Paul & Joe Holiday 2015 Makeup Collection in Le Bal Masque 002

I have so many burning questions for Paul & Joe about the cat mask-wearing woman on some of the pieces in the new Paul & Joe Le Bal Masque Holiday 2015 Makeup Collection.

Like, where is she going? Is she going to a Thanksgiving masquerade ball, or does homegirl run errands around town wearing her cat mask like that? Because that’s something I’d totally do, which reminds me — why doesn’t this collection come with that mask? It seems like a missed opportunity…

Also, assuming that our masked maven is also a cat lady (it’s a safe bet), how many cats does she have?

One cat? Two? Four cats? Seventeen?? In other words, is she living the cat lady dream, and does she get as excited as I do when Paul & Joe goes buck wild with a new cat-themed collection? 🙂

Meow known as the go-to makeup line for CCLs (translation: Crazy Cat Ladies), Paul & Joe has it all figured out. Whenever they go all the way with a new cat-themed release, like they have here with Le Bal Masque, my tail automatically twitches with interest.

There are cats all over the place in this collection! — as there should be. There’s the masked lady on the makeup bag, who also makes an appearance on the Rose Balm tin (which you can use on your skin and/or hair); the kitties on the eyeshadows; the cream blush; and even the eyeliner.

SO MANY KITTIES!

It’s a beautiful thing…

Le Bal Masque is one of two new limited edition $42 holiday makeup sets from Paul & Joe this year, one of them warmer toned than the other. Le Bal Masque is the warmer option. The other one, Oh Carnaval 001, comes with cooler-toned pastels.

Both sets are covered in cats and available meow at Paul & Joe counters and online. Each one comes with nine pieces (like nine lives!!) — the cat lady bag, five Eye Color L Powder Eyeshadows, one Creamy Cheek Color L Blush, one Waterproof Eyeliner and a tin of Rose Treatment Balm.

Le Bal Masque, the set I’ve been wearing and loving lately, is the warmer of the two. First of all, the cat lady on the bag is totally talking to me…

Not literally, of course (that would be trippy!), but I feel like she and I have a certain kitty connection. I would also wear that outfit of hers with the mask any day of the week…assuming they had a maternity version.

Check out the eyeshadows…

Interesting packaging, yeah? It’s not often that you see powder shadows packaged in flat paper packaging with a plastic cover.

To use it, you pull off the plastic cover (the thing with the yellow mask for the cats, erhmahgawd) to reveal the powder shadow with the cat pattern underneath. The plastic, which has a sticky adhesive around the edge, seals shut again to keep the eyeshadow safe when not in use.

At a glance, the eyeshadows look like something you might use once, or maybe twice, and then throw away, but they aren’t. They’re much better than that. Paul & Joe managed to get a surprising amount of product in there. I’ve already used them a number of times and have yet to make a real dent in the shadows.

Obviously, they won’t last you years, but I think you could get three or four months out of them. Heck, maybe even six, depending on how often and how much you use.

I don’t feel like I have to use a ton of each one because they’re waaay pigmented — much more pigmented than other Paul & Joe shadows I’ve used, which usually hover around moderately opaque in coverage.

For something like the daytime look I’m wearing here, I just do a single layer, then buff out the edges. Of course, you could pile them on for a more dramatic evening look.

Oh — that Creamy Cheek Color? It’s an absolutely lovely matte rosy brown. Like the eyeshadows, it’s much more pigmented than I expected it to be, and it stays out of my pores, which I REALLY appreciate. It also has a lovely light jasmine scent that fades quickly on the skin.

As for the Waterproof Liner, I think it’s adequate… It’ll get the job done, but it hasn’t haunted my dreams or anything. It’s one of those super thin ones that you twist up, so it’s ideal for precision tightlining, for getting down at the base of your lashes, and it sticks well to my upper water and lash lines, but it absolutely refuses to stay put on my lower water line.

It might also be a little drying, but then again, that could just be the season… My skin’s been extra dry lately.

I think the Rose Balm is pretty neat and cute. It’s moderately moisturizing and smells lightly of roses. It leaves behind a slight sheen on my skin and my hair.

Basically, if there’s a makeup-loving cat lady on your holiday shopping list, what we have here is a no-brainer. You could even sign the gift tag on behalf of your cat. 🙂

OK, that might be a little much…

Naw! Might as well go all the way.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen