Gift from Ulta

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to work with Ulta on two makeup tutorials. I drove to one of the newest stores in San Diego, met with a manager, and then got my makeup done. The whole experience was a gift in itself and then I got a little box from Ulta in the mail.  If you've seen my unboxing videos, then you know very well how excited I get over new makeup. All but one product was brand new to me, and many of the things I had actually never heard about. You've seen a few of these products pop here and there on Instagram, but here's an overview about what I got and whether I like them or not so much.

The Good
Whim nail polishes, base coat, and top coat: These give you a long lasting and shiny manicure with a great 5-free formula. My favorite color of the bunch is the pretty pink shade which has a bit of purple in it.
It Brushes for Ulta Velvet Luxe Soft Focus Sculpting Brush #315: This makes contouring so easy! It's also incredibly soft and easy to hold in your hand. This is a pricey brush but now I'm definitely considering checking out more from the Velvet Luxe line after trying this brush.
It Brushes for Ulta Airbrush Precision Shadow Brush #112: This brush works incredible with the Colour Pop eyeshadows or any other cream eyeshadows. It's very dense but can still blend out eyeshadows very well.
Japonesque Makeup Setting Spray: It really makes my makeup last much longer and it also gets rid of the cakey look if I applied too much powder. The only thing I don't like is that it kind of smells like hairspray, but other than that I really like it.
Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer: It's a cult favorite for a reason, because it works so well! It wasn't the best with the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops but it works great under foundation.
Matte Eyeshadows in the Ulta Gilded Gold Natural Eye Shadow Palette and Rose Gold Natural Eye Shadow Palette: Usually drugstore matte eyeshadows are very hard to work with and not very pigmented, but that's not the case with these. I love the matte eyeshadows in both palettes! I find them very easy to apply and blend out. I also really love the brushes included in the palette!
Matte Bronzers in the Ulta Contour Kit: Once again the matte formulation trumps the shimmer! The matte bronzers are very easy to work with, including the darkest shade. I thought that I was only going to use the lightest bronzer but I've found myself using all four matte shades.

The Bad
Shimmer Eyeshadows in the Ulta Gilded Gold Natural Eye Shadow Palette and Rose Gold Natural Eye Shadow Palette: The shimmer shades are the complete opposite of the matte ones. They are powdery, chalky, and hard to work with. I cannot get them to apply the same way as they look in the pan. I've tried packing the shade with a flat synthetic brush- nothing happened. I even tried wetting the eyeshadow and still nothing.
Shimmery Highlighters in the Ulta Contour Kit: Just like with the eyeshadow palettes, these highlighters just fall short. They are once again chalky and a little hard to work with. I also don't really like how subtle they are, it's very hard to tell that I have anything on when I apply it.

The Things I'm Excited To Try
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara: I've heard so many great things about this mascara from many of my favorite bloggers so I got so excited when I saw this! I cannot wait to see if I end up loving this volumizing mascara with one of the weirdest mascara names I've ever seen.
Mally Beauty Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Eye Liner: I did use this once in my last chatty tutorial but I still need to play around with it a bit more. I liked how smooth it applied but there's still a lot more testing I need to do before I declare it a winner or just a decent product.

What products have you tried out? Which products would you like to see a written or video review about? Let me know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Ulta did send me all these products for free which I'm incredibly thankful for. I collaborated with them a few months ago on two non-sponsored makeup tutorials. I'm not being paid for the tutorials or this blog post. All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.