Delightful Illusions

          Happy New Year, lovely people! I have been busy with filming Shorts on my YouTube channel and I have recently uploaded my entire eyeshadow palette collection. I am trying to grow my channel and expand my makeup journey on different platforms. Though this blog will always be my baby since it all started in here and this the first blog I created that was accepted by Google AdSense. For my first post this year, I will be sharing with you my Top 1 eyeshadow palette for the year 2023. This is the L.A. Girl Cosmetics Keep It Playful Downplay Palette and shoutout to Morgan Turner for introducing me to this beauty. 

        I first saw this in one of her Shorts and I immediately fell in love with color story. The moment she said that the two metallic shades are comparable to luxury shadows, I knew I have to get the palette. She's really picky with her brands; focusing on high-end ones, and the moment she says that an affordable eyeshadow can be compared with luxury eyeshadows you have to trust her.  I managed to find one in a local online store and bought it instantly since I thought it is limited edition. It's actually from their permanent line and it's only $11 at the brand's website. I bought mine for Php 614 and I think the value is close on the original price.

          So, let me share with you my thought on each of the shadow. Starting from upper left:

          This a look that I made using this palette. This is an awarding event with "glitz and glamour" motif and I wore a sequined black gown (see picture below). I felt so sexy especially that I was wearing a smoky eye look. I used the matte neutral brown on as transition shade, satin grey to smoke out my outer corners and lower lash line, gunmetal on my lids topped with the silver shade, and shimmer beige on my inner corners.

          Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone's Christmas is happy and lovely and do enjoy spending the holidays those who are dear to your hearts. If you are not celebrating Christmas, I hope you are safe and enjoying your break time from work or school. 💖 Anyway, for today's post I'm going to talk about this eyeshadow palette from Perfect Diary called the Red Fox Palette. Perfect Diary is a Chinese independent makeup brand that is quite expensive but the products seem to be of  nice quality. This Red Fox Palette is the first I tried from the brand and I must say that I'm pretty impressed with the overall presentation. I think the animal palettes they have are part of the collaboration they have with Discovery Channel. 

          First of all, the details on packaging is surprisingly detailed. The front cover is red fox with surrounded by plants that are embossed and has this rough texture. The back cover if the fur of the fox which some hairs were also embossed which I love because it's giving me the sense of feeling the hair of the fox. This packaging feels luxurious and I love every detail they have put in this. When we look inside the palette, we will be greeted by 12 eyeshadow pans and a ginormous mirror on the other side.   Each eyeshadow contains around 1.1 grams which a little less than most standard eyeshadow palettes. I'm still not complaining with the weight since these are pigmented eyeshadows and I know I'm not gonna run out any of these soon.

          If you have been a reader of this blog for a while, you know that I love my cool-toned smokey eyeshadow palettes ever since and I wear smokey eyes for almost everyday of my life. It was a surprise that out of all the options from the brand, this color story stood out for me and this is the palette I bought first from Perfect Diary. The color story is pretty much warm neutrals with a pop of muted orange and red. That matted red with gold glitters was screaming at me to get the palette and most probably on of the most gorgeous eyeshadow palettes I have ever seen. Just me telling these things is a big deal since I don't like warm toned eyeshadow palettes in general. 

          Upon seeing this color scheme, I was not intimated at all maybe because of the sultriness and muted warm shades it exudes. Red tone eyeshadows will mostly intimated people to use on the eyelids, but for some reason this one inspires me to use this palette. The more I use it, the more I get inspired to make looks and use more red eyeshadows. This also comes with a dual-ended brush where one is shading and one is an angled brush used for eyeliner. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture. 😅

           Hey, guys! For today's post, I will be sharing about my thoughts and experiences regarding the Colourpop Sage The Day Eyeshadow Palette. I didn't have a great experience with my first ever palette from the brand, The Zodiac Palette, as the mattes were dry and the shimmers were lackluster. I didn't buy anything from the brand since then and I wasn't really motivated to buy anything from the released collections. I always thought the brand is duping themselves by releasing similar palettes just in different aesthetic and packaging.

          As I was browsing the internet for new eyeshadow palettes to play with, I have thought of trying newer eyeshadow palettes from the brand. This palette and the Darth Vader are the ones that caught my eyes the most and so I bought both. 5 years after trying anything new from the brand, I can definitely say the formula of the shimmers have improved a lot. This palette is similar to the The Child palette but I love the shadows here more especially the matte browns they have included that's why I chose this one. I love that I can create smokey looks; making this palette perfect for day to night green eyeshadow palette.

          I love that they included a couple of duo chromes in here with smooth shifting and that metallic moss green is everything and I think is the star of the show. The mattes are pigmented, feels a little rough to the touch but is still blendable, and buildable. I also like this is in a cardboard packaging and got no mirror which makes it easy and light to travel with. 

