Polishes -Sephora - Sephora by OPI - Skinny Jeans
kmbirkel 8/17/2009 2:16:00 AM
I haven't written any reviews in a while, but when I saw the 0% "buy again" rating on this, I decided I had to add my two cents to bring the rating up. I'm not a huge nail polish buff by any means, but have been getting into polishes lately, and I have to say that I absolutely love this color. I've purchased four of the Sephora by OPI colors now - Mr. Right Now, Mermaid to Order, Ocean Love Potion, and Skinny Jeans - and Skinny Jeans is definitely my favorite so far. It's a similar color to Mermaid to Order - both are shimmery blue-greens - but Mermaid to Order has more of a duochrome quality, and I find it can also reflect almost purple or yellow in some lighting. Skinny Jeans is a less complex but still stunning shade, and has infinitely better texture than Mermaid to Order. I don't know if I got a bad bottle of the latter or what, but it was incredibly thick and goopy from the minute I opened it. Skinny Jeans, on the other hand, applies very smoothly. For what it's worth, I've been applying these using OPI's Start to Finish (formaldehyde-free version) as a base and top coat, and they last quite well without chipping on my fingernails and toenails. I've also found that my nails feel much stronger and healthier than they used to, but that may be because of the Start to Finish. In any case, I'd highly recommend this color!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lips -Cover Girl - TruShine Lipstick [DISCONTINUED]
kmbirkel 7/20/2009 11:08:00 PM
Please click "continued" to see my swatches!
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One of my personal favorite drugstore lip products are CoverGirl TruShine lipsticks, in part because they're smooth and moisturizing on the lips and in part because there is such a huge variety of wonderful shades to choose from - 24, to be exact. Each shade has a corresponding number (I've swatched them in numerical order); in theory, the first eight are supposed to be most complementary to fair skin tones, the second eight for medium skin tones, and the last eight for deep skin tones. I think CoverGirl should get some credit for this effort, as I did find that I liked more shades from the "fair" range on my lips than from medium or deep. With that said, I think lipstick color selection is all about personal preference, and anyone could find shades they love in all three color ranges.
CoverGirl TruShines retail for $5-7 each, depending on the store, and are available at almost all drugstores (though some stores have fewer than the full 24 shades available, unfortunately). I don't notice a scent with these. The wear is about average - I have to reapply after eating, drinking, etc., but not more than once every few hours otherwise - and, as I mentioned, they are exceptionally moisturizing. I think the fact that I was able to do lip swatches of 24 of these in an hour with no irritation is a great testament to A) how gentle the TruShines are on lips, and B) how totally awesome Neutrogena Night Calming makeup remover wipes, which I use for all my swatching endeavors, are.
Finally, here are your CoverGirl TruShine lipsticks for fair skin tones. Blushberry Shine has become something of a cult favorite in makeup land, and while I do like that shade very much, I think Petal Shine is my favorite from this group:
Now for medium skin tones... on myself, I found Raspberry Shine to be the most flattering, and I felt very "Marilyn Monroe" in Valentine Shine:
Lastly, here are the ones for deep skin tones. My favorites are Watermelon Shine and Mauve Shine:
Thanks for reading! :)
34 out of 34 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Primer/ Corrector -Fyrinnae - Velvet-Gel Silica Primer
kmbirkel 5/13/2009 5:19:00 PM
Complete HG. I cannot rave about this product enough - it is the one and only primer that has ever been able to control my greaseball of a face. Without makeup, a flash photograph taken of me at the end of the day shows what appears to be a headlight shining out of my forehead (no pun intended), but really, I'm just that shiny. With the Fyrinnae primer and a little dusting of my trusty UD De-Slick powder, however, I am invincible! Okay, maybe not quite invincible, but at least impressively matte, and definitely headlight-free. I haven't found that it really makes my foundation stay on a whole lot longer, but I tend to use pretty indelible foundations (i.e., Revlon CS), so that's not really something I look for in primers anyway. (With that said, I've also successfully used this with MAC MSF Natural, Everyday Minerals foundation, etc., so it does work well with powder foundations, too.) Once you have your hands on this stuff, it helps to know some tricks to applying it. It "sets" fairly quickly, so you have to rub/blend it in fast to get it evenly applied. Additionally, less is more with this stuff - much better to use too little than too much. If you don't succeed in applying it evenly and you end up with too thick of a layer of primer in spots or all over, you will a) develop a white cast to your skin (due to the silica content), b) find that it and your foundation ball off when you try to apply your foundation, or c) both. However, once you get the hang of using it, it's easy to avoid this happening... just