Depotting My Milani Blushes Into Zpalettes

These were some of the hardest things I have tried to depot. They have a mirror and aren't level once the mirror is removed. I believe this was my second or third attempt at depotting these and it was FINALLY successful! 

NOTE* These are NOT the baked blushes, these are the mineral blushes.

Items needed:

Blush, push pin, blow dryer, lighter, safety glasses, container to place blush in after, label, pen and magnet.

Please use extreme caution when using this method to depot!!! I cannot stress that enough. If you are under age, please ask for adult help!!!

  First, in a well ventilated room, I heated the mirror for approximately 30 seconds with my blow dryer on HIGH heat. 

Then, I took a push pin and wiggled my way under the mirror.

Be VERY careful when doing this! I had small shards of glass pop off at me. Luckily I have safety glasses to use :)

The mirror should lift right off.

 Now take a candle or BBQ lighter and apply the flame to the back side of the package.

 If you want, you can remove any glue before doing this. The glue WILL burn and then you have fumes. I made sure I was in a room that had fans and several windows open. 

Once the back starts to melt slightly, take the same push pin and gently push the pan out of the packaging. Mine wasn't melted enough and I damaged the pan a little :(  It was also slightly damaged from the previous attempts to depot LOL  

The package will be HOT so use a pot holder to hold the package. Also wait until the pan cools before you try to handle it.

Then I popped a magnet on it, labeled it and stuck it in my Zpalette :) 

Again, these are NOT the baked blushes, they are the mineral blushes. 

Soon, Zpalette will be selling a deeper palette that is made just for baked shadows and blushes!!

I cannot wait until Zpalette starts to distribute the new palettes!!! 

 Please use extreme caution when using this method to depot!!! I cannot stress that enough. If you are under age, please ask for adult help!!!   

Inglot Shadows and a Little Bit of MAC

A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon shopping. I really wanted fun bright colors, since I have a ton of basic neutrals from Inglot. I still got some neutral shades but instead of getting them in matte finish, I got them in pearl and double sparkle. Anyway, when I got home and opened my shadows I noticed the packaging had changed since my last trip. 

The shadows now come in a vacuum sealed package. 

You peel back the plastic wrapper and it pops right out. 

I personally love this so much more then the old packaging, see below.

Old package

 I was only going to get a 10 pan but the gal convinced me to get the 20 pan AND I didn't even fill it all the way. I even managed to buy a few colors I already had :( They aren't shown. 

 Left to right

AMC 59, AMC 60, Matte 322, Matte 372, Double Sparkle 504,

Matte 383, AMC Shine 10, AMC 50, Matte 334, AMC Shine 39, AMC Shine 25, Pearl 606, Matte 341, AMC Shine 08, Matte 357

From MAC I got Whisper of Gilt, LOVE! This looks so amazing on the skin

And I did some Back 2 MAC and got Star Violet

And Trax

Golden Lady

This picture is one my husband took of the Golden Gate Bridge.  It is currently our screen saver and after seeing it every day for the last week, I had to do a look based on it. I probably could have made my look slightly darker but I am still pretty pleased with it. 

 Lime Crime Candy Eyed e/s helper

Inglot Matte 351 (lid)

Flirt Golden Lady (crease)

Flirt Magic Mist (cut crease)

Flirt Sweet Sensation (to blend Magic Mist)

Inglot Matte 330 (brow bone)

Heavenly Naturals Fancy Schmancy (lower lash line)

Loreal HIP Intensity pigment Restless (center of lid only)

MAC Blacktrack fluid line (upper lash line)

Milani Liquif'eye Metallic liner Black (water line)

Maybelline Full n Soft w/p mascara Very Black

Revlon Precision Lash adhesive clear

Miss Adoro lashes #DW

NYX Concealer in a Jar Beige (brows)

ELF Eyebrow kit Dark (brows)

Inexpensive Beauty Sponges Compared

I have been trying out a few different beauty sponges and honestly, I think these are hit and miss. Lets start with the one from ULTA (below).

