Anastasia Beverly Hills: Artist Palette

The new Anastasia Beverly Hills Artist Palette was just released last week. I got mine last night. I could not wait to get my hands on this after reading all rave reviews on Instagram. It retails for $30 and has 12 different colors ranging from navy blue (blue velvet) to a bright mustard yellow (phresh).

 

After getting is home and taking a good look at it one thing came to mind... 6 out of the 12 colors are very close to those in the Urban Decay Vice 3 palette. Which only really stood out because I use Vice 3 on the regular.

Ok pros: 12 is a decent amount of colors. Within that selection there is a big range of shades which allow you to come up with some creative looks with out dipping into another palette. There is an even mix of shimmer and matte. The colors are highly pigmented yet easily bendable.

Cons. First thing that stood out to me was the case it comes in looks cheap. Does that affect the shadows... of course not I just prefer a pretty plastic case that snaps close. As I mentioned before half of the colors are very similar to those in Vice 3 by Urban Decay.  Normally when I buy a new palette I know what I want to do with it before I even get it home. I remember when UPS brought my Kat Von D Chrysalis insanely late but I still needed to try it that night... I didn't feel that way about this one. Instead of the possibilities feeling endless it took me awhile to figure out what I would do with it.

Here is what I came up with...

The colors written in purple are UD the colors written in white are ABH 

IMATS NYC 2015

I unexpectedly was given the opportunity to attend IMATS. Excited... doesn't cover it! The Internation Make up Artists Trade Show... Every make up lover, make junkie, make up addicts dream. More make up in one place than I have ever seen... not to mention the place is jam packed with incredibly talented make up artist showing off their skills.

I am always one to say I feel like I don't fit it anywhere... and I am okay with that... however walking into IMATS was liking coming home! Hundreds (or more) creative souls. Expressing themselves in ways only a true artist can. And not that anyone can't appreciate it but this stuff is what other artists thrive on... the creativity and pure inspiration that comes from others that are so outwardly passionate about what they do.

I thoroughly enjoyed just walking around and taking in the whole scene. So many beautifully painted faces and bodies. Exquisite make up. Catching glimpses of those I admire and follow on IG.

And then of course there is the make up. So much make up. Everywhere you turn. Every 5 steps you take more and more make up. It was like I took the ferry from New Jersey and docked in make up heaven.

But alas the reality of a high profile event in NYC... the lines for most of the booths that I wanted to visit were unreal! Morphe which I desperately wanted to get to had a 2 and a half hour wait. Yes... 2 and a half hours! Even Lime Crime despite the current boycott had a 30 minute wait. While an almost 3 hour wait for Morphe just didn't feel doable (today I found out they had the Jaclyn Hill favorites... that's a game changer totally would have stood on line for that) I did decide to hop on line for the Anastasia Beverly Hills booth. In total I wasted about 40 minutes. Which would have been fine... if they were not sold out of pretty much everything that I wanted! Aside from the wait to get to the booth I spent a good 20 minutes if not more deciding on 8 colors for a custom eye pallet only to find out they were out of 5 of them. And the girls working the booth were... lets just say not the friendliest... it was a huge disappointment. Not to mention the cream contour kit costs $4.00 more at the trade show than it does on their website.

Other than that I got some great stuff at amazing prices including lots and lots of glitter. NYX Cosmetics which I am a huge fan of had some real steals.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the day... the talent... the art... the make up... all of it!

To highlight and contour or not

To high light and contour or not... these days that is the question. Well if your into make up it is... and you probably are if you are reading this. I'll be honest before I started doing it I really could not understand how it worked. Using colors shades lighter and darker than you are to get the perfect look just didn't make any sense to me considering the years yes years I have spent trying to find the perfect foundation. Because foundation as we know must be spot on for it to look decent. And lets face it... its really friggin hard to find that one matching shade of perfection that gives flawless looking skin.... so hard some never find it. So how could it be that you can throw on all these different colors... blend the shit out of them and come out looking not just decent but amazing. I really don't know I will chalk it up to make up magic and when it comes right down to it that what make up is all about... using colors and shades to create optical illusions. Minimizing your least favorite features and giving life to what you love the most.

So how does it what work and what is worth your time and money? Here are a few that I have used and what I think of them.... (there are a ton out there) I will start with Anastasia Beverly Hills because I consider that one to be the best and lets face it... what does she put out that isn't perfection.

