Thursday, June 16th, 2011
MAC Beauty Marked Eyeshadow
MAC Eyeshadow Swatches – Reds, Pinks, Oranges
These are swatches only! 
I am in the process of re-swatching a ton of products, because the Swatch Gallery is designed so you can compare individual products, so all of the swatches have to be done in a way that each swatch can be photographed and shown individually. I’m going through various brands, so there is some variety as I journey through it all, but here are fourteen MAC eyeshadow swatches, along with my descriptions of the shades and any notes on performance if it was below average. Unless noted otherwise, shades are part of the permanent range.
- Beauty Marked is a blackened burgundy with multicolored shimmer. It has a velvet finish. It’s also a real pain in the behind to use, because it tends to apply unevenly. A lot of the sparkle doesn’t translate as well on the lid as it does in a swatch.
- Cranberry is a berried red with a frost finish.
- Post Haste is a pinked red with a Matte2 finish. It has been discontinued. It is slightly darker and redder than Passionate.
- Passionate is a raspberry pink with a matte finish.
- Sushi Flower is a medium-dark pink with a satin finish. It’s hard to build-up color and applies rather sheer.
- Swish is a lilac shimmered pink with a frost finish.
- Da Bling is a medium pink with subtle yellow undertones. It has a veluxe pearl finish.
- Rose is a mauve-tinged pink with a slightly frosted finish. I have no idea what the official finish is, as it is now discontinued and was only a PRO shade before then (there is nothing on the label of mine that indicates the finish). My guess is frost.
- Pen ‘n’ Pink is a pale, pastel pink with a Matte2 finish. It has been discontinued.
- Coppering is a rich copper with a veluxe pearl finish. It is one of MAC’s best-textured eyeshadows.
- Red Brick is a dirty orange with a matte finish. It’s darker than Orange.
- Expensive Pink is a dirty rose with peach and gold. It has a veluxe finish. It’s one of MAC”s more complex shades.
- Free to Be is a coral-pink with a matte finish.
- Orange is a medium-dark orange with a matte finish. It is part of the PRO line.
Overall, a few of these are excellent eyeshadows (like Cranberry, Coppering, and Expensive Pink), while some are total duds (Beauty Marked, Sushi Flower). Several of these have matte finishes, and my experience with MAC’s matte formula is they tend to perform infinitely better on the lid than when swatched. They are a drier matte, and they’re not a buttery or powdery formula, so you don’t end up with any fall out or fading, but they can be finicky.
Where to Buy: MAC, $14.50
The best shades in this bunch are Coppering, Cranberry, and Expensive Pink, but mattes like Orange work so well on the lid that it's worth a look at, too. I would skip Beauty Marked and Sushi Flower.
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Chanel Liberte Rouge Coco Shine
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Liberte
Chanel Liberte (44) Rouge Coco Shine ($32.00 for 0.10 oz.) looks like it’ll be a brighter coral-red from the tube, but when swatched and applied, it’s a much softer color with only a hint of coral. It’s a very played down mix of peach and pink. It gives semi-opaque color coverage, but it seemed a little patchy compared to some of the other Rouge Coco Shines I’ve tried. Rouge Coco Shines are supposed to deliver softer, sheerer color, so I would not expect full color coverage with this formula (consider Rouge Cocos or Rouge Allures for more color payoff).
It’s a sheerer version of MAC Temper Tantra (a touch pinker, too), which means it’s also similar to Korres #25 Liquid Lipstick. It’s slightly less pink compared to Chanel Libertine. MAC See Sheer is a little darker. You can compare them all side-by-side in our Swatch Gallery.
This shade also wore off in about an hour and a half; I just can’t get it to stay on for long (most lipsticks last an average of four hours on me). Rouge Coco Shines have many balm-like qualities; they’re glide on easily and feel very emollient, but they’re not as moisturizing as a balm. These are slightly smaller than Chanel’s other lipsticks (0.10 oz. versions 0.12 oz.), but soft formula of the Rouge Coco Shines makes these easy to over-apply.
Where to Buy: Nordstrom, $32
This shade should work well on both cooler and warmer skin tones, because it's not a strong coral, so it doesn't pull orange but more peach.
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
Milani Intermix Baked Eyeshadow
Milani Baked Metallic Eyeshadow: Intermix
Milani Intermix Baked Metallic Eyeshadow ($7.49 for 0.05 oz.) is a melange of rusted brown, bronze, and white beige, which all mixes to create a medium-dark bronzed brown with a frosted finish. It swatches the same whether used wet or dry, which is fantastic. The texture is soft and allows the product to apply smoothly without dust or fall out.
I do wish they’d ditch the sponge/brush applicator, though, because the bristles are splayed and scratchy, while the sponge is thin and surprisingly scratchy. I did like the switch to a black interior, over the champagne gold from the Runway Eyeshadows. The lid is also quite secure, and I had to pry it open with my nails.
Where to Buy: Milani, $7.49
This is one of the best of Milani's Baked Eyeshadows--super smooth application, rich color pay off, and no fall out.
