Confession: Colour Pop

Okay...so it has been a while. I have definitely still been trying out a lot of different types of makeup and I am especially looking into lighter things since this summer heat is kicking it up a notch. I am continuing this blog, not because of class any longer, but just out enjoyment.

Since starting my blog, I have tried a few items from one of the "newer" brands of makeup that's causing a lot of buzz in the makeup world, Colour Pop.

 

Colour Pop is a company that just celebrated their 1 year anniversary, and is made in Los Angeles, California so for those of you who like buying from company who produce in the USA, Colour Pop fits that criteria. Colour Pop also says that they never test on animals, so good on you Colour Pop!

One reason why Colour Pop has been causing a huge buzz is its infamous "texture" of their eyeshadows...and now blushes, bronzers, and highlighters.  Originally, Colour Pop decided to not hit every part of makeup, and perfect only two aspects -- eyeshadow and lippies. Then, they decided to venture out into the cheeks with blushes first, highlighters second, and lastly bronzers.  All cheek products don the same strange texture as their eyeshadows, which have been described as a "gel mousse-like" consistency. I don't know if that's exactly it, but it definitely is different than any other product I have ever tried.  

I had watched video upon video of reviews on their products and finally broke down and bought some products...and boy am I glad I did!! I purchased before the bronzers officially launched on their website, so when I decided to buy at least one product from each category, that is why bronzers are left out.  Colour Pop has no retail stores, only their website, so for everyone outside of California, congratulations because you don't have to pay tax when purchasing! The products are also very affordable, with the eyeshadows and lippies priced at $5 each and the cheek products at $8 each. And, if you purchase at least $30 worth of products, shipping is also FREE! So it's definitely worth picking a few things from each category and sampling their whole gamit of products. 

I fell in love with their metallic eyeshadows, and I love to incorporate them into everyday wear since I chose cooler, more neutral shades, and I also love adding them as a nice pop for going out at night. The cheek products are wonderful and last all day as well, although I would definitely say I wish they were slightly more pigmented, but it could have just been that the shades I bought are very everyday friendly and subtle. They are still gorgeous though! The best part about the eyeshadows and the cheekies is that you can layer them on top of other cream products or on top of powder products and they do not clump or lessen the wear time. They look flawless as they mesh into the skin and wear forever. As I write this, I'm currently wearing my eyeshadows on their 16th hour, and they still look great. The pigmentation has not lessened, even though there is a little fallout under my eyes (hey I may or may not have taken a nap on the couch). The lippies I have are both matte lipsticks, and I love them! They do not dry out your lips like many matte products, and their pigmentation is to die for!!

Like I said, Colour Pop just celebrated their 1 year anniversary, and to celebrate they created a limited edition eyeshadow shade, Birthday Girl, and gave it to every customer for a certain amount of time. I had just bought my first order, but I could NOT miss out on this opportunity, so I purchased one more lippie so that I could have the gorgeous Birthday Girl!

So all in all, I definitely recommend purchasing from this brand if you're looking for some really nice, light products to add to your collection. They have some wild colors of eyeshadow and lippies, so you can definitely experiment, but I think trying some of their more neutral options are going to give you the most wear. 

One final note on Colour Pop, a very cool social aspect that has probably led to much of their success -- they have a lot of collaborations with popular YouTube makeup personalities.  On Colour Pop's website you will find a tab called "Collabs" with "quads" of eyeshadows that have been created by the YouTube stars.  "Where the Light Is" was created by Kathleenlights, "Shaaanxo x Colour Pop" was created by Shaaanxo, and their latest collab is "Metamorphosis" by CoffeeBreakWithDani. These YouTubers have praised Colour Pop on their own, and created their own custom shades in California at the Colour Pop labs -- colors that are not sold individually or will ever be sold again. Truly one-of-a-kind shades in a one-of-a-kind formula. 

So what are your thoughts on Colour Pop? I'd love to hear what shades you love or are excited to try!

