Liquid -Chanel - Perfection Lumiere
Winthrop44 9/25/2011 1:20:00 PM
I was pleased to see that Chanel expanded its shade range at the darker end with this foundation. I was also happy to see that this foundation does not include any chemical sunscreens but instead contains the sunblock titanium dioxide. Those things and the lovely pump packaging are the real positives in my mind. I could probably get by with the lightest beige shade, B10, if I had to, but it is a bit dark and orangey on my NC10-15 skin. I currently wear Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain, which is a much better shade match and feels more comfortable on. I found that the finish of Perfection Lumiere looked somewhat aging on my normal to dry skin and my face felt slightly irritated until I removed the foundation both days that I tried it (once on bare skin and once over moisturizer and primer). I have sensitive skin with rosacea and in looking at the ingredients I suspect the alcohol bothers my rosacea. This foundation does contain less alcohol (and perhaps a little less fragrance) than Vitalumiere Aqua, but it is still pretty high up there on the ingredient list so it is probably not the best choice for me and may not be for others with sensitive and/or dry skin or rosacea. Such things are very YMMV. Bottom line is that I hope the current trend of using high levels of alcohol in liquid foundations will pass sooner rather than later, as I don't see how wearing alcohol on a daily basis will be good for anyone's skin over the long run - it's drying. I also hope now that Chanel has finally expanded their shade range at the dark end they will also do so at the light end of the spectrum...and maybe tone down the orange! Edit 9/28/11: Even though I an an NC10-15 with neutral to yellow undertones BR-12 (Beige Rose) looks better on me than B-10 (Beige). Still dark but not orange, and for some reason does not feel as irritating on my skin. This is the first time ever that I've matched to a "pink" shade, but the BR range is not overly pink imo. If you want to try this foundation I would recommend sampling a variety of shades in different undertones even if you think they may not work on you and be sure to let the foundation settle on your skin for a good 30 minutes. Drying and/or oxidizing seems to darken the color from what you see immediately after applying - this happens within 5-10 minutes as the foundation dries, even on my arm, so it is not an interaction with my moisturizer and/or primer.
15 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -Chanel - Vitalumiere Aqua
Winthrop44 3/2/2011 3:12:00 PM
Tried this today in B10, the lightest yellow toned shade available, and it literally looked orange on me. The shade range is very limited and does not go either light enough or dark enough imo. In addition to the shade issue, it burned my skin within about 10 minutes of application. I have rosacea with very sensitive skin but gave it a try because I was feeling brave. With the high alcohol content, chemical sunscreen and very noticeable fragrance I would have been pretty surprised if rosacean skin could tolerate it. I know not everybody's skin is as sensitive as mine but I don't care for the latest craze of high levels of alcohol in foundations as I don't see how that could be great for anybody's skin over the long term. For ref I am NC10-15, Chantecaille Future Skin Porcelain
13 out of 16 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Chanel - Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle 05
Winthrop44 6/3/2010 9:22:00 AM
I had a rough start with this lipstick but now I love it. When I first tried it it seemed to turn an unflattering brown-orange shade on me. I could fix that by lining with Chanel's Pink Sugar or even MAC Naked lipliner first. More recently, for some reason, when I apply without lipliner it looks exactly like the gorgeous shade in the ads. All I can think is that the color changes depending on something about me - like my pH at the time? In any case, I'm a big fan of this one now. I have several Rouge Cocos and love them all. My favorites are Mademoiselle, Gardenia, Camelia and Cambon. To me the scent of the RCs is more tolerable than the Rouge Allures, and the staying power of both RCs and RAs is much better than MAC lipsticks. I do find the RCs to be drying though, and I don't have that problem with any other lipstick I've tried. I just try not to wear them 2 days in a row for this reason. For reference I am a light NC15/Chantecaille Porcelain
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -MAC - Prim & Proper - Liberty of London [DISCONTINUED]
Winthrop44 4/16/2010 7:54:00 AM
I can't add much to previous positive reviews except to mention that on me (light NC15 neutral to warm) this looks very similar to Chanel Nude JC! It is more pigmented so a lighter hand is needed for the same effect, but tonally it is quite similar on. For reference I am a light NC15/Chantecaille Porcelain
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Liners -MAC - Naked Liner
Winthrop44 3/7/2010 9:54:00 AM
I'm loving the new liners MAC just released, especially Naked and In Synch. I understand where some people are saying they tone down the lips too much, making them look fake, but with how pigment-saturated and creamy these are I don't think these are meant to be used "full strength", for lack of a better phrase. What I do is lightly outline my lips and then blend inward with my finger to lightly fill my lips - you only need to apply very little. Unlike MAC's regular pencil liners, these new ones are super creamy and blending/sheering them out is really easy. Once the liner is sheered out it just tones down my lips a bit and the effect is gorgeous! That said, like the reviewer below, I still prefer Creme d'Nude without a liner...cremesheen, satin and amplified lipsticks are opaque enough and do not bleed on me to where I don't use a liner with them. I love Naked and In Synch with lipglasses and cremesheen glasses though, so much so that I bought 2 backups of each just in case they remain LE (which I think would be ridiculous for such staple shades). I'm sure they will look beautiful under lustre lipsticks as well. I'm hoping MAC makes these permanent and adds other shades. Naked is so much better than Lip Erase, which dries my lips terribly and mixes with whatever I apply over it no matter how thin a layer is applied. Blech! I am B2M'ing my Lip Erase. Try Boy Bait over Naked or the new cremesheen glass, Just Superb, over In Synch...gorgeous! NC15 with pigmented lips for ref
15 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Palettes -Graftobian - Empty 8-Well Magnetic Palette
Winthrop44 10/31/2009 4:24:00 PM
loverofmineralmakeup already gave a great description of this palette and I love it as much as she does. I just wanted to include my pictures of the palette, open and closed, for further info. I got mine to use for Chantecaille shadows and couldn't be happier. The only negative I can possibly come up with is that I'd prefer not to have any logo on the outside of the palette, but it's really not a big deal to me. Just click continued for the pictures.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Chantecaille - Camellia Lip Chic
Winthrop44 10/31/2009 1:26:00 PM
Lip Chics are a cross between a lipstick and a gloss. They provide a soft shine and a balm-like feel, a pleasant light vanilla scent, and have surprising lasting power. They're very sheer so they look darker in the tube than they do when applied. There are alot of reviews under the general lip chic category that give great details about individual shades, so don't miss those. I just thought it might be worth breaking out individual shades now that they seem to be getting more popular.
