Palettes -Stila - Fierce Femme in Fierce Plum
piyo 7/22/2004 9:48:00 PM
even though i had initially passed up on this palette (and purchased the other three), i loved the other palettes so much that i had to go back and get this one too. the colors in this one are a bit bolder and brighter than the other palettes (and they're all LE colors i think). it includes: a very shimmery white with the slightest pink tinge, a shimmery medium cool-toned purple, and a mostly matte dark purplish blue. there's also a slightly shimmer light cool-toned pink blush (it's very light actually, so i'm not sure how well it'll show up on darker complexions). like the other palettes, the quality of the e/s is superb - very very silky soft and pigmented. and make sure to use a good "sticky" e/s base or else the soft eyeshadows tend to dust off onto your cheek. this palette is packaged into a cute black faux leather clutch (huge improvement over cardboard!). overall i think this palette is worth the $30.
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Eye Shadow -Bare Escentuals - Eye glimmers
piyo 7/22/2004 12:22:00 AM
these are fantastic loose eyeshadows. i checked them out at the BE store b/ of mua raves, and i totally fell in love w/ the glimmers. they're incredibly soft, finely-milled, and very pigmented. i purchased eight: summer (medium soft brown flecked with gold), bare skin (shiny soft pink), pussycat (medium olive-brown), purrfect (medium gold olive-green), drama (dark silvery taupe), 1990's (dark plum), queen marie (cool lilac), and queen tiffany (medium bronzy brown). applied dry, the finish is shiny and shimmery but not in an over-the-top way - definitely suitable for everyday wear. applied wet, the finish becomes much more intense and metallic/super-shiny looking - great for dramatic looks. the color selection is pretty good; there's a wide range of neutrals (light and dark) and a couple of brighter colors. overall, i definitely prefer these to mac pigments b/ i like the softer, finer texture and the wider color selection (mac pigments tend to be chunkier in texture and "louder" in color). the staying power is also fantastic - with a good base, these can withstand 10+ hours of summer heat without creasing or fading! i think i have a new addiction =P NOTE: if you like these, give NYX ultra pearl mania loose e/s a try - i compared these to my BE glimmers, and i find the pigmentation/texture/finish to be very similar, sometimes indistinguishable! and nyx has some great colors that are not found in the BE line. super cheap too.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -NYX - Ultra Pearl Mania
piyo 7/21/2004 12:10:00 AM
i bought 18 of these f/ ebay awhile ago and somehow totally forgot about them. i bought some BE glimmers loose e/s today, and they reminded me that i had these nyx loose e/s. so i dug these out and swiped them on my arm to compare with my new BE powders. and to my surprise, the nyx powders have the EXACT same sparkly shiny finish as the BE powders (some nyx colors are even shinier). the pigmentation is also just as good or even better than BE. both powders are fantastically soft and smooth. seriously, if someone was to show me some mixed samples (on or off skin) of both brands, i really would not be able to tell which powder belongs to which brand! the color selection of these nyx powders is rather limited (i think there're 24 colors total), but there are a few bright colors that aren't available in the more neutral BE line (eg. lime, fanta). and i personally find both NYX and BE loose e/s to be better than mac pigments (finer texture and prettier finishes). i think the nyx powders retail for 2-4 bucks each, but ebay has great deals on sets. and compared to 13 bucks for BE and 18 for mac pigments, these are great cheaper alternatives that are just as good in quality. NOTE: the small vials are a complete pain (the opening is way too small) so i bought a bunch of small clear plastic pill boxes for all my loose eyeshadows. now they're organized, much easier to use, take up less space in my traincase (i store the original jars in a seperate box), and if i happen to spill it, i only lose a little bit (rather than a whole jar's worth).
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Surreal
piyo 7/20/2004 6:49:00 PM
i'm inspired to write a review on this since i'm wearing it today and got hit on a ton (so my mu must be at least decent! lol). surreal is a gorgeous shimmery medium teal with a golden sheen. the texture is smooth and silky, and pigmentation is decent. the color complements my dark brown eyes very nicely, and the golden sheen allows it to work well with my yellow-toned asian complexion. this is a great fun summery color, and i highly recommend it.
