Benefit High Beam Review + Swatches!

Benefit's high beam is a liquid highlight that you put on your face.

It's in a bottle of a nailpolish so, the too comes off and it has a brush applicator like a nailpolish.

I found it easiest to apply the product with the brush applicator, putting 3-4 dots of the product on the tops of my cheekbones then blending it out with my finger. Although, it doesn't have to be only applied to the face, you can apply it to your browbone or in the inner corner of your eyes.

I really like this highlighter because it is very subtle and glowy. It has a high sheen rather than shimmer or glitter overload. It is suitable for girls with oily skin because it doesn't make you look oily, it gives your a nice sheen and highlight to your face.

I find this product to be very effortless because it looks nice without trying too hard. It only takes two steps to apply it and blend it and it looks really nice and put together. It's an awesome product and it's also awesome for travelling. 

I think this would be an awesome product for this time of the month because it's getting very cold where I live (Japan) and since the air is very dry, it gives you a nice healthy looking glow to your face.

Now onto the product pictures and swatches!

Tarte Mineral Powder Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess Review + Swatch

Today I wanted to talk about the Tarte bronzer in Park Avenue Princess. 

This bronzer is a mini size but I feel like this would last a decent time. To be honest I don't wear a lot of bronzer but I decided to give this a try because I heard a lot of good things about this product. 

First of all, the color is perfect. It's not orange at all but it's not a muddy brown color. It's like a golden bronzy color and it's really pretty. It compliments a lot of skin tones so it's very universal. It also has a little bit of shimmer in it which makes your skin look very glowy. It's not shimmery to the point where it's obnoxious and you look like a disco ball!


The texture is really soft and velvety as well as being very pigmented. 


I also really like the packaging with the cool looking cover and the top being rather... squishy! 

This is a staple summer product for me because I can just apply this with a fluffy brush all over my cheeks and I'm done with my face makeup. It looks really pretty without a blush over it and it makes my skin a golden bronze glow. 


I never thought that I would love this product as much as I do but it has quickly become my staple product in my makeup collection. 

Clinique Color Surge Eyeshadow Quad Review + Swatch

Today's featured product is the Clinique Color Surge Eyeshadow Quad. I thought that Clinique was more known for skin care products but I decided to try their actual makeup. To be honest I have no idea what the name of the quad is but it's a quad with 4 neutral eyeshadows. 

First of all, the packaging is nice, it's simple and clean looking which I like a lot. 


The selections of the eyeshadows are great. I like that there is an eyeshadow for just a simple eye look that everyone can do and pull off. A highlight, lid color, crease color and the outer corner color.


Eyeshadow description from left to right


1. A light creamy matte color.

2. Shimmery champagne color.


3. Deep charcoal brown with little bit of shimmer


4. Light taupe with a little bit of shimmer 


The texture of the eyeshadows are very smooth and velvety. They're not chalky or stiff which are key qualities in an eyeshadow. 
They are all equally pigmented except for the lightest matte shade on the left. It's a little bit more sheer but since it's a very light color I can see why. (the swatch made is a few swipes on the finger)


All in all, I think it's a very good quad that you can use on a day to day basis because they have very pretty but simple colors that it's appropriate for an everyday wear. 

Benefit Boi-ing concealer and Lemon aid primer Review + Swatch

I'm back with another review and today's featured product is Benefit's Boi-ing concealer and Benefit's Lemon aid primer. 

I got this duo from Ulta at the beauty-to-go cart and I snatched it up because it was such a good deal! It was very much an impulse buy because I never use concealer! Although it wasn't a waste because I wanted to try the lemon aid primer anyway! :) I considered the concealer to be a bonus!


The concealer is a pretty full coverage concealer in my opinion. It's not too heavy but it covers some blemishes and some veining and blueness in my under eyes. One downside was that I found that the consistency was a little bit stiff and not as creamy. Although, if I worked my finger into the product then I got a generous amount of it on my finger but I wished that it would be a little bit more creamier. 


Now onto the Lemon aid primer. You can put this primer on your eyelid as a primer for correcting the veining on the lids. The yellowness of the product will counteract the redness on the eyelid. I think this is a really good product because it does a good job with concealing the redness of the eyelid. The consistency is very creamy and buttery. I also like to apply this under my eyes as a base of my concealer. One because it does a good job priming for the concealer and also it's also a good base for the boi-ing concealer. I do that because the boi-ing concealer is pink toned and my skin is more yellow. 


