SpaRitual Nail Lacquers: I am the Light, Yes, I Can, Hope Springs Eternal
SpaRitual Believe Collection for Spring 2010
For spring, SpaRitual has created a collection of six shades: Yes, I Can (leafy green creme), I Believe in You (poppy orange creme), Hope Springs Eternal (hot pink shimmer), Spread Your Wings (pomegranate creme), Shoot for the Stars (purple creme), I am the Light (lavender creme).
Each shade comes with a unique charm that dangles from the bottle with “an inspiring mantra,” like Yes, I Can comes with the charm “I Can.” This collection of nail lacquers will be available February 2010 at fine salons and spas nationwide, as well as skinstore.com. Each bottle retails for $10.00.
- I am the Light is a cool-toned lilac. It’s very spring-y! It has a cream finish and goes opaque in just two medium-thick coats. The formula gave me no issues when I applied it, which was surprising (I’m not always so good at applying cream polishes!).
- Yes, I Can is a rich, grassy green cream. Like I am the Light, it goes opaque in two solid coats. I don’t think I own any greens like this in my own stash, so it’s a nice addition.
- Hope Springs Eternal is a bright, shimmery pink-coral that flashes fuchsia-pink in some light. It has an almost chrome finish to it, though it’s definitely not a full-on chrome. I had some brushstrokes, but I think with a more patient hand, you could get it to look pretty smooth. This formula was easy to apply and went opaque in two coats.
Are you digging any of these shades?
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For some fun shades for spring, SpaRitual gives you six you just might not be expecting.
Availability: skinstore.com
Bobbi Brown EXTRA Tinted Moisturizing Balm with SPF 25 Review, Photos
Bobbi Brown EXTRA SPF 25 Tinted Moisturizing Balm
($50.00 for 1 oz.) is a thick tinted moisturizer that comes in a glass pot with a black screw-on lid. It’s available in eight shades: Alabaster (lightest), Extra Light Tint, Light Tint, Light to Medium Tint, Medium Tint, Medium to Dark Tint, Dark Tint, and Deep Tint.
It is described as, “A lightweight foundation alternative for dry, dehydrated skin, this formula is ultra-rich, and blends easily, giving skin a dewy look with light coverage. SPF 25 helps protect skin against damaging UVA/B rays. Dermatologist tested.”
Bobbi Brown also has a SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizer (not so thick) that retails for $40.00 for 1.7 oz. (but I haven’t tried it myself beyond squeezing a drop or two out in-store, so I can’t give you direct comparisons). According to the Bobbi Brown website, though, the SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizer is ideal for Normal to Dry skin types, whereas the SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizing Balm is recommended for drier skin types.
EXTRA feels like a cream and looks like one, too, in the jar, but you have to remember that it’s a tinted moisturizer and not use it as a cream–seriously, if you use it as a cream, you’ll end up with far more product than you need! Whether you use fingers or a brush (or a clean spatula, whatever!), you really don’t need more than a pea-sized application to cover the entire face with a sheer, lightweight layer of tinted moisturizer. It also has a lovely lemon-y citrus scent that’s dreamy (very tarte, not sweet).
This tinted moisturizer does have a distinct dewy finish; it was too dewy for my taste by itself, so I had to set with powder to minimize some of the dewiness–then it was just fine for everyday wear. It’s also definitely a sheer coverage product; I’ve tried some tinted moisturizers where coverage is a bit more than sheer (more like a light coverage foundation), but EXTRA is sheer. It’s like “your skin but better,” because it’s not going to hide too many skin imperfections, but it will help even out your skin tone. This is, though, the very nature of tinted moisturizers, to be sure!
When I’m on a good skin kick, EXTRA is just enough for me to wear on a daily basis, even with full makeup elsewhere (eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, etc.). With the dryness of the winter season, my skin is definitely more normal-to-dry, so EXTRA is just moisturizing enough to help keep my skin hydrated throughout the day. I do, though, tend to use a moisturizer in the morning, because I often shower in the morning but not apply makeup until a few hours later. I don’t find it too heavy, though, doing that double-duty moisturizing.
I do think this may be a little too rich for those with normal or normal-to-oily skin types, just because it such a thick, rich cream-type tinted moisturizer. I would recommend trying a sample to see if it works with your skin type. Most tinted moisturizers feel more like a lotion or a thickened liquid foundation, but this feels just like a face cream, so it does feel quite nice when applied to skin. I would also recommend waiting five to ten minutes for it to dry a bit before layering any makeup on top (like blush or bronzer).
Bottom Line: I like it a lot, but I’m more of a matte-finish kind of gal, so the dewy finish is just not my style. I did receive several compliments from readers when I wore it in some looks this past month–some saying it looked better than my usual tinted moisturizer (Kiehl’s, lately). It’s a good tinted moisturizer for those with drier skin who are only looking for sheer coverage to help even out skin tone. It is also significantly pricier than Bobbi Brown’s regular Tinted Moisturizer–EXTRA costs $10 more and you get about 35-40% less. To be fair, a pot of EXTRA is going to last you at least a few months since you need so little per application, though.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’ve been looking for a more hydrating tinted moisturizer, Bobbi Brown’s EXTRA may be the one to quench your skin’s thirst!
