MakeUp Addicted

I had very minimal exposure to Jordana Cosmetics until Walgreens revamped their set up and put an entire permenant display in their cosmetics department.  Until then there was a little rack with eyeliners and lip liners that I would pick up every once in a while.  You can see what I have purchased and reviewed here.  Actually, some of my most used items are the Glitter Rocks Retractable Eyeliners I swatched and reviewed here, and I got those on clearance for $0.62 a piece!

Now that there is a display at Walgreens, I took a look at the other offerings from Jordana and picked up one of their Easyshine Lip Colors to try out.  There are six colors on the display, and I picked up Sugar Cookie, which is a warm, reddish brown cream - no shimmer here. 

Actually, if you head on over to the Jordana website, you can see all of the different colors here.  The website also has a handy key to tell you what the finish is for each of the colors.

Not only did I mangle the top of the lip color with the lid when I opened it, but my flash totally washed out the color in the tube.  It is a much deeper shade, with more brown undertones.  This is a smaller stick of color too, similar to the size of the Carmex I reviewed earlier this week. 

Swatched on the lips, this is my lips but better.  The shine is unbelievable, and unfortunately my camera did not capture this either.  It reminds me of a the shine you get from a liquid lipgloss in a tube.  Definitely an easy coloor, it adds a hint of warm red shine, without being over the top.  This is a very slick, non-sticky gloss.  Lasting strength is minimal at best, especially if you have to talk alot during the day.  There is a slight fragrance, sort of a warm vanilla sugar (hence the name), and it is also sweet to the taste.   

Today's swatches are of The Balm's Shady Lady eyeshadow in Jealous Jordana.  I received this as a birthday gift as well.  This is my first go with The Balm, although I have heard very nice things about the brand. 

Jealous Jordana is a deep almost black green with evergreen shimmer.  This can be used as both an eyeshadow and an eyeliner.  The consistency is very smooth and silky.  The blending power was very nice as well.  Pigmentation is also nice, but to get the most out of it I would definitely suggest using a primer.  Using something underneath the shade really makes the color pop.

Swatched below are with (left) and without (right) primer.  I used the LA Splash Eyeshadow Primer/Sealer underneath and got really nice results.  I think if you used one of the UDPP in Greed or Sin you would get a really nice amplification of the shimmer.  It really depends on what type of look you are going for.

The Balm can be found online or in store at Sephora.  The eyeshadow singles retail for $16 a piece, but they do have sets quite often that are even more affordable.

Have you tried the Shady Lady shadows?  What about any other Balm products?

I think I mentioned a while back that they were renovating the Walgreens near me.  Well, while doing so, I was wandering through the aisles and found a section of clearance items.  These weren't just old products, or broken products, these were perfectly good products that were marked down substantially.  Case and point:  Maybelline's Limited Edition Fall 2011 blushes below...marked down to $1.75 a piece, and then Maybelline was BOGO50% off, so I got one of them for $0.87!  The moral of the story?  Go check out the clearance!

The three I found were Stage Glow, Pressworthy Pink and Ravishing Rouge. 

First, Stage Glow.  This is a beautiful highlighting shade.  The palest of nude pinks, there is beautiful pearl shimmer throughout. 

Pressworthy Pink is a true bubblegum pink.  There is also shimmer in this blush, but not as much as the Stage Glow.  The shimmer is a bit more silver as well, or it could just be because it is against the pink so it stands out more.

Ravishing Rouge is a deep brick/plum shade with a slight pink shimmer.  Yes, this is probably a bit dark for me, but I'm hoping with a light hand and a light brush, I can pull it off.  Otherwise, this is going to my sister.

All three swatched below - natural light, no flash.  The Stage Glow is just beautiful!  The textures are creamy, not chalky at all.  They blend very well into the skin and the shimmer left behind is a really nice glow in the cheeks. 

Have you tried any of these LE shades?  How about finding some great bargains like this in your local clearance?