Nail Lacquer: Lucky Number
MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Nail Lacquer & Softsparkle Eye Pencil
MAC launches two metallic finish lacquers: Lucky Number and $$$ Yes (which is a repromote from Heatherette), as well as two repromoted shades of their Softsparkle Eye Pencils — Nightsky and Iris Accents.
- Lucky Number is a metallic-finish purplish-berry with a high-shine/sheen. Since it is a metallic finish polish, it does show brush strokes. I don’t know if it’s even feasible to manage to get no brush strokes to show, but I know I don’t have the patience to attempt such a feat. It’s a pretty color, though, and it’s not something I already own.
- $$$ Yes is like wearing tin foil on your nails. It’s a bright silver with a metallic finish. Like Lucky Number, brush strokes will show up. I’ve just kind of learned to deal with brush strokes in metallic shades myself.
- Nightsky is a medium black with silver microsparkle. This one is opaque and goes on easily.
- Iris Accents is a cool-toned, silvery-purple with silver microsparkle. I find this one more of a semi-opaque shade and doesn’t go on as nicely as Nightsky–it will go on opaque, it just requires layering.
I liked Lucky Number a lot, and if you haven’t played around with the Softsparkles, you may find you like the glitz of them. I like them, but I never find myself reaching for them, despite owning all of them, so they’re not must-haves for me.
- Product: 23/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 3/5
- Packaging: 4/5
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MAC Trend F/W ’09 Collection Review: Asphalt Flower
Asphalt Flower is described by MAC as, “A deep dark, erotic fragrance that takes its place in our Trend F/W ’09 collection as the aromatic complement to this alt-fashion look. Features glossy violet and iris petals, vanilla and patchouli with top notes of violet, ylang-ylang; mid-notes of iris, heliotrope and a finale of olibanum, patchouli and M∙A∙C signature vanilla.”
I’m still a bit under the weather, so it’s hard for me to review something I’m only partially smelling, but I’ll tell you what I can so you have at least some inkling of whether or not this scent is for you. Once it dries down, I detect just a hint of floral, some patchouli, and a little sweetness of vanilla, but it smells a bit soapy to me.
I will also say that I am so glad to see MAC put out a fragrance as a rollerball scent. It’s so much easier to apply and great to keep in your purse for on-the-go. The bottle itself has a great clear to black gradient that looks exactly what I’d expect from MAC. Such an improvement over the Stylistics scent Air of Style, which had a fantastic bottle, but it was utterly impractical and sits in a drawer somewhere because it can’t stand up on its own whatsoever!
L’Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara
L’Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara ($10.95) is a lengthening mascara that uses tube technology to create longer, more dramatic lashes. I tried it in Blackest Black, which is an intense black, though not the darkest black I’ve tried.
Double Extend definitely adds lengths to lashes, but it clumped up pretty easily on my stringy little lashes, so it definitely requires a lash comb afterward to get lashes to look a little more natural. This mascara really is designed to add length, so it doesn’t do much in terms of adding volume or thickening lashes. For me, not the best mascara, because my lashes need more than just length (they really do need a lot of help–volume, thickness, and length!).
It stays true the claim of being smudge-proof and budge-proof–until you get into water–which is great for contacts wearers. It rinses off fairly easily with water over makeup remover, so a good shower is an optimal time to remove this mascara, but over the sink works just as well. Even though the $10.95 price tag is steep for a drugstore mascara, if you keep an eye out for sales/promotions, the price is much more in line with my expectations.
- Product: 6/10
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 7/10
- Packaging: 7/10
Recommendation: If you have naturally thick and voluminous lashes, Double Extend is great for adding a little more length. Otherwise, you may want to check out L’Oreal’s Voluminous instead.
Availability: Drugstore.com
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Smashbox Reign Collection: Majesty Palette
Smashbox Reign Majesty Eyeshadow Palette
($42.00) is a trio of eyeshadows housed in a leather flip top palette. Each eyeshadow has a shimmery outer ring with a matte center. Majesty features a pale peach, a reddish copper, and a black.
