Saturday, July 30, 2011

Kat's Gone Eyeshadow Crazy + EOTD

I've mentioned that I've failed miserably this month with my "no buy" plan. I made more purchases the other day and yesterday. I was in Target and saw these e.l.f. eyeshadow palettes and one especially caught my eye. I hadn't tried this brand before and considering that you get 32 eyeshadows for only $4.81 USD (including tax), it's really inexpensive. My only concern is that really inexpensive, drugstore brands can be just that--cheap, poor quality products. I decided to try it anyway since it was so inexpensive and if it was bad, I wouldn't feel terrible dumping it. The palette that caught my eye was the Beauty School Eyeshadow Palette Volume II.


It is predominantly a cool-toned palette, which is my favorite as I tend to look tired and washed out with warm tones.

The last few days have been really sunny and hot, a typical tropical, sunny day in Hawaii. For yesterday's EOTD, I decided to go with that tropical feel, doing something that is a little out of the ordinary for me. I used the last 3 colors in the top row and the two yellowish colors in the bottom row. Unfortunately, yesterday ended up being overcast and rainy in the morning and overcast and humid in the afternoon.


I normally like to use at least one color that is much darker than what I used in this EOTD for a smokey effect because I think that I look a little washed out if I don't. Even without having done my usual smokey look, I think that it came out okay--it's summer so a cooler eye is fine, don't you think? I added some Gokubuto mascara to help darker my eyes just a little bit. I paired it with pinky/peach cheeks. Feeling that my eye makeup was lighter than usual, I went with a little brighter lip color--Dior Addict in Diorkiss. The eye makeup looks a little muted in the pictures than it was in person. In person, it was actually much brighter.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the e.l..f. eyeshadows were soft, although not buttery soft like Urban Decay. The shadows are nicely pigmented and blend nicely. I also didn't experience any fallout.  I have bought and tried Revlon's quad eyeshadow palette and it was hard and didn't blend easily. I didn't like it. Even though I used this palette only this one time, I was so impressed with it that I went back to pick up more. I got 2 Beauty School Eyeshadow Palette Volume I, which is more of a warm-toned palette, although it does have some lovely plum colors and also picked up two more Volume II palettes. The net weight of these palettes is 1.1 oz/32 g.


I also picked up Little Black Beauty Book Volume II which has 48 color pans in it. The price on it was the same as the Beauty School palettes. The net weight of this set is 1.1 oz/32 g. Sorry, I took the picture of this set in the box as it would have been difficult to take it out of the box. I didn't want to open the box since I will not be using it.


While I'm not sure about the Little Black Beauty Book set, for the Beauty School palette, the cover has a mirror which covers approximately 1/3 of the cover. The only negative thing that I can say at this point is that the cover will not open up and lay flat. The palette will open up to only a 90 degree angle (with 180 degrees letting it lie flat). Since the mirror is on the top edge of the cover, it is top heavy.

I do not know what I will do with all of these eyeshadow palettes that I purchased. I just had to buy them as I know that products in Target disappear quickly.  I will probably give one to Mai. If anyone who is not able to get e.l.f. products easily, please let me know if you want to purchase anything.

I also was able to pick up my Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow palette from Sephora. It is a gorgeous palette with mainly cool-toned colors.The case sits in a purple velveteen box. The case is shiny metal which is a fingerprint magnet but is oh, so pretty! You can pop out the eyeshadow layer and the bottom layer of the case is lined in the same purple velveteen fabric. Beautiful!



My only complaint...there is no way that I can depot the eyeshadows because the eyeshadow wells are not separate pans, it is all one piece from what I can see. It is so pretty that I am enjoying looking at the shadows for now. I will summon up the courage to use this beautiful palette sometime in the near future.

*Kat*

16 comments:

Steph said...

WOW the palettes are a really good deal =D especially for playing around w/ bold colors that aren't usually used!!! I like your EOTD it's different, youthful && fun ^^

ahhhhh im trying really hard not to pick up the UD 15th Anniversary palette... but everyone's pics && blogs are tempting meeeeeee =0

galpal.hi said...

@Steph--Thank you! It was nice expanding my horizons and doing something a little different from usual. I'm so happy that the quality of the shadows is so good, especially for the super inexpensive price.

I found out that in Canada, the UD 15th Anniversary palette is so expensive!

*Kat*

Brianna said...

From the seconds I read the title on this post I smiled, so I knew this was going to be good. I haven't tried any e.l.f. shadows, but from what I see here I may have to in the future. I like how your eotd uses bright colors but is still very wearable, so many tutorials on the web for brighter eyes are not wearable to me.

The anniversary palette looks so nice, I only have the UD naked which is much loved.

breakingrumours said...

the elf eyeshadows seems like a pretty good deal to me! with the quality and inexpensive price, thumbs up! and UD palette looks so pretty with the jewel and mirrorlike casing

Jamilla Camel said...

bargain of the century! Very pretty on your eyes.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful on your eyes. :)
Sandy

evie said...

the colours are so pretty! and they are so versatile! love the eotd!...

Mona said...

woohoo! you go the UD palette. I share the same feeling when it comes to the packaging and being being able to take them out.

Steph said...

i knowwww =[ everything is so much more expensive in canada... but if im gonna get it.. i hope it OOS lol that way it can't be helped XD

galpal.hi said...

@Brianna--LOL!I can just imagine your smile when you started reading this post. Since it seems that you are somewhat close to a Target, you should try and check out the e.l.f. palettes. I'm really pleasantly surprised by the quality of the shadows--soft and pigmented and (at least for the colors I used) not chalky.

*Kat*

galpal.hi said...

@breakingrumours--Yes, it is a great deal! The UD 15th Anniversary Palette is definitely a beauty. It looks and feels quite elegant.

*Kat*

galpal.hi said...

@Jamilla--Thank you so much! Gosh, I have so many eyeshadows that I wish I had more eyes to use them on.

*Kat*

galpal.hi said...

@Sandy--Thank you very much. I'm happy that I tried it. I was getting in a comfortable rut using only neutrals.

*Kat*

galpal.hi said...

@evie--Thank you! I had fun playing around with some fun colors.

*Kat*

galpal.hi said...

@Mona--Yeah, that's the only thing that sucks--can't depot! I love the different specialty palettes that UD comes out with each year but they are so bulky that it's great to be able to depot them.

*Kat*

galpal.hi said...

@Steph--So far it seems that this palette isn't having the same success as NAKED. I can't find it in store but it's available online. NAKED was and is still almost impossible to get.

*Kat*