Coastal Scents hot pot swatches (warm shades)

And closer shots so you can see better 

L-R: Sun Worshipper, Dark Salmon, Caramelized, Bright Copper, Burnished Wine, Pure Bronze, Boca Mocha

L-R: Light Taupe, Golden Sienna, Sunset Gold, Oktoberfest, Medieval Gold, Amber Bronze, Chai Spice

L-R: Bungalow Gold, Copper Glaze, New Penny, Cinnamon Stone, St Topaz, Root Beer, Rich Walnut

L-R: Peachy Copper, Sundried, Kokomo Cafe, Barista, Amaretto, Earth Rose, Chocolatier

I like these hot pots, and I think they are very good quality for the price. Each shadow retails for $1.99 on the coastalscents website. As you can see, most of the shadows have amazing pigmentation (the shimmery and metallic ones more so than the matte).

The only shadows I'm not crazy about are Kokomo Cafe (lacks pigmentation) and Peachy Copper (flaky). 

Napoleon Perdis megamix lipgloss set - swatches

I found this in my local Nordstrom store (on sale for $27.50) 

Makeup Forever Artist Shadows - swatches

Makeup Forever's new artist shadows are extremely creamy, pigmented and blendable.

I can't express how much I love them, and after searching a bunch of them at Sephora, I chose these three for my first palette. There were a few others that I wanted, but they were sold out (eg. Morello Cherry, Red Brown, Auburn, and Burgundy).

Here are swatches of the shades I purchased:

L-R: Fawn, Mahogany, Cauldron

These retail for $21 each at Sephora (stores and online) or $22 (with a single case), $34 (for 2 with a case), or $44 (for 3 with a case). 

Em Cosmetics - Career Life palette - review (after more use on the face)

This is going to be a brief update on how the Career Life palette has been working for me on an everyday basis.
I've been using this palette for the past few days consistently in order to test out the eyeshadows and lip products.  I don't usually use blusher, but I used a tiny amount of the blush in the palette with a duo fiber brush in order to test out the pigmentation and colors.  I will say that with a duo fiber brush, the blush is barely visible on the cheeks and provides a very natural hint of color.

Eyeshadows:

• For the eyeshadows, with a brush, they worked very nicely. I found that the color take a break which was the nearly skin toned tan color, worked great as a base for the eyeshadows I applied to my lids.  It provided a smooth canvas and assured that the shadows I applied on top did not go on patchy.  I've seen some reviews saying that the shadows faded throughout the day even with a primer; however, this wasn't the case for me.  The shadows stayed put during my 10-hour day, and didnt move around when I used a primer.
• On a side note--  If you have very oily eyelids like mine, try using a primer and then using a sponge puff or a cosmetic puff to press some translucent powder onto the lid, and also on the bottom lid where eyeliner and shadow usually smudge.  I've found this technique to be quite helpful and effective and I'm glad that I discovered this through Pony's makeup tutorials 
• I loved the shade nude rose all over the lid.  It went on smoothly and blended like a dream, providing just enough warmth to the lids 
• I used the liner shades, or the deep shades next to the lip products with a wet brush (wet with ELF lock and seal) and they worked very effectively, almost like a liquid liner ~

Lips:

Unfortunately for the lip shades, I found them to be very drying.  Both the gloss and the lipstick made my lips peel, even with a balm under them.  The lipstick shades tended to go on very matte and I liked how they looked on the lips; however, the color didnt last for very long

Overall, after further use, I definitely enjoy the Career palette a lot more and see myself using it almost daily since it does have very neutral colors, but I'd still say that it isn't worth $75 and I'd skip it if you are looking for shadows with more pigmentation and color ~~

Em Cosmetics by Michelle Phan - Career Life life palette - initial review and swatches

This is the Em Cosmetics life palette in "Career Life."

Recently, Em Cosmetics had an offer for $20 off of a life palette, so I jumped on that deal ~
I ordered 5 out of the 6 life palettes and will be doing reviews of all of them! (:

Just a brief overview of the Life Palettes.  They contain 4 quadrants meant to each be a look - each containing 6 eyeshadows, 2 lip colors (1 lipgloss and 1 lipstick) and a blush.  It also comes with a dotting tool to depot the pans (of lipstick/eyeshadow/blush) and put them into the travel palette that is sent to you with each life palette (for a limited time).  Lastly, the life palettes come with a double ended brush (one shader brush and one angled brush).  Life Palettes retail for $75 each, but as I mentioned I got mine for $55 each.  With the four quadrants, each comes out to about $18.75 each - or with the sale $13.75.  Now, for the question everyone is asking -- are they worth it?

Packaging - on a side note, many people have been criticizing the packaging of Em cosmetics; however, I can say that it feels like it is very high quality.  It feels sturdy/heavy and the magnetic closure for the palettes is very nice.  I like that it has a clear overcoat for the palettes, and I think that the simplicity makes the products look very classy and luxurious.

