The Makeup Revolution
I’ve been curious about Makeup Revolution since it launched in the US at Ulta last summer. It’s a UK brand, famous for their prestige dupes and ridiculously low prices. Seriously – palettes for $5-$10 and lipstick for $3-$5. I hadn’t gotten around to trying out the brand…until my fellow makeup enthusiast in the UK, Sally, placed an order…then I had serious makeup envy.
I was out shopping with my big sis this past weekend, so of course there was a stop at Sephora and Ulta. I didn’t see anything new at Sephora, but I went directly to the Makeup Revolution display at Ulta. It was pretty well picked clean, but I managed to find a few things…
The first thing I grabbed was the Makeup Revolution Salvation “Girls on Film” palette. 18 eye shadows – 12 shimmer and 6 matte – for $10! The colors are smoky neutrals, leaning towards copper and bronze. It’s not a dupe of any well known products, but it reminds me of the Urban Decay “Mariposa” Palette.
For the last few years, I’ve been dutifully detailing my purchases, but I’ve decided to try branching out and swatching some of my purchases. My palette is no longer pretty after swatching, but I have already used it the past three days, so it was no longer pristine anyway.
After three days, I’ll say that the quality is fairly decent. The shimmers are buttery and blend well. They do tend to fade through the day, but I haven’t been using any primers – they tend to feel heavy and itchy on my eyes when I wear them through the work day. The matte shades aren’t as vivid as I would like, but still better than the usual drugstore or store brands.
I also tried one the Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lacquers in “Vamp” ($5). I wore it today and it applied smoothly and dried matte…but disappeared on my inner lips right after coffee. I tried to perk it up with lip balm, but the balm totally dissolved it, so I had to wipe it off. I am not thrilled with the staying power, but it would work for going out.
I also found a single NYX Lip Lingerie in “Exotic” ($6.99) – just one in the entire store, stashed among the Soft Matte Lip Creams. I grabbed it quick! I wore it Sunday – it is an almost perfect dupe for Kat Von D “Lolita”! It, too faded after a hearty Taco Bell meal…but I was able to revive it with lip gloss. Since it is a lighter shade, it still looked good with gloss on top and didn’t dissolve.
I was rather irritated that the current coupon was 20% off one item – I only got $2 off my palette.
I’ve also been spying on the Makeup Revolution Website…so much more than what launched at Ulta! They have Too Faced Chocolate Bar, Urban Decay Naked/Electric and LORAC Pro dupes, plus well-reviewed foundation. I am having a hard time stomaching the $12-$15 shipping, so I signed up for their emails…hoping for a sale that makes the shipping worth it…until then, I’ll just have to buy EVERYTHING available through Ulta.
[…] palettes come in identical plastic cases…although this palette is matte black plastic and “Girls on Film” is shiny plastic. Other than that, the only way to tell them apart is to look at the stick on the […]
[…] I got there a bit early, so I decided to take advantage of the NYX BOGOHalf sale. For myself, I picked up another NYX Micro Brow Pencil in “Chocolate” (I had been using “Ash Brown”); NYX Sculpt & Highlight Brow Contour in “Medium Beige/Ash Brown” (I used it today – the brow pencil was a little fatter than I like, but I really liked the built in highlighter); another NYX Ombre Lip Duo in “Cookies & Cream” (also used this today – dark brown and nude combo is a bit much for summer, but it looked good on me); and NYX Blotting Powder in “Light/Medium” (I used this over sunscreen moisturizer for oil control – it gave sheer matte coverage with no caking). I also picked up 4 NYX Retractable Eyeliners for my big sis. It is impossible to get makeup in Ketchikan and she liked the one she picked up on her visit a few months ago. […]