This barely-there, lingerie-inspired collection contains everything you need for easy, flirty makeup. 2 silky-smooth eyeshadows, 1 rose-colored blush, 3 mini Couture Shine liquid lipsticks, in a vintage style luxe bag.
6 x Eye Shadows in Lust (cream with shimmer), Smolder (matte gray), Risqué (matte black), Stunner (light bronze with shimmer), Knockout (bronze with shimmer), Racy (matte brown)
Close Up ($39.00)
In this tutorial’s simple steps, Carol Shaw shares her professional tips that take you from real life to red carpet by teaching you how to master a Natural Day and Dramatic Night looks in minutes. This kit contains a step-by-step look book and her favorite must-have products—everything you need to do makeup like a pro. Contains 0.15 oz Starry-Eyed Baked Eye Shadow Trio in LORACstar, 0.02 oz Front Of The Line Pro in Black, 0.43 oz Multiplex 3D Lashes Mascara in Black, 0.12 oz Blush in Soul, 0.17 oz Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick in Trend Setter, Tutorial Look Book
Baked Eyeshadow Trio ($26.00)
Popstar
PEFfection Baked Perfecting Powder ($32.00)
Available in Fair, Light, Light/Medium, Medium, and Tan.
LORAC Summer 2011 Collection: Touch Me, Tease Me, Tantalize Me
TANtalEYES Palette ($36.00) (Limited Edition)
LORAC TANtalizer Palette will have you sizzling all season long! Give your sex appeal a boost with 4 shimmering, mineral-infused, ultra-pigmented Baked Eye Shadows for long-lasting, sultry eyes and a travel size TANtalizer Body Bronzing Luminizer for glowing skin that shines like the stars on the Red Carpet.
selfTANTALIZER ($34.00)
Get a gorgeous, golden Red Carpet tan instantly! LORAC selfTANtalizer Body Bronzing Gradual Self-Tanner is a unique two-in-one product that creates an immediate, bronze, transfer-resistant glow of a body makeup with the long-lasting tanning results of a gradual self-tanner. This easy to use self-tanning lotion contains DHA to safely build natural, rich color gradually and is infused with Camu Camu, Maracuja, and Pomegranate Seed Oils to help the skin appear smooth and healthy-looking wihle assisting the production of skin from free-radical damage. The luxurious vanilla fragrance willa waken your spirits with a sweetly seductive scent.
Hot Off the Red Carpet Collection ($36.00) (Limited Edition)
Get this season’s look Hot Off the Red Carpet with Carol Shaw’s sizzling collection of beauty must-haves: 2 exclusive color-coordinated, mineral-infused, shimmering Baked Eye Shadow Duos, an exclusive TANtalizer Baked Bronzer, a full size Multiplex 3D Lip Gloss in 3D and a Gold Blingy Bag that can double as your evening clutch.
availability: Ultra @ April 10th, Sephora @ April 19th
Tie Dye For Lip Gloss Collection ($25.00) (Limited Edition)
These ultra-rich lip glosses feature a tie-dye inspired swirl of one-of-a-kind color. Formulated with acai berry and pomegranate for a boost of protecting antioxidants, these glosses do double duty keeping lips moist and nourished. 5 x 0.11 oz Lip Gloss in Flaming Mix (red), Shocking Twist (fuchsia), Social Mixer (pale pink), Berry Blender (purple), and In The Mix (nude).
Lip Service Collection ($32.00) (Limited Edition)
Includes 5 x 0.11 oz Couture Shine Lip Gloss in Sheer Luxe, Haute, Glam, Lavish, and Couture, 0.3 oz Sheer Wash Lip/Cheek Tint in Sheer Luck (sheer rose), 0.12 oz Vitamin E Stick, 0.04 oz Lip Pencil in #18, Small black zip pouch.
Evening Out Complexion Kit ($38.00)
Includes 0.388 oz. Powder and 0.0846 oz. Concealer, available in Light, Medium, Tan.
This decadent set contains 36 eyeshadows, nine lip glosses, three blushes, and one bronzer that will help you bring out your inner starlet. Packaged in a compact, faux-crocodile train case with swing out shelves, this cute little number with a dazzling variety of colors packs a big punch.
After Party Collection ($37.00) (Limited Edition)
Perfect for creating party-girl sparkle, this collection features a trio of glimmering pink- and purple-hued eyeshadows, a glittery black eyeliner/shadow pencil, a shimmering nude luminizing powder, and a plumping lipstick—all packed in a purple faux-croc makeup bag that can double as a clutch for the after-party.
LORAC Private Affair Palette ($38.00 for 0.30 oz.) is an enigma, let me tell you! I’ve experienced shades that swatch poorly but work beautifully in practice (NARS Daphne, I’m lookin’ at you!). I can’t think of many occasions where I’ve encountered a product that swatches so smoothly, so richly and leaves something to be desired when used. Private Affair is just that; far prettier swatched on my arm than when I went to use it in a look.
Now, it’s not like it turns into a muddy mess, disappears on sight (well, at least… not entirely), or looks bad, but it doesn’t look nearly as lovely on as it does swatched–and that’s why it’s a disappointment. This is how it happened:
9:10am: Temptalia is heard excitedly shouting, “OMG OMG OMG BABE! THIS IS SOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!”
9:15am: She starts to work with the products for a look to post on the blog.
9:18am: Mellan rushes into the bathroom wondering why he hears, “GRRR!”
9:25am: Eye makeup looks like it’s been 18 hours of wear with a nap in-between.
9:30am: Sadface.
