Beauty from the Earth’s Navy

Stila’s Waterproof Smudge Stick in Damsel

When I first saw this added to the regular lineup, I looked at the name and wondered if this was a slightly-tweaked version of Ladyfish, the smudge stick included with the Luxe Palette. But no...this is a deep brown, no purple tones at all. It isn't blackened, but it's got good color depth and payoff. It's an ideal color to use if you want a definitely brown liner, rather than something that isn't quite black (like most black-brown liners.)

Urban Decay’s 24-7 Eye Pencil in Black Market

There are, indeed, green glitter particles in this pencil. They're not as plentiful as the blue sparkles in Apathy; but the pencil has slightly better coverage than Apathy. (I wonder if that's why…) Still…it's kind of average, for an eyeliner from Urban Decay. One of the black liners in the Physician's Formula CustomEyes Color Trios also has green glitter in it; and its coverage is just slightly better.

TKB Trading’s Reflection highlighter

This highlighter is almost invisible on me, it's so close to my skintone. On the one hand, it's nearly invisible, so I can't get much effect. On the other hand…it's nearly invisible, so it's great for subtler highlighting effects, or even for using over the top of a too-dark or too-saturated blush (or even one that's just a bit darker than I'd like) to tone the blush down slightly without muting it. Initially I preferred the other color in...

Concrete Minerals’ Vamp lip tint

When looking at the color in the tube, remember: these are semisheer. This does add color, but not an overwhelming amount. It applies well, and - like most lip tints and balms - requires reapplication after eating or drinking, or after a few hours of wear. There’s an earthy-minty scent, and a slight tingle when this is applied. Both subside after about half an hour. This is an excellent go-to daily color for spring and summer, for me.

Black Rose Minerals’ These Things

This shadow is attractive, and I like the scattered small red glitter particles. The coverage…is a little bit on the patchy side, though. It's a bit too pigmented and too visible to easily use as a brow highlighter, though I have managed to use it on my inner vee and get good results (tip: using a fiber optic brush gives you super-thin coverage, no super-heavy clumps.)

Morgana Cryptoria’s LE 116

Meow Cosmetics’ Neurotic

I love colors like this: a really deep, rich base with an almost-solid layer of contrasting-color metallic shimmer. (The downside is, it's harder to pair this shade with other colors since the others have to match both the metallic top and the base color.) This does stain just a bit, so you'll need to wear primer under this one.

Concrete Minerals’ Gossip

There's really good color payoff on this one! The color actually looks just a little richer applied, than it does in the pot - which doesn't often seem to happen with jeweltone shades.

Zoya’s Normani

A medium-weight neutral brown creme with coverage that isn't quite up to Zoya's previous standards. They seem to have both raised their prices, AND lowered the product quality just a bit. With two coats of this polish, I had complete opacity, but not even coverage. There were a few thinner spots that a third coat did manage to correct. This is close to, but not exactly the same as, Sally Hansen's Commander in Chic. Normani is just a touch lighter...