REVEW: Cha Cha Tint by Benefit didn't make me dance

Full disclosure: I do not like Benetint, nor do I like Posietint. Can somebody please tell me why these quick-setting cheek and lip stains are so popular?  They stain my fingers (only the first offense and, like all the crimes these tints commit, it's a lot of little annoying problems that add up to dissatisfaction for me).  The fact that you have to apply many coats to get them to show up is the answer to their superglue-like quick-drying effect, but I think it's a lame answer.  Anyhow, I purchased them all with my own money over the years, and I had hopes for Cha Cha Tint to be a little improved, as the buzz around the internet makeup community suggested. Unfortunately for me, I didn't really see any improvement over the other tints' issues.

Regular brushstroke, dabbed and blended

Can you see the darker stain spot in the center of the blended swatch?  That's what happened to my cheeks.  Fortunately I was able to blend it up a bit with another application, but what's with the instant staining of a product you MUST blend out?  This was even worse on my lips, which wound up a lovely but BLOTCHY coral color.  While the blotchy staining lasted hours on my cheeks, it still managed to wear off my lips after a scone and coffee, to my surprise.  I had such high hopes for this because I am a coral lover, but these Benefit stains are just not user-friendly enough for me.  

I don't want to totally hate on this because obviously people love these tints, so here are the positives and negatives:
Positives: lovely color, long-lasting on even oily skin, did not sink into or emphasize pores with proper base makeup underneath
Negatives: tricky to blend quickly enough, doesn't stick around on lips through meals snacks, brings out natural ruddiness and blemishes

Sadly, this ends up in the Nonono Box-of-Shame with my Benetint and Posietint.

For the record, though, I LOVE Benefit Girl Meets Pearl and all their boxed powders, so please don't think I'm hating on the brand.
Any tips to make these stains work would be greatly appreciated!

Benefit Tints: Add a nice flush if you live in a blurry and poorly lit dimension!

REVIEW: Too Faced Matte Eye Shadow Collection

Too Faced Matte Eye Shadow Collection ($36 exclusively at Sephora) is nine smooth, buttery matte eye shadows with nary a sparkle in sight.   Perfect for office-appropriate looks, casual day looks, and (as I soon realized) a dang sexy smokey eye!  The nine shades run the gamut of what I would consider Autumn colors, though the browns especially could give you a subtle, daytime contoured eye --if you're within the skintone range it calls for-- anytime of year.  These blended a dream and wore for me all day with TFSI and no fading or creasing.  Even though I am a total glam girly-girl, I didn't miss the sparkle AT ALL! Gasp! I didn't even miss my often bright colors.  I definitely prefer this to Urban Decay's Naked Palette because there is no risk of overdoing the shimmer and looking garish.  I felt the looks on the included cards made me look like a 1920's or 30's silent film star.  Sure, I'm going to want to use sparkly, colorful, or shimmer shadows quite often (I'm not a different person), but I was very pleasantly surprised by this all-matte-finish-collection's versatility.  I am now curious whether it's pointless to collect Too Faced's Smokey Eye shadow collection, because (as you can see below) the matte collection makes for a really sultry smokey eye.
You totally need this!

Tufted Suede lashline to browbone, Chinchilla on inner 3/4 of lid, Coffee Bean in crease and outer V

Kinda felt a tad too smokey and sexy for the office... the Robert Palmer Girl dress didn't help, haha! I think in the future I'll save Coffee Bean for date night.

This is after 8 hours of wear.

Never been a smokey eye girl... until now! Totally converted!

Face: Stila Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Medium (really like it! It feels so light and non-greasy and gives decent coverage for a TM), E.L.F. Mineral Foundation in Light, BE Mineral Veil, Benefit Cha Cha Tint, Benefit Girl Meets Pearl (also lurve!)

Lips: MAC Creme Cup Lipstick, Lancome Juicy Tubes in Raspberry Ice

Mascara: MAC Zoom Lash (much prefer to the Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes)

Necklace: Jewelmint

Dress: Forever 21 Fabulous Finds

Too Faced Matte Palette Preview Swatches

After all that shimmer overload that was Estee Lauder Pure Color Powder Gelee in Modern Mercury, I'm doing a 180 to bring you my swatches of Too Faced's new Matte Eye Palette.  Matte eye shadows can be a lot easier to wear than shimmers or frosts because they don't settle into fine lines on the eyes (that even 18-year-olds have).  They don't magnify your pores, either :P The review will have to come tomorrow as I've only just cracked it open and swatched it, but here's the swatches because I can't wait!