The palette includes six shades: gilded champagne with a metallic-frost finish, beige champagne with a whitish sheen, medium-dark brown with soft gold sheen, grayed taupe with an antique gold metallic sheen, rich berry burgundy with a satin finish, and blackened purple with burgundy glitter flecks. The texture of these just feels so buttery, incredibly soft, and intensely pigmented; you hardly need any product to achieve true, rich color.
The problem, however, lies in the texture, which is really just too soft. If you thought Stila’s eyeshadows were too soft, these LORAC shadows are softer. This means they kick up quite a bit of powder when used–I advise merely pressing your brush into the shade rather than moving it around, because it will get enough product without loosening the rest. The soft quality of the eyeshadow also means that a lot of it ends up on your face, rather than on your eyes. It rained burgundy and eggplant on my undereye area (which doesn’t need any help looking tired!). Additionally, the softer the eyeshadow, the easier it is to blend, but it can also mean that it is even easier to muddy the color or sheer it out with even a light touch.
At the end of the day, they’re just okay eyeshadows. They feel and look stunning when swatched, but they’re just not nearly as standout when used. There’s a little more fall out than I’d expect, and the color pay off looks fierce initially but fades quickly. I had trouble getting the burgundy shade to stay vibrant; it faded to this rather muted, blah eggplant within minutes. The blackened purple shade lacks the glitter when you apply it–it’s like the glitter doesn’t hold together with the shade and gets lost between the pan and your eye (probably eaten by your brush!).
There is also an eyeshadow primer included in the palette, which is housed in a pull-out drawer that sits beneath the eyeshadows themselves. Along with the primer is dual-ended brush that just feels too scratchy and the ferrules feel rather loose, so I ditched it.
Morbid or not, the packaging reminds me of a coffin. Maybe something a vampire would sleep in, with the dark blood red (faux) snake-skin covering. I also think that they could have ditched the primer and brush, since neither are stellar (the primer is so-so, it doesn’t seem to enhance the vibrancy of the eyeshadows). This could have allowed for a much slimmer palette, which would make it more travel friendly. But you know what really drove me batty about the packaging? It doesn’t stay open. That lid did not want to stay open at all, and I bent that sucker back so far and could see it pulling away from the rest of it, and it still kept closing on me.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
Product: 24/30
Value: 8/10
Ease of Use: 4/5
Packaging: 3/5
RECOMMENDATION: I wanted to love this palette with all my heart, but it left me rather disappointed. I think for $38, I’d rather get a couple of eyeshadows that were excellent than six eyeshadows that require more work and effort than I want to put in!
LORAC Multiplex 3D Lip Gloss ($22.00 for 0.17 oz.) is an ultra shimmering, light-reflecting non-sticky lipgloss that gives MAC’s Dazzleglass a run for its money. Giving you nearly three times as much product for $4 more, Multiplex just might dazzle your socks off.
It has a lightweight feel with just the right level of thickness–it’s not so thin that you need to keep going back for more, but it’s not so thick that it feels gooey. There’s no tackiness either, but despite the non-sticky feel, it still lasts a good two to three hours on me–which is average to a little above average for me. A lot of the non-sticky glosses I try tend to disappear in an hour’s time, which I definitely find frustrating.
These glosses are also moisturizing–they don’t dry out lips, even when worn alone, and in fact, my lips feel pretty good after wearing one for several hours. There is a very faint sweetly citrus scent, but I had a tough time detecting it enough to settle on a descriptor for it. Packaging is so-so — it looks cute, but it feels a little cheap in my hand. Not super cheap, but it doesn’t feel as nice as Dazzleglass.
Cliche is a semi-sheer fuchsia pink. It has a very sheer, pale pink base, but it’s full of fuchsia and iridescent shimmer that it gives it a much fuller coverage look.
Intermix is a browned nude base with peach-copper shimmer and sheen. I think this would be a really flattering everyday shade for those with warmer skin tones.
According to LORAC, the glosses contain holographic pigments, which is where the dazzling, shimmering, and glistening comes in. They have this rich, glossy sheen mixed with flashes of iridescence and lots of microshimmer. It doesn’t feel like shimmer or glitter, so even when it fades, it’s not gritty. The way the shimmer works is that it almost delivers the color of the lipgloss, rather than the gloss itself. Very cool!
I really loved this gloss–great texture, look, and feel–and I hope LORAC will release many more shades in the future.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
Product: 29/30
Value: 8/10
Ease of Use: 4/5
Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: If you love the way MAC Dazzleglass shimmers and shines but find yourself running through a tube too quickly, Multiplex offers the fun, shimmering, dazzling look with a non-sticky, lightweight texture with more pigmentation to boot!
LORAC Leading Lady Lipstick ($22.00) is a creamy, nearly neutral red (runs slightly orange-red) with a very bright sheen (more sheen than glossiness). It applies easily and well, and you can get an opaque look in just two or three layers.
The lipstick formula contains “SMS Complex,” which is an anti-aging ingredient that “neutralizes and prevents the signs of aging by helping to stimulate collagen production and promote cell turnover.” Can’t tell you if any of that is true, but since the price tag is $22 and not $30 just because there is “anti-aging” ingredients in it, it’s like an added bonus if it does work.
But I can tell you this was a moisturizing lipstick that wore very well throughout the day! I found I got a good five or six hours of wear in this, and after it wore off through a meal, there was a slightly reddish stain that was left behind.
What about you? Would you wear this red?
The Scarlet Season is a series of posts showcasing and featuring my favorite shades of red lips–from glosses to lipsticks that runs through December 2009. You can sure expect to see a lot of red this holiday season!
