Sat Oct 27 20:04:18 PDT 2018
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I like doing these
So Choix review posts, even though they're time consuming, because I get to write mini reviews of a bunch of fancy products that I would probably never buy. I hope they're interesting to you too. (If you want to read more about how this subscription works,
read my first post about it.) I won't write a detailed review with photos of everything here, because there are few things that I just don't have many feelings about.
One thing that changed about the
So Choix boxes this fall is that they started sending them in bubble mailers, instead of packing a small box inside a larger box. I don't know if that's less wasteful, but I like it better, because the bubble mailer fits in my mailbox and I don't have to trek down to my apartment office to pick it up (and the small box inside still protects things).
I think the theme of the last three months (or at least the last two) is Weird Shit I Wanted to Try Because What Even is It? That, combined with Is This Product Really Like This or Did This Happen When They Depotted It?
September
Nars Dual Intensity eyeshadow in Tarvos
This is a stunning, shimmery mint. I wonder if there is a NYX single similar to this (
Mermaid?). On its own,
Tarvos is sheer and glittery and lovely. It's also gorgeous over a darker shadow. The swatches below are over regular eyeshadow primer on the left (because it desperately needs a primer to adhere) and on the right over
NYX's glitter primer (awesome stuff, btw), which makes it look amazing. It's a little chunky/flaky, and here's the first place where I wonder if the actual product is like that or if it's something that happened when it was repressed. I haven't read anything like that in reviews, so I'm guessing it's the latter. It doesn't really cause problems, anyway.
Nars Audacious lipstick in Liv
When I first tried this on, I thought, "That's weird, I didn't think any of the Audacious lipsticks were sheer." It turns out that the lipstick was slightly separated in the pan with a sheer layer on top. Once I got through that, there was a more accurate (I assume) layer underneath. But see, weird things can happen when lipstick is melted down and repotted, so keep that in mind, though it's the first time I've seen it in this subscription.
Liv is a nice vampy purple but nothing really special. You have the typical settling into lip lines that dark purples tend to do.
Est�e Lauder matte lipstick in Shameless Violet
This lipstick, on the other hand, is
amazing. It's a little patchy on the first layer, but you can quickly build it up to be opaque. It's comfortable and a true purple shade that actually looks good on me. You can see it on my face in
this Instagram shot (sort of). It's very comfortable and wears well.
Comparison swatch (
taken from this post).
Left to right
: Revlon
Berry Haute
,
Urban Decay Revolution Rapture
, and
Est�e Lauder Matte
Shameless Violet.
Nars Sheer Glow foundation in Gobi
This is a decent foundation, though I would argue that it's neither really glowy nor sheer. More like semi-matte and medium coverage. It's a little too yellow to me, which is good news for pale folks on the warmer side. The main problem I had with it was that it highlighted flaky skin really badly, and that it settled into lines and creases. So it's not the one for me. Here is a swatch (second from the right) with comparisons (
from this post).
Left to right:
UD One & Done in
Light,
UD One & Done in
Medium Light
, TheBalm Balm Shelter in
Lighter than Light
(
reviewed here
), Maybelline Dream Pure BB in
Light
(
reviewed here
),
Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in
Gobi,
and Sephora Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer in
Buttercream
(
reviewed here
).
Um it's a primer? I think I'd tried a sample of it before, but I didn't remember how well it worked. I guess that's probably because for me it's neither better nor worse than most other primers I've tried.
October (box pictured above)
Laura Mercier powder foundation in 1-Shell
I've been looking for a powder foundation to replace my mini
P�r 4-in-1 powder when it runs out, because, although I like the finish, it doesn't last very long on my oily-combination skin. I'd heard that the Laura Mercier was a good option. I wasn't very impressed. It's pretty crumbly and doesn't provide much coverage at all (and this shade also happens to be too yellow for me--I probably should have chosen
4).
Dior Addict Lip Glow
This is one of the products that I chose with extreme skepticism, because I hate these "your perfect shade" color-adjusting lip products, in principle. (
Here's how they actually work.) It did nothing at all on my lips. Looked completely clear. There was a light pink tint on the end of the finger that I used to apply it, but that's it. I actually took a photo, but since it shows nothing, I won't bother including it. Again, I don't know if melting it down and repotting it affected it, or if it just "intuited" that my perfect lip color is nothing at all. Also, it was drying, but my lips are pretty picky.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light
I'm working on completing the set, since I've tried three others.
Ethereal Light does have something of a blurring/light reflecting effect, but it's also very white. It makes me look paler, so I can imagine that it could show up as chalky on certain skin tones. I was wearing it in the photo above of Nars
Liv, if that shows you anything.