Left to Right: Tufted Suede, Chinchilla, Coffee Bean, Velveteen Bunny, Pebbles, London Fog, Fresh Linen, Vintage Violet, Midnight

This photo is really true-to-color, though a bit too dim, tbh.  London Fog looks blue-toned in the pan but not at all on my arm. Velveteen Bunny was surprisingly sheer but that's a good thing for such a light, matte color.
Below, a comparison to the two matte shades in Urban Decay's Naked Palette:

Left to Right: TF Chinchilla, UD Naked, TF Tufted Suede, UD Buck, TF Chinchilla

 I am thinking I might like this Too Faced Palette more than the Naked Palette, but only wearing will tell for certain!

REVIEW: Estee Lauder Modern Mercury Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee

Thanks to the Muse, I got a mad lemming for this Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Modern Mercury.  The compact is typical for Estee Lauder's current line, pretty but a little dated in feel.  Also, maybe I am uncoordinated but the compact is a little tricky to open for me (not that I feel bad; Christine from Temptalia has to use her nails for Milani Baked Eyeshadows and I never had a problem getting those compacts open... I mean, it seems to be a common issue!). 

Swatched heavily, one-stroke with applicator, random Dior Aurora (thought they were similar, except Aurora looks matte next to Modern Mercury!)

I tried it today as a highlighter over a tinted moisturizer I am despising (Fusion Beauty Tinted Moisturizer - evens skin tone slightly and has the usual paltry SPF 15, but leaves me feeling and looking greasy quite quickly and offers ZERO coverage for my spots, of which I currently have a billion... I think even if you have perfect skin you ought to stay away!).  I used it also as an eye shadow a la the Muse.  As eyeshadow I put it over my TFSI and it's going strong even now.  It looks like it might be a dupe for MAC All That Glitters, as this girl's photos show, though in some light it looks champagne and others more rose-gold.  Either way, Estee Lauder's marketing for the Modern Mercury collection suggests that the products are supposed to have that adapting quality and it's really quite pretty. 

Cha Cha Tint adding a flush, Modern Mercury looking champagne on eyes.

Promising after 1 hour...

Spots are all so visible it's mortifying! And yet I'm posting it here, haha.

Looks like a soft rose-gold glow from this angle, but...

Highlighted PORES! Only a few hours later... Cha Cha Tint lasted but sunk into my pores.  As eyeshadow (with Clinique Black Honey Gel Liner), EL PC MM Powder Gelee is still going strong.

As a highlighter, I found this faded with my appearance of the greasies, but I think that might be due to this godawful tinted moisturizer.  Unfortunately, the tinted moisturizer has also skewed my perceptions of Benefit's new Cha Cha Tint, which I also had intended to review today.  I'll use it with a tried-and-true base tomorrow and withhold my review until then (though I can already tell you the Cha Cha tint doesn't show up on pigmented lips).

The smell of the Powder Gelee is a little strange, like potato chips obscured by flour.  The texture is certainly more of a powder than a gel, but the consistency does seem to suggest a "dampness." 
The included sponge applicator is the rare useful tool (rare for included applicators to be useful, that is, i.e. those Kat Von D applicators are garbage).  It allowed for a nice color wash across my eye area and precise application to my cheekbones.  A regular blush brush or eyeshadow brush did not play well with the powder, however.

In an attempt to thwart the pore-maginifying aspects of cheek highlighters I applied Benefit's Porefessional primer to my most lunar-like regions, but alas I believe the tinted moisturizer ruined this effort as well.  The pretty rose-gold sheen to my cheekbones has faded in little over an hour and left behind magnified pores in its wake.  It could be EL's fault, because I never have this issue with Benefit's Girl Meets Pearl...

I can confirm the Muse's suspicion that the powder-gelee appeared to regenerate slightly after use; it's as if it repositioned itself.  However, while pretty in the pan and on eyes, I think ultimately this is just a novelty product and I wouldn't purchase it again.

