Tom Ford Eye Quad in Cocoa Mirage

The next up in the Tom Ford overview is the Eye Color Quad in Cocoa Mirage.  This palette is part of the permanent line and is the only one of the Tom Ford palettes I own that doesn't contain any of the shimmer (glitter) shades.  This quad has two complete matte shades, one mostly-matte shade and one satin finish.

The top two shades are completely matte.  My experience with the Tom Ford mattes so far has been phenomenal.  The mattes are buttery soft with fantastic pigmentation (though I understand that in some of his other palettes, that isn't the case). 

Cocoa Mirage is fairly neutral in my opinion.  It leans ever so slightly warm, but I don't feel like it's so warm that someone cool toned couldn't wear it.

 As you can see from the swatches, the lightest shade is a very close match to my natural skintone.  The second matte shade is a mid tone slightly warm brown.  The third shade is a warm medium-dark brown and the only satin finish in the palette.  It has lovely pigmentation and texture.  The last shade is a dark brown that leans warm.  It is mostly matte, but there is the tiniest amount of gold glitter.

I swear I'm not a total Tom Ford fangirl.  There have been two palettes which I acquired (swapped for on MakeupAlley) and then promptly swapped away because I was not happy with them.  So when I say that Cocoa Mirage is a fantastic palette, I really mean it.

Overall:  10/10

Milani Color Statement Lipstick in #17 Plumrose

Yet again, I saw another Milani lipstick in one of Cora from Vintage or Tacky's videos and I had to have it.  And yet again, the Milani lipstick did not disappoint.  This time it was Milani's #17, Plumrose, from their Color Statement line.

Plumrose is a deep warm pink with a cream finish.  This is a lovely lipstick.  It's a lovely formula that applies evenly and opaquely.  It is moisturizing and super easy to wear.  Honestly, the finish on this lipstick really reminds me of a Tom Ford lipstick, though at 1/10th of the cost.

I wear Plumrose both as a full on lipstick, or just gently patted in as a stain.  It wears fantastically well in both applications.

Milani describes the Color Statement line as "The lightweight creamy formula contains Vitamins A, C, & E to moisturize and nourish lips."  I don't know that I'd call it lightweight, but it is lovely.  It is also paraben free.  It contains 3.97 grams and retails for $5.49 wherever Milani is sold.

Overall:  10/10

Essential Tools Hi-Def Angled Blush Brush

I have a lot of makeup brushes at all sorts of price points, but one of my favorite brushes is the Essential Tools Hi-Def Angles blush brush.  I use this for powder blush and bronzer just about every day.  I probably have 5 of these brushes.

 

This is a soft, dense natural hair brush.  It's tapered and definitely thin enough to be used for contouring.  

I buy these brushes at Wal-Mart.  I have no idea if the brand is exclusive to Wal-Mart.  I don't think I've ever seen the line at any other drugstores.  This line of brushes is incredibly affordable.  The Hi-Def Angled Blush Brush retails for $5.97.

The quality of the bristles is great, but the ferrules on these brushes leave quite a bit to be desired and often come loose, especially with regular washing.  At this price point, that isn't a deal breaker for me, but it definitely does drag down what is otherwise a fantastic brush.  None of my brushes have come completely apart yet, but there are several where the ferrules are very loose.

Have any of you tried the Essential Tools line?  Which brushes are your favorites?

Overall:  8/10

MAC Extra Dimension Blush in At Dusk

I picked up all (yes all *cringe*) of the MAC Extra Dimension blushes that launched with the In Extra Dimension collection earlier this year.  One of my favorites out of that collection, At Dusk, is launching again with MAC's Magnetic Nude collection, which hits counters and websites the day after Christmas.

I know that all of the big beauty blogs have already reviewed this, but both Christine from Temptalia and Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog are very warm toned and considerably darker than me, so their swatches look nothing like what the product looks like on me.  I figured I would put some swatches out there in case any pasty pale people were wondering what it would look like on them.

The color is described by MAC as a mid-tone rose.  To me, it's pink.  When I think of rose, I think of something a bit darker in tone, edging towards berry.  At Dusk is pink.  On my cool, pale skintone, it is cool, but not crazy blue based.

(diffused natural light)

(daybulb CFLs)

This is one of those shades that I absolutely love because it can provide definition and color without making your look all about the blush.  It's just lovely and on me, it looks very natural.

The Extra Dimension blush formula is nothing like the Extra Dimension MSF formula.  The blushes, to me, are somewhere between a satin and a matte.  They have some dimension to them, but they're not shimmery at all.  They have fantastic pigmentation and texture.  They apply very evenly and they wear well.  I have dry skin so most blushes do wear well on me, but I get a solid ten hours out of these before they are noticeably faded.  This is hands down my favorite blush formula from any brand.

