Urban Decay Product Review

     Hello Beauty Junkies! As you may know from my previous post, I recently made a purchase of Urban Decay products from the Hautelook.com website. My first post was entirely about the of Shadows and in this post I will be reviewing the other products I bought.


     I purchased the Urban Decay Lash Kit which came with a set of UDs false lashes in Minx, a small tube of Urban Lash False Lash Mascara, a small 24/7 pencil liner in zero (black) and some lash adhesive. The lashes are very pretty outwards swooping lashes rather than curled upward. This gives them a feathery look. The quality of the lashes are great, they are very soft and aren't shiny or plastic looking like some lashes can be. However, the band on these lashes is SUPER thick. My eyes are a bit small and slanted and these lashes would not bend to my eye shape. They kept lifting in the corners no matter how I trimmed them. I got fed up that time around, but saved them for another day. I tried again, only this time I cut them into pieces and glued the pieces on individually. The effect was nice, but they were pretty heavy and rather uncomfortable. Gluing them on like that was timely and also made reuse a bit difficult. I used the False Lash Mascara which is a formula made to blend your lashes with the false ones for a more natural look. It was coating my lashes and the false once nicely until I got too close to my water line and got some in my eye. Excuse my language, but HOLY S*** it burnt the hell out of my eye! If I feel adventurous I may use it again with a steadier hand, but maybe not. This mascara at full price is $19. The eyeliner is great, I love the travel sizes for when I can only bring essentials and who doesn't need black eye liner?  I believe this kit originally sold for $19 and I bought it for $5. All in all, this kit was not for me, but at $5 it wasn't a big deal. This lash kit is no longer available through Urban Decay's website.




    It seems Urban Decay has been doing some spring cleaning remodeling its label and also
discontinuing some products, one of these being the Urban Glow skin highlighter. Normally I use Smashbox Artificial Light in Flash which is a peachy, iridescent pink tone in a liquid formula but at $24 a bottle and money being a bit tight I had to find a cheaper alternative. I was pretty happy when I came across this on Hautelook for $6 (normally it is $24) and couldn't wait to give it a try. I bought the shade Moonshine, which like Flash is an iridescent pink but isn't as peachy as Flash is. It has a bit more white pearl to it. It comes in a cream cake and liquefies on touch from your body heat. I dab a few dots on my cheek bones and blend to add a bit of glow to my face. It has a nice texture and blends well without being overly shimmery. I like this product and would use it again if it weren't being discontinued. This product is still available on Urban Decay's website but only in the shade Wicked, which is a pinky shimmery shade.


    I was also excited to come across a five pencil set of UD's 24/7 shadow crayons. These are jumbo crayons in shades of your favorite UD shadows. They are a quick precise way to apply shadow and these can also be used for a base for other shadows. I already had a few full sized crayons ($19 each) and enjoy them so I figured five small crayons for $9 (Orig. $32) was a killer deal! It came with Sin (champagne shimmer, one of my fave shades), Clash (shocking bright blue), Juju (med. beige shimmer), Rehab (dark brown shimmer) and Delinquent (dark purple with glitter). I already owned a full size Delinquent and enjoy the shade so an extra mini was a plus. Sin, Rehab and Juju are great for a natural daytime look, while Clash and Delinquent are perfect for a night out on the town. These have a creamy texture and are pretty blendable, however they set rather quickly so you might want to be quick with your blend. The brush that works best for this is UD's 24/7 Shadow Pencil brush, a small dense brush with a tapered tip. This kit was a steal and I would purchase more of these crayons in their full size.



     I also picked up a 24/7 Concealer Pencil for $5, normally priced at $18. The only shade left was CIA, which is rather light but I can make it work. Normally I don't use heavy concealer around the eyes because it can settle into fine lines making even young eyes look older. However, after a stressful night with some redness and swelling, this did a pretty good job at covering these imperfections (after treating the swelling with cool teabags). I would prefer a tone closer to my own skin tone, but after setting this with powder it works. I wouldn't purchase it at full price simply because I do not use it enough. One thing I'm a bit confused about.... the pencil is plastic instead of wood. The bottom does not twist and I have no idea how you are supposed to get the rest of the product out!!! >..<


     I also purchased the Urban Decay Temporary Tattoos. These were $2 and seemed like fun, but I have yet to use them. They take a steady hand in applying and I just haven't played around with them yet. I am excited to try them, but am conscious of when I experiment in case they do not look as good as I hope. When I try them, I'll definitely do a post on how I like them!


     While I wasn't 100% pleased with this purchase, I liked enough of the product for it to be worth it. I see why Urban Decay has changed a lot of it's packaging... some of it just isn't practical. I am the most pleased with the Urban Glow highlighter and the 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner. The eyelashes were of great quality, but the band was much too thick. I probably won't purchase lashes from Urban Decay in case they are all like this.

    Stay tuned for my next post... most likely a review of the June Birchbox! Have a beauty question you'd like help with? Let me know! I'd love to do Q&A posts! Until next time!
   

May Birchbox!

