Maybelline Lime Accent

 *Purchased by me*

These Maybelline Bleached Neons are becoming fast favorites of mine. I have the last one in my collection to show you today (until I find Bleached in Peach, that is), Maybelline Lime Accent. Lime Accent is a bright, yet washed out lime yellow green. Like the other Bleached Neons, this bright, yet not neon, and somehow also looks kind of soft. Lime Accent is a whitened lime, making it different from other lime greens I own. Let me apologize for the cat hair on my ring finger that I am just noticing now. Black cat fur has become such a part of my existence that I guess I don't even see it anymore. Embarrassing!

Lime Accent definitely has some streaking issues. This is three coats and I couldn't really get it to be perfectly streak-free. I had hopes because the yellow from this collection was pretty good, but this one was a bit of a pain. I couldn't see the streaks from any distance, so I will still wear this a lot, given the great color! I also could try the matte top coat layering method to reduce streaks (layering matte top coat in between layers of the polish sometimes fixes streaky polish!).

Despite the tendency to streak, I really love Lime Accent. The color is fantastic and super eye-catching. My friend was wearing it the other day, and I was immediately attracted to it like a bee to honey. If you happen to be tan (not me), this would look amazing and really pop against your tan. I found all of my Maybelline Bleached Neons at Rite Aid.

Maybelline Ultra Violet

*Purchased by me*

Maybelline Ultra Violet is another Bleached Neons polish I picked up during the Rite Aid sale. Ultra Violet is a really interesting shade of pinky purple. It's pinker than a lot of pale purples I own, but more purple than pink! I apologize that these pictures aren't very sharp and crisp, the sharper pictures were not very color accurate. This was a hard polish to capture. It's a bit pinker than my pictures show still. It's kind of a bright shade, but much softer than a neon. Hence the term "bleached neons" I guess!

This is two coats of Ultra Violet and the formula is great. It's very pigmented and smooth. The first coat went on nicely with no streaks and was almost opaque by itself. I love this polish, it'll definitely be a staple color for me this summer.

*Purchased by me*

I love this shade so much that I mistakenly purchased two of them LOL! For some reason, I thought I didn't own it yet and bought a second one. So if you want a bottle, I'll be giving my spare away as part of a larger giveaway coming up soon! Otherwise, check your local drugstores.

Maybelline Citrus Collide

*Purchased by me*

I was lucky to grab some of the Maybelline Bleached Neons polishes during a recent sale at Rite Aid. All Maybelline cosmetics were something like $2 off with your Rite Aid card, so it made these nice and cheap! Maybelline Citrus Collide is a nice baby chicken yellow creme. I do love me some baby chicken yellow! Citrus Collide is not quite pastel and not bright either, it's a nice in between. You can tell in the pictures that it has a bit of brightness to it, but it's more subdued and creamy.

This is three coats of Citrus Collide. For a yellow this shade, it applied pretty well. It's actually not that streaky, maybe a little on the first coat, but the second coat really evened it out. It's pretty pigmented too, so if you do thicker coats than I do, two might suffice. Baby chicken yellows are notoriously hard to apply, so this was a pretty nice surprise.

*Purchased by me*

The Maybelline Bleached Neons are limited edition and still around in drugstores, although some shades are selling out. I still haven't been able to find Bleached in Peach, the one I wanted most! Boo! Happy Father's Day to all of your dads and/or husbands! Any fun Father's Day plans?

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eyeshadows

Left to right: Fierce and Tangy, Tough As Taupe, Audacious Asphalt

I've already mentioned a few days ago that I don't buy much drugstrore make-up, so I personally found it interesting how excited I was for these Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eye Shadows. My relationship with the Color Tattoos was very similar to my typical relationship with a new NARS collection. The first stage is called "stalking" and that may include: reading every review of the product that I can find on various blogs, tweeting about how much I want said product, Googling the name of the product at least once a day to see if any new swatches or reviews have been posted, and making a list of exactly which shades of the product I want to buy.

Left to right: Fierce and Tangy, Tough As Taupe, Audacious Asphalt

The second stage of the relationship is "buying". I don't know about you, but I plan my beauty purchases. Last week, I knew I would be getting paid on Wednesday, and I also happen to get out of work a bit early on Wednesdays. Thus, the plot to stop at CVS on my way home from work began! Sadly, this turned into stopping at CVS, Walgreens AND Rite Aid because CVS was sold out of these babies, and Walgreens didn't even have a display for them. Rite Aid FTW.

Left to right: Fierce and Tangy, Tough As Taupe, Audacious Asphalt

Naturally, being that I am a blogger, the third step is "reviewing". Maybelline's claim that these shadows last 24 hours is a big one. I did not test these for 24 hours yet. I have no need to wear eye shadow for 24 hours normally, EXCEPT when I fly overseas. When I fly overseas, I usually put my make-up on at around 11:30 a.m. at my house. My flight normally departs around 9 p.m. I don't arrive in Europe until approximately 3 or 4 a.m. our time, and normally then have quite a journey to my hotel. So, I do actually probably wear eye shadows for almost 24 hours in that situation. Next time I fly overseas, I will definitely let you know how it goes!