Tom Ford Cream Color for Eyes in Burnished Copper
Neither burnished nor copper! Maybe they were thinking of
tarnished/patinated bronze? These eye shadows are interesting, because they're very slick and they don't dry down. They're tricky to apply. They go on a bit patchy with a finger, but if you stick a small brush in the pot, it slides out without any product on it! You have to sort of scoop it. Despite the slickness, it didn't crease
excessively over primer, and the color is stunning.
Here's a thick swatch, though it sheers out somewhat when blended. Gorgeous color.
Left to right:
Tom Ford Burnished Copper and L'Oreal Infallible
Gilded Envy (
reviewed here).
Note the packaging for this on in the photo at the top of the page. A big improvement from how the Nars cream eyeshadow was sent during the summer (
discussed here), which dried up immediately! This little pot is actually air tight. Well done, So Choix. I appreciate that they regularly reevaluate how they package their samples.
I also want to take this opportunity to show you another of the
Tom Ford Cream Colors for Eyes in
Sphinx, a sample of which Sarah very generously sent me. Thank you! I posted a shitty
video of the shiftiness on Instagram, in which you can't really see all the pink and green. It's also a tricky product, because it's a sheer but very complex multichrome. I am determined to make it work. The best luck I have had so far is in patting it on over a grey powder eyeshadow like so:
That's the same product over the entire lid. And this is about the level of creasing you can expect from these creams.
Benefit Shy Beam highlighter
Yet another sample I ordered because I didn't understand what it was. I still don't get it. It looks like a sheer, matte, pink concealer, or something. It's supposed to be a matte highlighter, but it just added a little pink to my skin. It works ok as a color corrector for under the eyes if you're fair, but highlighter? Maybe if you have cool-toned skin just a couple of shades darker than this, it would work, but otherwise, I assume not. And why not just buy a concealer or foundation a couple of shades too light for the intended effect? Bah. Humbug.
Top to bottom: Benefit Shy Beam, Benefit High Beam (
reviewed here), Sephora Gel Serum Concealer in
Buttercream (
reviewed here).
November
Kevyn Aucoin The Exotique Eye Gloss in Moonlight
Another WTF sample. There weren't many reviews out there when I requested this and, still, the ones that exist are pretty vague. I was curious if this brand had somehow come up with a miraculous gloss that can be worn in some realistic way on the eyelids of normal people. But no, editorial only. There's no real difference between smearing this on your eyelids and use a clear, glittery lip gloss. They say you can/should apply it over eyeshadow, but that just makes a mess of the eyeshadow. The sparkle is sparse, so even if you want drama, there's not much to recommend it.
Notice that they took one of those airtight tubs like the Tom Ford came in, cut off the lid, and stuck in inside a screw-cap jar. But why???
Laura Mercier matte eyeshadow in Plum Smoke
Love, love, love, love, love! Remember when
I was looking for a powder alternative to the abysmal Maybelline Color Tattoo in Vintage Plum? I'd ruled
Plum Smoke out because it looked too warm in swatches and
tried Makeup Geek in Fairytale instead, which was a bit of a fail. Well, THIS IS IT. I love it. It's works as an interesting neutral on me. Now I'm considering getting the
Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist's Palette, which includes
Plum Smoke and a bunch of other gorgeous shades. The
palette is $55 and the
Plum Smoke single is $25, so it seems like maybe a better choice. Maybe.
It looks pretty brown next to
Fairytale (right), especially in this photo, but it really is purple.
Benefit Fake-up concealer in 01
This concealer claims to be non-creasing, which I think is always, always a lie. At least for me. But this one is actually worse than most. It comes as a stick with a translucent outer ring and a pigmented core, but the sample I got is the two components mixed together. I think probably the two-colored stick is just a gimmick, but it's possible that mixing them in the pan affected the performance in some way. As it was, this was very slick, almost greasy, with sheer coverage. Probably best for someone with dry skin and not too much to hide.
Nars Blush in Dolce Vita
A pretty rosy-plum blush that somehow isn't very flattering on me. It's also
extremely pigmented, and since I'm pale I find hard to apply it lightly enough that it will blend smoothly. It tends to end up a little blotchy, and that combined with the wrongness of the color kind of makes me look feverish. But on the plus side it does not fade at all during the day. Well, the plus side for someone else--if you want a very pigmented, long-lasting blush, this would be a good one to try.
Smashbox matte liquid lipstick in Stepping Out
I have no idea how I came to choose this shade, since browny-nudes never look good on me, and this is no exception. I swatched it next to Maybelline
Touch of Spice (right) just to make the color obvious.
