Eye Shadow -Rouge Bunny Rouge - When Birds Are Singing eyeshadow in Bohemian Waxwing
thecharm 10/11/2012 3:14:00 AM
Rouge Bunny Rouge is one of the dottier brands out there. Sometimes, it's hard to say the names of their products with a straight face. I have to give them credit for establishing a very specific niche brand identity, and the products I've tried have been nothing less than amazing. Bohemian Waxwing is one of my favorite eyeshadows. RBR describes it as "iridescent bronzed champagne." I describe it is "one of the most perfect lid colors" for my blue-green eyes and very pale, cool complexions. RBR excels at creating lusciously luminous eyeshadow finishes that don't crumble or look frosty or cheap. Bohemian Waxwing is a champagne (that smacks of "cool brown" or... ahem... "warm taupe"). It's quite a bit less bronze than the official description led me to believe: a relief, as I much prefer the cool metallic brown. It has a high sheen with flashes of pink that leave it with a delicate mauve essence. Fans of Solstice Halcyon should note that SH is more silver and more satiny in finish. These aren't dupes, but those who love one may love the other. Rouge Bunny Rouge shadows are very emollient which can make them a bit fussy over too-creamy shadows or primers, but with the right combination, they wear well on me, and Boho Wax is no exception. I dearly love it. I hate the RBR packaging but at least you can get pans now and stick this right into the palette of your choice or into an RBR package.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Powders -Guerlain - Perles D'Azur Meteorites by Emilio Pucci
thecharm 10/11/2012 2:38:00 AM
WHAT IT IS IS: Guerlain Meteorites are an iconic luxury cosmetic. If you're new to the idea, it's an illuminating finishing powder in an innovative format: colored little talc beads in a little container, which is usually very pretty. Smells flowery, like violets. Looks sheer when applied and somewhat sparkly. Guerlain regularly releases limited edition "ballz" because they have correctly assessed that ballz are like CRACK. The Perles D'Azur Meteorites are a set of the seasonal ballz; if you look very hard and live in a place that time forgot, you can still find them. Seasonal ballz tend to be more sparkle-heavy than the permanent ballz and the Perles d'Azur are no exception. PROS: It's almost impossible to overdo. That is, if you have a high tolerance for a bit of sparkle. You won't get all talc-y faced if you apply these little suckers. They look really nice over bare skin or foundation. Even dusting them on overtop another loose powder is good because it gets some of the excess "real" powder off while giving you a pleasant, glassy-flecked shimmer finish. The container is pretty as all get-out on your vanity. It smells nice. CONS: If you're sensitive to and/or offended by talc, glitter, or fragrance, this is not the iconic luxury cosmetic for you. It's not a miracle worker skin-finish wise, and it's not even a miracle worker as a powder. I'm not oily but it is massively humid where I live and there is clearly no antiperspirant here. And, it must be said, I hate the blue ballz. The blue, combined with the orange, pink, and gold, looks dull. The overall finish is just the slightest bit grey. No one needs that. I took out the blue ballz and I like the soft warm finish much better. TL;DR: Nobody needs these, but they are addictive for collectors. The overall color scheme is not my favorite, but the Pucci packaging is particularly adorable.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Highlighters -Guerlain - Meteorites Perles Teint Rose
thecharm 9/26/2012 4:20:00 AM
WHAT IT IS IS: Guerlain Meteorites are an iconic luxury cosmetic. If you're new to the idea, it's colored little talc beads in a little container, which is usually very pretty. Smells flowery, like violets. Looks sheer when applied and somewhat sparkly. Teint Rose has pink, yellow, lavender, mint, and white ballz. Some are matte, some shimmery. The overall effect is dimensional near-white. PROS: It's almost impossible to overdo. That is, if you have a high tolerance for a bit of sparkle. It's pretty as all get-out. It smells nice. CONS: If you're sensitive to and/or offended by talc, glitter, or fragrance, this is not the iconic luxury cosmetic for you. Not a miracle worker. TL;DR: Nobody needs these, but I have tenzy because they're pretty and the finish is nice, so I guess the big G is doing something right.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Sleek - blush - Pomegranate
