Written Reviews

I have both the lighter conditioner and the heavier conditioning cream and like them both. I have thick, coarse hair that needs all the moisture it can get to look shiny and sleek, which is my preferred look and not at all what my hair wants to do naturally. So these All Soft conditioners really help a lot. The smell is pleasant too. Neither one weighs my hair down, though for someone with thin or fine hair, these might be too heavy.

I just love this colour. Polish doesn't last long on my fingernails but this lasts better than many others and it makes such a statement and makes my hands look very sophisticated - like those women who always have perfect nails - even if it only last 3 or 4 days, which for me is pretty good wear.

I'm happy that reviews on Makeup Alley brought this shadow to my attention because there is just SO MUCH at Inglot that it's hard to know what to purchase. I picked this up a few days ago and I've worn it every day since and just love it. Wearble, flattering and pretty! It's a very versatile shadow too - it can be a "one product" shadow but it combines seamlessly with so many other shadows if you want to make a more intricate look. 420 is an icy lavender/grey and it's quite similar to Nars Lhasa, though a wee bit lighter and more silvery. Inglot shadows are such an amazing value and such great quality as well.

What a piece of loveliness this palette is (or was!). I was so delighted to find it reduced almost to half price at Sephora a few years ago, although the down side of that was that the whole Tarina Tarantino line was being discontinued there. I'd been wanting this palette mainly for the shade "Dandy Lion" but all the shadows in this palette are outstanding and the colours are so wearable. I do find Glinda's Kiss to be a bit odd - although it looks white, it seems to apply an odd shade of pale, pale, really pale aqua/turquoise. It's easy to do a really lovely, dramatic eye using these shadows but Sawdust Heart - a rich dark brown - is a great every day/classic shade and Dandy Lion and Very Wicked delight me every time I use them Ozma is gorgeous and even though I'm not a huge fan of silver eyeshadow, I enjoy wearing Silver Shoes because it's a deeper and more complex type of silver grey.

I got a decent sized sample of this a few weeks ago because generally, I'm a bit of a loser when it comes to applying gel or cream liners but I wanted Baalbek as soon as I saw the colour - mostly to use as a cream eyeshadow (Nars Eye Paints are supposed to work as liners or shadows/bases). I finally went back to get the full size because, to my surprise, I was actually able to master using this as a liner as well as shadow. To line my eyes, I used a Sephora smudger brush to get a smudgey, smokey line, which I generally prefer, or a Quo bend eyeliner brush if I want a more crisp and precise line. I doubt I will ever master a "flick" (I think perhaps it just doesn't work with the shape of my eyes) but I am sure mastering applying this as a liner. The colour is beautiful - a bronzey, olivey brown murky shade with flecks of gold. So pretty on brown eyes and this will be perfect for autumn (which is still some months away....)

I got this blush based on the colour description here at Temptalia. From the review, I was expecting it to be more pink and less coral than it actually turned out to be. In hindsight, I realize I probably should have got Subtle Breeze instead. What I do love about Early Morning is the absolutely lovely sheen it develops as I blend/buff it out. That finish is so wonderful. I just wish it were a more flattering shade for me and, since Subtle Breeze is part of the same launch/collection, I'm guessing it would have the same beautiful finish but in a more cool toned/pink shade which looks better with my skintone. So while this is beautiful, the colour isn't the best for me.

Since receiving my "freebie" sample of VIB Rouge lipstick, I've decided I have to have more of these wonderful lipsticks from Bite. I wanted to find something similar to MAC Lustering or Plumful but a bit more long-wearing. While Vigne isn't an exact match for either MAC shade, it is such a beautiful deep pink/berry shade. Moisturizing, creamy, richly pigmented and long wearing. Absolutely lovely and pretty.

This is so beautiful. I knew as soon as I saw this that I had to have it. It's sold out online already in Canada but I was able to get it in-store. A beautiful bronzed gold. To be honest, I don't really understand MAC describing this as green or olive because to me, it is much more tarnished gold looking. In any case, this is beautiful and I can't wait til morning to be able to put it again!

Just got this and I'm so glad I did (basically, it was a bit of an afterthought - initially, I thought I'd get Black Swan if anything). Christine's description of the colour is spot-on - dark black with lots of gold and olive bronze, which is pretty complex and beautiful. I really like MAC's Pearlglide liners generally and this one is really special.

This isn't the most pigmented of Nars's shadow duos but I love it for a quick easy eye for work days or for lunching out, etc. The somewhat lighter/more glittery side doesn't show up amazingly well and works best over a base or primer that will enhance its colour (something like Sephora's Taupe Jumbo Pencil or, for a more complex look, MAC Constructivist as a base, which is how I wear it most often). The right hand shade is much smoother and more pigmented and very nice to apply and works great on the outer lid and in the crease with the lighter shade on the lid. The two shades are just a nice, easy combo for days when you don't want your eyes to look obviously made up. Black liner, applied just at the roots of my lashes, sets this combo off very nicely.

