Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette - Review + Swatches!

The Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette was a limited edition release, for the Tarte Fall 2014 Collection. It is an all in one, eye and cheek palette. It was brought back in 2015 because of popular request, but is still a limited edition product. It started off to retail for $38, at Sephora, Ulta and the Tarte website. Where it is available online and in-store. Now the price however has been pushed up to $40. And is still available at all three places. I bought mine at Ulta, for $38 and used $6 off when you've spent $200 at Ulta. Making my palette for $32.

The palette comes with a plastic sheet inside, naming the shades in the palette. There are six eyeshadows (0.035 oz each), one highlighter and one bronzer (0.14 oz each) and one blush (0.21 oz).

The eye shadows are:

• Bare to explore
• Make a mauve
• Plum away with me
• Up to no gold
• Tan-gled up in you
• Down Turn a-brown

The blush, highlight and contour are respectively: 

• Unleashed
• Champagne
• Park Ave Princess 

The pigmentation on the palette is beautiful, aside from the blush which swatched rather poorly.The eye shadows blend beautifully as well as the cheek powders. The palette does come with a rather large mirror which makes it even better for travel, and touch ups. The feel of the palette is sturdy and is compact, which also makes it great for travel. 

The swatches are taken in indoor lighting, with one swipe of each product, I did not want to build up the product so that the pigmentation can be seen properly. From the swatches above you can see that the blush has quite weak pigmentation and is slightly patchy, the rest however is beautiful.

All in all, I really like this product, especially for on the go. It has a great variety of eye shadows for quite a few looks and has you covered for cheeks powders as well. The Park Ave Princess bronzer is one of my favorites, because its a very neutral contour powder that can work as a bronzer as well as a contour powder. I think this palette gives you a bang for the buck, and if you live in the United States and are purchasing online, you can sign up for Ebates and get cashback when ordering for free!

Hope this review was helpful! What are your thoughts about this palette? :)

Urban Decay Ammo Palette - Review + Swatches!

Hello lovelies!

Today I'll be reviewing the Urban Decay Ammo Palette, which retails for $34 at the Urban Decay official website and $38 Sephora. Luckily, it is currently on sale for just $16, at Sephora as well as the Urban Decay (UD) official website! I got mine last year around the same time, as a gift from a very dear friend. There are some minor differences in the palette of last year and this year, which I'll mention, but the shades are the same in both palettes. It is a little confusing however, on Sephora this years palette seems a little different than the one I have of last year, where as on the UD website it's the same.

The Ammo Palette is a collection of the 10 best selling shades of UD, compiled in the form of a palette. They range from pops of color to neutral shades. The shadows are arranged in the form of vertical duos, shades that compliment each other when paired together. I would mention however that there are no matte shades in this palette. The quality of the eye shadows is on point, UD never disappoints in this regard.

First row, shades from left to right; Smog, Mildew, Oil Slick, Last Call, Chopper.
Second row shades from left to right; Maui Wowie, Shattered, Polyester Bride, Grifter, Sin.

I'd also like to mention that the shades Smog and Sin are both present in the UD Naked 1 palette. Also, the shade Chopper is present in the UD Naked 2 palette.

Shade description;
Smog: Deep coppery bronze.
Maui Wowie: Sandy sheen.
Mildew: Shimmering metallic green.
Shattered: Bright iridescent aquamarine.
Oil Slick: Black with rainbow glitter.
Polyester Bride: Sheer white shimmer.
Last Call: Iridescent plummy purple.
Grifter: Sparkling pale purple.
Chopper: Shimmering fawn with glitter.
Sin: Light shimmering champagne.

Top row L-R: Smog, Mildew, Oil Slick, Last Call, Chopper.
Bottom Row L-R: Maui Wowie, Shattered, Polyester Bride, Grifter, Sin.
(Swatches are without primer)

The shades are extremely buttery and pigmented. I feel though I did have to pack on shattered a little more than normal, which I guess is cause of the intense shimmer in it. Though that doesn't bother me, and a little spray of Mac Fix Plus on the brush fixes that. They are very long lasting, especially when paired with the primer potion (that came along with the palette), which is to the right of the shadow swatches. It's the original eye shadow primer potion, which is skin colored.