I found that it was difficult to keep the matte and shimmers separated from each other, because inevitably one would mix with the other. This sort of rendered the matte center to be a little useless, just because it ended up looking much like the outer ring. I was testing a tester, so it was even worse than a palette with normal usage (e.g. the one you’d buy!), so do keep that in mind while browsing the swatches! I will caution you to dust off your palette regularly to avoid shimmer getting into your matte centers!
The first shade is a soft, shimmery peachy-gold. The middle eyeshadow is more of a burnt brown with reddish shimmer. I know Sephora describes it as a “plum burgundy,” and I didn’t see that whatsoever when I swatched it. The center of the middle eyeshadow was similar, just more of a matte finish, and it applied sheerly (as did all of the centers). The rightmost eyeshadow in the palette is a blue-shimmered black, which isn’t as smooth as I’d like — I did get a little drag when I swatched it. Again, the center is a sheerer, matte-r version of the outer ring.
I’m disappointed that the center of each eyeshadow shade didn’t swatch better, and I’m not thrilled that they go on sheerer than the outer rings either. The colors are wearable, but they don’t seem out-of-the-norm, and I’d say Smashbox single eyeshadows feel smoother, silkier, and I’d probably opt for one or two of those instead of the palette, if you already have these shades covered! These three shades work well together, and you can easily create a few smoky eyes with this one.
However, there is one big selling point to this eyeshadow palette that shouldn’t be overlooked — it’s very high in value! With 0.423 oz. of eyeshadow in the palette, it brings your cost down well below costs per ounce in any other high-end brand of eyeshadow. These eyeshadows are about $100/oz. compared to MAC at $290/oz., Urban Decay at $320/oz., and Make Up For Ever at $240/oz. You’ll either love the packaging or it won’t make or break the purchase for you; for me, it was more the latter.
- Product: 7/10
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 7/10
- Packaging: 7/10
Recommendation: If you like products high in value, this palette is well worth the investment, particularly if you want to add more neutrals to your collection.
Availability: Sephora
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Bobbi Brown Chrome Patina, Goldstone, Starry Night Metallic Long Wear Cream Eyeshadows
Bobbi Brown Metallic Long Wear Cream Eyeshadows: Chrome Patina, Goldstone, Starry Night
Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wearing Cream Eyeshadow ($22.00 for .12 oz.) is a new product launched this September from Bobbi Brown. They’re inspired by and yet a bit of a departure from her classic Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadows. They seem to be the same on the surface, but when I played with three of them, I found them to be a bit different.
“With these shadows there’s no need to choose function over style. They’re longwearing and come in the most glamorous, eye-catching shades ever.” – Bobbi Brown
The Metallic Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadow is available in eight shades:
- Antique Gold A deep gold sparkle
- Black Pearl A medium purple
- Brown Metal A warm brown sparkle
- Chrome Patina A golden pewter
- Goldstone A gold sparkle
- Mercury A silver sparkle
- Starry Night A navy blue sparkle
- Starry Purple A deep purple sparkle
I tried three: Chrome Patina, Goldstone, and Starry Purple. Chrome Patina is a sheer, glittery wash of pewter with gold sparkle. Goldstone is a semi-opaque toned-down gold with a brown cast and brighter gold sparkle. Starry Night is a sheer, glittery navy blue concotion with almost multicolored sparkle.
I’m actually surprised by Bobbi Brown’s introduction of these glittery shadows to her line-up, just because they’re a bit over the top with how glittery they are. I do, however, think they’re fun and will definitely wear them myself, but I can see some avoiding these because the glitter finish feels inappropriate or accentuates signs of aging on the eyes (as frosts and glitters often do).
Sheer or opaque?
It seems like your mileage will vary from shade to shade, because Goldstone had the best finish and pigmentation, going on nearly opaque, while both Chrome Patina and Starry Night were sheerer and therefore the look glitter was emphasized (instead of a more metalized look). I do wish they were more pigmented so they had a much smoother look and were more the metallic finish they’re touted to be than glitter. (I would personally call these Glitter Long-Wearing Eyeshadows from my experience so far.)
