Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nude Glow

The Bobbi Brown Nude Glow limited edition Shimmer Brick launched with the Bobbi Brown holiday 2013 collection.  Technically it's a highlighter, but I knew from looking at it that on my skin, it would be a blush. 

I'm not overly familiar with Bobbi Brown shimmer bricks.  I've had one in my collection for years, but I never use it.  The other one I have is the little strips and I just hate the form factor of it.  I much prefer this type of presentation with the four big blocks of colors as opposed to all the little strips.  Also, since these are fairly sizeable blocks of color, it is much easier to use the shades individually as face or eye colors.

together on the left, individual swatches on the right

I've seen swatches of this product from bloggers who are much warmer and much darker than I am and on them it looks very pale pinky champagne.  On me, not so much.  Not that I'm complaining.  On my skintone, it is definitely champagne colored, but much warmer and darker.  This product is absolutely not a highlighter on me, but it is a very lovely blush.

individual blocks swatched, top row, then bottom row

all blocks swirled together.

Despite being called a Shimmer Brick, there isn't a lot of shimmer.  The colors are very metallic and definitely impart a whole lot of sheen, but there isn't any actual chunky glitter in it.  The product is soft and blends out easily.  The texture seemed consistent across the palette.  That's something I'm always worried about with products that have different shades mooshed up against one another.  I find it super annoying when some shades have a completely different texture and color payoff to others in the pan.  But this shimmer brick was very consistent in texture and color payoff, both of which were excellent.

This Shimmer Brick  contains 6.5 grams of product, which is a good amount, though not overly generous.  The product retails for $45.  As of the writing of this review, it is still available at some online retailers and I saw it on counter last weekend, so it's still out there.

Overall:  8/10

Maybelline Color Tattoo Nudes

So there has been a lot of hype about the Maybelline Color Tattoo Nudes, which, unfortunately, are limited edition (well, not so unfortunately in a couple of cases.)  Looking at Nouveau Cheap's sightings page, it looks like the collection has pretty good saturation at this point.

I had been keeping a sharp eye out for this collection and I finally found it at CVS (and I had a 20% off coupon, SCORE!)

I will say that as far as application and wear time, all of these shadows perform fantastically well - as do the bulk of the Color Tattoo line.  Pigmentation varies by color, but once they're on, these puppies aren't coming off.  All of the shades do have shimmer.

Pure Nude

Pure Nude

Pure Nude is, for better or for worse, exactly what it sounds like, pure nude.  Even on my incredibly pale skin, it is nothing but shimmer.  There is virtually no color to the base.  While the product looks a little champagne shimmer in the pot, on the skin it's a very cool, almost white shimmer.

Beige-ing Beauty

Beige-ing Beauty

Beige-ing Beauty is shockingly not at all beige, at least in my opinion.  This was the sheerest of the colors, even more sheer than Pure Nude.  Beige-ing Beauty is sparkle and nothing more.  The sparkle is warm, more gold than Pure Nude and also, less shimmery than Pure Nude.  This was the most underwhelming of the shades for me, with non-existent pigmentation and understated sparkle.

Nude Compliment

Nude Compliment

Nude Compliment is my favorite of the Nude shades.  It's a cool sort of antique gold color.  It reminds me a lot of MAC Patina.

Sleek & Spice

Sleek & Spice

Sleek & Spice is warmer than Nude Compliment.  It's a bit bronzy, but not terribly red.  There's still a bit of green there that keeps it from being too warm.

Caramel Cool

Caramel Cool

Caramel Cool is warm, warm, warm.  It's not even bronzy, it's pretty much straight up orange.  I didn't do comparison swatches, but it reminded me a lot of MAC Rubenesque paint pot, less of the duo chrome finish, but very much in that vein.

Like I said earlier, these shadows wear like a champ.  Even Pure Nude and Beige-ing Beauty which have lackluster pigmentation retain their lackluster pigmentation for a solid 12 hours.  These things do not budge and in my experience require an oil based remover.

Overall, I love this collection.  I'm not going to use Pure Nude or Beige-ing Beauty much, but if you're into sparkle, those are the shades for you.  I'm baffled as to why Maybelline has made this collection and the Matte collection limited edition.  These shades seem so much more wearable and useful than a number of shades in the permanent collection.

