Culling My Collection: 2016 Eyeshadow Palette Purge Part 2

Continuing with my palette purge (you can see Part 1 here), I've got 2 discontinued Stila palettes: In the Garden and Not So Nude.  I have not used In the Garden much at all, and in swatching the shadows again my impression was they were a bit dry and chunky.

I have used Not So Nude a bit and even took it with me on a trip, although I haven't used it since then.  The quality of the shadows is just so so, and the convertible color in Lily has gone bad. I'm going to toss both palettes, although I'm depotting Kitten to put in a Z palette. It's a classic for a reason, and surprisingly this is the only one I have. That gives me a tally of 4 palettes kept and 11 purged. Feeling good and freeing up space.

Now for 5 palettes, four of which I'm tossing and keeping one. The NYX Love in Florence has only one shadow that I use, the gray matte in the thin, long strip. Good gray mattes have been hard to come by and the one in my stila In the Know palette is crap, so this is my go to.

The Laura Geller trio is nice but neglected, and the color selection throws me off for some reason. I've got an odd sentimental attachment to the tokidoki palette and the shadows are pretty good. The It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty has seen some use but I feel neutral about it. The Lancome palette was a gift with purchase and for whatever reason I just never use it.

So what am I keeping?  Tokidoki and the gray shadow from Love in Florence. That makes 5 palettes kept and 15 purged.

Next are my Wet 'n Wild palettes. There is not a thing wrong with these but I just don't reach for them, so out they go. Tally is now 5 palettes kept and 18 tossed.

The four palettes below are all making the cut. I selected the shadows for the Rouge Bunny Rouge trio and know I like them. The Sephora Pantone palette has some duotone shadows that are unique to my collection and I like the quality of the shadows overall. The Laura Mercier palette has not seen as much use but I do like the shadows and want to get more familiar with them. The Julep duo is good quality and are colors I like, which makes it a keeper. That makes 9 palettes kept and 18 tossed.  The tide may be turning in the other direction.

Now for another 3 palettes I know I'm hanging on to.  The MAKE palette is phenomenal.  MAKE doesn't get much love in the blogging/YouTube sphere, but their eyeshadows in particular are pigmented, smooth, and just great quality overall.  That is every single one I've tried. My Chantecaille palettes hold a special place in my affection, as I love the presentation and they are very wearble palettes for me. The tally is now 13 palettes kept and 18 purged.

Sigh, another 3 palettes I know I'm keeping. Estee Lauder's shadows are about middle of the pack when it comes to formula quality, but I like them. I prefer buildable color as opposed to BAM color from the get go, so maybe that's why these work well for me. Plus, no way am I getting rid of the larger palettes with the blushes and bronzers. I'm keeping the smaller one for travel. Now I'm at 16 palettes kept and 18 purged.

My Keven Aucoin contour palette contains eyeshadows that I don't particularly care for, I'm keeping it for the contour and highlight powders, which are wonderful. I honestly never reach for my Lorac Pro palette, but I feel like I need to give it one more go before tossing it. I'm not sure why I don't reach for it, but if I don't in the next few months I may as well find it a new home.

I've got three more brands to cover, but since I own multiple palettes from them I'll save it for tomorrow. My final tally for Part 2's palette purge is 18 palettes kept and 18 purged, so it is neck and neck. Tomorrow I'll go through my bareMinerals READY and Urban Decay palettes and show you what I've done with my Le Metier de Beaute eye kaleidoscopes. I'm pretty happy with the outcome:-)

Culling My Collection: 2016 Eyeshadow Palette Purge Part 1

Time to go through my eyeshadow palettes and see what will be staying or going. I've collected a fair amount of palettes in the past 4 years, but honestly some just don't see the light of day. I hope that by culling my collection to a more manageable (but let's be honest, still quite excessive) amount I will be able to use  the items I truly enjoy more regularly.

While powder products have a longer shelf life than other cosmetics, you'll see a few examples of shadows that have gone bad due to mold growing on them. Just one of the hazards of living in a city with the highest amount of rainfall in the US. Humidity central here.

Let's start with theBalm's shady Lady palettes v. 1-3. I like the quality of these shadows but the palettes just haven't seen much use. Looking at them all together, I decided that v. 1 has the best color selections for me, although there are shadows in v. 2 and v. 3 that I also like. So, I decided to depot the shadows I liked from those two and put into a Z palette.  That makes 1 palette kept and 2 tossed.

Next are some Too Faced palettes that haven't been getting much use either, the Shadow Bon Bons palette (2012) and the Be Merry Be Bright holiday palettes (2013).

I did use the Shadow Bon Bons for a while but honestly, it was lacking for me. I wasn't even tempted to depot any of the shadows, if that tells you anything.  I did depot two of the shadows from the Be Merry palette.  Tally is now 1 palette kept and 5 tossed.

Buttered Rum and Very Money

The Tarina Tarantino Jewel palette is quite nice, but I just don't reach for it.  The same can be said about all of those, so I decided to toss them all after extracting a shadow I wanted to keep from one of the Clinique palettes. That makes 1 palette kept and 9 purged. I'm off to a good start, which is usually the case. It gets tougher...

I've got 3 all matte palettes: stila's discontinued In the Know, Kat von D's LE Ladybird, and PUR Cosmetics discontinued Soul Mattes. My favorite is In the Know but all 3 are good and distinct enough in color that I will be keeping all three. I'm not even tempted to buy the new Urban Decay matte palette as I think I've already got most of the colors covered by these 3 palettes. The tally is now 4 palettes kept and 9 purged.

In the Know

Ladybird

Soul Mattes

Tomorrow I'll continue with Part 2 of the palette purge, so stay tuned!

NOTD: Tish by Julep

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

Tish by Julep is described as a silver bell full coverage microglitter, and it reminds me of crinkled up tin foil. It was part of the December 2015 All Night Long collection, although I received it in one of the mystery boxes offered this month.

I would say it is indeed a full coverage glitter, as I used only one coat for what you see in these pictures. I liked the glimpse of bare nail underneath, although from a distance it looks almost opaque.

The inclusion of the black microglitter gives it more visual impact than if it were a straight silver glitter, and I don't have anything quite like it in the rest of my collection.  The closest would be OPI's Wondrous Star from the 2013 holiday Mariah Carey collection, although the black glitter in it is much larger.  Here's a photo for comparison, although I'm only wearing it on my ring finger.

I'll leave you with a picture of this little guy, and have a great weekend!

August Birchbox: Last Gasp of Summer

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

I chose the curated box option for my August Birchbox, as it seemed like a pretty solid group of products.  I think the stila liquid lipstick in Patina is what tipped the scales for me, but I'm actually feeling positive about every item in the box. But first, a mini-rant. Regardless of the enclosed card's "who says summer has to end?" sentiment, I'm completely over it.  Here's why: I get swarmed by mosquitoes and my camera fogs up immediately when I'm outside taking pictures, plus it's a 90+ degree sauna/swamp every_single_day. I'm over it. Bring on autumn!

I believe all Birchboxes received two hair items this month, and the Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Leave-in-Conditioner is a tried and true favorite. I like the smell and it works, nuff said.

The No Frizz Living Proof Nourishing Oil is new to me, so I'm looking forward to trying it out.  This can be used on wet or dry hair and is supposed to help with flyaways while it smooths and hydrates.

The HUM Raw Beauty Green Superfood Powder is a bonus item featuring organic greens, enzymes, and probiotics to help support healthy skin. I drink a green smoothie almost every morning, and I will add this to my next one.

Wearing Julep's Tatiana on my nails

I know liquid lipsticks are having their moment in the sun, so I was excited to try out Patina.  It's a wearable mauve rose that dries down to a flat matte, which seems to be uber fashionable these days.  After feeling a bit alarmed at my somewhat pruney lips, I decided I liked it well enough and went about my day, which included a lunchtime meeting with food and everything. A good test, I thought.

My anxiety level did rise a bit again when I noticed I was wiping Patina off my chin after a few bites of my chicken sandwich. So yes, there was some color transfer and the color wore away on the middle of my lips, but considering the forgiving color, it was not as obvious as if I'd be wearing a bright red or pink.

I'll wear it again and try to avoid eating. Perhaps I should have brought the Acure Organics Coconut & Argan Oil Cleansing Towelettes in my purse for a quick cleanup after lunch. Note to self.

I've received the Marcelle BB Cream in Golden Glow in a previous Birchbox subscription but never really tested it out. I'm liking it with the few times I've worn it this week, primarily as a base under a very light application of whatever cream foundation I'm wearing for the day.

It gives a soft glow to the skin with just a touch of color and is actually very nice for this time of year, as I'm loath to have anything heavy on my face.

So, no complaints from me this month regarding Birchbox. I did cancel my yearly subscription, so only 4 more boxes to go before my Birchbox goodness ends!