Nail Art Style

Today I have two more eyeshadow rows to share with you from the Ulta Blockbuster Beauty Box that I picked up during a spur of the moment online shopping spree (More details here.). This set of shades includes a row of cool grey and black tones, and a row of bright nude and taupe tones. I was excited to swatch the grey shades, but was a bit surprised to have yet another row of taupe shades, since the very first row of shadows are so similar. But they are a bit more on the warm side, and brighter, so I actually prefer this row to the first one.

Blackout: A solid, matte, black shade that is on the chalky side. Three swipes shown. I find this one a bit intimidating, though it would be a great contour color for a bold smokey eye. I just feel I would end up looking like a raccoon. Which, even though raccoon's are adorable -Those little paws!-, I don't want to look like one.

Galaxy: A deep grey shade with a hint of shimmer. This one is a little less scary than Blackout, since it is more of a charcoal color. Somewhat chalky, but has a much smoother application than Blackout.

Gunmetal: My favorite shade in the whole grey range, this shimmery, metallic grey applies wonderfully, and has a nice glossy finish. I think it would look great even by itself blended in with some liquid liner on top.

Lock & Key: A soft, matte, metal shade that was chalkier than I wanted, but still looks nice when blended out. Would be a great lid shade for a classic smokey eye.

Sterling: A shimmery, glossy version of Lock & Key. Very pretty, and much less chalky than its counterpart. 

Ice Queen: And finally, the shade with the best name in the bunch, a soft, light grey shade, with the tiniest hint of shimmer. Weirdly enough, it looks beyond chalky in the pan, yet applies with a glossy finish and only a small amount of chalkiness. It is very bright on my skin, but blended out, and with a light hand, it would be a great highlight color. Or it could be worn alone as just a slight wash of color on my lids.

Naked: A matte, light tan, highlight shade that looks chalky in the pan, and on my skin. It also looks a lot warmer and darker in the pan than it does on my skin. That's either the shades fault, or my Casper the Ghost pale skin's fault...

Au Naturel: A warm, pretty, sun kissed peachy/tan shade with a hint of shimmer in the pan, that vanishes once it hits my skin. Sadly, like most of the light shades in this set, it was chalky. But not as bad as others I've tried. I'm looking at you, Lock & Key...

Sunburst: My favorite! An absolutely gorgeous Terracotta shade, that's matte in the pan, but leaves a nice gloss on my skin. This shadow is just so pretty, I could totally see myself wearing it in the summer time, with a nice light brown liner to keep the focus on it.

In the Buff: these nude puns are starting to get old... Anyway! This shade is a mid-tone tan shadow, with little flecks of glitter. It looks a tad dull in the pan, but on my skin it looks very gold, glossy and lovely. Very odd... Reminds me of the old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Or in this case, don't judge a shadow by it's pan...

Cafe Ole: A bright, coppery brown shade with flecks of shimmer. It reminds me of those wood chips people use to border their gardens... But it does have a nice gloss to it. It's just a bit much for me, though it would work great as a mid-shade for a brown hued eye look.

Social Climber: Weird name, but a perfect contour color. This is a warm, almost violet based, dark chocolate shade. It has a lot of shimmer, which is surprising for such a dark color. It applies nicely, but sadly looks chalky on my skin. I do like it though, since it is a lot less overpowering than a completely black contour shade.

While I think two rows of neutrals is a bit odd for one kit, I think this row is much brighter, with more of a copper undertone, while the first row of neutrals was much cooler, and more subtle. So it actually was nice to have a range of neutrals to choose from, so kudos to Ulta for that decision. The cool grey and black row was also nice, and I loved that there was a mix of matte and shimmer. I was surprised by just how many of the shades had a chalky residue, the last swatches didn't have so many. But while that was a disappointment, the shades themselves were really nice, and like I've mentioned before, a lot better quality than you would expect from a makeup bundle box. 

My favorites from this swatch would have to be Sunburst for sure, that shade is gorgeous, and I already plan on wearing it. Cafe Ole, which is a bit bold for me, but still beautiful swatched. I also love Gunmetal, Sterling, and Ice Queen, even if it is only for it's name.

I've been thinking about maybe branching out into makeup, and maybe starting to show some looks created using these shades. I know I am a nail blogger mostly, but it is fun to try new things. I could even do coordinating looks of makeup and nails... If that sounds like something you would like to see, let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading! To read the previous posts in my Beauty Box Swatch series click here.

