Archived Post
The Spring 2015 Report Card
There are so many products releasing each month that it can be hard to keep track of what was worth considering that I wanted to try putting together a quarterly overview that looks at the last three months of reviews with a best-of-the-quarter compilation. I’ve tried to group by formula when it makes sense to, and other times you’ll see specific shades or a collection. I’ve only included products that scored at least A- or higher (or else we’d be here all day!).
You can always browse all of my past reviews by rating and choose your threshold (or go diving for those F reviews) as well as view any Temptalia Recommends products. For a list of all my all-time favorites, see my Editor’s Choice Awards.
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| Clinique Cheek Pops are now available in eight new shades! You can check out the full roundup here, but they performed extremely well and in line with the original four released last year. All of the new shades rated A- or higher: Fig Pop (A+), Heather Pop (A-), Melon Pop (A-), Nude Pop (A), Pansy Pop (A-), Pink Pop (A+), Rosy Pop (A), Cola Pop (A+). |
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| We’ve reviewed a lot of ColourPop’s Super Shock Shadow range in the first quarter, and there were a lot of winners! Here are all of the shades that were rated A- or higher: 3 (A-), Acorn (A), Bae (A+), Bandit (A-), Chipper (A-), Desert (A), Downtown (A+), Drift (A), Eve (A+), Game Face (A), Get Lucky (A), Hanky Panky (A), Heat (A), Lace (A-), La-la (A+), Mittens (A-), Mooning (A), On the Rocks (A), Pop Rocks (A), Shop (A-), Smash (A), Snapdragon (A), So Quiche (A-), Sour (A), Sunnies (A-), Taco (A-), Truth (A), Rebound (Set) (A-), Shaanxo (Set) (A) |
Where to Buy$5 at ColourPop |
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| The ColourPop Super Shock Cheek released twenty shades of cream blushes from vibrant fuchsia to subdued neutrals, as well as three new, limited edition shades just for spring. I’m still working through reviews of the permanent range, but here were the top performers for Q1: Clutch (A), More, Please (A+), Olive (A-), Pie (A-), Rain (A-) |
Where to Buy$8 at ColourPop |
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Too Faced Melted Metals are a new, liquid lipstick with a metallic finish. There are eight shades with most falling in the B+ range, but there were two standout shades: Metallic Jelly (A) and Metallic Macaron (A-).
Too Faced also added new shades of their original formula: Melted Strawberry (A), Melted Jelly Donut (A), Melted Villain (A). |
Where to Buy$21 at Sephora, Macy’s, Beautylish, Beauty.com |
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| Becca Blushed Copper is a stunning, medium-dark copper-brown with a very shimmery finish. It scored an A-. |
Where to Buy$38 at Sephora |
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| Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors are available in a liquid, cream, and powder format, and this spring, we worked through a lot of the newest formula, the Poured, as well as wrote up a everything you need to know guide about the family of formulas. The Poured (or cream) formula rated quite well across the shades released: Moonstone (A-), Opal (A-), Pearl (A-), Rose Gold (A-), Topaz (A). |
Where to Buy |
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| Bite Beauty Butter Cream Lipsticks launched as a new, permanent formula with eight shades. The blunt tip is supposed to make it ultra creamy. Gimmicks aside, the formula was excellent. I hope they’ll consider adding more cool-toned neutrals next! Here were the top performers: Hazelnut (A), Marzipan (A), Pecan (A), Rosewood (A). |
Where to Buy$28 at Sephora |
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| Burberry Wet & Dry Glow Shadow is a new, permanent formula of eyeshadow with a more metallic finish. I loved both Shell (A) and Nude (A+). |
Where to Buy$29 at Nordstrom |
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| Chanel Malice (A) is a medium, pink-coral with a luminous finish that is, thankfully, permanent. This is one Chanel blush that was well worth the hype. |
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| Chanel Rouge Coco was reformulated and launched with 29 different shades this spring. The formula was more inconsistent, as some shades did well and others were shorter-wearing and didn’t apply well. Here were some of the best shades reviewed so far: Antoinette (A), Arthur (A-), Etienne (A-), Julia (A-), Marie (A-), Misia (A-), Suzanne (A-). |
Where to Buy |
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| Giorgio Armani Eye Tints are a new, permanent liquid eyeshadow formula available in twelve shades from your traditional neutrals to bolder blue and green. Six of the twelve were exceptional: Cold Copper (A), Emeraude (A), Green Iron (A), Minuit (A), Rose Ashes (A), Senso (A), Shadow (A). |
Where to Buy$38 at Norodstrom, Sephora |
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| Guerlain Medium (03) Meteorites Compact is a lightly luminous finishing powder that gives skin a natural look without looking shimmery. It’s that extra oomph after you’ve set with powder to keep the skin from looking too matte. |
Where to Buy$62 at Nordstrom, Sephora, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus |
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| IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer (A) is a fantastic, medium-to-full coverage concealer that covers evenly, smoothly, and wears long. I’d love to see the brand expand their shade range, as I have to mix two shades to get a good match (there are only four shades). |
Where to Buy$24 at ULTA |
