EM Michelle Phan Party Life Palette Review (In Depth With Swatches)

Back in September I purchased a party life palette sample, and I absolutely hated it. I posted a blog (can be viewed here) and EM cosmetics messaged me on Facebook and offered to send me a free full size life palette, at absolutely no cost. First off, how could I refuse!? Anything free is amazing, but the fact that they wanted me to change my mind (hell I wanted me to change my mind) was awesome. The palette was sent next day air to my home as promised and I was absolutely thrilled. It is now November and I finally have had time to play with it (I am so terrible, I know!). All words are my own, and I was in no way paid to create this review. Thank you to EM cosmetics for sending me this at no cost, and I wouldn't hate it if you sent me more things to review ;).

At first glance the first thing you will notice is the size of this palette: it is quite large. Their are 8 lip products, 4 blushes, and 24 eyeshadows. There are several different life palettes, and they retail for 75$ each. The packaging itself is plastic, but it is extremely solid. The palette comes with double ended shadow/angle brush, and a tool to remove the pots. I am told that the pots are refillable, but I don't see anywhere on the website to reorder single pots yet. Product can be viewed at emcosmetics.com

SWATCHES/LOOKS

First up is the upper left hand corner. From Upper R working counterclockwise: 

LIPS: fuschia affair, and lavender lust

EYES: midnight dance, eventing sky, lavender stars, pink sparks, lilacs in love, and twinkle & glimmer

BLUSH: pink soiree

If you go to emcosmetics.com and click on the party life palette, their are four look tutorials created by Michelle. I followed along with the video and recreated the looks to test the product. No eyeshadow primer/mascara/ or foundation was used for these looks. This is my bare face (just brows filled in) and eyes :)

LOOK 1: MIDNIGHT DANCE

THOUGHTS:

When I swatched this quad of the palette I wasn't impressed. Funny enough this is the same quad that I received as a sample that I hated as well. The weird thing about this quad is that it doesn't swatch well, but it does show up well on your eyes and face. This is my favorite look out of the entire review. The colors were highly blendable and pigmented. This is a look I would honestly wear everyday. It's soft and pretty. YAY! 

Upper right hand corner from upper R corner working counter clockwise:

LIPS: chic, and wine a lot!

EYES: black sky, dance floor, blue pumps, cake & confetti, blue cosmo, and spwarkle

BLUSH: party in pink

LOOK 2: PARTY IN PINK

THOUGHTS:

All of these colors are insanely pigmented. The look created by Michelle is cute, but it isn't exactly my taste. I don't care too much for a dark pink on my lids because I think it looks awful with my skintone, but ironically enough I wore this look to dinner and got a few compliments so I guess it does suit me. I love that this palette does everything. The blue shadow (blue pumps) that I used for my liner and waterline really made the look. I will say that the shadows used for lining (any of them can be used for lining) are perfect with the angled brush that comes with the palette. 

Bottom left working from the top right counterclockwise: 

LIPS: caramel, and just fab

EYES: mink coat, rich rust, bronze cuff, copper groove, gold lame, and poppin bottles

BLUSH: sexy nude

                             

LOOK 3: MY OWN CREATION ( I HATED THE ONE MICHELLE CREATED)

As said above, I did my own look for this quad because the one to demo the product looked rediculous lol 

THOUGHTS:

This quad reminded me of a holiday party because its chock full of glitter and neutral tones. When I think of fall I think of deep cranberry colored lips, and eyes that remind me of the changing leaves. This quad definitely delivers that. I love copper/metal type finishes so I was really happy with this part of the palette. I swept the copper color all over my lid, highlighted the inner corner with the golden color, accented my brows with the silver, and lined my lashline and waterline with the black shadow. The lipsticks are moisturizing, long wearing and beautiful. A + for sure!

Last but not least bottom right quad working from the right side counter clockwise:

LIPS: peach fizz, and on the prowl

EYES: black moonlight, late night, midnight swim, confetti, hazy, and girl time

BLUSH: sassy chic

LOOK 4: OUT ON THE TOWN

Following along with the tutorial

Yes, I meant to leave the fallout! It's a demo, remember? <3

My face is red because I did this right after I worked out..oops!

THOUGHTS:

Like the 3rd quad this part of the palette has a few shimmery golden/copper tones as well as a shimmery black (which I love!), a grey color and a blue. The lip color in this look is bright and cheery and I really love the on the prowl shade. It's a perfect red. Overall, I was impressed with the pigmentation, I just wish that the shadows with glitter in them were easier to blend (thats to be expected tho!)

BLUSH SWATCHES: 

Pink Soiree, Party In Pink, Sassy Chic, Sexy Nude

I love the blushes from this palette and I will definitely use them a lot. There is a blush in each tone (bright pink, flesh pink, peach, and nude) so I can use them for any look.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I am very happy that EM cosmetics was kind enough to send me this palette because my initial review really put me off the entire brand. As a die hard Phan girl of Michelle's -- this deeply upset me. Since they sent me this palette, I have ordered a few other items from them (which I will be reviewing soon!) My only issue with this palette is the pricing, and the way the shadows and lipsticks are set up. The price is steep for me, and I am not afraid to admit it. You are getting a lot, and they do offer free returns if you don't like it (GREAT IDEA!), but even thought I know the palettes are great, I doubt I will be dropping 75$ for one anytime soon. I hope they do another $ or high % off sale soon because I will definitely take advantage then. Another concern is the anatomy of the palette. The shadows are close to the lipsticks, and unless you are using a lip brush, your lipsticks are going to smudge our of their homes. The shadows had a small amount of fallout, but I am worried that once this baby gets broken in..if chunks of shadow will end up compromising my lippies. Time will tell, but those are my concerns.

