Month: October 2012

bareMinerals: A Vision in Velvet

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Before you say anything, I know this is a lot of product. Yep, I know that it’s like A LOT. bareMinerals A Vision in Velvet is a set of twenty mineral eyeshadows. I know it looks like a lot, but that’s because it is. A Vision in Velvet, which is part of bareMinerals’ holiday collection, is a limited edition eyecolor collection with 10 velvet colors and 10 satin colors. I first saw it on Temptalia and I hounded it until I found it at the Nordstrom website, before it was available on bareescentuals.com. They come in twenty individual pots with a sifter, a sticker (to keep them neat) and a twist-on golden cap. Very festive, I think, especially when they are on view in an entire row. This is what the pots look like without the sifter. Ideally, it’s supposed to keep the product within some reasonable area of neatness, but I find that sticking it back on wastes a ton of product, since they adhere to the sticky side. In the end, I threw …

bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 4.0 in The Happy Place

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My first encounter with the bareMinerals Ready series was a bored wait for a train. My sister and I went to Sephora to pass the time, and I just could not leave without getting one of these wonderful palettes. I left with the duo in Scenic Route, and I have been hankering for a few more of these ever since. When I was purchasing my Guerlain Turandot quad, I couldn’t resist putting one of these palettes in my shopping cart—this time, a quad—so I picked one of the Limited Edition shades from their Supernatural collection. The Happy Place has four shades, all of which have their own name! How awesome is that? Great for tutorials and reviews. The case is a sturdy rubberized contraption (the finish is like that of the NARS compacts and palettes) with a double-ended applicator and a full-sized mirror. I love the bareMinerals’ plastic protectors. IT IS SAYING HELLO TO ME. Swatched, L-R: Peace, Exhale, Imagine, Euphoria Peace is a soft pale peach that’s perfect for a neutral base. Exhale is …

Counter Swatch: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

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These babies caught my eye while I was browsing Watsons with my mom last Sunday. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains are like little chubby crayons, much different from their previous lip stain line, which were more like felt-tip markers. I swatched all the available shades there, but didn’t bother to look at the names, but I am quite certain these are the names, L-R by row: (1) Rendezvous, Smitten, (2) Darling, Sweetheart, (3) Charm, Precious, (4) Cherish, Lovesick. I’ll check again, though. These are heavyweight stains. After swatching, I went around stores looking at clothes (of course, careful not to stain them), and they didn’t budge. The gloss wore away pretty quickly, but the colors stayed put. I had to wipe these off to swatch some Shu Uemura items, and there were a few leftover stains, particularly from the two bottom shades. The product’s name—Kissable—has just been brought to light. One thing I like about these are that they are retractable—no sharpening and (in theory) no wasted product! The formulation is oddly creamy for …

Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura: Prestigious Bordeaux Eye and Cheek Palette & Painting Liner

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In the next few days, I’ll be posting about what I will call my Holiday Haul, to justify my recent purchases. This is my first dip into collection anticipation, and it’s deeply unsettling (not really) how much makeup I think I “need to have.” Here is one such item, the Prestigious Bordeaux Eye and Cheek Palette by Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura. The palette consists of two Silk Smooth eyeshadows, three eyeshadows, and a deep pinky burnt red blush. It’s a compact enough size, with two double-ended applicators (sponge-tip and brush) and a mirror on the cover, in the shape of Mon Shu! Which I love, but cannot say as to whether it’s practical for use as a mirror or not. Swatches! The Silk Smooth eye shadows (richer, more pigmented color, and that fricken’ beautiful texture) are the first and third shades. In between are the eyeshadows: a shimmery lilac, a gorgeous gold great for highlighting, and a warm, desaturated peach satin shade. Lastly, there is the sole blush color, which I would actually look …

Sneak Peek: Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura

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A few days ago, I got a text from the Shu Uemura branch in Trinoma, announcing a pre-launch of their collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld. I had been seriously jonesin’ for these little treasures (!) since Sarie shot the press launch a few weeks back. I keep dropping by Shu branches to check, but the collection is slated for local release on the first week of November. On October 28, though, Shu Fanatics were given a chance to sample and purchase the items in the collection. Naturally, I jumped at the chance! The collection features four Rouge Unlimited Lipsticks, swatched here. From L-R: Mon Shu Red, Parisienne Pink, Celebrity Beige, and Luxe Burgundy. The shades are wonderful and the formula was smooth, with decent color payoff. My sister and I actually ended up getting three shades. The collection features a special limited edition eyelash curler with a red pad and a Mon Shu Charm (so cute!), a pretty set of Premium Eyelashes, and two six-shade eyeshadow palettes, Prestigious Bordeaux and Smoky Velvet (pictured below). The SA …

FOTD: Guerlain Turandot

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I wanted to take my eyeshadow palette from Guerlain’s Holiday 2012 collection out for a spin, so I put it on last minute. I was just tailing something like a press conference before Kent Williams’ exhibit at Blanc in Peninsula Manila. Naturally, I didn’t want to look too made up, so the colors of Guerlain’s Turandot Eyeshadow Palette seemed like a perfect fit. FOTD: Guerlain Turandot, Bobbi Brown Long-wear Gel Liner in Sepia Ink, MAC Jubilee Kent Williams is amazing. Here is chinny me, appreciating one of my favorite works on display, which happens to be a painted sketch. I have a love affair with these shoes (Clarks Desert Grace). Matching outfit with Nicky. With fellow fangirl, Val! With Sarie (who took all of these photos) and Kent Williams (!). Anyway, I quite like this palette. I’ll review it soon!

Guerlain by Emilio Pucci: Météorites in Perles d’Azur

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Hi, everyone (by this, I mean the sole reader of this blog)! So, during my late-night, obsessive online trawling, I kept hearing about this legendary product and decided to get one for myself to try it out. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with “finishing” my face, just because my skin somehow accentuates cakey-ness. And well, no one wants that. I hate face powders and contacts. The loose powders I’ve tried are either too powdery or too shimmery. Enter Guerlain’s Météorites! Often regarded as a miracle product, the météorites are designed to correct things like redness, and to illuminate the face and make it radiant. Sounds like mumbo jumbo to me, but I do not listen to my inner voice all that much, so I resolved to get one from this holiday’s Liu Collection. However, upon hearing that it’s more shimmery than the usual météorites (eek!) and not all that warm, I decided to go for one of the permanent shades, Teint Dore. The Guerlain counter I went to didn’t have it, and so, …