All posts filed under: Reviews

Guerlain Turandot Eyeshadow Palette

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Turandot is a 4-shadow palette (Écrin 4 Coueleurs Eyeshadow) from Guerlain’s 2012 Holiday Collection, Liu. Named after the Asian heroine Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, as well as the classic Guerlain scent, Liu explores and visualizes the themes of passion and femininity, tied off with a heavy dose of Orientalism. Because I might as well be a grubby little mole hermit, I went on to Nordstrom and ordered a palette for myself. It’s easily the most I’ve spent on a quad, alas, it was too pretty to pass up. Also, I didn’t know if this would hit Manila shores. The SA I talked to when I went to get my météorites said that it would be a while before it was available here. Thankfully, the shades are easily worn, and I do intend to wear the frak out of this palette. (When I checked Nordstrom for a specific link, I couldn’t find it anymore, so I guess I made the right call. No? Oh, okay.) Turandot features a light yellow-orangey gold (good for a base, highlighting and …

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 …

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 …

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, …

NARS Duo in Habanera

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NARS Habanera is technically my first duo eyeshadow purchase, and I say technically because I bought two of these babies in one go, the other color being Paramaribo. I’d swatched this about six or so months ago, but I was hesitant to get something so glittery, so I settled on getting a trio instead (Ramatuelle). As is the case with “things I don’t buy but really, really want,” I have often thought about this duo, going as far as revisiting the same NARS branch and swatching it over and over again. The lighting in the store accentuates the glitter, and I keep saying “No, it’s way too glittery,” but alas. My resolve to “get something else” broke, so now we are here. The question is, of course, Is it worth it? Habanera is a duo that pairs two obvious-but-also-not colors together. The left side of the pan is a frosty mint green that seems to have some hints of silver and, at turns, ice-blue. It’s a smooth, creamy color that applies so well and is …

Benefit’s Lemon Aid

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Benefit’s Lemon Aid is a “color correcting eyelid primer” meant to correct discoloration and hide unsightly veins or bumps on eyelids. It can be worn under makeup or alone. I’d been looking for an eyelid primer I could use as an alternative for Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer, which I had been using. It tends to dry and set pretty permanently if I don’t spread it around quickly. Plus, the bottle is an annoying curvy shape—like Genie’s bottle, or Genie himself, for that matter—with a lot of places the doe-tip applicator can’t really get to. I feel that wastes a lot of product. I have read up on Lemon Aid, and it seems that a lot of people are not fans of this product. However, these reviews by Musings of a Muse and The Makeup Snob have convinced me to pick it up and try it for myself. Lemon Aid comes in a cute, slim and compact case that includes a mirror as big as its snap on lid. L: Lemon Aid, unblended, R: …