use it a couple of times until you figure out what the right amount to use is for you - don't give up on it too soon - and you will be on your way to matte, soft-finish, velvety-feeling perfection on your face :) (If you DO end up with a white cast, you can make it go away by gently rubbing in a little bit of moisturizer on top of it. All better!) Those of you who are acne-prone may also want to know this: I am EXTREMELY acne-prone, and this has not caused me to break out in the least. If I'm not mistaken, I think it may have even helped clear my skin, possibly due to the aloe content. There are no "silicones" in this product; silica is completely different. Run, don't walk, to www.fyrinnae.com to get this stuff. It's $5.50 for a full-size jar, which is enough to last you a LONG time. Shipping is never over $3 domestically/$3.50 internationally, and shipping is free worldwide for orders over $20. I've already purchased three jars - not because I used it all up myself, but because I love it so much I'm giving samples to just about every MUAer I swap with and every female relative I can think of because I love it so much I want everyone to know about it. At the rate I'm going, I may be extolling its wonders and handing it out to random people I meet walking my dog next month. Fyrinnae also has the best customer service you will EVER, ever find. Their eyeshadows and blushes are also outstanding, if you're putting in an order... you can't go wrong here, truly. It's really worth a try!
14 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Rimmel - Glam Eyes
kmbirkel 3/16/2009 3:33:00 PM
*** Please click “continued” to view the pictures! ***
I’m a little surprised by the ratings on this, as I would have expected them to be higher; I really like this mascara, and I am PICKY when it comes to my eyes! It is one of a very select few in the last several years that I’ve actually stuck with long enough to need to replace it (several times, no less). I have a sneaking suspicion that more people would like it if they applied it the way I do (I don’t mean to sound egotistical - I’ve tried applying it many different ways, and have found that one way works better than others - or at least to achieve *my* desired results, anyway). So I’ve created a sort of tutorial to demonstrate how you can make your lashes look fabulous with Glam’Eyes… here goes!
Here are the fabulous lashes (no lash primer here, just two coats of Glam'Eyes):
The trick is all in how you use the bristles on the mascara wand. There are 10 rows of bristles altogether, divided into four sets: three tightly-packed rows of short bristles, two tightly-packed rows of long bristles, three tightly-packed rows of short bristles, two tightly-packed rows of longer bristles. They stick out at angles from each other so if you look at the wand head-on, you see a cross rather than a circle - it's almost like having four "flat comb wand" mascaras (I don't know what their official name would be!) all rolled into one. Here is the wand from three different angles.
Long bristles on the sides, short bristles head-on:
Short bristles on the sides, long bristles head-on:
Between rows:
Put simply, the short bristles are so tiny and so densely distributed that if you really get the mascara wand up to your lash line and brush through your lashes with those alone, they get in every little crevice and load your lashes up with tons of mascara, which makes for some pretty dramatic volume. I find that some days, this is all I need to do, and the longer bristles get no love from me at all; other days, this can look slightly clumpy (as in, I have 17 fat eyelashes, not little balls of mascara sitting on my lashes). In the latter scenario, I use the longer bristles as a lash comb to help separate the lashes and give me better definition. That's pretty much all you need to do; I've never used a separate lash comb with this mascara, like I have to with, say, Clinique's High Impact curling mascara (but don't take that the wrong way, because I LOVE that one too! It gives me a similar look as Glam'Eyes, and is therefore great when I'm having allergy problems, etc. Glam'Eyes doesn't smudge, flake, or run on me, but then again, nothing can beat a good tubing mascara!). My lashes look pretty good even with just one coat of the Rimmel, but if I want to do more than one, I just keep building up product with the shorter bristles - combing through with the longer ones is always the last step, if I do it at all.
Here's a picture I found of an EOTD for which I'd only used the longer bristles and not the shorter ones, just for comparison's sake:
Lastly, I want to address the issue of the flexibility of the wand, as some have complained about it being too “flimsy.” From what I understand, the idea is that it’s supposed to be flexible so the length of the wand can adapt to the curve of your eye and the bristles can get in between each lash (which it does do quite well, as I mentioned earlier). I actually really *like* the wand this way; I hated Lash Blast and many other mascaras because the “spiky” plastic bristles literally hurt my eyes when I tried to apply them, but the flexibility of the bristles on Glam’Eyes ensures that I’m not painfully scratching my eyelid and/or waterline the way I can’t seem to help doing with the others.
