Makeup Geek New Matte Eyeshadows : Review and Swatches!!!

I have been waiting forever for Makeup Geek (MUG) to come out with some new dark colorful matte shades! Take a look at my Instagram feed and you will see how much I love to integrate colors in my eye looks; I am not overly experimental or adventurous but I do love to wear shades like midnight blue, purple and emerald green! I have been feeling a lack of some deep and rich colorful mattes in my collection that would be perfect on the crease and for blending with my more vivid shimmery-glittery shades! I looked into MUG website but none interested me a lot! Currently my heart is set on the fancy Viseart Dark Matte Palette! But that’s too big of a cost for me at this moment. So I was very elated when I saw sneak peaks of these shades!

There are a total of 20 new and reformulated mattes in this launch! MUG already had a very impressive range of eyeshadows and these definitely have broadened the range. They also came out with some new finishes this year– I will be reviewing “Steampunk” duo chrome eyeshadow and “Flame Thrower” foiled eyeshadow very soon! Anyway, check out swatches of all these new shades from MUG on their Website here. There are some really cool colors like Dragon Fly- I wish I could be brave enough to wear those colors! Anyway, I bought Motown, Curfew, Booberry, Enchanted Forest and Morocco. You can buy these from here; individual links are attached with each shade. The price for these shadows is now $6.00/pan for 0.064 oz. (1.8 g). I know MUG gained popularity because of its incredible quality at much affordable price. However, if you get 10 shadows, that price easily exceeds 60$ whereas some palettes from few good higher end brands will cost you much less (think Lorac Pro, Too Faced Chocolate Bar etc.). But then again, a palette might not have every color you want or every shade may not be to your liking. And for all these reason I tend to prefer MUG only when I am looking for particular shades!

All of these make excellent crease color, blending shades and you can surely apply them as lid shades or on the outer V to bring in some depth in a look! I tried to use these shades in the simplest application so that you get a better look!

Morocco: Ever since I tried “Morocco” from Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) Shadow Couture World Traveler Palette (reviewed here), I have grown immense fondness for this type of very burnt orange/terracotta shades! But because that palette is going to be gift to my sister, I “really” needed a shade that could possibly replace “Morocco”! And luckily I got another “Morocco”. It’s a very warm burnt orange with red undertone; it’s a bit lighter than ABH Morocco. Very opaque, very intensely pigmented and has amazing color payoff! You need to just barely touch the pan with your brush; it packs on color and blends in without much effort. The formula is much better than all of these 5 shades; very much at par with some of MUG’s original shades like Cocoa Bear (my very favorite) which is also one of the best shadows from them. I truly LOVE “morocco”.

Enchanted Forest: Very appropriately named! It’s a dark deep forest green shade! Blendable, smooth and very densely packed with color. The color shows up on the lid as dark and as green on the pan. It’s the perfect crease color with “MUG Envy” or “MUFE ME-302” for a beautiful emerald green smokey look, I have been also loving it as a lid shade; applied as a lid shade this creates such a sultry and elegant look. Apart from Morocco, this is the non-patchiest shade among these.

Motown: Dark eggplant purple with grey undertone. It felt a little scratchy and powdery when I swatched with my finger. It is pigmented but can be a little patchy when I pat on the shade with the intent to wear it as an all-over-lid shade and it needs 2-3 layers to get an even opaque look! But as a crease color, it works and blends absolutely flawlessly. 

Curfew: This is a much brighter, vibrant purple! I am totally loving this shade. It is not as patchy as “Motown” when layered on the lid. Pigmented and blends beautifully.

Booberry: At the risk of being repetitive, I would like to mention that blue is my most favorite fun shade to wear on my eyes. “Booberry” is a very beautiful deep royal blue. It’s a reformulated shade. I did not own the original so I would not know if the formula has improved! I always tried to buy this shade whenever I ordered from MUG but it was always out of stock!! I was very excited to finally be able to get it. It’s not as bright as I thought it would be! Although it is exactly the same color on the eyes as seen on the pan. Brilliant as crease shade but it needs a bit of effort to use as a lid shade. Nonetheless I am just happy to have an intense blue matte shade to wear with my blue smokey eye looks!

