A Fresh Face of… Roses?
Dolce & Gabbana Rose the One Shimmer Powder ($50.00 for 0.91 oz.) is a scented, subtle loose highlighter. It is scented with the same-named scent, Rose the One, also by Dolce & Gabbana (no surprise, I’m sure, ha!).
I know that some cosmetics are fragranced, but I can’t remember coming across a powder so deliberately scented before, so I was eager to try this (well, more to sniff it, I suppose!). It really does smell like Rose the One, which is a very feminine rose. There’s no better descriptor than fresh, sweetened roses. It’s not too sweet at all, which is something I was a little worried about. Surprisingly, you can even catch a little whiff of the rosy scent when it’s applied to your cheeks.
The loose powder itself is a soft, golden peach shimmer. It’s very finely milled, and it lays down quite well and doesn’t migrate all over the place, as some loose highlighters sometimes do. At $50, it is a splurge, but at least you can rest easy knowing you’ll likely have enough to last you a lifetime, with nearly an entire ounce of product. The product reminds me a bit of MAC’s Loose Beauty Powder ($22.00 for 0.28 oz.).
I would caution those with more sensitive skin that a fragrance-filled product may not be your best bet, at least not your face. It does work quite nicely as a decolletage highlighter as well! Otherwise, it’s kind of a fun product that puts a twist on wearing your favorite scent.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’re in the market for a loose highlighter and wouldn’t mind smelling like a rose, check out Dolce & Gabbana’s Rose the One!
Availability: Saks
Hot–No, Lukewarm–Springs with Empreinte de Chanel
Chanel Empreinte de Chanel ($65.00 for 0.49 oz.) is the signature product (and limited edition, of course) from Chanel’s Les Impressions de Chanel Collection for the spring.
Chanel describes the product as a “radiant glow highlighting powder” designed to brighten cheeks and brow bone with shades of rosewood, beige, and brown. It also includes an angled brush (the size you’d typically find in a compact, not a full-size brush), which is surprisingly soft and usable–though I’ll still use my full size brushes myself.
The compact has these lopsided circles in creamy white-gold, bronze, and peach outlined in the bronze. Then there are, of course, the two signature interlocking Cs in a shimmering, gilded gold (not quite a true gold). I was trying to furiously swatch away anything that would be an overlay, and though it seems like the circles seem to fade away, the color remains the same regardless. The Cs seem to be shimmery (as far as I could tell without destroying the compact) to stay shimmery as well.
Empreinte de Chanel is a warmed-up, peachy gold. It’s surprisingly pigmented, and it’s definitely something that would lovely as an eyeshadow as well as on top of cheeks. It reminded me of a more pigmented, way more shimmery version of Lancome’s Sparkling Cherub; Empreinte is also warmer and less brown (more gold).
Bottom Line: It’s soft, silky, and certainly looks beautiful on, but it is definitely a shimmery highlighter; so if you prefer a more subtle highlighter, you may want to test this in person first! The price is steep, and Chanel fans won’t be surprised, but if you’ve never considered Chanel, this probably isn’t the best product I’d take the plunge on (they have better; including Kaska Beige Eyeshadow Quad, if you are jonesin’ for spring). The only thing that compensates for the price is you do get 0.49 oz. of product, which is quite a bit for a blush/highlighter product (typically 0.20 oz. or so).
P.S. – The entire Chanel Spring collection is now available at Nordstrom and Saks. You’ll probably have to search by name or click through the Chanel categories, but they’re up there. I just purchased Particuliere through Saks ’cause Saks has FREE EXPRESS SHIPPING (!) right now.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 26/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Chanel fans will likely enjoy this piece, but the price tag is a little steep for a product that’s good, but not great.
Availability: Nordstrom and Saks
Spring Blossoms with Guerlain’s Cherry Blossom Blush
Guerlain Cherry Blossom Blush ($49.00) is part of Guerlain’s Cherry Blossom Collection, which also features a new eyeshadow quad called Jeu d’Ombrelles and (repromoted) Meteorites Voyage Powder in Mythic. Both the blush and the eyeshadow quad are new and limited edition. The collection will hit the usual suspects come January of next year.
First, I love, love, LOVE Guerlain’s blushes — they’re so soft, subtle, and smooth. (See swatches of their six permanent shades for reference.) Cherry Blossom is no exception to the soft, subtle, and smooth description I’ve grown accustomed to using to describe Guerlain’s blushes.
Guerlain describes the color as “a pink and peach blush with shades reminiscent of Japanese cherry trees in bloom.” I’d describe it as a muted peach with pink myself. It’s soft, subtle, and doesn’t really have noticeable shimmer (at most, a sheen). It’s an interesting shade, because it’s not quite peach, yet not that pink, either. For spring, I think it’s a really perfect shade for light and medium skin tones. Deeper skin tones may have trouble getting it to show up as pigmented as they’d like, but it may still be wearable as a more natural color.
