review

review: jaclyn hill x morphe palette

~ institutionbeauty ~ 1 Comment

Happy Monday, loves! Today we are taking a look at one of the most anticipated releases of this summer. I’m sure many of you beauty lovers know that Jaclyn Hill has been working with Morphe Brushes for two years to create this palette to perfection & I will let you know if it lives up to those expectations!

The palette features 35 brand new shades with a special formulation that had to pass Jaclyn’s exceptional standards. The shades have the most basic neutrals, fiery warm tones, and even features some fun greens and purples. The palette has varying finishes in mattes, shimmers, satins, and metallics.

prices range:

$38.00 at morphebrushes.com

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I have always liked morphe palettes in the past. I own a few and they are pretty decent quality especially for the price but Jaclyn blew this out of the park. The quality is incredible especially for the price. I find the formulation to be similar makeup geek, but makeup geek shadows will set you back $6 a piece and more for any foiled formulations. Don’t get me wrong I love makeup geek shadows but my z palette cost much more than $38 and it is still not 35 shadows!

Jaclyn’s shade range gave me almost everything I would want in a palette with good crease colors and blending shades while still keeping things interesting with some slightly more bold choices. Because there are so many shades, those bold colors seem much more wearable, So often in palettes it is 5 neutral shades and a bright blue that is very difficult to work into a look with the accompanying colors. Jaclyn and Linda crafted shades that pair seamlessly to create a holistic palette.

The mattes blend effortlessly with the perfect amount of pigmentation. One of my favorite unique characteristics of this formulation is that the shimmery and foiled shades are just as pigmented applied with a brush as with a finger. My usual favorite foiled shades apply with almost no metallic sheen on a brush and then when I use my finger tip they look like melted metal. It one of my larger pet peeves with shadow because I have stiletto nails which make it more difficult and I hate getting crap on my hands. I almost never remember to wash my hands after I do my makeup so I end up leaving the house with copper shadow on my hands that usually ends up all over me 🙂 So thank you Jaclyn for saving me from that!

I only have two small critiques of this palette. The first is that I wish there was a matte cream-ish colored shade. I wanted something matte like makeup geek mirage. I tend to use concealer as my shadow base and I have kind of hooded/droopy eyes so I am prone to creasing. I will set my concealer but my best bet is to then begin my shadow routine with a matte base and the shadows blend more easily and last longer. I think a matte base color is a staple that I wish this palette wasn’t missing.

The only other critique I have of this palette is the shade twerk. When you look at it, it looks like a royal blue. I used it a few days ago as my lower lash color with a warm burnt orange eye look on the lid. I wanted a summery look with a royal blue pop. When I applied twerk it was much more purple than it was blue. During work everyone complimented me on my purple eyeshadow which just confirmed that twerk was not the color it looks to be in the pan.

My two issues with the palette are minor and definitely do not take away from the incredible work Jaclyn and Linda have done on this palette. I highly recommend you grab yourself one. The first batch sold out and the palette will be restocked tomorrow July 18th at 8 am PST.  This is the link to the restock page that allows you to enter your email to be notified when it is restocked!

If you have the palette let me know what you think and what looks you’d like to see me create with it! As always leave me any suggestions for new posts you’d like to see. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram @institutionbeauty to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to Monday, loves.
love & lipstick kisses 💋

review: dose of colors eyedeal duo

~ institutionbeauty ~ 5 Comments

Happy Monday, loves! This week we are taking a look at a product that I haven’t seen tons of blogger talk about, dose of colors eyedeal duo. The duo contains a cream shadow and a glitter in a dual layered container.  The product comes in 13 different shades from more neutrals to stand out greens.

prices range:

$25.00 at doseofcolors.com

$25.00 at ulta.com

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I purchased the shade disco because I have been looking for a good silver glitter for quite a while. I like the product in concept but not as much in execution. I think its a great idea to have a cream shadow or primer to help lock in the glitter but this one didn’t work for me. I found the cream to be too oily and slippery to actually secure the glitter and it feels as though it moves around on your lid. I much prefer the Too Faced glitter glue to secure my glitters.

On the other hand I do actually enjoy the glitter. It is vibrant and very finely milled. It is not as chunky as most of my other glitters and ends up looking a little more metallic rather than glittery which is not necessarily a bad thing. As with all glitters, it is pretty messy. I think you’re best bet for decreasing the mess is using a more tacky primer than the one that comes with it.