Of the 5 life palettes I own, the Career Life palette is by far my least favorite.  I found that it was the most inconsistent in pigmentation and texture, and I'm hoping that Michelle and her team were going for "natural" since it is targeted as makeup for "work."  However, many of the shades in this palette were patchy and dry and took a lot of effort to get any color to show up on my skin.

I'll be going through each of the quadrants and I'll share my favorite and least favorite parts of each palette.

The first shade I swatched was the white shade, and for all of my swatches it goes counter clockwise. 

Also, the swatches go from bottom to top.

• The white shade was very disappointing, as with many of the matte shades in Em cosmetics. It went on dry and patchy and looked like I had literally put chalk on my skin.
• The second shade (nude) was not much better.  It felt very smooth and buttery, but when I swatched it, it seemed to disappear the more I touched it or blended it. In the swatch, the color is barely visible.  It is a neutral shade, but I expected it to show up a bit more.
• The third shade was a taupe-y light gray color.  The pigmentation on this one was better, and I think that it was meant to be a light color that was wearable for the workplace.  
• The fourth shade was a deep purpley gray color.  The pigmentation was a little better but it still went on a bit patchy and took some layering to build it up to the color in the swatch
• The fifth shade appears to be a deeper color in the pan, but translates to a light taupe color with gray undertones.  It wasn't very pigmented, as you can see, and it went on patchy
• The last color was very disappointing because it is what appears to be the liner color.  It went on very sheer and patchy and I had to build it up for it to show up as it does in the picture.  I suppose if you used it with a wet brush, you could use it as a liner.  

Each quadrant has a lipstick, a lipgloss and a large blush in the center.  

• The lipgloss shade Bold Statement is a nice pinky nude.  I think it looks very natural and work appropriate.
• The lipstick Power Suit is a gorgeous shade. It's a deep red-toned shade that would look nice as a stain as well.  
• The blush in this section was not pigmented at all. It took quite a few swipes to even get it to show up.  The color looked really pretty in the pan, but you aren't going to get that color on your cheeks unless you really pack it on.

This section was much better than the first; however, i still experienced difficulties with the first color. (bottom swatch)

• The first shade was a light pink shade that was very dry and chalky.  I'm guessing that this shade is supposed to be the highlight shade so I don't mind too much that it isn't pigmented
• The second shade is a taupe-y purple shade.  This one was also quite sheer, but it felt very smooth and creamy.  Again, I had the issue of it disappearing when blending it out.
• The third shade was nice.  It was a plumy purple shade that had pretty nice pigmentation and went on smoothly
• The fourth shade was nice as well.. It was a light lavender frosty shade that went on very smooth and was pigmented
• The fifth shade was nice, but very sheer.  It was a light taupe color
• The liner shade in this quadrant was also very patchy, but could be built up to a liner

• I loved the lipstick shade in this section.  It was very pretty, and again would look very nice as a stain
• The lipgloss was sheer but very pretty
• The blush was smooth and pigmented and I think it would look nice on fair skin tones

 The third section is by far my favorite! The colors were GORGEOUS and the shadows were for the most part buttery smooth and pigmented (as I hope you can see in the photo).

• The highlight shade was very pigmented in this quadrant.  It was a light gold color, and I was surprised at how smoothly it went onto the skin
• The second shade is a light skin tone shade.  This shade is how I expected the other nude shade to show up.  You can see it on the skin, and it is very creamy and smooth
• The third shade is a bronze color.  It is so beautiful!! It goes on extremely smoothly and is very very pigmented
• The fourth shade is a khaki color.  It has a frosty or metallic finish, and goes on smoothly and pigmented
• The fifth shade is a deeper, warmer brown shade, perfect for contouring the lids and for the outer corner.  It blended nicely and the pigmentation was good
• The last shade is a deep, cool toned brown with a hint of shimmer in it.  It would be great as a liner, and the pigmentation was awesome!!

• The first lip color is a bubblegum pink shade, and is very very pretty and pigmented
• The gloss is a peachy sheer gloss, and I think it complements the lipstick well
• The blush is a neutral peach color, and it had okay pigmentation.

•  The highlight shade in this section was chalky once again.  It lacked pigmentation and went on patchy
• The next shade was a light pink that is very neutral and barely visible
• The third shade was a mauve-ey brown shade and I think it would be great all over the lid
• The fourth shade is a deeper red/mauve/berry color that I think would suit warm complexions perfectly.  The pigmentation was pretty good, as seen in the swatch
• The fifth shade was a deeper plum-ey brown and went on a little patchy, but can be built up
• Lastly, the liner shade was nice, but again went on slightly patchy

• The lipstick shade was really pretty and I have no complaints
• The gloss was an equally pretty pink color
• The blush had decent pigmentation, and would look nice on light, cool skin tones

Overall, the Career Life life palette by Em Cosmetics would be one of the ones that I'd deem "not worth it"

Though it had some really pretty shades, and some really unique colors, I'd say that you should skip this palette and buy a different life palette, or the Em Cosmetics Shade Play palettes (which are AWESOME btw, Ill have a review of those soon!!)

At the $75 price point, I feel like this palette was too hit or miss (mainly miss) with its chalky and streaky shades that lacked pigmentation.