Swatches: Avon Ultra Color Absolute Lipsticks

I only have a couple of these, but I did a get a few samples too. Another Avon rep did a really good swatch video on YouTube, so I will post that at the end of this post so you can see all of the colors:-)

Here are the swatches:

This one is Caramel Comfort. It is a light beige nude, with medium coverage. This one went on pretty evenly and has a nice balm-like texture to it.

Creamy Melon is a pretty, bright peach shade. I love the color of this lipstick, although, I did feel like it clung to dry patches on my lips and went on a tiny bit streaky.

Pink Renewal is a very pale creamy pink. This was honestly the least favorite for me because it just didn't look good with my skin tone and washed me out a little. This one also seemed to cling to dry patches.

The next two colors are so similar in person that I honestly had a hard time telling them apart until I put the pictures side by side. The one on the left is Tender Mauve, and on the right is Ripe Rose.

Tender Mauve is a nice, light, neutral beige-y pink. This will be a good nude pink for anyone with fair to light/medium skin tones.

Ripe Rose is really similar to Tender Mauve, just a couple shades darker. This one is my favorite. It's a great nude pink for me, and probably will be for anyone with light to medium skin tones.

Radiant Raisin is a really pretty dark berry shade. This is a great color for this time of the year!

Here is Lorena's video of all of the swatches if you want to check out the rest of the shades:

#ManiMonday: Daisies and Stripes

To get this look you'll need:(all from Avon)
Dual-ended nail brush & dotting tool
Speed Dry+ nail enamel in Reddy To Go
Nailwear Pro+ nail enamels in Sunshine, Licorice, and French Tip White

For the striped nails:
~Use two coats of French Tip white as your base
~Then paint half of the nail with Sunshine
~Using the brush end of the dual-ended tool, paint black stripes using Licorice starting in the middle

For the daisy nails:
~Use two coats of Reddy To Go as your base
~Using the dotter end of the dual-ended tool use French Tip White to place five dots in a start shaped pattern(leaving a small space in the middle of each pattern), these will be your petals. Repeat as many times on each nail as you like.
~Using the brush end take the Licorice polish and make small black lines on each petal, starting from the base of the petal moving outward.
~Using the dotter end again, take the Sunshine polish and put a dot in the center of each flower

Review & Swatches: Kardashian Beauty Touch Tones in Echo and Whip Lash Mascara

After the holidays I used a little of my Christmas cash to get some new stuff from Ulta. While I was perusing the website I noticed that the Kardashian Beauty collection was BOGO 50% off and I had never tried anything from their line, so I picked out this Touch Tones eyeshadow palette in Echo and the Whip Lash mascara. When my order finally came in the mail I was a little disappointed with the shadow palette because the colors didn't look the same(at all, actually) as they do on Ulta's website. They are still really pretty colors nonetheless.

Here are some more close up pics and swatches of the palette:

Now, you can see in the swatch picture above that I had to add arrows to show where the swatches for the first two shades are at. That's gripe #1 for me, there's no real need(or use) for two flesh toned matte shades in the same palette. The pigmentation for these two shades is not as good as the shimmer shades either. I can get the same effect of these shadows by dusting some translucent loose powder on my lids, so these two shades are a big fail for me. The shimmer colors are really pretty though.

The last color of the palette is extra glittery and a little more sheer, and is meant to be layered over the other shadows. Okay...but it's so close in tone to that second pink shade that it makes the second pink shadow pretty irrelevant. Like I said, these colors are really pretty but this is definitely not a palette I would use on it's own. With the two matte shades being practically the same and the second pink and last shadow being pretty much the same there is a lot of redundancy for a palette that only has eight shadows in it. I would love to see these palettes with a matte mid-tone and matte dark shadow in place of those light colors and enough variation between the rest of the shadows to make them all usable.

The mascara on the other hand I was actually pleasantly surprised with. Here is a close up of the brush:

The formula of the mascara is not too wet or too dry, just right. And as you can see in the pic above the bristles of the mascara wand are flat on one side and curved on the other. The flat side is good for getting mascara into the base of the lashes to build volume, and the curved side does a good job of separating and adding length. I like that the bristles are tapered too, makes getting to the lashes in the inner corners of the eyes a breeze.

Overall, I was really impressed with the mascara and would definitely repurchase it. The shadows I don't see myself buying again unless they come out with some new colors that have a better variety of tones and textures.

Have you guys tried any of the Kardashian Beauty products? What are your thoughts?