$3 ULTA

 Before I wet it, I noticed it was so stiff and had hardly had any bounce to it. Skeptical, I tried it anyway. Horrible! When you get it wet, this does NOT puff up to twice it's normal size and it is still very firm.  When I apply my makeup with a sponge, I like to focus on small areas at a time. I placed a small dot of foundation on my forehead and tried blending it out with this sponge. Immediately the sponge had soaked up all of the product and left me using more and more product and barely getting a light coverage. I liked that it had a tapered end to get in the eye area but I found it still wasn't tapered enough.  As far as cleaning, this was super hard to get the stains out of. I tried just about everything with no luck.  The one good thing, it does hold up to excessive scrubbing LOL  It doesn't have any tears or weak spots from cleaning.  I have actually had this sponge for over a year now and NEVER reach for it. I used it a handful of times and kept it for a "Product I Regret Buying" post LOL.  Overall this product is not worth $3 and I would not buy again.

Next up, the Essence of Beauty Precision Blender Sponge $6 CVS

When I first opened the packaging I was noticed that this too was very stiff and had no give, like the ULTA sponge. But unlike the ULTA sponge, when wet, this one actually puffs up twice its size and gets softer but it is still pretty firm.  It does soak up the product a little bit but not nearly as much as the ULTA sponge. I really liked how the tapered end is much smaller and you can get right into the corner of your eyes with no problem. However, I still didn't find this to be great.  I notice when I use this sponge, I have patchy spots after I have tried to blend everything in. I think because the design, it makes it harder to roll across the skin and blend. I was having to use a buffing brush even after trying to use the sponge, for blending. I tried so many different techniques with this little sponge, my arm was sore after doing my makeup LOL.  As far as cleaning, much much better! I do still have some staining but for the most part everything came out.  This sponge also holds up pretty well to cleaning too. I don't have any tears or bits that fell out from scrubbing.  I really liked this sponge for my eye area but for overall blending, it was just okay.  I'm not sure if I would pay $6 again for this sponge, maybe if I had a coupon or CVS bucks.

Last but not least, London New York SOHO Beauty Sponge Walgreens $8

Let me just say that I every time I look at this I think of marshmallow peeps. LOL  I think because it sort of feels like a marshmallow peep and it is very squishy. LOL  I actually really like this sponge, out of the three this one is my favorite. I can get great coverage and blending with this sponge. I can achieve that "airbrushed" look with this sponge. The design is much better than the other two. This one fits right into the palm of my hand and allows for better control.  This one also is way more flexible than the other two as well.  I can pinch it together to make it smaller for my eye area or around my nose and it still holds its shape when I am done.  Now the bad... this sponge is so hard to clean (see below). 

 I spent a good 5-10 minutes (each time) trying to clean this and couldn't get the stains out. I tried my brush cleaner and baby shampoo and nothing. I do have a great brush cleaner that I use in my makeup kit for photo shoots that I still might try but I don't know if I want to mess with it anymore. This little sponge doesn't hold up to cleaning. I started to have tiny spots of the sponge become weak. The sponge is clean but it is stained really bad. I also noticed that this sponge loses a ton of color. The first few times I washed it the water was hot pink.  You can see the color difference in the pictures.  The color doesn't come off when I am using it with makeup though, or not that I have noticed O_O  LOL 

Overall, I am very pleased with this sponge. I would definitely buy this sponge again. 

The Balm at TJ Maxx 2

Another great find at TJMaxx! Shady Lady palette for $10!

This palette retails normally for $39.50, crazy right?!

I apologize for swatching before I took pictures :( LOL Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Top row: Lusty Lee e/s, Envious Erin e/s, Racy Kacy e/s & liner

Middle row: Safe Bet Annette e/s, Runaround Rebecca e/s & liner, Come-Hither Heather e/s & liner

Bottom Row: Open to Offers Olwen e/s & liner, All the Way Annie e/s & liner, Guilty Gwen e/s & liner

The great thing about these shadows is that you can do a light sweep of color across your lid or you can really build up the color for dramatic effect. Each swatch below is one quick swipe across the pan and onto my arm, with no primer or base. The colors are so vibrant and smooth, so easy to use. This little palette has been part of my everyday makeup for the passed few weeks. If you can find one at your local TJMaxx, Marshalls or Ross pick one up!

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