I have been playing with these for more than 2 weeks now! Formula, texture and performance  wise “Morocco” is my most favorite and I would recommend it 100%. Enchanted Forest and Curfew are ok! I feel like formula of Booberry and Motown are not as buttery smooth and consistent with their incredible original shades. If you are not particularly looking for those shades, I would say skip Motown and Booberry. Again, they are very easy to blend on the crease though! As lid shade they need a bit effort. But, once they are on, they have great staying power. over eye primer. The wear times of these shades are around 10 hrs. which is very consistent with their original range of shades. One day I forgot to use a primer and the shades faded 2-3 hrs. earlier than with primer but I always wear primer :-).  

Overall, I am quite satisfied with my purchase. Formula on some of these should have been better, but I am not entirely disappointed to not to recommend this to you. Point is, you won’t regret it. Sorry for the conflicting review but I hope it helps :-)

In my very first order I had Envy, Nautica, Burlesque, Drama Queen, Ocean Breeze, Cocoa Bear, Corrupt, Cupcake and you can see the reviews here. Although I expected a tiny bit more smoothness in the formulas of Motown, Booberry I am absolutely enjoying all the shades. They are so pretty for Fall as well. I know that I am definitely going to get a lot of use out of these. 

Have you got anything from this launch? What’s your favorite MUG product?

Love,

~Arrru

What to buy and what to skip - Sephora VIB Sale and Holiday 2015 Makeup Collection!!

That crazy time of year has arrived. Even though holidays are weeks away, beauty industry is filled with holiday goodies from all the different companies. With limited edition sets and palettes of different types it’s easy to get overwhelmed. It’s especially difficult to control the spending if you are overenthusiastic about makeup, like me :-) Today I am sharing my thoughts on some of the holiday products and for a change I am encouraging my frugal and logical engineering brain to take over my splurge beauty addict heart! Much awaited Sephora VIB sale starts tomorrow (Coupon ROUGE20 for VIB Rouges) and I am hoping this helps you out in picking out products where your money is well spent :-) 

The main factor I am considering in reviewing these products are

• How much do I need it!? Do I have same products in full size? Do I have extremely similar items?
• Price. If it is not cost effective or not a much of savings then why bother?
• Quality. Research a bit. Does that brand puts good quality holiday products? Often these holiday sets quality are not at par.
• Will the item be a good gift? If yes, try to plan whom to give what! First plan and then buy, not the other way around.
• Reminder to self: Don’t buy 100 items in cute adorable holiday package. You don’t need all of them :-)

I have to share here that I did not buy everything in this list. The top three products from this list are Bite Beauty Best Bite Rewind, theBalm “In theBalm of Your Hand" Face Palette, Sephora Favorites Superstars" 2015 . But I have done extensive research, read reviews and watched trustworthy YouTubers and extrapolated my expectation from my experience with previous palettes.

Lip Sets: Let’s tackle my most favorite item first! Here are some of the lip value set available this year.

Bite Beauty Best Bite Rewind (Sephora, 4 deluxe size matte lip crayons, $25): Even though I am not fond of their slowly and constantly increasing price, I am a die-hard fan of Bite’s lip formulas. I have loved each and every item I have tried from them. I have last year’s set and I get a lot of use from it. This year the colors are much more universal, versatile and are flattering on a wider range of skin tones. These are super comfortable on the lips, very long lasting, matte but have a satin-y finish that I totally enjoy. Also these are easy to layer as well. I highly recommend this set. Read more on my review and swatches here.

Sephora Favorites Give Me More Lip (Sephora, 15 lip products-4 full-size, $59): One of the bigger multi branded set and definitely worth the money. Huge array of shades and finishes! If you are just starting out or are looking to expand your collection, then this is definitely something I would recommend. But I already have too many lipsticks that I can use up. Also, I know for sure that at least 4 of these colors will not look very flattering on me. And, even though I like dark lips I don’t wear them often. I am not a big fan of glosses either. Keeping all these in mind, I figured that this is not 100% useable to me. This realization has helped me in restraining myself from buying this set.

