Starlooks - April 2014

GARDEN PARTY

Haha, yes, yes, I know it's June, but if you follow me on The Charming Cheshire Facebook page, you'll know that I intend to play Starlooks catch-up by posting my April and May boxes back to back since I really loved them! Tomorrow the May Starbox review will be up, so keep an eye out for it. For quicker updates and to stay in-the-know as to what crazy antics are going on with me, be sure to follow me on my Facebook!

You've been waiting long enough for this, so let's jump right into the review!....

"It’s finally that season and time to break out the COLOR! This month’s Starbox features the ideal combination of Spring accents to liven up any look for any occasion." - starlooks.com

Yes please! I love me some color! I have to say, I've been absolutely loving what I received in April's box, I've been wearing it nonstop for the past month and a half!

I received: an eyeshadow palette, lip gloss and seeds

Is that a beautiful Spring-Summer box, or what? The colors are absolutely beautiful!

5 SHADE SHADOW PALETTE

in Tokyo

"Five of our Full Size Eye Shadows combined to offer the ideal look for any spring event, garden party, wine tasting trip, or even just that daily pop of seasonal color." - 2014 April Starlooks card

Can I just take a moment to admire these shadows.....::sigh::. I can NEVER say no to eye shadows! This palette, by far, is the best quality shadows I've ever tried from Starlooks, without a doubt!

The packaging is the same as all of their 5 Shade Shadow Palettes (minus Stockholm, which appears to be white instead of black), a black plastic snap-shut case with porthole clear windows to see through the lid at the individual pans underneath.

    

This palette contains four shimmer shades and one matte. Unlike a couple of other Starlooks 5 Shade Shadow Palettes I've used, I had absolutely no issue with the pigmentation or formulation with any of the shades. The St. Tropez palette I own has problems with the matte black shade (too dry, no pigmentation and has a strange hard formula that makes it difficult to pick up from the pan), and the pigmentation of the Monaco palette was a bit dry and harder to build up compared to this one.

    

The five shades included in the Tokyo palette are a golden champagne satin/shimmer, a rich olive green satin, a bright pear green satin, a rustic orange satin and a deep cranberry matte. 

As you can see, without the primer, only the greens really stand out and appear decently pigmented. However, over a primer, the colors seriously pop! It really didn't take much work at all to build up the pigmentation.

Even without a primer, the formulation of the shades is lovely. They're soft, easily blended, easily built-up and I didn't have any problems with dryness, flaking or creasing, even with the matte cranberry shade. 

As far as longevity and wear, I've used this palette MULTIPLE times since I received it and all the shades, from both the lightest champagne to the deep cranberry have lasted a decent time on me with a good primer and setting spray. I had full color for at least six hours before it began to fade, and even then, I still had soft coloring that didn't crease till the ten hour mark. I've worn it lightly blended on to heavily applied and I absolutely love how versatile it is for all types of looks. It can easily be tossed into your purse to transition from a day look to a night look! I love it. If you're thinking of trying out a Starlooks 5 Shade Shadow Palette, I highly recommend this one!

LIP GLOSS

in lg6 Pout

"...in one of three colors, perfect for Spring! Our signature lip glosses have been specifically formulated to provide that smooth, moisturizing, lasting color you deserve, as well as a kissable, non-sticky texture you won't find anywhere else!" - 2014 April Starlooks card

This is my fourth Starlooks Lip Gloss and I don't know why Starlooks decided to blow me out of the water by sending me my newest favorite color selections of both the palette and the lip gloss, but I'm glad they did! The other three shades that I currently own are Pearl Necklace (satin champagne nude), Coy (nude peach gloss), and Guilty Pleasure (warm dusty rose gloss). Pout is by far the prettiest and most pigmented! The other two shade variations sent out for this box were Orgasmic and Climax.

As with the other glosses, the packaging is a hard, plastic round tube with a hexagonal shape on the inside, making the appearance of the outside look hexagonally-shaped as well. It's a twist top cap with a simple doe foot applicator wand. 

I've mentioned before, I really love the way these wands collect product. I've had some lip glosses that end of pulling so much gloss out, smeared all over the side of the wand and dripping off of the end, but with these Starlooks glosses the brush gets wiped off well along the side and I end up with just the right amount of product to apply lightly on the lips. If I want to build up the pigmentation and glossiness a bit, I can easily apply a second coat!

    

This color is AMAZING. It's a coppery-pink shimmer with copper flecks dispersed throughout. The pink tinge has a gorgeous rosy tone that makes it appear very warm and a bit earthy.