Other pertinent information: Glam'Eyes retails for $7 at most drugstores, and is a relatively dry mascara; if you prefer wetter mascaras and want to give Rimmel a shot, I'd highly recommend Extra Super Lash. I like it just as much as Glam'Eyes, just for different reasons (it gives decent volume but craaazy length), but it is easily the wettest mascara I've ever used.
26 out of 26 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Primer -Urban Decay - Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Sin
kmbirkel 1/21/2009 2:24:00 AM
*** Please click "continued" for swatches! ***
Yippee skippee! Urban Decay has finally put out a colored version of its wildly popular Eyeshadow Primer Potion, based on its lovely shimmery eyeshadow Sin, creatively named "Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Sin." This product is currently available exclusively on Sephora's website, and only to Beauty Insiders (but don't confuse it for a BI gift - it's a full-sized tube that retails for $17). The color is described by Urban Decay as a "shimmering champagne," which I'd have to agree is pretty accurate; it's a sort of light pink-gold-beige, delightfully neutral in tone and, I'd wager, complementary to almost any skin tone. As far as non-Urban Decay colors go, it's similar in color to Too Faced Glamazon and MAC Naked Lunch eyeshadows (though very slightly lighter than both of those) and MAC Shimmertime and Deckchair pigments. I was scared by the color when I first opened the tube because it looked overly "frosty," but on the skin and lids, it's not over the top at all (and is in fact slightly less shimmery than most of Urban Decay's eyeshadows).
Sin PP has the same indelible wear and ability to make other shadows and liners appear more richly colored as its sister, the regular ol' UDPP. My first thought, upon applying this to my lids: "Wow! This would be perfect as a subtle wash of color with eyeliner and mascara when I'm in a hurry." And it is - the difference isn't obvious, but I find that somehow I look way more "put together" with that look than with mascara and eyeliner alone. (And it's not even an extra step, since I normally use UDPP with my eyeliner every morning anyway, unless I want it all over my eyelid within an hour. Sweet - I am always up for products that allow me an extra few minutes of sleep in the morning!)
Now, if only Urban Decay would dump the inefficient and wasteful "genie" tube, I'd be the happiest consumer in the world...
EDIT: For your viewing pleasure, I now have EOTD pics with the lovely Sin PP on my lids :) The closest I could get to natural light was sitting by the window (it was 18 degrees outside!), so the lighting might be a little uneven, but the color and amount of visible shimmer is definitely accurate. Here they are!
46 out of 46 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Stila - Smudge Pot in Pomegranate
kmbirkel 1/21/2009 1:32:00 AM
*** Please click "continued" to view product photos and swatches! ***
As a HUGE fan of the Stila Smudge Pots (Bronze is one of my all-time favorite eyeliners, and the only one I've ever used up and had to repurchase), I have been looking forward to this new product since I read about it months ago, and then even more desperately since I saw a picture of it on Temptalia's blog a few weeks ago. Now that I have the actual product in front of me, I am completely crushed. I think those promotional photos must be either seriously Photoshopped or of a different product entirely (maybe Stila decided to change the color after they put out the pics?). But, I'll let you judge for yourself...
From Temptalia's blog:
(gorgeous, right?)
From my camera - sorry for the blemish; I forgot to take the pictures before doing the swatches... I'm including a picture of it next to my cellphone, a red LG EnV2, for the sake of color comparison; my phone and the Smudge Pot are almost the same color. Here you go:
Here is a picture of it compared to my other purple cream gel liners (since it's supposed to be purple-y):
I will say in the favor of this poor little Smudge Pot that it does have the same incredibly smooth, blendable texture and finish that I love so much about all of the Smudge Pots. The shimmer ones all have the perfect amount of shimmer and the matte ones are gorgeously rich in color. All are very easy to work with in every capacity; I've used them as liners, cream shadows, or bases under other shadows with beautiful results (though I wouldn't use them without a "real" base like UDPP underneath, or they may crease on oily lids). So this little creature does at least have that going for it.
But.
The color of the Pomegranate Smudge Pot is, in my opinion, atrocious, and certainly nothing like what I expected. Rather than a rich, deep purple, it's a bright, metallic red; it does have hints of burgundy and maroon, but not enough to redeem itself. Used as a liner or a cream shadow, it makes my blue eyes look allergic, inflamed, and generally unappealing. And it's going straight back to Sephora.
