Morphe: An Honest First Impression

I didn't plan on coming on here tonight and writing. I've had a long day. I took the day off work to enjoy, and somehow a "vacation day" turned into a "get-everything-done-possible-day". I guess because Christmas is only nine days away, we're all pretty busy.

For about two and a half years I have been intrigued by Morphe. It's one of those "YouTube Companies" that give every person and their brother an affiliate/discount code. You hear almost every beauty YouTuber talk about how amazing Morphe eyeshadows are and how affordable Morphe is as a company. I had always been curious to know if the products really were that great or if the YouTuber's were just spewing lines of B.S. in order to make their commission. I have debated many, many times on ordering from the Morphe website because there were only sold online and in their retail store, which is in California. But when you take a $25 (USD) eyeshadow palette and convert it to Canadian dollars, plus add in international shipping charges, and then add on the customs fees that are applied to cosmetics.... that $25 eyeshadow palette suddenly jumps to $50+ (CDN). When you're talking those prices, I would much rather go buy a palette at Sephora that I can swatch in store and confirm whether or not it's worth purchasing. Well, my fellow Canadian friends... I have some great news! Showcase (As Seen On TV) carries Morphe! I was able to go to the store, see the palettes close up, and swatch a few shadows to test. Not only do they carry some of the eyeshadow palettes, they also carry Morphe brushes, contour palettes, and gel liner! I'm hoping they get the blush palette back in store at my local store, because I would love to have that in my collection. Not only does Showcase carry Morphe, but they also carry a few ColourPop lippies which is another brand I have been dying to test (but haven't due to the international issue I stated before).

Now, the items are marked up a bit. When I say a bit... I mean huge! I purchased the 35O palette which is listed on Morphe's website for $22.99. Showcase sells the exact same palette for $49.99! I know the exchange rate is crazy right now, but come on! That is more than double the price! I refused to pay that, especially because I only wanted to dip my toes in the Morphe pond, as opposed to jumping right in with that red bill. Today, Morphe items were 25% off (I believe) so I could handle that a little bit better. Especially because when I saw the 35O palette in person, it was one of the most beautiful palettes I had ever seen. The colours and textures were outstanding. The picture online looks very blah. It does it no justice! Without hesitating, I grabbed that palette. I also wanted to try the M330 crease brush because I feel like I had heard every YouTuber talking about these brushes. I also grabbed the M224 brush which is a medium sized flat paddle brush (most likely for concealer). It was only a couple of bucks after the sale discount, so I figured I would try that one too. The markup on the brushes was a little brutal as well. Online the M330 sells for $5.99 (USD) and Showcase was selling it for $19.99. The M224 sells online for $2.99 (USD) whereas I believe Showcase was selling it for $6.99 (CDN). I purchased a few other things at Showcase that you will be seeing First Impressions on soon. I won't tell you what, but I'm pretty excited!

NOTE: A lot of these shadows are pulling more grey/blue tones as my lighting isn't great right now. I will be taking more photos in natural lighting this weekend. The shadows are mostly browns, oranges and reds.

As I mentioned before, I have had a long day. All I wanted to do tonight was curl up on the couch and watch a movie. But, if you know me, you know that I lack patience. I couldn't wait to jump into my Morphe palette. I had been waiting over two years to test this out... I physically could not wait any longer. I started swatching the shadows and I was absolutely impressed with the quality. I couldn't believe how pigmented most of them were. Yes, there are a few shadows in there that don't really get me excited, but four out of thirty-five really isn't bad. At all. I feel the same about some more expensive palettes that I own. My excitement grew and before I knew it I was practicing eye looks in the mirror. I wanted to see how they would perform. Finger swatches on your arm can only show so much and I wanted to know what I could expect when using them. I will insert some picture of two quick looks I did. One is more bold, which is more my speed. The other is a little softer. It shows how versatile this palette really is. Also, I didn't mean to use only drugstore/affordable products in these looks, but conveniently, that is how it worked out. Now, please note I don't have any foundation, concealer, or powder on. You are getting my bare skin. Blotches, giant pores, and all!

Milani Eyeshadow Primer ~ Wet N Wild MegaGlo Contour Palette (highlight shade to set my eyelids) - Dulce de Leche ~ Morphe 35O Palette ~ NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Milk ~ Covergirl - The Super Sizer Mascara ~ NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder

Milani Eyeshadow Primer ~ Wet N Wild MegaGlo Contour Palette (highlight shade to set my eyelids) - Dulce de Leche ~ Morphe 35O Palette ~ L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Smouldering Eyeliner - Black ~ Covergirl - The Super Sizer Mascara ~ NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder

Unfortunately, it is 10pm so my lighting isn't the best. It's not picking up the absolute beauty that these shadows are in person. The shimmer shades are incredible. On my softer look, the entire lid is coated in a cream shade that shifts to a soft pink. It was such a surprise when I swatched it because I was not expecting a shade like that. I have never seen a shade similar to that one, and I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait to play with it some more and create some new looks! I wasn't even this excited with my TooFaced Chocolate BonBons Palette I recently received. This palette blows that one out of the water (in my opinion, of course).

