Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in #4L
Make Up For Ever #4L Aqua Eyes Liner
($17.00) is a reddened plum with subtle red shimmer. I like Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Eyes a lot–it’s budge-proof, smudge-proof, water-resistant, and it just really hangs on all day long. There are also many shades to choose from, so you’re bound to find at least one that appeals to you!
I personally wish they were a softer pencil eyeliner, though; they’re not too hard, but I definitely prefer mine to be on the softer, creamier side. They’re about average in price–not falling in the “affordable” category, but they’re not prohibitively expensive either. The packaging is straightforward; it looks like a pencil with a glossy black casing.
I also reviewed Aqua Eyes in several other shades (seven, to be exact) last year.
What are your must have Aqua Eyes?
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’ve been looking for a pencil eyeliner that stays put, Make Up For Ever might have your number!
Sugarpill Cosmetics: Burning Heart Eyeshadow Quad
Sugarpill Cosmetics recently debuted, and Amy (aka Shrinkle), the creator and founder, reached out to Temptalia to see if I’d be interested in checking it out. I’ve known of Shrinkle forever, mostly through friends who’ve bought from her via eBay, so when I saw that she was working on a cosmetics line, I was definitely intrigued. It was perfect timing when she reached out to me, because I was thinking of grabbing a few to try.
Today, I’ll go through the majority of the Sugarpill line, but first, I wanted to start off with the Burning Heart Palette ($34.00), which contains four large-sized eyeshadows (0.14 oz. each). The eyeshadows included in the palettes are the same size and shadows you can purchase individually. She has three variations available with a total of nine unique shades altogether. Burning Heart includes Flamepoint, Buttercupcake, Love+, and Poison Plum.
- Flamepoint is is a vibrant matte orange with fierce pigmentation.
- Buttercupcake is a bright matte yellow. I found the pigmentation on this to be great, but it did feel a little on the powdery side.
- Love+ is an intense shade of true red with a semi-matte finish. When swatched, I found it really looked more matte, but there is some shimmer/sheen when you look at it in the pan. Awesome pigmentation–very much true-to-color.
- Poison Plum is a rich violet with a semi-matte finish. Again, like Love+, it has shimmer in the pan, but it’s very subtle when used.
All four eyeshadows are rich, vibrant shades with good pigmentation and a soft, smooth texture. These aren’t powdery or chalky–they are very blendable in practice. The eyeshadow pans themselves look to be about the size of Make Up For Ever eyeshadows, for reference. Since the palette is magnetized, these actually can be popped out if you want to rearrange them for travel, too.
The packaging is edgy and fun–it’s exactly what I’d expect from what I know about Amy and her style. What I like is that for a brand that’s debuting, she’s done it right. The packaging is not only true to her style, but it’s quality. It’s printed, designed for the line, and looks good. On the back of the packaging, all of the ingredients are listed for your reference. I would love to see the names of the eyeshadows added to the back of the palette/packaging, though.
The quad itself is a heavy-duty cardboard (whether you dig cardboard or not for packaging is another story) — I myself, prefer plastic/metal packaging because they hold up better — but I haven’t had many issues with cardboard packaging either. Nevertheless, it’s not cheap, flimsy cardboard. I think with normal use, you’re not going to have any issues with the cardboard breaking down much, but you might get a couple of scratches. It’s magnetic, so it’ll stay closed, and inside, there’s a large mirror.
Do not expect Sugarpill to be an ultra affordable line–because the packaging doesn’t reflect cost-cutting and the products themselves are made with quality. I think it’s unfair for a brand (any brand, for that matter) to set low prices just to gain buyers. I think it’s important to set a price that makes sense for your brand, where you want to position yourself, and what kind of audience you want to appeal to. I think $34 for four shades of intensely pigmented eyeshadow (and they’re pretty large-sized pans, to boot) is a good deal.
I’d also like to give major kudos to Sugarpill for putting up some of the most accurate brand-provided swatches I’ve seen.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 29/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you love bright eyeshadow, Sugarpill Cosmetics might grab your attention!
Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals Collection: Cabo Coral Pot Rouge
Bobbi Brown Cabo Coral Pot Rouge ($22.00) is one of two new shades from the Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals Collection. The other shade is Calypso Coral (a bright coral).
Cabo Coral is a very peachy coral. It’s more peach than coral–but it does have a slight pinkness to it that makes it read a little coral. I found it looked more coral on my lips (I imagine from some of the natural pinkness of my lips) than on my cheeks (which was peachier).
Pot Rouges are designed to be used on both lips and cheeks. It has a creamy formula that feels like like a hardened cream almost, because it’s not actually that creamy in the pot. On the cheeks, it’s easy to apply with a stippling brush or blended with fingertips or a sponge for soft, natural color. It’s peach enough to work well on cooler skin tones, while it also works on those with warmer skin tones.
What I really like about the Pot Rouges is the staying power. This is more of a blush stain than a cream blush, because it really does grab and stay on cheeks throughout the day. It doesn’t fade or melt away by mid-afternoon, which is a huge plus for when you need your makeup to look on point all day long. It’s pigmented enough to give you nice color on both lips and cheeks, but not so pigmented that it’s easy to overapply.
This is my first Pot Rouge, but it makes me excited to check out some other shades. What are your favorites?
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’ve always wanted to wear coral, but you couldn’t find the right shade, Bobbi Brown has five different versions to check out.
Laura Mercier Polished Collection: Eye Colour Duos in Golden Brown & Plum Spice
Laura Mercier Eye Colour Duos ($22.00 each, 0.09 oz. each) come in three different finishes: luster, matte, and sateen. From Laura Mercier’s Polished Collection, there are three new Colour Duos: Golden Brown (Luster), Cocoa Rose (Matte), and Plum Spice (Sateen). The new shades are–surprise, surprise–limited edition.
- Golden Brown is a mix of a softened metallic gold and light bronze with copper-bronze sheen.
- Plum Spice is a satiny smooth dirty peach and lightly shimmered dirty pinked plum.
Both duos had a very smooth, soft texture and the shadows swatched easily. Golden Brown had more color pigmentation and an even smoother feel than Plum Spice, which had more of a semi-sheer appearance and required some layering to get a higher intensity.
I think Laura Mercier fans will enjoy these limited edition shades, because both duos include colors that are easy to use, perfect for spring, and can be mixed with many products you may already own. If you’re more of a bright color eyeshadow kind of person, these probably weren’t designed with you in mind!
Everything I’ve tried from Laura Mercier has been all about creating soft, flattering looks with sheer or buildable color for everyday wear–these fit that philosophy to a T. I think this best describes the line (taken from the “about” section on her website): “She personally created the colors to satisfy the needs of her clients, based on a classic and always-current palette, rather than seasonal trends only.”
The duos actually contain a decent amount of product–it’s like you get enough to use in your lifetime, without having to invest a ton into it. By the ounce, Laura Mercier’s Eye Colour Duos are more affordable than MAC and just a little above Make Up For Ever eyeshadows. I’ve always liked her packaging–it’s kind of like a chocolate brown with bronzy shimmer/sparkles in the mix. Pretty, functional, and a little fun.
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 like soft, smooth color that applies evenly and without fallout, Laura Mercier is worth checking out!
Palm Springs, Cotton, Manila
Office, Peacock, Mouse
Factory Grey, Hassid
American Apparel: Nail Lacquer, Part 2
Make sure you check out part 1 for my full review + details on the AA packaging voluntary recall.
Again, the nail lacquer is free of DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde. Each bottle retails for $6 or you can purchase a three-pack for $15. They’re currently sold exclusively in American Apparel store locations and online at americanapparel.com (expect them to be back online in a week or two).
The formula is long-wearing, easy to use, and richly pigment. All the characteristics I look for in my nail polish!
- Palm Springs is a soft peach cream. This one reminded me of a lightly more muted China Glaze Peachy Keen.
- Cotton is a slightly yellowed white. I found this to be the worst of the fourteen shades — it was a little runny and it would take at least three solid coats to go opaque. It’s not super difficult to work with, but it wasn’t stellar like the rest.
