Weekly Looks: City Colors, Kat Von D, Colourpop, Viseart, and more

It's snowing right now as I write this, and it is the first snow of the year. For most people, this is a really beautiful, magical time. They look forward to it and get excited. Growing up and watching Gilmore Girls, I remember Lorelai's infamous "I smell snow" episode where she walked through her impossibly quaint and beautifully lit Stars Hollow as the first snow of the season fell.

I am the opposite of all of this.

The first snow of the season is challenging for me. Frankly any snow is challenging for me, but the first one always hurts the most. While everyone else thinks about curling up with a blanket and a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and watching as the delicate snow falls, I think about slushy sidewalks, dirty slush puddles at street corners, and subways steps covered in salt. I have always found it difficult to live in New York City, but living here during the winter, especially when it snows, is that much harder.

Everyone always talks about how snow is nice to look at but terrible to be in, and I guess I would agree with that. The thing about living in NYC, though, is that you always kind of have to be out in it just to get anywhere. If snow just fell and never stuck, I think I could be a bit more on board with it.

Oddly, looking at my makeup looks from the past week has brightened my spirits, and I think it's because of all the colors I used. I know I've mentioned this before, but when the weather is gray and I feel a little down, that's when I really amp up the color on my eyes. I've found that applying a shimmery bronzer during the winter also helps get me out of the funk. It might sound strange, but when I look at my face and it seems like it has a summer glow, it tricks my mind into thinking it's warm and sunny.

You'll see a lot of pink in my looks from the past week, and you'll probably see a lot of pink in my looks indefinitely because I just can't seem to stop reaching for it.

Here are six looks I did this week.

Look 1: City Colors Hint of Mint and Kat Von D Pastel Goth

Hint of Mint on the lid, Kat Von D Clementine and Meow blended into the crease, and BH Cosmetics Zodiac matte Gemini padded onto the outer corner. 

Look 2: Viseart Bijoux Royale

3 on the inner and outer lid, 2 in the center of the lid, and 6 blended into the crease.

Look 3: Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix

Destroyer on the lid. Anthem blended into the crease, and Hyperballad on the lower lash line. NYX Vivid Sapphire liquid liner. 

Look 4: Colourpop My Little Pony

Firefly on the inner lid and inner corner, Princess Sparkle on the outer lid, Flutterbye blended into the crease as a transition shade, Minty blended into the crease, Applejack blended to deepen the crease, and Butterscotch on the brow bone. 

Look 5: Kat Von D Saint and Sinner

Cathedral on the lid, BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe 8 blended into the crease as a transition shade, Rosary blended into the crease, Worship padded onto the outer corner, and Baptism on the brow bone. 

Look 6: Desert Dusk

Viseart Bijoux Royal 5 on the lid, Inglot peach and purple shades blended into the crease as transition shades, Lime Crime Venus Rebirth blended into the crease, Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts Empress blended above all crease colors, Lime Crime Venus Muse padded onto the outer corner, and Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts Crown on the inner corner and brow bone. 

Look 1: City Colors Hint of Mint and Kat Von D Pastel Goth

(Please see this post if you have questions about why I own Pastel Goth when I have written an anti-haul post on the product.)

This is a repeat look from several months ago, and it is one of my favorites. I don't know why I originally thought to pair Pastel Goth with this Minty shade, but I am so happy that I did because it is such a fun, bright, and pretty look. I love thinking about the "journey" I have taken with eyeshadow because in the span of a year, I have gone from a person who only liked variations of gold and bronze looks to someone whose favorite palettes are very colorful. And this look I feel is a good one for people trying to transition into using more colors. These are certainly "odd" or "bold" colors when compared to shades of beige and brown, but I think the look can still pull a little neutral. 