Other information: Stila Smudge Pots are available in the following matte colors: Black, Brown, and Grey; and in the following shimmery colors: Bronze, Cobalt, Jade, and Pomegranate. All are available at Sephora for $18 each, with the exception of Pomegranate, which is only available on Sephora's website and retails for $20. Many Ulta locations also still have the Holiday Trio in stock, which costs $30 and contains three mini Smudge Pots in Black, Bronze, and Grey, as well as a so-so mini liner brush.
7 out of 10 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Bobbi Brown - Gel Eyeliner
kmbirkel 1/16/2009 5:09:00 AM
*** Please click "continued" for a swatch pic of all the liners (except Mahogany, as my Nordstrom was OOS)! ***
So, here are my thoughts on these:
1. So many of them are so gorgeous that I don't know what to do with myself except squirm a little.
2. They have fantastic staying power (took FOREVER to get the stripes off my arm!).
3. They are appropriately priced for their quality and the quantity that comes in each pot ($21 each).
4. I can't recall ever hearing a reasonable argument against them (i.e., never seen a bad review that didn't essentially just say "this suxxx").
5. The brush that the BB SA suggested I use on them (incidentally, also the brush depicted to the right) sucks bigtime (see messy swatches for evidence of this). Go for a fine or angled eyeliner brush, please; if you want a smudged line, use a smudge brush afterward. This brush gives a messy, uneven line that's hard to fix or make it look "correctly" smudged. I know smudging isn't supposed to be perfect, but think of it as the ponytail that's messy in an "I need a shower" way, not a "check-me-out sexy" way.
6. Don't trust the names and assume that a lack of the word "shimmer" in the title means there's no shimmer. Violet Ink does have shimmer in real life. On that note, Indigo Ink does NOT have shimmer, as it appears to in the swatch; unfortunately, I think the shimmer present in that swatch was probably residue left on the brush from the previous swatch. (The SA was getting rude and impatient with me by this point and had decided that instead of letting me wash the brush myself between uses, she should take it from me and wipe it with a dry tissue instead.)
7. My favorites were Violet Ink, Chocolate Shimmer Ink, Graphite Shimmer Ink, Sapphire Shimmer Ink, Cobalt Ink, Ivy Shimmer Ink, and Black Mauve Ink. I find the shimmery ones way more enticing than the matte ones, partially because I enjoy some amount of shimmer (and none of the shimmery ones are too over the top except maybe the Bronze - the Stila Bronze Smudge Pot is a better alternative), but mostly because I found the majority of the matte liners to be far less vibrant in color than the shimmer ones. With that said, I also find them to be rather sophisticated in appearance, so they would probably be perfect for the daytime, 9-5 look.
37 out of 38 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Urban Decay - Underground 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
kmbirkel 1/14/2009 4:17:00 AM
Click "continued" for my pics and swatches of the four new 24/7 liners, as well as my EOTD with Underground!
This is a truly gorgeous color. I was crushed upon seeing other swatches before I swatched this myself, because it appeared to be a very warm color with muddy undertones that I was convinced wouldn't work for me. However, when I tried it on tonight, I simultaneously breathed a huge sigh of relief and squealed excitedly (yes, it did sound a bit odd). This shade is NOT too cool or too warm, but in fact beautifully neutral - so much so that I'm convinced it would work well with nearly any skin tone or eye color. I've heard it described as a "metallic taupe," and I think that's a perfect description - it is definitely shimmery in a way that makes it appear metallic, and it is a bronzey-taupe color for sure. I will definitely be coordinating the rest of my face around this color tomorrow so I can wear it out - it's so lovely that I want to wear it at the first available opportunity!
12 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Urban Decay - Ransom 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
kmbirkel 1/14/2009 4:16:00 AM
Ransom, to put it simply, intrigues me. When I first applied it, it had a very duochrome look to it - purple and dark blue - that I wasn't really sure I liked. As it set, though, that effect seemed to go away to some extent; after a few minutes, it just looked like a pretty, multi-dimensional (but not duochrome) violet that I liked better. I wasn't able to capture the change in pictures, though; for some reason, it continued to look duochrome in the pictures. I'm not sure what that's about. It's slightly metallic, but relatively matte. This one also applies the least smoothly and most unevenly of the four, but take that with a grain of salt, because all Urban Decay 24/7 liners apply more smoothly than eyeliners from other brands (they tend to be very soft and buttery). Ergo, it's still above average in that regard.