Left to right: Fierce and Tangy, Tough As Taupe, Audacious Asphalt

OK, onto actual reviewing. The pigmentation of these shadows is excellent. For these swatches, I swirled my finger around in maybe two circles, then swept it on to my arm. When you use these in a look on your eyes, you do need to blend quickly, as they set very fast. Once set, they don't budge! I had to use make-up remover to remove these swatches from my arm. 

Left to right: Fierce and Tangy, Tough As Taupe, Audacious Asphalt, in shade

So far I have worn Fierce and Tangy and Tough As Taupe. I wore Fierce and Tangy for about 8 hours, and Tough As Taupe for about 10. I did choose to give these a difficult test and wear them each to a two hour dance class. I don't know how much Irish dancing you've ever seen, but let me just say that we SWEAT. A LOT. I can do other forms of exercise (running, pilates, Ab Ripper X) and barely break a sweat, but not so with Irish dance. Consequently, eye shadow normally doesn't hold up so well in my dance classes. 

Fierce and Tangy all over the lid, MAC 100 Strokes (burgundy brown) in crease

Both Fierce and Tangy and Tough As Taupe held up admirably. I must mention that there was very very slight creasing in both cases. The creasing occurred in places where I had applied MAC powder shadow over the Maybelline shadows, not where I had the Color Tattoos alone. I have yet to test these on a day that I don't have to be covered in sweat for two hours, but I will be doing that this weekend.

Fierce and Tangy all over the lid, MAC 100 Strokes (burgundy brown) in crease

I think Maybelline did an amazing job with the colors they chose to release these shadows in. I do not own any orange eye shadow like Fierce and Tangy. It is gorgeous!!!! Orange eye shadow may seem scary, but if you have blue or green eyes, you should try it. It will make your eyes REALLY pop. Just use some brown shadow in the crease and lots of black mascara, and it won't look too crazy.

Fierce and Tangy all over the lid, MAC 100 Strokes (burgundy brown) in crease

So far, I am a big fan of these eye shadows! I can't wait to see how they fair in a normal environment, minus the sweating. I want lots of the other colors, including Pomegranate Punk, Bad to the Bronze, and Tenacious Teal. I would have bought them this week if Rite Aid had had them in stock!!

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eye Shadows are available now at a drugstore near you, or online at Ulta.com.

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush Cancels My Other Spring Blush Orders!

OK so here's the deal: I don't really buy drugstore make-up. I spend all of my make-up money on expensive brands like NARS and Chanel, and I end up with little left over for drugstore brands. I think I was about 12 years old the last time I bought a drugstore blush. However, I was hell bent on getting the new Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Eye Shadows (review coming soon!), and bumped into some reviews of the new Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes. So, last night when I purchased three of the Color Tattoo e/s, I grabbed a Dream Bouncy Blush in Candy Coral. The picture above shows Candy Coral swatched heavily on the top and lighter on the bottom.

Now, please bear with me and the pictures I attempted to take of me wearing this blush. I am adept at nail swatch pictures, and I do OK with arm swatches of make-up, but I can not for the life of me figure out how to take good face pictures of myself without looking like an alien. In these pictures I am wearing Candy Coral on my cheeks. It looked much brighter in person, but still looked natural and pretty.

I think you can see Candy Coral better in this picture taken with flash. However, I look cross-eyed. I promise that I am not, in fact, cross-eyed LOL. But my cheeks are glowing and beautiful, so I had to share this picture!! I'm also wearing Maybelline Color Tattoo e/s in Fierce and Tangy, but more on that later!!

Again, heavily swatched on top, lighter on bottom. I love this blush so much that I could go on for hours and sound like a raving loon. So, to try to consolidate my thoughts, I'm going to do bullet points.

blended

• This blush has AMAZING texture. Somewhere between a gel and a creme, but feels light as air on the skin.
• Buildable pigmentation. You can wear this blush really sheer, if you are afraid of too much color, or for a lazy day. You can also seriously pump the color up for lots of color! Just apply a few more layers.
• Ease of use- Apply with your fingers and blend! 
• Price- $8 for 5.6g of product
• THE COLORS, DUKE, THE COLORS!!!! Currently comes in 10 colors, including the awesome-looking Hot Tamale and Orchid Hush.

These are just a few reasons why I am now obsessed with Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes. I will be acquiring the other 9 colors very soon. In fact, all 10 colors are on Ulta.com right now and I have a 20% off code. So I can order all 9 for about $58 + tax!! I paid $50 for just one Chanel spring blush!! I was also intending to order the new YSL Gel blush for $30. But now, I'd rather put that $30 towards almost 4 Dream Bouncy Blushes!

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes are available now at drugstores, or online at Ulta.com!