Highlighters -MAC - Marine Life [DISCONTINUED]
brookecouture 5/28/2010 5:01:00 PM
After much hype this product has been a total let down for me. It is SO beautiful to look at. And that's where the good points end. I'm NW25 but can wear both warm and cool tones (I look better in the warm) and this blush is way too dark/pigmented for me. Even using a light hand and the 131 brush I came out looking like a clown. I'm hoping this summer when I get a bit of a tan I can pull it off. Definately not worth the $50 plus people are paying on ebay. EDIT: Moved the rating up from 2 lippies to 3. After trying a few more times I found a way to make it work. While it's still not my fav, and still not worth more than retail, with a little playing around you CAN get this to look nice and brighten up your face. Don't chuck it the first time it looks clownish. I tried several brushes and the one that worked best with this one, on me, was the 168!
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Lipstick -MAC - Style Warriors- Brave New Bronze [DISCONTINUED]
brookecouture 6/1/2009 2:15:00 PM
I have sort of a love/hate going on with this lipstick. I was totally in love with the swatches I'd seen on peoples lips, hands, arms... the reviews were great from the people who went to pre-launch. I was lemming this color badly. It looks pinkish in the tube, but on my lips its brown city and totally washed me out. It is also drying, which mostly has to do with the Satin finish. I also feel that it is dupeable. In any event, I've been experimenting, and with ANY gloss over top this lippie is divine. It looks best with Gold Rebel, Melt In Your Mouth and Pink Grapefruit. I don't believe it is backup worthy, but you should definately pick one up. It really is gorgeous, and the packaging is to die for!
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Polishes -Christian Dior - Sweet Orange
brookecouture 4/30/2009 9:25:00 AM
Only available at Sephora the Dior Vernis nail polish in Sweet Orange is a gorgeous peachy shade w/ some gold sparkle to it in the light (click continued for a pic). It is similar to NARS Orgasm n/p but it's better. I call it NARS Orgasm on steroids. Dior has a better consistency to their polishes than NARS. A richer texture.
The price tag is high for nail polish. $20 plus tax. The reason I only rated it at 4 lippies is because of the price and the fact that it is a sheer shade and took 4 coats to get the effect that you see in the pic below.
The packaging is gorgeous, and while you don't get a ton of product for $20 it is definately more chip resistant than some of the lower end brands. I would definately buy this product again.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -Yves Saint Laurent - Rouge Volupte-peach passion
brookecouture 4/30/2009 9:09:00 AM
I bought this lippie w/ the Sephora 15% off sale after reading the reviews here and seeing the pics (if you click continued I've added my own pic which is the lippie w/ no liner or gloss, 1 coat).
It is absolutely divine! It goes on smooth and lasted a couple hours on me. Even after eating and drinking I still had a tint of it left. The smell is awesome (like a margarita lol don't ask me why I am thinking of this!!!!) and it brightens up my whole face.
The packaging is heavy and gorgeous. I feel fancy when I apply this lipstick. I will definately be going out to purchase several more of these.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Eye Shadow 4: Lucky Tom
brookecouture 4/2/2009 9:06:00 PM
I was the first person to say how this palette wasn't worth buying because it was SO dupeable. After seeing a few FOTD's on YouTube I decided to swap for it. While I still feel that it IS dupeable it is an absolutely gorgeous palette. The packaging is really cute and for 4 eyeshadows the price is reasonable. If you don't have the dupes of these ones it's definately worth the purchase. There are several awesome eye looks you can create with this. You can get really funky or stay really neutral. Lucky Tom is even pretty nice, and it's a Lustre. You'll never catch me saying that about any other Lustre on the block! My favorite look is to wear creme royale on the lid and lucky tom in the crease. I line with Black karat Kohl power. I'm much more impressed than I thought I'd be. It's definately worth picking up before they sell out!