Products I own by Colour Pop (prices based on Colourpop.com):

Super Shock Shadow in "3," $5.00
Super Shock Shadow in "I <3 This," $5.00
Super Shock Shadow in "Birthday Girl," $5.00

Super Shock Cheek in "Birthday Suit," $8.00 (blush)

Super Shock Cheek in "Teasecake," $8.00 (highlighter)

Lippie Stix in "I <3 This," $5.00

Lippie Stix in "Lumiere," $5.00 (also collab with Kathleenlights)

 

Website: https://colourpop.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColourPopCosmetics
Instagram: https://instagram.com/colourpopcosmetics/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColourPopCo
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/colourpopcosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ColourPopCo/

Confessions #10 & #11: Tarte and Too Faced

Today is going to be slightly different. If you have read my original post in the series, as I said, I am a college student that is still definitely on a tight budget.  For this reason, I have pretty much exhausted my list of high end companies that I purchase (somewhat) frequently from and frequently research.  Two companies that I have some interest in, but have little experience with are Tarte and Too Faced. I have only purchased two items from Too Faced organically, and none from Tarte.  The items I have received from Tarte have been from a beauty subscription service called Boxycharm, which gives you 4-5 full sized items each month for $21 each, making it a huge steal in hopes that you will purchase from these companies in the future.  

So for today Tarte vs. Too Faced

Tarte has a created a community of followers by calling them "Tartelettes."  By tying this into their products they released a new Tartelette palette, which helps aid in the sense of community if you purchase one or more of these palettes.  For Spring 2015, they tied the new Tartelette palette into social media by creating a video of the photo shoot that they had with some famous beauty YouTuber's and vloggers.  By using socially influential women while still carrying the same messages that the Tartelette palettes have had in the past, Tarte has built an even stronger connection between themselves and those who like to include themselves as Tartelettes.

Too Faced has recently come out with a product based upon the culture of sharing pictures via social media.  This product is called "Selfie Powders" and is a palette contaning 3 colored powders: a golden-yellow called "Sunrise," a bronze labeled as "Totally Toasted," and a light lilac called "Moon River." Too Faced now has an easy way to tie this product in to social media, encouraging engagement by their followers to post selfies using their powders and encouraging #nofilter because the powders are "real life filters." Personally I think the product is kind of gimmicky and I would not purchase it since I have to be careful of overdoing color correcting on my fair skin, but I think it is a neat concept.  Too Faced has bridged the gap between social media and branding/products in a way that I have not seen any other cosmetics company do. 

Products I own by Tarte Cosmetics
 (prices based on Ulta.com):
Maracuja Bronzing Serum, $47.00
LipSurgence Lip Tint, $24.00 

Products I own by Too Faced Cosmetics 

(prices based on Ulta.com):

Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick, $21.00
Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush, $30.00

Tarte
Website: http://tartecosmetics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tartecosmetics
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tartecosmetics/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tartecosmetics
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/tartecosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tartecosmetics/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/103695503093959855799/post

Too Faced
Website: https://www.toofaced.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toofaced
Instagram: https://instagram.com/toofaced/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/toofaced
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/toofacedcosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TooFaced/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+toofaced/posts
Snapchat username: toofacedsnaps

Confession #6: Benefit

Benefit Cosmetics sends you into the time machine to the 1950s with its packaging.  From it's bright colors in its packaging, era-appropriate names, and 1950s style advertising, you would think that this company's roots began then, but instead it was started as The Face Place in 1976 and turned into Benefit Cosmetics around 1990.

In my opinion, Benefit has used their own social media channels to enhance the persona created in their regular advertisements for a typical Benefit Gal, or Benefit user. A "Benefit Gal" is a little vintage, fun, flirty, and a socialite. Her makeup is fresh and usually not too bold, but she does enjoy her face to be flawless. You'll never find this definition straight on their website, but this is my takeaway from their campaigns.


 
When Benefit launched their brand new They're Real Push-Up Liner, this was an addition to their They're Real Mascara to create it's own mini line within their cosmetics. This was also so much more. Benefit was revolutionizing gel eye liner. Whether or not they succeeded is still in the air, but the main point is that they did it. They came out with a product that had the same formula that many makeup users love, gel eyeliner, but put it in a format that was much easier to use, a push-up pen. They relied heavily on social media on this campaign. I remember seeing advertisements on other makeup videos on YouTube. There were countless tweets and videos and pictures on Instagram.  The advertising through social media still left the customer wanting more information, which you would either have to wait for, or decide to try out for yourself. I chose to purchase it on my own.

I also think the Benefit does a good job with using their Pinterest.  Their Pinterest is organized well into their different lines of cosmetics within their brand, showing different tutorials and exciting ways to use their products. Yet, their Pinterest also has complementing things, such as party decorations, or date night hair to pair with your Benefit Cosmetics makeup look!