I would describe Camellia as a very sheer natural light pink. For an arm swatch of Camellia and other Chantecaille lipsticks and lip chics I own just click continued. For reference I am a light NC15/Alima N1/Chantecaille Porcelain.
Camellia Lip Chic-Lotus l/s-Narcissia l/s-Oleander l/s-Tea Rose Lip Chic-Ylang l/s
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Chantecaille - Tea Rose Lip Chic
Winthrop44 10/31/2009 1:23:00 PM
Lip Chics are a cross between a lipstick and a gloss. They provide a soft shine and a balm-like feel, a pleasant light vanilla scent, and have surprising lasting power. They're very sheer so they look darker in the tube than they do when applied. There are alot of reviews under the general lip chic category that give great details about individual shades, so don't miss those. I just thought it might be worth breaking out individual shades now that they seem to be getting more popular.
I would describe Tea Rose as a sheer, mid-tone rosy pink. It's a gorgeous shade! For an arm swatch of Tea Rose and other Chantecaille lipsticks and lip chics I own just click continued. For reference I am a light NC15/Alima N1/Chantecaille Porcelain.
Camellia Lip Chic-Lotus l/s-Narcissia l/s-Oleander l/s-Tea Rose Lip Chic-Ylang l/s
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Lipstick -Chantecaille - Narcissia
Winthrop44 10/31/2009 10:00:00 AM
On my pigmented lips this is a gorgeous pinky rose with a touch of peach. I've noticed that some reviews call this pinky coral, some call it nude, some call it mauvey. I don't know if the shade has morphed over time or it just looks different on everyone. FWIW I purchased mine over a year ago and it's in the older style case, not the current one that's shaped like the Lip Chics case. Anyway, I think Narcissia is a beautiful, complex, face brightening shade and the texture is divine. I wish the Chantecaille lipsticks had less (floral) fragrance and were less expensive - not to mention more widely available so I could see them all in person - but I guess you can't have everything! For an arm swatch of Narcissia and the other Chantecaille lipsticks and lip chics I own just click continued. For reference I am a light NC15/Alima N1/Chantecaille Porcelain.
Camellia Lip Chic-Lotus l/s-Narcissia l/s-Oleander l/s-Tea Rose Lip Chic-Ylang l/s
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Chapstick - 100% Naturals - Lip Butter
Winthrop44 10/30/2009 1:55:00 PM
This is my favorite stick lip balm. It gets the job done while feeling less heavy/waxy than regular Chapstick. Alot of scents/tastes make me nauseous and this doesn't. Unlike alot of other reviewers I'm happy it doesn't have SPF. I hope if they ever offer an SPF version they'll still make this as well, because...yep, you guessed it, SPF in lip products makes me nauseous!
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Liquid -NARS - Sheer Glow Foundation 
Winthrop44 10/2/2009 3:21:00 PM
I have rosacea with normal to dry, super-sensitive, pale skin. Between my paleness and the fact that I react to so many commonly used cosmetic ingredients finding foundations is not easy. This new foundation, which is intended for normal to dry skin types, doesn't contain any of my known irritants. I was a little apprehensive about the turmeric (which Paula Begoun says has potent antioxidant properties but may be irritating to skin) but gave it a go. I've been using it for about 2 weeks now and my skin has no problems with it. I'm a light NC15 with neutral to yellow undertones (Studio Sculpt NC15 is the only NC15 that really matches me, and that runs lighter and more neutral than other NC15 MAC foundations). I routinely wear Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain or Alima MMU in N1 and ended up choosing Sheer Glow in Siberia (the lightest shade for light skin with neutral undertones) even though it's light on me going on; it's more like NC/NW10. Within a short time it settles into my skin and looks fairly decent...I think because it oxidizes on me. I would probably need to mix Siberia with Gobi for a better match. By itself I found Gobi (for light skin with yellow undertones) too yellow and too dark once it dried down or oxidized (whatever is going on that makes the colors darker on me in a few minutes), Mont Blanc (for light skin with pink undertones) too peachy and too dark, and Deauville (the next step up from Siberia for light skin with neutral undertones) way too dark (MAC NC/NW20-25). As others below me have already mentioned this foundation feels weightless on and provides medium coverage while still managing to look natural, provided you use a small amount. The finish is satin rather than glowy as the name would imply. The package insert tells you to "warm the foundation in the hands, then, working with the fingers apply a small amount of foundation in the center of the face and begin pressing the foundation onto the skin". I agree with everyone else that they need a pump on this!
