✭✭✭Review, Rate, & Rotate✭✭✭Week 34 & 35✭✭✭

✭✭✭Review, Rate & Rotate, Week 34 & 35✭✭✭

If you have a massive beauty collection, and you really are not into minimalism, leave a comment below regarding how you rotate through your collection. I would love to have your feedback and input. If I was to tell you how many eyeshadow palettes I have, you wouldn't believe me. . . Yep, it's that many! If there is something you want to see reviewed, in particular, eyeshadow palettes, you can reach me on my Contact Me page or Click HERE to send me an email! 

Thanks for checking out my Review, Rate, & Rotate Series!

Rating is out 10 out of 10, with a full point given for each of the ten sections listed above. Points per section may be issued in the following denominations: 0, .0 .25, .50, 1.0. For further clarification, the sections listed are worth a total of 1.0 point and are:

1.     Company Profile & Personality: (available information about the company, cruelty-free status information, philanthropic efforts, unnecessary controversy, indie company vs mainstream)

2.     Price: (product cost, availability of product, shipping cost, available coupons)

3.     Purchase Process: (order time vs receipt of product turn around, availability of product, email notifications including shipping & tracking number, email notification for delivery)

4.     Packaging: (was the item securely package, decorative packaging efforts including information card about the product, upcoming sales, or the company itself)

5.     Pigmentation: (via swatches)

6.     Color Payoff: (via application to the area applicable)

7.     Product Application: (ease of application of the product, for example for eyeshadow, is there fall out, creasing, etc.

8.     Performance: (longevity of wear)

9.     Product Value: (price to product amount ratio, i.e. price per gram + product quality + consumer response (popularity of the product and consumer response) + repurchase option)

10. Overall Product Presentation: shade variation (if eyeshadow), women of color friendly, pale people friendly, universally applicable to many skin tones, desire for repeated use, would you repurchase the item again, is this product associated with a particular trend or is does it market the companies individuality, does the product set a new & innovative trend, is the product effective (does it do what it’s designed to do), does the product have potential multiple application opportunities (i.e. can the product be used as a blush & lipstick), is the product limited edition or a permanent product, is the product part of a collection, is the product consistent (from shade to shade, if an eyeshadow palette) from color to color in a part of a collection and does it function and operate the same each time applied.

If I mention that I am selling any of the items listed below, you can catch those products at a reasonable price on Poshmark @ bougiebriexo or on Mercari @ BougieBrie or you can always reach out to me on my social media channels or click on the Contact Me link at the top of the page and shoot me an email! 

Beauty Gems Blush Palette, Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer, Becca Preseco Pop

Review: (a) I liked this blush palette, but it was super powdery and it was difficult to contain my usage to one pan because of the inevitable kickup that seeped into its neighboring pan. The kickup gave me no choice to use the intended shade and its neighbor since powder was flying everywhere and wouldn't remain centrally located to the pan I was using. (b) I have always heard good things about this bronzer and the rumors are true - it's excellent. I just wish the brand was more people of color friendly. (c) I got this in a subscription box and I really enjoy the highlighter and used it all week long. I already own its sister in Opal. Really love the formulation of the powder and there is little to no fall-out with application.

Rate: 5/10 Crappy and uninspiring packaging and powdery formula, but it does the job, so it gets a 5. 7/10 Applies beautifully and wears well throughout the day. Also has a pleasant scent and cute packaging, but the brand majorly ignores a wider demographic and fails to address the need of that demographic. 8.5/10 I am really not a fan of BECCA's packaging. It's just so plain and assembly line looking. Do you know what I mean? However, it's an excellent product with a variety of shades to address a wider demographic!

Rotate: Keeping all of them!

Marc Jacobs Objects of Desire Eye and Face Palette

Review: I absolutely love the packaging and the eye & face concept. The shadows, blush, bronzer, and highlighter all perform well, but my God they kick up a crap ton of powder. I find this unusual because I have about ten other Marc Jacobs eyeshadow palettes and I have never experienced this. Look at the photo; you can see how dirty the palette is and that's after me carefully cleaning it in order to take the picture.

Rate: 7/10 Kick up usually doesn't bother me, because, you know, you're working with POWDER, but when it disturbs the performance of adjoining products, it becomes an issue. Very luxe packaging though!

Rotate: I really like this palette for a weekend trip situation. Keeping it for a little while longer.