The compact is a glossy black, which is surprisingly lovely (haven’t seen Guerlain do black yet myself; they likely have in the past, before I was into makeup). I think I like it more than their permanent packaging (a cool-toned gold metal), actually. The powder is embossed with both a design as well as a shimmery overlay on parts of it. The overlay definitely goes away after the first few uses, but the peachy pieces do seem to go through; the majority shade is the pale pink with just a touch of peach. The peach-colored pieces are in the minority, but they do impact the color quite a bit.
As much as I think the powder is pretty with the design, I’ve come to learn that I’d rather not have a design at all (or perhaps, just an imprint, but no overlays), because I can totally sympathize with those who find it too pretty to use. Even though I received this as a sample, I was hesitant to swatch, because it looked so lovely in the compact! My other issue is that the first few swatches (or uses) tend to give you a different color than what you’ll get later on down the road. I can appreciate the fact that Guerlain does make it pretty obvious that the overlay is exactly that, an overlay, so I don’t feel duped, at least!
Though pricey for a blush at $49, you do get a whopping 0.32 oz. of product. It’s also just a $1 more than the pricing of their other blushes (which actually just makes me suspect an upcoming price increase in 2010), so I’m pleased to see Guerlain didn’t puff up the price simply for the sake of the overlay or limited-edition nature of the piece. I’ll probably never use up a blush in my life (except MAC Margin, perhaps!), but it’s nice to know they’re not skimping you on the actual product. Oh, yeah, and a bonus? The angled blush brush that comes with it is quite soft–total surprise to me–which was also a nice touch.
Bottom Line: I think Guerlain fans will enjoy this prettily designed spring blush. It’s a great shade for a little pick-me-up color in the spring, particularly for pale-to-medium skin tones.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 5/5
Recommendation: Certainly a highly anticipated collection, the blush doesn’t disappoint–if you’re in the mood for subtle, natural spring color.
Availability: January 2010
Holiday Sparkle with Prescriptives
Prescriptives Cool Lustre Shimmer Cheek Color ($24.00 for 0.17 oz.) is a gorgeous plummy pink with gold sparkle. It instantly reminded me of MAC’s Stark Naked Blush (swatch. They are very similar, though not exactly the same — but if you’ve always wanted Stark Naked (one of my favorite blushes!), this one is a nice substitute, even if it is also limited edition.
The texture of Cool Lustre is smooth, soft, and the color is noticeable. It’s not ultra pigmented like NARS’ blushes, but it has just the right amount of pigmentation to add plenty of pop to your cheeks–plus, you can always layer for deeper color.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’ve been looking for a dupe for MAC’s Stark Naked Blush or enjoy yourself a cool-toned plum… you might like this!
Availability: Nordstrom
, Prescriptives
Get Glowy Cheeks for the Holidays with Benefit
Benefit Cosmetics Sugarbomb
($28.00 for 0.42 oz.) is the newest powder addition to Benefit’s line-up. It joins cult favorites like CORALista and Hoola, and Benefit describes it as a “sugar rush flush” for the face.
The powder comes with four triangles of color, which Benefit describes as “rose, shimmering pink, soft plum, and peach.” The powder is designed to be used all at once, rather than one triangle at a time. I’d completely agree with that notion, particularly because the space is just not big enough to really grab one shade over another that well.
When swirled together, the outcome is a beautiful peachy-pink shade with a very, very subtle golden sheen. This is half blush, half highlighter, because it’s not ultra pigmented and on my skin tone (which you could describe as “medium”), while it shows up, it looks very soft. It’s certainly not invisible (which would make it more like a highlighter), but it’s not vibrant. This is good and bad, depending on your usage — but it’s a good thing to me.
It actually reminded me of a peachier version of CORALista, but they are different, since CORALista is much more pigmented and pinker. On my skin, it gives me just enough color and really gives me that “glow.” That super sought after glowy cheek look? That’s what this is in a cute lil’ box.
Both the texture and the results reminded me quite a bit of my beloved Dior Skin Shimmers (particularly Pop Diamond). The shade itself is a reminiscent of NARS’ Orgasm, but it’s less orange (on me) and the shimmer more refined. But here’s something fun: Benefit is way, way cheaper than both. Benefit’s Powders are HUGE–a whopping 0.42 oz.–compared to the average blush that weighs in at a mere 0.20 oz. NARS’ blushes are $156/oz., MAC’s are $88/oz., and Dior’s are $150/oz., but Benefit is $67/oz.