Friday, May 27th, 2011
Milani Melange Baked Eyeshadow
Milani Baked Metallic Eyeshadow: Melange
Milani Melange Baked Metallic Eyeshadow ($7.49 for 0.05 oz.) is a mix of smoldering, blackened brown, khaki gold, bronze, and silvered white. When applied, it’s very much a black gold–it has that really dark black-brown color base with khaki and bronze shimmer on top. This shade applies much sheerer when used dry, while applied wet, it has much more intense color pay off.
Milani advertises these as luminous (marketing for soft/sheerer color–more like a wash) when used dry, so it’s actually as described. (Many of the other shades were closer in payoff, though.) I did find that this shade had a faint amount of fall out when used dry; it seemed to have a lot more shimmer than some of the other shades, and the shimmer sat on top of the color more than weaved within it.
I do wish they’d ditch the sponge/brush applicator, though, because the bristles are splayed and scratchy, while the sponge is thin and surprisingly scratchy. I did like the switch to a black interior, over the champagne gold from the Runway Eyeshadows. The lid is also quite secure, and I had to pry it open with my nails.
Where to Buy: Milani, $7.49
I think this kind of color is harder to come by, which might excuse the fallout that occurs for some. I do find this is a shade I have to use wet to get the best results, though.
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
MAC Lipstick
MAC Surf Baby: Lipsticks
MAC Surf Baby Lipstick ($15.50 for 0.10 oz.) includes four shades: Bust Out! (dirty mid-tone violet), Hibiscus (bright orange coral), Mocha (peachy yellow-brown), and Naturally Eccentric (creamy white nude). Mocha is permanent and Naturally Eccentric (Naturally Eccentric, ’05) is a repromote.
- Bust Out! is a semi-sheer to semi-opaque pinked purple with a lustre finish. It’s darker and less glossy compared to Playtime (Quite Cute, ’11). It’s darker, purpler, less fuchsia in comparison to Style Curve (Stylishly Yours, ’10). It seems a little pinker than Up the Amp (permanent).
- Hibiscus is a brightened, medium-dark red-coral with soft gold shimmer. It has a cremesheen finish. It’s like a richer, deep version of Viva Glam Cyndi. It’s a little redder than Coral Polyp (Dame Edna, ’08). It’s a touch less bright than Toxic Tale, and the finish makes it appear a little different, too.
- Mocha is a warm, medium-dark brown with yellow undertones. It has a satin finish, so the coverage is really opaque and the finisy very creamy.
- Naturally Eccentric is a semi-opaque, really light nude which leans a little pink on me. It has a lustre finish. It’s a little less pink than Hue. I think the lustre finish gives it a slightly uneven look that’s less than lovely.
MAC lipsticks are vanilla scented but taste-free. Lustre finishes, like Bust Out! and Naturally Eccentric, are designed to be sheer with a slightly glossy finish, so the pigmentation on both is as expected. Mocha, as a satin finish, is creamy and opaque, as it should be. I typically get two to three hours of wear out of lustre finishes, with four to five hours of wear out of satin finishes.
Where to Buy: MAC Cosmetics, in-stores on May 26th
Naturally Eccentric seems like the hardest color in the collection wear--it is really, really light. I imagine it will wash out a lot of people, while Hibiscus will probably draw a lot of people in (corals always seem to do well).
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Chanel Sari d’Eau Rouge Coco Shine
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Sari d’Eau
Chanel Sari d’Eau (44) Rouge Coco Shine ($32.00 for 0.10 oz.) is a semi-opaque orange with tangerine-gold shimmer and a glossy shine. It reads like a darker version of Sari Dore Rouge Coco.
It’s actually more opaque than the Rouge Coco formula seems to be touted as, so while I will remove a point off of pigmentation for being too pigmented (I defer to what the brand claims the product should be), I wanted to make it a point to say as whether it’s too pigmented for your liking (or maybe, just pigmented enough), may be a bigger deciding factor. It’s not opaque like Rouge Allures, but everything I’ve heard from Chanel artists and read from Chanel pegs these as sheer to semi-sheer. I used about a layer and a half of product (just one pass around the outer edge of both lips, then a little dabbed on the center to ensure I had product everywhere).
It’s a lightweight, nearly scent-free (I couldn’t distinguish what it was, but it was very faint), and has an emollient base. It applies evenly and smoothly, because it has that balm-like quality. Unfortunately, it only lasts two to three hours on me, but I would say it is on the moisturizing side, though not as moisturizing as my favorite lip balms. I do wish these were the same size as other lipsticks in Chanel’s line (like 0.12 oz.), because of the emollient base, it’s easy to over-apply the product–and the need for reapplication being every couple of hours means you’ll go through a tube much faster than other lipsticks in Chanel’s range.
Where to Buy: Nordstrom, $32
Sari d'Eau will work best with warmer skin tones, because it does pull very orange. There is, at most, only a hint of coral, but I find it's more like a crushed orange with lighter tangerine and gold shimmer.