All Maybelline Color Tattoos contain 4 grams of product and retail anywhere from $4.50 to $7 each depending on where (IF) you can find them.  I picked mine up on sale at CVS.

Overall:  9/10

LE Maybelline Color Tattoo Mattes

I had been on the hunt for the limited edition Maybelline Color Tattoo mattes that launched with the Fall 2013 Gilded in Gold collection for, literally, months.  Of course, none of the stores near me ever received them (as far as I can tell), however, I was able to swap for three of them on MakeUp Alley.

This color tattoo collection, more than others, seems to be a pretty straightforward attempt to dupe some very popular MAC Paint Pots.  The three colors in the Maybelline collection are Matte Brown (often called a dupe for Groundwork, but in my opinion, it's darker than Groundwork), Just Beige (dupe for Soft Ochre, but again, seems to be significantly darker) and Nude Pink (dupe for Painterly, I will actually do a post comparing these two).

(L-R Just Beige, Nude Pink, Matte Brown)

Maybelline isn't kidding about these formulas being matte.  It may just be a quality control issue with the limited edition shades, but I have the permanent color tattoo matte in Tough as Taupe and it isn't anywhere near as dry as these shades.

The formula is incredibly stiff and despite their great pigmentation, they tended to look a little patchy, probably because the formula is so stiff.  I found the shades difficult to blend out and they did not sheer out particularly evenly.  

Once they set, they looked dry on my lids.  They didn't crease, but worn alone, they definitely don't do anything to improve the look of my lids.  They work well as bases as long as I apply shadows on top of them before they completely set.  These set quickly, so there isn't much wiggle room in my experience.

If you're looking for long wear, these are the shadows for you.  These things lasted a solid fourteen hours without budging an inch (I don't have oily eyelids, but they are hooded, so they can be tough on shadows).  I generally use an oil cleanser to remove my makeup, but even with an oil cleanser, it look a bit of work to completely remove these shadows.

Just Beige

Nude Pink

Matte Brown

As far as these being dupes for MAC paint pots, in my experience, they aren't.  The paint pots have so much more slip to them and they sheer out and cling to powder shadows so much better.  I have a MAC paintpot in Painterly that I've had for at least two years and it's still creamy (though it looks a little sketchy in the pot).  I haven't had these shadows long enough to know for sure, but my suspicion is that they will dry up and crack within the year.

The price point on the Maybelline Color Tattoos is, without a doubt, way more compelling than the MAC Paint Pots ($6 range, vs $20).

I know that Maybelline launched another Color Tattoo collection  - Dare to Go Nude - that contains a bunch of nude shades, though I don't think any of them are matte, so maybe they're re-formulating their mattes.

All in all, these shadows just aren't what I want them to be, especially considering how good most of the Color Tattoo range is, and considering how difficult it was for me to find them.

The LE Maybelline Color Tattoo mattes contain 4 grams of product and retail anywhere from $4.50 to $7 each depending on where (IF) you can find them.

Have any of you tried the LE Color Tattoo mattes?  If so, what did you think?

Overall:  5/10  

NARS Pierre Hardy blush in Boys Don't Cry

I apologize in advance.  As I catch up from my hiatus and backlog, I'm sure I'm going to have most posts like this about items (to borrow a term from PinkSith) You Can't Have.

This is the NARS Pierre Hardy blush in Boys Don't Cry.  It released in Spring 2013 with the NARS Pierre Hardy collaboration collection.  The color is described by NARS as "grapefruit pink".  It's a chameleon color (meaning it's not true to pan at all, imo).

The gold is just an overspray that is quickly wiped away, but in the pan the color looks very coral leaning toward orange.  

On the skin, it leans much cooler and pinky red.  To me it is almost a watermelon pink.

After the overspray is gone, the blush has a satin finish.  It is incredibly pigmented and vibrant, a little dab will do ya.  The wear time is great.  Easily 8 hours before it fades.

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This limited edition blush palette is larger than a regular NARS blush (.16 oz) and contains a whopping .45 oz of product.  It has the typical rubberized NARS packaging, which means it is going to be dirty and fingerprint covered in about half a second and in a couple of years it will get tacky and gross.  SIGH.

You can still find some of these on eBay and occasionally on Amazon.

I picked mine up in the Spring at Sephora for $41.