In conclusion, I would recommend Lemon aid but not necessarily the concealer. I'm not a huge concealer person so some people may like this but I'm not a big fan of the concealer.

Tarte Amazonian 12-Hour Clay Blush in Dollface Review + Swatch

Hello everybody, today's featured product is Tarte's blush from the Amazonian Clay line.
Tarte's Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface is a very pretty light matte pink with some blue undertones. 

The Amazonian Clay line from Tarte is supposed to be very long wearing (up to 12-hours hence the name). They really do hold up well on my skin without a lot of fading. The texture of the blush is very smooth and soft, unlike anything that I own. The powder is very finely-milled and pigmented. 
This is one of the best blushes I have tried and I definitely recommend it to people that want a long-wearing blush. They don't have a lot of color selections but they are very much worth it to try out. 


I also really like the packaging because it's simple, pretty and practical without any excess packaging. :)

Note: This is not a full sized product, I got it as a set at Sephora with a mini size of this blush and a bronzer. :) 
The price of the full size is $25.00. 

Benefit Watt's Up! Highlighter Review + Swatch

Hello everybody, I'm back with a new product review and today's featured product is Benefit's Watt's Up! highlighter.

Benefit's Watt's Up! ($30.00) is a champagne hued highlighter for the face. This highlighter is very smooth and pigmented which will work for almost all skin type and complexion.

What I really love about this highlighter is first of all, the color! It's a beautiful straight-up champagne. Not too pink nor golden. It's also really great because it's not glittery like most of cream highlighters can have. It gives the perfect amount of glow to your cheeks.

The consistency is great because it's very creamy without feeling greasy or oily. For people that have oily skin like myself, it doesn't make you look oily IF you put a small amount. If you put too much on, it can tend to make your face look oily. Even though I have oily skin I love the way it looks on my skin. To prevent it from looking too oily I like to take the product on my finger FIRST then, blending it out with my finger or the sponge applicator that comes with the product on the other side. I don't like applying straight from the product because it can be a little bit overwhelming. 

All in all, I love this product and I recommend it. Even thought the price is a little bit steep, I would say that this is very much worth it and I would repurchase it again but I have a feeling that this would last a long time. 

You can purchase this product wherever Benefit is sold. (Sephora, Ulta, macy's)

Nars Amour Powder Blush

         Nars Amour blush is described as a "peachy pink" color. I would say that is exactly what it is except it's a little bit darker than a peach. It is a matte shade which I like because I'm not a big fan of shimmery blushes. This is the only Nars product that I own so I can't say a lot of things about it but I will try the best I can.

         The pigmentation of the blush is so amazing. With one swipe of the blush can make you look like a clown but the good thing is that you can blend it out. Either you do that or use a VERY light hand. I really like that way it looks on my skin tone because peaches usually look good with skin with yellow undertone. But I think it will be pretty on all skin tones.

          I like applying the blush with a duo fibre brush because it picks up and deposits the color sparingly. I am not a big fan of the very dramatic blush color on my cheek so i usually go for a very natural look. The staying power of the blush is god as well but probably after 8 hours or so, it will fade away, which I'm not entirely surprised about because powder blushes don't last as long as cream or gel blushes.

          As a conclusion, I really love this blush because I use is almost every time I wear makeup. I would definitely like to try the other shades because I want to expand my collection of blushes. The quality of the Nars product is great, hence it is a high end brand. But the only problem is the price! It is $28, which is a lot to pay for a blush and I wouldn't usually pay that much for a blush but I think this is worth it because it lasts a very long time.

The blush is available at Sephora　www.sephora.com
Nars counters　www.narscosmetics.com

  ナーズアムールはパウダチークで、”ピーチピンク”と記述されています。ピーチよりは少し暗い印象ですが、マット系なのでけっこう私好みです。というのも実はキラキラ系が苦手なもので…。 この商品について感じたことを率直に伝えてたいと思います。　

   まずは色素沈着についてですが、かなり優れていると思います。なので、ワンブラッシュするだけではっきり沈着するので、まるでピエロのような頬紅の仕上がりに。ところが、軽く筆を入れるか、またはブレンドすることで、まったく異なる効果が得られます。たとえば私は、イエローのアンダートーンと一緒に使ったりします。そうすると顔色がとても良く見えのです。私のようなアジア人のみならず、すべてのスキンカラーに効果があると思います。

