I Can't Believe It's All Vegan! FOTD

Happy Saturday and Happy Holidays to those of you who are celebrating!
I broke my budget yesterday buying a few new goodies (the Too Faced concealer and powder, and Stila foundation mentioned below) because they are vegan, and decided to challenge myself to a fully-vegan FOTD!
Let me know what you think <3

Avalon Organics Lavender Revitalizing Eye Gel
Crazy Rumors Soda Fountain Lip Balm in Black Cherry
Wet n Wild Megalast Lipstick in 900B
Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer
Stila Natural Finish Oil-Free Foundation in C
Too Faced Absolutely Flawless Concealer in Perfect Nude
Too Faced Amazing Face SPF15 Powder Foundation in Warm Vanilla
Sleek Contour Kit in Light
Sleek Blush By 3 in Lace (middle shade)
Too Faced Eye Duo in Lucky Charms
Victorian Disco Eye Shadow in Skywalker
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Stash
(I forgot mascara, as I often do when I wear bright monochrome looks, but I don't own a vegan mascara yet anyway!)

Brushes:
ELF: Studio Powder Brush (used to apply liquid foundation), Studio Blush Brush, Studio Crease Brush
Real Techniques: Multi-tasking brush (used to apply foundation powder to set liquids/creams)
Rite Aid Renewal: Contour Brush

Disclaimer: I got the information that all these products are vegan from the internet, not from the manufacturers. Some misinformation could apply - please be sure to check yourself!  All these products are guarenteed cruelty-free.

Wishlist: Vegan mascara, Vegan version of Fix+ (I noticed I look quite powdered, so a spray to diffuse that powdered look would be nice).

Do you own any makeup that just happens to be Vegan?

EOTD: Holiday Sunset Reject

I've been testing out some of the looks you guys have suggested in my giveaway post, and expanding on them as well.  I like this one enough to include it as an EOTD but I think it's a little over-the-top for the event.

Oops! How'd that mascara clumpy get by?

Tip: Gold, Purple, and Red are all colors that really make green eyes pop :)

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Greed all over, Yellow-gold shade from Sleek Sunset Palette (right) on inner upper and lower lids, Red from Sleek Sunset Palette as a dot on lid, Purple from Sleek Original Palette (left) on outer-v, crease, and outer lower lashline, Matte Black from Sleek Original Palette blended over the purple to darken crease. Wet n Wild single eyeshadow in Brulee on browbone and blending out the dark crease colors. Smashbox black eye liner (not pictured) on upper lashline and lower waterline. L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara on upper and lower lashes (see the little clumpy?)

DUPE SMACKDOWN #4: CRIMSON BLUSH

Red blush is one of those products that can make even the most color-lovin' cosmetics fans shy away, but with a delicate hand (and a duo-fiber or perhaps fan brush) it can give one of the most natural-looking flushes that makeup can offer.  These aren't really dupes, but they are all blushes most people would call red.

Clockwise from top left: NYX Red (new) available here for $4.50

Maybelline Limited Edition Baked Blush in Ravishing Rouge (I've still seen this in some drugstores) for about $7

Sleek Blush in Scandalous $6.50

Tarte for True Blood Limited Edition Natural Cheek Stain $30

Sorry, I don't have that limited-edition Byzance de Chanel Joues Contrast powder blush in Rouge or NARS Exhibit A to compare.

Left to right: Maybelline Ravishing Rouge, NYX Red, Sleek Scandalous, and Tarte for True Blood Cheek Stain.  All red, all really different!  Edit: please note these were swatched lightly, then heavily, and all over Boscia BB Cream.

Smell: Maybe you wouldn't normally consider this aspect of a blush, but some out there (such as Benefit's boxed powders) smell sugary-delicious! In this case, the Maybelline smells like paint (however you have to sniff it intentionally and with gusto; it doesn't reek).  Inhale powerfully as I might, I couldn't smell anything from the NYX blush.  The Sleek blush has a slight floral scent, and the Tarte cheek stain smells like a citrus gummy candy.  To me Maybelline is the loser, but none of these smells strongly enough to be disliked for it.  I think NYX wins because no detectable fragrance increases the odds of this not irritating sensitive skin or noses.

