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Kylie Cosmetics: The Burgundy Palette (+ comparison with the Bronze palette) 

Published on by From Beauty WithinLeave a comment

Hi everyone! As Kylie has been releasing tons of new products this time of year, I thought I’d share with you guys my thoughts on her new Burgundy palette, and compare it to her Bronze one.

Packaging: 

Firstly, the packaging. From my last post on the Bronze palette, you guys know I love how stylish and simple her design is. The drips on the front correspond to the shades inside. I still wish that there was a mirror but for cardboard packaging, mirrors are easy to break so I’ll let it slide.


Shades: 

Like her previous palette, the Burgundy palette has 9 shades ranging from light, medium to darker tones. Unlike her Bronze palette (see my full review on it here: Kyshadow Palette: Review, Swatches and Possible Dupes!) which had neutral browns and basic shades, the Burgundy palette harbours reddish hues and burgundy tones that are much in line with the trend and fall season in the US/UK right now.

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L to R: Naked, Beach, Penny, LA, Burgundy, Dubai, Brick, New York, Almond. 

The shades are beautiful and pigmented (this was with one swipe!) and they are buildable as well. Typical me, I would have loved a matte white highlight shade and a black but she did have those in her Bronze palette (see pics below) and the highlight shade is not overly shimmery and can be used as a brow bone shade if need be. The only shade I was slightly disappointed with was Dubai, which was the burgundy shimmer shade that wasn’t as pigmented as I’d like it to be upon first swatch. However, I find that using your fingers and layering it twice does the trick. Otherwise, the other shades are beautiful and they look absolutely stunning on the eyes 🙂

Comparison of quality and shades between the Bronze and Burgundy palette: 

L to R: Bronze palette, Burgundy palette.

Looking at the palettes side-by-side, you can see that the palettes are not similar at all. The colours are different enough to justify owning both, but it all depends on preference and what colours you gravitate towards. The only major difference I can tell is the quality in the shimmer shades. The Bronze palette has 2 shimmers, whereas the Burgundy palette has 3. And while the shimmers in the Bronze palette were more of a satin finish and were more natural-looking on the eyes, the shimmers in the Burgundy palette pack more of a punch. The mattes were always good from the beginning and there was no compromise on the quality of it in the second palette either.

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Overall thoughts?

I think this palette is perfect for fall and for anyone who wants a burgundy palette. The quality is incredible and much like the first palette, these eyeshadows last a good eight hours on me before creasing (bearing in mind that I do have oily eyelids). Definitely a must-have in your collection, but hey, that’s just what I think 🙂

If you have the palette, leave your thoughts on it in the comment below! Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Tartelette in Bloom: Review & Swatches

Published on by From Beauty Within12 Comments

Hi guys!

So to start off with recent products that have been launched in the makeup world in the last couple of months, the Tartelette in Bloom palette is the second eyeshadow palette in the Tartelette series. To be honest, I’ve never been attracted to the first all-matte Tartelette palette as it mostly had cooler-toned eyeshadows and purples that would not go well with my skin tone but when I saw that they were coming out with a warmer palette, I quickly jumped on the band wagon and ordered it!

Startingoff,

  • PACKAGING

The packaging is adorable! I can’t get enough of the pink and purple mix with the gold layout. The gold layout of the palette made it feel very luxe and the names of the shadows are written in the palette in purple writing, which is convenient as you don’t need to worry about a plastic sheet with names to keep.

The size of this palette is about the size of my hand, so it was smaller than I expected when it first arrived, but come to think of it, its size makes it travel-friendly with its “no-wasted-space” compact packaging. It also comes with a big mirror inside which makes it user-friendly for makeup application.

  • SMELL

One of the first things that hit me when I opened this palette was a whiff of the vanilla scent. The scent is faint (definitely not as strong as the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palettes) and is pleasant if you’re into sweet scents. If scents aren’t your thing, bear in mind that once you have applied the shadows onto your lids, you can’t smell it anymore so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

  • COLOUR SELECTION & SWATCHES (All swatches/pictures were taken in natural lighting)

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As you can see from the pictures and swatches, this palette is neutral, but it leans more towards warmer eyeshadows. Despite the first palette being all-matte, the Tartelette in Bloom has 9 matte eyeshadows and 3 shimmer shadows. The top horizontal row leans more towards the cooler tones, but the majority of the palette is warm-toned, with a good mix of light shades, medium-toned transition shades, crease shades, as well as darker shades that you can use to deepen the outer corners, or to use as liners.

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Swatches from L to R: charmer, jetsetter, rocker, smokeshow. 

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Swatches from L to R: flower child, smarty pants, firecracker, activist. 

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Swatches from L to R: funny girl, sweetheart, rebel, leader.

