Urban Decay from Hautelook.com

I received my Urban Decay order from Hautelook.com today.  I placed the order on the 13th, so it's taken about 2 weeks to get here.  Not horrible, but not fast either.  Well websites like Hautelook, Gilt, and Ruelala always take forever to ship!  I ordered a Tumi luggage from Gilt once and it took over a month to get here!  But you are informed of the estimated shipping time at the time you order, so you expect it.  Doesn't mean you have to like it.  Good thing is they don't charge your card until they ship the item!

These sites somehow get their hands on many name brands and designer items for way cheaper than retail, and they hold a 24-48 hour sale for different brands everyday.  These sites are very popular nowadays, and you have to "know somebody" and get an invite to join their sites.  They range from very high end brands to more affordable ones.  And you can get literally everything - clothes, shoes, purses, accessories, jewelry, electronics, home decorations, even travel discounts.  When a sale of a brand or something you want takes place, you have to literally be on the site at the second the sale starts to get the good/most popular stuff, otherwise they will sell out very quickly.  I've definitely gotten some good deals from these sites, and have missed plenty of things I would have loved.  My Urban Decay stuff was on super sale for like $3-4 an item on Hautelook so I decided to get some and try it out, even though I'd never tried this brand before.  Hey I could always use more makeup!

It was my first time ordering from Hautelook.  What I don't get is why they charged me tax???  I've ordered from Gilt many times and from Ruelala once, and I've never gotten charged tax.  And I've always ordered from brands that do have stores all over the country, especially in California.  I figured since they sell through Gilt (not their own brand), that was why there was always no taxes included, since Gilt obviously does not have a store in California, to bypass the sales tax.  So I really didn't like that Hautelook charges taxes, AND shipping.  Shipping is always a bit high from these sites, but whatever, nothing you can do about that, and it's usually cheaper than paying sales tax (10% in CA now!).  Well I got 6 things from Hautelook for about $35, so taxes was only a couple bucks.  But still, it was an unpleasant surprise and I won't be inclined to order from Hautelook again because of it.  They probably have the least popular brands out of the 3 sites anyway.

Anyway, so I ordered 3 Smoke Out Eye Pencils from Urban Decay.  In black, olive green, and dark purple.

The description for these sounded really good.  It said that they were rich and creamy, color just glides on, blah blah.  So I thought for $3.5 each, I would just order 3 different colors, in case I fall in love with them.  If not, no big loss.  Well I tested them out tonight, and they are ok.  The color goes on fine, but not a rich color at all.  Very very average.  Definitely not as good as I thought.  The MAC one I have is way creamier, I just love it.  I guess after using that, the Urban Decay one just didn't live up to my expectations.  Also, the green and purple colors were not nearly as deep as they described.  I really don't think I'll be using those two at all.  The cool thing though about these eye pencils is that they come with smudge at the opposite end of the pencil, so it's easy to blend during application.  Whatever, for $3 I'm not too disappointed.  I would have a cow if I paid retail price for them though ($14 each)!  Better to stick with MAC for the same price.

I also ordered the eyebrow pencil called Brow Beater in Brunette Bombshell color.

The description also sounded amazing.  It's a 3 in one brush, it has the brow pencil part, a brush on the other end, and also a wax pencil on the other end.  Wow, this pencil pretty bad.  Reminds of something you can get at Target for $5.  First of all, the color for Brunette looks so light, it's like a blond color.  And it barely goes on!  I was jamming it into my skin and barely saw any color go on.  Very disappointed with this product.  The wax end is pretty cool though, it seemed to work and kept brows down and neat looking.  Maybe I will continue using my Shiseido eyebrow pencil (pretty amazing, very very natural looking and color goes on easy) and use the wax from this one on top of it.  

Next I have the Lingerie and Galoshes for Lashes. 

It's another 2 in one.  A trend with Urban Decay products?  One side is the primer and the other is the waterproof top coat.  Very interesting.  I tried some on, didn't really notice a difference.  Maybe this one needs to be tested more and with time we will see.  The primer is supposed to condition the lashes.  I don't really see any reason for me to use the waterproof top coat though, since my mascaras are always waterproof already.  Maybe this one will just make it healthier looking.  Or it's just another marketing ploy for a useless product...

Onto the Baked Body Glow... a tanning stick.

It's just that.  A stick.  It's supposed to go on super smooth and streak free.  But oh boy!  It's pretty hard.  I had to put it on over and over again.  Then some areas became darker than others, and it has a unnatural orange tint.  Not good at all.  Holy cow!  The retail price for this is really $25?!  Wtf??  I paid $6 and I'm regretting it.  I tried spreading the streaks out with my fingers and that didn't even really work.  And it has a lot of glitter in it too, so it definitely doesn't look natural.  Am I supposed to warm it up a little before applying??  Of course that is not in the directions, but maybe I will pop it in the microwave for like 10 seconds and melt it a little.  Ha!  This one is really a FAIL!

Lastly, I ordered the After Glow Blush in Exhale color.

It's a nice golden color.  So instead of a pink/red blush, you put this on to make your face look more sun kissed.  Or maybe you can also put it on over the normal pink blush.  It's pretty glittery.  But when you brush it on, the brush spreads the shine so it's not bad.  I guess it's supposed to be subtle and all.  So I think I will use this some time.   I always like gold colors on my cheeks when I'm going out at night.  I currently have the MAC special edition one from 2 Christmases ago.  I love it!  But I don't know when they will make it again and I'm running low!  I don't think this Urban Decay one is a worthy replacement so I will continue looking.  Maybe this one is better for use during the day. 

All in all, my $35 is NOT well spent unfortunately.  Disappointing since I was excited to get them and I thought I got such a good deal for quality products.  I guess I was wrong!  Would stay away from both Urban Decay and Hautelook from now on.