Availability: Bobbi Brown
See more photos of me wearing this tinted moisturizer! Continue reading →
Tarte for Spring 2010: Flower Child Palette
Tarte Flower Child Natural Eyeshadow Palette
($44.00) is a new spring-styled palette from Tarte. It seems like every season, Tarte has a new eyeshadow palette up their sleeves. The Flower Child palette is in the same vein; it includes ten eyeshadows housed in a purple-covered case (kind of like a patent material) with flowers sprouting out on top (sorry, no photo).
Inspired by the rich earthen hues from which their pure color pigments are harvested and this Spring’s runway and red carpet trends, Tina’s interpretation of tarte’s best-selling eyeshadow palette combines saturated pigments with subtle pops of color. Versatile and artistic, this palette seamlessly transitions between day and night thanks to a wide variety of tones ranging from delicate to robust. This harmonious balance of shades ingeniously captures the expressiveness of the eyes no matter the look.
Eyeshadows
- Soft Daffodil is a lightly shimmered peach. It’s hard to see on my skin tone, but it’s a very pretty shade to use with a neutral or softer look.
- Ecru Hibiscus is a pink champagne. It may not seem ultra pigmented to the eye, but it’s designed to be softer shade — this is something you could use as a highlighter or as a wash. I think it’s just pigmented enough to do what it should.
- Pink Peony is a brightened up blue-based pink. It was a little powdery when I played with it and looked sheerer when swatched than I’d have liked it to be. Even though it’s supposed to have shimmer, it seemed very minute to me.
- Gray Periwinkle is a silvered gray with a light shimmer sheen (but it’s truly quite faint). I didn’t see any periwinkle in this, though. This shade was decently pigmented relative to the rest of the shades in the palette.
- Peach Tulip is a coppery bronze that goes on very smooth and looks rich. This one is very pigmented, but it looks absolutely nothing like a peach or tulip. This seems like a better fit for the name “Firewheel” (while Firewheel seems a better fit for Peach Tulip).
- Firewheel is a peachy melon with a soft gold sheen. This is a played down, more pinked melon than MAC’s Melon pigment. I always gravitate towards these kinds of shades! This applied very smooth and pigmented.
- Buttercup is a slightly warmed-up soft brown with a matte finish. It’s soft, but it’s a little on the sheerer side and can look a bit faded.
- African Violet is a darkened purple with red undertones with a light shimmer sheen. It’s decently pigmented, though not intense.
- Delphinium Blue is a powdery navy blue. This was the sheerest and most powdery shade of the ten eyeshadows–it just wasn’t very pigmented or smooth.
- Vibrant Forest Grass is a darkened cool-toned green with a soft shimmer finish. I think the name is a little off — it’s not vibrant (just pigmented, but not intensely so), but it is like a forest green, I suppose.
Also included in the palette is a double-sided eyeliner that has a dark brown on one side and a lightly shimmered darkened teal on the other; a double-sided brush (yes, a brush–no sponge tip applicators here!), and a miniature-sized Natural Eye Primer. The Eye Primer doesn’t actually fit inside the palette, though, so it’s not as functional as it could be. (It comes in a plastic holder that hangs off of the side.)
All of the eyeshadows are full-sized and magnetized so you can remove them if you want, refill with other Tarte eyeshadows as needed, and so on. I really do like that, because it means you are getting a great deal for your money, but it means you can always slot in another shade if you happen to finish one of these!
Bottom Line: It’s a solid palette, but it’s definitely on the sheerer/softer side of the eyeshadow spectrum. The colors do fit well with the season, as it gives me a spring feeling. The palette itself holds excellent value as you get ten full-sized eyeshadows for $44 (as opposed to $10 a pop, not that you can purchase these shades individually, though). I think some of the shades could have used some more pigmentation, particularly the deeper shades, but it’s a decent palette overall.
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- Product: 25/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For a real value-loaded palette, Tarte’s Flower Child offers several soft shades for the spring season.
Availability: Sephora
Chanel Khaki Dore Le Crayon Yeux ($28.00) is a stunning shade of rich, metallic golden bronze. It’s just the hue that I’m totally nuts for – that antique gold, bronze gold… anything in that family, I’m game for. Khaki Dore applies evenly, smoothly, and opaquely. It comes with its own pencil sharpener, and the liner itself is dual-ended. It has an angled sponge tip on the other end for blending/correcting.
It’s the first Chanel eyeliner I’ve tried, and I’m pleased with it. It looks really lovely in natural or smoky looks. Sometimes I’ll even wear it alone on my lower lash line with just some mascara for a very quick look for running errands. I wore it in this spring look I did few weeks ago. I’d say the highlight of this eyeliner is really how precise it is; it really does define and apply in a thin, even line without much fuss. It lasts all day on me (eight to twelve hours) without smudging, budging, or fading–always a necessity in an eyeliner.