Click "continued" for pics of the four new 24/7 liners and my swatches!
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Urban Decay - Graffiti 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
kmbirkel 1/14/2009 4:14:00 AM
Graffiti is a vivid sort of lime-clover green - think the color of the 85 different shirts (that are really all the same) that places like Target sell around St. Patrick's Day. Even for Urban Decay, it's surprisingly sparkly, and I mean that in the noticeable-glitter sense, not in the subtly-shimmery sense. The glitter itself is white-silver. If you're into bright colors, this would be great for a fun night-out look, but for other tastes and/or situations, it's probably too over the top for most.
Click "continued" for pics of the four new 24/7 liners and my swatches!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Urban Decay - Flipside 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
kmbirkel 1/14/2009 4:12:00 AM
Flipside is a gorgeous, bright blue color. In my experience, it can be hard to pull off light or bright blues on the eye; most efforts tend to make you either look like a 12-year-old or a 50-year-old who's trying to look like a 12-year-old (even if you're 20, 30, 40...). However, this blue is an unabashed, badass blue. I don't know if this is where the name came from or not, but it makes me think of the scene in the movie The Boondock Saints when Murphy and Rocco are on the phone - Murphy asks Rocco if he's okay, and Rocco responds, "I'm fine. Catch you on the flip side." And then Rocco walks into a restaurant and kills three people in plain daylight, with the edgy rock song "Holy Fool" leading the way. But I digress. Of the four new colors, this one goes on the most smoothly, and appears the most matte (though it is still slightly metallic). Love it.
Click "continued" for pics of the four new 24/7 liners and my swatches!
11 out of 11 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Jane - Blushing Glow Blush
kmbirkel 1/9/2009 8:38:00 AM
Pictured here are all eight of the Jane Blushing Cheeks blushes and all four of the Jane Be Pure Mineral Gel Eyeliners (please see my reviews for those if interested - they are the BEST!). All of these blushes and liners can be found at most Walgreens and Rite Aids for $3-4 each (but, as always, you can wait for a BOGO sale).
I'm rather ambivalent about this blush... it could be just that my skin is slightly more cool-toned (NW10-15ish), but it looked downright orange on my skin. All the shades go on smoothly and I have found them to be very blendable and buildable (though I wouldn't advise you to pile on too much of some of the warmer tones, or you might end up looking like an Oompa-Loompa unless you have very dark skin). My two favorites are 02 Blushing Blossom and 05 Blushing Wine, because they both show up as softly pretty, sophisticated colors on me. You may have noticed that both are matte. I have nothing against the shimmer in the others, including Blushing Glow; it's not over the top at all, and in fact, looks like a pretty natural glow on the cheeks. I guess I just feel that if you want shimmer, you might as well go all out and get the NARS blushes, because NARS does shimmer best.
On that note, I went through all of these, hopefully swatching for ages, waiting to find a match or two - but, bizarrely enough, none of the Jane blushes are dupes at all of any of the NARS blushes I currently own (Penny Lane, Deep Throat, Orgasm, Sin, Mata Hari, and Dolce Vita). A few of them looked at first glance like they could be close in tone to Penny Lane, Orgasm, and/or Deep Throat, but upon further inspection they really weren't even similar enough to bother with comparison pictures at all. (And, while I don't own the entire NARS blush collection, I do have a fairly good memory for what the ones I don't own look like, and I can't think of any really promising dupes with those, either.) It's not that the Jane blushes are bad or unimpressive; they're just relatively unique in color.
Please click "continued" to see pics and swatches!
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Jane - Blushing Orchid
kmbirkel 1/9/2009 8:36:00 AM
Pictured here are all eight of the Jane Blushing Cheeks blushes and all four of the Jane Be Pure Mineral Gel Eyeliners (please see my reviews for those if interested - they are the BEST!). All of these blushes and liners can be found at most Walgreens and Rite Aids for $3-4 each (but, as always, you can wait for a BOGO sale).
I'm rather ambivalent about this blush. All the shades go on smoothly and I have found them to be very blendable and buildable (though I wouldn't advise you to pile on too much of some of the warmer tones, or you might end up looking like an Oompa-Loompa unless you have very dark skin). My two favorites are 02 Blushing Blossom and 05 Blushing Wine, because they both show up as softly pretty, sophisticated colors on me. You may have noticed that both are matte. I have nothing against the shimmer in the others, including Blushing Orchid Shimmer; it's not over the top at all, and in fact, looks like a pretty natural glow on the cheeks. I guess I just feel that if you want shimmer, you might as well go all out and get the NARS blushes, because NARS does shimmer best.