Look 2: Viseart Bijoux Royale

Status: Decluttered 

Ugh, this look. Typically, I wouldn't have included this, but I wanted to because I talked about this palette in last week's looks post. I mentioned that in most Viseart palettes, I've found that there is one killer shade and the rest are mediocre, and the pink shade (shade 5) was it for this palette. It had been a long time since I had properly used Bijoux Royale, so I decided to play around with it, and this "look" was what happened. If you notice, I'm not even wearing mascara, and that's because this look was so bad and so uninspiring that I just wiped it all off my face. But I wanted to take these pictures to illustrate my complaint with this palette. 

I don't know if my preferences have just changed or if I am in a place now where I can say "I don't like this hyped item that I spent a lot of money on" and not feel bad about it, but I have not been too impressed with Viseart lately. And I am decluttering Bijoux Royale. 

It took me over a year, but I've decluttered four Viseart palettes at this point, and all have been the shimmer palettes (Bijoux Royale, Boheme Dream, Paris Nudes, and Sultry Muse). I just am not a person who likes a light wash of color. I can certainly see the appeal of these shadows if that was my preference, but it's not. 

With this look, I packed shades 2 and 3 on my lid in so many layers, and it still looked like a sheer wash of color. Then I applied 6 in the crease, and I thought it just looked sloppy. I couldn't believe I spent $80 on this palette, when palettes that cost $16 perform much better. I was just going to declutter the entire palette, but then I thought about the shades that I do love, and I wanted them. So, I did a small depot. 

This was the palette before:

And this is the palette without the shades I like:

It's funny because when I look at this palette now, I really don't like it. I am not drawn to it in any way, and I certainly wouldn't purchase it. I think this is a good lesson for me to continue to learn and one that hopefully inspires you, because sometimes when you remove just a few shades from a palette, it is no longer all that appealing. 

The three shades I took out of this palette have now gone into my Desert Dusk duped palette (though at this point it's not so much of a dupe anymore), and I will show that in a bit.

Look 3: Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix

This wasn't my favorite look I've ever done, but I had fun with it. I was so put off from using the Viseart palette that I just wanted to throw all the color on my face, and I did. I probably won't replicate this look in the future, but sometimes it's fun to just experiment and go with what you get. Using Mi Vida Loca Remix is always a treat, even when the look isn't my favorite.

Look 4: Colourpop My Little Pony

There's a lot about this palette that I like, but I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually becomes one that I declutter. This was given to me as a gift, and I just feel like I have most of these colors in my collection already (which is why I wasn't going to purchase it). I like the overall look I came up with, but I was disappointed in Minty. In the pan it looks to be a rich burgundy, but when applied to the eyes, it comes off as hot pink. I had to add Applejack just to tone down the vibrancy of the pink, but it still wasn't the color I was after. I thought the green on the lid would have been gorgeous with a nice burgundy, but with the hot pink, I didn't like it as much.

Look 5: Kat Von D Saint and Sinner

(Please see this post if you have questions about why I own Saint and Sinner when I have written an anti-haul post on the product.)

This palette continues to be difficult for me to use (again, which is a point I made in my anti-haul post), but I went into this look determined to make something pretty with it, and this ended up being my favorite look of the week. I feel like I have a new appreciation for this palette after doing this look, and I am excited to delve into it further to see what I can come up with.

The two things that were different about using this palette were that I pulled in a matte transition shade from elsewhere in my collection and I put a shimmer in my crease. I've talked about putting shimmers in the crease before, but it is something that I really enjoy. When I was first taught how to apply makeup at MAC, the artist told me to only put matte colors in my crease, and I left that day with Soft Brown, which found its way into my crease every time I wore makeup for years. Last year when I was doing my one week, one palette project, I had to put shimmers in the crease sometimes in order to use every shade in a given palette, and I found that it was something I really enjoyed.

