Saturday, January 10th, 2009
Last week, we all found out about Urban Decay’s New Heavy Metal Glitter Liners to be launched for spring. They’re currently available at UrbanDecay.com, as well as Sephora (at least, in-store for me). The new colors are Catfight (bright pink), Groupie (light pink), Midnight Cowboy (beige-gold), and Stagedive (teal).
And yeah, they’re pretty much amazing! If you’re into glitter liners, then I urge you to check out these. I don’t wear glitter liners that often, but I really love Urban Decay’s Heavy Metal Liners, just because they go on easily, the glitter is always the color it looks, and it lasts all day. The glitter is the colored part, while the base is clear (which is what helps the glitter adhere to wherever it’s applied). Catfight and Stagedive are my favorites; they’re both bright and fun! Midnight Cowboy is more wearable, because you can easily add it to any neutral look to kick it up a noth without going over the top.
See close-ups and swatches! Continue reading →
Friday, January 9th, 2009
A week or so ago, I posted about Urban Decay releasing four new shades of their coveted 24/7 Eye Liners. They are every bit as amazing as the shades before them! Graffiti is a brighter, grassy green. Flipside is a fun, bright poolside blue with an aqua sheen. Underground is a revved up medium-to-dark brown with subtle sheen. Of the four, Ransom is absolutely worth getting. Ransom is a stunning, decadent jewel-tone royal purple.
If you only get one, get Ransom for sure! And if you’re only getting a few 24/7 liners, it should be in your top three. It’s truly just that stunning; it’s rich in the color, but it’s so pretty. The blue-purple sheen it gives off is so glam!
I stopped by the Urban Decay counter yesterday to chat up a lovely artist, and she let me know that these lovelies wouldn’t be hitting the market until early to mid February. I know UrbanDecay.com has a preview of their spring products, so hopefully they won’t hold out on us too much longer! I adore the 24/7 liners immensely–seriously, I’m in the process of collecting them all!
See watches of the new fab four! Continue reading →
Monday, January 5th, 2009
Stila’s Precious Pearl Collection definitely got a lot of buzz from you guys–namely the stunning palette encased in a “mother of pearl” kind of case with six lovely shades of eyeshadow. Can I just say that the promo photos didn’t do the palette justice? The Precious Pearl Palette will be available this February for $40, and it features the following eyeshadow colors:
- White Gold Soft creamy white with gold shimmer
- Soft Pink Pristine light pink with pink and white shimmer
- Mid-tone Pink Neutral pink with warm undertones and pink shimmer
- Gold Deep gold with yellow and gold shimmer
- Green Intense mermaid green with blue and green shimmer
- Deep Blue Dark navy with black undertones and blue shimmer
Too often, promotional images tell one story while swatches/actual photos tell another story–one that’s disappointing. This is certainly not the case with Stila’s palette for spring. The palette itself is prettier in person than it is in the photos, especially because Deep Blue is so much bluer and brighter than the promo photo made it look. But you know what really makes this palette awesome? It swatches like a dream! The shadows are smooth, velvety to the touch, and each shade is well pigmented. There is no chalky mess here; no misleading colors. Colors are true to appearance, and I think this bunch of colors offers a nice palette for the spring season.
White Gold is a gorgeous creamy white shade with gold shimmer. I bet it would look stunning all over the lid or as a highlight (though darker skin tones may have to use a light hand so it doesn’t look OTT). Soft Pink is a frosty purple-pink shade; kind of reminds me of MAC’s Pink Opal, but deeper in color. Mid-tone Pink is really that: a medium pink; a little subdued and has less frosty shimmer and more of a nice sheen. Gold is a bronzy antique gold shade, very color-rich with the same soft sheen as Mid-tone Pink. Green is a soft greenish color with gold sheen and shimmer. Deep Blue is a rich navy blue with an almost purple-blue sheen, lightly shimmered.
All in all, Stila’s Precious Pearl Palette is a delightful surprise and a great way to kick off spring. I love the textures and color pay off of every shadow, and each color is one I can see myself using. They didn’t waste your dollars by throwing in a boring or unusable shade–and they didn’t make any of them chalky or poorly pigmented. Well-done, Stila! Color me impressed.