I'd heard that Smashbox's formula for liquid lipsticks was better than most others, but it seems about the same to me. It's on the thicker side, more like Stila than Colourpop, but it's no more comfortable, less drying, or more attractive than any other brand I've tried. I'm just not really a liquid lipstick person (with the exception of
Stila
Fiery, which you can see
here and
here).
So those are my fall
So Choix samples. Out of everything, while several things have been fun to play with, there's only one product I would want to buy:
Laura Mercier Plum Smoke. I guess
Nars
Tarvos is tempting. Ok, and
Est�e Lauder
Shameless Violet. But really, this is what I like best about the subscription--it eliminates products that I might be tempted to buy based on hype alone or that I might pick up on a whim. And it provides variety in my life at minimal expense. That said, I'm kind of running out of things I really want to try. Maybe I should just get five more pans if Hourglass
Dim Light.
Right now you can get an
annual subscription for $120 ($10 a month, obviously), which is what I paid. Use the code
SAVINGS at checkout. (Ordinarily it's $16/month.) You can cancel at any time during the year and get a pro-rated refund of what's remaining.
Do you have any of the products I tested here? What do you think?
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Welcome to the latest installment of my Do I Need This? series. In these posts, I offer my experience and opinions about whether or not I think a product or technique is worth it. Obviously, you don't really need ANY beauty products, so the answer to the question is always going to be no, to some extent. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to offer a starting point, at least.
I wrote a while ago about how it seems like we're supposed to "prime" our whole bodies these days, and it's getting a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless, eyeshadow primer kind of changed my life. Or at least how I wear eyeshadow. Mascara primer is another one that's been around for ages, at least in more expensive brands, but it's popping up more at the drugstore now as our need to prime proliferates. Over the years I've got countless mini tubes of mascara primer from brands like Dior and Lanc�me as various gifts-with-purchase, and I've used them, but I was never really sure that they did much. So I figured I'd do a quasi-scientific test of a few lash primers to see if they actually make difference.
Do you need mascara primer?
Short answer: No, just use an extra coat of mascara.
Benefit has a bunch of stuff on sale. If you use the code SALEMEAWAY you'll also get free US shipping, no minimum purchase required. Sale ends Aug. 19. Anything look good?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
So this is the latest installation of a quasi-series in which I pull out all the products I have in from single category and try to decide what I should keep and what I should get rid of. Spoiler: I decided that I'm going to keep all of my eyebrow shit, because it's practical and really won't ever expire, so I'll use it up eventually. I did come to the radical conclusion that I should stop buying more, though. Duh.
My hair color over the last few years has run the gamut from blonde-blonde to strawberry-blonde to dark-blonde to red to really-fucking-red. Some of the products below have served me well no matter my hair color, such as the e.l.f. kit and the Avon pencil. Others, like the NYX kit and the CoverGirl pencil really only well with certain hair colors - but then they work very well.
You can tell from the photo above that almost every brow product I have has been well used, so I know them intimately. Look at those stubby pencils! The one exception is Benefit's Gimme Brow, which I got as a graduation present in May. It actually came from the Benefit vending machine in the Minneapolis airport.
That's a thing that exists.
In the past, when I thought about my minimum makeup - like what I'd wear if I was running out the door and only had time for a couple of things - it was always just mascara and blush. Maybe under-eye concealer. Lately, though, I feel like I can really take or leave those things so long as I've filled in my eyebrows a little. They're fairly invisible on their own, and
as I've pointed out before, they really do make a difference.
I used to use the sort of technique where you define the bottom edge of the brow completely and then fill the rest in, but recently I've much preferred
Lisa Eldridge's method of focusing on the peak of the arch and working lightly out from there. (If you have never watched a Lisa Eldridge video, do it some day when you're in a bad mood or stressed - trust me, she's so soothing.) This method really does create a more natural-looking effect. I do fill in the part closest to my nose more than she does, however, because that's where the hair on my brows is the lightest and thinnest. If I don't add a little extra there, my eyebrows look too far apart - I think they still do sometimes, honestly, but I'm not (yet) totally comfortable filling in where there's no real hair at all. Anyway, as you can see in the photos below, this isn't
the super-defined and polished look that you tend to see in closeups of dramatic eye makeup. It doesn't look flawless. Super-defined is pretty, but it's just not what I'm going for. My brows might look a little less than perfect in a super closeup, but no one is looking as closely as my camera is getting in these photos - and the lack of perfection is what makes them look natural, I think.
Here's what they usually look like at a normal distance (scroll down).
I hope you have a couple of weeks to read the rest of this post, because as usual I am long-fucking-winded.
Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links.
e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in
Lilac Petal is
frequently mentioned as a cheap dupe for the much beloved but very expensive High Beam highlighter from Benefit. I'll be the first to admit that I am pretty liberal with applying the term "dupe". I'm no stickler. If it's basically the same and performs the same function, I'm fine with it. Nevertheless, after comparing these products (and two other pinkish highlighters I own), I have some mild reservations about calling them dupes. They can be used for the same purposes, successfully, but there are some significant differences. Rather than a dupe, I'd say that the e.l.f. highlighter is a good product, and a reasonable alternative to the Benefit version. A near dupe, maybe. Since I'm convinced that there are cheap options that are comparable to almost all higher-end beauty products, and since
I'm on a weird quest to determine which e.l.f. products are decent and which ones are shit, this kind of comparison is my idea of fun. Wheeeeee.
I threw two other similar highlighters into the mix, just for the sake of completion, and in case anyone else has them and would like to see how they fare. None of these are dupes. You can see just from the photo above that the e.l.f. highlighter is quite a bit pinker than the Benefit or Stila, and it is pinker than the Pixi option too, though the bottle for that one is opaque. On to the swatches!
Let me break them down one by one - I'll end with e.l.f.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara is some cheap shit, and in my opinion, it's an excellent alternative to some of the expensive "extreme" mascara options. I'll let the photos do most of the talking, but here are a few thoughts. When I first tried this stuff, I thought it did a better job of lengthening than volumizing. As is the case with many mascaras, after several days it thickened up, and then it did its volumizing thing better. This mascara makes impressive eyelashes, period. Its performance is somewhere in between
Urban Decay Big Fatty and
Benefit They're Real. It's more lengthening than the UD and more volumizing than the Benefit.
I always think close up photos of mascara are kind of useless when I see them on blogs. Almost everything looks clumpy and spidery and terrible in a macro shot. But I hope these will at least give you an idea of how the three mascaras compare. First, let's start with the Jordana mascara.
Makes a big difference on my short little invisible lashes, right?
You're paying extra for the sexy package, I mean.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Here is the latest installment of "Do I Need This?", a series about new and trendy beauty products (or just those that might be unfamiliar and baffling to both of us). I'll offer my experience and opinion about whether or not I think the product under consideration is worth shelling out for. Obviously, you don't need ANY beauty products, so the answer is always going to be no, a little bit. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all if you use it? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to give you a starting point at least.
Short answer: No, but if you want to play around with it, you probably already have something you can use.
See my cheap favorites here.
Okay, I confess, not every makeup/skin care product I use is super cheap. Sometimes I manage to get something fancy for a good price. Other times I haven't found a cheap option that I like as much as the pricier one. I feel like it occasionally makes financial sense to pay the extra $5-10 when you know something is just right, rather than to experiment with a bunch of cheaper options and end up spending more in the process. Your threshold and mine for what is a reasonable price to pay to avoid gambling on something new will differ. For example, I know there are other gel moisturizers that might substitute for the Paula's Choice one I've listed below. For $17 (on sale), I'll just buy the Paula's Choice version, because I love it. If it cost $20+, I would probably look around for a substitute.
I'm linking to all of these products and giving you their regular price, but honestly, I don't think I have ever bought one of them for full price. If I have tips for finding these for cheaper, I've included them below.
This stain has an awesome gel formula, so it doesn't
bleed all over the fucking place like Benefit Benetint. That means I can actually use it to outline my lips and then fill them in. It can be used for cheeks too, but I tend not to use it that way. On my lips it leaves a nice, deep pink stain. Sometimes I wear it under another lip color so that when that inevitably wears off, I'll be left with this. It also feels somehow really soft and luxurious to apply. I know that sounds weird, but I like it.
I got this for free using my Birchbox points, so if you have any of those saved up, this would be a good choice. At the time I'm writing this, it's
$14 on Amazon, which is a little better, at least.
This stuff is good. If you have a problem with lipstick bleeding, it's worth a shot. It's a waxy pencil that you use to line around the outside of your lips.
I put it to the ultimate test: Benefit Benetint. I can't actually wear that shit on my lips because it bleeds so bad it makes me look like some kind of zombie with cracks or veins radiating all around my mouth.
Without Lip Lock:
With Lip Lock:
So maybe you can see that there's a tiny bit of bleeding, but it's minor. I wouldn't be like, "Fuck this," and take it all off and give up like I usually do if I try to put Benetint on my lips. It's presentable in public.
Basically if it can keep this bloody stuff almost under control, you're going to have no problem with regular lipstick or lipgloss bleeding.