 The MAC Extra Dimension blush in At Dusk is (of course *sigh*) limited edition.  It will launch at counters and online in North America on Dec. 26, 2013.  The Extra Dimension blushes contain 6.5 grams of product and retail for $25.  If you haven't checked them out yet, I would highly recommend them.  I plan on picking up the other two blushes in this collection.

Overall: 10/10

bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 4.0 in The Happy Place

The bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 4.0 palette in The Happy Place is nothing new.  It's been out for at least a year and is readily available wherever bareMinerals are sold.  

I tried the bareMinerals quad in Truth, which everyone seems to rave about, but I really didn't care for it.  I thought the payoff was less than stellar.  But ... I decided to give the line another try.

I picked this quad up months ago when Ulta was having some crazy sale on bareMinerals.  I think I ended up getting it for like $10.  It was too good a deal to pass up.

But after I picked it up, it just sat in my makeup storage for months.  Anyway, lately I've been really gravitating toward plummy shadows, so I decided to pull out this quad and use it and I've been just blown away by the quality.  

I did notice that a lot of the online reviews for this quad (both at blogs and retailers) make it seem a lot darker than it is.  This is not a smoky quad.  These are bright, vibrant colors (okay, maybe not the matte brown, but definitely the others).

The shadows are:

• Peace - matte light peach.
• Imagine - metallic peach that swatches a bit darker than it looks in the pan.
• Euphora - metallic smoky plum that swatches a bit more taupe-y than you would think
• Exhale - matte cool medium brown

The color payoff on these shadows are phenomenal.  And the mattes might be even easier to work with than the metallics (that NEVER happens).  The mattes are so soft and so pigmented that they almost behave like cream products.  I have matte shadows that I love, but none of them even come close to the texture on these two shadows.

The metallics are vibrant and easy to work with.  I've said it again, I think it must be fairly easy to make a good metallic shadow, but these are no exceptions.  They're beautiful.

All in all, this is a fantastic palette and I'm kicking myself for leaving it sitting in a drawer for so long.

As mentioned earlier, I picked this quad up on sale at Ulta.  It contains 5 grams of product and usually retails for $30 wherever bareMinerals are sold.

Overall: 10/10

Rouge Bunny Rouge Colour Burst Lipstick in Word of Mouth

While some of my recent Rouge Bunny Rouge haul was disappointing, the lipsticks certainly were not.  I am in love with these things!  First off, the packaging is to die for.  They are packaged in metal.  They feel very substantial, they close very securely and they have a high gloss black finish.  They are beautiful!

I picked up several shades, but the first I'm going to review is the Rouge Bunny Rouge Colour Burst Lipstick in Word of Mouth.  

(indirect natural light)

Rouge Bunny Rouge describes Word of Mouth as "Creamy, shiny finish cool cherry syrup - The little black dress of lipsticks, very pretty and feminine".  While I would describe the color as a medium browny red, I agree with just about everything else they said.  This color is incredibly versatile and flattering.

(daybulb)

You need a couple of swipes to get full opacity, but it wears well and is very comfortable on the lips.  I adore this color.  If you are someone who is drawn to red lipstick, but isn't ready to commit to fire engine red lips, this is a great introductory color.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Colour Burst Lipstick in Word of Mouth contains 3.8 grams of product and is available for $24 from BeautyHabit (or 24 Euros plus shipping direct from the RBR website).  I got mine from BeautyHabit.

Overall:  10/10

Review: Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup Foundation

Official Armani PR materials say of Armani Maestro:

“It’s not a foundation, it’s a complexion perfector. A whole new generation of make-up that feels incredible, looks invisible and makes skin appear luminous every time. Anyone can wear it!!!”

- Linda Cantello, International Make-up Artist for Giorgio Armani Cosmetics

More things Armani has to say about their Maestro fusion makeup:

A formula that is easy to apply with unified distribution, and covers imperfections.  An ultra-fine oil-pigment suspension that perfects the complexion, instantly igniting skin’s natural luminosity. A water and powder-free base.



My Experience:

I picked up a bottle of the Maestro foundation in November 2012 at Nieman Marcus after being color matched to shade 5 - which I definitely wouldn't have chosen online.  I had been wanting to try this foundation for a while, but it was impossible for me to find.  No one locally carried it and especially at this price point, I wanted to be color matched before buying.  I finally managed to pick some up while I was on vacation in Las Vegas (also got another Tom Ford eyeshadow quad, but that's another post.)

I feel like I should admit right now that I love oil-based beauty products (for the most part).  I use the Boscia Make-up Break-up Cool Cleansing Oil every night to remove my makeup.  I often use plain Argan oil as a nighttime moisturizer.  I have super dry skin and it works fantastically well.  If you have really oily skin or if you react badly to oils, your mileage definitely may vary.