Morphe 35 U

Review: Not a huge fan of Morphe, although I fell prey to their ingenious social media marketing strategy and bought a crap ton of palettes in the beginning. I think I had a total of 10 35 pan palettes in the beginning and now I am down to 2. This is a good palette for the price, but I own the Viseart Editorial Palette, so I don't need this.

Rate: 5/10 Ugly packaging, powdery shadows with tons of kick up, and not too original. So, it gets a 5.

Rotate: This was already sold to a wonderful woman on Mercari!

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette 9 Volume 3

Review: Didn't have an opportunity to use this one, so it will come back for a second chance in a couple of weeks.

Rate: n/a

Rotate: n/a

Bare Minerals Gen Nude Neutral Eyeshadow Palette

Review: I find it unfortunate that the beauty community doesn't talk about Bare Minerals more than it does. Bare Minerals makes extremely beautiful, pigment rich, smooth and easy to apply shadows. The reason they don't get a ton of attention is that they stay in the neutral lane and in no way deviate from that lane. They don't make very daring, colorful, different shades like other brands i.e. Urban Decay, Juvia's Place, etc. Nonetheless, these are high-quality shades and definitely one of my favorite eyeshadow formulas.

Rate: 9/10 Beautiful packaging, killer formula, perfect for everyday wear, but very plain Jane shades.

Rotate: Keeping this one in my collection for a while longer

Essence All about Bronze & Essence All about Roses

Review: Both palettes are great for beginners, but I honestly have these shades in other palettes (see below) and I would use these as travel/makeup bag palettes, but I have about 20 Tarte eyeshadow mini palettes that function perfectly in that capacity.

Rate: 5/10 Cute palettes, but lack matte shades and a very monochromatic color story. Good for the price, though.

Rotate:  These are currently on both Poshmark & Mercari as part of a bundle wuth some single shadows from Looxi.

Looxi Precious Metals & Looxi Free Love

Looxi Bronzed Bombshell, Aurora 1 & Aurora 2

Review: I have had these shadow for a while (I have others by this brand too), but I haven't used them until this rotation. For the most part, I really enjoyed these shadows. There were a few "duds" but I pulled those out and set them aside. The majority of the shadows are very pigment rich and smooth and the variations in colors are amazing. I was able to use a coupon code and got 20% off my order, so that gives me happy vibes.

Rate: 8/10  High-quality shadows, great color selection, but not a fan of the matte formulation and out of the many shadows viewed here, 6 were duds. 

Rotate: Keeping these palettes, and in the next Weekly Product & Palette Rotation you'll see the rest of this collection!

ABH Norvina Palette

Review:  When the Modern Renaissance came out, I didn't buy it right away. When I did purchase it, unlike the enormity of popularity, I didn't like it - at all. I still have it and it's going into next year's One Palette, One Year, but it's not my favorite. The Norvina Palette, however, is absolutely stunning and uniquely beautiful. I love purples on my eyes (because I have brown eyes) and although the reviews are somewhat split down the middle, this has quickly become one of my favorites and I think it's a perfect palette for all occasions and seasons.

Rate: 9.75/10 Small deduction for the velour packaging, although I love the color of the packaging. Great formula, gorgeous and unique shades that are personally appealing on my brown eyes. One of my new favorite palettes.

Rotate: This is staying put with momma.

✭✭✭Weekly Product & Palette Rotation✭✭ 36 & 37✭✭✭Note New CHANGES✭✭✭

✭✭✭Weekly Product & Palette Rotation✭✭ 36 & 37✭✭✭

✭✭✭CHANGES✭✭✭

✭✭✭I just want to go over a couple of changes I initiated 2 rotations back. I have reverted back to a Bi-Weekly Product & Palette Rotation & a Bi-weekly Review, Rate, & Rate schedule. The Bi-Weekly Product & Palette rotation posts on Mondays and rotates every other Monday, whereas Review, Rate, and Rotate will post the Friday of the week after the Rotation is posted. Each series will post on the opposite week of the other. Make sense? Clear as mud? Ok, good! Also, in order to rotate through my palettes in a better and more functional way, I will be choosing one palette from each category I have created in my inventory (Custom, High-End, Small High-End, Large, Luxury, Affordable) every two weeks, and I will select 2 palettes that are new/newer releases that I have not used, 2 palettes that I have not used that may be older, & 2 palettes that I have already rotated through my collection. Additionally, I will be selecting one to two palette(s) to use all month as a supplemental palette(s). Also throughout the rest of the year, I am participating in several Panning Projects, and those products will be used throughout the month as supplements. Again, clear as mud? Make no sense? Good, well we are all on the same page!✭✭✭