Bite Beauty Discovery Set (Sephora, 8 lip products-3 full-size, $55): Very nice assembly of best-selling products from Bite Beauty. If you have been curious about the brand and haven’t tried anything, do have a look into this set. The two lighter shades looked quite similar and might not be flattering if you are not on the lighter range of skin tones. I also have heard many people being allergic to the agave mask. If, like me, you already have a lot of Bite products, I would say skip this. But the set is definitely one of the better sets out there.

Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Studded Kiss Lip Set (Sephora, 8 studded kiss lipsticks-1 full-size, $42): I haven’t personally tried Kat Von D lipsticks yet, but this is a good value set. If you are adventurous with your lip shades and love experimenting with bold and uncommon shades, this definitely will intrigue you. Personally I see myself using only 2-3 shades from this set; so this is not for me.

TOO FACED French Kisses Melted (Ulta, 4 deluxe melted liquid lipstick, $25): I have only one melted lipstick so far and I love it. This set has 2 metallic shades and I am a little uncomfortable with the idea of them. Also the colors are not as wide ranged as the Best Bite Rewind Set. So it did not make it to my list.

Stila Eternal Love Liquid Lipstick (Ulta, 3 deluxe liquid lipsticks, $20) and Eternally Yours Liquid Lipstick Set (Stila, 6 deluxe sized liquid lipsticks, $39): These are some very interesting sets. They did a good job with the shade range. These lipsticks are incredibly long lasting. But for my lips the formula is not the best. I bought two from their summer collection; I did not enjoy the formula in “Venezia”. Hence I am passing up on this. But they are quite cost effectively priced, if you are eyeing Stila liquid lipsticks for a while now definitely have a look. The “Eternally Yours” set comes with Aria and Patina- two of their best-selling shades.

Marc Jacobs Beauty The Sofia (Sephora, 5 deluxe Le marc Lipsticks, $45): Another set that I will highly recommend. I have two of the Le Marc Lipsticks. Absolutely impressive product. Glides like butter on the lips, provides single swipe creamy opaque application and has incredible wear time! The range of shades here is amazing. You get your everyday shades, a few playful one and one vampy shade perfect for fall and winter!

Eyeshadow Palettes: I am a big fan of eyeshadow palettes. My reasoning seems to be weak with all these mind boggling palettes. Let’s discuss the ones that I find irresistible; shall we?

Marc Jacobs Beauty Style Eye-Con No. 20 (Sephora, 20 Eyeshadow, $99): Its 99 dollars guys, 99 USD!!  But then again their 7 pan eyeshadow palette is $59. So value wise this is an incredible deal! I have their “The Siren” palette and I am quite impressed with the shades. They are all shimmers from them and they are pigmented, very smooth, the palette in very well built as well. I also love the sophisticated range of the shades. This particular palette has different finishes but it has many similar lighter tone shades. I don’t find a whole lot of usage for these lighter shades on my skin tone! Even though I am sure that the quality is excellent I am going to pass up on it.

MAKE UP FOR EVER 15 Artist Shadow Palette (Sephora, 15 deluxe sized eyeshadows, $59): When I first saw this palette, I was sure that I WILL pick it up. I am an ardent fan of blue eyeshadow and this has 3 of them. :-) All these shades are shimmer. Value wise, this is a palette that you should not pass on. The regular pan is $21 and these pans has just 0.01 oz. less than the regular size. I love MUFE eyeshadow; they are insanely pigmented, very easy to work with. But then I took a closer look at the shades and they are quite repetitive with what I already own. But if you are waiting for a while to try MUFE shades, this is something I will highly recommend. Also if you are not a crazy eyeshadow hoarder like me and slowly building up your collection, this is a nice palette because it has a very wide range of shades. Neutral as well as interesting pops of color. Definitely check this out. 

 Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Eyeshadow Palette (Sephora, 24 eyeshadow, $59): Now this is a palette I am still lusting after! I might pick it up with my VIB Rouge Code. This is a makeup palette but it is crafted as a piece of art- a true item for makeup collectors! Not very practical in packaging but Kat Von D designed it herself to mimic the look of an old record label. But just look at the colors! Aren’t they gorgeous? This is where I might be okay splurging a bit.

Value sets/All-Over-Face Palettes: This year I have fallen in love with face palettes, the ones that host most of your face products. The Balm palette is definitely my no 1 recommendation.

There are a few sets available from Stila, Smashbox and Tarte but I am not particularly keen on them. If you are interested I would suggest you to go check the products out in store. But I would like to talk about these sets and palettes.

Sephora Favorites Superstars" 2015: Sephora, 13 face products- 7 full-size, $75): If you want to try a bunch of goodies at a fraction of price, this is your set. I am totally enjoying the set barring the They’re Real Mascara. The eyeshadows from NARS and Urban Decay are incredible, Beauty Blender and Stila All Day Eyeliner are my Holy Grail products and I have fallen in love with the highlighters in it. Also that Smashbox Water Primer really works. This is a $212 value set :-) You can check my detailed reviews here. 

theBalm “In theBalm of Your Hand" Face Palette: (Kohls/theBalm/Unified Cosmetics, 10 Face Products, $39.50) theBalm did an incredible job in curating the items in the palette. 3 universal blushes, 4 eyeshadows, a beautiful red lip color, a nude lip/cheek cream, a matte bronzer and ever so coveted “Mary-Lou Highlighter” all in one palette, grab your base and mascara and you are all done. The products are incredibly smooth, so easy to blend, true to color and have super awesome wear time. If you have never tried theBalm, this is the prefect palette to get at a very affordable cost! Even if you already have some products, this is just the best all-inclusive face-palette that your money can buy! If you ask me, this is the best holiday product for 2015. You can check my detailed reviews here. 

Do let me know what you are getting :-) I would love to know :-)

Love,

~Arrru

Holiday 2015 ::: "In theBalm of Your Hand" is finally in the palm of my hands :-)

Today I am talking about “In theBalm of your Hands” palette from theBalm Cosmetics. As an inquisitive person and a blogger I am always eager to try out new products from different brands! The vintage glam meets corky chick style packaging from theBalm has intrigued me for a long time now. When I saw a whole lot of their best selling products in one single palette, I knew I have to get my hands on it.

First, big applause for the team that names these products! Such playfulness with words - I adore all of their names. Second, the price for this palette is $39.50 which is of awesome value for all these products. You can find it on theBalm.com, Kohls.com (you may be able to use some coupons as well) and from UnifiedCosmetics.com.  I bought it from Unified Cosmetics at a discounted price of $37.99. Being a first time consumer I got an additional 20% which means I paid a total of $30.39 :-) :-) Even without further inspection, I can tell that this is of great value! 

Before I proceed, please allow me to share a bit about UnifiedCosmetics. They are vastly invested in "SHOP FOR A CAUSE" revolution! 50% of their profit is donated to their partner non-profit organizations that helps provide autistic children with diagnosis, treatment and therapy. If I have the opportunity to contribute (no matter how small that it) to a social cause while shopping and also get to save a few bucks, I am all for it! It took 10 days for the shipment to reach me, which was annoying, but it was free shipping and it arrived safe and sound!

theBalm did an incredible job in curating the items in the palette. 3 universal blushes, 4 eyeshadows, a beautiful red lip color, a nude lip/cheek cream, a matte bronzer and ever so coveted “Mary-Lou Highlighter” all in one palette. These are some of their most loved items from previous palettes and regular range of products. They were clever to reuse all their cover designs in the original product and it looked nice and fitting in this palette! It’s a cardboard packaging with a separate lid for the cream products. It has an average size mirror but that does not stand on its own. It might also get dirty on the outside with usage if that’s something that concerns you. 

