NARS’ Tropic Collection for Summer 2009 may not have been my favorite I’ve been able to sneak a peek at this summer, but Belize lip gloss was prettier than I anticipated. I couldn’t tell you that I’d really recommend it, given it’s $24, but it’s worth considering if you like milky glosses.
See a lip swatch of NARS Outsider Lipstick! Continue reading →
Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava Body Lotion ($22.00 for 16 fl. oz.) is a recent product addition to Pacifica’s product line-up. They are, perhaps, more known for their amazingly scented and long-lasting candles, but they’ve been slowly introducing scented beauty products to coordinate with their full array of scents.
Pacifica as a brand will always hold a special place in my heart, because they were one of the first brands to support Temptalia. It helps that I’m never disappointed whenever I try their products! (Even my parents–including my Dad, who hates all things scented–love Pacifica candles!)
The Hawaiian Ruby Guava Body Lotion is exactly what tropical paradise smells like–or at least what scent evokes images of sandy beaches, pina coladas, and a hot cabana boy. You can easily note the coconut, as well as the underlaying guava and pomelo–kind of a tropical fruit scent without being cloying or overly sweet. As a body lotion, it moisturizers and hydrates my scaly legs well. To be honest, I love the scent so much I’d still use this even if it moisturized just adequately.
The Body Lotion contains several ingredients designed to better your skin. It has chamomile extract, safflower oil, shea butter, and sweet almond oil–all ingredients that work together to give you soothed, supple skin. For those looking for more natural beauty products, Pacifica’s Body Lotions are formulated without GMO, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, synthetic dyes, and triclosan. It is a 100% vegan product, and it is not tested on animals.
So if I can’t make it to tropical paradise this summer, at least I can blend myself a non-alcoholic pina colada, lotion up with this, and close my eyes and pretend!
If you love the scent as much as me, you might want to check out the full range of Hawaiian Ruby Guava scented products, which includes Solid Perfume ($9.00), Body Butter ($15.00), Body Wash ($18.00), Soy Candle ($16.00), Travel Set ($14.00).
Ingredients: Deionized Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin (Vegetable), Stearic Acid (Vegetable), Glyceryl Stearate (Vegetable Emulsifier), Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Stearyl Alcohol (Grain), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Polysorbate 60, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate, Chamomilla Recutita Matricaria (Chamomile Flower) Extract, Sorbitol (Natural Sugar), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Dimethicone, Carbomer, Sodium PCA, Triethanolamine, Citric Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A), L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).
Rose Quartz, Amber
Prescriptives’ Mineral Color Collection features sets for the face (cool/warm) and eyes (cool/warm), a Mineral Bronzer, and four limited edition mineral color lip glosses. I really liked the Mineral Color Lip Glosses ($17.50 each), because they reminded me a lot of MAC’s Dazzleglasses with a few noteworthy differences. Prescriptives’ Mineral Color Lip Glosses are not sticky at all, which for some of you, might be a deciding factor of why you can’t seem to get on the Dazzleglass train. Secondly, Prescriptives’ version is thinner, and I would say perhaps more pigmented, too.
The two I tried were Amber and Rose Quartz. Amber is a rich, coppery sparkle shimmer gloss. I know in the still photo it looks a little off, because it seems flat and just like copper glitter. I will say, like dazzleglasses, you have to see it in real life to appreciate the glittering effects. It just doesn’t capture quite right in still photography!
Rose Quartz is a sheer, milky pastel pink with lots of glitter and sparkle. It reminded me a bit of Baby Sparks from MAC, though perhaps not quite as milky. I’m eager to check out the other two, Amethyst and Sunstone, to see how those compare–both look like they’ll be more along the lines of Amber (aka pigmented), so I can’t wait to swatch!
Available at…
See swatches & lip swatches! Continue reading →
Love Alert
As promised, here are the rest of the dazzleglass swatches! 
Continue reading →
Baby Sparks
Here are lip swatches for the first nine of the eighteen dazzleglasses! I’ll post up the rest a little later today
See more swatches! Continue reading →
OVERALL, if you’re a dazzleglass fan, MAC Double Dazzle is the collection you’ve been waiting for. With eighteen dazzleglasses–six new and twelve repromotes–it’s hard not to find at least a few that catch your eye. Dazzleglass as a formula is a thick, ultra glittery sheer sticky gloss. Some of them are less sticky than others, but the majority have a thick consistency and reapplying isn’t always easy. The glitter isn’t subtle in the least bit (don’t think they’re like Chanel Glossimers); the glitter is obvious and bright. If you’ve handled Reflects Glitters, the glitter in these is very similar. (In fact, if you can’t afford any of these right now, mix any gloss with Reflects Glitter for a DIY version.)
Can’t get to the store? Buy online: Double Dazzleglass @ Nordstrom
.
I bought them all (as you can see), so I could take photos and do lip swatches (forthcoming) for my dearest readers. Normally, I’d say I’d have bought Goldyrocks, and Smile from the new ones. I had originally bought a ton of them, but I passed them along to my sister and only kept a couple (four to be exact). I may have repurchased Extra Amps and Rags to Riches. What did you end up buying? What are you planning to get?
Don’t forget to check out: product photos & swatches.
Temptalia’s Recommendations
Must-Have: Goldyrocks, Smile, Funtabulous, Extra Amps, Money Honey,
Nice-to-Have: Steppin’ Out, Utterly Posh, Love Alert, Like Venus, Rags to Riches, Baby Sparks
Skip: Sugarrimmed, Girl’s Delight, Stop! Look!
Get in-depth review color by color… Continue reading →
