Blush -L'Oreal - Blush Delice - Front-Page Peach
Painted_Lady1981 2/25/2006 5:41:00 AM
I am going to agree with most of the ladies here and say that this is very similar to Orgasm - rather, it's what I wanted Orgasm to be. Well, almost. There is still a little too much golden shimmer for my taste, but it's much more manageable than Orgasm, and the color is just lovely - a perfect juicy-looking peach that doesn't turn orange on my NW20 complexion. I haven't worn it long enough to see whether it lasts as long as NARS blushes do, but am happy with the color so far. I also like the packaging - cute, functional, and lets you see the color in the compact immediately. I never buy backups anymore, but am considering doing so with this one.
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Makeup Brushes -NARS - Small Dome Brush 12
Painted_Lady1981 2/25/2006 5:35:00 AM
I have a bit of a funny story with this brush. I initially got it in a set, and put it up for swap. When I sent it out, it arrived with a cracked handle, so the girl I sent it to sent it back. I taped up the handle, and figured I'd make the best of it, since I couldn't swap it now. Well, it has since turned into an absolute staple for me, and the only non-MAC brush I would repurchase if I lost this one. First of all, its shape and texture has not changed after several washings. And second, its size and shape is PERFECT for applying color to my crease. I pick up some color on the tip and blend it in, building up as much color as I want in a very controlled way. This brush can pick up as much or as little color as you want, since it is domed - you just control how many of the bristles touch the shadow - and its size makes it perfect for precision work - so that you get that great look where eyeshadow is blended, but not at all muddy. Excellent brush. Every time I use it, I am glad the USPS was incompetent with the package :)
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -MAC - #231 Small Shader Brush
Painted_Lady1981 2/25/2006 5:25:00 AM
This is such an underrated little brush. It is absolutely PERFECT for applying eyeliner, particularly for tightlining. It is small enough to fit into any space, stiff and thin enough to draw fine lines with, soft enough not to pose a danger to eyes - it is just phenomenal, everything I wanted an eyeliner brush to be. It makes tightlining a breeze - I just get some fluidliner on the brush, and then literally paint my waterline, with the flat side of the brush (not the tip). You can also angle the brush in different ways to get lines of different (and graduated) thickness. I find it crazy that no one ever mentions this among the "best eyeliner brushes."
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Primer -Urban Decay - Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Original (UDPP)
Painted_Lady1981 2/16/2006 6:49:00 PM
At first, I was very reluctant to try this - partly because it seems to be like crack - you try it once, and after a while, you start going ballistic when it's OOS everywhere, and you seriously contemplate selling your eggs for a bottle. I was quite happy with MAC paints, and didn't want to get into the habit. But . . . then, I got some at a discount, and here are my impressions of it - particularly versus MAC paints. It keeps the eyeshadow on, yes. But MAC paints win on sheer longevity - after 10 hours or so, my eyeshadow creases with UDPP. With MAC paints, it NEVER does. Where UDPP does win, however, is appearance - it seems to intensify colors, and it never gives a "dry" appearance, which MAC paints can. This makes it easier to have dewy-looking eyes. On packaging, both UDPP and MAC paints have their issues - MAC paints come in these annoying metal tubes that tend to suddenly expel about half the product with no way to get it back in the tube. UDPP has a tight stopper on top which makes it difficult to get all the product out - but I hear the stopper is removeable, so when it gets hard to pull out the product, I will take it out, and see how it works. All in all, I have to give UDPP a 5 because it does the job, and it does it well. The price is also reasonable. However, if I run out and it is OOS, I don't think I will go to pieces :)
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Mascara -Bourjois - Glossy Wet-Look Mascara Top Coat
Painted_Lady1981 11/18/2005 10:17:00 AM
I love this product. I have always been looking for a mascara with a SUBTLE glimmer. While this won't make your lashes actually "glossy," it does add a subtle, intriguing bit of blueish shimmer. I like to lightly sweep the applicator wand over the tips of my lashes, and create little "beads" of glittery liquid. Or run the tip of the applicator (with its glob of product) through individual parts of my lashes, to create wet-looking spikes. And at under $10, this is a great deal. This is firmly entrenched in my makeup bag and I would definitely rebuy.