Depending on what you wear, the color can lightly shift from a very rusty looking shade to a rosy pink. On my super pink lips, it seems to lean more into the pinker range, but if I put a bit of concealer over my lips first then it pulls more copper.

   

I've found that even though these glosses are quite shiny, and glossy in texture, they feel very comfortable on the lips. They do settle a bit, instead of remaining a heavy coat on top, which I absolutely love. It's not terribly sticky and the pigmentation can be built up a bit for a richer color. 

Worn with two coats for a deeper color, I have full pigmentation with eating and drinking for about 2.5 hours, which isn't bad at all for a gloss. Even at the four hour mark I still had a beautiful deep rose sheen that lightly faded away. While I love their Gloss finishes, I have to say, this Satin finish is stunning! I'd especially like to see some deeper tones in some future Starboxes! You hear me, Starlooks! Pretty pretty please!

BONUS!

WILDFLOWER MIX SEEDS

I keep looking at my desolate flower beds, wishing I had more time and patience to grow some more of the gorgeous flowers I had last year. Beautiful bright crimson, deep plum and pale lavender shades everywhere! Alas....so I gave these to my Mom who LOVES her garden. She has the most gorgeously bright green thumb that I've ever seen. ::giggles:: I should hire her to be my gardener....

WORTH AND PURCHASE

1) 5 Shade Shadow Palette in Toyko: $41

2) Lip Gloss in Pout (lg6): $12

Total Paid for Box: $17.68*

Total Worth of Box:  $53.00

Even though I only received two products in this month's Starbox, I'm still super happy with it! I don't know if I'd pay $41 for just five shades, but the quality is certainly excellent and it's so very versatile, so I'm very pleased with paying $17.68 for both items! Great deal! (*Starbox is $15 per month with a $2.68 shipping fee)

Starlooks DOES have the April Garden Party Starbox for sale now, as they usually do once the month is over, for a slightly higher price than the monthly subscribers. It may not be quite as cheap, but it's still a good deal compared to paying full price for each item! 

STARLOOKS.COM - APRIL 2014 STARBOX

"Did you miss the April 2014 Starbox? Don't worry, you can still get it! Includes Spring Flower Seeds, our Starbox Exclusive "Tokyo" 5 Shade Shadow collection, & one of our 3 featured Spring Lip Gloss colors!

**Please Note: Past Starboxes may not arrive in the same box as their birth month, but the products inside will be the same." - starlooks.com

FINALE

I really loved the Garden Party theme, so I wanted to go for something romantic, elegant but with a fresh twist. 

I kept the face simple with a light BB creme and setting powder, some soft contouring and warm rosy blush.

For the eyes I wanted to do a darker, smokier tone on top with a bright pop underneath. I used all five shades in this look.

    

I started with the rustic orange shade over my lid, stopping at the crease, then the olive green blended in the crease and lightly upwards towards the brows, deepening it more to a richer tone on the outer thirds of the eyes. I worked the cranberry shade on the outer half of my eyelid, keeping it below the crease, almost like applying a super wide wing.

 

I finished the look by applying some soft black matte eyeshadow in a small wing and smudged on the outer 1/2 of my bottom lashes, tight-lining my waterline and upper lashes with a black eyeliner, patting the bright pear green shade on the inner 1/2 of my bottom lashes and dabbing some of the champagne color on the inner corners of my eyes and on my brow bone. A few coats of mascara and a few swipes of the Pout Lip Gloss and there we have it! A look suitable for any glamorous Garden Party!

To finish up, I absolutely loved April's Starbox! Now you know why I just had to post it, the products were too gorgeous to ignore. Stay tuned, tomorrow I should have May's box posted!

Well that's it for April's Starlooks Starbox review! I hope you enjoyed it! Thinking of trying out Starlooks Starbox for youself? Please do use my referral code to sign up! Just CLICK HERE and it'll get you started! For every sign up with my referral code, I get a free gift box! If you sign up for Starlooks Starbox you can share your personal referral code for a customizable gift box as well!

Starlooks Starbox is a monthly beauty subscription box for $15 plus $2.68 for domestic USPS First Class shipping. Each monthly box contains 3-4 FULL SIZED pieces of Starlooks brand makeup plus some fun little beauty extras! Past Starboxes are also available for purchase for $25 each while quantities last. Starlooks also gives their subscribers a free Birthday Box ALONG with the monthly Starbox during the subscribers birthday month! What are you waiting for.....you know you want to sign up!

Happy Makeuping! ::sips tea at party surrounded by roses::