Bottom Line
I’m not over the moon with the formula, but I do like this shade and don’t have anything quite like it, so it’s a shade I knew I’d be drawn to. The price tag is daunting, and I don’t expect most people to make room in their budgets for this eyeliner. Surprisingly (and a little to my horror), $28 isn’t as outlandish as I thought — Dior is priced at $26, YSL is priced at $28.
With that in mind, if you had $28 laying around and wanted to give your money to Chanel, I’d recommend a lipstick or gloss over the eyeliner, just because they do those exceptionally well. This is still a quality product, but it doesn’t reign supreme over eyeliners from other brands.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love antique or bronzy golds like me, this might be a must for you–if the price doesn’t scare you away.
Spring Makeup with Too Faced Fun in the Dark Palette
Too Faced Fun in the Dark Palette
($32.50) is a new, limited edition eyes, cheeks, and lip palette from Too Faced for the spring. It contains four eyeshadows (Pin-Up, Peep Show, Full Frontal, Lucky Charms), two lip products (Tropical Pink, Free Love), one blush (Papa Don’t Peach), and one bronzer (Sun Bunny). When you flip open the top, there are small, circular lights that go along the border of the palette that light up, and according to Too Faced, the battery life is about thirty hours.
I really, really did not like the light-up mirror included in the palette. In fact, I will just come right out and say it: I hated it. It was a blinding cool-toned white. The light was neither flattering nor comfortable to look towards. I disliked it so much, I left the palette open for two days to drain the battery of the lights, because it was just such a distraction. But seriously, it hurt my eyes a bit when I first flipped the top of this palette open. Don’t get me wrong, the lighting is a minor point, and like I did, you can always drain the battery for the lights, but it didn’t leave me the best first impression, you know?
The four eyeshadows are of the softer shadow variety, and they’re smooth and well-pigmented. Pin-up is a neutral, maybe slightly cool, champagne beige with soft white shimmer. Peep Show is a cool-toned medium pink with gold shimmer–this one was lovely; it reminded me of Urban Decay Naked Lipstick or MAC Stark Naked Blush. Full Frontal is a rich chocolate brown with red undertones and a slightly frosty finish. Lucky Charms is a frosty medium-dark forest green with gold shimmer and green sheen.
Papa Don’t Peach is a pinky-peachy blush, which leans a little more peach. It has good pigmentation, and it’s similar to NARS Orgasm, but I’d say it’s a little darker and not nearly as shimmery. If you like Orgasm, though, I imagine you’d like this shade as well. Sun Bunny is a split-bronzer with a darker, more coppery bronze on one side and a lighter, less shimmery soft copper bronze on the other side.
Tropical Pink is an ultra sheer (aka clear) gloss with a hint of gold sparkle. I found it pretty disappointing, just because there was no pigmentation to speak of and it felt quite gooey. Free Love is a medium-pink lipstick with gold shimmer. I liked Free Love a lot more, because you could get pigmentation out of it with enough layers. I’m still no fan of lip palettes, particularly when they’re housed near powder-based products, though!
Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a palette for easy travel, you might enjoy Fun in the Dark, because it has a little something for all of your face – the eyes, cheeks, and lips. It’s not the most handy palette, just because the four eyeshadows don’t yield the most combinations, but it’s an interesting pairing of colors, nonetheless. I like it overall, but I didn’t fall in love.
Edit: It does, indeed, look like they spelled Chronicles wrong on the palette. I checked the image Sephora’s using, and it’s misspelled there, too.
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- Product: 25/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you like Too Faced eyeshadows, or have always wanted to try them, this might be a good way to check them out!
Availability: Sephora
Going Gray? Chanel Particuliere Nail Lacquer
Last week, I reviewed the majority of Chanel’s Spring collection, which includes three new nail lacquers, but I only reviewed Inattendu and Tendresse and was missing Particuliere ($23.00), which is easily the more interesting shade of the three (Inattendu is a beige-y nude while Tendresse is a soft, milky medium pink). Chanel describes it simply as grey, which I think is just a little inaccurate.
This is much more of a grayed taupe, because it has definite brown tones to it. It’s certainly not a rainy gray kind of color, though. The brown does warm-up the shade, though, and it’s something I could see myself wearing. It’s dark enough not to be pastel or light or traditionally spring, but it’s not so dark that it makes you feel like fall. This applied and looked better than the other two shades, though (count me surprised!) — it was very creamy, smooth, and went opaque in two coats.
I’d say that Chanel has made other colors more worthy of the $23 splurge, but I do like this one quite a bit. (Even for high-end, Chanel’s nail lacquers are quite pricey, particularly compared to brands like Dior.) I imagine OPI’s You Don’t Know Jacques is somewhat similar (I don’t own it, so I’m just going off of swatches I’ve seen).
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 6/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’re feeling like a splurge, Chanel nail lacquer certainly qualifies as one!
Availability: Nordstrom, Saks
