Rock & Republic Haul

If you follow the buzz going around the makeup blogs and youtube videos, Rock & Republic cosmetics should sound pretty familiar. I never knew about the brand, not even their apparel, until youtube reviews started popping up. Most reviews gave a big thumbs up mark on R&R makeup line so I was really tempted to try them out. Alas, the horrendous shipping fee killed my lemmings despite the discounts on Hautelook and R&R website.

I started checking their products again when Hautelook lowered their shipping fees. Horray! So last month, I finally did my first R&R haul through Hautelook. It took almost a month for my order to arrive.  Can you could imagine how the excitement was killing me?!?  Apparently they have to order the products from the supplier and have them ship out the order.  That's one thing everyone should be aware of when purchasing from Hautelook.  Given the valid reasons, I still hope they could cut down the amount of time it takes to process the shipping.

I got 4 eye shadows and 3 eye brushes.  They came in a small box and all the items were nicely packaged. Unfortunately, there was one casualty despite careful handling.  I reported this problem to Hautelook right away and they immediately refunded the cost for the broken item. Thumbs up Hautelook for such great customer service!

I have to agree with most reviews with the packaging. They are breathtaking!

These shadows are definitely worth the hype in my books. Texture is the winner here as they feel so fine and smooth.  When I run my fingers through the pan, it actually feels like touching baby powder.  They apply well on the lids and blending is easy-peasy.  I can get away with applying these babies without primer underneath and it takes around 6 hours for me to see some creasing.  With primer, no traces of creasing or color fading at all.  

Now on to the shades.  Alloy is a golden beige that's great for summer as a wash of color.  Sabotage, my fave and the casualty among the bunch, is a cool light brown that's definitely a versatile product for all seasons and skin tones.  Hangover is a nice army green shade that goes well with neutrals.  Revenge is a dark grayish purple which I've been liking these days.

The swatches.... As you can see, the shades I got all have a nice sheen without being too shimmery or metallic.

Now to the brushes. I saw very few reviews on these but decided to give them a try anyways.

The 204 definer/pencil brush is my favorite out of the bunch as it works well for the lash line and the outer v.  I haven't tried MAC 219, but this is definitely better than Sigma 219.

The 203 blending brush is very similar to Sigma or MAC 224 except that it's not as dense and the tip is more tapered. It's not as pointed as a Sigma or MAC 226, so I would say it's a hybrid.  I like this brush except that it bleeds like crazy. I've only washed it 2-3 times and I can see the color of the bristles are starting to fade.  This is the only brush that has problem with bleeding.

The 201 large shader brush is a big and flat brush that can be used to apply colors on the lid and brow bone.  I was hoping this would be similar to MAC or Sigma's large shader brush but apparently this is not as big.  It applies color sheerly on the lids and can be used to blend out colors as well.  I would say this brush is the product I liked the least in my order.  Although it's the bristles are not pokey, but they are not soft at all.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the products I got from this haul.  I guess I won't be hauling more from R&R unless the famous blushes come back in stock again!