HotMama (Shadow/Blush): Another gorgeous coral pink blush. It’s the lightest and the most satin-y blush in here. It is pigmented but it needs few layers to show up on my skin as a blush mainly because it is very close to my skintone. I can definitely use it as a blush topper or as a highlighter and blush at once. It can be wearable on so many skintone with different usage. It has a weaker wear time about 2-3 hrs less than the other blushes in the palette.

INSTAIN® in Argyle (Long-Wearing Powder Staining Blush): Finally, an Instain blush in my possession! Out of all theBalm products, this range of blushes has fascinated me the most. Incredibly beautiful shades in that adorable retro packaging; I love it! “Argyle” is a cool toned bright medium pink. I love to call it a sophisticated Barbie pink :-) It has a buttery smooth texture and kicks a little bit of powder when you dip your brush in it; but nothing unmanageable. Extremely pigmented and blends in quite easy. Also unlike Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay blushes you don’t have to be paranoid about ending up with clown cheek with that pigmentation. Very long lasting too! The other day, I wore it around 12 pm and it was still hanging in there till I removed it around 1 am. That’s incredible!

CabanaBoy® (Shadow/Blush): It’s a dusty mauve shade and has some elegant sheen to it. Of course, this is my favorite blush from this palette. It’s a perfect fall shade for a wide range of skin tones! It’s also a perfect everyday blush on me. Extremely pigmented and equally amazing color pay off. I have to proceed with care not to apply too much! Blends in without much effort and has an impressive 10 hr long staying power. I am totally enjoying this shade!

BahamaMama® (Matte Bronzer, Shadow & Contour Powder Bronzer): This has to be the least loved product in the palette for me. I love bronzers but I am more drawn to warmer richer shades of bronzer. This is a very deep greyish brown shade and I can almost see a hint of olive/khaki in it; very unfamiliar shade to me.  It’s pigmented, applies smoothly and blends easily but I don’t find as much pleasure using it as I find with my Lorac TANtalizer! But I am glad that they included it here as it makes the palette more ’complete’.

Mary-LouManizer® (Highlighter, Shadow & Shimmer): Every beauty admirer  is aware of the popularity of this. Highlighters never interested me but now I am a big fan. :-) :-) Mary-Lou Manizer is a very pale-gold shade. Very strongly pigmented. If you don’t like that super glow-y skin, then this is not for you! Very blendable despite that crazy pigmentation and quite long lasting. I found that it applies better when used over some base, especially over liquid foundation! Whereas my beloved Becca Champagne Pop or Laura Marcier Baked Highlighter applies with equal ease over my bare moisturized skin! Nonetheless, I am so happy that I finally joined the “Lou-Manizer” cult!

How'Bout Them Apples? in “Caramel” (Lip and Cheek Cream): I almost bought the original palette out of sheer cuteness in the packaging. The blush is a very soft, easy-to-work with a creamy formula. Pigmented but almost sheer! I tried it on the lips too and it was not bad! But I have been mostly using it as a light base before I layer it with powder blushes. Very much enjoying it. 

theBalm Girls® in “Mia Moore” (Lipstick): Cream lip in a palette always makes me nervous. But “Mia Moore” is actually really nice. Very creamy and yet stable enough not to bleed everywhere. Nicely pigmented. I use a small OCC lip-brush. I do have to dip my brush for 2-3 times to cover my entire lip but I need only one swipe per area to get an even opaque coverage. It’s comfortable enough on the lips and stays for 5-6 hrs before starting to wear off slowly. It tends to dry after 4 hrs, which is quite common for me with many red lipsticks.

I am so happy with the 4 eye shadow shades in here! I must say the color selection is pretty unique and versatile. “Insane Jane” and “Mischevious Marissa” are your everyday one-shade-and-done lid shades and "Sexy" and “Lead Zeppelin” are somewhat interesting shades to be included in this kind of face palette. By the way Hot Mama, CabanaBoy and Bahama Mama can be used as eye shadow too!

