Make Up For Ever Lab Shines: M0, M2, M4, M6, M8, M10, M12, M14, M16
Make Up For Ever Metal Lab Shines
Make Up For Ever Metal Lab Shines have nine shades. According to a phone call to the Make Up For Ever Boutique in NYC, these will retail for $18 for 0.09 oz. and are currently available. According to Make Up For Ever PR, these aren’t officially launching until Spring 2011. My lovely friend Pursebuzz was so nice as to be my personal shopper at IMATs last week, and she grabbed me one of each of the Lab Shines they had (I think they were missing two or three). This post features five of the nine Metal shades, and part two will follow with the other four.
M0 Onyx is a semi-opaque black with silver sparkle. In the swatch, it’s certainly black and glossy, but it’s not 100% opaque, so on its own, it looks a bit messy. Definitely needs a very dark liner to make it look opaque.
M2 Grey Pearl is a metallic warmed-up pearly silver. It’s very much the color of pearl, with a little silver cast. Kind of like a platinum shade. It’s semi-opaque with a frosty finish. Surely not designed to be an ultra wearable shade, but I could see it working for some more avant garde looks or layered over a darker lipstick.
M4 Tobacco is a soft peachy brown with chamagne beige and gold shimmer. It has the same frosty finish as M2, and it’s semi-opaque as well.
M6 Hazel Brown is a darker brown than M4 but not by much. I had some streaking issues with this one – the color just didn’t want to lay down nicely for me. It has light copper and gold shimmer.
M8 Brown is a plummy brown with multicolored shimmer and a semi-opaque look. This is the most universally wearable of the ones featured in this post!
The Metal Lab Shines use Make Up For Ever’s Metal Powder in the lip gloss (which is where it gets its name). These are supposed to be the most opaque shades out of the 35 in total, with each formula getting progressively sheerer. I found that these were semi-opaque but intensely so. Some shades were nearly opaque, but the majority are semi-opaque, particularly the lighter shades.
The formula itself has this lightly sweetened fruity scent–I want to say melon or grapefruit (why does my nose suck?)–with a non-sticky texture. It’s almost like thicker lip balm on lips–maybe like a thinner Lip Gelee. It has a good amount of slip and slide, but it doesn’t slide right off lips. I don’t get ultra long wear out of these (two to three hours), and they don’t seem to leave much of a stain behind. They have a brush-flecked applicator, so you get plenty of product out for each application, and you have some precision to get a crisp, defined lip look, too.
I like the packaging a lot more than other Make Up For Ever lipglosses–it feels more solid and sophisticated; more suitable for the price tag of Make Up For Ever products. Unfortunately, despite the solid and thick feel of the packaging, they don’t pack much product in those tubes–just 0.09 oz., while the average lip gloss is around 0.17 oz. (Make Up For Ever’s Fascinating lipgloss contains 0.20 oz.). I don’t know if the addition of their Metal, Star, or Diamond powders should merit 50% less at the same cost, you know? Kind of feels like a MAC Dazzleglass situation (though those are worse — more than regular lipglass and 0.06 oz.).
I like the gloss, but I’m not sure I love it. I like that these shades are on the more pigmented side, wear decently (though not long-wearing), and look pretty on. They’re also very moisturizing and comfortable on lips. Not quite weightless, but they’re very jelly-like, so it’s not heavy or clingy.
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Product: 27/30
Value: 6/10
Ease of Use: 4/5
Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: For semi-opaque, frost-metallic finished lip gloss, you may like the Metal Lab Shines.
A new range of 35 lip glosses is now available at the Make Up For Ever Boutique in NYC (tell them Temptalia sent you, LOL!). There are three finishes: Diamond, Star, and Metal. The Diamond Collection utilizes Make Up For Ever’s Diamond Powder for a shimmering, glittery shine. The Star Collection is blended with Make Up For Ever’s Star Powder for a mother-of-pearl finish. The Metal Collection utilizes Make Up For Ever’s Metal Powder for a chrome, mirror finish. Each will retail for $18.
All three finishes boast pearl pigments that reflect and refract light for exceptional shine. A combination of hyaluronic acid and Camelina oil add moisture to the lips and improve elasticity, while beeswax and tetraester create a non-sticky texture that effortlessly glides onto the lips.
Diamond Collection
#D0 Diamond
#D2 Amethyst
#D4 Grenadine
#D6 Magenta
#D8 Baby Pink
#D10 Fresh Pink
#D12 Quartz Pink
#D14 Indian Pink
#D16 Beige
#D18 Copper
#D20 Tangerine
#D22 Papaya
See details for Star Collection, Metal Collection, & another photo! Continue reading →
I don’t know why, but for awhile, it seems like I have a bajillion lipsticks and glosses I want to share with you, but I feel a little odd reviewing more than one or two per day. I always think, “Nobody wants to see FIVE lipsticks in ONE day!” Some of these are getting a little “stale” and are on the verge of getting put in the “never going to review” folder, and thus, PIC SPAM!
Chanel Coral Reef (#88) Glossimer is a light peachy-pink base with lots of brightened gold-peach shimmer. Totally gorgeous, but I think this was limited edition. Probably from last summer’s collection. I believe I picked it out of my glossimers with the intention to include it in the Summer Season, but it’s hard to find, so it’s not appropriate for that series any more.