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Eye Shadow -Jordana - Eye Fixation Eye Shadow
piyo 7/20/2004 12:23:00 AM
these are great knockoffs of mac shadesticks! i came across them at walgreens the other day, and since i've had great luck w/ jordana products in the past, i had to give these a whirl. the packaging is exactly like the shadesticks - a cream e/s in a twist-up tube form. the size is also similar, meaning that the rounded point is too big to line with but perfect for all over washes. i got the champagne, coffee, and lavender colors. i have a mac shadestick in beige-ing, and i find that the champagne one is the closest in terms of color (it's a little darker and quite a bit less frosty). the consistency also seems to be a little thinner, although the product still goes on very smoothly (w/ absolutely no tugging). the color coverage is a little bit sheerer than beige-ing, giving a nice shimmery wash. i used this as an e/s base today, and i'm very much impressed with its performance. on me, this is just as good as my shadestick! it keeps my powder eyeshadow looking intense and crease-less all day, performing just as well as my shadestick. the color selection of these is very limited (i only saw champagne, coffee, silver, lavender, and blue) but i have no problem with that since i'm mainly using these as bases. for only 2 bucks, give these a try if you come across them! UPDATE: this stuff is so amazing that this is now a HG for me! the thin and oily consistency takes some getting used to, although don't let it fool you into thinking it'll crease! with a powder e/s on top, there is absolutely no creasing all day, and even better (compared to other bases i have tried), there's no chalkiness or fading/graying of the e/s color. absolutely amazing for my oily, weirdly-creased eyelids! this stuff is a must-have for those people who have problems with soft/loose eyeshadows dusting off during application.
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Palettes -MAC - Printout Eye X6 in Warm
piyo 7/19/2004 4:32:00 PM
what a cute little palette! even though i was not planning on getting the mac palettes, being the eyeshadow ho that i am, i picked up both the warm and cool eye palettes when i saw them. the colors include pasheema (matte light beige), retrospeck (sparkly gold), bitter (matte bright yellow-green), sable (shimmery reddish brown), cranberry (shimmery dark reddish pink), and mover shaker (matte dark taupe with tiny gold glitter). a tiny 316 e/s brush is also included. i find the overall collection of colors to be pretty good, although i'm not too thrilled with some of the eyeshadows (pasheema is very boring, and retrospeck is a typical pain in the behind lustre). however, i find that i can make several very nice eye looks with this palette. i also really like the packaging - the mirrored metal compact is very cute and sturdy, and i like the mod green design printed on it. this thing is pretty small however(about 3.5" by 2") but i like the size, and i never use up eyeshadows anyways! i would say this palette is worth it if you don't have the colors already.
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Powder -Cover Girl - Simply Powder Foundation
piyo 7/19/2004 2:41:00 AM
this is a great inexpensive powder for my oily skin. i don't really like spending too much money for face powders and such so this is perfect for me! it can go on a little chalky at first (esp if your skin is a little dry), but it settles into a wonderful smooth and glowy finish after a little while. the coverage is perfectly fine for me, although it will probably be way too sheer if you're actually looking for a powder "foundation". i use it as a regular face powder, dusting it on with a large powder brush. i don't use foundation so i'm not sure how well it'll work as a setting powder. it controls the oilies pretty well, and although my oily skin can shine through in just a few hours, that's happened with every powder i've tried. there's also no noticeable smell to this powder. the only problem is the horrible color selection (too many shades of scary oranges and pinks). thankfully "classic ivory" is a very good match for my light asian skin. cover girl should really work on making more yellow-toned shades (i've yet to see anyone orange or pink enough to pull off some of the shades they make).
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Lip Gloss -Revlon - Super Lustrous-Bare Essentials
piyo 7/17/2004 8:56:00 PM
this is the perfect shimmery nude lipgloss. in the tube it's a pale milky beige; on my lips, it's a much sheerer milky nude with subtle pink/multicolor shimmer. when the l/g is sheered out, it goes on pretty much clear. however, it can be layered and built up to be a bit more opaque and milky. when it's layered on, it looks very much like mac's c-thru / milani secret (except for the shimmer factor). like the rest of the superlustrous l/g line, the staying power and consistency are both fantastic (smooth, not very sticky, long-wearing). this is a gorgeous limited edition color that's definitely worth the 6 or 7 bucks i paid for it.