Final verdict, I very much adore this palette and absolutely love it. I think it's definitely worth the price, and especially on sale. So I'd say grab it before its gone! The shadows are soft, buttery and nicely pigmented. Which can be seen in the swatches above, there's so much pigment even without primer. And they last all day! Also, you can sign up for Ebates and earn cash back when shopping online, hence saving more money.

I hope this review was helpful! What are your thoughts on the UD Ammo palette? Share in the comments below. :)

Mini Milani Haul.. Baked Blush, eye pencils and primer!

Today I'm doing a min Milani Haul. Which I received in my mail yesterday. I got the famously known dupe for the Nars Orgasm; baked blush in luminoso, a limited edition of the shadow eyez in Sand Dunes (11), Brow & Eye highlighter pencil in Vanilla Natural Taupe (03) and lastly the Milani Eye shadow Primer.

First I'll be reviewing the eye shadow; shadow eyez in Sand Dunes (11). Which is one of the limited edition eye shadows in the shadow eyez line. I absolutely fell in love with this color when I swatched it. It's beautifully shimmer and applies so effortlessly, so creamy, but dries and does not crease at all. No product comes off when touched either, just maybe a piece or two of the shimmer particles. It's more of a night out eye shadow to me, but I think I might be able to pull it off during the day too. It has no fragrance and can be sharpened with any jumbo sharpener. It is very long lasting, I don't think it'll last 12 hours though. But it will last at least 5-6 hours, without creasing. Here is the swatch:

In the picture the shadow isn't as shimmery and bright as it actually looks on the eyes but it really is a highlighting color. Slightly champagned color, gives a metallic finish. I got this for Rs. 875 I think on www.beautyarena.pk. It is available in most drugstores for about$#6-8 depending on where you buy it from.

Next is the Brow and Eye highlighters. They come in three shades. This was the only pencil with two matte shades, the other two pencils had one matte and one shimmery shade. But since I was picking the shadow eyez in a shimmery shade, I decided to pick this is a double matte shade; Vanilla & Natural Taupe (03). Since I mostly like natural matte makeup, without shimmers. I think both sides of the pencil are very creamy. But unlike the shadow eyez they don't dry matte and do transfer a little when touched. But you can use a primer to increase their lasting power and set your makeup with a setting spray. What I absolutely love about the pencil is that light colored side of the pencil completely matches my skin tone. So I could use this as a concealer too, especially if you're on the go and want to travel light. Also, the brown part of the pencil can be used as a natural eye colored eye liner. Here is the swatch:

I got this for Rs. 975 I think. I'm not sure. Same website. It's available in most drugstores for about $7-8, again depending on where you buy it from.

Milani eye shadow primer, is availble only in one shade; nude. I got this cause the ELF eye shadow primer which several people say is just like the UD primer potion didn't work for me. It made my eye shadow crease. So I thought I could give this primer a shot, since there were good reviews about it on MUA. It has a very soft feel and dries to matte. It's different as compared to the ELF eyelid primer. I think it's better. I haven't tested it enough yet to exactly tell how long it makes me eye shadow last since I just got it yesterday. It holds 0.3 Fl oz, for Rs. 750. It's available for about $6-7. Here is the swatch:

Lastly is the Milani baked blush in Luminoso (05). Which most people say is the exact dupe of the Nars Orgasm, just that it doesn't have big pieces of golden glitter like the Orgasm. But I am not too sure about that. Since several reviews say The Balm's Hot Mama blush (I blush that I absolutely love) is a dupe of Orgasm too, just that it's a little more peachy than it. Where as I think Luminoso is more peachy than Hot Mama. But regardless of that I think Luminoso is a beautiful everyday wear blush. Since it's not too sparkly and just gives a healthy look. It is slightly powdery but I think that's cause its a baked blush. It retails for Rs. 960 at the same website, for 3.5 g/0.12 oz. Available around $6-7 at most drugstores. Comes with a small brush which I think is great for travelling and a small mirror. Here is the swatch: 

For my full review on The Balm's Hot Mama, click here. Hope you all liked the reviews. For any questions or suggestions please comment. :) Have a great day!