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS

Anastasia Beverly Hills puts out 2 contour kits. One cream. One powder. I got the powder first. To use the powder one I started my make as usual. Moisturizer. Bareminerals brightening primer. Bareminerals complexion rescue ( I use suede 4). Bareminerals loose powder to set the everything. And then finally the contour kit in medium. The powder kit is probably the most subtle. I found the difference in appearance after using it to be minimal... which is enough for a beginner until you get a good grasp on where you are placing the different colors. If you have never tried the whole highlight contour thing this is definitely the place to start.

Just recently the cream contour kit came out and quickly became my favorite. For a number of reasons. The number one reason is it has such good coverage concealer and foundation are not even necessary considering you don't have any issues or major discoloring. To use this I start with moisturizer. Bareminerals brightening primer. Then go right into the cream contour kit. I use the lightest color which is banana on my t zone. under my eyes. bridge of my nose. and my chin. I use cinnamon just under my cheekbones and to outline my nose. A little bit of cinnamon on my forehead just by the hair line.  And finally chocolate which is the darkest shade just under the cinnamon I used on my cheeks. A lot of what you see in tutorials is that they put all of the colors on at one time and then blend.I find it easier to do one color at a time. Place them. And then pat them  to blend before I add the next color. When I am done with the cream contour kit I find the powder contour kit the perfect compliment to really finish and define the look. You need powder on top to set any cream and being able to use the pretty much the same colors to set really makes a difference. When I am done using the powder I like to go back into the cream contour kit and use the warm coral on the apple of my cheeks it is the perfect color to brighten and warm up your face.

Another thing that I love about the cream contour kit is that there are so many ways you can apply it. You can use a moist blending bud for a more dewy look or add a drop of oil to it. You can also use it as is with a brush which is the way I like to do it most days.

Basically you can use one or the other or both together for the perfect look. Each kit retails for $40.00 which is a great price considering you get 6 colors.

top picture was using just the powder kit to h/c

bottom pic was using the cream kit with powder kit to set the h/c


YOUNIQUE HIGHLIGHT CONTOUR SET

Younique recently came out with their highlight contour set. It includes 2 shades of their bb flawless cream which you already know I am a fan of and two blending buds. If you are not familiar with younique or how to highlight and contour it may be a little tricky to pick out colors. I went with cream which is their lightest shade and caramel which is one of their darker shades but not the darkest. To do the highlight and contour with these products  I used the blending buds that they came with which is probably the only way that I would do it using them. They are very creamy tinted moisturizers so they go on very smooth. They are super easy to blend. They leave your skin with a nice dewy look if that is what you like this is perfect for you... if you have oily skin maybe not so much. Your are only getting two colors with this so this a very basic highlight contour which again is great for a beginner. The only set back... the price. This set retails for $90.00 Is it worth it? Hard to say. You are getting two full tubes of cream that will last you a very long time because you really don't need much product. But $90.00 is $90.00 and you still need a powder to set this look. Which just like Anastasia you can purchase complimenting colors to do so from the younique line which also retail for $32.00. So when all is said and done you are looking at $90 for the set and then another $64 for powder.

Using younique cream and caramel to h/c



BAREMINERALS

This is not a true contour kit and not marketed as one BUT.... you can get away with using it as one and for a great price. It is called the complexion perfection palette and it is just that. It comes with everything you need for the perfect face on the go. It has foundation, the mineral veil, bronzer, luminizer, a correcting concealer, the brushes you need, and the best part it comes in a make up clutch that fits perfectly in your bag. For an everyday natural but somewhat contoured look this is PERFECT and it only costs $49. I use again the moisturizer and brightening primer. The concealer just under my eyes. The foundation on my entire face. The bronzer just in the hollow part of my cheek where I would use the contouring colors from the other kits and the luminizer just on my cheek bones, bridge of my nose and cupids bow... it really is a very quick and easy every day look that gives you that little extra with out much effort. This set is perfect for on the go and anyone that doesn't really want to be bothered with lots of different brushes techniques or hesitant about their blending skills.

using bareminerals

Did I leave anything out? Tell me what. Something you want me to review? Leave a comment. Have something to add... I love feedback. Hope you enjoyed. As always thanks for reading :)

(All products reviewed were bought on my own and are actually what I use.)