Face of the Day - Ulta Gel Eyeliners and Real Techniques Sponge

I hauled a ton of Ulta Gel Eyeliners yesterday and a pretty cool Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge and I wanted to play!  I already told you how afraid of color I am.....I love my Naked palate to death.  I dipped my toe into the color world and came up with this.  I'll give you my impressions of the eyeliners I used and the sponge as I go and a list of all the products with more pictures at the end...Lets get started! Here is the Final Look...Keep reading for impressions and step by steps!

Here is my face with NO makeup... ALSO - please excuse the hair....tomorrow is my day to wash it and I worked out and cleaned the house before I played with makeup.......

I normally use my fingers to put on my foundation.  I have a few foundation brushes from Real Techniques and Elf, but I can never seem to blend the foundation in enough and it looks streaky.  I have also used those little triangle sponges that you buy in bulk.  I always reverted to my fingers - but I think this new sponge is a keeper!

Here's my face with foundation only, applied with the Real Techniques Sponge (damp)...

I really like this sponge.  It can apply a light layer of foundation and you can build up the coverage where you need it and keep it light where you don't.  It's also nice for concealer, you can build up that coverage too without making a cake on your face.  I used the flat side for my foundation and the pointed tip for concealer around my nose and eyes.  

Here I am with concealer, powder and bronzer....

Now for the finished look.......

I primed my lids with the elf 1.00 primer then applied Rimmel ScandalEyes pencil in Nude to the inner 1/3rd of my lid, I covered that with Virgin from the Naked Palate.  Then I applied the Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Golden Egg to the middle 1/3rd of my lid and covered that with Half Baked.  Next, Penny went on the outer 1/3rd and was covered with Smog from the Naked Palate.  I blended each color into the next when I applied them.  I applied Darkhorse from the Naked Palate to the crease and blended it out and used the lightest color from the Louise Young Palate for my brow bone. The inner corner has Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow in Pearl.  I also used a little bit of Bronzer to transition the colors.  These liners make an awesome base and the colors are such a close match the the Original Naked Palate.  After 3 hours, with a little bit of sweating there is no creasing.....

I lined my upper water line with Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Blackout and Lined my upper lash line with the Matte Black  from the Louise Young Palate and an Elf small angle brush.  

I lined my lower water line with Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Starry Night and smudged it into the lashes.  I topped it with the light blue from the Sleek Original i-Divine palate. The eye shadow really popped over the liner.  The liners (Blackout and Starry Night) seem to wear like a usual gel liner on the water line and would probably need reapplied/touched up after a few hours. I finished it up with 2 coats of L'Oreal Carbon Black Mascara.

Here's a close-up of the eye look:

 

Overall, I am happy with how the look turned out. Normally, the upper lid colors would have been smudged on the lower lash line and both water lines would be lined with a black liner.  The pop of color makes it fun and (as lame as it may sound...) I would totally start matching it to my outfits! Or mood...does that sound better?

Full List of Products

Face: 

• Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me in 125
• Concealer: NYX HD Photogenic Concealer in CW03 Light
• Bare Minerals Well Rested to top off the undereye area
• Powder: NYX stay matte but not flat powder foundation in SMP02 Nude
• Bronzer: Revlon Photoready Bronzer in 100 Bronzed and Chic
• Highlight: Philosophy the color of grace amazing graze shimmering face powder
• Blush: City Color Be Matte Blush  in Fresh Melon

Eyes:

• Elf Eyelid Primer (1.00) in Sheer
• Rimmel Scandal Eyes in 005 Nude
• Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Golden Egg
• Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Penny
• Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Blackout
• Ulta Gel Eyeliner in Starry Night
• Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow in Pearl
• Naked Palate (Original)
• Louise Young Palate
• Sleek Makeup i-Divine in 594 The Original
• L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara

Lips:

• Revlon Colorburst Lacquer Balm in 105 Demure

One is never enough.....ULTA HAUL!!

So, I was in bed relaxing on my heating pad (I pulled a muscle in my neck and upper back), all hopped up on muscle relaxers to stop the spasms and I stumbled upon Ulta's website.  I realllyyyyy did NOT need any makeup/body/hair products, but being in my relaxed state I decided to browse.....just in case.  Well, my browsing turned into a purchase when I saw the Ulta brand of Gel Eyeliner Pencils on sale for $1.00, yes $1.00 a piece.  These are normally $8.00, so this was a crazy good deal!  There are 24 shades, I bought...20 of them,  (21 total because I bought 2 black).  So then they had their typical 3.50 off of 10.00, and free shipping on $25.00 purchase. so I had to add $8.50 worth of products to the cart to get that free shipping (makes sense right???).  I needed bobby pins, so I added those....still a couple of bucks short, hey I always wanted to try the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge, so I added that too!  There, I was over 25.00, got my 3.50 off and got free shipping (and my samples of course!).