I apply this foundation with my hands.  It is so light and you need so little of it, that I don't think that I personally would try to apply it with a brush.  Despite what the PR materials may say about it being a "pigment suspension", it's an oil, straight up.  It feels like a really thin oil, cooling on the skin, but you wouldn't mistake it for anything else.  The bottle comes with a dropper, which I personally like, but I know some people do not.

To apply, I shake the bottle really well, squeeze the dropper a few times (to make sure product isn't stuck in there and settled) and then squeeze several drops onto my clean fingers.  I rub my fingers together and then smooth it onto my face, starting with my cheeks and nose and then working outward to the rest of my face.

My results with this stuff has been phenomenal.  I would say that I get light to medium coverage out of it.  I've heard it's buildable, but I've never really tried because I don't really need to build it up.

This stuff sits so nicely on the skin.  I really almost can't tell it's there - looking at my skin in the sunlight with a magnifying mirror.  It feels so lightweight that it is really easy to forget that it's there.  It's not tacky at all, the way a lot of foundations are.  I would definitely agree with Armani's claims that it has "Natural make-up result without make up feel".  

The finish once applied on my skin is pretty matte, but also a natural matte.  I don't think it looks flat the way some matte foundations can.  I don't find it luminous at all.  I do find that it wears really well.  I find that even with my dry skin, my T-zone gets oily during the day.  Wearing this oil based product, I really don't have much of an issue with that.  I can easily get 8 - 10 hours of wear out of this foundation.

I'm not really acne prone, but I have to say that after several months of wearing this daily, I switched to a couple of my other foundations just to switch things up a bit and almost immediately, I had a couple of breakouts.  Prior to that I'd had almost none.

I am in love with this foundation, so much so that I'm considering getting the Maestro concealer as well.  Like I said, this foundation is pricey - $62 for 1oz.  However, you need a tiny amount of it, so the bottle will last a long time.  I've been using it daily for the last 3 1/2 months and I've hardly made a dent.

The foundation is available in the US in 12 shades, both warm and cool toned.  It's available online at Armani or high end department stores (Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, etc.)

Overall:  10/10

Review: Guerlain Rose Aux Joues in 03 Over Rose

So I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but Dillards has definitely kicked up their cosmetics offering.  They are now carrying high end cosmetics like Guerlain (YES!), Shiseido and more.  And even better, they now have these high end counters at the mall I frequent.  

Not that you care, but it's been a giant pain to me that no one within a 10 hour drive has an actual Guerlain counter.  Because at this price point, I have to see before I buy.

The Guerlain Rose Aux Joues blush duos released in August 2012.  The duos have 2 wells.  

The larger well has a high shine frost finish blush in an absolutely gorgeous blue based pink that leans slightly berry colored.  I've seen other reviews where people describe this blush as having a very slight shimmer.  I really don't get that at all.  If you look hard, you can see some microglitter, but it doesn't strike me as shimmery.  To me this blush reads straight up metallic pink.

I'm generally not crazy about frosty metalic finish blushes, but I have to say I love this one.  It is super pigmented and the color when applied is true to the pan.  I love that applied lightly along the tops of the cheeks, it doubles as a highlighter.

The second, smaller, well contains a much more subdued blush.  I'm not sure it's completely matte.  It leans slightly satin to me.  It's not as pigmented as the top well, but it has good color payoff, goes on silky smooth and isn't powdery at all.

Guerlain says you can mix the two colors or use the shade from the smaller well as a contour.  I don't know that I'd use it as a contour, but I do often use it by itself.

The packagin, which I somehow neglected to get a picture of, is beautiful - as is typically the case with Guerlain.  It has a shiny gold finish, though I don't know if it is actually metal.  The case has some heft, it feels substantial, but it's also not overly large.  You can definitely throw this in your makeup bag.

The blush duo contains 6 grams of product and retails for $50.  I picked mine up at Dillards, but I believe you can get these duos wherever Guerlain is sold.

Overall:  10/10

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Bronzed Taupe

I love the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows so I was excited to pick up a new one in the shade Bronzed Taupe.  They are fantastic quality at a drugstore price point.  I have a variety of different colors with different finishes.  The Infallible shadows come in matte, sparkle and metallic finishes.  The metallic finishes are by far my favorite.  Just look at that swatch, isn't it beautiful!

The pigmentation of the Infallible shadows is fantastic. The wear time is fantastic on my lids with or without a primer I easily get 9 hours, but have worn them up to 12 hours with no noticeable creasing.  I will admit I haven't worn them for 24 hours (ewww), but I wouldn't wear any shadow for 24 hours.