Texture: Maybelline is the velvetiest, much to my surprise! I believe it is a baked blush and in my experience baked blushes and eyeshadows are hard and difficult to blend.  This Maybelline blush is far, FAR smoother than any other baked blush OR Maybelline powder blush I've ever tried (i.e. Fit Me didn't fit me :-P).  The Nyx is only slightly chalky, but the Sleek feels quite like chalk to the touch but blends out just fine somehow.  I don't really like the texture of Tarte cheek stains (kinda sticky), but they also blend nicely with fingers and don't dry as fast as other stains which gives you ample time to apply them properly.  The texture winner is Maybelline!

Color:  This is going to depend on your undertones.  NYX Red leans cool, Maybelline Ravishing Rouge is almost brown/plum/wine, Sleek Scandalous is a warm or orange-red, and Tarte is a sheer true-red likely to suit the largest variety of skintones.  Tarte is the sparkliest, but not a glitterbomb at all.  The sparkles don't translate to the cheeks on me.  It feels unfair to crown Tarte the winner in the color category because swatched it is clearly the least-scary red blush. I think for universiality it wins, but for my warm skintone the Sleek Scandalous is the winner.  You can see it will make the most natural flush on me because it almost looks like a rash (gross, but that means it's matching colors from my own skin). NYX Red and Maybelline Ravishing Rouge are likely to look the least natural, but blush doesn't always have to look like it came from a jog!

Pigmentaton: Tarte is the loser because the other three reds are super-pigmented (so much so that you have to be extremely careful applying them and be sure to blend!  Luckily, all these blushes blend very easily).

Wear:  All of these have fantastic lasting power even on my oily skin.  I would expect as much from powder or gel blush.  To be honest, though, the Sleek and NYX are drier and possibly more pigmented than the others so they hold up at full intensity for longer.  So, our lot is split!

Winner: Marketing considered, (I am absolutely in LOVE with the fact that Tarte did a True Blood tie-in.  I get a kick out of the "Glamour Me" on the side of the tube) I would want to crown Tarte for True Blood the winner, but without factoring that in I would personally get the most use out of Sleek Scandalous.  It doesn't feel dreamy to my fingertips like the Maybelline, but I apply it with a duo-fiber brush anyway... and I just don't want the Tarte blush to win since it's turned out to be completely unintimidating once you swatch it because it's so sheer.
NYX Red is a bit too cool on me, so even sheerly applied it just isn't as flattering as the Sleek.  It might be the winner for a cool-skintoned person.  Maybelline Ravishing Rouge is a great statement color for Fall and would probably look incredible on a dark-skinned girl and/or with a plum gloss like MAC Plum Fun (I am adoring it right now, too bad it's LE). 

Which red do you think looks the best?

Sleek Haul Part 2: i-Divine Original, Storm, and Sunset Palettes plus a bonus EOTD

Sleek i-Divine Original Eye Shadow Palette, Storm Palette, Sunset Palette

As promised, here are the swatches of the remaining three palettes from my huge Sleek Makeup haul.  For the record, the husband was like WTF that's a lot of makeup at once... I know, I know!  But, with colors this sumptuous, I don't regret it a bit! This is playing with makeup at its best.
To my knowledge these three palettes' shades don't have individual names (the clear plastic inserts were blank).  That makes it a little harder to use these for EOTD, no?

Original Palette. The only matte shade is the black and it needs to be layered a lot, creating potential mess.

Storm Palette. My second favorite of the haul (#1 is the Monaco Palette). It has three matte shades: the light brown, third from the top left, and the darker brown and black which are the bottom two from the right.

Sunset Palette.  Again, the black is the only matte shade but this one seems improved from the Original Palette (could be a fluke).

I did an EOTD using the Storm Palette because it is gorgeous and versatile. I originally intended to do something like I'd wear on a daily basis but it quickly became a smoky defined crease because I couldn't resist amping it up.

With a slanted liner brush, I applied the dark forest green to my entire top lashline and 1/3 of the bottom outside lashline.