It’s packaged exactly like other Benefit powders, which is in a cute little cardboard box. If you don’t dig Benefit’s packaging, this is probably not going to do it for you either. It’s typical Benefit–and I say that as a good thing–and even though I do prefer sturdier packaging, this will hold up quite well, even if you do keep in your purse. Of course, if you toss it in your bag, the outside will get dinged up a bit, but in the end, it should still survive with the product intact, which is the more important part.
Bottom Line: This is a beautiful get-glowy-cheeks product if you’re light to medium-dark. If you have a deeper or darker skin tone, I think this will end up being more of a highlighter–if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s worth considering, but I don’t think the color will show much very well. I fell in love with this product at first swatch (and I had a hunch it’d be mine kind of color just from looking at it, too) – it’s everything I love: soft, subtle shimmer (think Dior Skin Shimmers, mmm!) that gives me glowy, naturally flushed cheeks. This is something I could wear everyday, with or without other makeup. Benefit, I’m totally impressed by this!
P.S. I also want to give props to Benefit’s website for showing incredibly color accurate photos of Sugarbomb, too. You don’t always see such accuracy in official product imagery, so it’s really a nice touch.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 30/30
- Value: 10/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love glowy cheeks, check out Benefit’s Sugarbomb!
Availability: Benefit Cosmetics, Sephora
Holiday Palettes Revealed: Too Faced Glamour Revolution Palette
Too Faced Glamour Revolution Palette
($39.50) is a new, limited edition holiday palette available exclusively at Sephora. Too Faced calls it a “makeup book,” actually. It contains nine eyeshadows, three lipglosses, a bronzer, blush, and Shadow Insurance (eyeshadow base).
Face
- La Vie En Rose Brightening Blush is a bright pop of petal pink with gold flecks of shimmer. It’s not a neutral nor warm-toned pink, but it’s not too cool to make it difficult to wear for warmer skin tones. It’s actually a very pretty shade. It has a soft texture and is quite pigmented. The shimmer could be more subtle/integrated, but it works well.
- Chocolate Soleil Bronzer is a surprisingly cool-toned chocolate brown. It’s not too pigmented, and I don’t think it’d be my favorite bronzer on my skin tone (which is warmer). It is shimmer-less, but it does have a soft sheen.
Lips
There are three nameless lip glosses in this palette, and I can see why they didn’t bother to name them — they’re unremarkable. They are all incredibly sheer, with the first one looking like a nude-pink in the pot and coming out slightly pink-tinged gloss if I look hard enough. The second is a deeper-nude in the pan, but the actual color in a swatch is just sheer glossiness. The most pigmented is the third, which looks like a medium deep pink in the pan, but it’s just a soft pink gloss. I think Too Faced could have omitted these lip glosses (even if I liked lip glosses in pan-form, these are pretty poor performing) and gone with maybe a highlighter to round out the blush and bronzer.
Eyeshadow
Naturally, the eyeshadow portion of the palette is the highlight of the product, and the eyeshadows are smooth, pigmented, and the texture, overall, is good. The shade range is interesting – a few neutrals, but there are also some pops of color. The palette of eyeshadows does seem to run more cool-toned, though.
- Milk Chocolate is a tauped-up chocolate brown with a matte finish. It feels pretty smooth and doesn’t look chalky.
- George & Weezie is a green-tinged gold with a frosty finish. It has almost a green-gray cast.
- Boy Toy is a frosty cool-toned blue-based pink with silverish sheen.
- Label Whore is a reddish brown with a green-teal shimmer/sheen. I thought this shade was really fun and different — it reminded me of a tealer, more pigmented version of MAC’s Club eyeshadow. This shade is also available as a single.
- London Calling is a soft white-gold with a slightly frosty finish.
- Glamazon is a soft taupe with a pink undertone. It has almost a metallic finish. This shade is also available as a single.
- Dirt Bag is a brown with a touch of burgundy. It has more of a satiny finish than frost, too. This shade is also available as a single.
- Party Girl is a medium purple with a sheen and deeper purple shimmer.
- Neptune is a bright green-based teal with a soft sheen (less frost, more sheen!). This shade is also available as a single.
Bottom Line: It’s a fun, cute palette. It’s not my favorite holiday palette, but it’s a solid one. Everything in the palette seems to run on the cooler side, so it may be a better palette for cooler skin tones. Even though there’s a good assortment of eyeshadows, I felt like they had a few too many frosts and no standout highlighter shade–if this is a palette to get me ready from face to lips to eyes, that’s something I’d look for. Some might find the packaging cute, others may find it cumbersome, because it is a bigger palette and could have easily been made smaller (and thus more portable).
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 25/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you’re a fan of Too Faced eyeshadows, this is a great way to get several for less!
Availability: Sephora