Well, I don't use eyeshadow very often, even though I tell myself I will... But then I don't... But I can't lose my mascara and eyeliner! So I choose losing all of my palettes and eyeshadows.

I have chopped off my hair on many occasions so that's not scary. But I am in the annoying growing out process with my hair right now, so losing the temptation to cut it would be great! I pick never being able to cut it again.

I have never tried coral shades on my skin before, and my ghostly pale skin already has a pink tint, so I'll go with the easiest choice and pick pink.

Oooh! Tough choice! I do love both... But I could buy a lot of clothes! And I can never have enough clothes... OR, third option! Nail polish! I pick $1000 worth of nail polish.

Since I've never been to either, I choose Ulta.

I would have to pick lip color, since I am not very adventurous with it, it would be easier to live with. Plus I just bought a giant box of eyeshadows! I can't part with that!

That's a random question! I guess Winter clothes in Summer, because then I can just remove layers until I was comfortable. Summer clothes in Winter?! I would be a Popsicle!

Well, this implies that I know how to pull off the messy bun without looking like I have gum stuck in my hair... But if I could ever pull it off, I would pick a messy bun. They're just so chic!

Hint, this blog is called I Heart Nail Art... The answer is obvious! Even the thought of living without nail polish gives me chills...

Thanks for reading! I tag anyone who would like to do this Tag. If you do it, leave me a link in the comments!

To check out other Tags I've done, click here.

As I mentioned in Eyeshadows Part.1, I bought this huge box of makeup on a whim, and knowing myself, I know I will probably only use a quarter of it. So I decided to create a swatching series about this wonderful box, and hopefully it will inspire me to branch out and not be as boring! Plus, as I usually only swatch nail polish, it is nice to talk about another love of mine, makeup!

Today, I will be swatching the row of cool, blue based shadows, and the row of violet based shadows.

Both rows were the ones I was most excited to swatch. I usually stick to subtle shades, but both of these rows are so bold and pretty, I was curious how they would actually look once they were on my skin. Sadly, no matter how much I love the set of violet based shadows, I will never get to wear them! Weirdly enough, I am allergic to any product that contains purple pigments in it. My skin turns red and my eyes swell. Which is sad, because I really do love purple eyeshadow...

Dark Sea: A charcoal grey shade with flecks of blue glitter. Sadly once out of the pan, it just registers as a brown based grey shade, with no glitter. The formula was nice though, it wasn't chalky, and covered nicely.

Sapphire: A dusty grey shadow, also with flecks of bright blue glitter. I think it would look nice as a contour color for a blue smokey eye. It is pretty true to the pan once on my skin, though the glitter is way more subdued.

Cobalt: A shimmery bright blue shade that normally I would run and hide from. But even I have to admit that it is really pretty. I just don't know if I could pull it off. Cobalt is on the chalky side, but it covers well, and almost looks exactly like it does in the pan. 

Seaside: My favorite. It is a dusty periwinkle blue, with a light shimmer. It has a really good formula, and has a nice glossy finish on my skin. I'm surprised that I like it! It's just so vibrant.

Peacock: A metallic grey shadow with silver shimmer. Like Seaside it applies very glossy, and has a nice formula. It would look great in a smokey eye, or even by itself with a nice cat eye. I don't get the name, I've never seen a grey peacock... But other than that I like it.

Moonbeam: Reminds me of Bone from my last set of swatches. It is a shimmery ivory colored shadow that is very chalky, and looks pure white on my skin. It would be a nice highlight shade though, if you could get past the chalkiness.

Even on a blank surface Dark Sea loses the lovely shimmer it has in the pan! Other than that the other shades are pretty true. Which is awesome and surprising at the same time.

Bloom: A dusty purple based pink shade, that turns even more pink once on my skin. It has a nice slightly glossy finish.

Zephyr: One of my favorites. It is a soft, shimmery, purple shade, that has a glossy finish like Bloom. If only I could wear purple!

Electric Lights: Yes, I know the swatch just says Lights, but apparently I wasn't fully awake when I edited these pictures. It's actually called Electric Lights. It is a matte violet shadow that gets a blue tone once on my skin.

Wisteria Lane: A matte violet shade with a brown undertone. Though it turns into a darker purple color on my skin. It's nice that they included a few matte shades, since the rest of the box is like a sea of shimmer.

Plum Noir: Love the name, it makes me think of that videogame LA Noir. It is a dark violet shade with a hint of shimmer. Sadly it turns into the color of mud once on my skin...