And it's $3. You can probably get it at Target if you don't want to pay shipping for spend $25 or wait for a sale on the e.l.f. website - though they frequently have good ones.
 |
| October's (upside down) box (contents reviewed below) |
So Choix review posts, even though they're time consuming, because I get to write mini reviews of a bunch of fancy products that I would probably never buy. I hope they're interesting to you too. (If you want to read more about how this subscription works,
read my first post about it.) I won't write a detailed review with photos of everything here, because there are few things that I just don't have many feelings about.
One thing that changed about the
So Choix boxes this fall is that they started sending them in bubble mailers, instead of packing a small box inside a larger box. I don't know if that's less wasteful, but I like it better, because the bubble mailer fits in my mailbox and I don't have to trek down to my apartment office to pick it up (and the small box inside still protects things).
I think the theme of the last three months (or at least the last two) is Weird Shit I Wanted to Try Because What Even is It? That, combined with Is This Product Really Like This or Did This Happen When They Depotted It?
September
Nars Dual Intensity eyeshadow in Tarvos
This is a stunning, shimmery mint. I wonder if there is a NYX single similar to this (
Mermaid?). On its own,
Tarvos is sheer and glittery and lovely. It's also gorgeous over a darker shadow. The swatches below are over regular eyeshadow primer on the left (because it desperately needs a primer to adhere) and on the right over
NYX's glitter primer (awesome stuff, btw), which makes it look amazing. It's a little chunky/flaky, and here's the first place where I wonder if the actual product is like that or if it's something that happened when it was repressed. I haven't read anything like that in reviews, so I'm guessing it's the latter. It doesn't really cause problems, anyway.
Nars Audacious lipstick in Liv
When I first tried this on, I thought, "That's weird, I didn't think any of the Audacious lipsticks were sheer." It turns out that the lipstick was slightly separated in the pan with a sheer layer on top. Once I got through that, there was a more accurate (I assume) layer underneath. But see, weird things can happen when lipstick is melted down and repotted, so keep that in mind, though it's the first time I've seen it in this subscription.
Liv is a nice vampy purple but nothing really special. You have the typical settling into lip lines that dark purples tend to do.
 |
| A messy application in need of some lip liner. |
Est�e Lauder matte lipstick in Shameless Violet
This lipstick, on the other hand, is
amazing. It's a little patchy on the first layer, but you can quickly build it up to be opaque. It's comfortable and a true purple shade that actually looks good on me. You can see it on my face in
this Instagram shot (sort of). It's very comfortable and wears well.
 |
| Good enough close up, but from a normal distance it looks totally even. |
taken from this post).
Left to right
: Revlon
Berry Haute
,
Urban Decay Revolution Rapture
, and
Est�e Lauder Matte
Shameless Violet.
Nars Sheer Glow foundation in Gobi
This is a decent foundation, though I would argue that it's neither really glowy nor sheer. More like semi-matte and medium coverage. It's a little too yellow to me, which is good news for pale folks on the warmer side. The main problem I had with it was that it highlighted flaky skin really badly, and that it settled into lines and creases. So it's not the one for me. Here is a swatch (second from the right) with comparisons (
from this post).
Left to right:
UD One & Done in
Light,
UD One & Done in
Medium Light
, TheBalm Balm Shelter in
Lighter than Light
(
reviewed here
), Maybelline Dream Pure BB in
Light
(
reviewed here
),
Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in
Gobi,
and Sephora Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer in
Buttercream
(
reviewed here
).
October (box pictured above)
Laura Mercier powder foundation in 1-Shell
I've been looking for a powder foundation to replace my mini
P�r 4-in-1 powder when it runs out, because, although I like the finish, it doesn't last very long on my oily-combination skin. I'd heard that the Laura Mercier was a good option. I wasn't very impressed. It's pretty crumbly and doesn't provide much coverage at all (and this shade also happens to be too yellow for me--I probably should have chosen
4).
Dior Addict Lip Glow
This is one of the products that I chose with extreme skepticism, because I hate these "your perfect shade" color-adjusting lip products, in principle. (
Here's how they actually work.) It did nothing at all on my lips. Looked completely clear. There was a light pink tint on the end of the finger that I used to apply it, but that's it. I actually took a photo, but since it shows nothing, I won't bother including it. Again, I don't know if melting it down and repotting it affected it, or if it just "intuited" that my perfect lip color is nothing at all. Also, it was drying, but my lips are pretty picky.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light
Ethereal Light does have something of a blurring/light reflecting effect, but it's also very white. It makes me look paler, so I can imagine that it could show up as chalky on certain skin tones. I was wearing it in the photo above of Nars
Liv, if that shows you anything.