Here is a comparison pic of the lightest 3 shades on my NC10-15 skin:
Siberia - Gobi - Mont Blanc
75 out of 76 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -MAC - The Perfect Cheek
Winthrop44 9/2/2009 7:31:00 AM
I gave this a couple of lippies for the slightly glowy effect it imparts despite being a matte, and I liked the shade in the pot, but I was very disappointed that it turned orange on me almost immediately...the end result was a really unattractive lightly sunburned color on my cheeks. Chanel Nude JC works way better on me.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Tinted Moisturizer -MAC - Studio Moisture Tint SPF15
Winthrop44 7/27/2009 1:53:00 PM
This is MAC's new tinted moisturizer. I'm writing this review before giving it a fair trial since I know there are other rosaceans and sensitive skin people out there like me who want to know the ingredients as soon as a new face product comes out! More often than not I can't tolerate octinoxate but this also contains caffeine which my skin likes, so I figured I'd give it a whirl - so far it feels very comfortable on and I'm very pleased with it. Coverage is minimal as you would expect from a TM; this just evens out skin tone a bit and leaves a satin to slightly dewey finish, at least over my usual moisturizer. I'm a light NC15 and Light works well. Light is neutral and light enough, and the product is sheer enough, to where I think it will be great for alot of pale people who often have trouble finding a match. It comes in a nice little squeeze tube which is hygenic and convenient. This is a permanent product, which is another plus. I will update if I experience any irritation.
Ingredients: Octinoxate (3.5%), water, cyclopentasiloxane, butylene glycol, steareth-21, glyceryl stearate, dimethicone, isostearic acid, tromethamine, tocopheryl acetate, lecithin, cholesterol, ascorbyl palmitate, sodium hyaluronate, caffeine, aloe barbadensis leaf water, hydrogenated lecithin, sucrose, sorbitol, silica, trehalose, magnesium aluminum silicate, carbomer, steareth-2, cellulose gum, PVP, palmitoyl oligopeptide, glyceryl polymethacrylate, methyldihydroiasmonate, xantham gum, caprylyl glycol, stearic acid, sodium citrate, PEG-8, glycerin, disodium EDTA, hexylene glycol, BHT, phenoxyethanol, chlorphensin, chloroxylenol (+/- mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides)
Here is a comparison pic with some other products:
LM Silk Creme Soft Ivory - Chantecaille Future Skin Alabaster - Chantecaille Future Skin Porcelain - MAC Studio Moisture Tint Light
23 out of 23 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Makeup Brushes -MAC - 131 Duo Fibre Powder & Blush Brush
Winthrop44 7/12/2009 7:58:00 AM
I am very happy with this brush. I think MAC could have done better for themselves by pricing it below $40 but I personally have no regrets about shelling out the money since I didn't care for any of the other face products in the Colour Craft collection (way too glittery for my taste). The 131 is as soft and as dense as the 187 and 188 and falls between the two in terms of size. As the reviewer below stated it is slightly more firm (meaning the black natural bristles, not the white synthetic bristles that touch your face....again, those are every bit as soft as MAC's other skunk brushes) than the 187/188, and this is great because it allows for more precise control. I've washed, used, and rewashed mine already and have had no shedding or bleeding at all.
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Blush -MAC - Mineralize Blush - Improvise
Winthrop44 7/12/2009 7:44:00 AM
I really loved the salmon peachy color of this blush but sadly that's where the love ended. In sunlight my cheeks were full of very visible shimmer/glitter particles...completely unwearable in my opinion. I briefly entertained the idea of keeping this for night time use only because the shimmer/glitter particles were not noticeable in the dimmer light of my bathroom, but then decided I'd be sitting in a restaurant or wherever wondering whether or not I looked like a disco ball in that particular lighting. At my counter, once they were worked over, this entire collection of mineralize blushes looked like little glitterbombs in pots. Some have said the glitter effect with these can be minimized by buffing into the skin. I never buff anything into my sensitive skin, especially my rosacea cheeks that I have under good control, and to be honest I don't see how smooshing and dragging particles big enough to see with the naked eye back and forth and all around could be good for anyone's skin. If you're looking for a pretty, glowy - as opposed to glittery - blush try to get your hands on some of MAC's older Sonic Chic mineralize blushes (some of which remain in the permanent line) or check out Chanel's Joues Contraste blushes. MAC NC15/C1, Alima N1 for ref
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No