Illamasqua Gender Intense Lipgloss
Makeup That’s Just Pure FUN!
Illamasqua Gender Intense Lipgloss (£12.50 for 0.2 fl. oz.) is not a wearable shade by any stretch of the imagination. This is a shade that completely embodies the word fun. It’s different; it’s unusual. It’s something to be used for that just-right-occasion, which might be Halloween for some, an avant garde photo-session with your best pals, or lightly patted on over your favorite lipstick to give it a bluish cast.
Gender is a medium blue that leans a little teal–it’s described as a sky blue, but it definitely had this teal edge to it that made me think less sky blue. I could not smile in swatch photos – it just did not look right! I felt like it made a mockery of the shade, so “straight faced” it was.
It’s almost opaque, but it didn’t apply as evenly or as solidly as other Intense shades have in the past. I would probably lay down a concealer/foundation base (or even a blue eyeliner) and then use a lip brush to apply this–I think that would help it look more even. This is a shade that’s only available through Illamasqua; you won’t find it at your local Sephora!
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- Product: 25/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: Not for the faint-hearted!
AVAILABILITY: Illamasqua
Lipglass: Wind Me Up, Bold & Brash, So Bad, Gimme That!, Dare to Dare, Ban This!
MAC Dare to Wear: Lipglasses
New and limited edition, MAC Dare to Wear Lipglasses ($18.00 for 0.17 oz.) are like more pigmented, more refined dazzleglasses. They’re much smoother than dazzleglasses, even as they wear down–the shimmer is incredibly fine to the point where I couldn’t feel it at all when I smooshed my lips together. These are tacky, though; they are not quite as sticky as traditional Lipglass, but my lips do stick a good bit when I press them together. Like other MAC lip products, these have their signature vanilla scent as well.
The formula feels creamy, slick, and thin when worn. It’s not a heavy or thick gloss–not like Lipglass in terms of texture at all. It takes several passes to get enough product to cover the lips though; I found that not enough product was coming through the tube as I pulled out the wand. The majority of these weren’t fully opaque; they were certainly close to it, but not quite there. I do like that they’re a mix of shimmer and rich color, because it makes it a nice two-in-one product. You don’t have to worry about using a separate lip brush to apply a light, shimmered gloss on top of your wicked pigmented lipstick with these.
When worn by itself, it wears well–I had three hours and going strong, and then I had a creamy pasta dish for lunch. I’d say 40% made it through lunch — not bad. You could get away without touching up, but a touch up would still be needed, ideally.
- Wind Me Up is a coppery browned peach. It’s semi-opaque with a base color of semi-sheer peachy brown color and a high dosage of copper and gold shimmer that lends help to making it look more opaque. This is most flattering on warmer skin tones, since it has stronger orange and copper tones.
- Bold & Brash is a bright red with fuchsia and ruby micro-shimmer. This is the most opaque shade of the six. I had trouble discerning whether it was a blue- or orange-based red, just because it seemed to change depending on the lighting. I think this is a red that will look good on a variety of skin tones.
- So Bad is a medium-dark coral melon semi-sheer color base with multi-colored micro-shimmer with predominantly light pink particles. Overall, it’s semi-sheer to semi-opaque. I’d say this is the most wearable of the six.
- Gimme That! is a brightened fuchsia with a hint of raspberry. It has lots of fuchsia and purple micro-shimmer. It applies nearly opaque.
- Dare to Dare is a light medium pink semi-sheer color base with white and pink micro-shimmer to make it appear more opaque. This is a very wearable shade, but it is also a little blah. Why is it called Dare to Dare? It pulls a little cool, so it would naturally suit those with cooler undertones, but I think it will work on warmer skin tones, too.
- Ban This! is a deep wine berry with violet and fuchsia micro-shimmer. It’s semi-opaque, and it has more of a stained look than the thicker, more opaque looks of the other shades.
Recommendations by Skin Tone
- Light: So Bad, Gimme That!, Dare to Dare, Ban This!
- Medium: Wind Me Up, Bold & Brash, Gimme That!, Ban This!
- Dark: Bold & Brash, So Bad, Gimme That!, Ban This!
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: If you don’t mind a little tackiness to along with richer but still ultra shimmery color, you may want to check out the new formula.
AVAILABILITY: MAC
NARS Douceur Blush
Douceur… aka Softness!
NARS Douceur Blush ($26.00 for 0.16 oz.) is a new and limited edition shade of dirty neutral pink-brown. This is a hard color to describe, because I think it’s going to take on a lot of the natural tones from each person. It’s not pink on me, at all, and it doesn’t even swatch very pink, but it almost looks pink in the pan. On my skin (warm, yellow undertones, medium in color), it adds just a touch of flush but almost just darkens my cheeks. I love a product that challenges me to describe it, but simultaneously, I get very frustrated since I’m almost at a loss for words. (Almost!)
According to my good friend Google Translate, Douceur means softness in French. (Thanks for the lessons!) Foreign language, by the way, was never my strong suit (I took five years of French and yet I can’t even translate “douceur” on my own)!
Beyond the dirty neutral pink-brown shade (which is about as close as I think I’m going to get here), this is one of NARS’ least pigmented blushes. It is surprisingly subtle and light; it does not build to something more intense. I think those with medium to dark skin tones may want to try it out in person first. It’s very barely-there on me, so while I think paler beauties will love the near matte finish and subtler coloring of the blusher, darker beauties will find it less useful and maybe even invisible on their skin tone.
