Swatches: Digging out forgotten, unloved makeup

I don't know how this happened.

I wanted you. I needed you in my collection. I purchased you, brought you home...and then forgot all about you.

I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional, it just...happened. I lost interest. You now sit in the bottom of my makeup kit, all dusty, unused, and neglected.

Don't look at me like that. Sometimes growing apart happens, I mean --


Okay, does this happen to anyone else? You get all excited about a product, can't wait to use it, and next thing you know...something more exciting comes along. You forget about your old stuff.

I'm totally guilty of this. It's like I have Makeup Attention Deficit Disorder or something!

So, I decided to dig out some old products and try to get reacquainted with them. Sad to say, I probably haven't used any of these in at least a year. Bad!

I'm kind of sad I ignored these little dudes because they're actually good products! As far as I know, none of these are limited edition, and are still on the market.

Brands are: Hard Candy, Sally Girl, NYX, and ELF.

Swatches ahead.

First up, we have:

• Hard Candy Baked Blush in Living Doll
• Sally Girl Mini Baked Eyeshadow in Pink Icing, and Lady Like Lavender
• NYX Eyeshadow singles in Ocean, Barely There, and Root Beer

Hard Candy Living Doll is a gorgeous pink baked blush with a shimmery finish. It has buildable color, which can be worn lightly for a wash of pink, or layered for more pigmented flushed cheeks. It really does remind me of the sweet rosy cheeks on a porcelain doll. Available at Walmart.

Sally Girl baked eyeshadows are tiny little things, but definitely aren't tiny in value, color wise. Pink Icing is a shimmery medium pink, and Lady Like Lavender is a silvery muted purple. These range from 69-99 cents. Available at Sally Beauty Supply.

Now let's look at some NYX singles. Ocean is a gorgeous turquoise shade with a hint of golden shimmer. Barely There is a pale, sheer color packed with buttery iridescence. It would work well as a tear duct or eyebrow bone highlight shade. Last, we have Root Beer - a great everyday soft brown. These apply smoothly and easily layer for added pigmentation. Available at Ulta, Cherry Culture, and other online sources. 

Next are some loose mineral eyeshadows by ELF.

The ELF mineral eyeshadows are best used with a base or primer. I swatched these without a base and they are on the sheer side. These are great for a softer look, if you do not care for rich, pigmented colors. Some shades are heavy on the shimmer. Angelic is a white shade which, if used sheerly, works great as a highlight shade. Caffeinated is probably my favorite here, I love the bronzy soft shimmer it has. Earthy is a lovely sheer green with cute shimmer. Mysterious is a bit hard to describe. It has some slight shimmer, but it looks almost matte. It acts like a typical matte shade in that it's a little difficult to apply and blend. It's a very soft neutral gray. Not a fan of that particular color, but I like the other ones. Available at eyeslipsface.com.

Well, these are just a few of the random products I've been neglecting. I'm going to try to incorporate these more into my makeup rotation. 

Disclaimer: The items in this post were purchased by me.