Tom Ford Cream Color for Eyes in Burnished Copper
Neither burnished nor copper! Maybe they were thinking of
tarnished/patinated bronze? These eye shadows are interesting, because they're very slick and they don't dry down. They're tricky to apply. They go on a bit patchy with a finger, but if you stick a small brush in the pot, it slides out without any product on it! You have to sort of scoop it. Despite the slickness, it didn't crease
excessively over primer, and the color is stunning.
Here's a thick swatch, though it sheers out somewhat when blended. Gorgeous color.
Left to right:
Tom Ford Burnished Copper and L'Oreal Infallible
Gilded Envy (
reviewed here).
Note the packaging for this on in the photo at the top of the page. A big improvement from how the Nars cream eyeshadow was sent during the summer (
discussed here), which dried up immediately! This little pot is actually air tight. Well done, So Choix. I appreciate that they regularly reevaluate how they package their samples.
I also want to take this opportunity to show you another of the
Tom Ford Cream Colors for Eyes in
Sphinx, a sample of which Sarah very generously sent me. Thank you! I posted a shitty
video of the shiftiness on Instagram, in which you can't really see all the pink and green. It's also a tricky product, because it's a sheer but very complex multichrome. I am determined to make it work. The best luck I have had so far is in patting it on over a grey powder eyeshadow like so:
 | |
 |
Benefit Shy Beam highlighter
Yet another sample I ordered because I didn't understand what it was. I still don't get it. It looks like a sheer, matte, pink concealer, or something. It's supposed to be a matte highlighter, but it just added a little pink to my skin. It works ok as a color corrector for under the eyes if you're fair, but highlighter? Maybe if you have cool-toned skin just a couple of shades darker than this, it would work, but otherwise, I assume not. And why not just buy a concealer or foundation a couple of shades too light for the intended effect? Bah. Humbug.
Top to bottom: Benefit Shy Beam, Benefit High Beam (
reviewed here), Sephora Gel Serum Concealer in
Buttercream (
reviewed here).
November
Kevyn Aucoin The Exotique Eye Gloss in Moonlight
Another WTF sample. There weren't many reviews out there when I requested this and, still, the ones that exist are pretty vague. I was curious if this brand had somehow come up with a miraculous gloss that can be worn in some realistic way on the eyelids of normal people. But no, editorial only. There's no real difference between smearing this on your eyelids and use a clear, glittery lip gloss. They say you can/should apply it over eyeshadow, but that just makes a mess of the eyeshadow. The sparkle is sparse, so even if you want drama, there's not much to recommend it.
Notice that they took one of those airtight tubs like the Tom Ford came in, cut off the lid, and stuck in inside a screw-cap jar. But why???
Laura Mercier matte eyeshadow in Plum Smoke
Love, love, love, love, love! Remember when
I was looking for a powder alternative to the abysmal Maybelline Color Tattoo in Vintage Plum? I'd ruled
Plum Smoke out because it looked too warm in swatches and
tried Makeup Geek in Fairytale instead, which was a bit of a fail. Well, THIS IS IT. I love it. It's works as an interesting neutral on me. Now I'm considering getting the
Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist's Palette, which includes
Plum Smoke and a bunch of other gorgeous shades. The
palette is $55 and the
Plum Smoke single is $25, so it seems like maybe a better choice. Maybe.
It looks pretty brown next to
Fairytale (right), especially in this photo, but it really is purple.
Benefit Fake-up concealer in 01
This concealer claims to be non-creasing, which I think is always, always a lie. At least for me. But this one is actually worse than most. It comes as a stick with a translucent outer ring and a pigmented core, but the sample I got is the two components mixed together. I think probably the two-colored stick is just a gimmick, but it's possible that mixing them in the pan affected the performance in some way. As it was, this was very slick, almost greasy, with sheer coverage. Probably best for someone with dry skin and not too much to hide.
Nars Blush in Dolce Vita
A pretty rosy-plum blush that somehow isn't very flattering on me. It's also
extremely pigmented, and since I'm pale I find hard to apply it lightly enough that it will blend smoothly. It tends to end up a little blotchy, and that combined with the wrongness of the color kind of makes me look feverish. But on the plus side it does not fade at all during the day. Well, the plus side for someone else--if you want a very pigmented, long-lasting blush, this would be a good one to try.
Smashbox matte liquid lipstick in Stepping Out
I have no idea how I came to choose this shade, since browny-nudes never look good on me, and this is no exception. I swatched it next to Maybelline
Touch of Spice (right) just to make the color obvious.
