MAC Mineralize Blush Duo: (Clockwise) Rhapsody in Two, Buddy Up, Bi-Tone, Chic Couple, Sun & Moon
MAC Too Fabulous: Mineralize Blush Duo Reviews, Photos, Swatches
On March 4th, Too Fabulous will launch launches in-stores, but you can expect it to pop-up online on either Monday (the 1st) or Tuesday (the 2nd) as well. Included in the collection are six shades of Mineralize Blush Duos ($23.00), nine shades of Cremesheen Glasses ($18.00), and six shades of Lip Pencils ($13.00). I’m missing one mineralize blush (Two Virtues) and one Cremesheen Glass (Loud & Lovely), as well as all of the lip pencils–I will have the missing pieces reviewed on the launch date once I get to the store and purchase them, so please be patient! Update (3/4/10): Everything is now reviewed and all that! 
The Mineralize Blush Duos are soft, smooth, and have kind of a “dirty” look to them, overall. I’m not a big mineralize blush fan because they have a tendency to break me out, so I rarely wear them. I also find that they fade faster than a typical powder blush, so they’ve just never been worth the breakout-potential! Rhapsody in Two is the only one I really liked, as the others just felt too “dirty” for my personal preference. I’d say Bi-Tone might be my second favorite, if you made me pick one!
Mineralize Blush Duos ($23.00)
- Bi-Tone is contains a pinky plum and a coppery gold. Together, they create a muted, coppery coral-red with golden shimmer.
- Buddy Up is a mix of muted plum and brightened pink. When swirled, they create a muted reddened plum shade that goes on fairly sheerly and doesn’t have too much glitter.
- Chic Couple is a duo of peachy-copper and neutral brown with gold-green shimmer. The two mix to form a very bronzy brown with orange undertones and gold shimmer.
- Rhapsody in Two is a mix of light yellow-pink and light peach-orange with a frost finish. The two create a a lightened, played down pink champagne, almost. I think may end up being a favorite for many, though I see it being used primarily as a highlighter. This is the only one that really caught my attention.
- Sun & Moon is predominantly beige-y brown with pink-brown chunks within it. Together, they swirl to form a peachy copper brown with pink and gold shimmer. When used lightly, it can look very soft and pretty, but intensified, and I think it may feel too orange.
- Two Virtues is a mixture of a cool-tone, blue-based frosty medium pink with violet-purple pieces. Together, they make a light medium pink with silver shimmer. The violet doesn’t really come through that much. It can be layered on more heavily for a pinker look, but it’s fairly sheer.
Bobbi Brown Color Strips: Orchid Palette
Bobbi Brown Orchid Palette ($60.00) is an eye, cheek, and lip palette from Bobbi Brown’s Color Strips Collection, which includes three palette variations. I’m typically wary of any palette that has lip wells in them, but I was excited, for these aren’t just the typical lip color, these are Pot Rouges, which are designed for cheeks and lips.
Pot Rouge
- Powder Pink is a creamy rosy pink that can be layered for an opaque look on lips or sheered out for an everyday blusher on cheeks.
- Pale Pink is a cool-toned blue-based pink that feels creamy and goes on fairly opaque.
- Sand Pink is a creamy coral-beige shade. I don’t see a lot of pink in this, but it’s a muted, played-down coral that will work well on warm skin tones in particular.
Eyeshadow
- White is a matte white. It’s a muted white, so it’s not a bright, totally unwearable white.
- Dusty Plum (Metallic) is a mauvey-plum with a shimmery finish. It has that “metallic” feel, like it’s almost wet you swatch it.
- Orchid Sparkle is a sheer, sparkly lilac–very light, very sheer, and prone to fall out.
- Mulberry is a richly pigmented royal purple with a matte finish. Like a lot of mattes, it applies better when you use a brush than anything else. I don’t have a shade quite like this.
- Caviar is a dark black-brown with a matte finish.
Oddly enough, my favorite part about this palette are the Pot Rouges. After trying Cabo Coral last month, I was curious about the other shades of Pot Rouge, and this is a good way to try out three new shades. All three were very creamy and pigmented, and they’re wearable on both cheeks and lips, so they do double-duty.
The eyeshadows didn’t get me too excited–I really liked Mulberry, though–I’m not sold on these five together. I can see a few combos, but usually I see a lot of combos in Bobbi Brown’s palettes and that wasn’t the case here. Orchid Sparkle is a throwaway shade for me, just because I know it’s a pain in the butt to use and it’s incredibly sheer; to make it work, try wearing it over a dark, metallic base. Dusty Plum Metallic would be my other shade favorite, because it’s smooth, pigmented, and versatile.
