Lorac Private Affair Palette Review

This is a very pretty palette containing shimmer neutral shades and two plum-like shades.  They are all pigmented, but of course the darker shades need some layering.  This palette comes with a double ended brush and an eye primer.  I love the packaging, it's so cute and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the little drawer that I discovered after I bought the palette.  I'm a sucker for secret compartments.

Here are the swatches without primer:

The brush is so crappy.  I think they could have gone one little extra step to make the brush denser and softer. 

The primer that came with it is great though.  I first used these shadows with TFSI and they showed up well, but then I used the shadows over the Lorac primer and OMG there was definitely a POW in the amount of pigmentation.  The eyeshadow definitely worked better with its own brand.  The following pictures however are used with TFSI.

The job I did looks weird from far away, but click on the pic and you can see closer up.

I used the first four shadows in this look for my friend's sister:

Before

After

Pros:

-Great day or night shadows
-Great pigmentation
-Cute packaging
-Brush and primer addition (primer = !)
-Medium sized shadows

Cons:
-Kinda pricey at $38 without tax
-Brush

Verdict: The pros definitely outweigh the cons and this is an adorable palette with beautiful shadows, but if you already have similar colors, maybe pass but because of the price only.  I'm just drawn to these colors and am always looking for the best taupey shimmery brown/gray shade and I've found some in this palette :)

Tarte neutralEYES Natural Eye Palette Review

First of all, I love Tarte's eyeshadow. I love that they contain natural ingredients and the pigmentation remains great. I want all of the palettes eventually. I have the Day to Night palette which is simply amazing and this particular palette is wonderful too. It manages to have a natural appearance on the face even though the colors are unique and bold as a palette.  I do wish some were a bit easier to blend and softer, but I get some of the prettiest damn looks out of the Tarte palettes, and I've created one with neutralEYES that I'm going to wear a lot!  Keeping reading for the step by step to my favorite look below.

I tried uploading these from my iPhone (just got one so I've been playing around), but ugh it was so hard so I'm probably not going to do it again.

Some looks:

Here I used the neutral and bone colored shadows and the eyeliner that comes with it.  I used MAC's Painterly paint pot as a base.

Same look, different lighting.

Deep plum shade, navy shade, and nude pink shade.  Sloppy job, but just trying to show the colors.  Blue eyeliner is Covergirl Liquiline Blast eyeliner in Blue Boom.

MY  FAVORITE LOOK SO FAR STEP BY STEP:

Started off with beige shade on lid, then blended to bone shade on brow.

Then I buffed the dark brown shade into the corners of my eyelid and along the top lash line.  Next simply used the brown liner from the palette on upper lash line.



I then took the navy and blended it into the outer corner and swept it across the eyeliner.  Also blended navy into lower lash line.



Finish with mascara and a stupid face :)



Currently I'm in love with L'Oreal Waterproof Voluminous Carbon Black.  I have never ever seen my eyelashes this huge!  Look how long and thick they are.  I accidentally got waterproof which I don't normally buy, but this stuff doesn't make my lashes feel hard and it is pretty easy to take off. 

Pros:

-A lot of colors to choose from (versatility)

-Clean pigmentation

-Best eyeliner ever included (Tarte Emphaseyes aqua gel-eyeliner in Brown)

-Quality brush

-Packaging

-I think I their eye primer came with it too

-All of the colors work together making it easy to creat looks

Cons:

-Consistency of shadows could be altered to make blending a little easier with the deeper shades.

Verdict:

I probably would buy this again just because of the whole product itself.  I love the shadows and the eyeliner and the brush.  I do however prefer the Day to Night palette.