Pur Quick Pro Glitters Kit for Holiday 2017

This is one of those posts I'd meant to put up a long time ago, and I've owed it to you.

Sorry for the detour, but let's get back to today's topic du jour- the Pur Quick Pro Glitters Kit ($39). I'll confess that I purchased this by total accident. Apparently I missed a sale on this by a couple of days and Ulta hadn't pulled the sign. I thought it was a lot cheaper. Normally I would've passed this by.

In retrospect, I'm happy that I've tried it, as I have a complicated relationship with this product. This is a huge improvement compared to the previous packaging (which included netting).

The holiday packaging is divine.

In this kit is five small, liquid glitters that made me think immediately of Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter and Glow eyeshadows. These have a teeny tiny plastic spatula. However, like the Stila shadows, I prefer tapping on the lid with a brush.

Let's delve into the individual shades, which weigh in at 0.19 fl oz/5.5ml.

Namaslay is a warm champagne. Pur/Ulta describe this as a "rose gold"- I don't see the rose.

This is that little plastic applicator I was referring to.

It's gorgeous both on the hand and in the eye. However, that's not the whole picture- which I'll get into after showing you all of the photos.

Lust is next up. It's a beautiful cranberry glitter that's perfect for the holidays.The brand describes this as "rust copper." OK.

I have to admit that I like this better than either of the red-toned Stila shadows for holiday looks. It does brighten the lid nicely.

Queenie is an icy blonde gold. When I saw the color and the shade name, I immediately thought "Queenie was a blonde..." Any theatre nerds? No? OK, moving on. The brand calls this "bright gold."

Queenie is a very light gold- think ABH 10K. I always wear a nude leaning white base with this.

OMG is the cool taupe of the bunch. It's a medium-depth shade. According to the brand, this is "bronze." What's up with these descriptions?

Do you see bronze? I see taupe!

Finally, we get to Midnight Diamond. This shade, black with suspended silver glitter, or "black" per the brand, exists in the Stila and Wet 'n Wild lines.

There's how thin the applicator is.

I think this is more sheeny than glittery, personally.

Performance: This is where I'm glad I've had the additional time to play with these. I'm honestly struggling and looking for help. Over Too Faced Glitter Glue and waiting five minutes to dry down they transferred throughout the day. Over MAC Paint Pot? Same thing. Over Kat Von D's primer? Same thing. Over a bare lid? Same thing. I'm not just talking fallout, I'm talking migration into the crease. These are beautiful and stunning and awesome. But I wore Lust to Thanksgiving dinner and was covered in glitter. I wish I knew of a base to pair with these because they're beautiful.

Bottom Line: These are a nice alternative to the Stila liquid glitters and offer much smaller glitter particles. If you're looking for a perfect Insta-look, these are for you. I'm still looking to find that right combination to keep these from transferring.

Wet 'n Wild Midnight Mermaid Collection Part I

I learned an expensive and important lesson with this collection. Initially, I passed on the bundle because I thought there was no way I'd ever want/wear navy metallic lipsticks. After my 26th trip to a store, I was cursing myself. I'm buying the next bundle.


In a way, it's a testament that I sought out the entire collection, since I started by purchasing two liquid eyeshadows from Ulta... and then it spiraled. It's a large collection with some serious hits, and some serious misses. Let's talk about them all. I'll be posting Part II very soon.

This collection is comprised of: four ColorIcon Metallic Liquid Eyeshadows ($4.99 each), three Megaliner Metallic Liquid Liners ($3.99 each), four Liquid Catsuit Metallic Matte Lipsticks ($4.99 each), and one highlighter ($6.99).

Let's talk about them in the order that I personally rank them. With the exception of two eyeshadows purchased from Ulta, I bought the rest of the collection in-store at two different Walgreens, seven days apart.

