I finally got a chance to use all of the items from the fabulous Alla with SauceBox Cosmetics (link to the pictures and swatches can be found here) Yay! I must say that I am FLOORED by what great quality all of these products are. I've always been a believer that you get what you pay for so I was a bit hesitant because of how affordable everything was...well, as you'll see in my review I was proved wrong! These products surpassed my expectations and the pricing was FAB!
I'm going to start out with the Bold Effect Shadows in Lagoon & Queen Bee. I was worried that these would look really bright in the container but end up sheering out once swatched...boy was I wrong! These bad boys are PACKED with pigment and they are buttery smooth. They remind me a lot of Urban Decay shadows but without all of UD's ridiculous fall-out. I prepped my eyes with my Proof 10 primer (amazing product sent to me from my friend in South Korea...Annyong, Debbie!!) around 10am and when I went to take off my makeup around 11:30pm the colors were still just as vibrant. They were very easy to apply and blended like a dream! I didn't experience any creasing and the colors didn't become muddy once blended out. Bold Effect Shadows are on sale right for $5.50 here
Next up are the blushes. Hyper is a gorgeous bright pink with tons of sparkle and Sea Shell is a champagne colored highlighter. I really liked how smooth these went on and blended very easily. They are highly pigmented so I didn't have to "dig" my brush in the pan to get color, I barely tapped into the color and my brush was ready for action. I had a few bits of glitter fall-out from Hyper but it wasn't a big deal. Sea Shell in the pan just looks like a normal champagne colored highlighter but it's buttery smoothness and gorgeous sheen really set it apart from other highlighters. It's very subtle but it makes all the difference in the world. It really brightened my whole face up, I also added it to the inner corners of my eyes as well as on my brow bone and it made my eyes pop! The colors lasted all day and didn't have much fading at all. Blushes are on sale right now for $6.25 here
LumiShine Lip Glosses are next...I received 2 colors Whimsy & Lighten Up. Whimsy is a deep pink with lots of gold flecks and Lighten Up is a very pale champagne color with gold flecks. I am a huge fan of lip glosses that come with the brush applicators, I've never really liked the doe-foot style ones so I was delighted to see these are brushes. I tried Whimsy and it's a wonderful color to just perk up your lips and give you a little shimmer and shine. With both colors, they went on very smooth and weren't sticky at all but you can feel the little gold flecks in the gloss, it's nothing of a deal breaker but when you rub your lips together it feels a teeny tiny bit grainy. They both are pretty sheer and their longevity wasn't anything to write home about, like most glosses they don't last too long. LumiShine Glosses are on sale right now for $5.35 here
The Oil-Free Pressed Powder is what drew me to wanting to purchase items from this company. Every day after I finish my face makeup I always set with MAC's Blot Powder as well as use that to touch up during the day. I love that product, don't get me wrong but if I could purchase a product that does the exact same thing from a smaller company for so much less I am going to! Blot Powder retails for $23.00 so it is not cheap by any means and I go through it like mad. SauceBox's Oil-Free Pressed powder did everything my MAC powder did. I tried it out two different times, the first time over my bare skin (usually my MAC Blot Powder will mattify but it will also cause flakies) and it mattified beautifully without looking cakey. The second time I tried it was over my foundation to set it and it was perfect, not too drying where I look flakey and cakey but it still kept my face from looking oily and greasy for quite a few hours. I usually have to re-touch and blot about 3-4 hours after initial application and with the SauceBox Oil-Free Pressed powder I was able to go about 5 hours without blotting. P-E-R-F-E-C-T-O! The colors were a little difficult to pick since they all looked pale but I think with a blot powder you don't need to be spot on since it isn't creating any coverage. I ordered Matte Dream and I am usually NC15-20 in MAC Studio Fix for reference. Oil-Free Pressed Powder is on sale right now for $6.95 here
Last is the Mascara...OMG! This mascara is pretty stinkin' fabulous! I've been a die hard Make Up For Ever Smokey Lash fan for as long as I can remember so usually no there mascaras can even stand close to it EXCEPT this one! This brush has the rubbery bristles instead of a fluffy brush (which I usually always go for the fluffy brushes) so my expectations weren't too high. I use Latisse so my lashes are very long but aren't thick so usually the rubber bristled brushes just make my lashes look like little spider legs. I honestly only needed one coat but I usually love to pack on coat after coat and this didn't clump, it just made the lashes darker and thicker with each coat. I must add, if you live in a humid climate or have oily lids, this may not be for you...There is the teensiest bit of smudging but since I live in the desert it wasn't too bad, but I imagine in a different climate you may have a bit of smudging at the end of the day. I didn't experience and flaking and that's a big deal for me since I wear my glasses half of the time. Mascara is on sale right now for $3.00 here
So all in all, I'm super duper impressed with this line. I definitely plan on purchasing more mascara, blushes and colors of eye shadows as well as some of their Mineral Eye shadows & their Super Silky Shadows. I hope to try all of their items in the future!
Alla informed me that they will be re-packaging everything as well as coming out with pro palettes (YIPEEE!)
One thing that confused me a bit was that there aren't color descriptions on any items so it was a little bit harder choosing from the pictures they had on their website. The Cream Foundations all looked very pale so I'm not sure if they are all lighter shades or if their website coloring is off.
