Showing posts with label stars makeup haven. Show all posts

Hi Bellas,


I've had these products to review for a while now, but my vacation put me behind on testing them. I've also been itching to do a tutorial, but after coming back from vacation, I haven't been able to wear contacts for about a week and a half. Luckily my eyes are better so I could do a look!


Check out my video tutorial to see my look!




Onto my review! You might have already seen these double stack palettes.


Shimmer Double Stack



Matte Double Stack

My first impression, "Whoa mama these are vibrant!" Out of all the pre-filled palettes I've tried out, these are the brightest...right up my alley! You can find these for $27.95 on Stars Makeup Haven. They're called double stack palettes because the first layer has a palette filled with 32 eyeshadows, and the second layer/stack has a palette filled with 10 blushes.


Blushes
Unfortunately the blushes are the same in both palettes...it would have been cool if the Matte palette had matte blushes and the Shimmer palette had shimmer blushes, oh well! The blushes in this palette are actually different from an individual 10 pan blush palette that I have. They are a little more pigmented which is a plus for the medium to dark skin tones out there...not quite as smooth as MAC blushes but definitely wearable.


Eyeshadows
In terms of the eyeshadows, they are really fun, bright colors to work with. The consistency is harder than a lot of the other palettes out there, which I actually prefer so that way the eyeshadows don't crumble as easily. The colors are really super duper pigmented...you can do so much with these palettes. I definitely recommend them. I actually took both palettes and then put both stacks of eyeshadows in one palette and both blushes in another...most likely I won't be using the blushes as much as the eyeshadows...plus I like to have all of my eyeshadows in one place.

Stars Makeup Haven Single Eyeshadows
In addition, I've been testing out SMH's single eyeshadows. They are the exact size of MAC shadows and fit perfectly into SMH's magnetized 28 palette. The packaging of the eyeshadow is very nice...the whole pan is a shiny, heavy metal with the words printed directly on the back...IMO it looks even nice than the MAC shadow where you can see the exposed magnet on the back. At $4.95, these eyeshadows are very affordably priced. They come in a range of colors (currently 50 colors to choose from) from neutral to bright and bold.


Here's a picture from Stars Makeup Haven with the shadows in her 15 pan palette. You can buy the pans and palette individually, or you can build your own 15 pan palette for $49.95. That's an amazing deal since if you bought all 15 pans individually you'd be spending $74.25 already, and that's without the empty palette. Great Deal! Or you can buy the 28 pan palette and fill it for $79.95...saving you $58.65 in eyeshadow alone! Just for comparison sake, if you bought 15 MAC pan eyeshadows, it would be already over $150...these are half the price.



As you can see, it's better to do the "build your own palette" option...and they're not pre-filled, you can choose your own colors. Let me also mention that SMH's magnetized palettes are amazing! You really don't need to buy MAC empty palettes anymore...and no more adding magnets to anything, love love love!




In terms of the consistency, the shadows are super smooth. Watch out though, because they're a little soft, my fingernail accidentally hit them a few times, leaving a nick on the surface. I tried some of these out in the Philippines and they were really nice. The color is vibrant and blends easily. They can be a little dusty, but just shake off the excess on your brush before applying and you should be fine. I paired this with my eyeshadow base from Steelo Cosmetics and they lasted all day. This is such a great alternative to MAC eyeshadows...I love how you can actually choose your own colors as opposed to the larger pre-filled palettes (88...96...120) where you end up not using a lot of the colors in the palette.



Check out the look I created with the double stack palettes and single eyeshadows!








Check these out at http://www.starsmakeuphaven.com/ !



Stay tuned for my next video on Monday where I announce my Red Cherry Lashes contest!


Atlanta Makeup Artist

Hi Bellas!

Yesterday I posted a video showing some of the most popular products on the makeup scene. Many refer to them as the Coastal Scents palettes, but they are actually mass produced makeup palettes made overseas. Companies like Coastal Scents buy them and bulk and distribute them at a discounted rate.

Until now I had never tried these palettes. To be honest, I was a little skeptical. I know that oftentimes, large no-name palettes suffer in terms of quality. I have several MAC palettes and two Yaby palettes which were awesome. I didn't want to fall into the hype and be disappointed.

However, one of my new initiatives in terms of my beauty blog and YouTube channel is to do tutorials and looks that most of my audience can recreate. I realize that many of you have these palettes.

The point of my video is to show you that there are other sources for these palettes besides Coastal Scents. I've found them cheaper on Stars Makeup Haven. On top of this, they're not always sold out like Coastal Scents! I've heard you can also find them on Ebay...but if you want it from a reputable seller, I'd go with the former.

Check out my video!


Hopefully I don't get any backlash from Coastal Scents...I've heard that sometimes they get a little crunk with people who offer less than positive feedback.

Here are the items I tested:

Blush Palette: Coastal Scents Price $16.95 ; Stars Makeup Haven Price $15.95
Overall, this is a decent blush palette. Most of the colors are on the sheer side except the bride orange and pink. I was able to get most of them show by layering them on, but you may want to skip this if you're skin tone is darker than mine.


96 E/S palette: This is not on the Coastal Scents site. It retails for $24.95 on Stars Makeup Haven. This is my favorite palette of them all. The colors are super bright and there are so many to choose from. I wasn't disappointed with the pigmentation. However, you do need a base with these. I noticed that if you don't, the shadows start to disappear when you blend. However, I wear a base with all eyeshadows regardless. I'd definitely recommend. I compared this side by side with the 88 palette and this one is far better. I also wore the shadows in this palette in my Naughty Valentines Day look video.


28 Pan Neutral Palette: Coastal Scents $21.95, Stars Makeup Haven $19.95
I was a little iffy on this palette at first. A lot of colors are cool toned and have a tendency to give you that ashy effect. The key is to use a base again, and to pick the colors in the palette that work for you...mix and match. After a while, I found out which ones work for me. For the size of the eyeshadows and the price though, it's a great deal.


15 pan palette: $6.95 on Stars Makeup Haven. They don't offer the empty palette on Coastal Scents, just the one with pans. I like this one more since I'm a depotter...and I don't usually need extra pans since I don't do much pigment pressing. I actually just ripped out the foam insert and lined the bottom with an adhesive magnet sheet. Stars Makeup Haven sells the adhesive sheet. Then you can fit a few more eyeshadows in. This palette is smaller than the MAC 15 palette and also great for traveling. I'm going to probably bring this with me to the Philippines since it's small enough to fit in my makeup bag.


28 Pan Palette: They only offer this at Stars Makeup Haven for $10.95. With both empty palettes, you have the option of getting it with pans for about $1-$2 more. Talk about a lot of room for an eyeshadow palette! This is great for a large gig where you don't want to have a million palettes floating around. I'll probably do the same with this one and rip out the foam so I can just have a freeform palette to put in my MAC blush and eyeshadow pans.


So I hope my review helped some of you out. The bottom line is that both companies offer similar goods...but one company offers it cheaper. You can also get rare MAC and other high end goods from Stars Makeup Haven while you're there...i've gotten MAC pigment samples from them before and have been very pleased!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's video, my Rihanna Celebrity Makeup Tutorial.

Till next time, Ciao Bellas!

Atlanta Makeup Artist

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