1. ColorIcon Metallic Liquid Eyeshadows ($4.99, 0.12oz, 4 shades)

It really shouldn't have been a shocker that I'd love these, but they're amazing. These come in four shades- Lara's Necklace (black base, green glitter), Aquatic Prism (black base, blue/aqua glitter), Moonlight Majesty (black base, violet glitter), Mysterious Nights (black base, silver glitter). As someone who owns all of the shades of the Stila shadows and started a glitter series, these are a win for me. I just hope they bring back the formula with more shades. I've done full eye looks with two of the four shades already and have been pretty happy with the weartime. They fade a bit after seven hours, but they're gorgeous. They also require a bit of finessing, but for the price they're outstanding. Be careful that they don't go patchy; I seriously prefer using a tiny brush rather than the doefoot- just like I do with the Stilas.

Let's take a closer look at Lara's Necklace:

It's a black base with emerald green glitters in it- but it pulls quite difficult and is tough to accurately photograph.

The left swatch is a single pass, but the right one was me working hard to layer it, more like you'd do on the eye.

Aquatic Prism is my favorite from the group, and was the most difficult to track down:

It looks like nothing in that photograph. I happened to catch it better when actually trying to photograph the wands on these buggers:

I'm still shaking my head at how these don't translate. Look first at this swatch:

Looks like meh, right?

Look at it on the eye. This is SO what all of these do on the eye- swatches do not tell the story.

Here's the eye look I did with it- and Anastasia Beverly Hills Venice shadow.

Are you kidding me??? How is this the same shadow? I swear it is, and this is the same dang lighting as well. These Wet 'n Wild shadows hate being swatched but are magic on the eyes.

I find Moonlight Majesty to remind me of Stila Violet Vixen, as both are warm deep purples.

I think that swatch shows one of the issues- these can get quite patchy. FYI.

And here's a comparison swatch:

Let me be clear. Go buy the Wet 'n Wild. Do not buy the Stila. Here's what happened to my hand after removing the swatches:

I probably didn't need Mysterious Nights but I wanted to play with the formula:

It's a black shadow with silver glitters.

And here it is, compared to Stila Molten Midnight.

They're close enough that I recommend the Wet 'n Wild over the Stila- and since you're saving more than 75%? What a win!

Overall, these are incredible- and worth picking up. I think Aquatic Prism is the standout shade... and I don't normally recommend shades like this.

I've already nabbed backups of Aquatic Prism and Moonlight Majesty because these are so special and unlike anything in my collection (the later will be replacing Violet Vixen, which was pure evil to me. Boo on Stila for ignoring my repeated inquiries- please practice EXTREME CAUTION before even thinking of using Violet Vixen near your eyes. In fact, just buy the Wet 'n Wild shadow.

 One more look at the full collection:

This really looks high end. Well done, Wet n Wild!

2. MegaGlow Highlighting Bar- Midnight Moon

Wet 'n Wild is known for slaying the drugstore highlight game, particularly with their MegaGlo formulas. This LE release, Midnight Moon, is a white gold with a green shift.

It's also got a killer mermaid tail print:

I've been hearing some not-so-nice things about this product, so I didn't initially reach for it. Guess what? I like it so much I nabbed a backup when I spotted a non-pillaged display on Friday!

Here's a swatch:

It's totally wearable even with my complexion. I just use a fan brush and pick up a small bit for a very flattering glow.

I intentionally placed the highlighter in an odd place in the following photo- it's so that I could catch the effect on my skin.

Yes, it's a little blurry. But this catches the effect the best that I could manage- 5 applications later. So yes, it does work well on someone of my complexion- despite what many beauty gurus on YouTube are trying to tell you.

Bottom : Go for it with this collection. These shades are unique and the formulas are awesome!

Part II, where I talk about the liners and liquid lipsticks, will be coming before the end of this holiday weekend. I promise. I'm actually finishing this post about 12.5 hours before it goes live... I'll try to get the other half up either late Saturday or Sunday. I do owe the following before the end of the long weekend though: Part II, Sunday Dreaming/Ulta 21 Days recommendations, July/Aug favorites, July/Aug empties, and possibly a weekly drawer post on Monday. Yikes!