REVIEW: L'oreal infallible 24HR Eye Shadow in 997 Eternal Sunshine

Hanukkah starts tonight, and I had planned to do an elaborate blue-and-gold EOTD.  Unfortunately, I got some sad news yesterday and it's not a good time for a party eye look.

I was cheered up on my grocery run last night when I spied the L'oreal Infallible eye shadow display and I selected a festive, liquid-gold shade, "Eternal Sunshine."  Here's my first-impression:

The pot is a slim affair, and I think it's quite elegant (though the shade sticker makes this blatantly a drugstore item).  You can see the color easily through the bottom window, which I also like.  Inside, there is a sort of plunger just like Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense (ETKI) shadows. 

The texture is more creamy than the ETKI shadows, but still has a powderiness that is very similar.

I couldn't capture how stunningly metallic Eternal Sunshine is in a photograph... it kept appearing kind of margarine-colored in my crummy photos!

Applied to lids with my index finger, NOT over primer. If you'd like to know, my mascara is Majolica Majorca Expander Frame Plus... it is an AWESOME fibre-mascara!

It's not cheap at about $8.49, but L'oreal will of course go on sale at drugstores so that'd be the time to load up on several shades of this.

I am really liking it - it seems to me they are an awful lot like my two pots of ETKI without the ouchie price tag!  The only thing I can't yet speak to is the longevity of it, but I'll update this post with a wear-time evaluation later tonight.
UPDATE: I didn't see any creasing until the 8-hour mark. I bet they'd go much longer with a primer underneath. I'm really impressed!

Have you seen the infallible eye shadows display near you yet?

REVIEW: Blinc Liquid Liner

This one will be short 'n sweet.  As you may have seen, I got blinc's liquid liner in my December Birchbox.  I was excited to try the liner because I found it rather entertaining to pick off the little rubbery bits of blinc mascara back when I tried it, even though overall I thought the mascara was a fail.
Blinc liner doesn't disappoint in this area.  When you wash your face with your regular cleanser (it doesn't require makeup remover, but water is not enough.  It will stick around until you remove it), blinc liquid liner balls up into little rubbery bits just like blinc mascara did (photo here).  That's really all this liner has going for it, sadly.

Top, blinc liner.  Bottom, K-palette liner for comparison.

The brush (here, compared to the K-palette liquid liner nib) is too thick and doesn't taper to an effective point.  It is a bit floppy and just a bit tricky to control.  You won't have the option of a nice, super-skinny line.  The liner may have fared better with a thinner brush, but...

If you look closely, you will see that as this liner dries striations form (basically, it gets a stringy look).  The directions state you must apply all necessary coats before it dries, which I managed to do. In spite of that, the liner still dried with this glue-like appearance.
No, thanks.
My experience with the blinc line thus far suggests a fun little science project but as "innovative makeup products" they fail.

REVIEW: Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation

Hello, gorgeous girls! I apologize for my inactivity (reading your blogs) lately. I've been feeling a little under the weather and unmotivated to do much with makeup (besides shop for it... somehow that never gets old!). So, I've managed to acquire a lot of cosmetics recently but haven't felt up to blogging about them or reading every blog in my blogroll.  I hope you'll forgive me.

What I have been managing to do is put this $55 Chanel Perfection Lumiere Foundation in Beige 30 through the paces! I've worn it over regular moisturizer, tinted moisturizer, silicone-based primer, silicone-free primer, and bare skin.  I've worn it with and without powder. I've applied it with the Sephora Airbrush #55, beauty blender sponge, and good old fingers.  How did it fare? Read on!

The colormatch is awesome, probably the best I've ever had.  This is essential because this is a medium-to-full-coverage foundation and you don't want any lines.  The foundation blends beautifully with any application method (brush, sponge, fingers), but I do have this complaint: it dries quickly so you'll want to apply it a bit at a time rather than dabbing on each facial region like you might with other foundations.

Applied over tinted moisturizer with fingers:

From this angle, the coverage looks great in the photo but it seems my neck and face don't match (in person they do, I promise.  I actually applied the foundation all down my neck so the issue must be with the light).