Insane Jane (from shadyLady Vol. 2): This is a satin taupe. I do not like to wear cool toned shades but this is actually something that I feel excited to wear. VERY pigmented, great color payoff and blends like butter! You hardly need to touch the product to get an opaque application. I wore it the other day on my inner corner on the lower lash line and I was so surprised to see that it stayed from 12 pm to 1 am :-)

Mischevious Marissa (from shadyLady Special Edition): Such a lovely neutral peachy golden shade. Not unique, but this type of universal shade is essential for this type of palette. This and “Insane Jane” are perfect one-color eye looks. I simply LOVE this shade. So pigmented, you need just a light swipe and unbelievably easy to blend. This with “Sexy” is a gorgeous yet super simple and fast fall eye look right there!

Sexy (from NUDe’tude): Fall is almost over here in my city but I am still totally obsessed with all fall makeup type of shades. It’s very dark brown-y plum shade. When I swatch this with my finger, it appears a little dry, patchy and scrubby against my skin. But when applied on lids, I don’t face any issues. You need just a tiny tiny amount, the color transforms exactly and blends in 2 second. This is much pigmented and has great staying power! I tried it as liner too but it did not last more than 2-3 hrs. as a liner.

Lead Zeppelin (from Balm Jovi): Beautiful satin Olive shade. Smoother and less powdery than “Sexy”. Consistent performance with all other shades and this really compliments “Mischevious Marissa” for a quick and easy look. Phenomenal staying power too!

Points to complain about: Not really complaints, but if they would include a light brown matte crease color this would have been an immaculate palette. You can definitely use the bronzer as crease shade, but I love my brown crease shade.

As you can already see, I am totally enamored with this palette. You have almost everything you need. Just grab your foundation (or any base you use), mascara and an eye liner, if you can’t live without one, like me, and you are good to go! I don’t like the bronzer but I am very impressed with every other product! If you have never tried theBalm, this is the prefect palette to get at a very affordable cost! Even if you already have some products, this is just the best all-inclusive face-palette that your money can buy! I think this might be the best product I have picked up this holiday season. I also picked Bite Beauty "Best Beauty Rewind" (Reviewed here) and “Sephora Favorites Superstars” (Reviewed here) that I am very much enjoying!

Tell me about your holiday shopping :-) !!!!

Love,

~Arrru

Products I've Used Up/Empties Vol. 4

I have a HUGE empty products review to share with you all! I have been accumulating this pile for a few months but never got the time to jot down my experiences. But now, I have decided that I am going to write about the used up products as soon as there are 5-7 of them. That will make this process way more easier and less time consuming! 

By the way, I am super impressed with this pile. If I can finish more products, I can buy more and try more :-)

Shahnaz Hussain Sharose Date Enriched Skin Toner: Shahnaz Hussain is a very loved and reputed “luxury” skincare brand in India. I remember finsing her products in the vanities of my cousin sisters back in the day Originally my sister bought this tube but she developed some allergy so I brought it here from my last trip to India. I really liked it. It is a potent toner! Not too strong but very efficient. 

Naturepro Herbal Sun Protect: I hail from India and Indian summer is brutal. It’s humid, sweaty and not at all fun for the skin. Because of the extreme humidity all sunscreen I had tried would sit so heavy on the skin that it was almost impossible to wear sunscreen without feeling like a sweaty hot mess. This rescued me. On application it gives you a cool feeling and it absorbs quickly! I buy it when I go home! This is my 2^nd or 3^rd tube. :-)

Himalaya Herbals Purifying Neem Face Wash (200 ml/150 INR): Current favorite brand from India. It’s a brand that markets itself as herbal and pure! Neem is an evergreen tree that has a lot of medicinal quality; in India neem has been widely used for ages for skincare purpose primarily for its antibacterial qualities. I use it as my morning facewash. I generally bring them when I go home annually but you can find them in most of the Indian Grocery store. I have gone through at least 5-6 bottles of this :-)

Ruby Crystal Ruby Falls Sugar Crush: The scrub itself was ok, but the packaging was awful. The opening was too tiny that it took me forever to squeeze out a decent amount to use in my whole body. The tube was getting splitting up at the side…basically it was a nightmare to use up. I refuse to waste any product so it was really annoying and needed a lot of patience to finish this tiny tube up. Definitely not buying a full size.