  • PIGMENTATION

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As you can see in the swatches, the shadows are really pigmented (and this is without a primer!!), on the arm and on the lids. The only shade that was a dud in the palette was “funny girl” in the third row, first shadow from the left. It came off very powdery, and it was really lacking in pigmentation. However, with some setting spray, you can apply this shadow wet, as shown in the picture below, and it does improve to an extent, but on its own, this eyeshadow was the only disappointment to the palette.

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  • FORMULA & BLENDABILITY

These shadows are as soft as they are buttery, much like the formula of Lorac eyeshadows. Pigmented, but upon putting your brush into the shadow, you will get some powdery excess, which means that you’d either have to tap excess off your brush to avoid any fallout upon application or use a lighter hand when dipping into these shadows.

With soft shadows like these, they blend easily without getting too muddled and without any need for major effort. Put it this way, a beginner could blend these eyeshadows.

  • LONGEVITY

With an eyeshadow primer (Urban Decay’s Primer Potion on some days, and Mac’s Paint Pot in Soft Ochre on other days), these eyeshadows lasted 8 to 9 hours on me without fading or creasing. However, at the end of the day (think 10-12 hours), there was no sign of creasing, but rather some fading in colour.

  • WHERE CAN YOU GET IT?

Currently this palette is only available in Ulta or on the Tarte Cosmetics website in the US, which makes it a little inconvenient for us makeup lovers in Australia. However, you can order this through shopandbox.com, which is a website which helps you find someone in the US who can help ship this to you. Alternatively, you can also get this off of eBay and Gumtree as I have seen a few sellers there. Secretly, I’m praying and hoping that the Sephora Australian website will stock these in soon as it is a gorgeous palette.

UPDATE ON 3/3/16: It’s now available on the Sephora AU website! 😀

  • OVERALL THOUGHTS?

This eyeshadow palette is perfect for those of you who prefer matte eyeshadows but still want a pop of shimmer. If you lean more towards warmer-toned eyeshadows but still want a number of cooler-toned eyeshadows to play with from time to time, then this palette might be the one for you. The quality and pigmentation of these eyeshadows is incredible and will definitely be a beautiful addition to my collection of eyeshadow palettes.

That’s all I have for my review today, and I hope it helped some of you that were curious about this palette. Leave in the comments your thoughts on the palette if you have it or want it, and let me know if there’s any requests for posts you’d like to see 🙂

Thanks for reading guys and remember that true beauty begins from within!

Much love,

Hawa. xo

 

Introducing “From Beauty Within”

Published on by From Beauty Within2 Comments

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To beauty lovers and explorers worldwide,

My name is Hawa and anyone who knows me knows that I’ve always been the biggest fan of beauty – and I’m not just talking about makeup, looks and style, I’m also talking about inner confidence and the beauty of believing that within yourself, therein lies the potential for you to embrace all that life has to offer.

Now, to start us off, I thought I’d say hi and tell you the four reasons that made me want to start the blog “From Beauty Within” —

  1. Life can be tough. At any age, whether you’re a teenager or in your 20s or (heck) even in your 50s, there comes a time where you will feel lost and unsure about what to do. Whether it’s what career path you should take or what course to take in university, I want this blog to be a platform of self-expression and positivity to be spread not only from me to you, but also from you to each other. A community where you can be yourself and be accepted for it too. From moving to a different country, to feeling different in society, I want this blog to be a form of my own self-expression, as well as your own.
  2. Makeup in Australia can be expensive. Not just Sephora or Mecca, David Jones or Myer. Even Priceline and Target sell you $30 foundations and $20 mascaras. So what differentiates the expensive from the affordable? What is worth spending your money on and what items can you save money on? Selections can be so overwhelming, but on this blog, I want to shed some light on products I have used and give you my honest opinion on what I think is worth spending your moolah on.
  3. Makeup can be difficult to get in Australia. People living in the UK or the US are blessed with brands that Australians couldn’t even dream of owning. Whether it’s Wet n’ Wild, Milani or Lorac, we don’t always get the cream of the crop when it comes to cosmetics. However, there are websites that you can go on to find some of these brands and I intend to share some of these websites with you, and let you know my thoughts on what I’ve tried, what I think is great, and what I think would work for you.Being actively researching and engaged within the beauty world of makeup, I hope, to the best of my ability, to help those who are in need of good makeup that is affordable, worth the money and will help you achieve the look that you desire.

    And lastly…

  4. I’m starting this blog for myself. Writing has always been a passion of mine and starting a blog was always one of the things that I’ve wanted to start and stick to, because sharing information on makeup and being able to make someone feel happy is something I love to do, whether it’s through helping them pick an eyeshadow palette or foundation, telling a funny story, recommending a good movie/book and basically helping someone else feel good about themselves.

I want this to be a wholesome blog that boasts not only good information on makeup and cosmetics, but also life-related posts that can help you get through today for the brightness of tomorrow. I hope you’ll stay on this journey with me, starting from my first makeup-related post coming up on Tuesday.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading guys, and I hope you’ll be back next Tuesday!

Much love,

Hawa. xo