Violet Voss Drenched Metal Eyeshadow Palette (Palette of the Month)

Violet Voss Holy Grail Eyeshadow Palette (Palette of the Month)

Violet Voss Holy Grail Swatches

Violet Voss Drench Metal Swatches

Lorac Pirates of the Caribbean Eyeshadow Palette (Large Palettes)

Colourpop I Think I Love You Eyeshadow Palette (Affordable Palettes)

Buxom Custom Eyeshadow Palette (Small High-End)

Morphe X Jaclyn Hill Dark Magic Eyeshadow Palette (Affordable Palette New)

Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Sizzle Palette (Small High-End New)

Tru Complexions Custom Eyeshadow Palette (Custom Eyeshadow New)
Eyeshadows, Blushes & Contour/Bronzer

Obnoxious Cosmetics Highlighter & Artist Couture Highlighter

Obnoxious on the (Left) & Artist Couture on the (Right)

✮✮✮Review, Rate, & Rotate✮✮✮Weeks 32 & 33✮✮✮

✮✮✮REVIEW, RATE, & ROTATE✮✮✮

✮✮✮WEEKS 32 & 33✮✮✮

If you have a massive beauty collection, and you really are not into minimalism, leave a comment below regarding how you rotate through your collection. I would love to have your feedback and input. If I was to tell you how many eyeshadow palettes I have, you wouldn't believe me. . . Yep, it's that many! If there is something you want to see reviewed, in particular, eyeshadow palettes, you can reach me on my Contact Me page or Click HERE to send me an email! 

Thanks for checking out my Review, Rate, & Rotate Series!

Rating is out 10 out of 10, with a full point given for each of the ten sections listed above. Points per section may be issued in the following denominations: 0, .0 .25, .50, 1.0. For further clarification, the sections listed are worth a total of 1.0 point and are:

1.     Company Profile & Personality: (available information about the company, cruelty-free status information, philanthropic efforts, unnecessary controversy, indie company vs mainstream)

2.     Price: (product cost, availability of product, shipping cost, available coupons)

3.     Purchase Process: (order time vs receipt of product turn around, availability of product, email notifications including shipping & tracking number, email notification for delivery)

4.     Packaging: (was the item securely package, decorative packaging efforts including information card about the product, upcoming sales, or the company itself)

5.     Pigmentation: (via swatches)

6.     Color Payoff: (via application to the area applicable)

7.     Product Application: (ease of application of the product, for example for eyeshadow, is there fall out, creasing, etc.

8.     Performance: (longevity of wear)

9.     Product Value: (price to product amount ratio, i.e. price per gram + product quality + consumer response (popularity of the product and consumer response) + repurchase option)

10. Overall Product Presentation: shade variation (if eyeshadow), women of color friendly, pale people friendly, universally applicable to many skin tones, desire for repeated use, would you repurchase the item again, is this product associated with a particular trend or is does it market the companies individuality, does the product set a new & innovative trend, is the product effective (does it do what it’s designed to do), does the product have potential multiple application opportunities (i.e. can the product be used as a blush & lipstick), is the product limited edition or a permanent product, is the product part of a collection, is the product consistent (from shade to shade, if an eyeshadow palette) from color to color in a part of a collection and does it function and operate the same each time applied.

If I mention that I am selling any of the items listed below, you can catch those products at a reasonable price on Poshmark @ bougiebriexo or on Mercari @ BougieBrie or you can always reach out to me on my social media channels or click on the Contact Me link at the top of the page and shoot me an email! 

