New Makeup Releases: Week of Nov. 29th

In recent years I have become very interested in makeup. I have been doing makeup on myself for about a few years now. I am self-taught and earlier this year I started my own beauty Instagram, but currently it is not in use. Make up allows me to show my creative side that many might not see. Now I've seen makeup where people draw faces, sunsets, and etc. I don't do that on my eyelids, I suppose I could try to do that... but it is not really my style of makeup. I like using neutral palettes for my everyday eye look. Sounds boring.. but I really enjoy showing bronze and golds on my eyelids because of my tan skin it stands out very nicely. Using bright colors on my eyes is not something I normally do. If I use brights it usually in the spring and summer. I would say I own a little over 110 eyeshadow palettes. Yes, that is a lot but not like some other people I know. I enjoy collecting eye shadow palettes that have different themes and shades.

Recently I ordered the new Jeffree Star "ALIEN" palette and James Charles first ever palette/collab with the makeup brand, Morphe. The palette is called the "Artistry Palette." Both palettes I would say are day and night of each other. The colors in Jeffree’s Alien palette don't have a cohesive theme when it comes to the color range. However, the names of the shades do! That is what drew me to the palette first. If you take a look at the photos of each palette you can see the colors and some of the name shades. I find Jeffree's palette shadow names to be really fun and creative.

I love when makeup companies have unique collections and fun shade names. There have been some wonderful collabs with themes that are truly unique... while others have been known to copy Indie makeup brands or other companies... Its a hard debate to discuss the word stealing in the makeup world. There are only SO many color ranges in the world...

Jeffree Star:

This palette is creatively different. Most palettes are square or round shaped. I have personally have NEVER seen an alien head shaped eye shadow palette. I know Hot Topic released an alien shaped palette, but it is no comparison to jeffree's. I will not show the photo of that palette, because I beleve it is kind of a rip of. The thing about Jeffree Star that people don't give him credit for is how creative he is. He thinks outside the box and really works hard on producing GOOD makeup ingredients that yes, do cost a little extra but the payoff is always worth the extra few bucks. The ingredients in his palettes are Vegan, and Cruelty free. His lip products not only can be used on the lips, but around the eyes. They are eye safe.

Despite Jeffree's past drama and harsh critics. He really is extremely talented and smart businessman. He knows what sells, what doesn't. The thing about his brand, "Jeffree Star Cosmetics," when he has new releases they sell out in MINUTES! I remember the first time I tried to get his Blood Sugar Palette He mentions the inspiration of the Blood Sugar Palette came from old Doctor bags. Therefore, the clasps on the palette add a unique look to the eye shadow palette. It is rather heavy compared to a normal cardboard palette. This is FAUX leather and it well constructed. This sold out in minutes of course.

Blood Sugar Palette can be purchased HERE. ($52.00)

I will say the alien palette (below) is not the colors I typically use, but the uniqueness of this palette and the names really make this a collectors item. Along with the palette he released lip scrubs, lipsticks, bags, etc. You can check out the rest of his Alien Collection HERE. Keep in mind they are almost all sold out and will hopefully be restocked before Christmas. I recommend buying his Blood Sugar palette, I have yet to try the new Alien one, but the Blood Sugar works really nicely!! Keep in mind the red shades CAN stain your eyes, but that is normal.. he uses vegan and cruelty free ingredients for everything, which means the formula is different than lets say a MAC red color shade, which comes from ground up.. yes, beetles. bugs. Most BIG companies will use crushed up beetles to get the red pigmentation. That is why I DON'T use their products. (look up their ingredients for those who want to know more or don't believe)

It is important to be mindful of what you put on your eye, lips and anywhere else on your body.

Alien Palette can be purchased HERE. ($52.00)

James Carles:

I've been following the gossip beauty news for some time now and since the past releases from Morphe, an affordable makeup brand, launched their star creator, Jaclyn Hill. Her palette had a lot of people were skeptical of buying James Charles collection months later. The reason why you may ask?

Well as you can see to the right, Jaclyn's packings is very clean cut and pretty. There was a lot of drama on the fact that she had used the same logo of the silver circle, and little specks of glitter on a white background for another brand launch she was expected to release years ago...but that never happened.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Jaclyn drama on this particular palette she she has created, called THE VAULT..... here is the rundown... A lot of beauty gurus who were sent this palette for honest reviews as many companies do before the public. Many gurus posted on their personal youtube accounts and complained that the greens, oranges was so sheer, no color came off on their brush. It was found to be patchy and dry to NO pigment. You can youtube this for old reviews.

Now when ANY brand releases a product you never want to hear bad reviews. You want the hype to be good hype. Jaclyn Hill sold millions on her last palette collab with them and they expected this one to be nothing but exceptional.