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Misc Beauty Tools -Trish McEvoy - Nordstrom's Anniversary Sea Blue Petite Planner
piyo 7/16/2004 5:34:00 PM
this planner is absolutely adorable! i had been considering getting a TM planner so when i saw the great deal on this pretty blue one at nordstrom's today, i had to get it. the color is a gorgeous light baby blue, and it comes with a tiny brush set and a lip palette. the brush set includes brushes for blush, eyeshadow, eye liner, and lipstick. although they seem to be of decent quality, they're so small that i don't know how useful they'll actually be (i want to add that the blush brush actually has a magnet in it for some reason! it sticks really well to metal palette surfaces). the brushes come in a cute blue faux leather clutch. the planner itself has a zippered mesh bag on one side and a nylon pocket/brush holder on the other side. there's a two-ring binder that comes with a mesh bag and a plastic planner page filled with 8 lip colors. the colors include: sexy, pink rose, cherry red, sheer plum, classic iced mocha, sparkling blush, rio, and plum. i've only tried a few of the colors, and my initial impression of these is very good (nice colors, good quality). i also found that the lip palettes (2 palettes of 4 colors each) can be easily popped out of the page, which is actually a normal magnetized TM page. i was pleasantly surprised by this - i can now fit my own stuff inside the insert page to make my own palette. the size of this planner is perfect - i can easily fit my "daily look" into the planner(including powder compact, mascara, eyeliner, lipglosses, a few petite brushes, and eyeshadows in the insert page). the planner itself measures about 6" by 4" and is about 2.25" deep. this is definitely a great deal at $48 since the regular petite planner is $38 (w/o pages), and inserts are about $10+ i think. so this set with a magnetized insert, a brush set, and a lip palette is a fantastic buy! the blue color seems to be really popular though (i got the second to last one, and this is the first day of the sale!). the other color available is raspberry (bright fushcia pink).
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -MAC - c-thru lipglass
piyo 7/16/2004 5:05:00 PM
i've recently been on a nude l/g kick so i had to pick this up to try. while it is a pretty good nude gloss, i already have a milani crystal gloss in the color "secret" that looks exactly the same on my lips (as the previous reviewer noted too!). the two are so similar, right down to the vanilla scent. the mac lipglass is a bit stickier and can be built up to be a bit more opaque, but i prefer the milani version (not as sticky, and who wants lips colored a solid beige anyways?). i can basically get the exact same look from both of these glosses, so i think i'll pick the 2 or 3 dollar milani over the mac version.
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Palettes -Stila - Fierce Femme in Fierce Sage
piyo 7/13/2004 8:50:00 PM
even though i'm not a terribly huge stila fan, i had to get these new palettes when i checked them out at the counter. first of all, the quality of the eyeshadows are absolutely fantastic, even better than the best of stila's regular eyeshadows - they're super soft and incredibly pigmented. second of all, the colors themselves are gorgeous, although some of them are very similar to existing colors. i bought the taupe, sage, and auburn palettes and am reviewing the sage one here. there's a light shimmery yellow gold e/s, a shimmery medium tarnished gold color, and a slightly shimmery dark olive green. the first shade is very pretty but i found i had to use it very sparingly (or else i look jaundiced in the eye area). i had heard that the middle color is similar to golightly before i bought the palette but i find it to be completely different - the palette color is quite a bit lighter and less brown. the dark green is similar to la douce except it's a little darker and not quite as green. there's also a light peachy blush (matte; the only shimmery blush is in the plum palette). i can see these colors working well with light to medium warm-toned ladies (i have light/medium asian coloring). the staying power of these eyeshadows are also fantastic (10+ hours w/ base). the packaging of the palette is also very cute - it's a fake leather "clutch" with a metal closure. it's way better than stila's usual crappy cardboard packaging. the color of this palette is reddish brown, the actual size of the palette is about 4"x1" (the clutch part is a little bigger). although it sounds like it's pretty tiny, the product sizes are decent (and i never use anything up anyways!). overall , this cute palette is worth the 30 bucks. EDIT: be careful when applying the eyeshadows from these palettes (esp the soft middle sparkly colors) b/ the shimmer/sparkles tend to dust off onto your cheeks (and don't wipe off very easily). using a sticky e/s base or holding a tissue under your eye will help.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -Stila - Fierce Femme in Fierce Auburn
piyo 7/13/2004 8:41:00 PM
