Product Reviews

These MAC Semi Precious Mineralize Blushes Are 100% Great

July 12th, 2011 by Karen 37 Comments

MAC Semi Precious Mineralize Blushes from the left: Feeling Flush, Pressed Amber and Warmth of Coral

If you haven’t popped by a MAC counter to try the three new MAC Mineralize Blushes ($23) from the Semi Precious Collection, try to pencil in a trip if you can. I think they’re all kinds of awesome, especially if you like a natural-looking cheek flush and blushes that are easy to apply.

I’ve been reaching for Feeling Flush (a marbleized mix of pink, blue and brown), Pressed Amber (a mix of beige, nude and brown) and Warmth of Coral (a mix with a coral and a peach) regularly since last week. All three spread like warm butter on bread, applying smoothly on cheeks and giving them a gorgeous, just-pinched look with one or two layers.

Mineralize Blush swatches from the left with the flash: Feeling Flush, Pressed Amber and Warmth of Coral

Mineralize Blush swatches from the left without the flash: Feeling Flush, Pressed Amber and Warmth of Coral

Feeling Flush on cheeks
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Don’t Khol Me Crazy About This New Eye Pencil from Guerlain

July 10th, 2011 by Karen 12 Comments

I love a good taupe liner. They’re a subtle, yet still different enough, alternative to basic black and brown, and that’s why I thought I’d fall for Guerlain’s new Eye Pencil in Khol Me Jungle ($30), one of three new shades for fall (there’s also one in navy and one in ebony). Not just because it’s a delicious taupe — a dark grayish brown — but also because of its totally awesome name.

Khol Me Jungle? Seriously, isn’t that great? 🙂

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With the Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palettes, Guerlain Is Closing In on Chanel and Dior

July 9th, 2011 by Karen 32 Comments

Most of my experience with Guerlain makeup has been with their lipsticks, which, while hella expensive, are some of my favorites among any brand I’ve ever tried. The Rouge G’s, in particular, are wonderful ways to splurge in the makeup department. Smooth, rich, long-lasting color, and that exquisite packaging with the hidden mirror in the cap?

TO. DIE.

I haven’t spent as much time playing with the other products in the line, but since I love the lipsticks so much, I couldn’t wait to see what the company’s new line of eyeshadows had to offer.

Each of the nine new Ecrin 4 Couleurs palettes ($59 each) comes with four shadows — one each in matte, satin, metallic and iridescent finishes — in varying levels of coverage. Like the lippies, the sleek gold compacts come dressed to thrill. Everything about the presentation here, from the etched Guerlain logo on the front, to the heft of the palette in the hand, feels like luxury.

Based on the two palettes I’ve tried, Les Bleus and Les Noirs, I find myself being drawn to the iridescent shades, with their opalescent particles that gently illuminate my skin when the light hits them just right. The effect reminds me of a powder-puff lens filter or the light from a soft-white bulb. Generally, all of the shadows in each of the palettes are solid, finely milled and have a downy soft texture that effortlessly blends.

Even so, the price ($59) is quite high, even when you consider that the colors work out to $14.75 per pan — just 25 cents more than the cost of a MAC eyeshadow single. It would also be easier to accept if it weren’t for one thing…

Les Bleus

Les Noirs

Swatches of Les Noirs (four shades on the left) and Les Bleus (four shades on the right)
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Red Guerlain Rouge G Lipstick in GarÃ§onne Is Raising Quite a Flap

July 8th, 2011 by Karen 27 Comments

ZOMG! You could probably buy several baguettes, a couple of glasses of fancy red wine and maybe even a wheel of high-quality stinky cheese for the price of one tube of Guerlain’s new Rouge G in GarÃ§onne ($47), but DAYUM!, it’s a helluva red.

One layer of this vibrant, pigmented true red, one of three new Rouge G shades for fall, brightens my mood as it brightens my lips.

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Tarte for True Blood LipSurgence Natural Lip Tint Delivers Red Lips Without the Bite

July 7th, 2011 by Karen 19 Comments

Vampires aren’t known for their flexibility (their restricted diet, won’t work daytime hours, religious intolerance, etc.), but the new Tarte for True Blood LipSurgence Natural Lip Tint ($24) is. It’s one of the most flexible reds I’ve come across in a really long time.