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| Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette includes three highlighters and three sculpting powders in a slim palette. The palette had really soft, silky textures, which made it easy to blend on the skin. It may be more or less useful depending on your contouring application and coloring as the palette runs warmer. |
Where to Buy$46 at Sephora |
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| Kevyn Aucoin Medium The Sculpting Powder has an unbelievable texture that’s very soft, smooth, and blendable. The color is more taupe-like, which makes it one of my favorite hues for contouring. I wish they had more shades. |
Where to Buy$44 at Beautylish, Sephora, Beauty.com, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom |
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| Make Up For Ever Artist Shadows continue to be an impressive formula. I think I’m down to less than fifty shades (about half of them are blushes, too) that I haven’t actually worn, and there are very few duds. Here are the highlights from this past quarter: D552 Crystalline Gray Beige (A+), I212 Periwinkle (A), I318 Linen Khaki (A),I628 Reptile (A+), I824 Ocher Pink (A+), I872 Pearly Pink (A), ME232 Turquoise Blue (A+), ME614 Graphite Brown (A), ME644 Iced Brown (A+), S502 White Sand (A-). |
Where to Buy$21 at Sephora |
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| Marc Jacobs Beauty Hi-Fi Filter (A-) is a highlighting and contouring palette on a large scale. There are three combinations available, and the one I tried was the darkest of the three. |
Where to Buy$49 at Sephora |
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| Marc Jacobs Beauty The Enigma (A) is a muted, neutral-themed palette that ranges from soft brown to gray and smoky black. |
Where to Buy$59 at Sephora |
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| Maybelline Rebel Bloom Collection had an assortment of grades, but there were a few good shades in the release: Rebellious Raspberry (A), Black Orchid (A-), Coral Burst (A-), Rose Rush (A-). |
Where to Buy$7.49+ at ULTA |
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| Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadow came out with nine new and permanent shades this spring! Here were the best ones: Charmy, Clickbait (A-), Countess (A-). |
Where to Buy$13 at Beautylish |
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| Surratt Beauty had a few hits that we tested this spring: Cuivre Eyeshadow (A-), Perfectionniste Lipslique (A-), and Soigne Lip Lustre (A-). |
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| Tom Ford Lip Color Matte is a new, permanent formula that features more opaque, matte lip color. Half of the shade range were big winners: Plum Lush (05) (A+), Flame (06) (A), Pussycat (04) (A), Ruby Rush (07) (A). |
Where to Buy$50 at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdale’s |
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| Tom Ford’s Spring collection was fairly memorable with four of the six pieces rating well: Spring 2015 Cream Color for Eyes (A+), Black Jade Nail Lacquer (A), Indigo Night Nail Lacquer (A), Raw Jade Eye Color Duo (A-). |
Where to Buy$32 to $60 at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom |
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| Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick is new take based on their original Revolution Lipsticks, just sheerer and glossier. There were ten shades released and six of them did quite well: Sheer Anarchy (A-), Sheer F-Bomb (A-), Sheer Liar (A-), Sheer Rapture (A-), Sheer Slowburn (A-), Sheer Streak (A-). |
Where to Buy$22 at Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Beauty.com |
Yes!!! This is an amazing feature and I love it. Looking forward to summer 2015 😉
Yay!
Thanks Christine!! Perfect timing for the VIB sale at Sephora that’s happening right now. The KvD and Marc Jacobs contour powders weren’t originally on my list, but into the basket they’re going! And of course, the Clinique Cheek pops too!
Hope you enjoy your haul 😀
I’m in cheek product heaven! Thanks Christine.
Haha! Aren’t we all this spring? ;D
LOL..I couldn’t help but laugh! So true!
I love this round-up. It’s like a list of everything I should throw my money at! There should be a disclaimer…don’t read if you’re on a no-buy! LOL But seriously, super helpful especially when I don’t visit the site a few days and sometimes miss posts. This helps in case I missed something really good. I also didn’t know we could browse your review by rating. I placed a ColourPop order for the In Bloom set, Olive blush and Yasmin lippie stix yesterday. Can’t wait to play! Thank you!
Yep! The ratings are manual right now (we’re working on an automated system), so they’re not updated 1:1 as live posts go up, but we try to update it regularly!
I like this idea a lot! I hope you continue it! I want to get some of the Tom Ford lip mattes after my bank account recovers from the summer collection and Sephora sale. Pansy Pop sold out before I could snag it at Sephora this am. So, That is on my must-get list along with some of the Urban Decay new stuff and Cle de Peau luminzers, and a couple of lipsicks in TF regular.After that, I think I need to cool it on the spending a bit for a month or two.But, I want to get back into re stocking my mufe shadows and Guerlain rouge G collection.(Sorry for the mental spill here,lol), So, When do Fall collections generally start? My wallet needs a break of sorts.
Fall… as early as July sometimes. August for most brands!
July! lol.so..basically my wallet gets no break! haha.!
It pretty much never ends! I find that there’s maybe a week or two weeks of “lull” in releases where I don’t feel like there’s something new I need to get.
