Eye Shadow -MAC - Gulf Stream
jd-jd 7/15/2008 8:22:00 AM
I didn't expect to like Gulf Stream so much: I rarely wear blue shadow or teal. But I wanted something bright for summer and the Cool Heat collection was strangely compelling. I used to have "Steamy" (from the Tahitian color story) and this is less silver, more gold and greener than Steamy, which had quite a bit more blue in it. The color is a bright, deep green teal with a pearly finish. You can apply it as a faint wash or build it up to make quite a mermaid shimmer. I wear CCB in Pearl underneath, and do a wash of Solar White. When you put Gulf Stream over this, you get a lighter green wash. This surprised me by being my favorite of the Cool Heat color story. It brightens up my look for summer and is the perfect "mermaid eye" color. My dh really likes the look on my hazel green (dark green) eyes. I'm not a color eyeshadow person normally (being over 50) but this really makes me look dressed up. I'd say of the entire collection, this would be the best of the lot.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Femme-Fi from Neo Sci-Fi Collection
jd-jd 7/11/2008 5:35:00 PM
I really fell in love with the Neo Sci-Fi collection (partly because I love science fiction books and love the hunter orange packaging.) Femme Fi is a funny color in the pan--kind of a muted champagne beige gold. It goes on whitish, but not too white and not too shimmery. I was using it for a brow highlighter, but I like it as a summer shadow over the bottom lid to give that light-eye look with a lot of dark mascara. It seems to stay on (using a base, I use cream colour base in pearl) --stays on all day.
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Crème -Maybelline - Instant Age Rewind Cream Foundation [DISCONTINUED]
jd-jd 7/8/2008 12:14:00 PM
While I love Estee Lauder Resilience Lift, it is $32 or so for 1 ounce. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Cream is $9.50 at our local Walgreens, full price. So it's less than one-third the cost and if it goes on sale BOGOF, it would be 15% of the price! While the color range is limited to about 12 shades, I did find a classic ivory, a bit cooler than the Dawn shade I wear in Estee Lauder. The coverage is a bit heavier, but a very smooth finish that gives a decent faint glow. I could have gone with Creamy Natural Light. For reference, I am a MAC NW25-30. Pale to medium beige, slightly cool, dark hair, hazel eyes. The finish is a bit glowy due to the pearlized content, and it has SPF 18. I like a glow finish as it diffuses the light (I don't have wrinkles but my skin at over 50 is not baby smooth either.) The coverage is medium-heavy. It blends quickly and evenly. The odor is actually not as strong as the Estee Lauder. I didn't notice much more than a typical lotion smell. I like the pump container: the lighter liquid version of Rewind has no pump, a narrow bottle and at least at our Walgreens, none of the bottles was sealed with shrink wrap (the Creme was.) If you can find a color to work for you (even blending two, if you find them on sale) this might be a great substitute for much more expensive foundations. I found it a quality product. Colors range from lightest ivory (a yellowish and a pinkish version) to a dark cocoa, which looked in the sample a bit ashy? You'd have to try it. I think I might buy this again (perhaps trying a different shade--though this one is fine for winter when I might be paler.) I think it is an excellent value at $9.50 and would go on sale, while the department store foundations are not appreciably better at three times the cost.
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Liquid -Maybelline - Instant Age Rewind foundation
jd-jd 7/7/2008 11:41:00 AM
Here's the thing: this foundation comes in a long tall bottle and the ones in our drugstore were NOT sealed in ANY way. So I took it back. A pump would be better--how do you get this stuff out of the bottle and people can "test" out any of the ones on the rack because it isn't sealed.
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Blush -MAC - Neo sci-fi Spaced Out
jd-jd 7/7/2008 11:17:00 AM
By itself, this is slightly too light for my medium light beige skin tone (nw30) but it is a great mix with X-Rocks, the plum blush from the same Neo Sci-Fi collection. I use it on the apples of my cheeks and X-Rocks underneath (on cheekbone.) The color is a plain peach in that Hunter Orange container (which for some reason I really like. ) It's not unusual enough to buy again, but it's a nice peach light color.