I like Bobbi Brown’s palette packaging, because the palette itself is sleek, but it’s practical, too. The cheek/lip shades are separated from the eyeshadows quite well, and each palette also has a clear lid that flips up to further protect the shades from dirt and dust.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’ve wanted to try Pot Rouges, this is one way to try three at once… and get some eyeshadows as a bonus!
MAC Dirty Plum Blush
MAC Give Me Liberty of London: Blush Reviews, Photos, Swatches
The blushes are also housed in the white packaging of the collection, but they have clear lids with the MAC for Liberty bird and flowers printed on top (same pattern as the lipglasses from what I can tell!).
Blushes ($18.50 U.S. / $22.0 CDN)
- Dirty Plum is a dirtied dark plummy purple with a soft sheen almost. It’s listed as a matte shade, but I detect sparkle in the pot (even with the naked eye) and a bit of a sheen when swatched. Even though the descriptions seemed to differ, this is the same Dirty Plum as released with Riveting. I swatched both and they were identical in color, though Dirty Plum from Liberty of London swatched better!
- Prim & Proper is a softly shimmered beige-y nude with a champagne sheen. It’s smooth, soft, and I think will surprise some people. It’s like a softer version of Notable blush.
MAC Beauty Powder Packaging
MAC Give Me Liberty of London: Beauty Powder Reviews, Photos, Swatches
The Beauty Powders are housed in all-white packaging with an opaque cover (they’re sometimes clear, sometimes not–usually not clear if it’s part of limited edition packaging) with the MAC for Liberty print printed in color on the top. Beauty Powders can be used for a variety of things–blushing, highlighting, setting, or what-have-you. Your usage depends on both the shade itself and how well it shows up on your skin tone. Shell Pearl may be a blush on fairer skin tones, but deeper skin tones will find it is more of a highlighter.
Beauty Powder ($25.00 U.S. / $30.00 CDN)
- Summer Rose is a satin-y pinky-plum with very subtle, nearly invisible shimmer/sheen. This is a repromote from last year’s Rose Romance Collection, but it doesn’t have the rose petal embellished design–on the flip side, this one is housed in special packaging. It has a smooth texture and can be layered for more intensity, though on first swipe, it’s quite sheer and soft. It doesn’t build up to an ultra intense shade by any means, but with two or three layers, it should show up on light and medium skin tones. Deeper, darker skin tones may find that this can look ashy, so I’d recommend swatching in-store first if possible!
- Shell Pearl is a beautiful peachy-coral with a soft golden peach sheen. For whatever reason, I never owned Shell Pearl when I first started my journey down the limited-edition lined path o’ MAC, but after I saw someone use it, I was like, “I need that!” So, finally, I get to have it, and it’s lovely. It’s soft, smooth, and delivers a beautiful glow to the skin. It’s not super pigmented, so for medium and darker skin tones, it’s more of a highlighter or potentially an all-over highlighter than a blush, but lighter skin tones may find it a suitable blusher as well as a highlighter. Shell Pearl has also been released in the past, but I believe that was over a year ago.
Lancome O My Rose!: Pop’n Cheeks Blush
Lancome Pop’n Cheeks Blush
($35.00) is a softly shimmered coral-orange blush, new and limited edition from Lancome’s O My Rose! Collection. The blush itself has a geometric rose design, and though there look to be a few shimmery pieces, it’s mostly just an overspray. Once you use it a few times, the glittery gold will disappear and a finer, more subtle shimmer is leftover.
It’s a fun shade for both spring and summer, which makes it a nice double-duty color. Hey, when cosmetic companies put out spring collections in January and the official start of spring isn’t until March 20th… colors that can be worn in both spring and summer are always nice pieces to add to your collection. I’m also totally partial to coral shades being a coral fanatic myself, so there’s no doubt I was going to enjoy this version released by Lancome!
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Love corals? Might want to see if you can track down this spring blush from Lancome!
First Blush of Spring: Illamasqua Lover Blush
Illamasqua Lover Blush
($23.00) is one of the better blush shades I’ve tried from Illamasqua since its stateside launch. Lover is an orange-apricot color with a matte finish, but it’s matte without being chalky or powdery (which can sometimes be the case with matte blushes!). The color looks smooth and natural with nice color pigmentation. It has rich color that can be layered and built up for greater intensity or used with a light hand for a subtle flush.
I still don’t love the packaging, since it feels bulkier than it needs to be. I do like that the lid is clear, so you can see the color without opening the compact or reading the label. The price point is near similar priced brands, but it is a little higher than I’d expect (or at least, you get less than I’d expect for the price tag), but if you’re like me, you’ll never finish a blush in your life so it’s not a deal-breaker.
More Illamasqua Blush reviews…
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you love yourself some matte blush, try swatchin’ Illamasqua next time you’re at Sephora.