Overall:  8/10

Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadow in 101 Gri-Gri

Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadow in 101 Gestlogist Gri-Gri is limited edition with the Chanel Fall 2013 collection, Superstition.  It is described by Chanel as a metallic taupe.

In the pan it looks like a very silvery gray.  Swatched it takes on a much more purple/brown tone.  I think it definitely is a taupe.  It has a silver shimmer running through it and if you apply it wet, it definitely looks more metallic.

The texture was incredibly soft and had great pigmentation.  

I found that on the eye, much like the Tom Ford Cream Eyeshadow in Platinum, it tended to look almost wet after a while.  When it started looking like that, I knew it was only a matter of time before it started creasing, but ... it never did crease on me, even after 10 hours of wear.

Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadow in 101 Gestlogist Gri-Gri contains 1.6 grams of product and is Limited Edition.  It retails for $28.50 wherever Chanel is sold.  I bought mine at Nordstrom.  As of the writing of this review, it is still available at most online retailers.

Overall:  7/10

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in #343 Cherie Merie

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in #343 Cherie Merie is limited edition and was released with the L'Oreal Summer 2013 collection.  I have been on the lookout for this eyeshadow since I saw the first press releases back in May.

I have looked everywhere for this color.  I have looked at places like Ulta, Beauty.com, every drugstore I've wandered into all summer, Target, Wal-Mart, you name it.  I even tried trading for it on Makeup Alley and no dice.

This morning, I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some file boxes and low and behold, there on an endcap was Cherie Merie.

Even after all the hype, I have to say that this color does not disappoint.  It is a rich, warm coral.  It does contain gold microglitter and it has a lovely sheen, but it definitely isn't sparkly on the lid.

Like most of the Infallible eyeshadows, it had phenomenal color payoff.  The only downside?  This color stains like crazy.  

The L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in #343, Cherie Merie, is limited edition, but theorhetically available wherever L'Oreal is sold (good luck finding it).  It contains 3.5 grams of product.  I picked mine up for $6.97 at Wal-Mart.

Overall:  8/10

Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder and Contrast Highlighter for Summer 2013

Guerlain's Terra Ora Sculpting Powder and Contrast Highlighter is the limited edition summer 2013 Guerlain bronzer.  As far as I can tell, Guerlain does these every summer.  Last summer it was the Emelio Pucci Terra Azzurra blush/bronzer.

I should have taken a picture of me holding it, but I forgot.  This is NOT the huge one (that's the Guerlain Terra Neroli).  This compact fits neatly in the palm of my hand, but it still contains a good bit of product - 16 grams.  And to be clear, it should at this price point.

I've seen all sorts of blog and YouTube reviews on this product.  My favorite one was a YouTube review instructing people to stop treating this as a bronzer (and being disappointed) because it is meant to give you an all over healthy glow.  WHAT.  EVER. omg.

As with just about every other color product on the planet, a big part of what this product does will be dictated by your particular skintone (and often, skintype).  This product is a light golden beige.  On my pasty pale face, it absolutely is a bronzer.  On someone with a medium skintone, I could definitely see this being an all over glow product.  And on someone with a deep skintone, I suspect it would mostly be a waste of money, but could possibly be used as a highlighter, at least the center gold section.

I need a gold highlighter like I need a hole in the head, so I don't ever use the very center part.  I just don't.  I use the outer ring and here is a swatch of it on my skin

I think it is absolutely gorgeous.  It is very finely milled.  On the skin is has a beautiful sheen without any obvious shimmer or glitter.  It applies like a breeze, wears a solid 10 hours on my dry skin without a problem.  It doesn't emphasize pores (and trust me, I have some serious pores).  

The design on the product itself is gorgeous and shockingly resilient.  I've been using this thing for literally months and the design is still visible.

The compact is made of wood and has three magnetic closures.  The two halves of the compact come completely apart.  I'm fairly indifferent to this packaging.  It's okay.  I don't love it and I don't hate it.  I think it's fine.  The Terra Neroli bronzer comes in plastic packaging which I am much less excited about.

The Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder and Contrast Highlighter for Summer 2013 contains 16 grams of product and retails for a whopping $72 wherever Guerlain is sold.  I bought mine at Nordstrom.  Most retailers still have some in stock.  I get that at this price point, this would definitely be a miss for some people, but I absolutely love everything about this.

Overall:  10/10