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

NARS Shimmer Eyeshadow in Lhasa

I've been on a taupe eyeshadow kick lately (well, more than usual).  And in general, I've been gravitating toward cooler toners.  Despite being a very pinky person, I often wear really warm tones.  I know that's sacrilege to some people, but we're all just going to have to deal.  

However, this fall and winter, I've really been going for cool purple, plummy tones.

I came across some swatches of NARS Lhasa eyeshadow and it seemed perfect for my current beauty proclivities.  NARS describes the shade as "lavender gray", but the swatches I'd seen online put it firmly in the cool toned taupe category.  The shade was released as part of NARS Spring 2012 collection, but has since been made permanent.

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Some of the reviews I saw mentioned it being a tad bit sheer, but all the swatches were absolutely gorgeous.  I know, there's always a bit of YMMV with cosmetics, but seriously.  Look at those swatches above.  This shadow is sheer.  Very sheer.  Very uncomplicated.  And very disappointing to me.  

Maybe it's a difference in quality control between the initial run of the product and subsequent runs.  All I know is that the NARS Lhasa I have is not the rich taupe I've seen swatched in the interwebs.  It's not complicated.  It's not complex.  It's very straightforward and one dimensional.  My NARS Lhasa is a sheer purple gray.  *sob*

The only upside to this story is that Sephora had a promo where you could get '$20 off a $50 purchase'.  In reality, it was just a $20 gift card code with no minimum purchase.  So after all was said and done, I paid $4 for this eyeshadow and got free shipping and samples from Sephora.  That doesn't make up for the disappointing quality of this eyeshadow, but it does take most of the sting out of a disappointing purchase.

NARS Lhasa eyeshadow is part of the NARS cosmetics permanent range.  It contains 2.2 grams of product and retails for $24.

Overall:  4/10

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

Rouge Bunny Rouge Eyeshadows: Bohemian Waxwing, Abyssinian Catbird, Delicate Hummingbird

So I mentioned eons ago that I did a Rouge Bunny Rouge haul from BeautyHabit.  Yeah.  I'm finally getting around to do a review of the Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadows.  

*hangs head in shame*

I picked up 3 of the shadows, Bohemian Waxwing, Abyssinian Catbird and Delicate Hummingbird.  When I originally ordered, Delicate Hummingbird was on backorder.  It probably took a month for it to finally be delivered, but it did show up and I wasn't charged any extra shipping.

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I know it doesn't seem like it looking at these shadows all swatched against each other, but I swear, these shadows are all sort of taupe-y.  Next to each other, they look brown, green and purple, but on their own, or swatched against real browns, greens and purples, they are much more taupe.  They're gorgeous complex colors that look different depending on the light and the colors they are paired with.

Bohemian Waxwing

Abyssinian Catbird

Delicate Hummingbird

The shadows are smooth with good pigmentation.  They have a satin finish with some subtle shimmer.  They wear well on me, but then again, pretty much everything does.

I'm including some swatches of these shadows compared to shadows from other brands just so you can see:

RBR Abyssinian Catbird comparisons

RBR Delicate Hummingbird Comparisons

Rouge Bunny Rouge shadows are available in a variety of compact configurations, but I chose to get the pro-pans.  I just put them all in a Z Palette with most of my other shadows.  As far as the quality, they seem pretty close to MAC shadows (good MAC shadows).  Actually, the entire Rouge Bunny Rouge line reminds me a whole lot of MAC (though marginally more expensive and much more difficult to procure).

Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow refill pans contain 2 grams of product.  They retail direct from the Rouge Bunny Rouge webstore for $19.63 (plus international shipping).  I picked mine up from BeautyHabit for $19.  BeautyHabit often has sales and deals on shipping.

Overall:  8/10

Guerlain Cruel Gardenia

Guerlain's Meteorites Cruel Gardenia highlighter initially launched in January 2012 with the Guerlain Spring 2012 collection.  It sold out of its initial run and quickly became one of those cult, hard to find products.  You can still find some from the original run online for a 100% mark up.  I've been lusting after it for two years and then randomly, it was available at my local Dillards a few weeks ago.