　普段私はナチュラルメイク派で、チークももちろんそうですが、厚化粧はあまりしません。なのでこの商品は、デュオファイバーブラシで控えめに使用します。耐久性にもかなり優れていて８時間くらいは持つでしょうか。クリームやゲルでもないパウダー状なのに、この耐久性はかなり魅力的です。

　結論をいえば、私はこのチークが本当に好きです。間違いなくほかの色合いを試してみたいと思っています。 ただ本当にNARS製品の品質は素晴らしいですが、それゆえに非常に高価なブランドのひとつです。唯一の問題は価格！　28ドル…チークにそれだけの金額を使うのは、学生の私にとってかなりつらいのですが、それだけ価値のある商品なので納得しています。

この商品は Narsカウンター、もしくはSephoraでも購入できます。

Urban Decay Naked Palette

    This palette contains 12 full size eyeshadows from Urban Decay. 7 shades from the permanent collections and 5 that are limited edition exclusive to this palette. It is $44 but I think it is a great value because it comes with FULL SIZED eyeshadows.

       This packaging is velvet brown and it has a magnetized closure. It's very sleek and sophisticated which I really enjoy. It is also thin enough so that you can take when you're traveling. This palette comes with an eyeshadow brush and a mini size of the original Urban Decay Primer Potion. This was the first product that I ever tried from Urban Decay so this may be a little biased but the pigmentation of the eyeshadows are excellent. The texture and the finishes are all very great. It comes with 10 shimmery eyeshadows (Sidecar having a little of glitter) and 2 matte eyeshadows (Buck and Naked). It has a nice variety of color, light colors for everyday wear and darker colors for more of a dramatic eye makeup.

       The rundown of the shadows are as follows:

Virgin : Shimmery cream beige with pink iridescence. (shimmery) (New Shade)

Sin: Shimmery champagne with a touch of pink. (shimmery/frosty) (Permanent)

Naked: Matte medium beige brown. (Matte) (New Shade)

Sidecar: Medium bronzy brown the a little bit of red undertone. (Shimmer/glitter) (New Shade)

Buck: Darkened chocolate brown. (Matte) (New Shade)

Half Baked: True gold color. (Shimmery) (Permanent)

Smog: Medium to dark bronze. (Shimmery) (Permanent)

Darkhorse: Darkened gray brown (Shimmery) (New Shade)

Toasted: Medium rusty pinky brown. (Shimmery) (Permanent)

Hustle: Dark plummy brown. (Shimmery) (Permanent)

Creep: Dark black/gray with specks of shimmer (shimmery) (New shade)

Gunmetal: darkened blue based silver. (Shimmery) (Permanent)

    All in all I don't have anything bad to say about this palette. The color selection,  packaging, the pigmentation is all amazing. I honestly use this every time I wear eyeshadow and if you have this, you'll be good to go because you almost have everything you need.

       This palette is available at Sephora, Ulta and the Urban Decay website :)  www.urbandecay.com

　アーバンディケイからリリースされている12フルサイズのアイシャドウ・パレットは限定商品です。定番コレクションカラーから7種類、新色の５種類がセットになっています。価格は44ドルとやや高いイメージですが、フルサイズのアイシャドウということで、むしろお買い得だと私は思います。

　磁石で蓋が閉じる茶色のベルベット素材のパッケージは、本当に洗練されていて素敵です。薄くて軽いので、旅行にも持っていくことができます。アイシャドウブラシとミニサイズのアーバンディケイプライマーポーション（アイシャドウを塗る前のベース）が付属しています。このパレットは、私が初めて購入したアーバンディケイの商品でした。アイシャドウの色素沈着が優れていて、質感や仕上げ、すべてにおいて素晴らしいと妙に感動しました。シャイニーアイシャドウは10種類（Sidecarはグリッター系）。マットカラーは2種類（Buck とNaked）。それぞれ異なるテイストを持つカラーリングが揃っていて、ライトカラーは普段使いに、一方ダークカラーはドラマチックなメイクアップに一役買ってくれます。

　私はこのパレットの色のチョイスやパッケージング、色素沈着などすべてに満足していて、とても気に入っています。正直、これを持っているだけで、ほかのものは必要ないと思えるほど、完璧だと思います。

このパレットは、Sephora、Ulta、アーバンディケイウェブサイトで入手できます。