By the by, while the NARS imprint is gorgeous, it will disappear within one or two uses!
Don’t forget — use code TEMPTALIA for a free mini lipgloss trio featuring Turkish Delight, Gothika, and Greek Holiday at NARS.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: For those with light to light-medium skin, I think this would be a lovely shade to add depth without strong color.
AVAILABILITY: NARS
NARS Tzarine Eyeshadow Duo
NARS Fall 2010: Tzarine Eyeshadow Duo
NARS Tzarine Eyeshadow Duo ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is new and permanent duo for fall that features a shimmering golden-toned champagne and darkened gray with silver sheen. If I had to pick between the two new eyeshadow duos, I would easily choose Rajasthan. The pigmentation and texture is better in the latter duo–Tzarine suffers from a bit of sheerness and less smoothness in the champagne shade, while the gray shade is just a little sheer but overall has the same texture of most NARS eyeshadows.
Admittedly, neither shade seems particularly unique or compelling, which might be why it seems a little dull when released next to Rajasthan. The champagne side reminds me of a lighter version of Alhambra, while the gray side is like a darker version of Underworld.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: Not as smooth, richly pigmented, or as easy to apply as Rajasthan or the best of NARS eyeshadows–it falls just a little short for me.
AVAILABILITY: NARS
LiquilineBlast: Brown Blaze, Blue Boom, Silver Spark, Green Glow, Violet Voltage
Urban Decay Dupe? Not Quite, But Close
COVERGIRL LiquilineBlast ($7.99 for 0.033 oz.) are touted to give you the “intensity and styaing power of a liquid with the ease and blendability of a waterproof pencil.” It also comes with a smudger on one end. There are six shades in all, and the one I don’t have to review here is Blackfire–will try to get my hands on it for a review soon.
- Brown Blaze is a dark neutral-toned brown.
- Blue Boom is a bright medium blue with a satin-y shimmer finish.
- Silver Spark is a dark charcoal gray with silver flecks of shimmer-glitter.
- Green Glow is a bright pop of chatreuse green with yellow shimmer-sheen.
- Violet Voltage is a red-toned purple–very eggplant-y.
I really do like these, even if they don’t do quite as good of a job as some of my favorite high-end eyeliners (Make Up For Ever, Urban Decay). My favorite shades were Blue Boom and Green Glow, which I’m sure doesn’t come as a surprise!
The LiquilineBlasts have a very smooth, soft feel when used, and they do glide very well across the lid/lash line. However, they aren’t incredibly pigmented–you can layer it on to get more of that opaque, intense liner look, though, but it’s not one-stroke color here. It’s also better if you apply in the same direction, even in layers, because it keeps it from smearing/sheering out.
These excel in the wear department, though — I had no trouble with these lasting all day without smudging, budging, or migrating. They stay tacky enough to be smudged for about a minute or two, but they seem to set quite well after that. It’s a shame that the pigmentation is a little low, because these could have been a great affordable alternative to Urban Decay’s 24/7 Liners–they’re a good one, but they’re just not a perfect substitute. I would also say these felt softer than Urban Decay’s liners.
But I really love Green Glow — I only have a liquid liner in this color, and I am very much an eyeliner fiend, so whenever I come across a shade I don’t quite have, it’s hard not to fall in love.
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: I really like these, and with their lower price tag, it might be worth looking into as long as you don’t mind a little layering to get it to be true-to-color. They wear well and long, which is the most important aspect of any eyeliner, in my eyes … or rather, on my eyes… Ha!
AVAILABILITY: Ulta
Nail Lacquers: Retro Red, Old School Orange, Viridian Vinyl, Purple Pleather
It’s Not Matte, But It’s Not Glossy
Orly’s Plastix Collection is a short and sweet debut of a new finish type — satin matte. It reminded me a bit of Chanel Black Velvet, which after much thinking, definitly has a pleather-like finish.
- Retro Red is a bright pop of orange-based red. I found three coats were needed to ensure there was no visible nail line showing.
- Old School Orange is a vibrant shade of creamy orange with sunshine yellow undertones. I also used three coats on this shade.
- Viridian Vinyl is a blue-based teal that only needed two coats to go totally opaque.
- Purple Pleather is a deep, blue-based purple that reminded me of Orly’s own Charged Up (but obviously a total different finish). Just two coats for this one.
I like these. I don’t love them, because they’re not entirely my style (I’m also not huge on matte polishes, either–again, all personal style preferences), but I do really love how they played with the finish and gave us something different. It’s not matte–there’s definitely this played down, barely there glossy sheen… but it’s not glossy. It’s not shiny. It’s very pleathery.
The formula felt a little on the thicker side to me, but I didn’t encounter any major issues. Each coat felt like it dried down pretty quickly–similar to mattes–though for 100% dry, it seemed a little faster than average but not super speedy. Despite each coat seemingly being pigmented, two shades still needed three coats. Like matte finishes, you may want to use a ridge filler to minimize any imperfections on your nail.
I wore these with Zoya’s base coat underneath, and I didn’t get any chips after five days, just minor tip wear. I skipped the top coat so I could maintain that satin-matte finish. The base coat didn’t seem to affect the appearance or finish of the polish at all, so at least I could lock it down with a base coat even if I couldn’t protect with a top coat!
I haven’t spotted these for sale yet online, but they should be popping up sometime soon!
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: Viridian Vinyl and Purple Pleather were my favorites, because the colors are bold, wearable, fall-appropriate, AND the formula was best with these two.
AVAILABILITY: Orly
