Makeup Geek Eyeshadows and Travel Vault | Review

Having heard about Makeup Geek for a long time now and the hype about them being comparable to MAC eyeshadows, I finally took the plunge.  I've checked them out many times online but could never chose between all the beautiful colors.  So when I had some birthday money at the end of the year, I finally caved in and narrowed down my list.  

As I was narrowing down my list, I saw a sale pop up that took the shadows from the usual $6 to a mere $4.80!  Shipping is so reasonable from $1.99 for shadows but $3.99 for the shadow plus the Travel Vault.  At the drugstore there are some shadows that run around $8 so this was a steal even with shipping!

{This post includes affiliate links.  Affiliate links are where I make a portion of sales from links used, which helps keep Beauty Freckled going.  Thanks for your support!}

Makeup Geek is an online brand started by Marlena of YouTube fame.  She set out to create quality eyeshadows at affordable drugstore prices, and the lines includes blush, highlighter, brushes, pigments, lipstick, and is constantly growing.

Originally, I was going to get the Starter Kit and Vault Palette Bundle which is a Marlena curated bundle of 9 starter eyeshadows that all work together.  Instead, I took that list of shadows and kind of created my own little kit of shadows that I thought would create different looks together.

These are the Makeup Geek Eyeshadows I got:

Shimma Shimma - shimmery ice cream vanilla
Homecoming - shimmery cool toned beige/brown
Moondust - shimmery cool toned taupe
Prom Night - shimmery pale gray-toned purple
Drama Queen - shimmery deep plummy purple
Nautica - shimmery navy/midnight blue
Corrupt - black with subtle silver glitter

All the eyeshadow pans have a  weight of 0.064 oz [1.8G] and are cruelty free.

I also ordered the Makeup Geek Travel Vault Palette to put them in.  The travel palette holds 9 eyeshadows or four blushes/bronzers or two blushes and six eyeshadows.  The fact that you can customize your configuration for whatever trip you are going on is so fantastic.  The MUG eyeshadows don't require any extra magnets to hold to the palette, they magnetize right to the bottom automatically.

The package came in a small black cardboard box with a round Makeup Geek sticker over the closure.  Inside, all my products were nestled inside tissue, then the eyeshadows bundled in their own tissue and the travel palette in a box.  The eyeshadows have the signature pink and black on the outside.  The packaging is very reminiscent of what MAC eyeshadow pans come in, if I remember correctly.


My first look I did was using Homecoming all over my lid, Shimma Shimma in the inner corner, and Corrupt on the outer corner.  I also swept Homecoming to line my lower lash line to define it a bit more.  I thought it was a neutral look that was a little bit smokey on the over v, but looked appropriate for day or night.

The quality of Makeup Geek shadows is amazing!  I cant believe how little you need to get such great pigmentation.  I am so impressed, especially for the price.  I will definitely be ordering more and making these a staple in my collection!  The travel vault is super sturdy with a strong magnet, and not nearly as heavy as I thought as it would be.  The only bad thing is that you may get fingerprints on the outside, but that's easily fixed with a quick wipe down with a makeup wipe or soap and water.

The ONLY downside (and this only being nitpicky at this point) is that the shipping can take up to a week (at least for me) - mine was about 5 days once it shipped.  They were also backed up with holiday orders and the mega-sale so it took about 5-7 for it to ship.  I was just too excited to get my MUG goodies!  Seriously though, even the expedited shipping wasn't a terrible cost, so that's a definite option for next time I order.

I definitely want to check out their brushes and blushes next time I order.  The quality and price of the shadows I got was amazing.  Using a mix of drugstore and high end, I wouldn't even have known these were drugstore priced eyeshadows.

Their customer service is on point too - I emailed them twice with questions and they always answered back within 24 hours and were super super nice.

I would love for you to check out Makeup Geek!  The quality and customer care is so worth it.  I always appreciate extra help, so here is my personal affiliate link if you are so inclined.  As always, the money goes towards running this blog and doing what I am passionate about.  Thank you from the bottom of my makeup loving heart ❤️ 💄!

New Years Eve Look - elf Cosmetics | Tutorial

This New Years Eve look was inspired by an elf eyeshadow trio I wanted to use, so I tried to use as much elf cosmetics as possible.  I love seeing navy blue eye looks for New Years so I took that as inspiration and created my own look.