On that note, I went through all of these, hopefully swatching for ages, waiting to find a match or two - but, bizarrely enough, none of the Jane blushes are dupes at all of any of the NARS blushes I currently own (Penny Lane, Deep Throat, Orgasm, Sin, Mata Hari, and Dolce Vita). A few of them looked at first glance like they could be close in tone to Penny Lane, Orgasm, and/or Deep Throat, but upon further inspection they really weren't even similar enough to bother with comparison pictures at all. (And, while I don't own the entire NARS blush collection, I do have a fairly good memory for what the ones I don't own look like, and I can't think of any really promising dupes with those, either.) It's not that the Jane blushes are bad or unimpressive; they're just relatively unique in color.
Please click "continued" to see pics and swatches!
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Jane - Blushing Plum
kmbirkel 1/9/2009 8:35:00 AM
Pictured here are all eight of the Jane Blushing Cheeks blushes and all four of the Jane Be Pure Mineral Gel Eyeliners (please see my reviews for those if interested - they are the BEST!). All of these blushes and liners can be found at most Walgreens and Rite Aids for $3-4 each (but, as always, you can wait for a BOGO sale).
I'm rather ambivalent about this blush... for the record, it is not "plummy" at all, and is in fact much more pink. All the shades go on smoothly and I have found them to be very blendable and buildable (though I wouldn't advise you to pile on too much of some of the warmer tones, or you might end up looking like an Oompa-Loompa unless you have very dark skin). My two favorites are 02 Blushing Blossom and 05 Blushing Wine, because they both show up as softly pretty, sophisticated colors on me. You may have noticed that both are matte. I have nothing against the shimmer in the others, including Blushing Plum; it's not over the top at all, and in fact, looks like a pretty natural glow on the cheeks. I guess I just feel that if you want shimmer, you might as well go all out and get the NARS blushes, because NARS does shimmer best.
On that note, I went through all of these, hopefully swatching for ages, waiting to find a match or two - but, bizarrely enough, none of the Jane blushes are dupes at all of any of the NARS blushes I currently own (Penny Lane, Deep Throat, Orgasm, Sin, Mata Hari, and Dolce Vita). A few of them looked at first glance like they could be close in tone to Penny Lane, Orgasm, and/or Deep Throat, but upon further inspection they really weren't even similar enough to bother with comparison pictures at all. (And, while I don't own the entire NARS blush collection, I do have a fairly good memory for what the ones I don't own look like, and I can't think of any really promising dupes with those, either.) It's not that the Jane blushes are bad or unimpressive; they're just relatively unique in color.
Please click "continued" to see pics and swatches!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Jane - Blushing Earth Sheer
kmbirkel 1/9/2009 8:29:00 AM
Pictured here are all eight of the Jane Blushing Cheeks blushes and all four of the Jane Be Pure Mineral Gel Eyeliners (please see my reviews for those if interested - they are the BEST!). All of these blushes and liners can be found at most Walgreens and Rite Aids for $3-4 each (but, as always, you can wait for a BOGO sale).
I'm rather ambivalent about this blush... it could be just that my skin is slightly more cool-toned (NW10-15ish), but it looked downright orange on me. All the shades go on smoothly and I have found them to be very blendable and buildable (though I wouldn't advise you to pile on too much of some of the warmer tones, which includes Blushing Earth Sheer, or you might end up looking like an Oompa-Loompa unless you have very dark skin).
I went through all of these, hopefully swatching for ages, waiting to find a match or two - but, bizarrely enough, none of the Jane blushes are dupes at all of any of the NARS blushes I currently own (Penny Lane, Deep Throat, Orgasm, Sin, Mata Hari, and Dolce Vita). A few of them looked at first glance like they could be close in tone to Penny Lane, Orgasm, and/or Deep Throat, but upon further inspection they really weren't even similar enough to bother with comparison pictures at all. (And, while I don't own the entire NARS blush collection, I do have a fairly good memory for what the ones I don't own look like, and I can't think of any really promising dupes with those, either.) It's not that the Jane blushes are bad or unimpressive; they're just relatively unique in color.
Please click "continued" to see pics and swatches!
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