I have no idea when it was re-released.  There is nothing on the official Guerlain site about it and I haven't seen any press releases.  I have no idea if this is another limited edition run or if it is now part of the Guerlain permanent collection.  It's not on the Dillards website, but it's definitely on counter as I know several other people who have seen it nationally.

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The design on the powder is surprisingly resilient.  Using a brush, it is difficult to pick up too much product.  (And I had a heck of a time trying to get enough product for a heavy swatch without running my fingers all over the design).  Heavily swatched, it can look like a cool, pinky metallic, but otherwise adds a very subtle sheen with a tiny bit of microglitter.

I tried to find a dupe just for the color and ended up with eyeshadows.  I don't have any highlighters which are overly similar to this.  Of the shadows that are similar in color, two are metallic cream shadows.  I think it's safe to say you're probably not going to be slapping those babies on your cheeks, but purely as an exercise in product duping, here you go:

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As for how Cruel Gardenia compares to other highlighting products, I compared heavy swatches. You probably aren't going to use a highlighter this heavily, so your mileage will most assuredly vary depending on how much you apply.  

Cruel Gardenia is as bright as the more metallic highlighters without being overly metallic itself.  It really is a beautiful product.  Everything about it is beautiful.  The design is beautiful, the packaging is beautiful, the effect on the skin is beautiful.  This is a lovely, totally non-essential product that, if you have the money to spend, is totally worth it and will keep you warm on those cold winter nights (or maybe that's just me.)

The packaging is nice and luxe (as it should be at this price point).  The compact is heavy and is made of high gloss plastic that manages to not feel cheap at all.  It feels substantial in your hand.  

My only complaint is that the lid of the product screws onto the base at exactly the same level of the powder.  And the design in the powder is actually raised, so it would be easy for someone as suave as myself to accidentally gouge the product while trying to either open or close it.  It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

The Guerlain Meteorites in Cruel Gardenia contains 9 grams of product and retails for $68.  As stated before, I picked mine up at a Dillards counter and I know other people who did as well (at a different Dillards counter from mine), but it does not appear to be available at any of the major retailer websites or the Guerlain website.  If you find one, please let me know where you got it.

Overall:  10/10

L'Oreal Visible Lift Serum Absolute Advanced Age-Reversing Makeup

So, in continuing with my penchant for doing some posts solely for the purpose of complaining about a product, I bring you the GirlieReview product review for L'Oreal's Visible Lift Serum Absolute Advanced Age-Reversing Makeup.  

Cut to the chase, it's awful.  Just look at it.  Looking at it makes me want to cry.  It looks like a turd.  Because it is a turd.

This foundation is like no other foundation I've ever used (thankfully).  It has the strangest texture.  I definitely get the 'serum' part of this foundation.  It has a very thick, emollient, serum-y feel.  So imagine a really emollient, silicone heavy serum mixed with powder foundation.

Yeah.  It's as bad of a combination as you'd think.

The powder just sort of swims in the serum.  And the best part for me was that when you apply it to the skin, it's thick.  I found this foundation difficult to sheer out because the 'serum' never sinks into the skin.  It just sits on top of it.  The upper layer of the foundation does dry out and it has a rather cakey, powdery finish, but the layer next to the skin stays wet.  And it creases like crazy.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have baby skin.  I have my fair share of fine lines, but this foundation creased everywhere.  It creased in the corners of my eyes, it creased on my FOREHEAD.

So, to re-iterate, this foundation is awful.  Skip it, regardless of your skin type, it's awful.  I picked it up at my local grocery store, but you can avoid buying it anywhere L'Oreal tries to peddle this crap.  I'm giving it to my daughter for her dress up box.

Overall: 0/10

MAC Silver Dawn Extra Dimension Eyeshadow

MAC's Magnetic Nude collection launched late last month and it contains eyeshadows, blushes and MSFs in MAC's Extra Dimension formula.  As soon as I saw swatches, I was very intrigued by the Extra Dimension eyeshadow in Silver Dawn.

