Reviews and Other Stuff

amrezy highlighter

Ilia The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette Review + Swatches

ilia clean beauty eyeshadow palette

 

Ilia Beauty is a brand of makeup and skincare that I’ve been investigating lately. I really love their concept of delivering clean beauty with high-impact colors. Their products have been hitting Instagram and so far, I’ve only heard and seen really good things about their stuff.

 

I was particularly interested in their clean eyeshadow palettes because I really love the cohesiveness of the colors in each of the compacts even though so far, they’ve only released two eyeshadow palettes which cater to those with warm or cool skin undertones. Also, clean eyeshadows are very important especially for those who tend to react or are sensitive to non-clean ones. However, most of the clean eyeshadows I’ve tried in the past tend to lack good pigments and staying power.

 

These Ilia eyeshadows are talc-free, sulfate-free, SLS/SLES-free, paraben-free, formaldehyde-free, cruelty-free, etc. Also, they are vegan and their packaging is recyclable. The texture of each shade is quite velvety because it contains Jojoba Seed oil. Each compact contains six shades that are a mixture of nude and neutral tones together with deeply pigmented colors, while the finishes are a mix of mattes to mildly shimmery ones.

 

The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette (0.05 oz: 38 USD)

 

ilia the necessary eyeshadow palette

 

Cool Nude – This may be made for those with cool skin undertones, but anyone with neutral or warm undertone can pull this off as well.

 

ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette cool nude swatches review

 

ilia beauty

 

Warm Nude – The shades of these remind me a lot of Urban Decay’s Naked Heat, but with cleaner ingredients.

 

ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette warm nude

 

I definitely think that these Ilia eyeshadows are not your typical basic neutral eyeshadows. They may be on the neutral side but their colors are definitely dramatic and highly-pigmented. Their lasting power is really good considering that they’re made of clean ingredients, and on top of that, there is no fallout. So far, I’m very impressed with these.

 

ilia liquid light serum highlighter in nova review

 

I happen to have a sample of Ilia’s Liquid Light Serum Highlighter in Nova (0.5 oz: 42 USD) which is a soft gold shimmer. There is a lot of buzz about this gel highlighter lately and that’s because this highlighter is really wonderful and totally versatile. The consistency of this is actually quite creamy, thus, making this very easy to blend on the skin. There are a lot of ways you can use this highlighter. First, you can use this as a basic all-around highlighter where you can highlight the high-points of your face. Second, you can mix this with your favorite foundation and customize your glow. Third, you can use this as a lid topper, and last but not the least, you can use this on the collarbone, shoulder, and everywhere on the upper body for maximum highlighting effect. What I also love about this highlighter is its lasting power and its good adherence to the skin which can pretty much last the whole day. On top of that, this highlighter is also made of clean ingredients.

 

ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette cool nude

 

The Ilia brand of beauty and skincare has very good high-quality products that don’t compromise color impact and saturation while being made of clean and natural ingredients. I find this brand to be very promising and I hope they will keep making more exciting clean beauty and skincare products soon.

 

Have you tried this brand already? What are your favorite clean beauty brands?

 

SHOP THIS POST

 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette & Amrezy Highlighter Review + Swatches

Why Hello There! I recently tested some newness from Anastasia Beverly Hills and I am so excited to tell you guys about the Anastasia Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette ($42), as well as the Amrezy Highlighter ($28).

 

soft glam eyeshadow review

 

The ABH Soft Glam Paletteย has 14 shades composed of matte and metallic finishes. The colors looked to complementing and wearable not just for my own skin tone but also for everyone. As a fan of Anastasia products, I knew I couldn’t let this palette pass me by. Also, I got curious at Anastasia’s latest Highlighter collab with Amrezy, so I tried it in-store and I was really amazed by it.

 

anastasia beverly hills soft glam eyeshadow palette review

anastasia soft glam eyeshadow palette

Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette ($42) – This palette is something that I’ve been anticipating from Anastasia. I wasn’t much of a fan of the Subculture Palette. I thought the colors looked so unworldly, LOL. But, I’m a big fan of the Modern Renaissance. Anyway, enter the Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette. My first impression of this is really positive, and I love how the colors looked well-curated. Not too crazy on reds, pinks, coppers, and rusts, but geared towards everyday neutrals and earthy colors that are more in tune with most skin tones. Each color’s texture is very soft and smooth, almost buttery and the pigment is superb. They are also pretty easy to blend and you can pack the colors on the lids for a more defined look. The glittery shades feel very soft as well, and never rough nor scratchy. The colors are something you would want to wear every day and application-wise, I haven’t noticed any fallouts. I find that the buttery smooth and velvety colors adhere well on the lids with or without any eyelid primer. The colors stayed on my lids for about 6 hours, yet they do crease a bit after that, but maybe that’s because I tend to have oily lids, but overall, this particular eyeshadow palette is still very reliable and it never smudges on me. Also, I love the dual-ended brush that came with this palette. It’s great for applying colors and it blends them well on the lids. The brush can contour very well and it feels really soft. I even like it better than the Urban Decay Naked Palette brushes. Another thing I love about this palette is its velvety yellow mustard packaging that feels really good to the touch and allows for a good grip.

 

anastasia beverly hills amrezy highlighter

Amrezy Highlighter (0.31 oz: $28) – This is the highlighter made in collaboration with Amrezy, which is currently making a huge buzz right now, and there’s definitely a reason why. When I first swiped my fingers on this highlighter, I was really impressed by its light gold shimmer. It felt so soft and smooth and it looked really pigmented. But when I applied it to my cheekbones, it didn’t really show much. I got a bit disappointed because the color of this highlighter actually seems to be too close to my light-medium skintone, and it didn’t seem to be as pigmented as I expected it to be. It is definitely quite soft, so its effect is very subtle and very natural upon application, kind of like one of those Dior Nuder Air Luminizers (reviewed HERE). The problem is, I like my highlighters to be quite pigmented, and this isn’t quite that. Since this can be applied wet or dry, I tried to apply it using a wet dense brush and it works much better. I do recommend that you apply this highlighter dry if you want a soft natural finish, but apply this wet if you want an all-out glow.

 

anastasia soft glam eyeshadow swatch

 

amrezy highlighter swatch

 

Don’t these new ABH products appeal to you? Are you a big Anastasia fan?

 

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Highlighter and Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette is currently available at Sephora, Ulta, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, JCPenney, Macy’s and Urban Outfitters