So, now that we know how much I enjoyed the palette, lets transition over to the brushes. Honestly, I didn't use the M224 tonight but it feels soft, sturdy, and everything I would look for in a concealer brush. I was thinking about using it when I practice cut creases. It might work well for that. I did, however, try out the coveted M330 crease brush, which everyone raves about. At first touch it is super soft and fluffy. But, once I used it with shadows on my eye, it started to shed immediately. Not just one or two strands, but upwards of ten to twelve! I'm hoping that this was just getting rid of some loose hairs. At this rate, the brush will only last me a week!

One last thing I wanted to mention about the eyeshadows was that they do leave a slight stain on your lid. After washing off my eye makeup tonight, I noticed that orangey/red side had a pink tint to my eyelids. This isn't something that bothers me personally though, so it's not a deal breaker. I have a photo below to show the slight discoloration that it left on my lid.

     not stainedslighty stained

Alright guys, I am off to bed! Again, this was just my first impression using these items and I will keep you updated as I use it more. Opinions could change, but as it stands right now I am thoroughly impressed. Good job, Morphe!

Let me know if you have any Morphe items that you love or even any that you don't! I love hearing about different products working for different people. 

Again, you can always find me on Twitter @cherrytrish17 or on Instagram @cherrytrish.

Until next time, goodnight my friends!

$10 Eyeshadow Primer VS $25 Eyeshadow Primer

I have the greasiest eyelids anyone has ever seen. Yes, it's a horribly embarrassing problem that I've dealt with my entire life. This is the reason why I never bothered to wear eyeshadow until a few months ago. Now matter what eyeshadow I used, or what I did, it would always crease. And I don't just mean a little crease... my entire lid would be bare and every particle of shadow would be bunched up in a perfect line. This would happen in a matter of two or three hours, so when you're working a full-time job and you don't have time to reapply... you just learn to go without shadow. I would get by with just using eyeliner and mascara. I think I pulled it off nicely. But I would always see makeup tutorials and be completely jealous of these women that could wear these daring looks for hours at a time and I was stuck in the no-shadow-zone. 

I did try using eyeshadow primers before. I even tried the MAC Paint Pot (Painterly, of course) or using a concealer (both Maybelline Fit Me and NARS Radiant Creamy) but it would all cause me to crease within hours. It wasn't until I found out that my girl Nicole (Young Wild & Polished) started talking about her greasy lids and what she used to combat the problem. She raved about the Smashbox 24hr Photo Finish Shadow Primer and how well it worked. I splurged (for me and my drugstore budget) and purchased it. It really was as amazing as she said. It worked so well so I started wearing eyeshadows again. The only problem was I found that I was going through it pretty quickly and I wasn't ready to shell out another $25 (CDN$). I had then started to hear a buzz about the Milani Eyeshadow Primer. Milani is now available at Canadian Wal-Mart, which is great because that used to be a brand that I would travel to Buffalo for. The primer was $10 (CDN$) and it even looked similar to the Smashbox one.

After trying this primer out for the past week I can honestly say it is a dupe for the Smashbox one. I think I might like the Milani primer better, actually. I did a compare test today to see how each would stack up. I applied each one to it's own lid, set them both with my Wet N Wild MegaGlo Contouring Palette in Dulce de Leche, and then applied the same shadows on each eye.

SIDENOTE: I absolutely love the Wet N Wild MegaGlo Contouring Palette. I use the highlighter shade to set my undereye concealer as well as my eyeshadow primer daily. It's smooth, finely milled, and it works very well. BRAVO Wet N Wild!!

I wanted to really test how these primers would work so I did a nice, dramatic look (for me at least). After about ten hours of wear, with no touching up, I have the below, untouched results.

Can you guess which side was Milani and which was Smashbox? The results might surprise you. They sure surprised me! If you look at the eye on the right, you can begin to see it start to crease, whereas the other side still looks pretty good. Better than the right side in my opinion. Of course, the creasing side is the Smashbox one! I was shocked!

When it comes down to it... which would I choose? Both are great eyeshadow primers that stood the test of time, but, because of the $15 price difference, I will continue to purchase the Milani one. It's quite impressive!

So, now that I have these new primers that work quite well on my greasy lids, I am an eyeshadow fein! I have purchased two Kat Von D palettes, 10 MAC shadow pans, the Chocolate Bon Bons palette from Too Faced and I'm planning on getting the Sweet Peach palette from Too Faced when it releases in a few days. Something about red, oranges and peaches really get my motor running. The more I play with my palettes, the more excited I get. I absolutely love working on my techniques for the eye. 

For those of you who are interested, I have inserted a photo that shows my makeup for the day. I think I love it!

As always, you can find me on Twitter @cherrytrish17 or Instagram @cherrytrish. 

Until next time, goodnight my friends!