rating: b minus

MAC Midsummer’s Dream Nail Lacquer

MAC Vera: Nail Lacquers

This collection features two new and limited edition shades of MAC Nail Lacquer ($16.00 for 0.34 fl. oz.). These shades include: Midsummer’s Dream (pale pink lilac) and Play Day (pale milky coral).

• Midsummer’s Dream is a pale, milky pink with subtle cool undertones. It’s not quite opaque in two coats, but it’s more coverage than semi-sheer. It’s a little thick, and it is rather streaky on the initial coat. It’s very similar to China Galze Something Sweet. Nubar Pink Lily is warmer and brighter.
• Play Day is a peachy orange with a cream finish. Like Midsummer’s Dream, it is a bit streaky and takes awhile to dry, and it will pull if you apply a second coat and it hasn’t had enough time to dry down. It’s not quite opaque after applying two coats of polish, so you may want to do three if you dislike visible nail line of any kind. Chanel Peche Nacree is lighter and pearled. Essie Haute as Hello is more coral. Essie Tart Deco is a few shades darker. Barielle Blossom is a little more coral and darker.

MAC nail lacquer usually leaves me underwhelmed. I haven’t had issues with wear, such as chipping, but not much does chip on me, so it’s rarely a problem. I tend to have difficult with the formula, though, which is terribly inconsistent. Sometimes it’s beautifully fluid and opaque, and other times, like here, it’s thick, halfway to goopy, and streaky. Funny enough, neither color description seemed to fit the actual shades.

Where to Buy: Online at MAC, $16.00 each

See more photos & swatches! Keep Reading!

MAC Colour Added Eyeshadow Quad

MAC Shop MAC, Cook MAC: Colour Added Eyeshadow Quad

MAC Colour Added Eyeshadow Quad ($38.00 for 0.19. oz.) includes these shades: Laundry Daze (light yellow), Colour Added (bright yellow), Pre-packaged (muted turquoise), and Self-Serve (deep grey).

• Laundry Daze is a pale white-yellow with this faint hint of green. There’s just something slightly green in it, but it doesn’t cast or really look green. Whatever it is, it actually works really well with the rest of the shades because it coordinates and blends into them. This shade has a satin finish and has good color payoff. It’s, perhaps, a much, much lighter version of Dior Garden Pastels. I couldn’t think of any other potential dupes.
• Colour Added is a brightened yellow with a kiss of chartreuse. It had excellent color payoff and felt very smooth. It has a veluxe pearl finish. NARS Rated R is greener. MAC Double Feature 2 is noticeably greener but not as green as Rated R. MAC Bitter is closer but a touch greener. MAC Three Ring Yellow is pretty close.
• Pre-packaged is a darkened navy blue with a hint of teal. It has a veluxe pearl finish. The color payoff is good, and the texture is soft and smooth. Bare Escentuals Water is a bit like it, but tealer and more matte in finish. Guerlain Les Gris has a similar blue but a little muted.
• Self-Serve is a medium-dark gray-brown with a subtle pearled sheen. It has a satin finish. The color payoff is horrendous–it’s like a trick eyeshadow! The swatch I managed to capture is a layered swatch; that’s the color built up as much as I could muster. The texture is dry, stiff, and loathes to be blended. Guerlain Les Gris has a similar grayish-brown kind of shade with better color payoff, though it has more of a matte finish. MAC Scene is a bit similar but less brown. MAC Moody is darker and browner but seems to be kind of what they were going for.

Everything was looking SO promising until I swatched Self-Serve, and then the eyeshadow loving part of me died a little inside. I was like, “What? How could you be such a tease?” Of course, a mere swatch on the arm only tells a partial story, so I went to test it in a look. It doesn’t apply much better over bare skin with a brush, but it is slightly better. It definitely needs a primer to yield truer color payoff, but here’s the rub: it’s just as dry, stiff, and difficult to blend applied as it was swatched. This lack of blendability made it a really frustrating shade to work with.

I was loving the quad until I tried Self-Serve.  It has potential, and depending on your level of patience and whether or not you have similar shades to the other three eyeshadows, it may or may not be worth it.   The quality of the other three is much, much higher; the two veluxe pearls feel soft, smooth, and deliver so much color. If we ignore Self-Serve, the quad would have received an overall rating of an A. Unfortunately, Self-Serve is not just a little bad but really bad, which resulted in scores of 1, 4, 1, 9, and 1.5. (Packaging is a single score that isn’t averaged across the four shades since it’s not impacted by the individual shade’s performance.)

Where to Buy: Online at MAC, $38.00

See more photos & swatches! Keep Reading!