I feel that the appearance of foundation was lightest and most natural with the Sephora #55 brush, medium with the damp beauty blender sponge, and heaviest-looking applied with fingers.  What's unexpected about this is I needed 6 pumps for brush application, 4 pumps with the sponge, and less than three pumps with my fingers!  It goes to show that the brush provides the best look, in my opinion, but wastes the most product.  You'll want to consider that with this foundation's $55 price tag.

Applied over non-silicone primer with the Sephora #55 Airbrush, topped with Rimmel Stay Matte powder in 001 Translucent:

It's actually a great match in person, but I believe the powder and lighting throw off the color slightly.

Even though it wastes the most of this pricey product, I much prefer the brush application with Perfection Lumiere because the coverage looks the most natural in the end and it's the easiest to work with.  I think I'll alternate days using this and Boscia BB cream applied with the beauty blender (my favorite application method with that product) so I don't run out of Perfection Lumiere too quickly.

One thing that must be mentioned about Perfection Lumiere in regards to the feel on the skin is that it is nearly weightless with any application method! There is slightly more "non-existence" to its feel with the brush application, but even applied the heaviest with my fingers it feels much lighter than Revlon Colorstay or Photo Ready, or MUFE HD.  It can transfer but I found it to be much more transfer-resistant than those foundations as well.  Of course, if you put a primer underneath you'll feel the weight of that which is kind of a bummer.

I could nearly wear this foundation over bare skin in the warmer months. I wouldn't call it "moisturizing" by any stretch of the imagination, but my skin can pack enough oil to make it possible to wear with nothing underneath when the weather isn't drying it out and causing flakiness. 

If you have normal-to-dry skin, of course you will want to apply a moisturizer underneath.  I saw no difference in wear-time with any kind of moisturizer I tried (I used Dermalogica active moist, which has no tint and supplies the most moisture of those tested; My HG, Origins Vitazing which gives the most "dewey" appearance of moisturizers tested; and Stila Illuminating Moisturizer, SPF 20, which is the least moisturizing but on its own imparts a slight shimmery glow to the skin).

Not only did I not see a difference in wear-time with the different moisturizers I tried, but I also did not see ANY difference in coverage or finish! This is quite unusual for me.  Most of the time my foundation is affected by what I put underneath but I just didn't find that to be the case with Perfection Lumiere. It really stands alone.  I think if you use a really heavy moisturizer underneath, as needed, it also will not sheer the foundation out or leave you greasy in a few hours.  I think this foundation would be wonderful for any skin type!

I find this lasts about 12 hours, which is as good as anyone could hope, and its lasting power seems unaffected by any tricks to elongate it (primer under or powder over).  Actually, when I wear it with powder it seems like my skin gets shiny far more quickly than without (strange, I know, but it happened a couple of times with different moisturizers and primers underneath!).  I have therefore concluded that this foundation lasts best on its own without a setting powder. As you can see from the photo in which I'm wearing powder, I also suspect the color is affected by the powder as well.  The finish is nice enough that I don't think it needs a finishing powder for aesthetic reasons, anyway.  It gives a kind of natural, fabric-like finish that has no visible shimmers, even though it blurs imperfections to the naked eye, but...

MAJOR FAIL:
I've noticed this foundation doesn't photograph well on acned skin. If you have smooth skin with discolorations, it shouldn't be a problem for you because I find the coverage wonderful for any redness or dark spots. 

Applied with a beauty blender sponge over Dermalogica Active Moist:

I couldn't see these zits in person, but when I took the photo they re-appeared!  To be fair, though, there are more zits and discolorations on this cheek than the photo shows.  It's dependent upon the angle of light, like those HD translucent powders, I suspect. Also, that zit-looking bump by my mouth, about an inch away, is not a zit but a mole... sigh.  I'm brave to show this, right?

