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First time for everything: Bh Cosmetics itsjudytime palette review

Hello everyone.

I was super excited when I heard that Judy from itsjudytime on Youtube had teamed up with Bh cosmetics and they were releasing a neutral palette. Now, 2014 had been the year of the neutrals for me.  Don't get me wrong, I still love my bright colours, but I have been gravitating to more natural looks this year. I had to wait until any local Facebook sellers would be selling this palette. I stalked various Facebook pages waiting, when finally this past August, I saw it on Halener Rustique's Facebook page.

I have had this palette for a couple days now, so I feel like I can only give a first impression of the palette.

Packaging:

I am slightly disappointed by the size. While it didn't look like a large palette, it appeared much larger in videos.  Sorry for the awful picture. It was taken with my smartphone. 

It is a black cardboard plastic type material that is embossed with gold details. It looks quite sleek and sophisticated. It does rival the packaging of higher end palettes such as those by Too face cosmetics and Urban Decay cosmetics. Inside has a mirror which is nice for those who like to use the mirrors when travelling. Underneath the mirror it says "Natural is beautiful but makeup is glam". I believe that is a saying of Judy's. I don't know for certain.

Product

The palette comes with  twelve (12) eyeshadows, four (4) of which are matte while the rest range from shimmer and satin. 

As you can see they aren't exactly the most pigmented. The matte shades, specifically the lighter ones are not ethnic or women of color friendly at all. The second and fourth shades on the top row, don't even show up on my skin.  The bottom row swatches much better, many because those shades are shimmery and darker. The pigmentation on those are still quite poor.

Price

I purchase this from Halener Rustique a local Facebook seller for $110TT. You can purchase this on Bh cosmetics website for $20USD. They are having a sale where you can pick it up for $8.95USD.

http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/its-judy-time


Rating: C+

How to build a high end makeup collection

Hello everyone,

Are you the girl who practically lives in the makeup section of Wal-mart, CVS or Walgreens but dreams one day to have a vast collection of higher end makeup? Maybe you are that girl who goes into Sephora, collects samples from the hottest and most luxurious brands, never purchase anything but then run off to meet your friend the Wal-Mart shopper, where you purchase a cost effective lipstick. If you are anyone of these girls, don't feel shame, we have all been there. With drugstore makeup improving each and everyday, most girls will never dare to try a more expensive brand even if money wasn't an issue.  Building a high end makeup collection to some,would be like starting all over again. They wouldn't know where to begin. After years and years of being frugal, where is a girl to begin if she were to be transplanted into a Sephora.

If you feel overwhelmed or before you end up with every Urban Decay Naked palette ever created, here are some tips I created to help you to slowly build your high end collection.

1. Purchases based on application and/or uses.

Unintentionally, when I started purchasing high end makeup, I bought an eyeliner, then I purchased 2 lipsticks. After realizing this, I decided I would buy items based on uses. So instead of buying 5 or 6 eye shadow palettes that were higher end, I decided to separate my purchases into categories similar to what you  see on a cosmetic website: face, eyes, lipsticks, accessories. My intention was to purchase one item from each category so I could have a complete look that consisted of high end makeup. 

For example, you can start off with a foundation from MAC, then you can move across to one of theirs or another high end lipstick, then eye liner and so forth. So you end up with a completed high end look. Additionally, you can purchase all the necessary items from one category and then move on to the next.

For example in face you can purchase, foundation, concealer, blush, bronzer and highlighter then move on to eye shadow, eye liner, mascara. The key element to this is to prevent yourself from purchasing all of one of the same kind of item. You don't want to end up with 4 MAC Lipsticks.

Courtesy: Lancome website

2.SALE SALE SALE..... Did I say sale?

Some of the higher end items I have acquired and are interested in became plausible due to sales or discontinued items. Sometimes companies such as Urban decay are changing up the formulation of items or coming out with newer versions so current faves that may be discontinued become more affordable.

Courtesy: Jetemo.com

3. HOLIDAY HOLIDAY....

Holiday season is one of the best times to dive into higher end cosmetics. Companies like Benefit and Too Faced offer great deals on some of their most sort after items, in sets during the holiday season. These sets usually contain one or two full size versions of their popular products. These sets usually retail for less than the value of the items they contain. For example Benefit's Its a Love fest set which was part of their Holiday Collection 2013 was priced at 36 US but the total value of the items were 75 US. In fact that Benefit Porefessional face primer alone is 30US. So at this price it was steal.

Courtesy: Musings of a muse

There you have it, 3 simple techniques you can use to build your high end makeup collection.

Happy Shopping!

Simple Tips

Today, I am going to share with you some simple tips that I have learned that can really help improve the look of your makeup.

1. Let the foundation dry

When applying your foundation and concealer, you must let them set before applying your face powder. Often times, we apply foundation/or concealer and we put on powder and we realize that the powder is appearing to be blotchy on the skin. We of course blame the powder. It isn't the powder. If the foundation and/or concealer is still damp, it clumps together when it comes in contact with the powder and forms little ball like residue on the skin. So we must always remember to wait  a few minutes for the foundation to set before applying face powder.

2. Set the foundation.

Many of us apply foundation and we do not set it with powder. When we do this, especially those of us who have oily/combination skin, this leads to serious transfer of foundation to clothes, documents and other important personal items. You can set your foundation with a loose powder that is translucent or one that has a little tint to it or a pressed powder that is perfectly matched to your skin.

Covergirl Professional Translucent Face Powder in Medium Neutral

3. Puff don't brush.

Most makeup brush sets, even the most affordable ones come with a face brush. As such many of us are tempted use these brushes to apply the face powder. If you do this, please Stop. This causes us to be heavy handed with the powder and can cause us to obtain that cakey look which is no bueno.

To apply your setting powder, use a powder puff. Many setting powders provide a small puff sponge to apply their powders or you can purchase them at cosmetic retailers such as Pennywise or Wonderful world. They are cost effective as the cheapest ones can be around $6 at Pennywise.

What you want to do is take a little of the loose powder and place in the centre of the powder puff, then you fold it, with the sides meeting at the centre where the powder is. This is done to work the powder into the puff. Next, you will fold it in the opposite manner with the powder side out. Now using rolling motions, press the powder into the face. The powder brush comes into play, to dust off any excess product that may be on your face.

Using some of these tips, you will be sure to get a smooth and flawless finish.