmetics is worth the expensive price tag since I was only able to sample it for one day, but I think it has the potential to be the perfect prestige starter line for a newbie or teen. One thing that really caught my attention from her line was a highlight and contour stick, I would love to get my hands on it since I just started getting into face contouring. Time will be the true test for this brand new line, but for now I'll wait to see what specials the upcoming holidays provide in terms of special sales before I buy a bunch of EM stuff..

Here are my arm swatches (no primer):

 

My eye look, using Bare Mineral's Sun Goddess on my brow bone, Cailyn Cosmetics gel liner in purple, and a softer matte brown from L'oreal Hip a little above my crease color for blending purposes. I used all three sample colors provided as well:

(Sorry for the messy hair, Leo started crying in the middle of me doing my makeup so I had to snap a quick picture! Otherwise I would've forgotten thanks to mommy brain :)

I hope my review was somewhat helpful, see you all soon!

xx
-Shirley

Join me on ipsy and subscribe to the Glam Bag! You get 4-5 beauty products every month delivered to your door, for just $10. Michelle Phan curates the bags! Check it out here: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-hfbo8o5xo88t2do

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick

Maybe she's born with it? Maybe it's Maybelline?! 

Ok, I got THAT out of my system! 

Now time for a little review on the new Maybelline Fit me foundation stick! Ok so this product... This product... *sigh*

I had high hopes for it, but unfortunately I wasn't super impressed. I have oily skin, I really fell for the "shine-free" claim that Maybelline has used to market this foundation. Sadly, it didn't work for me. I was oily, especially my t-zone, within a few hours. By the end of the day,  my skin felt disgusting. I used this foundation for about a week, the first day I used it with a primer, bronze and blush. It did not hold up, it honestly felt like my bush and bronzed just slipped off my face. The next day I used my mineral veil to set it and it helped it out. The next few days I ended up pairing it with my pure minerals foundation and mineral veil, it gave me a flawless look.... But that really doesn't help me as a stand alone every day foundation and it felt like I just over loaded my face with foundation.Not to mention that the color is hard to match to your skin tone, I bought the color 310 (Sun beige) and it wasn't horrible in terms of color match but it went on lighter then I thought it would. If I ended up loving it, I honestly would've tried the next darker shade but unfortunately I will have to pass on that.

I love the packaging, it's very sleek and you get a decent amount of product. The price wasn't bad, I believe I paid $6 for it and usually you can catch a sale in your store of choice.  I defiantly loved it under my pure minerals foundation and mineral veil, so I'll use it for photos and any special occasions when I want that super flawless face look.  Maybe someone with dryer skin can pull this off, I wouldn't write this product off completely if you have a different skin type. Unfortunately, it is not shine free for us super oily gals. 

I hope this review is helpful, see you soon! 

XX

-Shirley