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Lip Gloss -Urban Decay - XXX Shine in Quickie
Painted_Lady1981 11/3/2005 2:47:00 PM
Yummy! It's exactly what I had been looking for - I am a pale, cool-toned brunette, and it is very hard for me to do a red-lip look with most red lipsticks or glosses. I always end up looking like a cheap floozy :) Well, this stuff is a clear, berry-ish red that is rather cool-toned, so I can actually wear it year-round. Like all XXX glosses, it is SUPER-glossy, but not too sticky, with a decent staying power. It also has a minty tingle that I rather like. With a subtle, natural lipliner, my average lips look EXTREMELY full - bee-stung, almost. I am not a huge fan of round applicators, but will certainly repurchase when I finish the tube.
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Blush -MAC - Cream Color Base in Fantastic Plastic
Painted_Lady1981 11/3/2005 2:43:00 PM
This is one of those products that I don't use as often as some others, but probably would not get rid of. I am a NW25 brown-eyed brunette and I find it to be very versatile - I can put it on the apples of my cheeks for a natural-looking flush, I can put just a touch on the tops of my cheekbones for a GREAT highlight, I can wear it as a highlighter on my browbone or strategically applied on the lid for a pink look (although, like all creams, it creases within a few hours; but then, everything creases on my eyes without a good base), I can wear it on my lips either alone (very nice pale pink look with smoky/dark eyes) or with a lip gloss on top (I like Fleur de Light) - really, I can do anything with it. The drawback is, it IS creamy, so it does crease and if I wear it on my cheeks, I tend to feel the beginnings of a breakout, so I only wear it for a few hours at a time. But it is a very lovely pink color with just the right amount of shimmer. I would not repurchase it simply because I know I will never need to - I've been using it for nearly a year and it looks practically new. But would definitely recommend a try :)
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Palettes -MAC - Pro Colour Palette/Small Eye Shadow
Painted_Lady1981 11/3/2005 1:22:00 PM
I looooove these things! Slim, sleek, convenient and you can switch the eyeshadows around, so it makes any kind of packing (overnight or for a week) a snap. And now that I know what they retail for (yup . . . I was taken in by the ebay hype and overpaid for my first one :) I plan to make a little trip to the MAC Pro store and stock up on them. Of course, that means I will have to also buy some MAC shadows to fill them up . . . oh, how devious on MAC's part :) But how delightful, just the same :)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Paint - All
Painted_Lady1981 11/3/2005 12:21:00 AM
This stuff is the ONLY thing that has ever prevented my eyeshadow from creasing. NOTHING else ever had, except for BeneFit She Laq, and that felt like I'd put nail polish on my eyelids. I should add, I have only ever used these as bases, and never as stand-alone eyeshadows, so I only have them in 3 colors: Bare Canvas, Snapshot and Pixel. I use Bare Canvas almost every day, with any eyeshadow - not only is a it a great base, it is almost the exact color of my skin, and helps colors come across as "true" - the same color they are in the container, rather than mixing with my own skin tone. Snapshot is a very deep greyish taupe, and I use it underneath shimmery light-to-medium shades to create a jewel-like look. (Looks amazing with MAC Violet pigment, for instance, like an amethyst.) Pixel is a shimmery silver, and I use that either as a base for light, shimmery shades or for non-shimmery shades that I want to add a little something to. I am definitely planning to get some colored Paints in the future, because I like the effect of mixing and layering colors. My one gripe, and the reason I felt I had to take off a lipstick is: the packaging. It is AWFUL, as stated below. The tube is metal, which is a cute idea, but you CANNOT control for the flow of the product. And you can't very well stick it back into the tube. I have learned to keep a tiny sample jar handy to catch the excess in, otherwise, a lot of product would have just been wasted. Overall, though, it's a great product, and Bare Canvas, especially is a makeup staple for me. And, like so many of MAC's other products, these last forever. I have been using Bare Canvas almost every day for nearly a year, and the tube shows virtually no signs of shrinking. GREAT deal!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No