I have quite a few of the Extra Dimension MSFs and blushes, but Silver Dawn is my first Extra Dimension eyeshadow.  I was drawn to it because it looked like a vaguely taupe-y pewter color.  I'm always in love with taupe shadows, but I'm definitely working on a pewter obsession as well.  Mmmmm, pewter.

To my relief, Silver Dawn is indeed a taupe-y pewter color.  It's a very warm silver with hints of brown.  It's a complex color that changes depending on how the light hits it.

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Silver Dawn is very pigmented and easy to use.  It's not an overly soft product and it is not powdery at all, but it does have excellent true-to-pan color payoff without fallout. As I mentioned earlier, it is a complex color that shifts depending on the light, so it works well as an all over color (I LOVE shadows like that.)

As I was playing with Silver Dawn I went through my other eyeshadows to see if I could find anything similar.  I pulled Benefit's Skinny Jeans, which is most similar in color, though it's a cream product.  MAC Patina and Rouge Bunny Rouge Abyssinian Catbird look very different in the pan, but swatched are similar (though not dupes).

MAC's Extra Dimension eyeshadow in Silver Dawn is (not surprisingly, *sigh*) limited edition with the MAC Magnetic Nude collection.  As of the writing of this post, it is still readily available from most retailers that carry MAC as well as directly from MAC online.  It contains 1.3 grams of product and retails for $19.50.

Overall:  10/10

It Cosmetics Live, Love, Laugh Vitality Face Disc

Before we jump into the post, I just want to let anyone who bothers to read this blog know that I am working to address my lighting issues.  Sometimes it seems okay, but as we get into winter and natural light is less readily available, it becomes a bigger issue.  Lately it seems like my swatches are just not showing up true to life.  I'll keep you posted.

And moving on to the lovely :D ...

For Christmas I received this beauty as a present from the lovely Ollie, though I think his mom might have helped him pick it out ;).  Please notice the big thumbprint in the highlighter where I couldn't refrain from trying it out before I took pictures.

Here is the It Cosmetics official word on the disc:

Live, Love, Laugh Anti-Aging Vitality Face Disc is all about that healthy look of vitality for the face and body! This disc is substantial in size and has a jumbo mirror inside ― it's an all-in-one makeup must-have! The waterproof matte bronzer, illuminating highlighter, and anti-aging vitality blush shade are naturally pretty, yet infused with cutting-edge anti-aging ingredients hydrating ingredients, including hydrolyzed collagen, acai, green tea, and vitamins A, C, and E. Talc, paraben, sulfate, mineral oil, petrolatum, synthetic fragrance, and phthalate free. Hypo-allergenic and non-comedogenic.

It certainly is substantial in size.  To paraphrase Ollie's mom, it's bigger than the blue banana.  That's not  a bad thing, but just be forewarned, it is large.  Very large.  This does mean that it has a large mirror, and tons of product, which are definitely pluses.  The packaging is similar to NARS in that it is a black rubberized packaging.  I'm not sure if it's susceptible to becoming gummy over time, but I'll let you know.

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And here is where we get to the lighting issues.  Sigh.  The bronzer and the blush swatched very true to life, but the highlighter didn't at all.  In real life, it is a very subtle champagne color, not the chunky gold that you see in the photographs.  As soon as I get my lighting figured out, I will update this post.

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The blush is a gorgeous coral color with a satin finish.  The bronzer is matte and waterproof.  On me, it's a little too warm to use as a contour, but it's great for adding all over warmth.  The highlighter, as previously mentioned, is a soft shimmery champagne color.

All of these products wore fantastically well on my dry skin and hadn't faded noticeably at all by the time I took them off at around the 10 hour mark.  I can't speak to how waterproof the waterproof bronzer is, but if the opportunity ever presents itself, I'll let you know.

The It Cosmetics Live, Love, Laugh Vitality Face Disc contains a whopping 22.22 grams of product and retails for $38 wherever It Cosmetics are sold (which, I believe is the It Cosmetics website, QVC and Ulta).

Overall:  10/10