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Mascara -Maybelline - Volum' Express The Colossal
jd-jd 7/2/2008 10:41:00 PM
Ok, back to the HG search for cheap-but-good mascara because I do replace mine regularly. Holy Camoly! I saw the display of a new mascara by Revlon and it was over $10! I'd rather pay $6 or $7 and even the $8 of L'Oreal bothers me. So I had to try this Colossal mascara. I got Glam Black , which I had no idea what it meant (compared to classic black) but it went on cool black as opposed to more warm black. The brush is a big teddy bear brush. There was a considerable GLOP at the end of the brush. The smell, yes, like roses that have gone brown and mouldering under the rose bush. Yeck. But you don't notice it if you don't hold the brush under your nose (so unless you are darkening a mustache, this isn't an issue.) The case is a cute lemon-citrus yellow with purple-shiny accents. Very loud. The result was more lengthening than volumizing, which surprised me. The lengthening is CONSIDERABLE. Like, false lashes time. I wished my old assistant (just for a moment, I was really glad to get rid of her) was back with her false lashes worn during DAYTIME in the OFFICE to compare hers with mine. These were big fans, all right. The fluid is a bit liquid, meaning it takes a moment to dry, typical of Maybelline, I find. UPDATE: 1. This is a very GOOD mascara. Separates lashes but builds nice volume. Not as much as Voluminous (L'Oreal) but good. 2. The brush is big, gets all the lashes 3. It is not like Lash Blast (Cover Girl) in that it does separate lashes much better. Reminds me of it, but really is not like it. 4. This just might be my HG, despite the smell, which dissipates but right out of the tube is burnt-rubber-rotten-roses.
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Highlighters -MAC - Cream Color Base in Pearl
jd-jd 6/30/2008 6:48:00 AM
I bought this as a recommendation for a shadow base. As a shadow base, it is a bit light and shimmery (kind of a yellowish pearly shimmer. You'd think PEARL would mean white or off white, but this is definitely yellowish.) It is a bit greasy, as are all the Cream Colour Bases. In fact, I don't think I've ever liked any of these. As a highlighter, it is decent--a light touch makes a nice sheen on cheekbone, nose, etc. There is a lot in the package. It doesn't show up on eyes, however, for a cream shadow.
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Fragrances -Estee Lauder - Youth Dew
jd-jd 6/26/2008 12:12:00 PM
I'm reviewing the bath oil. This is a dark cola-colored oil in a flat bottle with an unremarkable cap. The scent is very 70's-80's (spicy floriental.) The notes: Top notes: Orange, Bergamot, Peach, Aldehydes, Middle note : Clove, Rose, Ylang-Ylang, Cinnamom, Base notes: Amber, Tolu, Patchouli, Peru Balsam As you can see, this is spicy-fruit with a base of amber and patchouli, but I swear there is something a bit animalic in the base as well. A few drops suffice to scent the bath. If you like LUSH, you might very well love this as it's a bit hippy-patchouli spice. The scent is definitely old-school and I would not wear it as a perfume, but it makes a luxurious oriental-style bath oil. Like Lancome's Magie Noire, it harks back to a different age.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Jest Eyeshadow
jd-jd 6/25/2008 9:37:00 AM
This is my "go-to" shadow and one I rebuy and "hit pan" on time and again. Jest is a pale peachy pink, more on the peach side. It's a great base color, brightens up the eye area. It has shimmer but not those chunks of glitter. I often wear it with Patina or Fiction (which is discontinued, a dark inky green.) I think this is my all-time favorite shadow made by MAC. I'm a NW25 with hazel green (mossy green) eyes.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Magnetic Fields Eye Shadow from Neo Sci-Fi Collection
jd-jd 6/19/2008 7:53:00 AM
This is a dark, brown-black shadow, described as having silver pearl. It is everything I wanted Moth Brown or French Grey to be but wasn't. It is not a strong as Smut. (None of the Neo Sci-Fi have much color payoff.) I love the Neo Sci-Fi collection (with the orange cases) but the shadows don't show well for crease contour. That changed with Magnetic Fields, which is a must in my opinion (sadly LE and sold out on line.) When I added this to an eye with Femme Fi (yellow beige) and Evening Aura (peachy gold) I got a great look.
