Temptalia

Blue Eyeliners: Swatches, Dupes, and Comparisons

Christine — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:17:13 +0000

Blue Eyeliners: YSL #9, bareMinerals 4AM, Korres #13, MAC Smoothblue,
CoverGirl Blue Boom, TT Glamorous Thief, UD Radium, UD Deviant, NARS Kitty,
MAC Hi Def Cyan, MAC Artistic License, MUFE #7L, TT Kanzashi, UD Electric,
NARS Abbey Road

Blue Eyeliners: Your Guide

This is just part of blues — I have a whole separate post planned to cover navy blues! (And teals, too.)

YSL #9 is a teal-tinged blue with silver sparkle.
bareMinerals 4AM is a medium sky blue. It has more of a sheen than MAC Hi Def Cyan. (LE)
Korres #13 is a periwinkle blue with a matte finish. (DC)
MAC Smoothblue is a darkened blue with just a hint of teal.
CoverGirl Blue Boom is a medium-dark blue with a soft, frosted finish. This is similar to TT Glamorous Thief and UD Deviant.
Tarina Tarantino Glamorous Thief is a medium-dark blue with a frosted finish. This is similar to CoverGirl Blue Boom and UD Deviant.
Urban Decay Radium is a medium blue with a frosted sheen. It is a bit lighter than CoverGirl Blue Booom, TT Glamorous Thief, and UD Deviant.
Urban Decay Deviant is a medium-dark blue with a frosted sheen. This is similar to TT Glamorous Thief and CoverGirl Blue Boom; a touch darker than both. (LE)
NARS Kitty is a darkened sky blue with a matte finish. Darker than MAC Hi Def Cyan and bareMinerals 4AM.
MAC Hi Def Cyan is a sky blue with a matte finish. It is more matte than bareMinerals 4AM, lighter than NARS Kitty.
MAC Artistic License is a brightened blue with a hint of teal. It is comparable to MUFE #7, TT Kanzashi, and UD Electric. (LE)
Make Up For Ever #7L is a brightened blue with a hint of teal with silver sparkle. It is comparable to MAC Artistic License, TT Kanzashi, and UD Electric.
Tarina Tarantino Kanzashi is a brightened blue with a hint of teal with silver sparkle. It is comparable to MAC Artistic License, MUFE #7, and UD Electric.
Urban Decay Electric is a brightened blue with a hint of teal. It is comparable to MAC Artistic License, MUFE #7, and TT Kanzashi.
NARS Abbey Road is a darkened teal-blue over a slightly black base.

TEMPTALIA PICKS: #2 (quality), #6 (quality), #8 (quality, pigmentation), #10 (quality, longevity), #13 (quality, pigmentation)

Behind-the-Series: It was my intention to provide heavy, opaque swatches to provide an accurate color comparison. Some eyeliners required one pass, some required five, and a few even more. When possible, the shade name (above) is linked to the original review so you can read more about the quality, wear, etc. of a particular eyeliner. If we’ve never done a review, there will be no link. Shades that were limited edition will be marked with “(LE)” and shades that were discontinued will be marked with “(DC)” after the color description. You can also find all comparisons on The Dupe List.

What’s your favorite blue eyeliner? How do you like to use it?

See more swatches & comparisons!

Blue Eyeliners: YSL #9, bareMinerals 4AM, Korres #13, MAC Smoothblue,
CoverGirl Blue Boom, TT Glamorous Thief, UD Radium, UD Deviant

Blue Eyeliners: MAC Smoothblue, CoverGirl Blue Boom, TT Glamorous Thief,
UD Radium, UD Deviant, NARS Kitty, MAC Hi Def Cyan

Blue Eyeliners: NARS Kitty, MAC Hi Def Cyan, MAC Artistic License, MUFE #7L,
TT Kanzashi, UD Electric, NARS Abbey Road

YSL Dessin du Regard Eye Pencil Review, Photos, Swatches (in Velvet Black, Oriental Blue, Turquoise)

Christine — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:19:33 +0000

YSL Dessin du Regard Eye Pencil ($28.00) are gorgeous, deeply pigmented eyeliners that apply evenly and smoothly. I spent the past week testing between three shades — Turquoise (09), Oriental Blue (03), and Black Velvet (01).

Turquoise is a lightened aqua with a slight golden sheen to it. It had the frostiest finish of the three I tried–definitely more of a shimmer sheen here, which works, since it’s light and bright enough to make your eyes pop but not over the top.
Oriental Blue is a brightened-up navy blue with silver sparkle. It’s not quite a true navy blue, since it’s brighter — almost like a midnight sky blue lit up by the moon — it’s very pretty.
Black Velvet is an intense, deep dark black with an inky feel and look.