Do I recommend this product? Yes, I do. Do I still love Michelle Phan? Yes, I do. She is, and I feel will always be my beauty idol.

My suggestion is to wait for a sale, and pick the life palette that suits you best. Just because its named party life doesn't necessarily you have to use it for that specific purpose. Their are shadows in here that I could use everyday. 

Look for more EM cosmetics reviews to come :) This took me 4 days to compile lol so bear with me. College is hard!

Octobers Ipsy Bag Review

Since it's 10 days into November (doh!), I guess it's about that time for Octobers review of my favorite monthly treat: the ipsy bag!

This months bag contained five items: volumizing hair gel, lotion, lip gloss, nail polish and some face wipes.

This months bag rates at 4/5 kittens; details as to why a kitten is missing can be found below!

THE REVIEW:

Sexy Hair Blow Dry Volumizing Gel

I really liked this product and there is a few reasons why. First off, I cannot do hair, like, at all. I cannot braid, heck, I am lucky enough that I can put it into a ponytail, or bun. Hair has never been my forte and I am extremely blessed to have a wonderful aunt who does hair and is able to teach me a little wisdom. This stuff rocks because you can be as bad with hair as I am, and still be able to use this. I have fine, flat hair, so I am in desperate need of volumizing to stop the hair from laying and looking so flat. I semi-blow dry my hair, and when its still damp but not soaking wet I apply a quarter size amount of this to the roots, and work my way to the ends. Then I flip on my hair dryer and really concentrate on my roots. I take my pinkie, index, ring, and middle finger and massage my scalp while blow drying that area. When my hair is dry, I look like I've had a blow out, and it's amazing. I highly recommend this product!

Nourish Organic Coconut & Argan Oil Body Lotion

I hate this so much, I feel like I should invent a new word for hate. First off, it stinks, really bad, and it doesn't even feel like lotion. It applies like water, and I get no nourishment from this product. I've tried to use it (several times), and I literally cannot get past the stench of it. To me it smells like red tide, or rotten fish. The only good thing about this product is that it is organic and cruelty free. Other than that...EW!

La Fresh Oil Free Face Cleanser Wipes

I like these wipes, but they are not my favorite. I will definitely use them, but they are only good for one thing. After you take your makeup off with a makeup remover wipe, these will clean your face, but they do NOT remove any makeup. If you use these expecting for them to remove makeup, you will be highly dissapointed. I found myself using my makeup remover wipe, washing my face, and then using these because when I used these after my makeup wipe, I found no traces of foundation on my face, yet when I washed my face, my eyebrow powder was still on! They smell nice, and do not burn or sting my face or eyes like my makeup wipes, so I have been using them after I work out and cannot rush to the shower right away. It would be great to keep in your car or purse if you needed a little refresher on the go.

Bare Minerals BUXOM lip plumper gloss

First off let me say that I love Bare Minerals and I have been wanting to try this product for I dunno, 5 years or so. I was so happy to see this product in this months bag, and I was not disappointed. I have tiny little lips, and have never tried a lip plumper product before because I never thought that it would work. This stuff works, is an excellent gloss, isn't tacky, smells like a caramel frappe,  tastes like one too, and makes my lips look perky and ta dow. I would buy 500 of these if I could, no joke. It tingles, but doesn't irritate my lips which is what I was afraid of. Everyone should own at least one of these. The color is nice, and is a pinky nude which is perfect for everyday. It's festive without being too intense, and it makes me want a frappe really bad.

My lips look considerably fuller... LOVE!

Zoya Nail Polish in Giovanna

I love green, and metallic and this is the prettiest green metallic polish I have ever seen. From my 50 random facts video, y'all know I can't paint my nails for ish. But that doesn't stop me from trying or admiring polishes. This color is so pretty, everyone should check it out immediately because it is gorge! Zoya is becoming one of my favorite nail polish brands because every polish I've gotten through them has been in an ipsy bag, and they have all been fab.

Look how pretty that is!

In summary, I enjoyed 80% of this bag this month. The total retail for all of these products is somewhere in the 45$ range, and I received them for 10$. I really love ipsy, I know I tell you that every month, but I do. I highly recommend signing up. It's available for the US and Canada, and it's 10$!

If you are interested in signing up, please use this link because we will both earn points! Points are used to redeem higher end items :)

Join Ipsy here!! 

Until next month kittens, remember that you are beautiful, and valued!

XO

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation First Impressions/Review

Hey dolls!

I did a review of this product over on my YouTube channel! Please subscribe, it means so much to me!!

Check it out below :)