I, however, have active acne bumps and some pitted scarring, and this foundation doesn't hide those from the camera at all.  Even my husband was suprised, saying my skin looked great and then looked at a photo and was shocked you could see all the bumps again!  Maybe there aren't any foundations out there that can successfully hide bumps from a camera in every photo, but if I'm attending a picture-heavy event I'd MUCH prefer to wear a different foundation... maybe dermablend?

I can highly recommend this foundation for a lightweight-feel, excellent discoloration coverage, lovely scent, non-irritating formula, luxe packaging, blendability, every-day wear for those not stalked by paparazzi... I just wish I could call it my HG, but my bumps on view in photographs is a deal-breaker.  I LOVE how it looks in the mirror but I'm scared of catching an unflattering angle in a photograph.

Review: Stila Daydream & Dream in Full Color Palettes for Holiday 2011

Without further ado, let me break into the two Stila Holiday 2011 palettes reviews:

The rest of my pictures are in the preview post.

The boxes these come in are a decidedly non-holiday orchid shade of purple.  They seem pretty standard for mid-price range cosmetics.  The compacts are sturdy navy blue plastic with clear covers.

The lighting washed out the palette's colors in this picture, but the size is easier to understand next to the MAC lipstick tube.

Daydream has 22 eye shadows in the area of a DVD.  The omnipresent Kitten makes up the center, as it does for the Dream in Full Color Palette.  However, Kitten is the only shade the two palettes have in common. For $18, it's about 82 cents per color, though 7 of the colors that surround the center are in truly tiny pots.  I had to use an itty-bitty packing brush, but you could also use a pencil brush or a liner brush, q-tip, small sponge applicator (not included), or at worst your pinkie finger (I doubt any other digit will fit, and I have small hands!).  To be honest, I don't feel that you're getting all that much with the packaging.  There is no mirror or brushes/applicators.  It does allow for the clear cover to show the dream-catcher/flower design and it is quite pretty.  You have to blow or wipe off a little shadow dust periodically, which is a little annoying.  Even the larger Dream in Full Color Palette is light-weight, but not flimsy.  It doesn't feel like a high-end makeup item, but it doesn't feel cheap, either.
As for the quality of the eye shadows, Kitten for one is not at the level of Stila's single eyeshadow or a larger pan in other palettes (such as the Stila Artist Palette).  The shadows are harder but still fairly velvety.  You don't really get a luxury experience from the texture on your fingertips, but I think they are as smooth as Dior quints I've tried.
I've decided to break down the palette by shadow color so you know what I found to be hit and miss, and weigh for yourself if you think it's a good value for the money.

Top Row, Left to Right: 1-kitten, 2-day (matte), 3-bloom, 4-tranquil (matte), 5-aspire
Bottom Row: 12-fancy, 13-ambition, 14-admire, 15-stellar, 16-paradise, 17-illusion

Top Row: 5-aspire, 6-wish, 7-yearn, 8-lotus (matte), 9-desire, 10-crave, 11-hope (matte)
Bottom Row:17-illusion, 18-celestial, 19-night, 20-spark (matte), 21- whim, 22-trance

17 shades are a soft shimmer that doesn't settle into lines on the eyes.  5 shades (day, tranquil, lotus, hope, and spark) are matte.  The only shades in this palette with which I had trouble with pigmentation and smoothness are hope and spark.  Oh, and kitten! I managed to forget the center of our flower, Kitten, because it's not the Kitten Stila lovers know and... love.  I didn't even have to take notes on this palette because most of the shades were successful and true-to-pan (over primer, Too Faced Shadow Insurance), if not a bit dupable.  Chances are if you like Stila you have Kitten done better in another palette, anyway.  So if three of the shadows are not great it's about $1.06 per pigmented, blendable shadow.  To me it's not an amazing deal but the palette is pretty and versatile. I really like the inclusion of the matte shades and I think this palette is truly seasonless.  If you're an eye shadow junkie you'll already have these colors in these finishes (satin and matte are all you get here), but if all you have is a quad or a few singles this is great way to experiment with color. I was going to pick out favorite shades from this palette, but to be honest they're all solid renditions of each color type (turquoise, matte medium brown, silvery lilac, etc). 