Eggplant: A lighter maroon with a bit of shimmer, that turns into a darker bruise color on my skin. Also a bit chalky.

Eggplant reads a lot more brown than it does in the pan, which is slightly disappointing. But I think Electric lights is spot on. I just wish Bloom looked like this on my skin. It looks like a lovely lilac shade here, but on my skin it just looks pink.

I am still impressed by the formulas! Usually makeup boxes are not as well made. I love the color palettes, and it was fun to test out such bold colors. I was also pleased that only a few were chalky. My favorite shadows would have to be Zephyr, Seaside, and Cobalt. I also like Plum Noir, but that may be a bias because of the name.

Thanks for reading! To check out Part.1 click here.

I recently made an impulse purchase at Ulta -What else is new.- and picked up this awesome beauty box! (Post about that shopping haul here.)

I bought it because it was cute, and also because if I bought it, I could get a gold compact worth $25 for only $10... So the choice was obvious...

Now I know I normally only swatch nail polish on I Heart Nail Art, but I do love make up, and thought it would be fun to branch out. I also wanted to make this little makeup series because I am normally quite subdued with my makeup -Read: Boring.- , So I figure this will make me test out the bolder colors, and maybe give them a try. 

I will start with the powder eye shadow. this box comes with four different shadow color palettes, I will be swatching the first one, with is a row of warm browns and nudes, and a row of cool pale pinks.

Molten: A shimmery charcoal brown. Though it looks almost black on skin. Very opaque, my swatch was created using three swipes. Would make a great contour color.

Brown Sugar: A warm light brown color that looks matte in the pan, but then gets a subtle gloss on skin. This is my favorite shade of this group, I think it would look gorgeous in a smokey eye look.

Camel: A light, matte taupe shade. Very chalky, and hard to apply. As you can see in the swatch it flakes easily. It looks darker on skin than it does in the pan.

Lustre: A golden brown shimmer shade. Very smooth, though a bit sheer. Would look great with Glittering Sand.

Glittering Sand: A shimmery tan shade that has an almost green undertone on skin that I'm not that thrilled about. But it applies smoothly and evenly.

Bone: a very pale tan/cream shade that basically shows almost white on skin. I plan on using it as a highlight under my brow bone, inner corner of my eyes, and on my cupids bow.

I included some swatches on blank white paper, so you could see what the shades look like on their own. As you can see, Bone looks very tan and smooth on a blank surface, but on my skin, it looks pure white and chalky.

Wide Awake: a pretty bubblegum pink in the pan that is on the chalky side, and washes out on my skin.

Pink: Very original name. :p Pink is very similar to Wide Awake in the pan, just with a brown undertone.

Love: Love I love, pun intended. It is a brighter pink shade, that is still on the neutral side. It's matte, and applies very smoothly.

Hopeless Romantic: A brown based medium pink shade with a slight shimmer. On my skin it looks very glossy, and way more brown than it does in the pan.

Amethyst: a dark, dusty, shimmery pink that I love in the pan, but it sadly doesn't register the same on my skin. It looks way more brown, and the glitter doesn't blend in very well.

After Hours: A violet based dark pink with the slightest hint of shimmer in the pan. Another disappointment when on skin, it just turns into a brownish/purple mess, that frankly looks like a bruise! It still would work as a contour color for a purple smokey eye look.

On a blank surface After Hours still looks very bleh. But Amethyst almost matches how it looks in the pan, and the glitter looks much more vibrant. If only it looked like that on my skin! It's just so pretty!

While I was sad that some shades didn't match up to the pan when I swatched them, I still feel that the shades were really pretty, and most of them were very smooth and easy to apply. For a makeup box this was surprising! Most sets like this are made with very poor makeup, but this one is of really nice quality. 

My favorite shades would have to be Amethyst, even though it was a bit of a disappointment, Love, Hopeless Romantic, on my skin more so than in the pan, Brown sugar, and finally Lustre was just so pretty when swatched.
I normally stick to matte shades, but the soft shimmer most of these shadows had started to really grow on me. I never thought I would like the dark Amethyst, but actually making myself swatch it for the blog showed me how pretty it was! Baby steps...

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked my first steps in the world of makeup blogging!
Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I plan on making this a series, there are way more shadows to swatch, as well as cream shadows, lipsticks, glosses, and even blushes and bronzers. Hopefully you like it! If your interested in seeing the rest of this series, let me know in the comments.

- xo Brittany

What shadow was your favorite? Let me know in the comments!