Written Reviews

I got this as a Back to MAC choice. I love MAC's Amplified Cream finish - I think it's my favourite of all their regular lipsticks but I thought I'd exhausted all the shades in that finish that work for me. Then I decided to take a chance on this one because it looked similar to a favourite Givenchy lipstick I have. Well, Full Fuchsia has been such a delight to own and wear. It lights up my whole face and makes me look more awake. Feels great on the lips and wears well. It's become a real favourite. It might look a bit scary in the tube but applied, it looks great - bright but highly wearable.

This is one of my most used lipsticks ever (along with MAC Craving). This is a beautiful and wearable red that doesn't pull too warm, too orange, too dark - it's just perfect. The formula and texture are flattering and very, very comfortable on my lips - hydrating without being greasy. Wear time, especially over Elizabeth Arden's lip primer, is pretty darned good to. I have 2 or 3 tubes of this on the go because I use it so often.

I nearly fainted when I found this at Marshall's for under $40 (Cdn) and grabbed it immediately. I've had this for almost a year now and don't use it all that often. I had such high hopes, having read about how excellent this concealer is but sadly, it's not as wonderful as I was expecting. If I'm not careful, this can take on a dry, scaly look after a few hours and in spite of all the claims, this still does settle into fine lines. It's easy enough to press the product back into place but considering what this retails for ($80 or more), I really was expecting perfection.

Aura was my first choice in this now discontinued (how dumb is THAT?) highlighers from UD but I found Sin a while back at a discounter and grabbed it. The texture is gorgeous and it blends to a finish that is both luminous and natural looking at the same time. It's a bit warm for me as a highlighter - not unwearable and not unnatural looking but just a hint on the warm side (where Aura is cooler) but I really love it. I had planned to purchase this at full price at Sephora only to find it discontinued, so finding it AND at a very affordable price - well, double happiness!

I got this because Temptalia has it listed as a dupe for UD's Casterly Rock, which is a colour I love. Well, now I've got me a big ol' pan of Brav-O and I couldn't be happier. The texture, application and wear time of these are all as Christine describes them and all are great (though I always use primer). My only "kvetch" and why it didn't get the full 5 stars is that I'd have preferred a smaller pan of shadow (I've yet to use up any eyeshadows I own, probably because I own too many and buy too many) and a lower price point to reflect the smaller size.

While I don't like the price tag of this pencil compared with my beloved Sephora pencil liners, Mulholland Drive is such a lovely and flattering shade that I'm glad I bought it. It applies smoothly and evenly and deposits a perfect amount of colour. The rich bronze-y brown shade is just perfect for me. The only reason I rated it as "too little product" is because of the price (the pencil itself is pretty much the standard amount for a pencil liner).

I found this shadow for only $5.99 at Marshalls. I wasn't sure of the colour name (because there is only the number on the packaging - something I HATE) and I also wasn't sure if it was a colour I already owned (again, because of the numbering - it's easier for me to remember a name than a number) but for the price, I took the risk figuring that if I already owned it, having a backup at such a ridiculously affordable price wasn't a bad thing. As the name would suggest, it's a lovely, foggy grey'd taupe with a subtle sheen - very pretty and very wearable. Glad I took the chance and grabbed it!

I have this in the aptly named Nudes You Need palette. While I do like the squared shape of MUFE's reformulated eyeshadows since they fit more neatly into a Z palette, I cannot for the life of me understand why they changed the actual formula of the shadows as most are inferior to and also different from their predecessors with the same names and numbers. Iced Brown (I hate the numbering system) is a lovely lighter toned golden brown with an icy sheen and delicious texture. It's such an easy shade to wear and works well as a "one and done" shadow or on the outer lid with something lighter on the inner corner. I am so glad I have this in the old formula and in that wonderful palette. I found one on sale about a year ago at Marshalls and immediately grabbed it for my daughter.

How I wish Stila's single powder shadows were still available. I have Wheat in the Eyes are the Window Spirit palette (which I purchased using Optimum points, making it a good value) but would have loved a full sized single. Wheat has the loveliest "sheen" finish in a brightening, easy-to-wear golden beige. I rely on it on mornings when I'm in a rush but need to look wide awake and bright-eyed, as though I've had a good night's sleep. A bit of something like Puppy or MAC Cork in the crease and my eyes are "done" for the day. I hope I can still get my hands on another Spirit palette when I finish the pan of Wheat in my current one.

I am trying to accept that the horrible, heavy, bulky, goofy packaging just had to be there because of the theme but I hate it. Also, there's really no way at all that I can rationalize buying this - it was a totally irrational purchase. There are 2 or 3 colours I don't like at all and a few other which I love in terms of their shade but which are gritty, dreadful glitter-bombs (Winterfell, I am SO looking at you! I would have loved you if you'd been an actual wearable eyeshadow rather than pressed glitter that feels like sandpaper!) So, there's lots for me to kvetch about in this palette but there are some shadows that are so beautiful that I am more than happy to have this palette. Winter is Here (why the name change from the phrase we all love and which Sean Bean refuses to utter in Wasted!), Casterly Rock, Frozen North and Dothraki are all beautiful shades and Weirwood is a colour I didn't think I'd be able to wear but I was wrong. Nymeria, which looked really ugly to me, is actually one of those perfect shades for subtly defining or blending out a crease (reminds me of UD's Tyranny from the Pulp Fiction palette years ago.