✮Product Name✮ Lime Crime Venus III

✮Review✮ I have been wearing makeup since high school, but up until the last 5 or so years, I only concentrated on my base makeup. I used to get color matched at the Prescriptive Counter in Macy's, LOL - Remember Perscriptives? I know, I am showing my age. My dear friend Christina introduced me to Perscriptives and the world of high-end makeup, but in 1995 there were not an overflow and oversaturation of eyeshadow palettes, so most girls I knew rocked an eyeshadow single from the local Walgreens, and called it a day. Then in my early collegiate years, my friend Ana introduced me to eyeshadow palettes and my first ever smokey eye (she worked for one of the high-end makeup brands, but I don't recall which one). Christina taught me about skin tone, texture, and coverage and although she was Caucasian, she was very olive skinned with a sort of golden undertone, whereas I was a medium complexion with heavy yellow undertones. I remember during that time it was difficult to find a foundation for me, hence our trip to the Perscriptives Counter. Ana taught me that you can (and should) use more than one brush to apply eyeshadow AND, here's the kicker, you could apply multiple shadows to the eye!!! WHAT??? I am giving you this backstory because at 38 years old I am still learning all about what is now known as the fundamentals of makeup. In high school, concealing under the eyes was not something we did. LOL. When I began to learn about eyeshadow, I was very much a neutral eye look type of female, but NOW, I am all about color. Bold, bright, beautiful, sexy colors and if I could make my perfect palette it would be a cross between The ND Lila palette and this palette above! This palette is just sick. It's so gorgeous and easy to manipulate with minimal fallout and has pigmentation that resembles its sister palettes. I am flabbergasted that the beauty community is not losing their shit over this palette because it's that damn good.

✮Rate✮ 10/10 A beautiful palette with a glorious color story. The palette allows for several color combinations and a multitude of eye looks (mostly based in a pink or purple hue, but varied nonetheless).

✭Rotate✮ I'll be keeping this palette around for a while. Just a fantastic palette that deserves more attnetions from the beauty community and more marketing for consumers. 

✮Product Name✮ Lorac Beauty & Beast Face Palette

✮Review✮ Since, I am all about honesty in my reviews, I will tell you that I am biased to Lorac powder products and my expectations of this palette were a tad high, and unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with this palette. This palette is not constructed for people of Medium to Tan to Deep skin tones. The blushes don't really show up on my skin and the highlighter faded early in the day. I usually have no issues with blushes. They always stay on my skin forever, even if you have to build it up, but the fact of the matter is that this is made for Light to Fair skin tones. Uber disappointed.

✮Rate✮ 4/10 Major points lost for the inability to market this product to a broader base of consumers, additionally the highlighters are like a light wash of sparkle on the cheeks.

✭Rotate✮ I am going to keep this a little longer and see if I can make it work on a "Makeup/No Makeup Day".

✮Product Name✮Sephora Winter Blush Palette Holiday 2017

✮Review✮ There is a reason I don't really but Sephora Brand Eye, Cheek and Face Products. This was an inexpensive palette, that much is true, but that doesn't mean it has to be completely useless and unwearable. This colors swatch decent enough to give you a little hope that the might be useable for a all in one, blush, highlighter, & bronzer palette. But, alas, sadly, it's total crap. The bronzer and blush are impossible to provide decent pigmentation on the skin. Just next to impossible. I dug my blush brush into the shade and got like a little piece of color on my cheeks. #fail As far as the highlighter is concerned is both weak and chunky! How the hell does that happen? How do you create a highlighter with no pigmentation, yet is chunky and flaky. I don't know, but you could definitely ask Sephora.

✮Rate✮ 3/10 The best thing about this palette is the packaging and honestly this might work for you if you are uber fair skinned.

✭Rotate✮ I think I can find someone that this palette would be more appropriate for. 

✮Product Name✮ Lorac Unzipped Gold

✮Review✮ As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Lorac's Pro formula, but what you might not know is that I am equally enthusiastic about Lorac's Unzipped formula. Before I got into bright, neon, bold colors, I was a neutral girl. Brown in the crease, and gold on the lid, all day long! That was my go-to look throughout my mid to late twenties. The is my ideal neutral palette, with several shades of brown for transition, crease, and outer v as well as variations of gold tone lid shades. I am thinking about panning this palette next year!

✮Rate✮ 10/10 For me, this is just a staple palette with shades, tones, and variations that are nearly perfect for my skin tone and my overall daily presentation. One of my top ten palettes.

✭Rotate✮ I actually have a back up of this palette, so I will focus on pre-panning for next year!

✮Product Name✮ Stalazzi Custom Eyeshadow Palettes

✮Review✮ Ok, so there's a couple of observations I have to make about these shadows. First, they are damn good for the price ($3 a pan). If you are a beginner and looking to create an affordable custom palette, you can pick these shadows up at Frend's Beauty in a myriad of shades, in shimmer & matte textures. With that being said, I enjoyed using these shades, and they performed well and blended pretty well too. Here's the issue - I have 653 palettes in my collection and I guarantee you that I have these shades 100 times over in palettes I enjoy more that are higher quality. Don't get me wrong, they are good shades for the price, but If I pulled out all of my Juvia's Place palettes, I am almost certain that these shades are somewhere in those palettes.