Bloom Sugar Lipstick is a sheer pale rose pink with subtle shimmer and a frosty finish.
Make Up For Ever #3 Glossy Full Couleur is a jelly tangerine-orange. On my lips, it doesn’t really do much. It gives them more of a coral look color-wise, but it does make them look rather juicy from the glossy finish and thick texture.
Tarina Tarantino Nouveau Lip Gloss is a blue-based medium-dark pink with a very glossy, jelly look. It has a very milky look, though it’s certainly not a milky pink by any means.
Too Faced Mood Swing Lip Gloss was just such a gimmicky product, I was loathe to review. They’re not a bad product, but the idea behind it was a little too much for me, personally. I also switched to including full face photos, so while I’ve meant to re-do some swatches, I just haven’t gotten around to it. And now they’re becoming stale!
I’ve already fully reviewed Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream ($22.00) here (#5, 7, 18, 21) and here (#6, 9, 11, 13, 20). I’ve got two more shades to show you!
#1 Anthracite is a darkened steel green with a light silver shimmer.
#22 Emerald Green is a brightened green with a slightly metallic-frost sheen and yellow undertones.
I can see #1 Anthracite working really well for an intense, ultra-dark smoky eye. I definitely think that #22 Emerald Green is definitely the more versatile and usable shade of these two in particular, though. It’s great layered underneath golds, greens, blues, and teals.
Anyone else indulge in the new Aqua Creams?
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 color and rich, creamy textures, you may find the new Aqua Creams right up your alley.
Ahh! The five Aqua Creams ($22.00) I ordered from Sephora arrived over the weekend, and I’m pleased to say I’ve been enjoying them! I liked the first four that I tried, because the pigmentation is incredible, and the finishes are beautiful.
#9 Coral is a medium coral-orange with subtle shimmer (very faint).
#6 Fresh Pink is a beautiful blue-based pink with golden shimmer. SO pretty. It’s amazing on cheeks and lips! Just make sure to prep lips, because it seemed a little drier than some of the other Aqua Creams, but it holds on for hours.
#13 Warm Beige is a lightened champagne taupe with a metallic sheen. This is kind of a neutral base color, but it’s a bit high on the frost/metallic finish and darker than I’d like — not quite as universal as I was hoping.
#11 Gold is a metallic gilded gold. Very, very pretty. Not entirely sure how usable it is, but it is stunning.
#20 Intense Blue is a medium ocean blue with silver shimmer. It’s like MAC Freshwater eyeshadow, in a cream form.
The reason I like these so much is they’re creamy but not too creamy–they won’t slip around on your eye lids, and they really lock down. These just don’t budge at all, even without setting with eyeshadow. I also like that you can use them on eyes/cheeks or lips/cheeks (depending on the shade), because they’re more multi-tasking. I like them the most on eyes, then cheeks, and finally lips. I wouldn’t wear these alone on lips (they dry down a bit, so they’ll last for over four hours on me, possibly stain, but my lips need more moisture, so I top with a gloss). Like they are on the eyes – they are excellent bases.
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 color and rich, creamy textures, you may find the new Aqua Creams right up your alley. These are particularly lovely blushes for those with oily skin, because these dry down quite well.
Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams: #5 Peach, #7 Fuchsia, #18 Purple, #21 Turquoise
Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams ($22.00 for 0.21 oz.) have finally debuted at Sephora. These are AMAZING. There are twenty-one shades in total, but some are designed for the lips and cheeks while others are formulated for the eyes and cheeks (p.s. why isn’t there #19?).
#5 Peach is a spun-gold peach with such a pretty sheen. It’s such a fresh pop of color on the cheeks. It reminded me of MAC Say Yeah eyeshadow a bit, actually–I was a little bummed to find out it wasn’t meant for eyes.
#7 Fuchsia is a bright fuchsia-purple with a soft sheen. It’s certainly intense, so go easy for a softer look.
#18 Purple is a softened lilac purple with a frosty finish. It was the least pigmented of the four I tried, though.
#21 Turquoise is aqua-teal with a frosty shimmer-sheen. It’s wickedly gorgeous. I’ve seen plenty o’ teal in the past few years, but this one is absolutely stunning.
These are creamy without being ultra creamy–I think I’d actually prefer them to be just a smidgen creamier. They’re blendable, but they dry down quickly. These didn’t budge, smudge, or crease on me one bit, whether they were on my eyes, lips, or cheeks. In fact, you really have to use an oil-based makeup remover to get all the last bits of it off. I tried using these as eyeliners, bases, and blushes, and they worked fabulously at each job. In fact, I enjoyed these four so much that I ordered five more (Fresh Pink, Coral, Gold, Warm Beige, and Intense Blue).
The only complaint I have–a minor one at that–is that the packaging feels a little cheap. They’re easy to store, since they’re small and rounded, but the plastic feels a bit on the thinner side, and there is also a lot of air in the jar from the get-go, which concerns me in regards to whether these will dry out after six months or so. You do get a fair amount of product for your money, which was nice to see.
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 color and rich, creamy textures, you may find the new Aqua Creams right up your alley.