          Hey, guys! I am back with another eyeshadow palette review and for today's topic, we are gonna talk about the MOIRA Beauty Time To Shine Pressed Pigment Palette. This green is one of the palettes from their Celestial Series where there are 3 more palettes with distinct themes, but I loved this color story the moment saw this that's why I picked up this one. I have been buying a lot green eyeshadow palettes this year and you will definitely see those on the upcoming posts. 🙈

          What I love about this brand is that they put so much detail and attention on ever part of their packaging. The overall presentation of each palette they release is just incredibly detailed and stunning. This my second palette from the brand and I must say their palette releases from this year has improved a lot especially on the shimmer department. Though this palette has still pretty shimmers and easy to work with. If you are interested on a more colorful palette with wet shimmers and metallic, please check my Magic Dream Pressed Pigment Palette review. 

         The matte feels like velvet and they are really easy to work with. They blend beautifully and I think that they have better formula than Colourpop. This brand is straightforward when it comes to creating their palettes -  none of that matte with glitters BS or pressed glitter eyeshadow that sometimes feel like a kid's makeup.😆 I don't know, maybe when it come with age, but for a 31-year old I'm not really fond of pressed glitters. Anyway, as I have said, Moira's matte eyeshadows are incredible and maybe one of the best one I have tried from affordable brands. When it comes to their shimmers, they have nice shine, glides on smoothly and not over the top. I have to admit, sometimes I just want a nice shimmer on the lid especially for work. The shimmers can be built up for intensity, though none of the these are sub-par.

          This palette has the perfect balance of shimmers and mattes which is also perfect for travel since I don't have to bring another palette to pair this with. They only thing I don't like about Moira palettes in general is that they are bulky. They take up a lot of space on my travel makeup bag. I get that they want to have aesthetically pleasing palettes, but can they make them travel friendly as well? 😅 

        This palette contains 15 eyeshadows and let's talk about each one. According to the packaging, there are 5 pressed pigments and 10 pressed eyeshadows included in this. Starting from the bottom left, these are the eyeshadows:

💟Limelight (PP) - matte beige pigment that is perfect for setting eyeshadow base or softening hard edges. 

💟Spiced (PP) - beige glitter topper that enhances the shimmer shades. It's really sheer and I'm pretty sure it's meant as a topper. It looks so sparkly on the lids and it's the only shade from this palette that has this kind of formula.

💟Carefree (PE) - matte olive green that make a perfect transition shade on green eyeshadow looks. 

💟It's Time (PE) - shimmer taupe which I used on my lids to create a smokey eyes. Gives such a lovely shine on the lids!

💟All Good (PP) - shimmer gold with green base which I haven't used in a look yet. This shade is really beautiful and I think if this paired with the green mattes, it will pop even more.

💟Dare (PE)  - matte warm brown that is essential for most neutral palettes that serves as a crease shade. I loved using this and I think it made my brown eyes pop. 

💟 Happy Soul (PE) - shimmer bronze that is just another essential on neutral palettes. I paired this with Dare and Tempting and it created this bronzy smokey look which I loved.

💟Just In Time (PP) - matte neutral brown that is perfect as a transition shade. 

💟Want (PE) - matte dark green shadow that is really pigmented. I made a green eyeshadow look and I just tapped my brush in this shadow and when I blended on my outer-v, the pigment was screaming. I just love how buildable this shade is.

💟Spotlight (PP) - matte reddish brown pigment which I haven't used yet also. I'm not really into reddish smokey looks but I think I can bear with this shade. 😅

💟Shine Bright (PE) - shimmer taupe brown shade that is more brown toned than It's Time. If it was me, I would exchange for a matte mauve shade instead of this. I think mauve transition shade pull of those reddish brown shades beautifully and would complement well with the green shades.

💟Tempting (PP) - matte dark brown pigment that is easy to blend and is essential in making smokey looks when using this palette. I always love a matte dark brown and I have hit pan a lot on the past.

💟At The Moment (PE) - matte light grey shadow that I didn't expect to show up on my lids. I used this as a transition shade on a cool toned smokey look that I created and I loved how pigmented it is. This has a neutral which made me fell in love with the shadow even more. I don't blue-toned grey shades since they look ashy.

💟Flash (PE) - shimmer lime green which I loved putting all over my lids. This shadow is so gorgeous and makes brown eyes pop. 

💟Signal (PE) - shimmer reddish brown which I haven't used yet. I might create a reddish brown eyeshadow look and post it on Instagram. 