✮Rate✮ 6.25/10 Shadows are affordable, but the shade range isn't creative enough for my liking. These shadows only come in Pearl & Matte finishes and you know I love a poppin metallic lid, so that's definitely a minus too. Since the shade range doesn't vary much it's hard to create a definitively different group of eye looks.

✭Rotate✮ These are currently up for sale on Poshmark & Mercari and will be until the end of October. If they don't sell then I will put them back into my collection!

✮Product Name✮Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow Palettes

✮Review✮ A seriously underrated shadow formula, that's what comes to mind when I think of Buxom Cosmetics. The shade range is unique and different with a selection of matte, shimmer, metallic, pearl, and sating finishes that enable the consumer to create a varied, authentic, and truly customizable eye look every time. The shadows blend so beautifully and they feel like silk to the touch.

✮Rate✮ 9.0/10 The only thing I would like to see is some more different neon, bright, bold colors to include in the customizable palette. I think that would increase the consumer base and bring the cosmetic brand to the forefront of the beauty industry and make them true competitors with the big dogs.

✭Rotate✮ I have several of these palettes and I am keeping all of them.

✮Product Name✮BH Cosmetics It's My Rae Rae

✮Review✮ I honestly wanted to love this palette, because I always want to support my sisters of color collaborating with any brands, but especially consumer-friendly, affordable brands like BH Cosmetics. I wasn't too impressed with the eyeshadows and frankly they were mediocre, however, I did enjoy the face palette part of the set, so Ying Yang type situation here. I think this palette is appropriate for a young/younger woman of color (Tan to Deep Skin Tones) that are looking for a palette that encompasses everything they might need for a look.

✮Rate✮ 6.5/10 I think this is a decent palette for what it is and the price range, but it is geared towards a very specific audience. Honestly, that is fine, because that is seemingly the idea behind this palette. It is made for a specific consumer base, but I think BH is missing a wider audience it could perhaps possibly capture with this palette.

✭Rotate✮ I think I am going to give it one more chance.

✮Product Name✮Lancome Teint Idole Foundation Stick, L'Oreal Infallible Pro Matte, 
Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation Stick

✮Review✮ (a) The Lancome Teint Idole Foundation stick I have a back up of and I am simply trying to use this one up. It's my second foundation stick and it comes in a decent shade range. (b) The L'Oreal Infallible Pro Matte is in my top 3 drugstore foundations, and when I finish this one I will be purchasing a new one. (c) The Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation Stick is unimpressive and I am just trying to use most of it up before the end of summer. The color is a little too deep and I don't enjoy the formula of the stick. I had a back up of this foundation stick, but I sold it on Poshmark.

✮Rate✮ (a) 7/10 (b) 910 (c) 4.75/10

✭Rotate✮ The goal is to narrow down my foundation collection considerably by year's end. The Teint Idole will be one of tow foundation sticks I end up keeping, the Pro Matte will be one of three drugstore foundations I keep, and I am getting rid of the MUFE Foundation Stick.

✭✭✭Monthly Empties✭✭✭July/August Edition✭✭✭

The following are items I panned, or emptied in the month of August. It seems I am killing the skin & body care products, which makes sense because I live in Houston and it's the summer, so it's an optimal time to amp up skin & body care products. I am really finding a rhythm with my skin care routine and utilizing the same products for the most part, and I am having fun using up all my body care products in my backup drawers!

It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Powder, Too Faced Born this Way Foundation, AOA Makeup Sponge, 
Too Faced Primed & Poreless Primer, & Urban Decay Eyeliner

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser. First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads,  The Ordinary Product,
Dermologica Resurfacing Face Cleanser, Paula's Choice Skin Recovery,
Nivea Post Shave Balm

Bodycology Lavender Spray, Ed Hardy Body Spray, April Showers Body Spray, Soap & Glory Famous Body Wash,
Suave Body Lotion, Suave Apple Shampoo, Happy Buddha Shower Gel, Travel Size Soap & Glory Lotion,
Trovogue Luxury Perfume