I was so looking forward to getting this blush. I'd swatched it and read reviews and all indications were that this would be perfect for me. So when my local Sephora finally got more in stock (they'd been sold out for quite some time), I grabbed Plum Pop. When I went to use it, I was really disappointed because I had a very hard time getting any colour at all to show up on my relatively fair skin. I can't help but wonder if perhaps this "new batch" isn't as good as the original. After a few uses, I did find this applied better and if I use it over a liquid product (rather than over a powder), it is more visible. So I'm hoping this will continue to improve once I get the top layer sort of evenly worn/roughed up. The colour is lovely and very natural but application could be better.

This is such an interesting, luminous shade of violet/purple. I thought I had all the Sephora Contour Eye Pencil shades I could possibly want til I saw this reviewed here by Christine. I think I got it the next day or possibly 2 days later. It is such an eye-brightening, interesting shade and the luminous, almost reflective finish really looks amazing. My experience with all these pencils has been really favourable and this wonderful shade is no exception. And the price is just the icing on the cake.

I was so excited to find this a few weeks ago at the drug-store. My MAC Painterly paint pot is getting near to being finished and I thought I might want to replace it with something with a bit of shimmer and, rather than buying Bare Study, I thought I'd give Barely Branded a try since it looks very similar in the pot and I love the great wear of these products from Maybelline. I guess the term "metal" in the name should have tipped me off (but it didn't). This shadow is just way more shimmery than I was expecting and a bit more harsh looking than I like in an eye shadow. It was leans more yellow than I like and that wasn't really visible looking at it in the thick glass pot when I was at the store. I'll still get good use from it, but I'd prefer it a bit more toned down and also a bit less yellow.

So happy I was finally able to get this shadow. Like almost all the Colour Tattoo shadows, it wears like iron. The colour is lovely - it's very much like Tough as Taupe only with a bit of sheen, which I prefer since Tough as Taupe can look a bit dry and flat. It's a shame this shade isn't a permanent addition to the line.

La Douce (I think it used to be called "Irma La Douce" years and years ago) is a beautiful, murky olive green/khaki that is a fabulous shade on brown eyes and for autumn. You can do the most amazing smokey eye with this shadow and get a result that is a lot more wearable than a traditional black smokey eye. This is also a wonderful colour applied on the outer V, with a light to mid-toned neutral shadow on the rest of the lid - makes for a somewhat exotic, elongated looking eye that still looks appropriate for any situation.

I never would have considered buying anything from Kat Von D until I saw this palette reviewed here at Temptalia (see, it's all Christine's fault!). I cannot believe the quality of these shadows. They are so incredibly buttery soft and pigmented (think along the lines of Hourglass shadows!). There are a few shades in here that are a bit on the scary side for me (especially Wrath - I tend to stay away from orange/red shadows) but this is a good experience for me as it's moving me a bit out of my "comfort zone" using these colours in small doses. Most of the shadows are neutrals, though, but this is a neutral palette with a bit of pizzazz, which is nice because I have so many neutral palettes already, so this one stands out a bit as having a bit more oomph. Very travel friendly too - the packaging is cardboard but a very sturdy feeling cardboard. I'm going on a cruise in a few months and may well take this with me as my only eye shadow products.

I got this for free in a VIB Rouge event at Sephora and was thrilled at first because this is such a perfect shade in the pan. But applied it is just dreadful. I mean, NOTHING transfers onto my cheeks, no matter what brush I use. I don't know if this one just happened to be a dud or if they're all this bad but I was both surprised and disappointed because, as I say, the colour in the pan looks gorgeous.

It appears that Bare Minerals is phasing out these shadow primers which is a shame but it seems they never really "caught on". I first learned of them here at Temptalia and got the shade Urban Nature as soon as it was available in Canada. The tube seems obscenely small but a little goes a really long way with these and they really do not budge all day, whether used on their own as shadows or used as a base/primer under powder shadows. The colour Urban Nature is just a perfect greeny-browny-smokey neutral. I'll be quite sad when this is totally used up.

I got this years ago in the Enchanted Glamourland palette and I don't quite understand why it's called a bronzer since it is so glittery and so "not bronze", even for someone pale like me. It's more of a highlighter but even that only works if I pick out the lighter of the shades. I rarely use this because I have better highlighters that are easier to use and bronzers that are truly "bronze" for those times when I might actually use a bronzer (not very many).

(I just wrote a review but as I'd rated it at the top right, I couldn't add my review; hopefully, I've removed my rating and can now review this). I am surprised by the F rating for this shadow because I love it and I guess part of the reason I love it is that it is on the sheer side, though I do find it is fairly buildable. The fact that it's on the sheer side makes this wearable for me in work situations (a more full-on purple might look a bit much in my work environment). I was so delighted that this pretty, "girlie" shade was included as a bit of a "counterpoint" to the otherwise neutral and flesh toned shadows in the Chocolate bar palette. I love everything about this shadow, including the "sheerness".