even though i'm not a terribly huge stila fan, i had to get these new palettes when i checked them out at the counter. first of all, the quality of the eyeshadows are absolutely fantastic, even better than the best of stila's regular eyeshadows - they're super soft and incredibly pigmented. second of all, the colors themselves are gorgeous, although some of them are very similar to existing colors. i bought the taupe, sage, and auburn palettes and am reviewing the auburn one here. there's a light shimmery beige color, a shimmery medium taupe, and a slightly shimmery dark reddish brown. the first shade is indeed very very similar to kitten although i find that this palette e/s is just a tiny bit frostier (more of a white/silvery sheen). the taupe color is somewhat similar to the taupe color in the fierce taupe palette but this one is warmer and not as plum-toned. i don't have twig but i was told by the ma at the counter that the dark palette e/s is the same as twig. i find it to be a slightly redder version of barefoot contessa. there's also a medium peachy-pink blush (matte; the only shimmery blush is in the plum palette). i can see these colors working well with light to medium warm-toned ladies (i have light/medium asian coloring). the staying power of these eyeshadows are also fantastic (10+ hours w/ base). the packaging of the palette is also very cute - it's a fake leather "clutch" with a metal closure. it's way better than stila's usual crappy cardboard packaging. the color of this palette is reddish brown, the actual size of the palette is about 4"x1" (the clutch part is a little bigger). although it sounds like it's pretty tiny, the product sizes are decent (and i never use anything up anyways!). overall , this cute palette is worth the 30 bucks.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Gloss -Prestige - Vinylwear in Alloy
piyo 7/11/2004 8:32:00 PM
i picked this up today only b/ it was on sale at long's, and i'm pretty glad i did b/ it's so gorgeous on my lips! the gloss is a very shimmery (but not too frosty) peachy-pinkish-gold - actually it reminds me very much of ud x e/s. in the tube it looks more pink than it really is. the gloss is pretty thick and sticky so its staying power is very good (although the downside is that you can really feel it on your lips). the main reason this doesn't get a 5 rating is b/ of the godawful smell, as other reviewers have mentioned. it's a seriously gross powdery-flowery old lady like smell that's not very pleasant at all. thankfully, however, the smell fades significantly after a couple of minutes so it's tolerable enough for me to continue using it. people who are really sensitive to smells should definitely avoid prestige glosses. otherwise, this is a really beautiful color that's worth trying for only a few bucks (esp if you warm-toned or tanned).
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Palettes -Stila - Fierce Taupe Palette
piyo 7/11/2004 1:59:00 AM
even though i'm not a terribly huge stila fan, i had to get these new palettes when i checked them out at the counter. first of all, the quality of the eyeshadows are absolutely fantastic, even better than the best of stila's regular eyeshadows - they're super soft and incredibly pigmented. second of all, the colors themselves are gorgeous, although some of them are very similar to existing colors. i bought the taupe, sage, and auburn palettes and tested out the taupe one today. there's a light shimmery pinkish beige color with tiny silver glitter, a stunning medium plum-toned taupe with multicolor shimmer, and a slightly shimmery dark black-brown (very similar to espresso but this shade is slightly cooler/blacker while espresso is just a tad bit warmer/browner). there's also a light pink blush (matte; the only shimmery blush is in the plum palette). i wore these eyeshadows according to their recommended uses (pale as highlighter, medium on lid, dark as liner), and it made a beautiful shimmery smokey look. the staying power of these eyeshadows are also fantastic (10+ hours w/ base). my only complaints are the silver glitter of the pinkish shade (doesn't stick well) and the slight gradual fading of the the "shimmery-ness" of the taupe color (but it remains very pretty looking). i can see the colors working well with pretty much anyone (warm or cool toned, light or dark). the packaging of the palette is also very cute - it's a fake leather "clutch" with a metal closure. it's way better than stila's usual crappy cardboard packaging. the color of this palette is brown (sage is dark green; auburn is, well, auburn). the actual size of the palette is about 4"x1" (the clutch part is a little bigger). although it sounds like it's pretty tiny, the product sizes are decent (and i never use anything up anyways!). overall , this cute palette is worth the 30 bucks.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Jane - Eye Zing - Dazzle
piyo 6/29/2004 11:03:00 PM
jane has definitely produced a lot of good eyeshadows, but unfortunately, this is not one of them. i saw this advertised as a new shade on a recent supermarket trip so i had to pick it up to try. in the pot, it's a lovely medium plum with shimmer; however, it applies so sheerly that hardly any of the color shows up, and it takes many layers to achieve a decent look. the fine shimmer particles also tend to fall off easily, and the color fades after a few hours, leaving a somewhat bruised look. mac trax is a much better alternative. however, this e/s still gets a two rating since it's only $3, and the color can be intensified when used wet.
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