I find there is never a time there is something new I want to get and I don’t even have a blog, lol! 😀
I love this Christine. It’s almost like reading a beauty magazine. Thanks for all your hard work!
Happy to share, Indya! 🙂
Great idea, great execution!
Thanks, Jammies!
What an excellent idea to do a quarterly report card. Thanks for doing such a good job!
My pleasure, Helene!
So many things I want from this amazing list! Where to start?????
That is a good question, LOL!
OoOoo nice presentation 🙂
Thanks 😀
thanks for this! i’ve been traveling for a month and are incredibly behind reading blog posts. now i know which ones i should catch up on first!
Hope you’re having some fun on your travels, Joy! 🙂
That is an extremely helpful round up, thank you! Well done.
Aw, thank you, El!! It’s good to know it is helpful so I know it’s worth doing next quarter!
Hey Christine, i always read your blog but have never commented befor. A lot of people in line at the sephora event were definitely checking this site for product reviews, you really do give us invaluable insight! I just wanted to thank you for this post and the reviews in general. You do a fantastic job!
Thank you so much, Jules! That is really, really cool to hear 😀
Oooh this is a good idea. It might make your life easier at the end of the year when you go to round up your favorites for 2015
It might!
I’m surprised that the new UD blushes didn’t make your list. I’m eagerly awaiting their arrival in-store (ditto the newer shades of the Clinique Pop blushes).
Only products from January 1st through March 31st 🙂
Holy cow, that’s a lot of products. I’ve been pretty much a daily reader this year, and I’d actually forgotten a few of these releases altogether. This will be such a helpful feature! Thanks for taking the time to put it together, Christine!
LOL! And these are just the winners, haha.
Thank you for this wonderful roundup! 🙂
My pleasure, Pami!
Wow – what an impressive lineup. Thank you so much for this – it is fabulous and must have taken you ages to do. It is greatly appreciated.
Thank you! It is a time-consuming post but is totally worth doing if it is helpful 🙂
This is very helpful! Feels good to know that a lot of the things on my wish list are great quality. I’m almost ready for the summer collections!
I know! So many summer launches already!
This is a great idea! I really appreciate this as I am looking to branch out from my current brand and this will be very helpful when I re-purchase. Can’t wait to see the summer list! 🙂
Happy you enjoyed the list, Pearl!
Whew! Lol
Are you getting anything from the Chanel Summer collection?
I’m sure I will, as I always do 🙂
Very good 🙂
I remember once wishing to see a quarterly report … if am not wrong I even mentioned …
nevertheless … am soooo sooo sooooooooo happy to see this
already placed my VIB rouge order through your link 11th night …. yaaaaaaaa
and am so glad the list is approved by my mentor 🙂
You are amazing! It is so, so appreciated. Thank you!!
This is such a cool feature! And sooo invaluable what with the VIB sale going on too! Thank you so much, Christine! Oh, I have been loving my goodies from my last haul, today I have on Maria Moretti l/s and Summer Wind as my cheek highlighter!
So glad you’re digging your latest haul, Nancy! 😀
That’s quite a bit of stuff! I’d love to pick the Clinique blushes and the Chanel Blush. I’m considering 3 Chanel lippies at the moment too. I always take to long debating on where my limited $$$ is going. At least all the blush is perm!
It’s never a bad thing to take your time to consider 🙂
Woah! I can only imagine how much work went into this! This GREAT, thanks Christine!
Thank you!
Ugh. All that Tom Ford… I want it all!!! I’m loving this report card thing.
(PS It’s rip-off, not riff off)
No, I meant riff – as in Urban Decay is riffing off of their original formula of the Revolution lipsticks (taking their original and changing it up to create a familiar but tweaked version), but I guess I misunderstood the definition of it, but I did not mean a rip off.
No, you used it correctly Christine
Thanks, Jazz! At least I’m not totally crazy! I thought that was the meaning, but the dictionary definitions weren’t quite convincing me!
You didn’t misunderstand the definition 🙂 riff off is used in the exact context you used it in. I can understand someone not knowing the phrase if they aren’t around musicians, writers etc since it’s mostly something of a creative term. Exactly in the manner you used it, so riff on girl 😉 Or Urban Decay should riff off their existing non naked products more often. I’m loving the shift in the revolution lipsticks! But then again I might just be swayed by my inner lipstick hoarder…..must have all the lippies!!
Thank you, Bonnie!
I’d love UD to create some really fun lipstick colors next! Or maybe a few more with shimmer… but I like my shimmer 🙂
This is such a useful compilation! I just tried out my first Colour Pop products and I am really impressed!
YAY! Always happy to hear when people are loving a new brand!
This is AMAZING, thank you so much for sharing! I placed an order at ColourPop a while ago, can’t wait to try out their shadows, they look fantastic 🙂 x
Awesome! Here’s hoping you love ’em! Which ones did you get?
This is a great feature, thank you. The presentation is wonderful.
Thank you, Rachel!
Wow, this was so useful, Christine. Just when I think your blog couldn’t impress me more, it just did. Thank you for all of your hard work! And perfect timing as many have already pointed out. 😉
Aww, thank you, Kimmy!!