How well do they wear?
They wear very well, just like the original Cream Eyeshadows. They are long-wearing and hold up throughout day without smudging, fading, or creasing. I actually wasn’t sure if they would work out, because they feel very wet when you initially apply them, but they do dry down completely and aren’t subject to creasing (even when worn alone). I found it a bit difficult to blend cream shadows on top of this color or with it once it was dry, so you do have to work quickly if you are trying to use cream shadows together. If you just want to layer on powder shadows over the glittery base, there’s no need to be concerned over timing.
Wait — you can wear these as liner, too!
If you aren’t so much a fan of glitter eyeshadow, there is one alternative usage that I actually may find myself using these more for than as shadows — eyeliner! I think these are excellent to layer over (or for some, worn alone — again, depends on how sheer the shade is) say a fiercely intense black liner for an extra kick. Ohh! I’m getting excited just thinking about experimenting now…
Are they worth the price tag?
As far as value goes, Bobbi Brown provides enough product in each pot to make it about as much and priced as I’d expect for the Bobbi Brown product range. Benefit cream eyeshadows are slightly cheaper ($19.00 for .16 oz.), while these are more affordable than NARS cream eyeshadows ($21.00 for 0.1 oz.) and less of an investment as shu uemura’s ($30.00 for .17 oz.). Despite the pot feeling and looking small (reminded me of gel liner sizes), it does hold more product than it seems. The packaging is classic Bobbi Brown: clear, glass with a black screw-on lid. It’s hefty, but I don’t mind — I like seeing non-plastic packaging.
- Product: 7/10
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 7/10
- Packaging: 8/10
Recommendation: If you love shimmering glitter, you might love these to layer underneath your eyeshadows or as a quick wash of color (at least, some of the more neutral shades). I definitely recommend checking them out in person and seeing how the shade you’re most interested in swatches, because it may or may not be pigmented enough for your liking.
Availability: Nordstrom, Bobbi Brown
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True Blue Morocco Cedarood & Spice Warming Body Scrub is a Bit Cool
Cedarwood & Spice Warming Body Scrub
($15.00 for 6 oz.) is a spicy, exotic smelling body scrub. It’s designed to warm on contact with the skin to be both soothing and invigorating.
It’s a mild exfoliant with a very fine particles, actually feels fine enough to be more of a body polish than a scrub. I actually found that there was not enough scrubbies in it to really make an effective scrub, just because you either use a ton or you end up having them sparsely on your legs/arms. I did, however, really enjoy the warming sensation! I just wished the warmth would last longer or allow me to spread it out a bit more before the sensation began. I found it worked well in spots, but it didn’t work so well when I wanted to lather and massage it into a larger area of skin (e.g. a leg).
So, if it doesn’t do much scrubbing and the warming sensation is short-lived, what makes me like this product anyway? Because it smells divine! It is a fairly strong aroma of sandalwood, amber, musk, and cedarwood. It’s very spicy and woody–very masculine in a way. I like! I’m just a fan of some of these darker, woodier scents, and it actually lingers on skin all day long. I’ve found most body scrubs and gels to have great scents while I’m in the shower, but they fade shortly after I’ve toweled dry. That is certainly not the case here–the scent is noticeable but not overwhelming; you could layer with a similar scented body lotion, too, but even alone, it works as a very subtle, muted fragrance.
This product has so much potential to be amazing–I really would love to see the addition of more scrub particles so it actually exfoliates well. Even though it doesn’t feel like there is much scrubbing action, it does leave skin soft and smooth wherever you do scrub, and the scrubbing particles don’t disappear/melt away quickly, so you can massage it in a bit. I like more in my scrub, but perhaps there are others who like a much finer, lighter scrub.
- Product: 6/10
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 7/10
- Packaging: 8/10
Recommendation: If it weren’t for the heady spicy, woody scent, I might find this product pretty useless. Because I do love the scent and it lingers throughout the day, I do find myself reaching it for often. It can also be nice to use on specific, targeted areas like feet or on a strained muscle to take advantage of the warming sensation.
Availability: Bath & Body Works
