Rescue Beauty Lounge Iconoclast Nail Lacquer ($18.00 for 0.4 fl. oz.) is a new and limited shade from the Iconic/Ironic Collection. It’s described as “a richly pigmented ebony with layers of fine glitter, giving it depth and a metallic, mica-like finish.” Iconoclast is an inky black with moments of purple and blue, depending on just how the light hits the lacquer and the strength of the light. In natural light, you can clearly see the micro-shimmer but the iridescence and play of color doesn’t really come through until you’re in the sunlight–then the multi-colored shimmers reflect and shine.
my thoughts on the formula: These are richly pigmented lacquers that have nuances in both the color and finishes. Each color is well-thought out, and I’ve yet to come across a poor performer in the brand’s color range. I used two coats for opaque coverage.
In natural light, you can clearly see the micro-shimmer but the iridescence and play of color doesn’t really come through until you’re in the sunlight–then the multi-colored shimmers reflect and shine.
Product
10/10
Pigmentation
10/10
Texture
10/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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Guerlain Champs-Elysees (165) Rouge Automatique Lipstick ($35.00 for 0.12 oz.) is a raspberry pink-red with a naturally semi-glossy finish and soft fuchsia micro-shimmer. Rouge Automatique is a new lipstick range slated for an April release with 25 shades (all permanent), and each shade is named after various Guerlain creations and places.
I wanted to try a deeper/darker shade first to test out the wear (and also to get started off on the right foot–with a more decadent color). I put Champs-Elysees through an all-day test that included drinking Starbucks and an Italian dinner of calamari fritti and fettuccine alfredo (oil + cream = known enemies of long-wearing lip color). It held up spectacularly! By the time I got home from dinner, I had been wearing it for six hours and didn’t feel the need to reapply. Some of the glossiness wore off, but there was still some reflective sheen, and the color was semi-opaque around the inner area of the lower lip, but overall, it looked remarkably well.
It does not have any of the usual hallmarks of a long-wearing lip color–it’s not clingy, drying, or matte. Instead, it is creamy (but thin, not thick at all), and feels a bit like lip balm when initially applied. It’s moisturizing, too, which is something one wouldn’t expect from a long-wearing lip color. It is amazing how lip color technology has improved so much in the past few years that clingy, drying, and painful-to-wear long-wearing products are being phased out. Deeper/richer shades like Champs-Elysees last six to eight hours, while lighter shades last four to five hours.
Rouge Automatique is really comfortable to wear, and the color range is definitely reminiscent (will be reviewing more shades soon) of the higher priced Rouge G line-up. The Rouge Gs wear a touch better and are slightly more moisturizing than the four shades I’ve tried from the Rouge Automatique line, but the formulas are certainly similar. Guerlain lipsticks are violet-scented but I found the scent rather subtle with these.
To open Rouge Automatique, one slides down a square pull, and the lid pulls down and the lipstick pushes out. I beat up mine quite a bit, probably sliding it down fifty times or more, to test the durability of the mechanism. It didn’t show any signs of catching or wear. It’s solid enough that it shouldn’t slide down on its own–it requires enough pressure and push from a third party that I wouldn’t expect it to open up in your bag. The slider also needs to pushed own about a quarter of the way before the lid pulls downwards enough to reveal the lipstick, and it’s quite difficult to exert enough pressure to push the lid (without pushing the slider) to open the lipstick.
If you’ve had issues with lipstick caps coming off and exposing tubes in your bag, these might remedy that problem! After opening and closing the tube so often, I feel good saying that I also don’t see the lipstick catching on the lid accidentally or smooshing on the lid if you closed it too quickly. I did this many, many times and the lipstick stayed in perfect condition.
The only downsides to the packaging are the lack of the product name (just number) on the tube itself and lack of heft. It is lighter than the KissKiss Lipsticks (by about 5-7 grams), and the tube feels like plastic (and sounds like it). I tried to catch a magnet on the Rouge Automatique casing, but I had no luck–but I was able to feel the magnetic pull when I slid it against both the KissKiss and Rouge G lipstick cases.
It launches later this April at select Saks, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Bergdorf Goodman stores.
It’s an excellent alternative to the luxury Rouge G lipstick–the formulas are comparable (and certainly so with a $11 price difference!), while the packaging gives up the luxury heft of Rouge G, it makes up for in the practicality. It’s a creamy, moisturizing, long-wearing formula with the subtle nuances and finishes I expect from Guerlain.
Product
9/10
Pigmentation
10/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
5/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Select Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman in April 2011, $35
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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Rescue Beauty Lounge Decorous Nail Lacquer ($18.00 for 0.4 fl. oz.) is a new and limited shade from the Iconic/Ironic Collection. It’s described as “if a cup of chai latte had a baby with a malted milkshake … A shimmery cocoa to add a chic suede finish to any outfit.” This is a very shifting color–on my warmer skin tone, it seems more like a warm-toned polish, but it looks neutral to neutral-cool in the bottle. It’s a medium-dark muted cocoa with subtle micro-shimmer.
my thoughts on the formula: These are richly pigmented lacquers that have nuances in both the color and finishes. Each color is well-thought out, and I’ve yet to come across a poor performer in the brand’s color range. I used two coats for opaque coverage.
