Product Reviews

*They* say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.

I don’t know about that… *They* obviously haven’t seen the Estee Lauder Vintage Jewels collection yet because it’s breaking a lot of those diamond friendships.

The collection’s adventurous eye, lip, face and nail shades remind me of jewel-filled pirate treasure chests bulging with amethysts, emeralds and sapphires. Aye, matey! I’ll walk ye plank for these colors!

Try three bejeweled looks in amethyst, sapphire and emerald.

Eyes

Signature Eyeshadow Duos, $25

• Amethyst: shimmery violet and shimmery violet-pink (limited edition)
• Sapphire: shimmery navy blue and shimmery cool-toned grayish blue (limited edition)
• Emerald: shimmery green and shimmery beige (limited edition)

Smoked Eye Pencil, $18.50

• Smoked Amethyst: violet with pearl (limited edition)
• Sapphire: navy blue with pearl (limited edition)
• Emerald: forest green with pearl (limited edition)

Sumptuous Mascara, $19.50

• Black: true black

Lips

Signature Hydra Lustre Lipstick with Faceted Design, $19.50

• Black Cherry: deep cool wine with golden pearl (limited edition)
• Ruby: creamy red with a touch of fuchsia (limited edition)
• Rich Red: creamy medium blue-red

Face

Shimmering Jewel Powder, $32

• Gold highlighting powder for face and body (limited edition)

Nails

Pure Color Nail Lacquer, $18

• Black Berry: creamy deep cool wine (limited edition)
• Ruby: creamy red (limited edition)
• Red Tango: creamy warm red (limited edition)

Blue cast a charm spell on me this fall. I trace it back to my run in with the Cargo Color Palette in Vienna.

I couldn’t wait to try the Sapphire eye products in Vintage Jewels and tested some of them this week, along with a smattering of colorful face and lip items from the collection.

Shimmering Jewel Powder

Shimmering Jewel Powder comes housed in a sleek gold compact with a faceted pattern pressed into the pan — so pretty! It’s a cool-toned highlighter with lots of shimmer, not at all like last holiday’s Platinum Illuminator Loose Shimmer Powder, which was a very warm, peachy gold.

A dusting of Shimmering Jewel Powder delivers plenty of small-to-medium flecks of glittering gold shimmer. It functions best as a highlighter because it’s basically pure shimmer, so I prefer to pair it with other blushes rather than using it by itself. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+

Signature Eyeshadow Duo in Sapphire

I’m so blue… No, not like that (at least not today, LOL!). I mean to say that I’m so into blue eyeshadow right now.

The two shades in this duo don’t exactly fit the swashbuckling, adventurous analogy because of how well they suit novices and the faint of heart. They apply with sheer-to-medium color payoff and are easy to blend, too. That spells easy, which is something I like. 😉

Some girls might find them a little too sheer, but I like how easy they are to control. With these, the sheerness means being able to carefully manage how much color gets applied, from one or two layers for just a hint of color to three to five layers for a more intense look. And if I want something lusciously rich and dramatic, I’ll reach for a wet brush.

They do need a lil’ help as the day wears on, though, fading a touch faster than my MAC or Lancome shadows. If I’m going to dinner after work, the duo comes along for quick touchups. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+

Smoked Eye Pencil in Smoked Sapphire

Um, wow! Pardon my French, but this blue liner is the sh*t! It’s rich and deep like Lake Tahoe and glides along my skin without any tugging or skipping at all.

Estee Laduer should’ve called this a long-wearing eye pencil, too, because DANG, this stuff stays on forever. Once it’s on it hangs around longer than your stalker ex-boyfriend, on *both* the lash and water lines. I think I might love this even more than Lancome Le Stylo waterproof (gasp!), which I’ve been wearing practically non-stop for months, and I’m even tempted to get the two other shades. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara in Black

I think Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara (say that five times fast) plumps lashes fairly well. As for thickening, my results with it haven’t been as pronounced as they are when I use Chanel Exceptionnel, but still… I’d say it makes lashes about 25% thicker.

The formula is a little clumpy, but I’ve found that if I take extra care during application and use the skinny tip of the brush, I can keep the clumps to a minimum.

It doesn’t smudge or flake, but where Sumptuous Bold mascara really excels is in curl hold and staying power. While wearing two coats, my lashes kept the curl all day long.

Wistfully, I wish it lengthened better, but if you’re looking for a basic daytime mascara with pretty good thickening power that holds the curl, you could do a lot worse. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+
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Have you seen that commercial for L’Oreal’s new Bare Naturale Mascara ($9) in which Penelope Cruz looks into the camera, bats her eyelashes and then BAM! — they morph into super lashes, all thick, lush and magnificent?

I want those lashes, but after years of mascara disappointment, I have a question for the cosmetics companies of the world: is it too much to ask for a single mascara able to thicken, lengthen AND separate?

Bare Naturale’s tortoise shell tube is a nice departure from all the solid color tubes on the market, and the application brush feels soft against my fingertips.

So, does this mascara bring it?

I applied three coats of Brown-Black and peered into the mirror hoping for some P. Cruz eyelash magic…

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Bath and Body Works wants us to ring in the holidays with pretty lips, courtesy of their new line of lipglosses, Liplicious. Starring more than thirty scented and flavored glosses, moisturizing lip colors, scrubs and lip gloss tubes all for an economical $7-8 apiece. The glosses and lip colors are double-sided, and after you throw in the buy two, get one free deal available on their website, that knocks the final price of these products down to less than $5.50 each ($2.25 per side on the double-sided ones)! HUGE BARGAIN POTENTIAL!

I tested three of the double-sided glosses: Platinum Glow/Gold Dust, Brown Sugar/Dulce de Leche and Mango/Peach.

Platinum Glow/Gold Dust

Platinum Glow

Gold Dust
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Mirror, mirror on the wall, which eye liner’s the smoothest of all?

Stila’s Kajal Eye Liner ($18) lays smooth smack down on pencil liners that tug and skip along lash lines. Available in eight shades, it literally glides across the skin, creating solid, intensely colored lines — no muss, no fuss.

Available in 8 Shades

I tried two of them, Emerald and Amethyst. Both performed admirably when used on my upper and lower lash lines, creating both soft and sharp lines with a single swipe. The tip texture feels unusually soft and creamy, and it was a cinch to smudge out lines for smokey looks.

Similar to MAC Kohl in Smolder

Smudginess — is that even a word? I don’t know if it is, but either way I think it accurately describes the texture and feel of this formula. Kajal reminds me of MAC Kohl Eye Liner in Smolder, a pencil I often use in my smokey eye looks.

The MAC Kohls cost a few dollars less ($14.50 vs. $18) and come in a wider selection of colors (15 vs. 8), but I think Stila Kajals perform just slightly better. Both brands have enough muscle to last the day and deliver seriously intense color, but the Kajals are just a wee bit easier to apply and to smudge. Now, do they perform 24% better than the Kohls? — because that’s the difference in price. Of that, I’m not so sure.
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