Wet the elf C brush and use to pick up the navy blue color.  Pat all over eyelid up to crease.  Using a clean crease brush blend Milani Bella Taupe into crease.  Using elf contour brush, smudge black color in outer corner and slightly into crease.  Blend Bella Taupe in crease again to blend everything out.  Use clean elf contour brush to place white color in inner corner/tear duct.  Pat blue in center of lid again to brighten it up.

Line eyes with Creme Eyeliner and Eyeliner Brush.  Wing out if desired.

If I did this look again I would put down a base like the elf Pro Eyeshadow Primer or lay down a shadow stick as a primer like elf Studio Eyeliner and Shadow Stick in Black/Smoke or the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean to make the blue even more vivid.

Products used for my NYE eye look:

elf Baked Eyeshadow Trio - Smokey Sea

elf Creme Eyeliner - Black

elf Contour Brush

elf Eyeshadow "C" Brush

elf Eyeliner Brush

Milani Bella Eyes Gel Eyeshadow - 05 Bella Taupe

What else I'm wearing:

elf Radiant Glow Primer [see my full review here]
elf Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder - St Lucia

   ---> used with elf Blush Brush

Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation - 100 Ivory

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - 004 Sandstorm

Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof - Very Black
Dior Addict Lip Glow - Pink

This post is not sponsored and I didn't receive any of these products for free.  I just thought it would be neat to do as much of my face in elf as possible since I was inspired by the elf eyeshadow trio.  I would love to do a full elf look one day!

Depotting Eyeshadows

After I noticed that I was getting a nice little collection of loose MAC and Urban Decay single eyeshadows, I decided to depot them to make life easier.  To start, I chose a Large MAC Pro Palette Duo and a Make Up Forever XL Palette to store them in.  I tried two methods of depotting, but when using the candle method I ended up dropping MAC Trax in the candle and ruining it.  After I switched over the the flat iron method, this is definitely the easier method (at least for me), but do whichever works for you!

{This post includes affiliate links.  Affiliate links are where I make a portion of sales from links used, which helps keep Beauty Freckled going.  Thanks for your support!}

MAC & UD Eyeshadows to depot + Graftobian Spatula

Tools:
Depotting Spatula (I used my Graftobian Double-Ended Spatula)
Rubbing Alchohol and Cotton Swab
Flat Iron/Straightener or Candle (and spoon)
Wax Paper
Round Magnets or Magnet Tape
Scissors
Sharpie
Magnetized Palette (Z Palette, MAC Pro Palette - Large/Duo, Make Up Forever Palette)

MAC Pro Palette and Make Up For Ever Metal Palette

Graftobian Double-Ended Spatula and MAC Shadow for depotting...

Steps:
1.  Open up the eyeshadow and stick the point of the depotting spatula in between the outer shell and the inner plastic pan where there is a little square hole.  Jimmy the inner pan out.
2.  Once your flat iron is hot, place the wax paper on one plate of the flat iron.  Place the eyeshadow on top of it.  This step is to melt the glue from the back of the metal pan so you can wiggle it out of that plastic pan.*
3.  After 3-5 minutes, take the pointed end of the spatula carefully press at the edge of the metal pan and see if the pan will move at all.  If not, set it back on the flat iron.
4.  Dip your cotton  swab in the alcohol and wipe the glue from the back of the metal pan.
5.  Label the back with the name of the eyeshadow, and the brand.
6.  Cut a piece of magnet if using a roll, or affix a round magnet to the back and pop in your palette!

*If you would prefer to use the candle method, put your eyeshadow pan in a spoon and lower it over the candle flame until the glue is melted and continue with steps 3-6.

I chose to melt the stickers off the back of my shadows and stick those on the back of the metal pans instead of labeling with the Sharpie (I have huge handwriting!).  Then I placed the magnet on the back where I could still read the color name.

MAC Pro Palette - Double

Using a palette also saves money since MAC sells their Pro Palette Refill Pans for $ (formerly $10), and are also already labelled on the back, versus their single eyeshadows which are $16!  I wish I had known that from the beginning.

MAC Pro Palette with MAC, Urban Decay, and Shea Moisture Shadows

Don't forget to save your shadow pans for the Back to MAC program!