- Manila is a bright goldenrod yellow. It’s not quite traffic-stopping yellow, but it’s not totally goldenrod either. Two coats was good on this one.
- Office is a pale minty green Cream. I actually really liked this shade a lot, definitely a favorite out of the bunch. I found two coats was perfect for this shade.
- Peacock is a dusty medium-deep blue. It’s kind of like a muted ocean blue, because it’s not ultra vibrant, but it still has plenty of color in two coats.
- Mouse is a taupe-gray cream. It reminded me of Chanel’s Particuliere and OPI You Don’t Know Jacques.
- Factory Grey is a purple-toned gray cream. It was opaque in just two coats.
- Hassid is a rich, inky black. Super black. This looks so stunning with an ultra glossy top coat on it, too. Opaque in two coats, like the majority of these shades.
Out of the shades I tried, my favorites were Berry, Hassid, Mouse, Office, Palm Springs, and Peacock. My top three would be Hassid, Office, and Peacock.
Which are your favorites? Any you gotta have?
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 love cream finish polishes, you may find American Apparel polishes a nice surprise!
Availability: americanapparel.com
Pinto, Berry, Downtown LA
Poppy, Rose Bowl, Coney Island
American Apparel: Nail Lacquers, Part 1
American Apparel launched eighteen shades of cream nail lacquers. I’ll be showing you fourteen of the eighteen shades (all but Dynasty, Hunter, Mount Royal, and Passport Blue) spread over two posts (there are forty-two photos–too many for one post!).
NOTE, American Apparel has recalled all bottles of their nail lacquer due to a defect in the packaging itself — the glass is prone to breaking, so the brand has done a voluntary recall so that they can rollout a second run with safer, more durable packaging. There is nothing wrong with the formula itself. American Apparel is offering customers the following: bring in your old bottle or a receipt and receive two new bottles or a $10 gift card. They expect to roll out the new and improved bottles in the next week or two.
The nail lacquer is free of DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde. Each bottle retails for $6 or you can purchase a three-pack for $15. They’re currently sold exclusively in American Apparel store locations and online at americanapparel.com (expect them to be back online in a week or two).
The formula is really good, actually. I wasn’t quite sure how an apparel brand was going to do polish, but they did an exceptional job designing a formula that is richly pigmented, easy to apply, and wears beautifully.
Even without a base, I experienced no chipping over four days and only minor tip wear. With a base, no chipping, minor tip wear, and it looked nice and glossy with a top coat of Seche Vite. All of the shades are cream finishes and, overall, have a nice consistency that’s thick enough to get bold color with just one coat, but not so thick that it’s goopy. Each shade, without a top coat, has a lightly glossy finish, but they all look better with a nice and shiny top coat (I like Seche Vite with these).
- Pinto is a reddened brown cream. It goes on opaque in just two coats.
- Berry is a deep raspberry-burgundy cream that goes on opaque in really just one coat, but I did two just ’cause.
- Downtown LA is a bright orange-based red cream. I’m sure this one is dupe-able, but it has a great formula and consistency. It’s surprisingly orange-based without being flat out orange.
- Poppy is a bright orange cream. It’s not quite neon orange, but it gets pretty close. It has just a smidgen in red in it that keeps it from being neon, I’d say. You only really need one medium-thick coat to get good opacity, but I did two.
- Rose Bowl is a pretty, played-down yellow-based pink. It’s muted and paled a bit, but it’s not boring. This is one of those easy-to-wear more neutral shades. It found two coats was perfect to get the right color and thickness.
- Coney Island is a light, airy cotton candy pink. It’s definitely a cool-toned, blue-based pink, so warm skin tones may find it a little hard to wear. I found two coats was almost enough, but three would get you totally opaque. I found my Coney Island seemed a little thinner in consistency than the majority of the American Apparel polishes, as well.
Any of these catch your eye?
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 love cream finish polishes, you may find American Apparel polishes a nice surprise!
Availability: AmericanApparel.com