The light matte brown is across my entire lid, with a layered crease: first, I put the darker matte brown in the crease and outer v, followed by the shimmery dark brown. Lastly I lightly darkened it using the metallic gunmetal shade.  The inner crease was looking neglected so I used the shimmery light brown (about the same as the matte light brown) to define it and draw in some light.

The lightest shimmer shade was used as inner corner and browbone highlight. This made me remember how much I dislike shimmery browbone highlight and I wish the palette had a lighter matte color with which to highlight the browbone.

Top lashes curled and coated with Makeup Forever Smoky Lash mascara.  Bottom lashes coated with Clinique Bottom Lash mascara.

I only used two brushes: Ecotools liner brush $6, and E.L.F. Studio Contour Brush $3.  I also swatched using the E.L.F. brush, and a big thanks to Steph for informing the beauty community about this great bargain synthetic brush!

All swatches and this EOTD were over Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

I also tried to cover up my currently hideous dark circles using Revlon Age Defying Spa Concealer 001. Mostly success ;)

If anybody can suggest a brow tamer that doesn't feel like sticky wax or jizzy mascara, please let me know because as you can see, my brows need to be wrangled!

Thanks for stopping by and please have a relaxing Sunday!

Sleek Haul Part 1: Flamingo and Scandalous Blush, Curacao and Monaco Eye Shadow Palettes

Recently UK makeup brand Sleek offered free shipping to the U.S., and I had to try this brand I've been reading about on my favorite British girls' blogs.  I'm not disappointed at all, to say the least; I wish more North American drugstore eye shadows would pack this much pigment!  The colors are unique for drugstore, varied, and well thought-out in terms of putting together a palette of complimentary colors.  In this post, I have swatches of the Caribbean Collection Curacao Palette and (my fave!) the Mediterranean Collection Monaco Palette, as well as the two blushes I got (Flamingo and Scandalous).
My entire haul:

Clockwise from Top Right: Contour Kit with Dual-ended Brush in Light (thanks to Vivianna!), Sunset Palette, Original Palette, Scandalous Blush (red), Flamingo Blush (watermelon pink), Curacao Palette, Storm Palette, and Monaco Palette

The blushes:

Flamingo heavily swatched, then blended/Scandalous heavily swatched, then blended

It wouldn't swatch well, but on cheeks I like using a fan or duo-fibre brush to lightly apply these blushes as they are very, very pigmented!  Even the red can look flattering and natural this way.  My only complaint about these (as is my only complaint with the eye shadows) is that they are very powdery.  This isn't an uncommon issue with cosmetics and it's no big deal! You just blow/brush away the fallout and all is well.  The pigmentation of this brand is totally sick.

Top row of Curacao Palette, without base:

I was really impressed with the concentraton of color without a base (I forgot to put it on at first), but I did find that the matte colors (Blue Hawaiian, Bloody Mary, and Screwdriver) were very sheer without a base, though not chalky and applied evenly!

Curacao Palette with Too Faced Shadow Insurance as a base:

Top Row Shades, Left to Right: Tequila Sunrise, Martini, Blue Hawaiian, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Green Iguana
Bottom Row Shades, Left to Right: Apres Midori, Blue Lagoon, Purple Haze, Green Martini, Singapore Sling, Espresso Martini

Man, I am so jealous of our UK friends who can pop over to the high street at any time to buy up Sleek Palettes!

Monaco Palette with Too Faced Shadow Insurance as a base (my favorite palette! My kind of shades):

Top Row: Bamboo (great highlight color!), Aquamarine, Midnight Garden, Sunset (GORGEOUS), Washed Ashore, Magenta Madness
Bottom Row: Summer Breeze, Sand Walker (perfect, creamy lid shade for a natural look), Kiwi Zest (I always gravitate towards lime greens like this!), Lotus Flower (perfect, pigmented lilac!), Humming Bird, Moors Treasure

Obviously, I'm mad about the Monaco Palette; it has natural colors, liner colors, and pops of vibrant colors that work great for my coloring. LOVE!

Girls in the U.S., if you can get free shipping you MUST haul these!  They're only about $10-$16 apiece, which is a total steal for this quality.  I'll swatch the other three Sleek Palettes at a later time but my swatching arm needs a rest :)