The VAULT Collection had different price points, some included the brushes and 4 mini palettes, while Morphe sold her mini palettes individually. She also had 2 sets of brushes in this collection. Overall for only the 4 pack of eyeshadow palettes was about $60. But for everything it came to a little over $100.

Here is a close up of the colors. I was looking forward to purchasing this collection because I am a huge fan of Jaclyn. I learned makeup from watching all her old and new videos. But I ended up not purchasing this collection or any of the palettes or brushes. I can't lie, the reviews scared me. I did not want to buy something that had no good pay off. After the beauty gurus scandal about the shadows not working nicely Jaclyn claimed they got rid of all those bad batches of palettes and created new ones. Many argued and basically called her out because there was no real proof that was true. Many fans received palettes at the launch of some Morphe stores that apparently also sold the bad batches of makeup palettes. They were eventually told they would be given the new batch, free of charge.

Even with the new batches of eyeshadows people still complained about how it just wasn't a great collection. This can be found online if you google, Jaclyn Hill's The Vault Honest Reviews.

Today, They are still selling on different makeup stores online and in store, including, Morphebrushes.com which is where you can purchase it. I wouldn't recommend buying it because you don't know if the set you buy will be a good one or not. And because I am extremely picky with what I buy I would pass on this collection all together.

So as you can imagine the release of James Charles's palette a month later after Jaclyn Hill's drama had sort fo died down it had many in the beauty community rolling their eyes saying.."not again!!" But I will say, I did buy James's palette. It is a gorgeous palette, large in size, the palette cannot fit in a regular size makeup bag. This collection has almost every color you could want or need for an incredible eye look!

I recently used it and I can say that the colors were nice. A little tap of the colors picked up A LOT of color. It is the type of palette that LESS IS MORE. You don't want to over do it. Also for the metallic shades your brush NEEDS to be wet, or you use your finger to press onto your eyelid for good pay off. This is something James mentions time and time again. It is always easier to add color rather than taking away. James is incredibly artistic in his looks he creates. Being another boy in makeup really puts you into the limelight. There are very few boy makeup artists who are really known in the makeup world. I try to support all of them, but some have been known to say hurtful things about fans, and sometimes making racist remarks about people of color.

As you can see, the shades in this palette is bright, and very diverse. The palette I would say is 15 inches, I'm comparing it to my MacBook Pro, and they are the same size. So..YES, it is a rather large palette. Morphe is known to have affordable makeup with great pigmentation. This palette retails for $39. There are other items along with James's collection, which on the Morphe website uses his famous catchphrase "Sister Collection" Which has nice Brushes, and nice box holder for the brushes.

It is currently sold out in many places. The brushes are a bit pricey but may be worth the price, because the collection includes 2 of each brushes (I believe) which is a great thing! I always need an extra set of my brushes!! He also created a new brush for morphe, a contour nose brush which he is known for doing to his face. I do indeed contour my nose because my nose is rather small and round, and contouring adds more of a straight, less round look on me.

Contouring is a complicated thing, it takes a lot of time and practice but once you figure out your face shape contouring can be really a nice effect. I'm for it!

Overall these palettes are really a nice purchase!! Its rare when makeup gurus come out with palettes that are worth buying! Often they do it cause of hype of their brand and want to make money... but some do it because they care about the formula and how it looks on the eyes and face. I appreciate the ones that really think about the overall look and feel of the makeup I buy.

I will briefly mention that there was a negative review for the James Charles palette... that one of the shades, the bright pink on on the bottom right corner of the palette, had left a young girls eyelid stained and with hives. She went on this HUGE dramatic rant talking about how James should of told his fans about the color and shame on him...

Now. James hasn't publicly come out and said that shade will leave you hives... BUT sometimes colors will leave a stain on your eyelid (as mentioned about Jeffree's red shades) This happens often with colors! A good tip at removing stubborn stained eyeshadow is using an oil eye wipe. This can help take it off a little easier.

To be fair, James has acknowledged this young girl and has made countless snapchat and Instagram stories. Even youtube channel has a video on his collection that shows tips and tricks on how to get a good payoff using his palette. I recommend watching his youtube channel for more info. CLICK HERE.

Source: Jeffree Star photos from his official website/James Charles photos from Morphe website.

Coming up next time...

BECKY G x COLOURPOP - SALVAJE

(Salvaje means Savage in spanish)

Release Date: Dec. 5th

The P.R package that was sent to makeup gurus had TEQUILA and a gorgeous handcrafted mexican shot glass!

(The box with tequila - photo below- will NOT BE FOR SALE.)

Colourpop has been selling their P.R boxes to the public for a few months now. They range about 70$ and up. They sell out fast and are often worth it! I hope to get my hands on one of these Becky G boxes and do a review soon!! Stay Tuned.