I love the consistency of these shadows.  They are a pressed pigment and are looser than a solid pan of eyeshadow.  There is definitely some kind of liquid component and they apply so easily and smoothly.

The L'Oreal Infallible shadows contain 3.5 grams of product and retail for $7 - 12 depending on where you pick them up.  

Overall: 10/10

MAC Lipstick in Fanfare

MAC Cremesheen lipstick in Fanfare has made it onto several of my favorites list, but I just realized I hadn't actually done a post on it.  So without further ado, MAC Fanfare.

MAC describes fanfare as a "yellow based pink" which is apt.  Fanfare is definitely more pink than peach with a good deal of pigmentation.  It is a cremesheen finish which I know some people find drying on the lips.  I don't have a problem with it and I find that it does wear well.  I get a solid 4 - 5 hours of wear out of an application.

MAC Fanfare is definitely one of my favorite lipsticks.  I am in love with yellow based pinks in general, but particularly with this lipstick.  

Overall: 10/10

Review: L'Oreal Infallible Lipglosses

I am going to have to try more products in the L'Oreal Infallible line.  I absolutely LOVE the Infallible Eyeshadows (OMG, have I really not done a blog post on them?  The horror!  I'll get on that stat.)  So when I saw the Infallible glosses, I decided to try them.

L'Oreal has at least 3 different Infallible Lipgloss lines.  There are:

• 6 hour 
• 8 hour "Le Gloss"
• 8 hour plumping

I tried the 6 hour and the 8 hour glosses.

In the 6 hour, I tried #115, "Blush".  This stuff wears incredibly well.  6 hours?  Probably.  It's tacky rather than sticky like some other long wearing glosses I've tried.  The texture reminded me a lot of longwear lipsticks except without the need to put the gloss on top.  Overall, I'd say the formula is much more like a liquid lipstick than a gloss.

In the 8 hour formula, I tried #240, Glistening Berry.  This is a much more vibrant color than the 6 hour formula I tried and I can't say that I got two additional hours of weartime out of it.  I can chalk that up to the color being so much darker and therefore being much more apparent when it did start to fade.  I'd say that I did still get a solid 6 hours of wear out of it.  And like the 6 hour formula, the 8 hour is much more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss.

Gloss is not my favorite thing because it disappears so quickly on me and I feel like I do nothing but re-apply all day long.  But this product certainly solves that issue.

The product has a doe foot applicator.  The tube contains .21oz or 6.3 mL of product.  It retails for around $7 and comes in 20 shades.

This is a solid home run for me.

Overall: 10/10

Have you guys tried it yet?  What did you think?

I must admit, this is one of the most amusing product gimmicks I've seen in a while.  I hope you can read this, but there is a sticker on the top of the lip gloss that read "Mirror underneath".  So if you take off the sticker, supposedly you can use the top of the gloss as a mirror.  LOL!  This could be standard on glosses, I honestly don't buy them enough to know, but it really tickled me.

Review: OCC Lip Tars

I'm sure, you've already heard all the hype about OCC Lip Tars.  I just have one thing to say about all those rave reviews:

They are absolutely true.

I should start this post off by saying that I am not a big lip person.  I try.  I’m just not.  It always ends up on my teeth, so usually I wear chapstick or some variation on chapstick like the Revlon Lip Butters.  But when I do want to 'put on a lip', I almost always reach for my OCC Lip Tars first.

The OCC Lip Tars are fantastic.  They are so incredibly pigmented.  I had seen reviews where people said “a little goes a long way” and wow, are they right.  You only need the tiniest amount of product to get complete opaque coverage with vibrant payoff.  Plus, I've been using these regularly for almost a year and the tubes still have so much product.

Their range of colors is stunning.  I feel like OCC is really known for their super vibrant colors.  But the thing that really shocked me is that they do neutrals really well.

Most of the shades that I own are neutrals.  I picked up Trollop, Hush and Divine just under a year ago and if anything I am more pleased with them now than when the package arrived in the mail.  They are just beautiful neutral colors.  And the thing that I love so much about the lip tars is that it is so easy to mix the shades together to get exactly what you're wanting for any given look.

I did break from the neutrals to pick up Anime which is this gorgeous neon pink.  Gah.  I am so in love with this color.

(I'm working on the lighting for product photos and swatches.  I think it's getting better, but Trollop still photographed way darker than it is in person.)

Paraphrased from OCC:

OCC Lip Tars are 100% Vegan and Cruelty-Free.  They are also free of parabens and other harsh preservatives. A simple, elegant formula that contains Hemp Oil, Peppermint Oil and Vitamin E, OCC Lip Tar feels as good on the lips as it looks!


Overall:  10/10