There are technically seven matte shades in Saint and Sinner. Two are brow bone highlight shades (for me), and there is a black, dark brown, lighter brown, and orange. It is not likely that I will touch the black or dark brown shades very often, and I will only use the two cream shades as brow bone highlights. That leaves the lighter brown (which is still pretty dark) and orange as the only mattes in the palette. There are also three shades that are matte with glitter, and those are a taupe brown, deep chocolate brown, and lime green.

My problem with this palette and the problem I think a lot of other people are having is that it is lacking certain lighter matte shades that we are used to seeing in a palette that complement existing shades in the palette. Again, this is a reason why I wasn't going to buy this palette. But now that I have it, it is clear that it will require me to reach for other shadows in my collection, which I don't mind.

Look 6: Desert Dusk

As I mentioned above, the current state of this palette now looks less like a dupe for the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk palette and more like my own creation. But I've gotta say—I really love it. I reach for this palette several times a week, and I am always happy to do so. But I've made some recent changes.

This was the palette last week:

And this is it now:

I removed Coloured Raine Heir, Coloured Raine Moments, Makeup Geek Phantom, the Inglot brown, and the BH Cosmetics mauve shade, and I added the three pink/red colors from Viseart Bijoux Royale as well as Rebirth and Muse from the Lime Crime Venus palette. 

The look I created this week is probably "boring" to you by this point since I do some variation of it a few times a week, but I can't help it. I just love it so much. I'm glad I made the choice to depot the Viseart shadows that I wanted and put them in here because I can already tell they are going to get a ton more use in this kind of a palette than they were in Bijoux Royale. I am much more inspired by this color scheme, and I'm happy the shadows I love will get used and be enjoyed. 

My Blush Collection

I received a request last week to share my blush collection, and I thought that was a great idea. One of the main notions I try to stress is that blushes largely look the same when they are applied onto the skin. Therefore, owning a ton of blush really doesn't make a lot of sense. And even in my collection, which is not small by any stretch, there is some slight overlap. However, I feel strongly that everything in my collection is distinct enough to stay. And I have no intentions of adding more to this collection. 

By Terry Sun Designer Palette Light and Tan Vibes

I'll start with this palette of sorts since I usually don't count this as one of my blushes. I absolutely love this product. This is my favorite bronzer, just slightly edging out my Hourglass bronzer. And the blush is also incredibly beautiful. I swirl all three colors together in the blush (rather than using the top as a bronzer and the bottom as a highlight) and it creates a gorgeous peach-pink on my skin. It looks on me the way I think NARS Orgasm looks on others. 

Tarte Exposed

I've written about this blush before. This is a favorite for many people, and every time I tried it on at Sephora, it looked like nothing on my skin. And I really didn't understand how it was the perfect blush for so many people. I later realized that the harsh lighting in Sephora washed me out and that all the testers I had seen had hard pan on them. If you're not familiar, "hard pan" is when the top of a product gets a hard film on it that renders the product essentially unusable until that part of the product is removed. When I finally got my hands on a brand new blush and applied it onto my skin, I realized that it was the perfect "go with everything" blush for my skin tone. I typically wear this blush when I either don't know what to wear or just can't be bothered to think about it. 

NARS Goulue

This is a mini blush that's about the size of a NARS eyeshadow. I received this as a "perk" (eyeroll) from Sephora for being a VIB Rouge member. I wasn't planning on hanging onto this blush, but I actually really like it. It's, again, slightly pink-peach on my skin, but has more depth. I enjoy this, but I don't know if I would have paid $30 to buy a full size. 