The Dream in Full Color palette, $39, doesn't have a turquoise or much green, but it does have a larger variety of finishes so if you were only planning to get one or the other, I'd say the Dream in Full Color palette is the better value.  It comes with a full-size Smudge Stick in Stingray, which is $20 on its own and worth every penny.  It lasts on the waterline better than UD 24/7 pencils.  I had been planning to buy another one of these when I ordered this palette, anyway!  The remaining $19 divides into 53 cents per palette pan, AND seven of the pans are medium-pigmented, smooth blushes.  I had no trouble getting my regular-sized blush brush into the blush pans to swish side-to-side.  These don't pack the pigmentation of NARS or MAC, and I've never owned an individual Stila powder blush, but I found these comparable in pigmentation to the Stila Beach Girl Palettes of Summer 2011.  I do think they are smoother and apply more evenly, however.  They give a natural, sheer flush to cheeks that intense blush lovers or darker-skinned beauties will not be happy with.  I love my pigmented blushes like Illamasqua Lover, but sometimes it is nice to be able to just pop on a blush with no fear of overdoing it (clown cheeks).  If you're fair to medium and like a natural blush look, you'll really like these. Two of the blush shades (11-bud and 16-fairy) are very, very light but don't pack shimmer so can only work on the extremely fair as blush or daytime highlighter for others.

Left to Right: 6-tickle, 11-bud, 16-fairy, 21-sizzle, 26-coral, 31-cozy
Most likely to get used by me: tickle and coral, with sizzle to contour

Far Right: 36-raspberry
I think all these blushes are neutral and will look nice on cool- or warm-toned skin

I managed to get nice-looking swatches of most of the eyeshadows, but some of the shades were a disappointment.  Others were totally GORGEOUS and my pictures didn't do them justice!

Lacking:
1-kitten, sheer and not soft like the full-size, lacking full-size kitten's dimension (same issues as Daydream palette)
3-stargaze, chalky and applies patchily even when built up
4-sky blue, sheer
5-twilight, chalky
14-lottery, sheer and chalky, applies patchily even when built up
32-cassis, patchy
35-dreamcatcher, applies unevenly/patchily

Top Row: 1-kitten, 2-inspire, 3-stargaze, 4-sky blue, 5-twilight, 7-ebony, 8-espresso
Bottom Row: 17-mystical, 18-peace, 19-dream, 20-oasis, 22-surreal, 23-twig, 24-copper

Top Row: 5-twilight, 7-ebony, 8-espresso, 9-infinite, 10-fable, 12-delight, 13-muse, 14-lottery, 15-imagine
Bottom Row: 22-surreal, 23-twig, 24-copper, 25-mirage, 27-vision, 28-whimsy, 29-reverie, 30-rosie

In full sunlight - Top: 32-cassis and 33-supernatural
Bottom: 34-wisteria and 35-dreamcatcher

The same swatches in shade

Still here? Your prize is the STUNNING shades:
8-espresso (matte), 9-infinite (gorgeous taupe with gold shimmers), 10-fable (lighter version of infinite), 12-delight (amazing pigment-dense black with multi-color sparkles my camera couldn't pick up), 13-muse (pigmented antique gold-brown), 15-imagine (would make a great highlighter on browbone, inner eye corner, or cheekbones. It has sheen, not shimmer), 17-mystical (pigmented with beautiful tiny peach sparkles, 18-peace (lighter version of mystical), 19-dream (potentially a UD Naked Dupe, matte and velvety), 20-oasis (smooth peach/gold DUOCHROME), 23-twig (pigmented burgundy brown with so much depth and nuance), 24-copper (a perfect copper, aptly named), 25-mirage (a pink and gold duochrome, potential dupe of MAC expensive pink?), 27-vision (black with pink sparkles), 28-whimsy (light matte plum, so smooth), 29-reverie (pigmented peachy-pink), 30-rosie (weird name as it isn't rosy, it's a pigmented silvery taupe), 33-supernatural (warm purple with silver sparkles), 34-wisteria (light grape with silver sparkle)