The crayon/pencil tip makes this medium-coverage, iridescent red a cinch to apply. The color’s easily buildable, too, making it workable in a variety of occasions and looks from demure to dramatic.

I haven’t figured out why Tarte chose to give it a faint minty flavor and scent (um, how does mint relate to vampires?), but I like the way they’re executed; I think both of them are refreshing (again, vampires?) like gum.

Now that I think about it, I can’t think of a more appropriate, better taste and scent… Garlic is certainly out. 🙂

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Tarte for True Blood: Eye See Vamps Everywhere Going Crazy for This Palette

July 6th, 2011 by Karen 55 Comments

tarte for true blood palette

Well polish my coffin and pour me another cup of that True Blood, Team Tarte, because I’d like to raise my glass! Y’all obviously sunk your teeth into the new limited edition True Blood Palette ($52). I’d stake my life on that.

But seriously, the effort Tarte put into developing this palette shows in the clever little details, like the words “Open After Dark” scrawled across the cubby that conceals the mini primer, mascara and eyeliner, and the lace threading through the grommets on the cover (er, those better not be silver!).

Saucy!

A little drawer for a set of fake fangs would’ve been the icing on the cake. After all, undead wannabes wear makeup, too, but I guess you can’t appease all of the fangbangers all of the time… But you can appease some of them some of the time, especially when you arrange the shadows in a palette in a logical way.

You know how brands will sometimes haphazardly place unrelated shades beside each other in a palette? That’s one of my eye palette pet peeves, but I like how this palette groups smokey shadows in the lower right hand corner, warmer jewel tones in the lower left and the neutrals at the top. It’s conducive to creativity (at least I think so) and makes it easy to sift through the 17 shades.

Baby vamps probably wouldn’t realize this yet, but after a few hundred years, the nights begin to blur together. The way these shadows seamlessly blend together reminds me of that aspect of everlasting undead life. It takes barely a few flicks from an eyeshadow brush to transition from one shade to the next, even when I’m wearing several colors on my lids.

And, dude, I don’t care how easy Vampire Bill makes glamoring humans look, it can take up a huge chunk of my night. Because these shadows stay put from dusk till dawn without fading or creasing at all, they free up my human hunting time.

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Essence Multi-Colour Blush Is Wearing Stripes To the Party But Can’t Stay for Long

July 6th, 2011 by Karen 45 Comments

If something has stripes, I’m usually totally into it…

But when it comes to these $2.49 Essence Multi-Colour Blushes, well, let’s just say that their cute stripes and great price are just about the best things they have going for ’em.

I give the two available shades, pale pink Fashionista and pale peach How Cute Is That, major points for looking cute on a budget, but their knees buckle beside the performance of rock stars from the Essence line, like the fantastic Gel Eyeliners.

Fashionista (left) and How Cute Is That (right)

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MAC Colourizations Pro Palette Eye Shadow X 2: You Can’t Easily Pop In and Out of This Double Feature

July 5th, 2011 by Karen 45 Comments

mac colourizations

The very first time I walked up to a MAC eyeshadow display case, my eyes rolled back in my head. Not because of eyeshadow ecstasy, mind you; this was years ago, and at the time I didn’t know Soft Brown from chocolate delight. No, looking down at those rows of sleek, little pots, as beads of perspiration formed on my brow, I was utterly and completely overwhelmed.

What I could have used back then was something like the new MAC Pro Palette Eye Shadows X 2 ($25 each US; $30 in Canada). Designed to take the guesswork out of choosing which eyeshadows to pair by teaming two coordinating colors together in a cute lil’ palette (and eliminating what was a major source of makeup stress for me way back when), these eight duos dance onto MAC counters with the new Colourizations Collection August 4 in North America, and internationally, some time next month.

mac colourizations

MAC calls them, “daring pairings,” and from the six palettes I’ve seen so far, some of the couplings, like the orange and navy in Double Feature 8, appear more adventurous than others (even if it isn’t that risky, I still really like Double Feature 5’s pairing of that frosty peach and the duochrome brown with green pearl).

mac colourizations double feature 1
Double Feature 1

mac colourizations double feature 3
Double Feature 3
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