I'd heard that Smashbox's formula for liquid lipsticks was better than most others, but it seems about the same to me. It's on the thicker side, more like Stila than Colourpop, but it's no more comfortable, less drying, or more attractive than any other brand I've tried. I'm just not really a liquid lipstick person (with the exception of
Stila
Fiery, which you can see
here and
here).
So those are my fall
So Choix samples. Out of everything, while several things have been fun to play with, there's only one product I would want to buy:
Laura Mercier Plum Smoke. I guess
Nars
Tarvos is tempting. Ok, and
Est�e Lauder
Shameless Violet. But really, this is what I like best about the subscription--it eliminates products that I might be tempted to buy based on hype alone or that I might pick up on a whim. And it provides variety in my life at minimal expense. That said, I'm kind of running out of things I really want to try. Maybe I should just get five more pans if Hourglass
Dim Light.
Right now you can get an
annual subscription for $120 ($10 a month, obviously), which is what I paid. Use the code
SAVINGS at checkout. (Ordinarily it's $16/month.) You can cancel at any time during the year and get a pro-rated refund of what's remaining.
Do you have any of the products I tested here? What do you think?
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Welcome to the latest installment of my Do I Need This? series. In these posts, I offer my experience and opinions about whether or not I think a product or technique is worth it. Obviously, you don't really need ANY beauty products, so the answer to the question is always going to be no, to some extent. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to offer a starting point, at least.
I wrote a while ago about how it seems like we're supposed to "prime" our whole bodies these days, and it's getting a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless, eyeshadow primer kind of changed my life. Or at least how I wear eyeshadow. Mascara primer is another one that's been around for ages, at least in more expensive brands, but it's popping up more at the drugstore now as our need to prime proliferates. Over the years I've got countless mini tubes of mascara primer from brands like Dior and Lanc�me as various gifts-with-purchase, and I've used them, but I was never really sure that they did much. So I figured I'd do a quasi-scientific test of a few lash primers to see if they actually make difference.
Do you need mascara primer?
Short answer: No, just use an extra coat of mascara.
Benefit has a bunch of stuff on sale. If you use the code SALEMEAWAY you'll also get free US shipping, no minimum purchase required. Sale ends Aug. 19. Anything look good?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
So this is the latest installation of a quasi-series in which I pull out all the products I have in from single category and try to decide what I should keep and what I should get rid of. Spoiler: I decided that I'm going to keep all of my eyebrow shit, because it's practical and really won't ever expire, so I'll use it up eventually. I did come to the radical conclusion that I should stop buying more, though. Duh.
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| All my eyebrow products (top to bottom): NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Auburn/Red; e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit in Light; Milani Brow Tint Pen in Natural Taupe; CoverGirl Brow and Eye Makers in Soft Blond; Avon Ultra Luxury Eyebrow Pencil in Blonde; and Benefit Gimme Brow in Light/Medium. |
You can tell from the photo above that almost every brow product I have has been well used, so I know them intimately. Look at those stubby pencils! The one exception is Benefit's Gimme Brow, which I got as a graduation present in May. It actually came from the Benefit vending machine in the Minneapolis airport.
That's a thing that exists.
In the past, when I thought about my minimum makeup - like what I'd wear if I was running out the door and only had time for a couple of things - it was always just mascara and blush. Maybe under-eye concealer. Lately, though, I feel like I can really take or leave those things so long as I've filled in my eyebrows a little. They're fairly invisible on their own, and
as I've pointed out before, they really do make a difference.
I used to use the sort of technique where you define the bottom edge of the brow completely and then fill the rest in, but recently I've much preferred
Lisa Eldridge's method of focusing on the peak of the arch and working lightly out from there. (If you have never watched a Lisa Eldridge video, do it some day when you're in a bad mood or stressed - trust me, she's so soothing.) This method really does create a more natural-looking effect. I do fill in the part closest to my nose more than she does, however, because that's where the hair on my brows is the lightest and thinnest. If I don't add a little extra there, my eyebrows look too far apart - I think they still do sometimes, honestly, but I'm not (yet) totally comfortable filling in where there's no real hair at all. Anyway, as you can see in the photos below, this isn't
the super-defined and polished look that you tend to see in closeups of dramatic eye makeup. It doesn't look flawless. Super-defined is pretty, but it's just not what I'm going for. My brows might look a little less than perfect in a super closeup, but no one is looking as closely as my camera is getting in these photos - and the lack of perfection is what makes them look natural, I think.
Here's what they usually look like at a normal distance (scroll down).
I hope you have a couple of weeks to read the rest of this post, because as usual I am long-fucking-winded.
Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links.
e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in
Lilac Petal is
frequently mentioned as a cheap dupe for the much beloved but very expensive High Beam highlighter from Benefit. I'll be the first to admit that I am pretty liberal with applying the term "dupe". I'm no stickler. If it's basically the same and performs the same function, I'm fine with it. Nevertheless, after comparing these products (and two other pinkish highlighters I own), I have some mild reservations about calling them dupes. They can be used for the same purposes, successfully, but there are some significant differences. Rather than a dupe, I'd say that the e.l.f. highlighter is a good product, and a reasonable alternative to the Benefit version. A near dupe, maybe. Since I'm convinced that there are cheap options that are comparable to almost all higher-end beauty products, and since
I'm on a weird quest to determine which e.l.f. products are decent and which ones are shit, this kind of comparison is my idea of fun. Wheeeeee.
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| Left to right: e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal, Benefit High Beam, Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Pink Shimmer, Pixi Brightening Primer in Pearl Essence |
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| Top left to bottom right: Swatches of e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal, Benefit High Beam, Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Pink Shimmer, Pixi Brightening Primer in Pearl Essence |
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara is some cheap shit, and in my opinion, it's an excellent alternative to some of the expensive "extreme" mascara options. I'll let the photos do most of the talking, but here are a few thoughts. When I first tried this stuff, I thought it did a better job of lengthening than volumizing. As is the case with many mascaras, after several days it thickened up, and then it did its volumizing thing better. This mascara makes impressive eyelashes, period. Its performance is somewhere in between
Urban Decay Big Fatty and
Benefit They're Real. It's more lengthening than the UD and more volumizing than the Benefit.
I always think close up photos of mascara are kind of useless when I see them on blogs. Almost everything looks clumpy and spidery and terrible in a macro shot. But I hope these will at least give you an idea of how the three mascaras compare. First, let's start with the Jordana mascara.
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| Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara on the left; no mascara on the right. |
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| Two coats of Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara on both eyes. |
You're paying extra for the sexy package, I mean.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Here is the latest installment of "Do I Need This?", a series about new and trendy beauty products (or just those that might be unfamiliar and baffling to both of us). I'll offer my experience and opinion about whether or not I think the product under consideration is worth shelling out for. Obviously, you don't need ANY beauty products, so the answer is always going to be no, a little bit. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all if you use it? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to give you a starting point at least.
Short answer: No, but if you want to play around with it, you probably already have something you can use.
See my cheap favorites here.
Okay, I confess, not every makeup/skin care product I use is super cheap. Sometimes I manage to get something fancy for a good price. Other times I haven't found a cheap option that I like as much as the pricier one. I feel like it occasionally makes financial sense to pay the extra $5-10 when you know something is just right, rather than to experiment with a bunch of cheaper options and end up spending more in the process. Your threshold and mine for what is a reasonable price to pay to avoid gambling on something new will differ. For example, I know there are other gel moisturizers that might substitute for the Paula's Choice one I've listed below. For $17 (on sale), I'll just buy the Paula's Choice version, because I love it. If it cost $20+, I would probably look around for a substitute.
I'm linking to all of these products and giving you their regular price, but honestly, I don't think I have ever bought one of them for full price. If I have tips for finding these for cheaper, I've included them below.
This stain has an awesome gel formula, so it doesn't
bleed all over the fucking place like Benefit Benetint. That means I can actually use it to outline my lips and then fill them in. It can be used for cheeks too, but I tend not to use it that way. On my lips it leaves a nice, deep pink stain. Sometimes I wear it under another lip color so that when that inevitably wears off, I'll be left with this. It also feels somehow really soft and luxurious to apply. I know that sounds weird, but I like it.
I got this for free using my Birchbox points, so if you have any of those saved up, this would be a good choice. At the time I'm writing this, it's
$14 on Amazon, which is a little better, at least.
This stuff is good. If you have a problem with lipstick bleeding, it's worth a shot. It's a waxy pencil that you use to line around the outside of your lips.
I put it to the ultimate test: Benefit Benetint. I can't actually wear that shit on my lips because it bleeds so bad it makes me look like some kind of zombie with cracks or veins radiating all around my mouth.
Without Lip Lock:
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| Uh oh, someone got into the Koolaid. |
So maybe you can see that there's a tiny bit of bleeding, but it's minor. I wouldn't be like, "Fuck this," and take it all off and give up like I usually do if I try to put Benetint on my lips. It's presentable in public.
Basically if it can keep this bloody stuff almost under control, you're going to have no problem with regular lipstick or lipgloss bleeding.
And it's $3. You can probably get it at Target if you don't want to pay shipping for spend $25 or wait for a sale on the e.l.f. website - though they frequently have good ones.
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