Whew! I hope you're still with me :)  See how many of the colors are just gorgeous? (19 of them). My pictures are not doing them justice, I guarentee it.  The best photos I had to demonstrate this are of the purple quad; I think it's easy to see how cassis and dreamcatcher are patchy, but supernatural and wisteria are so rich and vibrant.  Even the shades I found lacking are not that hard to work with (if you MUST use everything in the palette equally).
There is also a pretty lookbook included.  I may try these looks, so stay tuned for EOTDs featuring these.  I'm not a novice with eye makeup, but sometimes it's nice to have a guide when faced with this many beautiful choices.

I think Stila was strategic in offering the smaller palette at a lower price but lesser value.  The Dream in Full Color palette is a total steal in my opinion, just considering how great the Smudge Stick is (I believe it's Xsparkage/Leesha's HG? Correct me if I'm wrong).  Then so many of these shadows just knocked my socks off with their nuances I failed to photograph.  Such a pleasant surprise after the just okayness of the Daydream Palette.
I'm still going to get some more of the Holiday Palette releases out there (Too Faced Sweet Dreams, you will be mine ASAP!) but I think I'll still get a lot of use out of this Stila Dream in Full Color Palette.
Do you have loads of MAC shadows, or is your eye shadow collection lacking?  Trust me, get the Dream in Full Color Palette before you consider something sub-par like a Sephora blockbuster!

Review/Preview: OPI Axxium Gel Lacquer in Brisbane Bronze

Happy Friday! Yesterday after work I went with my sisters to get our monthly pedis, and decided it was about time I tried that new-ish long-wearing gel nail lacquer by OPI (on my fingers, not toes).  I think there are other brands available elsewhere but my salon carries OPI Axxium.  I wanted a metallic color that wouldn't look particularly Fall-ish or Summery, and I'm really into mixing metals (as in jewelry) lately.  My toes are silver, but the Axxium color I settled upon is Brisbane Bronze, a kind of bronze-rose-gold-copper-penny-shimmer. It's sooo pretty!

My nails are hella short and weak right now because they've been breaking a lot lately, so I got a regular manicure beforehand.  My nail guy painted on a couple of clear base coats that had to be set under the UV light between each coat, then he applied a couple coats of the gooey-looking lacquer color.  Each layer required a short time under the UV appliance.  A couple of special top coats later and he told me I could probably go pick a fight with my sister and the nails wouldn't smudge (ha ha).  It cost $25 at my usual place but I've heard it go for more or less.  It should last 2-3 weeks but I might wind up soaking it off with acetone at home beforehand, because I'm fickle about my nail color.
I'll update you guys later as to how long it lasts, but I can attest to its pretty glossiness at this time.
Have a great (non-chipped manicure) weekend!

Nuance Salma Hayek Color Vibrance Lipstick in Coral and My Favorite, photos and swatches

Please note this picture is not true-to-color as the light was totally rubbish.  The lip swatches below are true-to-color.

In spite of being quite let down by Nuance Salma Hayek's tinted moisturizer and powder "foundation," I couldn't resist trying out the lipsticks because the internet is abuzz with their praise. I am happy to report that I can add to that buzz; these lipsticks feel great! They have a YSL-like slip to them, nice pigmentation, a nice extremely subtle vanilla-ish scent (practically no scent), feel emolient, and retail at $9.99 (but of course buy-one-get-one-free this week).  The packaging leaves something to be desired, though.  The plastic safety seals are stuck to the tubes on mine, which often happens to me with these seals.  I felt like the color indicators on the bottom of the tubes were pretty true-to-color.  Mostly, these just feel really nice on my lips so I don't need a balm first, and are completely inoffensive in any way!
I got Coral (describes the color well) and My Favorite (kind of a muted brick-berry color).  These will NOT be going back to the store, they're staying with me!

Coral

My Favorite

Bonus: it might be the warm/neutral tones of these lipsticks, but I think they make my teeth appear whiter... I apologize I didn't take a toothy photo.