thecharm 6/17/2012 9:52:00 PM
Sleek blushes are an exceptionally good value and their formula is decent. It's a dry, pigmented, but not too powdery, formula; some shades, like Pomegranate, have an ever-so-slight graininess. (For reference, I find NARS similar but more grainy and less long-wearing.) I prefer the smoothness of Shiseido or RBR blushes, but the color range of Sleek is not to be missed. Pomegranate is a lovely deep plummy berry color with pink shimmer. It's not overwhelmingly shimmery and even I, a matte/satin lover, can appreciate the depth it provides. Once on, it looks brighter and warmer than it does in the pan.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Loose Powders -Kanebo - Lunasol Skin Contrast Face Powder
thecharm 6/7/2012 4:25:00 AM
Lunasol Skin Contrast loose powder is very finely milled: not as fine as La Mer or Suqqu, but close. Shade 01 is sparkly like a Cullen; 02 is a lovely barest satin medium Beige. It actually reminds me of the Suqqu finish. It has a drier feel and this dry feel is a major factor in my decision not to repurchase. If you like your powders on the silica-ish dry side, you may enjoy this more than I did. The other reason is that 02 is too dark to look natural on my pale skin. If you are NC/NW15 or above, you should have no problem with the color.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Highlighters -Shiseido - Luminizing Satin Face Color in WT905 High Beam White
thecharm 6/5/2012 3:59:00 AM
Writing this review was prompted by a visit to the restroom in which I checked out my own cheekbones. Shiseido High Beam White is my holy grail highlighter; satiny, finely milled, lasts all day. If you like a metallic finish or even a dewy finish, this is not the highlighter for you. However, if you want subtle, no-glitter, just radiant... this is it. I particularly love it because I'm super pale and a good highlighter is hard to find. You'd be surprised at how many highlighters are darker than my skin tone, which defeats the purpose. Love this.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Primer -Artdeco - Eyeshadow Base
thecharm 6/3/2012 12:17:00 AM
I'm not usually this terse, but when a product smells like men's deodorant and doesn't prevent eyeshadow creasing like it's intended to do, even on non-oily lids, I don't see a need for endless rhetoric. Plus, it's, unhygienically, in a pot.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Loose Powders -Cinema Secrets - Ultralucent Setting Powder
thecharm 6/3/2012 12:03:00 AM
Cinema Secrets offers a very good, standard setting powder that is very fine ("triple-milled") and very matte. It's talc-based, and it has kaolin as an antiperspirant. It comes in colorless, but it also comes in several sheer shades. Currently it's one of my preferred matte powders. The no-frills plastic tub gives you a massive amount of product but no puff. It's good for times when I want my face to look super matte--other times I'm fine with the satiny finish of Lunasol, Suqqu or Koh Gen Do. I'd repurchase.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Loose Powders -E.L.F. - Studio High Definition Powder
thecharm 6/2/2012 11:46:00 PM
I think E.L.F. Studio High Definition Powder is a mess. It's not a hot mess, but it's a mess. You could do worse. It is matte. It is fine. But ultimately, it's a small amount of fine white powder in bulky packaging that does not do a lot for me. It's not a total dupe of the MUFE; it has dimethicone as well as silica, which makes it a bit heftier. It blurs pores to a point, but it doesn't make my skin feel better and it doesn't address a lot of textural issues. It's less blendable than pure silica. It is so drying. If you like silica powders, check out Coastal Scents' spheres instead.
