Generation Beauty New York Series: Goodie Bags Day 1 & 2

If you're familiar with Generation Beauty you may already know that the goodie-bags provided at the end of each day can be a large part of the motivation to attend for some people. While it is an exciting aspect of the event and I'm happy they provided them for us, I can't help but feel like the bags were a little bit underwhelming.

Many of the items in them were either slightly larger things we had already received from booths that day (I say slightly larger because few things were full sized) and the size of the bags themselves were smaller than I had been lead to believe they would be based on previous reviews I saw from LA . I know this may make me sound greedy but keep in mind these tickets were $95 + personal travel costs of getting there all the way from Virginia.

Regardless, there is some good stuff in these bags that I may have never tried on my own, so I can definitely appreciate the diversity of brands included.

1. Formula X Nail Polish in "Pyrotechnic" (full size)
2. Mally High-Shine Liquid Lipstick Pen in "Delish" (full size)
3. Crown C410 Flat Concealer Brush (full size)
4. Temptu Highlighter in "Champagne Shimmer"
5. Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Hairspray
6. SOHO Retractable Kabuki Brush (full size)
7. Benefit They're Real Mascara
8. NYX High Voltage Lipstick in "Tiara" (full size)
9. Makeup Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara
10. Skin Inc. Pure Revival Peel
11. Moroccan Oil Hand Cream
12. It Cosmetics No-Tug Waterproof Gel Eyeliner
13. It Cosmetics Tightline
14. Cargo HD CC Cream in "Medium" (full size)
15. Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

1. Dermalogica Clear Start School Day Skin Essentials- Breakout Clearing All Over Toner and Emergency Spot Fix
2. SKINN Exfoliating Face Wash
3. Derma-e Purifying Daily Detox Scrub (full size)
4. Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black and Nirvana White Perfume
5. NUXE Multi-Purpose Dry Oil Sample
6. Bliss Long Glossed Love Serum Infused Lip Stain in "Ready for S'more" (full size)
7. Klorane Dry Shampoo
8. PurMinerals Lipstick Samples
9. OFRA Liquid Lipstick in "Venice" (full size)
10. Gallany Lip Gloss in "Giggle" (full size)
11. Essence I <3 Extreme Mascara (full size)
12. Eva-nyc Dry Shampoo
13. Belief Aqua Bomb Moisturizer
14. Cover FX Calming Primer
15. Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in "Papaya"
16. Jouer Pearl Lip Enhancer in "Nude Pearl"
17. treStique Mini Shadow Crayon in "Tibetan Ivory"
18. Juliette Has a Gun Perfume Sample in "Lady Vengeance"

*this post wasn't sponsored and all photos are my own*

Eye Drops vs. Laura Geller Shadow Shifter

If you're familiar with eyeshadow pigments, you've probably heard about using eye drops to liquify and intensify the pigment you're working with. I've done it many times before in the past but it seems like every Youtuber I watch mentions that you can use eye drops but then they proceed to use some other mixing medium; this always made me wonder if eye drops were really the best thing to use to get the strongest pigmentation. A few months ago I found a duo pack of the Laura Geller Shadow Shifter on clearance at Ulta for about $8 so I decided to get it and try something new. I've been practicing with it for several weeks now and I've included swatches for both high end and drugstore pigments so everyone can see how they compare!

PROS:

These drops definitely work. As you can see, I got a much more pigmented swatch from liquifying the pigment with these drops. Surprisingly, the drugstore pigments were harder to remove with the drops than the MAC ones! I can also completely testify to the fact that this product did not make my shadows crease. I always get nervous putting any wet products on my eyes but this product really did seal everything in. I can't say they were waterproof because I didn't jump in a pool or anything with it on but it did hold up extremely well on my eyes for several hours.

CONS:

Balance. If you don't get the ratio of drops to pigment just right when mixing it, it can be a disaster. You can even see in my Maybelline swatch that the product looked chunky in some parts- I left this in the picture intentionally to show how that can happen. I used the same amounts when mixing all my swatches yet not all of them turned out perfectly smooth; this is a common risk I've found with the product which makes me feel like the turnout will be unpredictable every time. *ALSO* my biggest issue with these had to do with layering. Many people get their brush wet then dip it directly in the pigment and apply it; this was impossible to do as the application was incredibly uneven. I always mix it on the back of my hand first and then apply it to my eyes. Occasionally I would need to go back in and pick up more pigment to get the full intensity on my eyes and THIS is where it can really turn to shit. I did this one of my MAC pigments that isn't featured and the second application of pigment completely chunked up on my eye and then removed it completely! I was not swiping with my brush I was patting it on and I still had this problem- it completely ruined my look that night and I was not happy!

IS IT WORTH IT?

Ahem, do you see the differences between the eye drop swatches and the shadow shifter ones? NO! Almost all the swatches both drugstore and MAC were equally as pigmented with both drops! The only differences I really saw were in the MAC pigments; Kitschmas went on just a little bit smoother with the shadow shifter, and Push the Edge actually went on too dark in my opinion- the eye drops pulled a much more wearable purple and showed off it's slight duo-chrome much better. Bottom line, if you can find them on clearance I would say give them a shot and see if it helps waterproof your makeup (especially in the summer months). If you can't find them on sale, HELL NO! These retail for $17-$20 and there's no way I would EVER advise anyone to spend that kind of money on these. Eye drops are like $4 so I'd go that direction. Also note that I included the swatches after two swipes of a makeup wipe below and the eye drops held up pretty much as well as the shadow shifter drops!

*this post was not sponsored and all photos are my own*