Makeup Revolution Reloaded vs. Naked Heat

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In the past, I have been skeptical of the brand makeup revolution because of its reputation of blatantly copying other brands best selling products accept selling them at extremely affordable prices. Now, I have just managed to get my hands on this because orabel beauty sells the brand. Makeup Revolution is a brand from the United Kingdom and is cruelty-free. I wanted to compare this palette to my much loved naked heat palette. This is very clearly made to dupe the urban decay palette but makeup revolution has sneakily added a few more shades so it’s not a blatant copy like their makeup revolution golden bar whose packaging couldn’t be more obvious that they are trying to copy Too Faced. On one hand, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this because they are copying another brand, but on the other hand, I think makeup and makeup trends should be accessible and that is what makeup revolution gives to consumers. In any case, I wanted to compare the two palettes because I love warmed tones and couldn’t resist testing it out. After the disappointment of their concealer, I wanted to try a few other items form the brand.

First the claims on each: Time to get RELOADED! Our 15 shade eyeshadow palettes that are bound to pack a punch at an affordable price. Warm burnt shades for lovers of orange and burgandys, in a variety of matte and shimmer shades. Highly pigmented, long-wearing, smooth and blendable eyeshadow shades that will keep you on trend all year round. The price of this palette is 9.99 CAD on orabel.ca. Orabel is a great website to find makeup that isn’t easily accessible in Canada. The shipping was super fast too!

The naked heat claims: Urban Decay’s Naked Heat features all-new, amber-hued neutrals—including warm browns, burnt oranges, and rich siennas. Each shade features Urban Decay’s Pigment Infusion System™, a proprietary blend of ingredients that gives each shade its velvety texture, rich color, ultimate staying power, and blendability” . This palette is currently $66.00.

As you can see, these to have a similar description in that it is a warm-toned palette but the makeup revolution one does not blatantly state that it is duping and after all brands are free to create warm toned palettes as long as no copy writing is being infringed upon. I think that these have similar vibes.

The Comparison

The biggest differences I see in these palettes are the density of the shadows. The mattes and shimmers in the makeup revolution ones feel thinner than the naked heat shadows and apply with less pigment. The same goes for the shimmers, the ones in the makeup revolution palette are quite similar to the naked heat but again, the naked heat ones to pack a bit more of punch.

MR means Makeup Revolution and UD means Urban Decay

I think that price wise the makeup revolution palette is a nice affordable option for that same warm vibe that the naked heat gives you. The naked heat really for me, steals my heart in that I am an avid lover of the naked series. While I don’t own the newest one, as a collector of these particular palettes I would always choose the naked over the makeup revolution. Now, the lack of pigmentation in the matte shadows in the makeup revolution reloaded is actually welcomed so that you don’t overdo it and it doesn’t require as much blending to diffuse the colour as I enjoy doing in all my eyeshadow looks. However, I’d say if you have a darker skin tone then you would have to build up the mattes in the reloaded palette quite a bit.

The application

Right is urban decay and left is Makeup Revolution

The application of the naked heat vs. the makeup revolution is different. The naked heat packs a punch essentially right away whereas with the makeup revolution I find you have to build it up a bit more to get that full opacity. I created two similar looks here. The makeup revolution also did not last as long as the naked heat after a 12 hour day. Granted what I used for primer was a matte foundation and even when I have worn the makeup revolution palette with a sticky primer they tend to fade more than the naked heat.

Is this a “dupe”

In the makeup world a dupe is a duplicate, generally intended to be a more affordable version of the high end version. In all cases of duping, this is a colour dupe if anything. The Makeup Revolution Reloaded palette definitely has similar shade colours, but the formula is very different. I think that is a great dupe and if you want that naked heat warm vibe this is a great affordable alternative!

12 Pans of Christmas

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I’m SO EXCITED to start the 12 pans of Christmas. I also wanted to announce that instead of doing blogmas I think I’m going to a 12 days of blogging or something just to make it easier on myself so I can balance all the adult things in my life.  Stay tuned for later in December.

I’m really excited to start this project since my 13 by Halloween was so successful I am really excited to start this project. I have selected 12 items and this project will end on Dec 31. This project is a shortie but goodie.