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Skincare - Face -DHC - Acerola Lotion (toner)
jd-jd 6/18/2008 10:36:00 PM
I'm not normally a fan of toner, but Acerola toner (with the corresponding gel) is my summer HG skin care from DHC along with Cleansing foam. I'm over 50 but have normal (not terribly dry) skin. The toner takes off residue of makeup and leaves skin soft and over a month, I see it looking more even-toned. Worth using and I love the pink frosted bottle.
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Lipstick -MAC - Neo Sci-Fi Sci-Fi-Delity
jd-jd 6/18/2008 1:57:00 PM
This is part of the Neo Sci-Fi 2008 Collection. The tube comes in the neon Hunter Orange. The color is a red with gold pearl, making it look in the tube a bit like "O". But it goes on a rosy red pink with lots of gold glimmer. If you put Pink Grapefruit (an orangy pink gold gloss from the same collection's repromote) over it, you get a rosy orange with lots of gold. But if you put Slow & Soft (another repromote gloss) over it, you get a rosy pink that is not garish at all. The S&S mutes the gold completely. So you could go from day to night (rose to gold glimmer) with the same lipstick and a different lipglass. I love the hunter orange package and I like the versatility of the day-to-night. I haven't tried this with a gold gloss over but I bet it is pretty that way, too.
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Blush -MAC - Sheertone Shimmer Blush in X-Rocks (Neo Sci-Fi 2008) [DISCONTINUED]
jd-jd 6/13/2008 3:20:00 PM
Surprise! This blush looks dark and scary in the package. A sort of plummy brown shimmer. But it goes on as a sunburned flush. I am NW30 and I have to use a light hand but it's a nice summer flush. The packaging is the neon-orange (hunter orange) special for the Neo Sci-Fi 2008 collection. I love the look with the Pink Grapefruit gloss. Very summery. UPDATE: I really like the tanned-flushed look this blush gives, and a dusting of Spaced Out over the top of cheeks is a great combination. I think they should make this blush permanent. It is the perfect plummy blush without looking dead-brown-purple.
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Lip Gloss -MAC - Pink Grapefruit
jd-jd 6/12/2008 7:12:00 AM
This is part of the Summer 2008 Neo Sci-Fi collection as a repromoted item. It is described as: Orange with gold pearl. It is in the neon orange package and the doe foot seems to be red or orange as well. The color is pinkish coral in the tube with lots of shimmer. The gold bits show up on the lips. Corally-pinks are flattering to most people, as are golds. This is nice over coral lip color, any non-bluish pink, or even brown tones. Probably universally flattering except for the most pale, cool toned blondes or a very very deeply dark woman with those gorgeous blue/ purple tones to their skin. In this case, I would not recommend it. (I'm a neutral colored brunette with dark green eyes and very dark hair.) The swatch on the MAC site looks rather like VG VI SE gloss but it is a lot golder and pinker in real life.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Neo Scifi- Evening Aura
jd-jd 6/12/2008 7:06:00 AM
I love Jest (a frosty peach) as a base/highlighter color. In fact, I think it is my favorite MAC shadow, a staple for years and one of the few, along with Vex, Patina and Fiction that I've repurchased. I looked at Evening Aura and convinced myself it would be a great replacement for Jest (which is hitting pan) and I get the cute orange neon packaging. Well, this is a GOLDEN peach, not a frosty pinker golden peach. And Jest is a Frost while Evening Aura is a veluxe pearl. Most of the vp's go on smoother and shinier, but the color payoff of Evening Aura is very low. It leaves a subtle golden shine, not a peachy highlight as in Jest. So it doesn't replace Jest, but it IS less shimmery in a way, so is great all over the lid. (BTW, I am over 50 so I limit the amount of frost, even though my lids are not crepey---yet. But I like SOME as my eyes are deep-set.) This is not a 'must' color in my opinion but is a useful color, like Dazzlelight. Imparts a golden shine but not enough color to use as a strong highlight. I plan to keep it and use it as a base color. But it was a bit disappointing in a way. I'm on the fence--yes to the smooth texture and golden peach, no to the way it doesn't show up very well on my medium skin tone of NW25-30.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No