This eyeshadow won't be for everyone but I love it. It is a very shimmery champagne/beige shade that has no glitter or fallout, which is part of what makes it so great. The colour is very brightening on my mobile lid or inner 1/3 of my lid. Many years ago MAC had an LE Starflash shadow called Grand Entrance which I just love and which I have always used very sparingly for fear of finishing it and not being able to replace it. Of the many champagne-y type shadows I have, none of them came close to Grand Entrance until I got Glazed Donut. It's so close in all aspects - colour, finish, pigmentation, how it applies - so I'm doubly happy with it.

I was hesitant to try the reformulated Sephora shadows as most seemed a real disappointment compared to the earlier formula that these replaced. But A Cup of Coffee is terrific. It's a smouldery, smoky dark brown that is cool toned and gorgeous. While classed as a "shimmer", the finish is more silky than obviously shimmery and the whole effect is fabulous. A definite winner for a mere few bucks!

This is a perfect replacement palette for UD's now discontinued NAKED palette. I might even like it better. This contains 8 shadows rather than 12 but every single shade is very wearable. There are no really dark shades like Creep or Gunmetal but the 2 larger pans are both excellent browbone highlight shades for me. The left side is more warm toned and the right side is cooler but the whole thing is still very neutral (leaning a bit toward cool). For me, it's a perfect every day type palette that is also great for travel. I took only this with me for a 4 day getaway and didn't feel at all deprived.

This palette consists of 8 cool toned shadows in purples and grey tones. It has 3 quite shimmery shades and the remaining 6 are matte or satiny. I find all of the shades to be very easy to apply and nicely pigmented. The left side of this is more neutral and taupe-y while the right side is definitely purple. It's small and compact but has everything in it that I need including a lovely browbone highlight shade.

This is probably one of the more expensive lipsticks I've purchased (MAC, UD and Clarins are usually my "price point") but, after getting a points perk from Sephora and falling in love with the colour, I had to have the full size. I tend to wear berry toned or neutral red lipsticks so this "fuchsia" shade (it's a pink red, rather the purple I think of when I hear the word "fuchsia"0 was a revelation to me. It is so flattering and brightening and has become my go-to warm weather lipstick. This feels divine on my lips and is such a nice contrast to all the matte lipsticks that seem to have overtaken the marketplace, both in how it feels and how it looks. I sure hope this colour doesn't get discontinued. I have to say, I don't like the packaging of the full sized lipstick because I can't help worrying that the "pull ribbon" will pull right off one of these days.

This palette certainly lives up to its name; the colours do indeed evoke a "beachy", "summer fun" vibe. The colours are, for the most part, typical of the best of UD's shadow texture, with that almost liquid, satiny feel to them. The only colour that disappointed me was 16th St. because the glitter in that shade isn't really integrated into the base so there is fallout and not the nice, cohesive texture of the other glitter shades. I really like both Salt and Blaze (initially, I thought both of those shades would be too yellowy for me) and the 2 blue shades and Wedge are real stunners. Essentially, I got this palette for 10 bucks because I bought it on a day when SDM offers 20% off and I paid for much of the rest with loyalty points but even at its regular price, this palette is just "different" enough but not so outlandish that I am really glad to own it. And it is more versatile than you might think at first glance.

For a few bucks, this is a great investment. If you love your pencils (eye or lip), this sharpener is a great way to keep the love affair going. I've learned over the years that the secret to a good sharpener is the BLADE and the best blades (from UD, ABH and a few other brands) are all made by the very same company that uses the same markings on the blade - "made in Germany" and what is either a crown or trident. If you look for that imprint, you won't go wrong no matter what the price of the sharpener and without that marking, I wouldn't buy it no matter what the claims or the price! The added goodness of the Anastasia design is that it adapts for 3 shades of pencils rather than just one or two.

Dirtysweet is such a wonderful lid colour for me. I have about 5 or 6 of the listed dupes and while they're all nice shadows, none of them is quite as nice on me as Dirtysweet. It's a pretty light bronzed gold shade with a glow-y finish. I know that the Naked Smoky palette wasn't very well received but it's a palette I really love using and this colour - which I love on the mobile lid with some dark liner for an easy but flattering look - makes me glad I purchased the palette.

I think Clarins is really overlooked as a makeup brand, in part because they don't have a really edgy, innovative image or a lot of flashy advertising. I've purchased several of their e/s palettes over the years and have been pleased with them. This one is a really basic, reliable and wearable product for folks like me whose lives don't really fit in with neon brights, hot pinks and electric blues and outrageous glitters. This is the sort of palette I rely on for getting ready for work in the mornings or for informal family get-togethers. My only "criticism" is that a lighter "lightest" shade is something I'd have appreciated, although the lightest shade in this is such a good all over lid shade for cancelling out veining and redness and making my mobile lids look nice. The 3 other shades are graduating darker browns and while the middle 2 shades look almost identical, they are different when applied.

I've had this shadow (purchased along with 5 others to make up a value palette) for a few years and it's a great eyeshadow - one of those "must have" colours that works as a "no makeup" eyemakeup or as a highlighter for brow, inner corner or all over the lid. It is, as Christine describes it, a warm light beige with a sheen but my pan looks very different to what is pictured here - the photo here looks far more pinky-peach than mine, which is more of a champagne colour - really a warm beige indeed. For a shimmery shadow, another point in its favour is that it doesn't look crepe-y or create or highlight "texture" issues on my lids.