What do you think? Has the palette continued to live up to your expectations? Is this going on your to-buy list or are you passing?
Check out close-up photos and swatches of the palette! Continue reading →
Thursday, January 1st, 2009
POP Beauty’s Cat Eyes ($16.00) is an eye crayon that’s angled and shaped to help streamline the cat eye lining process. It comes in three colors: Black Onyx, Black Dahlia, and Black Olive. I tried out Black Onyx, because it’s a classic cat eye color, so how could I lose? I really liked the intensity of the black–it wasn’t super, super black (which I do love when the mood strikes), but for my upper lash line, sometimes a black that’s pigmented and dark, but not ultra rich is much better. I often want the shadows to stand out, not my liner, so it’s a nice option to have at your disposal.
When it came to actual application, I did find that it helped make the process easier, because of the way the liner was shaped. It is angled just right, and because it is crayon, you don’t have to worry about dipping a brush into gel liner or going back for more liquid liner. It’s right there! I didn’t feel like it went on as smooth as I would like (I had a little skipping), but perhaps if I had warmed the pencil up a bit more, it would have worked better.
If you want a really thin line, this product is probably not for that. The crayon is thick enough to generate a good cat eye, but you won’t be able to get a very thin and precise line with it, just because it is designed to be a certain thickness. Otherwise, I think this is a nice way to introduce yourself to the motions of getting the cat eye down pat. It’s a lot more forgiving than liquid liner, that’s for sure!
In comparison to MAC’s Penultimate Liner, which is supposed to help make lining easier as well, I find this easier to do than Penultimate. Penultimate is much more like a liquid liner than a pencil liner, so the two have different finishes and will look different in the end. Penultimate is not as forgiving, and I find it’s all too easy to make an “oops” with it. But like I said, POP’s is a crayon, so it gives you the look of pencil liner, whereas Penultimate is similar to liquid liner.
See more product photos… Continue reading →
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
A little late, but better than never, right? Here are photos and swatches of Laura Mercier’s Master Tool Box ($68.00) that came out for the holiday season. But guess what? You can save 25% with code HOL25 now through January 10th, 2009. So hey, maybe being late WAS a good thing after all 
The lip palette has Tea Rose, Pink Champagne, Cinnamon, Amaretto and Garnet Lip Colours. The eyeshadow palette contains Morning Dew, Rose, Fresco, Chocolate, Twilight Grey, a mini Black Violet Kohl Eye Pencil.
The palette is very universal–I can see it working on everyone, which is always a good thing to see. I hate when a palette is pretty, but I can’t get it to work for my skin tone! The shadows are smooth, buttery, and the pigmentation is there. The colors look just like they do in the pan; it’s a huge pet peeve of mine when a shadow looks one way in the pan and totally different on the skin or during application. The lip colors are pretty tame, but there is a nice berry shade for holiday parties and winter outings.
See the eyeshadows & swatches! Continue reading →
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Anastasia Highlighting Brow Kit ($32.00) is a totally new product to get 2009 started off on the right brow, err, I mean foot! The kit consists of a tri-colored baked brow powder as well as a tri-colored baked highlighting powder. The trios are terracotta baked and can be used wet OR dry–using it wet won’t ruin the product like it often does for regular powder products. What’s fun is you can also use these wet for eyeliner in a pinch! Both trios come housed in a sleek silver compact that’s lightweight and small enough to keep in your purse. I found using a stiff angled brush was ideal for getting my brows defined to my specifications, and then any eyeshadow brush works well to highlight just under and above the brow to better accentuate the brow’s shape.
This lovely brow kit doesn’t release until January 29th, 2009 — BUT you can win one of your very own right here at the blog!
To enter: Leave any comment on this post. To double your chances, follow us on Twitter (please include your Twitter name in your comment!). To triple your chances, subscribe to our RSS via e-mail (see the giant RSS button on the right!).
But maybe you want to take a peek inside, first?! 
Continue reading →