Check out their site at any of the above links or go to www.sauceboxcosmetics.com and see for yourself how great their products are.
Until next time,
Marina - mCubed Makeup
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I'm going to start out with the Bold Effect Shadows in Lagoon & Queen Bee. I was worried that these would look really bright in the container but end up sheering out once swatched...boy was I wrong! These bad boys are PACKED with pigment and they are buttery smooth. They remind me a lot of Urban Decay shadows but without all of UD's ridiculous fall-out. I prepped my eyes with my Proof 10 primer (amazing product sent to me from my friend in South Korea...Annyong, Debbie!!) around 10am and when I went to take off my makeup around 11:30pm the colors were still just as vibrant. They were very easy to apply and blended like a dream! I didn't experience any creasing and the colors didn't become muddy once blended out. Bold Effect Shadows are on sale right for $5.50 here
Next up are the blushes. Hyper is a gorgeous bright pink with tons of sparkle and Sea Shell is a champagne colored highlighter. I really liked how smooth these went on and blended very easily. They are highly pigmented so I didn't have to "dig" my brush in the pan to get color, I barely tapped into the color and my brush was ready for action. I had a few bits of glitter fall-out from Hyper but it wasn't a big deal. Sea Shell in the pan just looks like a normal champagne colored highlighter but it's buttery smoothness and gorgeous sheen really set it apart from other highlighters. It's very subtle but it makes all the difference in the world. It really brightened my whole face up, I also added it to the inner corners of my eyes as well as on my brow bone and it made my eyes pop! The colors lasted all day and didn't have much fading at all. Blushes are on sale right now for $6.25 here
LumiShine Lip Glosses are next...I received 2 colors Whimsy & Lighten Up. Whimsy is a deep pink with lots of gold flecks and Lighten Up is a very pale champagne color with gold flecks. I am a huge fan of lip glosses that come with the brush applicators, I've never really liked the doe-foot style ones so I was delighted to see these are brushes. I tried Whimsy and it's a wonderful color to just perk up your lips and give you a little shimmer and shine. With both colors, they went on very smooth and weren't sticky at all but you can feel the little gold flecks in the gloss, it's nothing of a deal breaker but when you rub your lips together it feels a teeny tiny bit grainy. They both are pretty sheer and their longevity wasn't anything to write home about, like most glosses they don't last too long. LumiShine Glosses are on sale right now for $5.35 here
The Oil-Free Pressed Powder is what drew me to wanting to purchase items from this company. Every day after I finish my face makeup I always set with MAC's Blot Powder as well as use that to touch up during the day. I love that product, don't get me wrong but if I could purchase a product that does the exact same thing from a smaller company for so much less I am going to! Blot Powder retails for $23.00 so it is not cheap by any means and I go through it like mad. SauceBox's Oil-Free Pressed powder did everything my MAC powder did. I tried it out two different times, the first time over my bare skin (usually my MAC Blot Powder will mattify but it will also cause flakies) and it mattified beautifully without looking cakey. The second time I tried it was over my foundation to set it and it was perfect, not too drying where I look flakey and cakey but it still kept my face from looking oily and greasy for quite a few hours. I usually have to re-touch and blot about 3-4 hours after initial application and with the SauceBox Oil-Free Pressed powder I was able to go about 5 hours without blotting. P-E-R-F-E-C-T-O! The colors were a little difficult to pick since they all looked pale but I think with a blot powder you don't need to be spot on since it isn't creating any coverage. I ordered Matte Dream and I am usually NC15-20 in MAC Studio Fix for reference. Oil-Free Pressed Powder is on sale right now for $6.95 here
Last is the Mascara...OMG! This mascara is pretty stinkin' fabulous! I've been a die hard Make Up For Ever Smokey Lash fan for as long as I can remember so usually no there mascaras can even stand close to it EXCEPT this one! This brush has the rubbery bristles instead of a fluffy brush (which I usually always go for the fluffy brushes) so my expectations weren't too high. I use Latisse so my lashes are very long but aren't thick so usually the rubber bristled brushes just make my lashes look like little spider legs. I honestly only needed one coat but I usually love to pack on coat after coat and this didn't clump, it just made the lashes darker and thicker with each coat. I must add, if you live in a humid climate or have oily lids, this may not be for you...There is the teensiest bit of smudging but since I live in the desert it wasn't too bad, but I imagine in a different climate you may have a bit of smudging at the end of the day. I didn't experience and flaking and that's a big deal for me since I wear my glasses half of the time. Mascara is on sale right now for $3.00 here
So all in all, I'm super duper impressed with this line. I definitely plan on purchasing more mascara, blushes and colors of eye shadows as well as some of their Mineral Eye shadows & their Super Silky Shadows. I hope to try all of their items in the future!
Alla informed me that they will be re-packaging everything as well as coming out with pro palettes (YIPEEE!)
One thing that confused me a bit was that there aren't color descriptions on any items so it was a little bit harder choosing from the pictures they had on their website. The Cream Foundations all looked very pale so I'm not sure if they are all lighter shades or if their website coloring is off.
Check out their site at any of the above links or go to www.sauceboxcosmetics.com and see for yourself how great their products are.
Until next time,
Marina - mCubed Makeup