City Color Cosmetics Be Matte Blush Blackberry

This blush surprised me quite a bit. It is $6 and is pretty great. It's a cool-toned mauve, and it actually looks great on my skin. It reminds me in color a lot of one of my favorite blushes—Hourglass Mood Exposure—but is completely matte. This blush doesn't last as long on me as some of my other blushes, but the wear time isn't bad either. I don't think this is a good blush "for the price." I think this is a good blush, full stop. 

theBalm Balm Desert

I believe I've written about this blush before as well. I was really in want of a natural blush, and it seemed as though the search would never end. Since I have warm-toned skin, I thought Becca Wild Honey would be the perfect blush for me, especially since it was receiving a ton of hype. It didn't look terrible on me, but it was not at all what I was wanting. It was very warm on my skin, and I was wanting a rose-brown blush that was primarily brown but had notes of rose. I also tried Benefit Dallas and Too Faced Pink Leopard before trying Balm Desert. This product is mainly discussed as a bronzer, but I've never tried it as one. It has always been a blush in my collection, and it is absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted. Similar to Tarte Exposed, I wear this blush when I don't know what to wear or don't want to think about it. 

theBalm Cabana Boy

I know this may look similar to NARS Goulue, but it is actually much cooler and raspberry-toned. I really wanted a blush like NARS Sin that was a mix between red and purple, leaning more toward purple. However, most purple-toned blushes don't look that great on my skin. Cabana Boy was exactly what I wanted, and I wear it when I wear cool-toned looks. 

All of the above blushes are loves in my collection. I have whittled down so many blushes over the years and I feel very confident in my entire blush collection. With that said, the following blushes are what I consider my "favorite."

theBalm Frat Boy

Frat Boy makes me so happy. For years I tried to wear pink blushes only to layer product onto my face and it not show up. Or to put cool-toned baby pink blush onto my cheeks and look washed out and sickly. When I finally realized that I have warm-toned skin, I honestly felt as though I would never be able to wear pink blush and would be unable to find any that flattered my skin. Then came Frat Boy. I was shocked when I first tried this on because it showed up on my skin, was pink, and flattered me. To make matters even better, there's no shimmer in it and it doesn't emphasize my skin's texture, but it doesn't look flat on my skin either. I really can't say enough good things about this blush. 

Marc Jacobs Lines and Last Night 

This is the newest blush to my collection and has already jumped to being a favorite. I bought this blush to replace Laura Geller Cantaloupe, which was the peach blush in my collection. Although I really liked Cantaloupe, because of its formula, I felt the product was difficult to pick up and be able to build. Because of this, I recently decluttered it from my collection. I still wanted a peach blush in my collection, and I decided on this from Marc Jacobs. And I have to say, this is one of my favorite blush formulas ever. The staying power is phenomenal, and I absolutely love the finish it gives my skin. The color is also really flattering on me because it has more pink than orange, but is still peach. I love it. 

Hourglass Mood Exposure

This is a longtime favorite. This is the blush I am wearing today, and every time I wear it, I ask myself why I own other blushes at all. (The reason is that sometimes other colors look better depending on my eyeshadow or clothing.) This was one of the first blushes I ever came across that completely flattered me and made me understand why some people are crazy about blush. It's a mauve, so it's somewhat similar to theBalm Cabana Boy or City Color Blackberry, but it doesn't look similar to either (none of them look similar, really) when applied onto the skin. But I think this is a perfect blush for warm-toned olive skin. 

NARS Exhibit A

I wrote an anti-haul post about the holiday blush palettes from NARS and specifically wrote about Exhibit A. This was the reason I wanted one of those palettes in the first place because it was a favorite of mine when I owned it years earlier. I went through a period of time (well over a year) when I wore nothing but this blush. And I loved every moment of it. When I wrote that blog post, I realized that I was willing to pay $30 more than the cost of this one blush to get it and five other blushes that were pretty but that I didn't want enough to buy on their own. And I realized that my money would be better spent just buying the one item I actually wanted. So shortly after I wrote that post, I repurchased Exhibit A. And it has been a love affair ever since. It's a tossup between this and Mood Exposure for my all-time favorite blush, but it I was really pressed, I would probably say Exhibit A. Having it back in my collection has really made me realize how much I love it and how flattering it really is. I (obviously) use a very light hand, and the color is lovely on my skin and incredibly unique without calling attention to itself. I love it.