Products I own by Benefit Cosmetics 
(prices based on Ulta.com):

They're Real Mascara (sample), full size, $23.00
The POREfessional (sample), full size, $31.00
Hoola bronzer (sample), full size, $28.00
They're Real Push-Up Liner, $24.00
Erase Paste, $26.00
High Beam (sample), full size, $26.00
Stay Don't Stray (sample), full size, $26.00
Benetint, (sample), full size, $30.00
"That Gal" (sample), full size, $29.00
They're Real Remover, $18.00
Posietint (sample), full size, $30.00
Bella Bamba (sample), full size $28.00
It's Potent Eye Cream (sample), full size, $34.00
Ooh La Lift (sample), full size, $22.00








Products I have previously owned by Benefit Cosmetics (prices based on Ulta.com):
Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW, $36.00
BADGal Lash Mascara, $19.00
The POREfessional Agent Zero Shine (sample), full size, $30.00
Fakeup (sample), full size, $24.00
 



 


Website: https://www.benefitcosmetics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benefitcosmetics
Instagram: http://instagram.com/benefitcosmetics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benefitbeauty
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/benefitcosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/benefitbeauty/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+benefitcosmetics/posts

Confession #4: Lorac

Carol....Lorac.

Yes, you guessed it. The genius behind this company made up the name by spelling her name backwards. Talk about hidden meaning. Anyway...Carol Shaw created a company based off of the fact that women sometimes have extremely sensitive skin, and that their makeup should not also irritate the skin.
 
An interesting thing about Lorac Cosmetics is that some of the products are sold exclusively at certain locations. Yes, you can purchase online via their website, but they only sell certain products at Ulta and Kohls. A special edition Mega Pro Palette was sold only via Amazon.com. Lorac used to be sold at Sephora stores as well, but discontinued in late 2013-early 2014.

 
The way that these companies interact via social media is interesting in my opinion.  I looked at Kohls' and Ulta's Twitter accounts and they do mention Lorac's products once or twice in the past 3 months. Granted, both Kohls' and Ulta sell many many brands and have to be fair about not promoting one company more than the other. With Amazon.com's Twitter account, they never mentioned the Lorac MegaPro Palette being on sale exclusively. I find this interesting because I would have thought that Amazon.com would want to capitalize on the fact that they exclusively are selling the product.

Instead, I see that Lorac has taken it upon themselves to market which places sell each product. Many times, #KohlsBeauty, #Amazon, or @Ulta_Beauty shows up in their Instagram and Twitter posts to ensure that their customers know where each product can be found. I think Lorac does a good job of using their social media outlets to let their customers know where the products can be found and how to use them.
 

Products I own by Lorac Cosmetics:
Lorac Pro 2 Palette, $42 (sold at Ulta, Kohl's, and Amazon.com)
SummerGLO Eyeshadow Palette, $24 (Kohl's exclusively)
AfterGLO Eyeshadow Palette, $24 (Ulta exclusively)
Behind the Scenes Eye Primer, Sample (Full size, $21)
 

Website: http://www.loraccosmetics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LORACcosmetics
Instagram: http://instagram.com/loraccosmetics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LORAC_Cosmetics
YouTube channel:  
https://www.youtube.com/user/LORACCosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/loraccosmetics/
Google+:  
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Loraccosmeticsinc/posts
Tumblr: http://carolshaw.la/

Confession #1: Overview

About one year ago, I saw a friend post on Facebook about a business called Ipsy. I had no clue what Ipsy was, so I clicked on the link to find out that it was a makeup subscription service. It was during Snowmageddon 2014, so I literally had nothing better to do than to watch countless YouTube videos of people "unboxing" their hot pink bubble mailers revealing their goodies.

In the end, I decided Ipsy deserved my $10 each month in return for a few surprises of products that would hopefully make me look presentable when I wore makeup. At the time, I was mildly interested in makeup, but I felt like I really had no clue what to do or how to use half of it, even though I have been wearing makeup since 7th grade. After receiving my first Ipsy Glam Bag, I was hooked. Hours upon hours of YouTube videos have now been watched showing me products that have raving reviews, cult followings, and some that just didn't hit the target.

So with this blog, I would like to highlight 10 of my personal favorite makeup brands. I will focus on their presence in social media and how they interact with their customers, but I will probably also add in favorite products, product reviews, and tutorials with the specific brands' products. With each post, I will include the website and social media websites for the brand.

--xoxo, Paige