Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Some Urban Decay Dupes!

My first dupes. How very exciting! I really never thought that I'd have something like this to share, but after seeing some swatches of one of my newly acquired palettes, I just had to say something. All three dupes come from Wet'n'Wild palettes.

Dupe 1: Smog

Top: Wet'n'Wild
Bottom: Urban Decay

I guess the lighting is kind of making it hard to see just how similar they are. Of course, Urban Decay's is more pigmented, but that's why it's the high end brand.  Although it is more pigmented, you could definitely build up the color of the Wet'n'Wild shadow to be just as rich.  If there's any difference, it's just that Smog has a hint more of a golden sheen and it's a touch more on the metallic side.

The Wet'n'Wild shadow comes from the Comfort Zone palette.  It's the third shade down on the left side.  It's interesting because, just like Smog, it comes off on your skin darker than you might first expect.

Dupe 2: Chopper

Right: Wet'n'Wild
Left: Urban Decay

The Wet'n'Wild shadow also comes from the Comfort Zone palette.  It's the second one down on the left side.  Chopper has more of a golden tone that's achieved by glitter.  This is why I find myself liking W'n'W better.  Often when I use UD I end up with all kinds of fallout and glitter on my face.  That's nice for when you're going for the fairy effect, but not so much for the day-to-day look.  So if a coppery look is your goal, either shade will get you there in almost exactly the same way.

Dupe 3: Sin

Top: Wet'n'Wild
Bottom: Urban Decay
Top: W'n'W
Bottom: UD

At first I wasn't going to call these dupes because the Wet'n'Wild shadow is significantly more pink.  Not like hot pink or anything, but side-by-side you can tell there's a difference.  But then I took the pictures and they seemed so similar.  The shades are good for a shimmery nude lid look if you have fair to medium skin.  I'm right in the middle of the spectrum and they fit my skintone so perfectly.  I love both shades and they fulfill the same purpose.

Some differences are that Sin is more shimmery.  While the W'n'W shadow is shimmery it almost leans to more of a satin finish.  Also, Sin has hints of brown and taupe with a very desaturated, almost white sheen.  The Wet'n'Wild shade is warmer with hints of pink (it doesn't look very pink once it's on your skin) and a very soft, almost golden sheen.  By the way, the Wet'n'Wild shadow comes from the Walking on Eggshells trio.

All in all, I feel like these shades would work if you couldn't afford the UD or if you just hadn't gotten it yet and were in a pinch for something similar.  Once they were put into a look, you would have a hard time telling the difference.

I hope this helped you out some!  Have a wonderful day :D

~Stacie

Monday, July 9, 2012

Little Collective Haul

Hey there! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted something here. I honestly thought that I had posted something, and I think computer troubles may have kept that from happening. Anyway, I decided I would talk about a little makeup shopping I've done lately.

First of all I got two shimmer strips bronzers from Physician's Formula.  The specific names are Vegas Strip and Waikiki Strip.  I really love both of them from the start, but seeing as I just got them there needs to be a little more time to be sure for an actual review.  Vegas Strip is very golden and has been considered a dupe for MAC's Soft and Gentle.  It has also been compared to a Dior bronzer.  I don't personally know because I've never used Soft and Gentle or Dior.  Waikiki Strip is called a Peachy Glow Bronzer on the packaging, and I agree.  I like that the bronzer end is darker than most of the bronzers I have.

I couldn't find my camera until already being halfway through this post, and the lighting isn't good since it's almost night, so I've found some pictures that I feel are the best representatives of the products I've purchased.  When I actually review them, I'll probably include some pictures of my own.

Vegas Strip
Waikiki Strip
Since my drugstore had a 50% off sale on Wet'n'Wild makeup, I decided to go ahead and buy some palettes that I've been wanting to get.  The first is the Petal Pusher palette, the second is the Comfort Zone palette.  I also grabbed the single in Kitten because I thought it was a pretty purple.




Now, I haven't tested the colors against anything yet, but just by looking at the swatches on the back of my hand (sorry I can't take a pic now, but as I said before, the lighting is shot), I think I'm seeing a couple shades that are similar to Urban Decay's Chopper and Smog.  I really like the top color on the green side of the Comfort Zone palette because it's a beautiful taupey, golden green.  It's very interesting.  It's also very soft.  Some of the shades are more on the powdery side, but I'll talk more about that in a review I'm sure.  Unfortunately, I've only swatched "Comfort Zone", but this is only a haul after all.  I hate to go throwing words around that I'm not entirely sure I have the correct meaning of, but I want to call "Kitten" a duo-chrome shade.  It looks purple straight on but it has a blue undertone and a gold sheen. I can't wait to try it on.

I also have a couple blushes ordered from CherryCulture.com, so I'm looking forward to getting those.  After they arrive, though, I'm afraid that my makeup splurging will be over.  I need to gain some self control, but it's not that bad because I really haven't bought any makeup in a while.

P.S. Have you noticed that there's not a lot of talk about brushes in the reviewing world? It's really irritating. The only guru/reviewer/blogger that I've ever seen talk about a brush or set of brushes is emilynoel83. She's becoming my favorite YouTuber.

Pic Credit:
Vegas Strip: http://www.discountbeautycenter.com/prodimages/155413-DEFAULT-L.jpg
Waikiki Strip: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrlJJn8UNRYaGWQOBrCmGid_Q6n8mBAqiytfzVAWVdZVHWLIW8EFpA5LYZaFpCF7N-wvPFg-i0e1h1sl-UreOcH-7uhYtfJVU7_nY00-zJ0qNNcmXA843UG-HwM1YWXioYpuTL-sYDm4e/s1600/WAIKIKI+STRIP+2.jpg
Petal Pusher: http://themakeuptrain.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/petal-pusher.jpg
Comfort Zone: http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn281/leanneamy/blog/Feb2012/ComfortZone1.jpg
Kitten: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDn8wqngY3hRDXUMpjYbUtcio-BJZHK9YrnrWR9eLycsv7kXmjdSVH33N9AQWWXdyKQ3b_zDKGjV0zys_5wDjIsLFXJX-30f0eRX6-gHJMB_RUao7lP57rjPjhvmSuj0xQI2aVKgXxgA4/s1600/WnWEyeshadowSingle_Kitten.jpg