Foundations and Concealers

I wanted to chose a few foundations that I have and that are a bit older in my collection to attempt to use up for this project. First is the Gosh Foundation Drops. I do really like these and I think that I can use a lot of them up. I don’t wear foundation to work as its long shifts but otherwise on my days off I will be either wearing this on its own or mixing it. I also wanted to utilize the Andalous Naturals CC cream sheer tint because I am very close to using this up and since it’s so sheer it’s great for work and otherwise. Okay so controversial – and you all know my feelings on this concealer, but I want to try to use the Too Faced Scuplting concealer because it is so light and brightening I think it might work well for my winter skin. I also wanted to throw in another concealer that is a bit “older” in my collection (I got it in July but you know I love it and want to use it) is the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer.

The Eye Products

I want to use my Bite Beauty MultiStick in Brioche. I really like this on the eye and mixed in with a lip gloss and on the cheeks when applied with fingers and sheered out. For an eye shadow palette the Naked Heat. I really do love this palette and it’s really a classic warm toned palette that can work for several holiday looks.

Did I select too many highlighters? Yes I did.

I LOVE the Nars forte de France Highlighter so I thought I would throw it in this project. You might notice all of these highlighters are in my makeup stash Fridays posts but I thought in an effort to use up things in my collection I’d put them in this project. I also chose the Physicians Formula Butter Highlighter in Pearl. This is a beautiful icy highlighter that has a stain finish. The third highlighter I want to use is my Nudestix illuminaughty Highlighter. I really like this for just an everyday easy glossy highlighter. As for goals, I know I realistically won’t hit pan, but I want to just make a dent in these items. 

The Face palette and Random wet n wild product.

I feel like I always have some sort of wet n wild product in my projects. I want to use the Wet n Wild Contour stick in Oaks on You. I actually really like this product I just rarely stray from my powder products and from my Nudestix Cream bronzer. I also wanted to throw in the Hourglass Ambient lighting palette in surreal light. I use this all the time. It’s so easy for work, everyday and can be built up to glowy goodness. I also wanted to throw in a red lipstick because it is the holiday season after all. I love the Burt’s Bees Lipstick formula and equally love the shade Scarlet Soaked. It\s a low maintenance red that is good for every day but can be built up to full opacity for holiday gatherings etc.

Are you planning on panning anything for the holiday season? 

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NYX Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Foundation Review

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This foundation came out about two months ago. As you know with foundations I have a standard, has to be lightweight and doesn’t make my skin itchy. Too much to ask? Yes probably but when I swatched this foundation in shoppers it felt so beautiful. Almost like a thick hydrating serum, it blended out beautiful on the back of my hand and I knew in that moment this was a foundation I needed to review. For reference my skin type is normal to dry. I bought the shade light and it is a perfect shade match.

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The claims: “Lightweight, waterproof and pigmented AF, our new Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Full Coverage Foundation hustles as hard as you do. This comfy liquid formula comes in 45 flattering tones that don’t transfer. Every creamy shade glides on smooth, delivering matte coverage and color that stays true for up to 24 hours. Our little over achiever also works to control shine and mattify your complexion all-day long. But it doesn’t stop there: this foundation is noncomedogenic and suitable for normal, oily, combination, and sensitive skin types”

Lightweightness: This is a true claim. This foundation, while full coverage and matte, feels very light weight on the skin and doesn’t make my feel dry and tight. Now, keep in my mind I mix everything I use with a hydrating serum (even tinted moisturizers) so I think that definitely helped. But I did wear this only over a glowy primer and the finish was flawless. I will say that you should moisturize if you tend to lean towards the dry side but in any case I didn’t find this grabbed onto any patches. It did sort of cake up around my nose but quite honestly everything does this to me and I don’t like wearing foundation on my nose anyway as per Violette Fr’s recommendation that it creates the optical illusions that you aren’t wearing foundation.

