So the reviews are finally here!!

These are the factors I consider when purchasing make-up and thus, consequently will be the manner in which I structure my reviews:

1. Packaging – packaging is an important part of the product to me. It not only gives your product an overall appeal, but also can lend to its ease or sometime lack thereof of use. If the packaging makes the product easy to open or if there is no space for applicator to be stored, etc…all those things contribute to the packaging of the product.

2. “Bang for your Buck” Factor – I have to think of another name for this category. This category focuses mainly on price. However, for me, price is not the biggest factor. Getting the best bargain is more important. If a high-end product costing $20+ is the only product that can give me the results I desire, then it is worth spending. If there is a drugstore product that costs $5-10 to give me the same results, you can bet the leftover money that’s what I’ll be recommending. I’m price-conscious, but not for the sake of sacrificing quality.

3. Product Quality – Here is where I discuss the quality of the product. How well it works, things I find bad and good about the product. You get the deal.

Overall Conclusion: To sum up the review and my final thoughts regarding the product.

Rating: Scale of 0-5.
0 = Terrible. Please don’t waste money even trying this, in fact, don’t even look for it on the shelves
1 = Bad. Wouldn’t try it.
2 = Not good. Didn’t work well on me. Maybe it could on you?
3 = Average. Gave me acceptable results, but no “wow” factor.  Worth trying.
4 = Great. Gave above acceptable results. Definitely give it a shot.
5 = Fantastic. “Wow factor.” Everyone should go buy this product.

Hopefully, my rating scale will clearly define how I feel about the product and help you make up your mind as to whether or not this product is worth purchasing for yourself.

Now, for the reviews:

Review for NARS Orgasm

1. Packaging – A lot of people on makeupalley.com and asianbeautyblog.com seem to disagree with NARS rubber box packaging, but it really doesn’t make a difference to me. I like the little plastic cover to protect the mirror from the blush.
2. “Bang for your Buck”- NARS Blush in ‘Deep Throat’ was the first blush I bought full size. I had a small Lancome one that came in a palette and some sample size blushes from Everyday Minerals. Apparently, NARS doesn’t give a lot of blush for the price of $25, but I don’t have much to compare it to. It is definitely not cheap at $25, but I bought it at Sephora, so that was a price I expected to pay.
3. Product Quality – Orgasm is a very sheer color – the pink goes on very light. There are shimmer gold flecks in the blush that go on quite heavily though. I’m generally more of a pink person – I really like that “rosy glow” that comes from pink blush, so I was a tad disappointed by Orgasm. On the upside, it goes on really light that I’m not afraid of putting on too much “pink” – just too much “gold”. I don’t particularly find NARS Blushes overall very blendable – as in they just stay where I put them. It’s hard for me to spread them out across my cheek area and I always have to go back for more. I can’t say the same for my EM and Lancome blushes. I think ‘Orgasm’ is often referred to “everybody’s color” because it’s so sheer that you can control how much color you actually put on to make it fit your skin color.

Overall conclusion: I really wanted to give this product a 5 based on all the reviews at MUA, but I think I’m too disappointed by it. It isn’t a bad product – beautifully pigmented, although very light in its application. And I think that’s exactly the problem – it’s too light in the application. The pink is too little and the gold flecks are too much. It is a good starter blush for your blush collection (if you can afford it) and a pretty good staple for an everyday, day-time face – perfect for an office environment. There are some substitutes out there for this color that I have read on some of the various other blogs I come across, but for the life of me I can’t remember where I read it.

Rating: 3/5 (Average)

Orgasm is on the left and Deep Throat on the right. It’s difficult to tell, but if you look at the smooth edges of both blushes, you will notice Orgasm is slightly less pink than Deep Throat.


The picture on the left is a normal picture. The picture on the right is in “Vivid Color” Setting. With the same amount applied from both blushes, you will notice that there is more pink on Deep Throat (Right) than Orgasm (Left). In my opinion, under the Vivid Color setting, you can see the gold stand in Orgasm compared to Deep Throat, which seems to have less gold flecks in it.

