Dose of Colors: Iluvsarahii Palette VS The Friendcation Palette

Dose of Colors has been killing the eye shadow palette game recently. Their metallic shadows are unlike anything else out there and their mattes are a buttery dream. Although pricey, I believe it is worth it if you enjoy eye shadow. The two most recent eye shadow palettes the brand has released have been collaborations with YouTube influencers and they have been stunning.

     The first was released in collaboration with iluvsarahii. The palette is comprised of six colorful, but still wearable shades and it is absolutely gorgeous. Two of the shades, "Loungy" and "Wanderlust", are matte. Loungy is a soft peachy shade that is a perfect transition color but still remains unique. Wanderlust is a rich burgundy shade that can be very versatile and is a staple shade for any eye look. The other four shades in the palette are out of this world metallic shades. "Poquito Mas" is the first shade in the palette, which is a pale purple shade. Next up is "Sunglow", a breathtaking gold shade that applies like a dream. In the center of the bottom row, we have the shade that immediately drew my eye when I first saw the palette and in my opinion makes the entire palette. That shade is "Palma". It is the most unique and glittery metallic green-blue shade I have ever laid eyes on. It really packs a punch and the best part is it applies to the lid exactly the way it looks in the pan. Which I often find is rare for shades in this color family. The final shade in the palette is "Finders Keepers", which is a very unique shade as well. It is a metallic black shade with tons of multi dimensional glitter packed into it. It is stunning. Overall this palette is very well put together. It has everything you could need to create an everyday wearable look, a colorful fun look, or the most dramatic look ever, all within six shades. That is an accomplishment in itself. I have thoroughly enjoyed this palette and think it was worth every penny of the $35 they are asking for it.

     Dose of Colors' newest collab was with YouTubers Desi Perkins and Katy "Lusterlux". This was the second time the two influencers teamed up with the brand and I am so glad they did. The

"Friendcation" palette released with the collection rocked the beauty community to the core. It has ten shades, half matte, half metallic. And it is gorgeous. The mattes that are included are very basic, staple matte shades. The first is "Basic", a nude color that you can use to set down your eye shadow primer or use in your crease for a light wash of color. Next is "Cheens", which is short for capachino. Cheens is a deep matte brown which is a staple for any palette. Next to that shade is "Necessary", which is the perfect, necessary, crease color. After that we skip down to the bottom row for the last two mattes in the palette: "Girl Bye" and "Churro". Girl Bye is a rich matte burgundy shade that is gorgeous in the crease or used to deepen the outer corner and Churro is a medium warm brown shade. All of the mattes are colors that we have seen before but I think that they are very necessary to ground the palette and give you something to be able to create a cohesive look with. Moving on to the metallics, in the top row we have "Dirty Money", a green-gold metallic. Next to that is "A Moment" which is a one of a kind blue with a unexpected purple shift. It is truly breathtaking. In the bottom row is "Try Me", a gorgeous shimmery pink-red shade and next to that is "Just a Kiss". Just a Kiss is a special one. It can be packed on over a glitter glue and look like a stunning champagne shimmer shade or it can be washed lightly over the lid to give just a hint of color and sparkle. Although it looks like a shade we have seen many times over in the pan, it really is very unique. Last on the list for metallics is "Game Over" which is a deep black-blue sparkle shade. This palette, much like the iluvsarahii palette can take you from day to night with your eye shadow looks. I would feel comfortable traveling with only this palette as it has everything I would need in it. The $55 price tag was a bit difficult to swallow, but I do not regret it in the slightest after I started playing with the shadows in this gorgeous palette.

     When the Friendcation palette was announced I saw a lot of questions about if they shades in it would be to similar to the ones in the iluvsarahii palette. They were released rather close together, the iluvsarahii collection was released in late July of this year and the Desi x Katy collection was released in late September. Both of the palettes also contained a staple matte burgundy shade, a blu-ish green metallic shade, a gold shade, and a glittery metallic black shade. At first glance it seemed that almost every shade in the iluvsarahii palette was duped out in this new Friendcation palette. So I decided to look in to it a little closer and do some comparisons and side by side swatches.
     The first shades I compared were Sunglow, the gold in the iluvsarahii, to both Dirty Money and Just a Kiss. As you can see, Sunglow is a true gold compared to Dirty Money, which has a much more green tone to it and Just a Kiss is a light champagne color. I found that none of these three were similar at all.

Left to right: Sunglow, Dirty Money, Just A Kiss

     Next I swatched Wanderlust beside Girl Bye. These two are very similar, with Wanderlust having just a hint more brown in it, which makes it slightly deeper. I think that they effect on the eyes with these two shades would be pretty much the same once they are blended out.

Left to right: Wanderlust, Girl Bye

     Moving on to the green/blue shades in the palettes I put Palma up against both A Moment and Dirty Money. Palma is much more of a teal green, while A Moment is a true blue with a purple shift, and up against these two shades, Dirty Money pulls very gold. Again, none of these shades are similar at all. They are all uniquely stunning.

Left to right: Palma, A Moment, Dirty Money

     Finally we have the two black shades in the palettes, Finder's Keepers verses Game Over. These two are very similar, both black shades with glitter in them. The only difference I found was that Game Over was much less intense than Finder's Keepers. It almost comes off as a grey. Which can be good for some people if they are wanting a black that will be easier to work with.

