Pale Products and More

I had heard really good things about the Wet n Wild Ombre blushes, and fell in love with the shade In A Purple Haze. I'm a sucker for a purple blush so naturally I had to get it.

It retails for $4.99 for .3 ounces of product (I think! I could only find that listed on the Target website so I'm not positive). Its supposed to be blendable and buildable, but there's not much else as far as claims. There is no mention of wear time or anything like that, but whatever, its all good.

The color is a beautiful ombre of cool toned pink and purple. You can either use the pink part, the purple part, or mix them together (I go with the latter most often). It has a shimmery satin finish, which gives a really nice glow to your cheeks.

top is pink, middle is purple, bottom is both together

Its not insanely pigmented, which is actually something I love in a blush. It goes on very evenly and can be built up, just as it claims. This wears on me for 8 hours with no fading.



Overall I give this a 10/10! There's nothing I dislike about this product, and will probably purchase this in the other two colors (I really wish they had a bigger color selection).

And here's another review from my recent haul! If you know anything about me you know I love Gudetama. If I had a disposable income, I would have bought the entire Holika Holika x Gudetama line. BUT seeing as how I (sadly) don't, I previously got a blush (review here), and now decided to go with the sebum pact. I tried to purchase items that I would actually get use out of, and not only buy for the packaging.

It retails for around $10 on Jolse. Its essentially a primer you apply to your t zone (and anywhere else that you get oily) before your base makeup. It is supposed to help absorb oil and fill your pores.

I'm in love with the packaging. My other Gudetama product is cute, sure, but the packaging really does feel and look cheap. This compact is much sturdier and has a really cute baby blue/white matte case. The plastic divider between the puff and product is a thick plastic, which means it will last longer compared to the flimsy plastic separator in the blush.

This is a white powder with a very faint sweet scent. When you apply, it might look a little white if you use a heavy hand, but if you blend it a bit it looks fine. After application my skin feels silky smooth.

I tested this with multiple base products on top and found that no matter what foundation I used, it always did a good job of controlling my oil. With some foundations, it had a tendency to make the foundation cling, but only if I had applied a ton of this.

What really impressed me was when I used this with the Peripera Milk Moist Pact (review here). When I used that product without this primer, I immediately looked extremely dewy which progressed into unbearably oily throughout the day. When I used this, I looked slightly dewy after application, which just got dewier as the day went on, and only crossed into oily territory late in the day.

Overall I give this a 9/10. I find that it makes a noticeable difference in oil production, but only keeps my pores filled for part of the day. I could see using this on days I don't feel like wearing foundation (few and far between), as it would still control my oil. I would definitely reconsider purchasing this product, Gudetama collab or not!

I've had some really close tries with foundation from Make Up Forever, so I'm always interested in any new base products they put out (although I guess technically this is like their old Face & Body foundation?). I mentioned in another post that even though I'm cool toned, I usually use shades from the y range of MUFE products, because they tend to run lighter than the r range.

The Make Up For Ever Water Blend foundation retails for $43 for 1.69 fl oz of product, which is more than the standard 1 fl oz you normally get. It promises "sheer to buildable coverage with a natural looking, dewy glow and flawless finish", as well as being waterproof and having a "water-gel" consistency. I think you get more than the standard amount because of the gel like texture and the fact that you'll probably be using more product that you would normally.

The shade y215 is light and yellow toned, obviously; but since the product is so sheer, its passable on my cool skin. It does look a tad dark. I definitely see where they are coming from on the water-gel thing, as it really does feel like a mix between water and gel. I don't really think this is buildable past light coverage, and one layer lends itself to sheer coverage (which lately I am a fan of).

I primed my skin with theSaem pore primer and actually didn't set my face with any spray. The only setting spray I currently have is the Hard Candy primer spray, which I have come to realize seems to accelerate my oiliness throughout the day. I didn't want to use that and have it mess with the wear of the actual foundation. I wore this for 9 hours.

mufe applied on left side

mufe applied all over

After initial application my skin looks evened and dewy. There's virtually no coverage for any red/acne spots, but that's not something that bothers me. This product is clearly made for people who just want something to even their skin a bit.

I checked in about 4 hours later. My skin looked oily at this point. My pores were as visible as they normally are by this time, and there was no breaking down or fading.




