Review and Swatches: Wet n Wild Comfort Zone

738 Comfort Zone is a Wet n Wild 8 color palette ($4.99 at drugstores) that I find myself reaching for often since it contains a great mix of neutrals and greens. As someone with green eyes, it's a particular favorite, but I think it would really suit anyone. On the left, you have great neutrals including a satin gold-toned cream, shimmery peach, metallic bronze, and deep warm brown with red glitter. On the right are green shades, with a light olive-toned taupe shimmer, shimmery sage, blackened forest green with gold shimmer, and a red-brown/teal duochrome.

Below are photos in natural light showing the shadows from different angles, displaying the dimension in some of the shimmers and particularly the duochrome.

The cream is somewhat sheer and the gold tones come out more at certain angles. Although I would like a little more opacity, it's still a pretty highlight shade, especially over a light colored base, and it has a nice smooth texture.

The peach has beautiful pigmentation and finish and a smooth silky texture. This is one of my favorites in the palette for the high quality and the uniqueness of the shade. It has a nice contrast when used with some of the green shades on the right side of the palette, and I think it would look particularly great with blue eyes because of the orange tones.

The bronze also has lovely pigmentation, texture, and shimmer with a lot of dimension. It's not a particularly unique shade but it's very usable and would go with a lot of looks. While I like the peach for standing out against the greens, this one would blend in nicely and create a very cohesive look.

The brown is the same one as the crease shade in the Wet n Wild I'm Getting Sunburned palette, but I think it has been reformulated because this one is smoother but stains the skin. Other than the staining, it's very nice to define the eye or use in the crease for a smoky look. It's slightly warm toned but not too much so it could be used with pretty much any color family. The red glitter is not too apparent on the eye, but adds a nice unique aspect.

The taupe has a very dimensional satin/shimmer finish that makes it look light a light champagne at certain angles, whereas from other angles it looks darker and more true to pan. I find that it tends to look darker on the eye. This is a little sheer, but easily buildable and has a nice silky texture.

The sage green is smooth and has great pigmentation. It can be slapped on for a bolder, colorful look, or blended out for a more subtle effect. This color really brings out green eyes.

The dark green can be a little patchy but overall has nice pigmentation. I find that the glitter can disappear if you blend it out too much. I like to add this shade just in the outer half of the crease when I'm using the sage green on the lid so that it's not overwhelming. I'll use the bronze in the crease, or a matte brown if I don't want too much shimmer.

The duochrome is really lovely, with a fantastic silky texture and great pigmentation. I've found that if you don't put it on in one swipe, the duochrome finish can get messed up, but it works great if you put it just in the outer corners or sweep it lightly over the lid for a cool effect when you blink. My favorite way to use it is to swipe it just under the outer half of the lower lashline- it creates a really striking effect that can add interest to a dramatic look or spice up some otherwise neutral eye makeup.

I haven't experience any major problems in terms of longevity or creasing, though the cream shade can fade after about 6 hours if not used over a primer or base. The sage and forest greens can also fade a bit after 8 hours without primer.

Dupe alert! The duochrome is an exact color match for Mac club, and I'd actually say that the texture and pigmentation of this shadow are better. This is pretty well known, so I wanted to see if there are any other dupes in this palette, and I found one!

The bronze shade is an exact color and finish match for Urban Decay Smog, though I have to say I prefer the texture of Smog, which is just a little smoother. They look exactly the same though!

Overall, this palette has some great neutrals, a couple of really unique colors (namely the peach and sage), and two dupes for higher end shadows. I would definitely recommend picking this up since it allows you to create an endless array of neutral looks, and it gives you the opportunity to work in some color.

Pigmentation: 10/10 (The cream could be a little more opaque, but overall I'm extremely impressed)
Texture: 10/10 (The dark green is a little dry but most of them are silky and lovely to work with)
Longevity: 9/10 (There was some fading when they were used without primer)
Price: 10/10 ($4.99 is an amazing value for 8 nice eyeshadows- I think it's worth it even if you only use the neutrals on the left)

Overall: 9.75/10

Review and Swatches: Wet n Wild I'm Getting Sunburned

The 334 I'm Getting Sunburned trio from Wet n Wild ($2.99 at drugstores) immediately makes me think of summer, but you could definitely use it all year round. The trio consists of a gorgeous frosty blue-toned pink, a matte deep brown with red glitter, and a golden bronze shimmery shade.

Here are swatches without flash; it's slightly out of focus so you can see the glitter in the middle shade and the frosty finish of the top shade.

