Sally Girl Eye Shadow Connecting Compacts - Swatches Part 2

There are so many things I want to show you (all three of you, hah! 8D), but so little time!

Here is the second part of my Sally Girl Eye Shadow collection. As it turned out, quite accidentally on my part, this portion represents the weaker offering.

Copper is a, well, copper -

Champagne, a light champagne shimmer with a hint of pink -

Cream Cocoa, a very light beige shimmer -

Blue Marine, a sea blue with gold shimmer (looks gorgeous, no?!) -

Gun Metal, an off-white shimmer -

Fairy Pink, a very light pink shimmer -

Platinum, a light silver shimmer -

Navy, a navy with silver microglitter -

Swatches -

L to R - Copper, Champagne, Cream Cocoa, Blue Marine

L to R - Gun Metal, Fairy Pink, Platinum, Navy

The standout here is Copper - pretty shade, great pigmentation, smooth, soft texture. After how beautiful Blue Marine looks in the pan, it's a shame that the color payoff is so poor and that the application is woefully patchy. Definitely a huge dud! The light shades (Champagne, Cream Cocoa, Gun Metal, Fairy Pink, and Platinum) I would categorize as 'fair'. The color is faint, which may be the point; however, I would have preferred them to be a little more generous with their pigment.

There you have it - all of my Sally Girl Eyeshadows swatched, photographed, and catalogued! :)

Sally Girl Eye Shadow Connecting Compacts - Review + Swatches Part 1

Is there a tier of cosmetic designation below drugstore? If so I think that, based on packaging, branding, and price, the Sally Girl Eye Shadow Compacts are perfect candidates.

(So cute and tiny!) Sally Girl offers 48 single eyeshadow shades at a bank-breaking $0.99 each ($0.94 with the Sally card). The compacts are made of a flimsy plastic with standard Sally Girl printing stamped on. Despite the bargain-basement look there is one neat feature of the packaging - you can slide the black bits together to form your own palette! This could be a great selling point if not for the haphazard execution; connecting (and unconnecting) the compacts takes a hardy effort, and once you combine three or more the palette starts curving from the pressure.

How is the quality of the shadows? Well, generally, pretty darn good! With a primer they last all day with no creasing and only minor fading. The texture is smooth and blends nicely. While not up to par with some of the better MACs and UDs, they are definitely heads and shoulders above most drugstore eyeshadows (not to mention, cheaper!) and some higher end ones, too. If you are someone who regularly buys Revlon, Covergirl, etc. I would suggest giving these the old college try - it's a small investment and I think you won't be disappointed :) A small word of caution when buying - most of the shades are a touch softer than they appear in the pan.  Also, if buying online, be aware that in many cases the name absolutely does not correlate to the color; for example, White Chocolate is, bafflingly, a dark grey-brown.

On to the photos:

Charcoal, a dusty ash gray with microglitter -

White Chocolate, a dark brown-gray with microglitter -

Coral, a peachy champagne shimmer -

Mauve, a light pink shimmer -

Espresso, a warm medium brown with microglitter -

Caramel, a blush rose with microglitter -

Brick, a warm dark brown with microglitter -

Cinnamon, a russet shimmer -

Taupe, a baby pink champagne shimmer -

Bronze, a bronzey coral shimmer -

L to R: Charcoal, White Chocolate, Coral, Mauve, Espresso, Caramel, Brick, Cinnamon, Taupe, Bronze

Have you tried these Sally Girl Eye Shadows? What do you think?

Sally Girl Polishes: Beauty on the Cheap

I'll admit it - I'm a (recovering?) label queen. If a product isn't Chanel or Nars or Urban Decay, it must be worthless, no good, and to be avoided! Of course, I know this isn't rational; an inexpensive price-tag doesn't necessarily mean subpar quality, just as a high end label doesn't automatically signal greatness.

In order to relieve my negative preconceptions I'm attempting to branch out and try new, cheaper brands, opening myself up to being pleasantly surprised. I got the perfect opportunity to try out this newfound optimism when my mother brought me one of the Sally Girl Mini Nail Polishes.

These minis come in cute 0.18 oz bottles, and will set you back a whopping $0.99. I have NO idea of the name of the color above - in the bottle it looks like a bright, medium hot pink. On the nail it's darker, more of a neon berry. 

Overall the brush wasn't terrible (medium and flat), though a few stray bristles were sticking out. This didn't hinder application, however. What you see above is three thick coats and you can still see my nail line, rather annoyingly. The polish is a satiny matte that refuses to even out - without the topcoat, it was a streaky, tacky mess. Perhaps a fourth coat would have helped, but I didn't enjoy the color enough to put in the extra effort - the shade is fine, but a bit uninteresting and something I've seen a thousand times over.

In terms of staying power this particular Sally Girl has ZERO, even with the winning combo of Zoya's Anchor as the base and Posh as the topcoat. I'm not exaggerating when I say this was the shortest-lasting lacquer I've ever tried. The day after application at least half of my nails experienced bubbling and lifting. One nail lifted off entirely, in one clean piece. The following day every nail had either lifted, chipped, or bubbled. Ugh!

As much as I was hoping for stumbling upon a great enamel at a bargain price, I can't get behind the Sally Girl Mini Polishes - too much streakiness, too much sheerness, and not enough longevity.

Alas, my quest for quality Beauty on the Cheap continues!