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This foundation also wears really nicely throughout the day. I went to skating in this foundation and did my own pre skate before coaching and it didn’t melt or break up on my skin (gee too bad this didn’t come out in the middle of summer when I was in plus 40 weather). I will continue though to wear this in the winter mixed with more dewy foundations because this foundation plays nicely with literally everything I’ve mixed it with, which is something I like in any base product. I also wanted to compare this to other shades of foundations I typically wear hence the picture below if you are trying to shade match.  

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Left to Right: Wet n wild photofocus foundation nude ivory, The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation Bora Bora, Gosh foundation drops in 002, The Ordinary Serum Foundation 1.1N

The other thing I greatly appreciate about this is the packaging. I really like the glass packaging and the pump and the lack of chemical smell. This feels very high end (not that I’ve tried many high end foundations) but it feels very lux which I think we can all appreciated in a drugstore foundation. Speaking of drugstore, this foundation was 16.49 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart which to me is a bit pricey for a foundation, but again compared to the Wet n Wild photofocus foundation that for a foundation that is inexpensive has nice coverage, but doesn’t have the same performance as this one and the wet n wild also smells like paint thinner. This foundation to me feels very quite substantial and while I can’t compare this to any high end foundation as I don’t own any, I really love it overall.  As well, it has 45 shades which is a wonderful shade range and was done in collaboration with Alissa Ashley.

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Wearing the foundation – you can see its a bit dry on my chin but basically all my foundations are. You can’t feel it on the face which is a big win in my book!

Overall rating, I haven’t done this in so long, but hot damn 5/5 stars for me. If you have extremely dry skin I’d stay away but if you are normal, oily, combo and sensitive this is a perfect foundation for you!  

Have you tried this foundation yet?

Alternatives to NARS Forte De France

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Okay, it’s no secret that I love luxury products. I won’t deny that to ya’ll. I do. I admit, when I see the Anna edit using NARS I’m like, well crap I need that now. But, I understand that people might not support NARS as a brand or just don’t want to spend $50 on a highlighter. I’ve rounded up a few alternatives and one, dare I say it, dupe for the NARS highlighter. I also didn’t realize this until I was done searching through my highlighters for a dupe, but these are all cruelty free!

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Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder

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Don’t let the word shimmer turn you off of this product. This is the shade Starlight glow. The NARS is shiny and glossy, and is more glossy than this one but if you blend it out and into your skin you can get a very similar effect. The ELF is a bit more powdery to the touch and not as bouncy as the NARS powder. But if you like ELF and want the same effect I’d recommend this one. The price difference is staggering, the NARS is $50CAD and the ELF is $8 US and I’m not sure the Canadian price as I bought it at Loblaws awhile ago but it was definitely under $10.

Annabelle Perfect Glow Highlighter

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This is in the shade Golden Diamond. Fun fact, every time i was comparing my mom always knew which was the drugstore side but she had to go really close up to my face, so from afar these don’t look that different. The Annabelle is more gold than the NARS and not as glossy, but you can make this highlighter look glossy by really blending it into your skin. The price difference again, is a large one, this costs $9.95CAD and I got it on sale for 6.99 so again it’s a $40 savings.

The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer

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The third and final alternative I have for you is the dupe. The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer. When I was asking my mom if she could tell the difference she really had to look and said she couldn’t tell the difference, but would still say the one side was shinier (which I revealed was the NARS side) but she said of all them she couldn’t tell unless she really really looked closely. This is the one that I would use the word dupe for. Not formula wise, but both powders are very smooth. You only have to build the balm Mary LouManizer up a bit more than the NARS to create the same glossy shiny effect. This one is the most expensive of the bunch and costs $22.33CAD on the Amazon website. Though you aren’t saving as much with this one (about $28) you are still saving a large chunk of change and buying from a cruelty free company!

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I realize you can hardly see these because how does one take good photos of highlighter?! In any case from left to right – NARS Forte De France, The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer

Verdict: I love the NARS and its probably one of my favourite highlighter formulas ever (eek what a statement) and I would buy more shades in the future for sure. I won’t be anytime soon because I own many highlighters I want to get more use out of before purchasing more. However, I wanted to do this post for you all because I know that the drugstore has really great highlighter options and you don’t have to break the bank to get that glossy glow!

What is your favourite highlighter formula?