Recently, YSL reformulated their eye pencils “with highly pigmented color for a deep impact and long-lasting finish.” They’ve included jojoba oil to “mak[e] the finish on the skin smooth and conformtable” along with “a wax adhesive [that] acts as a fixing agent to reinforce the intensity of the pigment for hours.” The eye pencils are definitely easy to use and give you a smooth, creamy line with little effort. The color is also highly pigmented, as advertised, but I didn’t quite get the long-lasting finish I expected (and would have loved!). These are nowhere near as bad as NARS Eye Pencils were on me, though, thankfully!

I get about four hours of wear before these shades start to disappear on my lower lash line (maybe an hour or so on the lower water line). The good news–at least as far as it can go–is that these fade away rather than migrate and smudge and otherwise give you raccoon eyes. The first time I tried these, I wore Oriental Blue by itself on my lower lash line, and after five hours, when I went to inspect it, it was nearly all gone. All that remained was a smidgen of faded, dark blue between my lashes. I repeated testing with the other two shades as well, just to be sure, but they all performed the same on me–faded and nearly invisible by hour five.

Each pencil comes with a sharpener, and the pencil itself is dual-ended with an angled sponge-tip for smudging on one end and the pencil on the other.

It’s available in twelve shades: Black Velvet (black), Leather Brown (dark brown), Oriental Blue (navy blue), Smokey Purple (grayed purple), Deepest Green (forest green), Hazelnut Brown (reddish brown), Charcoal Grey (gray), Amber Brown (medium brown), Turquoise (teal), Purple Silk (purple), Stellar Green (green), and Silky Pink (pink).

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 21/30
Value: 7/10
Ease of Use: 4/5
Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: If you don’t find yourself having trouble with your eyeliner smudging or like to wear pencil on your upper lash line, these might be a product worth trying, because they do pack plenty of color pay off and look beautiful on.

Availability: Nordstrom

See more photos & swatches!

Bright Makeup: Sky Blues

Christine — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:05:32 +0000

Bright Makeup: Sky Blues

I got the BLUES! At least, when it comes to the next week… because it’s study, study, STUDY! I feel like my focus is off, too, which is very annoying and frustrating. I managed to get through one outline yesterday, and today, I hope to get through another today… and then start memorizing both!

You will need the following…

Eyes: MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot (neutral beige base), MAC Frost Pigment (teal), MAC Vellum Eyeshadow (white with purple flash), MAC Sky Blue Eyeshadow (PRO) (sky blue), MAC Winkle Eyeshadow (periwinkle blue), MAC Atlantic Blue Eyeshadow (PRO) (brightened dark blue), MAC Electric Eel Eyeshadow (bright blue), MAC Shroom Eyeshadow (highlighter), YSL Oriental Blue Dessin du Regard Eyeliner (navy blue), YSL Turquoise Dessin du Regard Eyeliner (teal), MAC NC15/NW20 Chromagraphic Pencil (nude), MAC Plushlash Mascara (black)
Face: Make Up For Ever HD Foundation (140)
Cheeks: Dolce & Gabbana Peach Blush (soft beige-pink), Dior Amber Diamond Skin Shimmer (golden highlight)
Lips: Cle de Peau #101 Extra Silky Lipstick (coral), MAC C-Thru Lipglass (creamy nude), Guerlain Brit Rouge G Lipstick, Guerlain #01 Terracotta Gloss (sheer champagne)
Brushes: 226 (fluffy crease brush), 219 (pointed crease brush), 249 (flat, firm brush), 239 (fluffy shadow brush), 116 (dense blush brush)
Substitutes: N/A

For eyes, start by applying Soft Ochre paint pot as your eyeshadow base all over the eye area with the 249. With the 239 and water-based mixing medium (or water), apply Frost pigment all over the lid area. Using the 239, apply Vellum eyeshadow on the inner third of the eyelid. Next, apply Sky Blue eyeshadow on the middle third of the eyelid and lightly blend with the inner corner. Darken the outer third of the lid with Winkle eyeshadow with the 239, gently brushing it into the lower crease. Lightly blend Atlantic Blue eyeshadow, with the 226, into the outer crease and corner. Define the crease by sweeping Electric Eel eyeshadow into the lower crease with the 219. Lightly tap and brush Vellum eyeshadow directly above the crease to soften. To finish the eyeshadow look, sweep Shroom eyeshadow as a highlighter on the brow bone. Bring everything together by applying Oriental Blue eyeliner on the outer half of the lower lash line and Turquoise eyeliner on the inner half of the lower lash line. Apply NC15/NW20 pencil on the lower waterline to make eyes pop. Finish by sweeping lashes with Plushlash mascara.

For cheeks, apply Peach blush to the apples of the cheeks and sweep upwards towards the temple with the 116. Then, highlight cheekbones by sweeping Amber Diamond with the 165.

For lips, apply #101 lipstick first, and then layer C-thru lipiglass for a complementing lip. An alternative lip could be created by first applying Brit lipstick layered with #01 gloss.

Check out more photos!

Cle de Peau #101 + MAC C-Thru

Guerlain Brit + Guerlain #01

Cle de Peau #101 + MAC C-Thru

Guerlain Brit + Guerlain #01