Birthday Treats: Urban Decay + Marc Jacobs

Some people get excited about getting resteraunt freebies for their birthdays.  This girl? Free makeup, thanks!  Both Ulta and Sephora offer free makeup to people on their mailing lists, which I think is awesome. 

Ulta gifted me with an Urban Decay eyeshadow in the shade Urban Cowboy, and Sephora, who, in all honesty I have bought very few things from this year, gave me Marc Jacobs Le Marc Crème Lipstick in the shade Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Crayon eyeliner in Blaquer.

 I'm pretty sure my birthday gift from them cost more than what I have spent there this year.  Which makes it all the cooler that they would still send me the coupon to redeem.  At any rate, I was super excited to get them all.

So, first, the eyeshadow.  It is a really, really pale color, as you can see, its not really all that different in base color than my own skin.  No matter how many layers I applied, I really couldn't see the color at all, other than the glitter.  I ended up blending it with a darker brown color I have in another palette, and even then, it was still difficult to see.  Urban Decay colors have a reputation for being really pigmented, but that isn't my experience with this color.  Even on a deeper skin tone, I think this would be a sheer color.

The only really visible part is the glitter.  It is really big and obvious.  If glitter is your deal, you will LOVE this.  I look like I got in a fight with Tinkerbell and I lost.

It is actually so much more glitter than my little iPhone camera can see, but believe me when I tell you, it was a lot.  I'm 35 now.  Its a lot of glitter for a work environment.

As you can see in these pictures though, the eyeliner is really doing its job.  I will say, this stuff applied like a dream.  It slides right one.  If you are going to splurge on something, eyeliner is a great choice.  You don't need to spend a lot of money to have a great lip.  There are thousands of inexpensive lipsticks that are stunning.  Eyeliner though? You can tell the difference between a budget brand and a prestige brand.  This glides on so easily, and even moreso than my other higher end eyeliners, it easily gets up in my waterline. 

Colorwise, its almost too black if there is such a thing.  It really went on strong, and here we are 12+ hours later, when all my other makeup has waved the white flag, this eyeliner is holding strong.  If you are looking for a super black, super easy to apply liner, this is an excellent choice, but if you are fairer skinned like I am, it might be a little much.

I do love the color of the lipstick.  It is sort of a mauvy-rose pink, and I think it would  be flattering on most anyone.  I'm not super in love with the formula though.  Its  a little bit dated and cakey.  It looked heavy on my lips, like stage makeup, and while I really liked how opaque the color is, the buildup against my lips was not my favorite.

These items all together run about $75.  Its so awesome and generous of these two companies to give them out for free as birthday gifts, and free makeup will always brighten my day.  Unfortunately, for me, all three products left something to be desired, and for that much money, I could probably find a lot of different products people would like more.