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Loose Powders -Koh Gen Do - Maifanshi Face Powder in Snowy Pink
thecharm 5/31/2012 7:13:00 AM
Two things about me: 1) I'm obsessed with loose powders. 2) I'm obsessed with PINK loose powders. I have tried tons and tons and tons of loose powders, but Koh Gen Do is my powder of choice due to its lovely finish, lasting power, and availability. I usually use the UV loose powder or the regular Maifanshi. Snowy Pink is a limited edition color, and given my ridiculous affinity for pink powders, I knew I had to get it. Pink powders really brighten the complexion and are great for a fresh-scrubbed glowy look. The good thing is that Koh Gen Do's Snowy Pink is pale enough not to aggravate a redness problem. Like all of Koh Gen Do's powders, it has moisturizing ingredients and feels lovely and silky on. It has shimmery mica, so if you don't love glitter on your face, stay away! It's not super obvious; it's similar to the glittah in ballz, but the glitter flecks are even smaller and slightly irregular. Because I prefer the more satin-finish regular and UV powders, I'll pass on a repurchase, but it is a high quality powder and far better than many glittery powders of its ilk. Also worth mentioning: the included KGD powder puff is one of the softest, fluffeh-est things ever to caress my face and it holds up well to washings.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Rouge Bunny Rouge - Long-Lasting Eyeshadow in Delicate Hummingbird
thecharm 5/31/2012 6:52:00 AM
Colorwise, Rouge Bunny Rouge Delicate Hummingbird is a medium soft, velvety cool "neutralized" purple with gold and silver shimmer. The mix of warm and cool tones make it come across as taupey, though it's not quite taupe to my eye. It's also lickably, jawdroppingly stunning. It should be said that I am a cardcarrying member of the Purply Taupes and Taupey Purples And The People Who LOVE Them Club. If you worry about muddy or greyed tones, this may not be a "clear" enough color for you; if you can't get enough of complex blends, you may be drawn to this and yea, verily, may even need it. In fact, I find this to be one of the more versatile colors in the line, as far as range of skintones and eyecolor it'll flatter. The eyeshadow feels silky and emollient to the touch, almost like a cream. I find this divine, but if you pick up the grease in any product and it annoys you, tread carefully. The packaging feels a little cheap; for the price, I'd prefer a heftier feel to the plastic case. On the other hand, a compact has yet to break on me.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Rouge Bunny Rouge - Matte Eyeshadow Papyrus Canary
thecharm 5/31/2012 6:40:00 AM
Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow in Papyrus Canary is a very, very high quality basic yellowed ecru shadow. It's not quite too warm for me, an NW5, but I'd definitely be interested in a pinkier beige in this formula, as Rouge Bunny Rouge mattes are my favorite--creamy, so soft, pigmented and long-lasting. If you're NC5-25 or so and in need of a good basic highlight or light pinup lid shade, check this out.
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Eye Shadow -Fyrinnae - Beholder
thecharm 5/29/2012 10:10:00 AM
Fyrinnae Beholder is a nice basic: cool deepish taupe with even silver shimmer; lighter than Knickers, cooler than Snow Leopard. It lasts well and it's a lovely crease color. It's not the must-have that some of the other Fyrinnae taupes are, but it's not a miss either.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Loose Powders -Koh Gen Do - Maifanshi UV Face Powder
thecharm 5/23/2012 5:20:00 AM
Koh Gen Do Maifanshi UV face powder is my current favorite of KGD's powder offerings. It is a pale beige with a bit of a sheen; I would say it is a fraction less matte than the not-flat regular translucent (white) powder. It has none of the glitter of the KGD Natural Lighting or Snowy Pink powders. It covers pores beautifully. It lasts well on my dry skin and doesn't make me drier or flaky. I feel like the purported SPF properties are of little benefit given that so little powder is needed for a beautiful finish. The powder includes a puff, and it's not a flimsy, disposable number either: it's a bouncy, fluffy, washable number that works really, really well. EDIT: being the loose powder ho I am, I keep trying powders but this keeps coming out on top. It's not the most finely milled, but it's soft, non-drying, and it works amazingly well for me.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Shiseido - Luminizing Satin Eye Color
thecharm 5/22/2012 4:36:00 AM
I'm inclined to think you can't go wrong with Shiseido Luminizing Satin Finish eyeshadow, my favorite powder eyeshadow formula. The texture is soft, even fragile. It's so finely milled that it sweeps on effortlessly. It has a satin finish that leans to the shimmery side of the spectrum, but you can't see chunky glitter, just shine. Very pigmented. Great lasting power over a base. The singles and trios are identical in exceptional quality. One of the best shadow formulas out there, in my opinion.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No