Written Reviews

This is such a difficult colour for me to wear. It's a coppery shade but, unlike similar type shades like Urban Decay Half Baked (which is similar), it just does not look nice and I have to cast around for other shades to pair it with (oddly enough, MAC Smoke&Diamonds seems to make it look more flattering). After stalling for months because every time I looked at this duo, I would put it back on the shelf, I bought the Cordura duo because it was so highly rated everywhere and I figured it would be great. I should have followed my initial instinct, though. I do love the darker side - it's gorgeous - and on someone with a warmer and deeper skin tone than mine, this side of the duo would probably also be amazingly flattering.

Bone is essentially invisible on me - applied, it's the colour of my skin, more or less. In that sense, I can use it to create a blank canvas and hide any lid discolorations and it's lovely as a blending out shade or a subtle, elegant brow bone highlight. But there are many, many shadows that perform all these functions and cost considerably less so I'll save my pennies to put toward more "necessary" Bobbi Brown shadows.

I got this in a free VIB points palette and I've fallen in love with this colour. It's a very deep matte brown with no traces of red. It is, quite simply, fabulous - makes for a daytime wearable smokey eye and works as a soft, shadowy liner as well and, of course, for defining a crease, it is also perfect. I will definitely be purchasing the full size of this. I actually wish I could purchase multiples of the little palette I got as it would be outstanding as stocking stuffers (Christmas is coming) or just to have multiples in various places (purse, gym bag, desk at work, etc.) I'd never have known about or really noticed this shadow had it not been for the lovely little "freebie" palette.

First of all, there maybe should be a category for packaging because this square BOX and stupid brush are...well...stupid, though I have to admit that the brush is good for applying contour powder on those rare occasions when I try to contour. I got a full size box of Coralista from Sephora in some points bonus (I think) - perhaps when the packaging was being changed (mine has a totally separate lid rather than one that is attached). It is a pretty colour but coral and peach blushes just are not my best shades so I am not all that thrilled with how it looks on me, especially if I'm wearing a stronger lip colour, since I tend to go for berry, blue-red, deep pink, etc. and none of these looks great with coral on my cheeks. If I'm just wearing gloss or something like Revlon Berry Smoothie, it looks better, though.

This sharpener is SO worth the money. For starters, it sharpens both tradtional eye or lip liners but it also works for UD 24/7 shadow pencils and other "jumbo" pencils like those from Tarte, Sephora, etc. And to be honest, it does a better job on MAC lip liners than my MAC sharpener does. I hate having to sharpen pencils because I generally do such a crummy job of it but this sharpener makes it much better.

My quibble with all of the 24/7 shadow liners is how difficult they are to blend out. These set instantly so if you do want to blend for a softer look, you are left tugging away at your lids quite roughly. On the positive side, these are great, long-wearing shadows on their own and are great as bases for other shadows that crease or need help to show up or both! I loved these like made when I first got them but since then, and since finding the Tarte and Sephora shadow pencils which have all the good qualities and also remain blendable for a minute or so, I haven't been using my UD pencils nearly as much. Having said that, Underground is a great brown pencil with so many uses. It doesn't lean red at all - it's fairly neutral to cool in tone and so it's a shade I can wear quite well on the lid or in the crease or as a "one step and out the door" type product.

I was in love with the UD 24/7 shadow pencils when they first came out because they were SO long-wearing and were multi purpose products that worked as eye shadows, non-creasing and colour enhancing bases for other shadows and also as long lasting eye liners on me (they last better than some of the 24/7 pencil liners on me). Over time, though, I became less and less thrilled with how hard these are to blend out without yanking and tugging on my lids. Rehab is one of the more easy to blend shades and it is a lovely shade of taupe brown. I do enjoy using this pencil but do wish it stayed blendable for more than 1/50th of a second!

There is nothing not to like about Powersurge and yet this is one I passed up for years and only acquired a short time ago. I love using it over a primer as a base for shadows like Patina or even Sweet Satisfaction. Those shadows just come alive layered over Powersurge. It's also a great liner for the lower lid when I don't want something as dark and intense as black or a dark brown or grey shade. It brings brightness to the eye without being very noticeable as an eye liner. Great value too.

Like Julia, the previous reviewer, I find that Patina really shines (pun only partly intended) when layered over Powersurge Eye Kohl (a pencil I never thought I'd want or need!). Patina is such a terrific shade for so many looks and if, like me, you don't generally go in for anything flamoyant, you will find Patina a great shadow to own.

These three shadows, all with glitter, look so beautiful in the pans and I thought they would be a great, inexpensive alternative to some of MAC's glitter shadows that are beautiful but which I wouldn't often wear - colours like Black Tied and Beauty Marked. The thing is that if you blend these shadows out, they all look pretty much like the same colours. To get the shades to show up, you really have to pack on the product and that makes for a look that is very much for clubbing or evening and not really all that wearable for most occasions.