Although I like the glitter, I find the price tag to be too steep for what you are getting. I much prefer my violet voss glitters that will only put you out $9.00 each. If you’ve had your eye on one of these duos for a while than go ahead and grab it, just know you might not get much use out of the cream. If you are just looking for a good glitter or want to get started in using glitters, I would check out violet voss glitters and splurge a little on a better primer like the too faced glitter glue!

As always leave me any suggestions for new posts you’d like to see. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram @institutionbeauty to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to Monday, loves.
love & lipstick kisses 💋

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review: artist couture diamond glow powder

~ institutionbeauty ~ 1 Comment

Hello loves! Today we are taking a look at one of instagram’s hottest products. A lot of you have probably seen videos of tons of beauty gurus raving over these highlighters. The clips of bloggers swatching the loose highlight have gone completely viral on every social media site. So I decided to order one and put it to the test!

prices range:

$26.99 at artistcouture.com

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I ordered the shade coco bling which is one of the lighter shades in the range. The collection does offer a wide range of shades for all highlight needs which I greatly appreciate. The product is a loose powder which can be kind of messy if you aren’t entirely careful. This highlight is meant to be super finely milled and pack a serious highlight punch. I’ll admit from all of the hype I had seriously high hopes for this product that weren’t entirely met.

I love a super intense highlight but I expect it to be smooth, creamy and not have any chunks of glitter. The diamond powder is not as smooth as I hoped. I feel like once its on my cheeks it is super glittery and doesn’t give that JLo glow more like a 9 year old girl playing with costume makeup glow. I much prefer my becca or anastasia highlighters to this one. Those may not be as immediately intense but build up beautifully and don’t have any glitter.

If you want a poppin’ highlight to give you glow and not glitter I would skip out on this one. As always leave me any suggestions for new posts you’d like to see. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram @institutionbeauty to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to Monday, loves.
love & lipstick kisses 💋

review: huda beauty liquid lipstick

~ institutionbeauty ~ 1 Comment

Happy Monday loves! I wanted to start out this weeks post by thanking all of you who stuck with me through my absence. School and work definitely got the best of me and I just needed to take a little break from blogging for the sake of my own mental health. This time I am back for good and I have a huge stock of beauty products to tell you all about.

Today we are looking at the one of the most anticipated products from one of instagram’s   biggest beauty stars. Most of you have probably seen an instagram video from Huda Kattan whether you knew it was her or not. She is probably one of the most beautiful women to grace this earth and is one of my person favorite beauty icons. I especially love that she features tons of artists on her instagram. Theres a rumor that her products are sold every six seconds in the middle east and hopefully i will soon get my hands on the new 3D highlighting palette but first lets talk about one of the original products from her line.

Huda Beauty’s liquid lip is unlike most on the market. I find it is actually true to the name liquid lipstick. Usually when we think of a liquid lip we are thinking of the kind ABH or NYX or Colourpop put out that are super pigmented and super matte. Huda’s is more like an actual liquified lipstick. It reminds me of a much better version of the Too Faced melted lipsticks.

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The formula is super lightweight and feels kind of watery when you first apply it to the lips.  It has a basic doe-foot applicator and a light vanilla scent. The lip doesn’t feel like it dries completely but it does dry pretty fast and become transfer proof without completely drying out your lips! The finish reminds me of more of a satin than a complete intense matte which I kind of like because it doesn’t dry out the lips and it keeps from emphasizing any lines or imperfections in your lips. Because it doesn’t feel super dry I didn’t think it would be super long wearing but every time I go to check on it, it still looks great. It will last through eating and drinking as long as you aren’t having anything too oily. The crazy light feel is something I had to get used to because most of my lip products are a lot more noticeable to me as I wear them throughout the day but it keeps everything super comfortable and I really enjoy it.

I own the shade bombshell but she just came out with an even wider range of nudes for various skin tones so you know I will be grabbing some more shades soon! I love these liquid lipsticks. Although I play a good game, I actually rarely wear lipstick because I don’t want to touch up and I really prefer the feeling of nothing on my lips. I think if you are a little more low maintenance lip girl like me you’ll really love these too!