I'll start with the big boy...the Eyeliners.  There are 24 total shades, I did not get 4 of them (Night Sky - a Black matte with silver glitter, Clay - a blue grey metallic shimmer, Silver Dust - silver metallic shimmer and Halo - white metallic shimmer).  I already have a shimmery white and a silver metallic, the other two didn't sound appealing to me.  Here's a pic of all of the liners that I got.......

Left to right: Blackout, Smoke, Dove Gray, Black Brown, Mink, Chocolate, Golden Egg, Penny, Copper, Bronze, Peacock, Olive Oil, Moss, Aqua, Denim, Majesty, Storm, Indigo, Starry Night and Plum

On with the Swatches!!!  I used my inner forearm, and did a longer line with a couple of strokes back and forth and then the shorter is just one swipe.  I did apply a lotion this morning.  At the time I am typing this, they have been there for about an hour and a half.  I'll let you know how they are wearing with each picture.....and I will TRY to describe the colors, I will probably fail miserably - I will include a link to Ulta's page here so that you can read their descriptions, by the way - THEY ARE STILL $1!

Black and Gray....

Bottom to top: Black Out, Smoke, Dove Gray

Left to Right: Black out, Smoke, Dove Gray

                                     
As I sit here and look at the current state of these swatches, I am the most disappointed in these colors. All of them faded significantly without being touched.  All three will still smudge when I run my finger over them (excuse me while I re-swatch my arm to try to describe these).  Black out is - wait for it - Black, but not extremely pigmented compared to all of my other black liners.  Smoke is a dark gray.  Dove Gray is a metallic gunmetal gray color.

Browns....

Left To Right:  Black Brown, Mink, Chocolate

Left to Right: Chocolate, Mink, Black Brown

     

These have not faded, but still smudge when my finger runs over them.  Black brown is not very black brown at all.  Mink is darker brown that looks more black brown to me.  Chocolate is a chocolate brown.  

Metallics!!

Top to Bottom: Bronze, Copper, Penny, Golden Egg

Left to Right:  Bronze, Copper, Penny, Golden Egg

These are still wearing very well!  They don't smudge when rubbed and still look as bold as the picture.  Bronze is a shimmery brown.  Copper is, well, copper.  Penny is a Taupe-ish color.  Golden Egg is gold.

Greens!

Top to Bottom: Aqua, Moss, Olive Oil, Peacock

Top to Bottom: Peacock, Olive Oil, Moss, Aqua

 These are also still wearing well!  They did not smudge when rubbed and still look bold.  I love the aqua, it has a metallic quality to it.  Moss  is a army/drab green and seems like a darker version of olive oil (where did they come up with that name??).  Peacock is a deep forest green

Purples!

Top to Bottom: Plum, Storm, Majesty

Left to Right: Plum, Storm, Majesty

These also stayed put!  Not impressed with Storm - a "blurple" to me, not very pigmented at all - the longer line is a couple of back and forths, the short is just one swipe.  Plum is almost a metallic, brownish-purple, and Majesty is a dark true purple.  

Blues!

Top to Bottom: Starry Night, Indigo, Denim

Left to Right: Starry Night, Indigo, Denim

These also set pretty well.  They did not rub off when I ran my finger over them.  Starry night is a bright blue.  Indigo is an almost cornflower/gray blue with a metallic quality. Denim is a dark navy.  

Overall, I can not wait to incorporate these into my daily makeup routine.  Whether I use them as an eyeliner or as a shadow base is yet to be determined.  Most of these are still tacky to the touch, so they might make some really good shadow bases.  I am usually more of a neutral gal, so I will probably start with adding pops of color on my lower lash line.  I am kind of disappointed in the black, but overall I am impressed, especially since they were only a dollar!!!

Here's the rest of what I got, not too much to say - haven't used the sponge yet and it's just bobby pins??  Not really excited about the samples either, already received the benefit face wash and haven't even used the first sample.  For the matrix style cream - probably won't use it either, I usually where my hair natural and "beachy" during the warmer weather since I have a natural sort of wave, and a sea salt spray is all I need (BlowPro: You can find it here..... ). I can do a review on the spray if ya want?  The last sample is a cologne, haven't smelled it yet......

 WHEW - that was long!!!  Hopefully you made it this far....let me know if you will buy any of these or if you already have them....what do you think of the quality, pigmentation, etc.?