Swatches on flash 

        The first look I created with this palette is a a grey-themed palette. I used At The Moment as transition shade, Tempting on the crease and outer-V, and It's Time all over the lids and inner lower lash line. I just used 3 shades and I was in love with the simple look I created. 

          Another look I created focused on the green eyeshadows. Just In Time as transition shade, Carefree on the crease, Want on the outer-v and lower lash line, and Flash all over the lids. I also used Spiced as topper shade to make the look pop. I really loved this green look. I have also made a neutral eyeshadow look but I didn't have the time to take a picture. Sorry, my bad. 😅

          Those are my thoughts on this palette and I would love to shoutout Jen Phelps for convincing me to try Moira Beauty. As I have said on my previous post, this brand is becoming one of my favorites since they make gorgeous eyeshadows and they straightforward on the direction of color story they are making. Plus, the attention to detail on every aspect but still maintaining an affordable price is unbeatable. I am so happy to try more indie brands since they are more worth the money than the mainstream brands. I am also happy to share a favorite online shop where I buy these indie makeup, See You Friday, they have great selection of brands I have never tried which they sell for reasonable prices. 

         I hope this post has been helpful and made you convince to try this underrated and slept on indie makeup brand. I am planning to buy another palette from them but I'll still have to decide what color story should I get. Anyway, thank you so much for stopping by and reading this post. Have a nice day and stay safe always. 

          Hey, everyone! Oh my gosh! It's been a long time since I posted here. This year has been pretty crazy. A lot of changes on my personal life and I have been travelling a lot for work. Despite being busy, I kept doing my Project Pans and buying so much makeup. You have no idea how much eyeshadow palettes I bought since the year start. Geez! I missed doing blogs and so I decided to start posting again. I hope I'll be consistent again. :)

        I have been eyeing some Moira Beauty eyeshadow palettes since last year and I finally got a chance to try a couple of them this year. My first purchase from the brand is the Magic Dreaming Eyeshadow Palette which came from their Moiraland Series. It's a carnival-themed collection consisting of two colorful pressed pigments palette. The palette that I got consists of blues, greens, purples and some neutral shades  leaning on the darker side which are perfect for me since I really love doing smokey eye looks. The other palette is more on pastel, bright and loud shades which is good since there are options for everyone. 

         Upon opening the packaging, there are are three Moiraland carnival tickets awaiting for you. The are so dedicated in making this collection feel like carnival-like, truly magical! There's a plastic protection sheet that covers the shadows with carnival-themed prints. The palette is bulky and heavy, which usually annoys me, but this one is not bothersome. I think this one could still be brought on travels without taking so much space. The mirror has the ticket print which I think is the for the aesthetic but still usable for doing eye looks. 

         The most unbelievable thing about this brand is their ability to create eye-catching designs and the attention to detail on packaging and palettes but still being sold for affordable prices. Like, how? This a US makeup brand but their products are being produced in China. Maybe that's the reason they are affordable? Anyway, upon receiving this palette, my jaw dropped because it feels heavy and luxurious. From the front, to the back, to all the sides of the box, everything has details and some are embossed.  The box alone feels like $10 for me. I'm never throwing away this packaging, I swear! But you would believe that this palette only costs $18.50? 

          This palette contains 10 pressed pigments and 5 pressed eyeshadows. As we know, pressed may caused staining on the eyelids but so far, I haven't experienced anything. I have no issues with these shadows and pigments. The mattes are pigmented, smooth, buildable and easy to blend. The shimmers have this cream to powder finish and some of them have this sparkly and glittery effect. They stay on the lids all throughout the day with a little creasing, but all is well with a good quality eyeshadow primer. Each shade has carnival-themed object pressed which is incredible since this costs a lot of money to produce. 

          This palette consists of colorful shades such as blues, greens, purples and some neutrals to balance the color story. So, let's talk about the each one of them.

         This palette is amazing and I haven't experienced any fallouts so far. Theses are hard-pressed, really pigmented and has balanced color combination. I also love that there is no light cream / beige shade because we already have like thousands of that from other palettes. This is a well-curated palette, creating day to night looks, ranging from light to dark shades. This palette is really inspiring for me since everytime I look at this, I create so many color combinations in my head that I want to execute on my looks soon. Overall, I recommend this palette if you want to try this brand as well. This brand is becoming immediately one of my favorites in terms of eyeshadow formulation, considering how affordable the palettes are. Shout out to my favorite shop from Shopee, See You Friday. This is where I bought this palette without paying for the shipping fee (from US). 

          I hope you enjoyed this post and convinced you to try this brand because their products are so underrated. I love supporting indie brands that deliver quality products that doesn't break my bank. I also purchased a green-themed palette from this brand which I feature soon. I hope you stay tuned for that. Thank you so much for stopping by. I will be back soon. Have a good day and stay safe. XOXO