As always leave me any suggestions for new posts you’d like to see. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram @institutionbeauty to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to Monday, loves.
love & lipstick kisses 💋

review: jeffree star skin frost

~ institutionbeauty ~ 4 Comments

Happy Monday, loves! As you know I stalked Jeffree Star Cosmetics over the past few months for every new relaunch so I could get my hands on a bunch of his products. Now that they have resolved their stock issues I feel comfortable giving you my thoughts on his majorly hyped up highlighters.

prices range:

$29.00 on jeffreestarcosmetics.com

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Now this may be one of my shorter reviews because there is not much to say about this besides how much I love it. This is one of the most beautiful highlighters I own (and I own an extremely excessive amount). I purchased the shade ice cold because it is the fairest shade he sells. It really is a stark white shade when you look in the pan but on the skin it is a little more cream toned. It is a super intense highlight and is not for the faint of heart. If you are new to the highlighting game I would not start with this one but if you want to be beaming and seen from space then you need to look into the skin frosts.

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The powder is perfectly creamy and glides on the skin easily. Ice cold is smooth and glowy without looking glittery which I greatly appreciate. Some people may think its a hefty price tag but the pan is the size of my face so you are definitely getting your moneys worth! I also adore the fact that Jeffree has been sure to cater to beauty lovers of all skin tones. There are eight shades in the range so you are sure to find one that will suit you. I can’t say enough good things about this highlight!

If you follow me on instagram (@institutionbeauty ) you know that October 1 I am starting a month long halloween feature. I will be posting a new halloween look every single day of October. I have put together some super easy last minute costumes, some gory, some glam, and some classic looks for you all. I will be giving a post with step by step instructions and product listings to help you achieve the looks too! So check back Saturday to see my first look of the month long series!!

As always please recommend any other products you would like to see me test out! Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to Saturday, loves.

love & lipstick kisses💋

review: kylie matte metal lipstick 

~ institutionbeauty ~ 5 Comments

Happy Friday, loves! As we finish off our look at Kylie cosmetics lip products, we put her liquid matte metal lipsticks in the hot seat. The metal lipsticks come in 4 shades for $18.00 a piece at kyliecosmetics.com


I purchased the matte metal in the shade heir. Although it swatches absolutely beautifully, it’s not my favorite. The formula feels very oily and doesn’t apply well. As you smooth it in the lips it is patchy and streaky and doesn’t give good color payoff. 

I’ve heard similar complaints about the Kylie metals as well as the Colourpop metals. For such an expensive lipstick, I would expect a better pigment and application. If you are looking for metal lips just pat a metallic eyeshadow over a regular liquid lipstick while it is still damp. 

I know this is a much shorter review than usual but I really don’t have much to say about this lipstick because it’s a big pass for me! As always please recommend any other products you would like to see me test out! Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to Monday, loves.
love & lipstick kisses💋

review: kylie cosmetics gloss

~ institutionbeauty ~ 2 Comments

Happy Wednesday, loves! Today we continue our look at Kylie Cosmetics products with one of the lip glosses from the range. The glosses come in 7 shades, 4 of which match colors of the matte liquid lipstick and lipliners.The glosses are $15.00 each and can be found on kyliecosmetics.com.

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I purchased the lipgloss in the shade so cute which is the lightest shade in the range. So Cute is described as a pale beige which I think is a fair description. It has a light vanilla scent but it doesn’t linger once you apply it on your lips.

The gloss is very pigmented but not to the point where you have to be careful when applying it. I own a few of the Anastasia glosses and I actually am not a fan because of how intensely pigmented they are. They are more like a lipstick that is shiny but the texture doesn’t allow for the outline of your lips to look very nice. The Kylie gloss on the other one has a lot of pigment but is perfect for slapping on while you’re on the go.

My favorite part about this gloss is the texture. It is the lightest gloss that I have ever worn but still stays on your lips. I am not a big fan of gloss because it is usually sticky and I hate the way it feels on my lips. This formula is super glossy without being sticky or feeling thick on the lips. This is the only gloss I carry around with me.

Not only is the formula perfect, the color is now one of my go to nudes. So Cute is the perfect nude color for anyone with a light to fair skin tone and anyone darker than that can  use it as a paler shade than their everyday nudes. As her color range expands, there is a gloss that every shade can love. I highly recommend giving these glosses a shot!

As always please recommend any other products you would like to see me test out! Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog on the right hand side of the page, so you receive updates when I post. Also follow my instagram to get updates and see the makeup looks I create! Thanks for all the love & support. Talk to you Friday with my next Kylie lip review, loves.

love & lipstick kisses💋