Dear Roger Ebert,
First of all, can I just say — I love you, man! I’ve been reading your movie reviews FOR EVER, and all this time, after all these years, you still find new ways to get me excited about movies.
With your reviews, I never feel like I’m reading a boring laundry list or some critic’s attempt to dazzle me with their erudite vocabulary. You’re always passionate, honest and open-minded, which is amazing to me after the thousands of movies you’ve seen.
Mr. Ebert, you’re one of my writing heroes.
Sometimes, just for fun, I try to write my own movie reviews, and when I do they usually go a little something like this:
“Saw Fool’s Gold last night. Was surprised it wasn’t completely dumb.”
As you can see, I lack your way with words, I think because of how easily I get distracted…
OOH! — look at that shiny bauble! 🙂
I mean, I try to focus on the important things, like the dialogue, pacing and character development (and male shirtless-ness), but I usually end up pondering things like how the secret treasure in Fool’s Gold looked so much like the new Make Up For Ever Black Tango palette ($45).
Black Tango Palette
In the unlikely event that you find long-wearing waterproof cream eyeshadows as intriguing as I do, you might want to check out this particular fall palette, which includes four new limited-edition shades of Make Up For Ever’s popular Aqua Creams.
Along with three shimmery gem-like colors — an amethyst, emerald and a sapphire — that could have come from a Medieval queen’s jewel-encrusted scepter, the palette also features a shimmery ivory for highlighting, and each of the shadows comes in its own self-contained pot (don’t forget to close the lids tightly so they won’t dry out).
For some reason, these shadows set in a flash, quicker than the other Aqua Creams I’ve worn in the past — something I figured out while watching Fool’s Gold the other night.
I wanted to recreate (or come close to) the killer purple smokey eye in the Black Tango promotional picture using just the colors in the palette, but for the life of me, I couldn’t do it. The shadows dried so unbelievably quickly that I couldn’t effectively blend the shades.
Swatches from the left: Black Tango Palette Aqua Creams in Purple, Green, Blue and Ivory; Aqua Rouge in #8 Red, #1 Nude Beige and clear gloss; Aqua Brow in #25 Ash unblended and blended
With these, I think I’ll stick to simple gradients that transition from dark to light and avoid more sweeping, dramatic shifts of color.
Oh, you might also want to keep a dual-ended brush nearby, like the Laura Mercier Dual Color Eye Brush ($34), so you can blend and apply quickly. One end has a brush with a flat, dense tapered head (great for applying the Aqua Creams on your lids), and the other has a rounded, fluffier head (better at blending the edges). With a dual-ended brush like this one, I can go from applying to blending with the flick of a wrist.
Even though I was really hoping to be able to use this palette for smokey eyes, I still like Black Tango, especially for looks with thick cat eye lines with lightly blended edges. The rich, intense colors last all day long without budging.
Anywho, Mr. Ebert, chances are you’ll never read this, but if you do, thank you. 🙂 Look me up if you’re ever in the Bay Area and want a date to the movies.
PRICE: $45
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Sephora stores and sephora.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Is it Friday yet? Who else is looking forward to the weekend?
I’m kicking off the festivities a little early tonight (shh, don’t tell Tabs!) by having a date night with El Hub. We’re either going out to dinner or to the farmers’ market. It really depends on how much it cools down over the next hour. It’s been really hot out here lately, and all I want to do is hang out in air conditioned spaces!
What are you up to tonight?
Loved the letter to Roger Ebert. And the Black Tango palette looks like lots of fun too.
Even though they set quickly, I still want this! The shades look amazing!
I want this palette badly!!
Aww man, such a shame that the Aqua Creams are a pain to blend. I really love the colours, though; so like Tracy, I might go ahead and get the palette anyway. :p
There should be a heated brush for this. lol. Love the eye look on you!
I hate it when I can’t blend cream shadows, I always end up with completely uneven lids… Too bad! The compact is still really pretty and I like the Tango theme.
I really still want this palette even though the shades dry so fast they can’t be blended. The colours are just stunning and so is the packaging. Thanks for the review.
Jeez that navy blue shade is RIDICULOUS on you! And I mean that in the best way possible. Now I’m really craving navy blue for my eyes…I don’t think I have any, which makes me sad. Another excuse to shop!!! 😛
Karen, I feel the same about your make up reviews as you do about Roger’s film reviews! This palette is pretty but I’m still not convinced about cream shadows – I prefer taking my time to blend and getting the smooth gradient I can achieve with powders.