NYX Violetta Eyeshadow

NYX Violetta Eyeshadow

NYX Violetta Eyeshadow ($5.00 for 0.088 oz.) is a gold shimmered pink-purple with a satiny sheen. The color payoff is good, so it turns out mostly opaque, but the shimmer is more sparkled on top than it is truly embedded with the color, so it does result in some fall out. It reminded me a little of MAC Half-Wild when really sheered out, though darker. Urban Decay Purple Haze is fairly similar with a matte finish and more purple in it.

Because it is a brighter purple, despite the red undertones, it should translate into a bruise on the lid, though you’ll want to be careful on what you pair it with.  The texture is a little powdery with the loose sparkle adding a slight grittiness to the overall feel.  I’m not keen on this type of finish, because it is prone to fall out.  If you like the effect, I recommend using a sticker (more like a cream) base, and then press the product on, rather than sweeping or tapping.  Like other NYX eyeshadows, it doesn’t hold up all day on its own (looks a bit faded, slightly creased after six hours) but is better over a primer (no fading or creasing but there was continued fall out).

Where to Buy: NYX, $5.00

See more photos & swatches! Keep Reading!

Chanel Paradis Rouge Coco Lipstick

Chanel Spring 2012: Paradis Rouge Coco Lipstick

Chanel Paradis Rouge Coco Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.12 oz.) is described as “pink coral.” It’s mostly pink with a hint of coral; more pink than it is coral, but if you called it pink-coral, I wouldn’t argue. Chanel Flirt is softer, less pink. MAC Blossom Culture is more coral. Dolce & Gabbana Pink is a bit darker.

The color coverage is semi-opaque–it yields a healthy amount of color, but it doesn’t completely cover my lip freckle. The finish is a soft frost; there is noticeable shimmer and sheen, but it’s not metallic or heavy. Paradis applied well enough, but it could have been a little creamier. Rouge Cocos are supposed to be moisturizing, and while I did find Charme to be more hydrating, this one was consistent with the past ones I’ve tried, which is not really moisturizing but not drying. It wore for three and a half hours.

Where to Buy: Nordstrom, $32

See more photos & swatches! Keep Reading!

NYX Seafoam Green Eyeshadow

NYX Seafoam Green Eyeshadow

NYX Seafoam Green Eyeshadow ($5.00 for 0.09 oz.) is a green-teal with a white frosted sheen and chunkier silver sparkle. It’s a bit like MAC Aquadisiac, which also has a similar grit. Urban Decay Minx has a darker appearance, almost leans less green. Make Up For Ever #168 is much more intense and smoother. It’s lighter and more teal compared to MAC Jealousy Wakes.

It looks similar to how it does in the pan, actually–you can see a fair amount of white pearl in the eyeshadow from the get-go, which is what gives it that softer, light color. I like the muted quality of the shade, and it would work for someone who’s a little less fearless when it comes to color! What I didn’t like was the sparkly grit to it, which made it less lovely to use, as it tended to fall out underneath the eye. It could be more pigmented, too — you can see it’s not fully opaque and even in the swatch. When I tested Seafoam Green, it wore for six hours before it started to fade somewhat without a base, but it seemed fine after eight hours when applied over an eyeshadow base.

Where to Buy: NYX, $5.00

See more photos & swatches! Keep Reading!

Lancome Fashion Forward Color Design Eyeshadow

Lancome Fashion Forward Color Design Eyeshadow

Lancome Fashion Forward Color Design Eyeshadow ($18.00 for 0.042 oz.) is described as a “warm minted green” with a metallic finish. It looks absolutely NOTHING! like the swatch/photo of it on Lancome’s website, which makes it look more like a vibrant neon lime green. Instead, what we have is a pastel mint green with a subtle iridescent sheen. The color payoff is decent but could use a little more oomph or better binders so it would apply more opaquely. I know shades like this have to exist, but I couldn’t find anything in the Swatch Gallery; MAC Aqua was the closest, but it’s darker and more aqua, less green. It might be a little lighter than something like MAC Aquavert (which is a few years old now). Sugarpill Lumi has more of a teal iridescence.

It has a smooth texture, even though the color payoff could use a boost, so it applies well. Because it’s a little sheer and very iridescent, it could also be used as a layering shade–I bet it would be gorgeous layered over a black. Lancome’s eyeshadows are supposed to be long-wearing (without a base), and while I don’t quite achieve all-day wear, I get around eight hours with subtle creasing, but I don’t have any creasing issues if I use a base underneath.

Where to Buy: Nordstrom, $18

See more photos & swatches! Keep Reading!