My final check in was after 9 hours. I cheated a bit and blotted my forehead at like 5 hours in, because I had a hair appointment and didn't want my clean bangs to be on a greasy forehead. So not counting the forehead, I was looking really oily by this point. There really wasn't any fading or separating to speak of, but there was product clinging to the dry patch on my upper lip, which hadn't been happening earlier in the day.

Overall I give this a 6/10. It didn't really wow me, but didn't look horrible or anything major. The only issue really was that only 4 hours in I was pretty oily. Maybe the wear time would improve with a setting spray (I will update this post once I have a setting spray I feel doesn't cause oiliness).

My local Ulta usually only has two shades of their illuminator in store, neither of which would work on my skin tone. So when I saw this pure white one online I obviously had to order it, being the highlighter hoarder that I am.

The Ulta Illuminator in Brilliant Diamond retails for $10 for .28 oz (seems to be the standard for most highlighters). Its described as a white, luminescent pearl that is "easily blendable", and which will make "even the driest skin look supple and dewy".

There's actually a lot of kickback in the pan with this product, but its not dusty or dry in the least. Its a white pearl color, just as described; I appreciate it not having any champagne or gold tones to it.

It applies really easily and blends out nicely. It can be applied pretty sheerly, or built up to a really nice glow, There's no chunky glitter in it, praise jesus.

let's not talk about that eyebrow tail

It does emphasize texture, but it wears well for 8 hours with no fading.

Overall this gets an 8/10 from me, the only thing stopping me from giving it a perfect score is the kickback when you swipe your brush in the product. It kinda gets everywhere so you have to pay attention when picking up product on your brush. Other than that I have no complaints!

Okay okay, I know contour products are different from bronzers. But I literally only have one bronzer so I felt like it would be okay to include it in this post, sue me.

Finding the perfect contour shade is hard no matter your skintone, but especially so when you're on the end of the spectrum, be it light or dark. Obviously I'll be mentioning products that work for very, very light skin, as that's what I'm working with here.

First thing I'll be mentioning is the first ever product I contoured with; Nyx blush in Taupe. This is hailed all over the internet as the pale girl's holy grail contour powder. So naturally I bought it and used it for weeks...without realizing it looks orange on me. Its weird because it looks fine swatched, but on my face, noooope.

this is suuuuper old but I'm using Nyx Taupe so

The next product is my everyday contour product: the contour shade from the Maybelline Facestudio Master contour palette in the shade light to medium. I bought this after seeing my fave ever youtuber Thataylaa use it. I was wary at first, as it looks a little bit warm in the pan, but it looks nice and cool on my face.



Next is the Too Faced Snow Bunny Luminous bronzer. I got this in a gift set and was unsure of how well it would work on my skin, turns out it looks great! Its got four stripes of different shades, a white highlight, dark bronzer, pink blush, and lighter bronzer. I've found that when I swirl the shades together I get a beautiful bronzer! I can even apply it as a blush due to the pink and get away with it. It thankfully doesn't look too dark or too warm on my skin. Its super sparkly!

not the best shot but

And last is a product that isn't intended to be used as a face powder; the elf Brow Kit in the shade Dark. I use the powder side to contour occasionally. Its light enough and cool toned enough to work perfectly.



And honestly that's all I've got as far as this type of product goes. I feel like contour products and bronzers are something I really don't need a lot of, which is a rare feeling for me when it comes to makeup, lmao.

When the Nyx Total Control Drop Foundation first came out in stores (before releasing online), I pretty much wrote it off right away; they only had like 5 of the middle shades and for some reason I was convinced they wouldn't have any more (news flash: I'm a dumb bitch what kind of foundation line starts with shade 04???). So once it was released online and I saw they had a really, really good shade range, I was interested again.

This retails for $13.99 for .43 fl oz, this is surprisingly to me as Nyx is considered "drugstore", yet this foundation is $14 and you don't even get the standard 1 fl oz? Weird. It promises "sheer to full coverage" with a matte finish. Personally I think it leaves a nice demi matte finish, and I'm not too sure about it being built up to full coverage.

The shade 01 Pale is described as a "white ivory with yellow undertones", but I opted for this because it looks like neutral/pink undertones don't start until the third or fourth shade, and I found it hard to believe those would match me. It definitely has yellow undertones, which concerned me at first; but when blended onto my face it looks pretty neutral, surprisingly. The first swatch is directly aftering dropping it onto my wrist, to show how runny and yellow it is Second is slightly blended out.