Here is my finished product of my shadows in my MAC palette. So much easier just opening this up to do an eye look than a bunch of single shadows.  Plus I can take a few out to make a quad and put them in a smaller travel palette like the small version of the Make Up Forever palette, which I am going to buy just for that purpose.

MAC Pro Palette

I hope this helped everyone!  Let me know your favorite single eyeshadows and palettes to store them in below!

Wet n Wild Haul (Rite Aid)

All Wet n Wild products are 40% off at Rite Aid this week so I popped in to pick up some things that I keep hearing about.  I have been wondering how many really live up to their hype!

The Haul:
Wet n Wild MegaEyes Crème Eyeliner - Black
Wet n Wild MegaLast Lip Color - Sugar Plum Fairy
Wet n Wild MegaShimmer Shimmer Dust - White Lotus (262A)
Wet n Wild Color Icon - Walking on Eggshells (380B)
Wet n Wild Color Icon - Tunnel Vision (392A)

MegaEyes Crème Eyeliner - This is always raved about by beauty bloggers and gurus on YouTube so I had to pick it up so I could try it.  I have the e.l.f. gel liner so I am curious to do a comparison review on these two.  The brush it comes with is way too short for my liking but I will try it out with a longer handled brush.

Sugar Plum Fairy - Supposed to be a dupe for Mac Rebel.  I need more bright lipsticks and this is really pretty for any season!

MegaShimmer Shimmer Dust - I had someone at Sephora put the Tarina Tarantino Sparklicity over a smoky eye look (with a Dior palette) and I loved it.  It's a great way to add shimmer to a matte shadow or just make the look pop more.  I didn't love the Makeup Forever Glitter because it was too chunky, so I wanted to try this out to see if it's similar to the Sparklicity.

Color Icon Walking on Eggshells - Another dupe!  This one is compared to the Naked Palette (Virgin, Sidecar, Sin) and Mac's Nylon, Mulch, Naked Lunch (or Shroom, Cork, Naked Lunch)

Color Icon Tunnel Vision - Thought I would pick up one other palette I hadn't heard anything about and see how the pigmented they were.  It also had an extra $1 off coupon on it...couldn't hurt, right?  This actually has similar colors to the Dior 5-Colour Designer Palette in Smokey Design the Sephora associate used on my eyes with the Tarina Tarantino Sparklicity over it so I am going to do a dupe look for that with the Shimmer Dust and this together to replicate it.

 

 

Rite Aid has the whole Wet n Wild line 40% off for the rest of the week so check them out and stock up while you can!

Bed Bath & Beyond Haul & Deals

I recently picked up a few items with coupons and sales that I have been wanting to try for a while...here's a look at my mini-haul...I'll be reviewing and talking more in depth about these products in a post soon!

Bed Bath & Beyond
L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Eternal Sunshine
L'Oreal Infallible Gel Eyeliner Lacquer Liner in Blackest Black
L'Oreal Voluminous Smoldering Eyeliner in Black
L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black

L'Oreal Eyeshadow in Eternal Sunshine: Kim Kardashian wore this shade during her recent wedding to Kanye West.  I've tried this color out already and it's oh-so-gorgeous for summer.  I also want to pick up the Naked Foundation by Urban Decay and do a dupe look using the products she used since she wore that foundation with this look as well as the Naked Flushed.

L'Oreal Gel Eyeliner: This supposedly stays on for 24 hours and gets amazing reviews as does the Butterfly mascara (which is new).  I am almost positive after only trying this quickly twice that this is HG for me and just as good as the Stila gel liner.  It comes with the small liner brush shown.

L'Oreal Smoldering Eyeliner: The Smoldering Eyeliner has been out for a while, but I love smudgey eyeliner and anything kajal inspired so I had to pick this one up.  Only tried it once, quickly, but this is a pencil liner that feels like a combination of gel and kohl.  The consistency reminds me of the Rimmel Scandal Eyes but in a pointy form that you wouldn't expect to be so fluid because it's in pencil form.

 

Side Note:  If you don't shop at Bed Bath & Beyond for beauty items...you should be!  They are often cheaper than drugstores and you can use both coupons from the Sunday paper and their own 20% off coupons.  Score!  Not all stores have the Harmon (the beauty section) inside so check which stores near you have it.  If you live in the NJ/NY/CT area Harmon is even a separate store.