Even though it frustrates me when a color is difficult to describe, it also means it is harder to replicate and more likely a shade we don’t see all the time.
Product
10/10
Pigmentation
10/10
Texture
10/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
Urban Decay Rollergirl Eyeshadow Palette ($32.00) contains four eyeshadows, minature lipgloss, and miniature eyeliner. These include: Woodstock (bright pink with sligh shimmer), Verve (pearly oyster), Suspect (oyster with dimensional shift), Darkhorse (bronze patina), Crush (bright hot pink), and Whiskey (dark brown). Each eyeshadow contains 0.04 oz., while the lipgloss contains 0.12 fl. oz and the eyeliner is 0.03 oz. The palette contains $54.40 worth of eyeshadow, $6.70 worth of lipgloss, and $12.75 worth of eyeliner. The total value of the palette is $73.85.
Woodstock is a dark fuchsia pink with a soft frost finish. Very pigmented, super smooth. This is permanently available.
Verve is a pale, muted taupe brown–like a lighter Mushroom. This is an exclusive shade to this palette.
Suspect is a muted champagne bronze with a frost finish. This shade was in the Book of Shadows, Vol. III.
Darkhorse is a dark, sultry bronze shimmered brown. This shade was in the Naked and Feminine palettes.
Crush is a semi-sheer magenta pink. It’s almost like magenta met bubblegum pink, and then they had a lovechild. This is permanently available. For a full review of the formula, please see my original review.
Whiskey is a medium-dark, warm-toned brown. This shade was originally available with the Naked palette and is currently available as part of an eyeliner duo (with Flipside).
It is similar to last summer’s palette release called Summer of Love, which was in the same format, but instead of a lip gloss, had a miniature-sized primer. It retailed for $29, so I expect pricing to be around there. As soon as I have pricing/availability information, I’ll be sure to update this post!
Urban Decay always puts out really pretty palettes, from the color selection to the way they do the packaging. The palette has repeats as many of Urban Decay’s palettes often do, which is definitely a drawback for long-time fans. For those new to the brand, it’s a nice neutral palette with a hot pink kick. If you’re just into neutrals though, you may want to consider the Naked palette if you have $48 to spend.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
10/10
Texture
9.5/10
Longevity
9.5/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
April 2011 @ Sephora, Ulta, Macy’s, urbandecay.com
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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For summer, it looks like Urban Decay listened to consumer feedback and repackaged their Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer! They initially launched it last year (and I reviewed it in full here), and I hated the packaging. It came with a pump dispenser, which inevitably dispensed far too much product, and the packaging itself seemed a bit cheap–the label appeared faded. This is such an upgrade!
From last year’s review:
Halo is the lightest and I think is neutral enough to work on both cool and warm toned skin, but it may not be light enough for our ultra pale friends. I think if you fit into MAC’s NC/NW15-20 range, this would be the best fit for you.
Bodyguard is the next lightest, described by Urban Decay as “medium light,” and it’s the shade I use. I’m NC25 in MAC, and I find Body Guard to be a decent match, if a little light. Ideally, I’d probably mix a bit of Bodyguard and Bulletproof together, but since the pump is such an issue, it’s not really possible.
Bulletproof is a medium shade, but it’s actually a big step from Bodyguard. It didn’t work for me as NC25, so I’d imagine it’s more around those at the NC/NW30-40 level.
Forcefield is described as medium dark, and it’s not too much darker than Bulletproof. It’s noticeably darker, but it doesn’t seem as big of a leap as from Bodyguard to Bulletproof. I would say this would suit shades around the NC/NW40-45 level.
For a full review for the formula and see how it wears, head on over here. I’m still waiting for official details from Urban Decay regarding availability, launch dates, and pricing, but I imagine it should be around $32 (which is what it is now). From what I could tell, the formula felt the same, but again, I’m waiting to hear more
Illamasqua Radium Nail Varnish(£13.50 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as an “acidic lime, shimmer finish” shade, which is new for the Toxic Nature collection. It’s a beautiful neon chartreuse green with yellow undertones and iridescent green and chartreuse micro-shimmer. Though currently only available through Illamasqua directly, it should make its way to Sephora next month.
my thoughts on the formula: Illamasqua’s formula is richly pigmented, smooth, and easy to apply. It’s a thicker formula but not gloppy. I did notice very slight brush strokes in the finish under really bright light. Radium is almost opaque in one coat, though I swatched with two for good measure. I get a full week of wear with Illamasqua Nail Varnishes with minimal tip wear and no chips.
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