Left to right: Finder's Keepers, Game Over

     When put head to head, these two palettes really only have two shades that are similar to each other, and both of those shades are very basic, staple shades for many palettes. It is the unique colors and the stunning metallic shades that make these palettes stand out from one another and from all the other palettes on the market right now. Of course it is always up to you whether you think it is worth it to purchase both palettes, but with the quality as good as it is, I think that it is well justified. I hope this was helpful and help you decide if you need one or both. Talk to you all next week!

Top Five Best Lip Colors For Fall

With fall upon us and the hot and humid days almost gone, I tend to get even more invested in my makeup looks than I do during the summer. To me, with cooler weather comes more vampy, stylish makeup looks rather than just the functional, light weight, go-to makeup that I reach for when its hot outside. One of my absolute favorite makeup products to test out and wear every day are lip products. I love experimenting with different shades and formulas and wearing a different lip color every day. Especially in the fall. I wanted to share my top five favorite fall lip colors with you all in preparation for the festivities of the season.

1. Too Faced Gingerbread Man

This lipstick is absolutely stunning and it makes it even better that it is fall and winter themed. The packaging is to die for with little gingerbread men all over the top of the product. The lipstick itself is scented like gingerbread. This is Too Faced melted matte liquid lipstick formula so it will apply as a liquid to the lips and dry down to a matte, budge and smudge proof lip color. The color of this lipstick is perfect for fall. It is a rich brown color with an orange undertone. This is the type of color I envision wearing to a bonfire on a chilly Saturday evening or rocking at the pumpkin patch on Sunday afternoon. This lipstick retails for $21 and is available at Sephora and the Too Faced Website. Unfortunately this is a limited edition shade, so if you want to get it I suggest getting it before the holidays start as it will probably be sold out by then.

2. Wet n Wild Ravin' Raisin 

This is a classic bullet lipstick with the tried and true creme finish of one. Not only is the color of this lipstick stunning and perfect for this time of year, it is only .99cents. Yep. But the formula of this product is on par with high end lipsticks that I have tried. This color in particular is a gorgeous, deep plum shade that just screams fall. Its a creamy and comfortable formula so it won't dry out your lips. The only down side to having a creamy lipstick in a dark shade is the fear of it drifting outside the lip line while being worn, but an easy fix for that is pairing the lipstick with a budge proof lip liner. Another upside to these lipsticks is that they can be found at practically any drugstore. I highly recommend the entire line of bullet lipsticks from Wet n Wild, but especially Ravin' Raisin for fall time. 

3. Dose of Colors Campfire

This liquid lipstick is new to my collection but I have fallen deeply in love. The Dose of Colors liquid lipstick formula is one of the best liquid lipstick formulas I have ever tried. It is not overly drying and remains comfortable on the lips for hours. It stays put all day and does not budge outside the lip line, even when eating and drinking. I frequently wear this formula to my 8 hour day job and find that I never have to re-apply or check to make sure my lipstick isn't looking crazy. The color campfire makes me think of fall, naturally because of the name, but also because it is the perfect fall nude. It has a hint of that rich orange-brown without being to overpowering. It is such a wearable shade with just a tiny bit of a fall twist to it. I can't get enough. This product retails for $18 and can be found at Ulta or on the Dose of Colors website.

4. Colourpop Point Zero

Of course I can't talk about lip products without speaking about Colourpop. And with good reason. Their lipsticks are reasonably priced, with their liquid lipsticks coming in at $6.50 on the Colourpop website. Plus they are a great formula. They can be a bit on the drying side, so it is good to pair a lip balm underneath this one if you plan to wear it for the long haul. But the upside of that is they do not budge. Point Zero is a collab done by Kathleen Lights who is a beauty youtuber (if you don't know who she is, which I'm pretty sure you do, please go check her out, you won't regret it). It is a very cool toned grey brown. Although I had my doubts about this color at first, it looks extremely flattering on every skin tone and pairs well with any makeup look. It is the perfect grungy fall shade that still remains in the nude family. It is a great affordable option for fall. If you are a fan of this shade Kathleen Lights also has nail polish in the shade Point Zero to match with her lipstick. You can find that on KLPolish.com.

5. Anastasia Beverly Hills Kristen

Last on my list is a lip gloss for all of you who hate having anything on your lips that is remotely close to feeling drying or uncomfortable. But the Anastasia lip glosses are far from sheer. They pack a pigment filled punch on the lips and leave them looking plump and juicy and full of color. The shade Kristen is a beautiful pinky brown nude color. It is perfect for every day fall wear to the office or just out running errands. Or pair it with a brown lip liner for a night out. This lip product can pretty much do it all and will look fabulous the entire time. Since it is a gloss, I do find that I have to re-apply throughout the day but it doesn't bleed outside my lip line. This gloss retails for $16 and can be found at Ulta, Sephora, and the Anastasia website.

That concludes my list of the top five lip colors for fall. I hope it was helpful and that you enjoyed it! Be sure to leave me a comment letting me know your favorite fall colors and favorite lipstick formulas, I would love to hear from you! See you Friday for a new video on my youtube channel: Kathleen Rose!