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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Red Apple Lipstick Review





Background 


Red Apple Lipstick (RAL) was created in 2007 by Jay Adam Harper. He started this company after learning of all the horrible chemicals that most cosmetics contain. In addition to making incredible makeup, Jay, and his wife Andrea are dedicated to teaching people about the different ingredients that are in typical makeup and how many of those ingredients are harmful to our bodies. They originally just started with making lipsticks, but have since created eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipgloss, lip liner and they are coming out with a new mascara very soon! RAL is gluten free, paraben free, soy free, nut/tree nut free and non-toxic. 




The Makeup

RAL was kind enough to send me two products for the review. I chose a lipstick called Push Pop and an eyeshadow called Sugar and Spice. The lipsticks come in 4.5 ounce sleek, sturdy black tubes for $23.50 each. The eyeshadows come in 1.5 gram pans for 18.75. You buy them in a pan and you can purchase a compact or zpalette separately. 




 




Push Pop is a beautiful, bright (but not too bright) gorgeous orange shade with a slight metallic finish. It's a perfect color if you want to try one of the hottest colors of the season. You can wear one layer to make it look more natural or add a few to be more bold! 

Sugar and Spice is a matte, rusty brown shade. It looks like cinnamon to me. It's gorgeous by itself, but would look great with tons of the other RAL eyeshadows. In my opinion, it would look great on a variety of skintones. I think it will be a year round staple color for me! 



L-R Push Pop & Sugar & Spice

RAL also sent me a sample of a lipstick called Hibiskiss.  Hibiskiss is a vibrant raspberry shade. It's a bit too bright for my taste. However, I'm sure many people would love it because the color is lovely! Now when I say sample, I don't mean 1-2 or even 3 uses. They will last you SO long, probably weeks! The samples are $3.50 each and you can make a sample set which comes with a sample of their lip balm called Rallye Balm.



Hibiskiss

RAL lipstick is creamy, long lasting, and incredible! It's a bit pricey, but totally worth it! RAL eyeshadow is long wearing and awesome! You can wear it sheer or full coverage, wet or dry.  They eyeshadow has great pigment and long lasting. They have awesome colors to choose from. RAL is definitely a company that everyone should try as the quality of their products is impeccable! With all the colors to choose from deciding which colors to buy could be incredibly difficult. Luckily the have excellent pictures of the makeup on women with different skintones for you to compare as well as spot on color descriptions.


Customer Service

The RAL customer service is great! If you have a question or concern they will get back to in most cases within 24 hours. They are very knowledgeable and will do their best to make you 100% satisfied with your purchase. They want so much for you to be satisfied with your purchase that they allow you to return your purchase for a full refund or exchange for 6 MONTHS for any reason! Who does that?!?! RAL does! In addition to their great customer service, they also have a VIP Club where you get a discount code every month if you are on their email list. With that discount code, you receive a 20% discount off your purchase. As long as you remain on the list, you will get that discount code every month. In addition, you will be first to hear about new products and be able to take advantage of sales not open to the general public. Shipping on orders over $25 is free.
 
 
 
Check out RAL! Ashley Teague, their Social Media Manager has awesome YouTube tutorials btw!
 
 
 Twitter - @redapplelipstic
Instagram- @redapplegirls
 Youtube- www.youtube.com/redapplelipstick                                         
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                  
 
* These products were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.
 

Sunday, March 23, 2014

S.A.L.T.Y. Cosmetics Review

I am SO excited to do my very first product review on S.A.L.T.Y. Cosmetics ! It's been a favorite of mine for awhile now and I want everyone to know about this amazing brand!

Background
Sarah Piccinini started this company 4 years ago with her friends from cosmetology school. They learned all about the dangerous chemicals that are in many cosmetics brands and decided that they did not want any harmful chemicals in their products, so they made their own hand blended mineral makeup. They started with eyeshadows, but have since developed blush, lipstick, highlighters, Glam Glitters and foundation.  They also make custom blend products, so you can get any shade you desire! 


The Makeup

I had just ordered some eyeshadows from S.A.L.T.Y. when I decided to start my blog so for this review I'm going to focus on the eyeshadows. 

They come in a 1.25 gram jar for $8.97 which is an excellent price, especially given the clean ingredients and overall quality of the products! With over 200 colors to choose from you'll definitely be able to find colors you will love!



And I LOVE the pink labels with the names of the eyeshadows and the ingredients listed on the back! 



The 6 colors I bought are:

Night Cap- Gray base with an iridescent, reflective apricot sheen that reflects pink & purple.

After Hours- Vibrant, gray based aqua with lots of sheen.

Entrepreneur-A "moody & striking" gray based eyeshadow with green and pink/silver iridescence.  

Wall Street-Matte based gray with a golden sheen.

Passion-Vibrant purple with hints of pink flecks.

Night Train- Gray based green with iridescence.

These eyeshadows are super blendable, go on like butter & have great pigment. You can wear them sheer with a layer or two or you can wear them with a few layers for more color. Although I usually wear an eyeshadow primer underneath, these are extremely long wearing and you most certainly can go without one and they will stay on for hours! The colors are unique and they are suitable for many different skintones......if you don't find the perfect color for you, Sarah will custom blend one (or a bunch) for you to your exact specifications!

Here are swatches of them: L-R Night Cap, After Hours, Entrepreneur, Wall Street, Passion & Night Train.  




Customer Service

I always appreciate good customer service so I have to mention that Salty Cosmetics has incredible customer service! You can always reach them at saltycosmetics@gmail.com as well as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  They always include generous samples with your order- not the kind that gives you 1-2 uses but MANY uses which I  love! Samples are available for purchase on the website as well!



I hope  you enjoyed this review and that you'll check out S.A.LT.Y. Cosmetics because they are incredible! I will be reviewing more of their products soon, so stay tuned! Please check them out at http://www.saltycosmetics.com
On Instagram : @saltycosmetics


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Welcome!

Hi! my name is Maryann and I have been obsessed with anything beauty related for years. In the last year or so I've learned about the many harmful chemicals that are in most products and have since gone green. I am interested in reviewing products that are natural, organic, fair-trade and cruelty-free. If your brand fits into any of these categories and would like me to do a review, please email me at maryannmakeup@gmail.com Thanks!