I rarely wear mascara because I have so much trouble with how almost all of them wear on me. With most, I always get a grey smudge under one eye by the end of a work-day, for example (so I'm not talking about after a long day followed by a night of intense partying!). I got a sample size of this mascara recently in a Sephora points perk and all I can say is that I absolutely LOVE this mascara. I like the fact that it gives a very natural look to my lashes and, therefore, NO CLUMPING at all. It truly gives definition because every single lash is visible and not clumped to its neighbours. And this does not smudge on me. I can't say if it's waterproof since I don't wear mascara while swimming but this has amazing wear and lasting power. THIS is a mascara I actually do wear every day!

I treated myself to Pirate the other day because I'd seen it used and thought it looked beautiful and I needed a true blue based red lipstick that was wearable and not to "extreme" looking. I'd read good reviews for this shade and was so excited to "treat myself", especially since everything else I tried to purchase that day was sold out! I have to say that I'm really disappointed in this lipstick and I'm not sure if it's just this particular shade or the formulation of the whole line (since this is my only Rouge Allure) but while this is a very attractive colour, it simply does not last on my lips. At this price point, I believe wear should be long than an hour or so. MAC lipsticks that cost 1/3 the price of this last better on me. I'm still willing to try a few more of these lipsticks (or perhaps some of Chanel's other formulas) - heck, it's Chanel! But overall, I was expecting better!

I am really loving these Sephora pencils. Tango Nights is a blackened purple with glitter (I don't know if Sephora makes matte pencils in this line but I am such a magpie that I am always drawn to the glittery ones). Like all the others I've purchased, I find this to be smooth to apply, longwearing but still smudgeable right after application and such good quality. My experience so far has been that you can't go wrong with these pencils as they offer great quality and a wonderful rainbow of colour selection at a really good price.

Sephora describes this as "peacock blue" which is a pretty good descriptions for this beautiful blue green liner with a glittery look. I got this instead of the MUFE limited edition liner that came out in Summer 2013 because the price was so much better and the product was every bit as good and the colour irresistible. Not recommended for the waterline because of the glitter), nevertheless, this is SUCH a beautiful deep teal and slightly blackened blue.

I went in to Sephora to look at 2 Nars duos - Nouveau Monde and Marie Gallante. Well, the latter was dreadful (I later read Christine's review and saw that it got a D rating - whew, I am glad I didn't just grab it based on how interesting it looked) but Nouveau Monde was fabulous! I got Habanera a year or 2 back and Nouveau Monde is like a reverse of that duo - it has a light lilac shimmery shadow and a dark, shimmery ivy green shadow (Habanera has a light, icy green and a deep purple). I knew I would love the unusual colour pairing and I absolutely do. Even at this time of year (autumn is just starting) the dark green shade is just perfect. And the lilac is so pretty for an evening look. Not the most "versatile" duo but really lovely and great quality. Interestingly, if you have the TooFaced Romantic Eye palette, you have a dupe for the lilac side of this duo and the TooFaced shadow is much smoother and nicer in texture than the Nars!

The original Balmbini palette (subtitled "Babies of TheBalm Face Palette") is no longer available but I am so glad I grabbed 3 of them (gave one to my sister in law) when they were marked down. This absolute gem contains 2 fabulous eye shadows (including Insane Jane, which isn't available on its own and is the most beautiful silvery taupe), a small Mary LouManizer, 2 blushes - one pink and one more peach-toned - and a lip gloss and lipstick in a beautiful cherry red shade. Packaging is clever, ensuring that the powder products don't fall into the lip products and there is also a decent sized mirror. Great for travel or for tossing into your purse for touch ups during the day or if you are going out for dinner, drinks, etc. straight from work and want to add a bit of "glam".

No question that many MAC pigments are messy. When they're highly pigmented and prone to fallout, they seem even messier, as the fallout can make a real mess when you try to brush it away. But Moonlight Night is such a beautiful colour - a deep blackened green/teal that looks fine applied dry but turns crazy amazing applied wet. Not really a daytime eye colour (though I have used it dry, in small amounts and very lightly, in the daytime) but so, so beautiful for when you just have to please yourself. It is so gorgeous that it's actually one of the pigments that is worth the mess and extra effort.

This is a loose product so it's a bit of a pain to take anywhere (unless they've redone the packaging so that the sifter can now be closed off) but this gives such a pretty and natural blush to my cheeks. Great value too - just as with the loose shadows, you get so much product for the price that you probably never have to repurchase. The only "downfalls" are the messiness if you want to take this anywhere - to work or the gym or for travelling, and also the potential messiness, though I don't find I get any fallout when applying this (I tap and sort of swirl my blush brush in the lid lightly so it's never been a problem).

Probably the shadow I'll continue to use least in this beauty of a palette. It's just not all that exciting and when I do an eye look, it's just not one of the shades I gravitate toward....for a light shade, I prefer using #2 in this palette - it's a colour that suits me better, I think, and appeals to me more.

Unique and beautiful silvery blue-green shadow with sheen. Oh so eye-catching and even used sparingly in a more toned-down look, it really works magic on brown eyes.