The Gloss Menagerie

Hello there! It's been a little while since I've talked about any mark. products! I was immediately attracted to these eye shadows though because I love purples. These are released alongside mark.'s new fragrance, Night Iris. These particular shadows are referred to as Violet Femme shades, which is another reason why I was interested; I love the Violent Femmes and I thought the name was a cute parody.

The mini collection of shadows consists of Pink Dusk, a pinky orchid color; Mystical, blue-toned lavender; and Violet Ink, a mid-tone blue-violet.

I received Pink Dusk and Mystical to try. The product image is pretty much dead-on as far as what the colors look like in real life, with Mystical being maybe a hair pinker in person and Pink Dusk basically exactly like the photo. They are standard mark. eye shadow size (1"x1" square pans) that come in a plastic clamshell with palettes available for purchase. They also work out great in Z-palettes and other similar magnetic palette. Aaaand swatches:

Top: mark. Mystical; Bottom: mark. Pink Dusk - swatched on bare skin, no primer

These two shadows are a satin finish, having shine but no glitter or shimmer. As I swatched them they did not feel chalky at all, but not super buttery soft either. They go on fairly sheer. The colors are buildable, but if you're looking for really high-impact color these aren't it.

The Violet Femme shadows are pretty, but didn't wow me. The colors aren't particularly unique even if they are attractive. They retail for $6 each, which is kind of high considering the quality vs. other inexpensive shadows like Wet 'n Wild or NYX, and considering these come in a pan without a palette. These would however be a great gift for a tween or young teen who is just learning how to apply makeup though, because they're idiot-proof shades in that I don't think you could make them look garish if you tried.

mark. products are available from meetmark.com directly, or from representatives. I'm a mark. rep and if you are planning to make a mark. purchase I'd appreciate your business. :)

Samples provided by PR for review consideration. All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review.
A link to my mark. store is included in this post. If you buy from my mark. store I receive a small commission.

Hello hello everyone! It's MARCH, so that means it's time to talk about FEBRUARY. Err, in other words, my favorites from February. Woot!

Favorite Hair Products

Um realistically my favorite hair product in February was my beloved Stephanie, aka Awesome Colorist, but since calling her a product is kind of rude, I'll go with the kind that are in bottles!

Ahh the precious. I have talked about the Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Overnight Hair Rescue (long enough name for ya?) before, but it is basically like an intensive night cream for your hair. You put it in at night and then wash it out in the morning. I love it! My hair has been dry (because really I'm overdue for a trim) and this doesn't make it go away completely (needing a trim is cured by, -gasp- getting a trim) but it really helps. Now, no lies this stuff is expensive, so it's definitely a splurge item. ($35 at Sephora or Ulta)

Another favorite of mine recently has been the Wen Cleansing Conditioner in Winter Vanilla Mint. This scent was limited edition around holiday, so I'm sorry for talking about it now, but I just now have really been using it the past month, give or take. I already used up a bottle of the Sweet Almond Mint last fall, and reviewed it for Stylebell. I love Wen Cleansing Conditioners! They don't weigh my fine hair down and they really make it feel bouncy and healthy. The Winter Vanilla Mint smells like candies, and if I had to point out any flaws it's just that it makes me hungry. (Available at QVC - $29)

Favorite Skin Products

I haven't really been doing a whole lot differently with my skin. Still using either Caudalie's foaming cleanser or my Neaclear. I'm also still using The Body Shop's Vitamin E moisturizers (love love love love love!). But as I'm wearing more makeup lately, I'm adding a few things that help makeup "play nice" with my skin.

I'm still learning how to deal with my dry skin. For years I had oily skin, and I've really only had dry skin for the past year or so. It's a whole new experience! I took for granted that I never had the problem of my skin looking too matte. Now, even on days where I'm not wearing any makeup, I like to go over my whole face with MAC Strobe Liquid. It's just a thin, slightly hydrating lotion that has a very pretty pearly pink luminescent quality. It gives my face that natural glow that has since left me along with my overactive oil producing skin, lol. I've also been using my MAC Fix+ more, as it takes down the powderiness of face powders. (Strobe Liquid and Fix+ are available from MAC for $30 and $20 respectively.)

Favorite Color Products

Wee! The fun part! Like I said, I've been wearing more makeup lately. I made you a collage!

These are all the things I've been feeling much love for over the past month. I've been wearing very little in the way of foundation or concealer, but I do sometimes wear a little MAC Mineralized SkinFinish Natural just to even out my complexion. Sometimes you just wake up looking a little blotchy, yanno? Yeah. And NARS Laguna is a staple product that I'm obsessed with because it adds warmth/glow without looking orange or dirty. (MSFN is $29 at MAC; NARS Laguna is $34 at Sephora)

The drugstore lip products are killing it right now, and I've been wearing my Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipglosses and Revlon Lip Butters pretty much exclusively day to day. Revlon Lip Butters are another one of those products that have been getting a ton of hype lately, and they're TOTALLY worth it. I have three (Creamsicle, Candy Apple, and Sweet Tart) and I LOVE THEM. I was just saying on Twitter that I want more. :) (Price varies on these from drugstore to drugstore.)

I've been on a bit of a NARS Eye Shadow kick, using the heck out of my Doceurs de Paris palette and my Best of NARS palette, particularly a couple shades from the Kalahari and All About Eve duos. But as usual, I'm using drugstore mascara. Rimmel ScandalEyes is my lash of choice lately. It's really dramatic. It's not my absolute favorite mascara, but I like it. I will be reviewing it more in-depth soon. If you liked MaxFactor 2000 Calorie mascara but are living in the states and can't get it anymore, try Rimmel ScandalEyes. I think you'd like it. For my brows, I still love my Billion Dollar Brows brow powder (holy grail!) but I have been really liking the new Senna Cosmetics Sketch-a-Brow pencil too. The effect is very natural-looking and it's so simple to use. (NARS eye shadows vary in price at NARS; Rimmel ScandalEyes will vary depending on the drugstore, and Sketch-a-Brow is $18 from Senna Cosmetics)

I just realized I completely forgot another product when I was making my collage!

The Magic Hair Pad is one of those genius inventions that makes you think "why didn't I think of that?!". The concept is super simple-- it's a square of velcro. Really. That's all it is. But you press it into your hair to hold it out of place while doing makeup, washing your face, doing a facial mask, etc. GENIUS. The picture shows black, but they come in pink too. I like them so much sometimes I will sport one just to hold my bangs out of place while I'm hanging out around the house. Not the most fashionable statement, but the rest of my outfit usually consists of flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top when I'm doing this, so I have thrown fashion to the wind at that point. ;) But pretty much any girl with hair needs to own these. I think that's most of you. (Available in a pack of 2 for $7 at MagicHairPad.com)

Samples of some products mentioned here were sent by PR for consideration.
All opinions are my own, and not sponsored by any brand/company.
No compensation was received for including these products as favorites.
Disclaimers are fun to type because they are super tiny and stuff. xoxo <3