I’ve heard that Aqua Creams dry fast and could be challenging to use, but if you find this drying even faster, I don’t really think I’m equipped to deal with it! The colors are really nice though!
The colors are really nice. They’d make a pretty base color on the lid for that smokey eye!
That promo pic is definitely awesome and if you can’t recreate it with that palette, I’m skeptical that anyone can! 🙂
I liked your movie review. Honest and to the point. HAHA! One of my friends and I always say we’re going to do a movie and book review blog. We usually have different opinions so the most entertaining part would be our banter (What is the matter with you? How could you have liked that? Oh, that’s rich coming from the person who believes in mermaids). Someday. 🙂
You should do it! I would definitely read your movie review blog! 🙂 Also, if you need a 5-second reviewer you know where I’m at. Examples of my work:
Tomcats, starring Jerry O’Connell: It might be funny after a case of PBR.
Whip It , starring Ellen Page: Roller derby meets teen angst! A genius combination!
Total Recall (2012): Did we really need to go there?
OMG, I literally just spit on my poor screen. It might be funny after a case of PBR? I’m still laughing. Well done! You’d definitely be our go-to guest reviewer.
Oh, no, was Total Recall 2012 as disappointing as I thought it might be? It won’t stop me from Netflixing, but it’s good to know! 🙂
Speaking of, did you watch the Artist? I think there’s something wrong with me because after 15 minutes I thought “oh, maybe another time”. I hate when I can’t appreciate Oscar winning movies but I’ve never been a fan of silent films (the orchestra music drives me batty).
Ya know…I think a big part of it is because I really love original so much. Even though the special effects don’t really hold up, the rest of the movie is a work of science fiction art.
I’m pretty cranky about it, but not as cranky as I would be if they remade Terminator.
Yup, I watched The Artist. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to have the patience to sit through it, but after I settled down a bit I really enjoyed it. Did you have a big tub of popcorn with you? That can sometimes help, hahaha!
I feel the same way about Recall. I heard some rumors about remaking The Running Man and started to get even itchier. The Terminator would put me over the edge, too. I wanted to name my (someday) son Reese after that movie. By the time I actually got married and had kids, I let that go. But I still love the movie. 🙂
I still have The Artist and will watch it. I’m hoping it was just a bad day the first time. I’m not one to turn something off, so I’ll have to go back to it. No, I was popcorn free. I’m thinking I should try some wine (or a case of PBR – HAHA!).
I tried to recreate this look too, and it was quite difficult! This was after I saw on another person’s blog that there is a step by step tutorial that MUFE released on how they did the look! Let me know if you want me to send it to you. I’m going to try this look again with the tutorial 😉
Hi Nadege,
Thanks for the offer…I think I saw that MUFE tutorial too. I’m think I’m going to try to recreate this look again with a few different things, both MUFE and non-MUFE.
What products did you use, btw?
I used the MUFE aqua eyes eye pencil in black, the MUFE aqua cream in black (to line the top) and the purple aqua cream for my lid and under my eye plus the white aqua cream for the browbone. After I did it with the tutorial it came out looking much better! lol it’s a very dark and dramatic look, but the one word that comes to mind when I see this palette is SENSUAL. haha
Where did you find the tutorial? I LOVE that look and would love to be able to recreate it
I googled MUFE Black Tango Palette and it’s on Joey Chong’s site. Should be on the first page! Hope that helps 🙂
Im still sad over last year’s palette debacle. :-/
I have been loving Cream Eyeshadows lately, and the packaging is so cute! However the colors are bit too dark for my liking! Think I’ll pass on this one.
Hi Krystle,
I love cream shadows too. What are your favorites?
I always feel drawn to these smokey palettes but end up using them rarely! Its too bad these set too quickly to be worked with!
I hear ya. Maybe take yours out and keep them on the couter so you remember to use them?
I love that eye look on you.
HI Karen! Do you know what lipstick the model is wearing in the promotional picture? I’ve been drooling over it for a week now!
She’s wearing Aqua Rouge lip pencil in 11c and aqua rouge lip cream in 11 (dark raspberry)