I drop this directly from the dropper onto my face, and blend it out with my sponge, I wore my face for 9 hours, priming with theSaem pore primer and setting with the Hard Candy primer mist. I used like three drops on each side of my face, and two on my forehead, which gave me sheer to light coverage.

Nyx applied on the left half

full face foundation only

After application it really evens out my skin nicely, my pores look smaller. As you can see it only slightly covers any acne I have, leaving it still visible. The night before this review I waxed my upper lip, so you can see some redness that also does not get covered. By the time I was finished with my face, my pores were visible again, and it seemed more of a satin finish.

full face of makeup done

I checked in after 4 hours, my face looked okay. There was some settling and seperating, especially on my upper lip, chin, and around my nose. It was nothing you could see unless you got real up close, but still. It was really creasing into my smile lines as well. On the bright side my face still looked demi matte/satin, not oily in the least.




I did a final check in at 9 hours. I was looking oily, but not as much as usual. The creasing, especially in my smile lines, was more intense; but nothing crazy. My pores actually looked better than they usual do around this time, which surprised me.

flattering. the creasing around my nose seems to have disappeared

Overall I give this product an 8/10. Its decent, and I'm seriously impressed by the shade and the oil+pore control, but I can't just overlook the creasing and separation issues. That being said, after further use of the product, I find that if I moisturize properly beforehand, I don't have those issues. The thing is, I sleep late most of the time, so I don't always moisturize as much as I should (example: the day of this review). I'm not sure I would repurchase this, but I'm definitely going to be reaching for it pretty often, simply because of the shade (and not needing to mix in a white foundation which takes extra time).

Next up on my deodorant reviews is the Jason Purifying Tea Tree Deodorant. I think this is a more well known natural brand, but it had never appealed to me. That is, until I saw it discounted at Marshalls.

I got it for around $5, but it looks like it usually goes for around $9. It is supposedly "clinically tested to effectively control odor for all day protection". At this point I'm pretty skeptical of any natural deodorant touting all day protection, but I gave it a shot.

As always, I applied this after my shower at night, then reapplied and/or washed pits and applied in the morning and tested/judged how it wore over the night and throughout the day.

After applying this product, your pits feel a bit sticky; just like, you can definitely feel that you have something on your armpits. Out of all the natural deodorants I've tried, this one has a scent most like regular deodorant/antiperspirants on the market. It just smells very fresh and...deodoranty. It is also the consistency of a typical deodorant and will get marks on your clothing.

I found that by the time I was ready to go to bed (3-5 hours) after initial application, I could still smell the deodorant smell, and no B.O at all. Very promising.

But alas, by morning I was a bit stinky. No problem, I do sweat an unusual amount in my sleep, so I still had hope for the day wear test. I found that this wears longer than most of the other deodorants I have tried, but still does not cut it for all day. I would compare it to the Speedstick deodorant in Musk as far as lasting power. It seemed to last me a maximum of 5 hours if I was doing light to moderate sweating, and closer to 2 or 3 if I was doing a heavier sweating. The plus is that while yes, I smell if I stuck my nose in my armpit, someone standing near me definitely wouldn't smell me at all.

So the night after I first applied this, I went to wash my armpits and put on deodorant before bed, and noticed they were a little red in the middle. I didn't think anything of it, because my armpits sometimes naturally get a bit red in the foldy area. I also picked up another deodorant and I was planning to test that one the next day, so obviously I applied it after washing my pits.

After application of the other new product, my armpits felt a bit tender, but I figured I had just scrubbed them a bit too hard. But then they started BURNING. I was trying to wait it out and see if it would pass, but they just kept burning worse and worse so I had to wash my pits. I applied the Speedstick and there was no burning; but since then I have tried the other deodorant again and it did burn, so I'm pretty sure the burning was due to that one.When I tested out the Jason deodorant the other day, the rash showed up again, and my armpits burned ever so slightly during the day, so I guess both products irritate my pits, sadly.

Overall this gets a 3/10. I wish I could give it a higher score, but causing a rash lowers it quite a bit. Without the rash, I would have given it a 5. If it didn't give me a rash, I would absolutely use this with the same frequency I use the Speedstick, as I find it pretty comparable.