     Hello Beauty Junkies! I apologize for the delay in posts.... I've been a bit lazy with blogging lately. May's Birchbox included a tinted moisturizer, a small bottle of gold nail polish, a perfume vial, a tinted chap stick and a pink hair tie (not pictured). Also included was a cute note card with a matching envelope. I used the hair tie before I could take a picture because it looked so cute! Anyway, here is my May Birchbox review!

     The first product I used from this box was the pink Twistband hair tie. This hair tie boasts no snags and no crimps or dents in your hair. While I'm not fond of the color pink, this hair tie is too cute to pass on just because of the color. I love that it looks like a ribbon instead of an elastic. My only complaint about this hair tie is it just doesn't hold my hair tight enough. My hair is fine, but I have a lot of it so my hair is moderately thick and is naturally curly. If I tried to wear a high ponytail or messy bun with this tie, it would loosen and migrate downward within the hour. However, these ties work great for braids or pigtails. A recent hair trend I have loved lately is the braid and I love to wear the Hunger Games side french braid. These ties add a little bit of color and girliness to your hairstyle while being subtle. On Birchbox.com they run $18 for a pack of 12 and you can choose between bright colors or neutral colors. $18 is a little pricey for hair ties, but I would purchase them for the fun colors.  All in all, if I saw these ties at the grocery store I would purchase them. However, the only way I would order these online is if I was already purchasing another item.

     The next product I used was the Color Club Foil Collection in Disco Nap, a nice shimmery gold color. First I must say, I love mini nail polishes. Over the years of purchasing a TON of nail polish, I have never been able to use a full bottle completely before it gets chunky and goes bad. I love these little bottles because they are good for 5+ applications and you don't end up wasting money on product you didn't use. This polish applied great and even and dried rather quickly. I only had to apply one coat as it is not a very sheer polish, which I like. I find it annoying when you have to layer on coat after coat to get a solid wash of color. The first time I used this polish I didn't apply a clear coat and it chipped in about a day. Using a strong clear coat made it last a bit longer, however due to constant hand washing at my job even the strongest polish doesn't last long. This polish would look great with chunky gold sparkles over the top! The mini bottle is 0.25 ounces while the full size is 5 ounces and sells for $8 on Birchbox.com. I would possibly buy this polish in a full size, however I would love if they made a set of minis instead.

P.S. Urban Decay makes super fun mini polish collections! At full price the sets are a bit expensive ($20+), if you keep your eye out they frequently end up on sale on Hautelook.com or Urbandecay.com for as little as $8! Totally worth it for seven mini polishes in bright awesome colors!

     My favorite product that I have received in my Birchbox so far is the fresh Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment. This is an awesome tinted chap stick that nourishes and hydrates your lips while giving you a little hint of color and SPF 15. It's free of petroleum and sulfates as well as synthetic dyes. I loved that they kept the original packaging and made it a little mini twist up chap stick. I absolutely hate lipstick, lip liner and most lip glosses, so tinted chap stick and lip stains are the extent of lip make up I wear. This one goes on smooth, gives just enough color to not end up on your teeth and leaves your lips soft. Too bad I washed and dried mine while doing laundry ARRRRGGGHHHH!!! It came out of my clothes pretty easily with some degreasing stain remover, but I was super sad because I really love this product! I would purchase this product at full price $22.50, which is pretty expensive for chap stick but that is just how awesome this product is. They have several different colors and formulas on Sephora.com, all of which I would like to try. The only thing that would make this product more awesome is if they sold a set of minis! I love minis!

     The next product is Dr Jart + Water Fuse Beauty Balm. Essentially, this is a tinted moisturizer but it boasts that it is a sunscreen, serum and moisturizer to save time and product. It seems that one size fits all for the shade as well as skin type. I put this on instead of my moisturizer and found that it wasn't moisturizing enough to be used alone. It was tinted, but not tinted enough to make a difference, so I still applied my powder. All in all, for $32 for a full size, I would not purchase this product. It doesn't seem to match every skin type and doesn't hydrate as promised. If I were going to buy a pricey tinted moisturizer, I would purchase Laura Mercier for $42 instead. This tinted moisturizer hydrates better, causing you to use less product and with SPF 20 it's great for summer. You can also pick your shade and choose between a few different formulas like oil free that would best match your skin type.

     Last, is the vial of Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensée Petite Cologne Absolue perfume. This perfume has notes of vanilla and jasmine as well as brown sugar. Its subtle, but rich and could be too heavy for a summer scent. I enjoy the smell of this perfume, but I hate the packaging! Its in a vial with a cork top that is somewhat difficult to remove. You get more perfume on your fingers than anywhere else and because of this, I believe it prevents you from truly smelling how the scent sits with your body chemistry. For $65 at full price, I wouldn't change my perfume, but I feel if this scent were packaged differently I could have enjoyed it more, possibly enough to change my mind.

     This was an awesome Birchbox and I can't wait for next month! I will most likely be purchasing a full size Sugar Lip Treatment and hoping they bring out a mini set.... maybe for the holidays? I'm also hoping Twistbands are sold somewhere other than online... but I might just have to cave and buy them online. Next few posts should be on the rest of my Hautelook Urban Decay purchase and June's Birchbox. Till next time!