Get Stila Smudgestick in Koi for free!

Just a quick post: I got an e-mail from Stila today that if you use code KOI or SILVERDOLLAR on stilacosmetics.com during checkout (purchase of $25 or more), you'll get one of those smudgesticks gratis, until August 4th, midnight PST. Just thought it was relevant to yesterday's post!

Kat Von D Mini-Haul plus swatches, first impressions, and Stila Koi

Good evening!  My latest Sephora mini-haul arrived and I was pretty excited to swatch it because it is Kat Von D True Romance eyeshadow palettes.  If you've ever touched one of these you know that they are really soft, smooth, pigmented, and well thought-out in terms of color combos.  Sephora has these two palettes (Metal Orchestra and Angeles) on sale at the moment for $10 off, so I had to collect 'em! I also own Truth (which I snagged for $15 on sale, but I think they are sold out) and True Love (also on sale for $10 off, but I think I got it full-price... booooo). Photographic swatchery hijincks to ensue.

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lipgloss (freebie with code) in Midnight Cowboy, Stila Smudgestick Waterproof Eyeliner in Koi ($5 on sale, but might be out of stock now), Kat Von D True Romance Eye Shadow Palettes in Angeles (top) and Metal Orchestra (bottom), $24 each on sale

Wrapped up like pretty presents!

Like Heaven and You-Know-Where

These were all creamy-smooth and pigmented, except for techno and razor gray. However, these were easily buildable so all's forgiven!

 Every last shadow in the Angeles palette was perfectly buttery-smooth. My pictures don't do these colors justice at all : /

UD Lip Junkie in Midnight Cowboy has a lot of silver micro-shimmer, but overall just looks like a really sheer, reflective gloss that's barely there. It's minty-vanilla like all of them, and I like it.  But the color isn't worth a purchase for me.

Stile Smudgestick in Koi. Wow, look at that.  If it wasn't looking a little like a disease, I think I'd be in love!

See how smoothly that Stila liner writes?  My skin isn't gross, that's the UD Junkie gloss swatched below :P

I swatched some other teals that are popular this year just for a fun comparison:

Left to right (all MAC): Shimmermoss, Surf USA, and Jealousy Wakes (ok, that's not teal but I was curious)

Are ya drooling yet?

Bare Escentuals and Milani EOTD

Hello! Sorry for all the EOTD posts. So far, they are the quickest to do since I tend to do my eye makeup every day and it can ease me into reviewing products that are available but not necessarily spankin' new and exciting.

For this look, I used: Bare Escentuals Where it's at: The Royal Treatment Set, King to blend crease and up to brow (it is a peachy duochrome, unfortunately this doesn't really translate on the eyes), Crown on lashline over a black eyeliner (Wet N Wild Glitter Black).  Crown is a really pretty black-teal, but I think in order to really see its deep peacock-teal quality you'd have to use it all over the lid and that's not very SFW, is it?  I hope you can kind of see it flashing teal in these pictures. Mascara is the Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes and my usual TFSI and Garnier Tinted Eye Roller.

I used two Milani Baked shadows on my lid and crease.  On the lid is Drench in Gold, and the crease is Intermix.  These are really powdery, though fairly pigmented and easy to blend. I was a bit concerned this look would wind up too discoball-y for the office, but I think the overall effect is more gleamy than glittery and the neutral colors make it all right for work. I used BE's liner brush (taklon bristles, yay!) to put Crown on the lashline, and I think it works a charm dampened.

Would you wear sparkly eye shadows to an office job?

Trying to show the subtle duo-chrome

FYI I love BE Buxom lipglosses but I simply cannot stand the taste of the regular BE line lipglosses.  A really pretty duochrome gold gloss came with The Royal Treatment set, but the flavor and smell make me never wear it.  I think it smells and tastes like mouldy potatoes (and I know that smell because, alas, some Yukon Golds went juicy in my pantry and the smell is just starting to fade after multiple scrubbings with baking soda!). So sad because it's lovely to look at, and the Buxom glosses are pretty delish smelling, if not cloyingly sweet. Definitely stick to the Buxom glosses if you're ordering from BE!