The pink shade is perfect. It is smooth and silky with excellent pigmentation and it just glides on. It's legitimately pink, as opposed to some shades such as Urban Decay Sin, which are pink-toned champagnes. This makes is unique and fun but a little more difficult to wear- it's less of a neutral, and can be used more as a pop of color. The frosty finish makes it really brighten up the eyes. If you are familiar with color theory for eye makeup, you know that you should wear the same color as your eyes or the opposite color on the color wheel to make your eyes pop, so I've found that this pink is great for green eyes, but I think this could be flattering on anyone. Personally, I would not use this as a browbone shade as the palette suggests (I would use it on my lid) but someone with darker skin might be able to pull that off.

The brown shade is also very pigmented, but is a little drier and can go on patchy if you don't blend it well. If you blend it too much, you can lose the glitter, which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. The glitter doesn't detract from its function as a crease or definer shade. This is the exact same shade as the left definer shade in the Comfort Zone palette by Wet n Wild, but I think they reformulated it because that one is a little less dry and stains the skin slightly.

The golden bronze shade has the same silky texture as the pink but is not quite as pigmented. It still has good pigmentation and just crosses the line between satin and shimmer. I wanted to see how this color compared to Half Baked by Urban Decay, so I pulled out my Naked palette and made some comparisons.

Comparison swatches with flash

Comparison swatches without flash

I compared the dark brown to Darkhorse by Urban Decay and found that Darkhorse was a bit lighter and had gold glitter rather than red glitter, but blended out I think the Wet n Wild shade could create the same effect on the eyes.

As you can see, Half Baked is lighter and more of a true yellow gold compared the orange undertones of the WNW shade. Half Baked also has that famous ultra-metallic finish. Urban Decay Smog has a more similar finish and undertones, but is a couple of shades too dark. I found that if you blend two parts Half Baked with one part Smog, you can create a shade that is identical to the WNW color in some lights, but at other angles the metallic finish of Half Baked comes out too much.

While the WNW palette doesn't have any exact dupes that I could find, it does allow you to create a somewhat similar look to the Naked palette that would be great for a summery, bronzy smoky eye.

In terms of longevity, I found that these shadows were the perfect mix of silky and slightly dry so that they avoided the creasing seen with overly "creamy" powder eyeshadows, while escaping the fading that can be caused by shadows that are too dry, even without primer.

With a variety of finishes, a couple of near-dupes for Urban Decay classics, and a lovely unique frosty pink, I definitely recommend picking up this trio for summer and transitioning into fall!

Pigmentation: 9/10 (The pink is great, the brown can be a little patchy, and the golden-bronze is fine but I wish it were just a little more pigmented)
Texture: 9/10 (The pink and gold are lovely, the brown is a little dry)
Longevity: 10/10 (Fantastic even without primer)
Price: 10/10 (For $2.99, this is a great deal- you get three nice, usable colors, two of which are near-dupes for Urban Decay shadows)

Overall: 9.5/10

Revlon Colorstay Pencil Eyeliner Review

I am constantly trying out new pencil eyeliners in an attempt to find "the one." I don't think I've come across it yet, but I've had a lot of fun in the process!

I mostly focus on drugstore ones so as not to break the bank, but if you are looking for a tried and true pencil eyeliner, Feline by MAC is as black as they come, deliciously soft and smooth, and quite long lasting, if a bit smudgy. Makeup Forever also has amazingly creamy and high quality liners (and products in general) but at the rate I go through eyeliner, I can't justify spending that much.

Fully Retracted

The most recent addition to my collection was the Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner. I was searching for a good retractable one and decided to pick it up after seeing rave reviews. It certainly doesn't disappoint. Not excellent for tight lining, but long lasting on the waterline and perfect for the upper and lower lash lines. It's extremely precise (I think an upside of being retractable), and will not budge or fade once applied. I have worn it for 12 hours without problem, and I believe the claim of 16 hours. Not the darkest black, but it applies smoothly and evenly for a look midway between natural and smoky.

From top: one light stroke, one heavy stroke, three light strokes, three heavy strokes

Smudge resistance: After rubbing 5 times with a wet tissue and 20 times with a dry tissue

It costs $6.49, at least at my local CVS, so it's reasonable for the amount of product (it only fills about 1/2 of the packaging because of the retractable mechanism) and the medium-high quality. Since I go through eyeliner so quickly, I prefer to use a less expensive eyeliner from NYC (review coming soon!) for everyday use, and save this one for two or three times a week when I'm going out. Here I'm showing a simple look, but this is also great for cat-eyes/winged liner.

Overall, I give this an 8.5 out of 10, and would certainly recommend it to anyone from a makeup beginner to an eyeliner junkie for its ease of application and good cost to quality ratio.