MURAD clarifying Cleanser (6.75 fl oz/$28): I bought this in a 15$ kit that came with 2 other acne clearing products. You are supposed to use it with each other. Anyway, when I first used it for a week I did not like it at all! It was too strong for me. I did not want to keep using it and almost thought of returning it. But after some gap, I was still suffereing from acnes and restarted using it. I do still have one or two occasional acnes here and there but it has stopped from being crazy. I did not use the other two products that came in the kit meaning I did not follow the instructiosn one by one. I was kinda scared that all three will be too strong for me to use at the same time. However I really enjoyed using it towards the end. But I am not really sure if I will repurchase it. 0.7 fl oz/21 ml.

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask (3.4 fl oz./$25): I first tried this over a year ago. I bought the set of 4 pods (just like “Out of Trouble” mask pods pictured here) and I am hooked ever since! I collect mini samples from Sephora whenever possible- I have the full size too. It clears up my pores, tightens my skin and brings a lot of liveliness to my skin! I simply LOVE this mask.

Perfume Samples: Marc Jacobs Daisy, Replica and Viva La Juicy! these are so convenient to keep in my purse for a mid day pick up application :-)

Nivea Hydrating Lip Care with SPF 15 (0.17 oz./$2.99): My most favorite lip balm from the drugstore. I love all the different types that comes in this line and SPF 15 in it surely is a bonus. I have a few lip balms in to get through but I am almost nervous that I have not repurchased it yet :-)

Marc Jacobs Lust for Lacquer in Kissability: I got this in the Sephora Favorite “Give Me Some Lips” set from 2014 (reviewed here). I did not expect to like this but I finally ended up loving it. First of all, isn’t the size adorable? It fits perfectly even in my smaller wallets. “Kissability” is a rosey-hued pink with some almost-unnoticeable golden shimmers in it! It has a bit minty tingling feel when you first apply, but nothing overwhelming. It’s light weight and applies very sheer; I loved to reapply it on top of my regular lipstick towards the very end of the day. I am not able to find this range in Sephora anymore but I really hope someday it comes in a small kit with 4 tiny tubes; that will make me a happy girl! :-)

Clean Skin Perfume (1 oz./ $38): I got this in a Sephora value set. It is a very clean fragrance and I absolutely love it :- ) And the size is just perfect for my purse and or handbag! I am thinking of investing in the Holiday set they currently have available.

Origins Out Of Trouble™ 10 Minute Mask (3.4 fl oz./$25): It’s a bit stronger than the charcoal mask. I was having horrible breakout a few weeks ago! It is by no means a miracle product but I do feel it has cleared up a lot of my skin trouble. I have 3 more pods to finish, but I do see myself buying the full size.

Loreal new Sublime Sun Suncreen (No longer available, cost me around $7): Can you tell how sincere I am with my sunscreens? This is another favorite. Absorbs quickly, sits well under makeup and is a very good sunscreen.

Aveeno protect+hydrate lotion sunscreen (3 oz./$10.99): Another sunscreen! For last year or two I have been using this religiously. I did not have a lot of experience using it underneath makeup but it is really great as sunscreen. This has saved me from sun burn when I had long days working outside as a field engineer. I want to repurchase it once I am out if my current one but I cannot find it anywhere :-(

Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Moisturizer (2.5 fl oz/$16.99): This is an expensive product from the drugstore. Actually this particular review comes from a friend as it is his used up product :-) It is a good product if you are just looking for sunscreen and moisturization. A nice mild smell would really make it a even better. I tried it under makeup and I loved it but I think Aveeno as brand has some good skincare products. 

Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask (5 oz./$45): As mentioned in their website, Cucumber and Rose masks have different purposes! But apart from their fragrance I don’t feel much of a difference. The Rose one is slightly heavier on the skin than the cucumber one. It is very light, simple and easy mask to incorporate once or twice a week in my skincare routine. I already have repurchased it.

Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Gel Mask (5 oz./$45): I have reviewed the set I got from Sephora here. I love these masks! The texture of these is like soft jelly so it is pretty easy to put on. If my skin is feeling rough, dry and dehydrated I use this as rejuvenating mask. I used to travel quite a lot and whenever I had air travel, I would use this the night before! It surely helps in tackling the dry skin following air travel.

Philosophy Hope in a Jar Moisturizer for Dry Skin (2 oz./$42): This is my second bottle :-) I did not expect to repurchase it after the first bottle but Ulta had an incredible deal and I ended up buying it. I do like it :-) I have a very detail review here. It is a good moisturizer; but not enough for my dry skin during the cold chilly moths in the windy city. By the way Philosophy has reformulated this moisturizer.

Olay Active Hydrating Cream – Original (1.9 Fl oz./$6.49-7.99): Another nostalgic product! I remember my first encounter with this product very vividly. I remember how refreshing and moisturizing it felt on my skin. It was expensive compared to what I was using at that time and I could immediately notice a huge difference. I felt pampered! :-) I used it religiously for almost 3-4 years but I have now slowly grown out of it. (Mostly because I love testing out new products)…Maybe sometime in the future, I will buy it again :-)

Ulta Cotton Balls: Nothing to say about it. Gets the work done and I will definitely repurchase :-)

Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes (25 Ct./$5.99): I had to return the Miceller Water from "Simple" because it burnt my eyes :-( But I totally enjoyed these wipes. They were moist, removed my makeup gently, I have to use a face wash also but I totally enjoyed it. Will surely repurchase. 

Clarisonic Brushhead: I have been using Clarisonic off and again for per last 2 years and I intend to review it thoroghly some day.  

Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Cream (1.7 oz./$28): It was tiny little sample jar. The consistence was very waxy and I totally did not like it. 

CK One Color Mascara (0.31 fl oz./$18): It was the birthday gift from Ulta last year, I used it idle for 2-3 months before I started using it. It was an OK mascara! It separates and gives decent looking lashes. But it smudges and it was so damn hard to wash off at night. It takes a lot of time to remove and I simply don't have the patience. Definitely not buying it! 

Laura Geller GlamLASH Dramatic Volumizing Mascara (0.28 oz./$24): I loved the wand on this. It's the perfect size for my hooded eyes. It's a good mascara, It does not give you the most luscious lashes which I don't prefer anyway! I would definitely like to get it in a value kit may be :-) as I don't typically buy full size mascara. 

Lakme ABSOLUTE Flutter Secrets Volumizing Mascara (7.5 ml/INR 675): This is the first mascara I ever tried and I loved it! I have already used one up but this one disappointed me. The wand tip broke off inside the tube just after 2-3 weeks of use; there was no way to use it after that :-) I blame myself because it was sitting unused for 2-3-4 months.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Smoky Extravagant Mascara (0.23 oz./$24): This is my most adored mascara till date. I got it from Sephora for my birthday last year! It is still in working condition but I should probably throw it out. It gives naturally voluminized look to the lashes, very simple and yet defined! I already have another mini in my stock.

Algenist Advanced Anti-Aging Repairing Oil (1 oz./$79): This is very light face oil. I used it during summer on my unfortunate dry patches. It's a crazy expensive product; it worked fine but I am not encouraged to invest in a full size. 

Ole Henrikson Truth Serum Vitamin C Collagen Booster (1 oz./$48): How adorable is this bottle? I really like this serum, it is not a miracle product but it is something I have grown fond of! I got this for my mom too the last time I went home and looks like she is enjoying it too! Good thing is that Sephora Favorites Set generally includes this in smaller size; I am currently using one such adorable bottle. 

Bath and Body Works “Japanese Cherry Blossom” Shower Gel: It would not be an “empties” blog post without a Bath and Body Works product! This particular flavor brings back a lot of happy memories; I believe someone gifted me years ago and it was the first beauty product from US that I tried back in India! I will definitely repurchase it.

Few more holiday kit reviews coming soon....Keep posted :-)

Love,
~Arrru