Review for Wet ‘N Wild Ultimate Expressions Eyeshadow Palette

1. Packaging – The packaging is a little bulky, but as long as you don’t need to travel with it – that’s fine.  It has a sturdy feel to it making me think that if I drop it, it might be ok. Don’t test me on that though – I don’t want to be responsible for ruining your makeup. I like how there is a mirror and applicator that comes with the palette – that’s good if you need to grab some e/s and run out the door in a hurry. The strange thing about the mirror is that it comes out from the bottom of the palette, but I found that if you just turn it upside down, it’s a lot easier to use. Normally, I don’t use the sponge applicator or the mirror, but it’s good that it’s there. Just in case ;-)
2. “BFYB” – (I’m abbreviating this for laziness’ sake) This e/s palette is certainly a bargain. you get 8 colors for $4.99 (I bought mine from drugstore.com along with other things, but I think Target had them for the same price). That’s a lot better than even some of the other drugstore brands like Revlon, Maybelline, etc. I bought Paradise Cove and Sand Castle – I love how the palettes are different shades of purple (Paradise Cove) and browns (Sand Castle). It allows you to mix and match different colors so you can create both day and night looks. You definitely get a lot of versatility with the product.
3. Product Quality -I really like these palettes – The colors go on nice. I don’t think they’re as vibrant like MAC or NYX eyeshadows, but they’re pretty good. Finely milled, easily blendable, and smooth.

Overall Conclusion: If you can’t afford MAC and NYX is really hard to find in your area, go with these. They’re fantastic and cheap. From what I heard, the trio sets are pretty good and they’re even cheaper so if $4.99 or 8 eyeshadows is too much, the trios might work.

Rating: 4/5 (Great with above acceptable results. Definitely worth a shot)

Swatches – (Swatched with UDPP)

Paradise Cove:

Sand Castle:

UDPP vs. TFSI

1. Packaging – TFSI wins. Hands down. I absolutely hate the bottle for UDPP – It makes you waste a lot of product. When you seem to be running low, pull out the plastic wand wiper – all of a sudden you get about 10x more primer. There are videos on Youtube that also show you how to cut the UDPP bottle open so that you can get all the product out. How complicated and what a waste of time. TSFI, on the other hand, comes in a tube with a narror tip so you only squeeze out a little product at a time. It will be far easier to make sure you used up all the product – just cut the tube open with scissors.
2. BYFB – TFSI is $1 more. Personally, both products work fantastically and you get AMAZING results. UDPP was the first primer I ever used and it pretty much was my saving grace. If I never found UDPP, I would have given up on beautiful eye makeup because I could never keep it from not creasing. In terms of BYFB, this is a tie. Both products give amazing results for relatively the same price.
3. Product Quality – In terms of results, both products do an amazing job of keep all my makeup from creasing. I’m not sure if it’s because my UDPP is a bit old and thus, has gotten somewhat drier, but it takes less TFSI to cover my entire lid than UDPP. Also, I find that UDPP doesn’t blend well on top of my EM foundation – I can see streaks. (And I used a new tube to test that part, so I’m fairly sure it has nothing to do with dryness.) I know some other reviews attest to one product last longer, less creasing, and better blendability over the other. But at this point, without a new tube of UDPP, I can’t say that I can fairly attest to TFSI being better.

Overall Conclusion: Both products give studpendous results – you definitely won’t regret buying them. But personally, I would just go for TSFI over UDPP and pay the extra dollar. The tube packaging allows you to control the amount you use better and keeps the product more sanitary (because you don’t have to pull a wand out and put it back in) – because of this, over the long run TSFI will be a better choice. If you’re in it for the results, it doesn’t really matter which one you buy.

That’s it, folks! If you made it to the bottom of this really long review, I commend you. Thanks for reading guys!!

Update: I don’t really have anything planned in terms of specific types of posts. I will be doing some looks from my CS 88 Palette in the future. Feel free to comment if you have suggestions on what you’d like to see.

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