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Lipstick -Guerlain - KissKiss - 557 Flushy Beige
brookecouture 3/10/2009 5:18:00 PM
I saw this lippie swatched on KarlaSugars blog and HAD to have it. I was hunting for a new lippie during the Sephora 15% off deal. Normally I'd never pay $30 for a lippie lol anyway, the swatch looked GORGEOUS so I had to give it a go. The name of the lippie will totally throw you off the color. There is no "beige" in this lippie. It should be called Berry Flushy because it has a definate berry hue to it. You can build up the color. One coat is a flushed lip look, then you can build it into a deeper berry. This one can be worn year round based on seperate intensities.... nice and smooth to put on, doesn't cake. Not crazy about the scent but its not as bad as NARS lol two thumbs up!! MAC NW25 for reference, brown hair and eyes.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -MAC - What A Do! (Blonde Brunette Redhead)
brookecouture 1/29/2009 4:06:00 PM
Ok. I'm going to be honest. This is the ugliest lipstick ever by itself. It is UBER frosty and is a brown/gold sheen. I'm MAC NC/NW20 for reference. BUT when you put a lipglass over it, ANY lipglass really, it is just gorgeous. I've used Monodramatic from the Monogram collection and Pink Grapefruit from Neo Sci-Fi and they've both been hits with What A Do! I'm excited to try some more combos with it. I definately recommend purchasing and experimenting.
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Misc Beauty Tools -Sephora - Eye Makeup Remover Pen
brookecouture 1/24/2009 3:15:00 PM
This is the worst makeup corrector pen I've ever owned in my LIFE. I used to use one by Bourjois but it was discontinued (or I guess I just can't find it?) so I needed to find something to replace that. I got this around Christmas time. The first time I used it it was pretty decent. This is the second time and it smeared the makeup all over my face. It was awful. I wiped the tip and tried it again, more smear. Basically raccoon eyes in 2 seconds flat no matter what I tried. I've never had good luck with Sephora brand products, I'm not sure why I thought this one would be different. I guess you get what you pay for.... :( Good thing they have an awesome return policy!
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Palettes -NARS - Best Palette (#9944)
brookecouture 1/16/2009 2:43:00 PM
This is the best NARS product that I own. I own a ton of MAC, NARS, Dior & Chanel and this is the ONLY thing with any dips. I reach for it pretty much every day. The colors are all gorgeous and go together nicely. For NARS, the pigment is even good! Kalahari is my fav duo from NARS and I'm happy that these shadows are perm so I can restock once this palette is used up. If you buy anything from NARS, this is the thing to get. I'm NC/NW20 for reference.
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Eyeliner -MAC - Penultimate Eye Liner - Rapidblack
brookecouture 1/9/2009 3:42:00 PM
I am absolutely impressed with this liner. I generally use the fluidlines from MAC, and, when I'm feeling really lazy, the kohls. Rapidblack is a DARK black that lines flawlessly. The tip is a lot more precise than I imagined it would be, so its really easy to work with. I don't have a problem with this showing up too light on me, it's absolutely perfect and I would definately repurchase. I hope MAC comes out with at least a brown in this one!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -Christian Dior - Iridescent Quint -Petal Shine 809
brookecouture 1/5/2009 5:03:00 PM
I'll have to agree with eunice.. the shadows are VERY sheer. They swatch nicely on the skin, but once applied to my lids I could barely see them. It makes me so sad too because this is a gorgeous palette :\ I too love the IrL quint. The texture is smooth and thick, but just not very pigmented, which is really disappointing. I even used it over UDPP and a MAC paint pot in layin low! I am going to try it with a tarte lock and roll as well as wet to try and pump it up a bit more. I'm a neutral girl, but I can't roll with the sheerness of this one :( for the price I definately expected more from it. I'll amend the review once I've tried a few more things. But for now, I'd advise a big pass on this one.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -MAC - Mineralize Blush - Nuance
brookecouture 12/18/2008 11:47:00 AM
By far my favorite blush ever! Surpassing all colors and brands MAC's Nuance has hit #1 in my train case! Its a beautiful peachy color with a nice understated shimmer. The Mineralized blushes are nice because you can build up the intensity. With this one I used my 129 brush, swept it across the dome of the blush and blew the access off lightly. Start at the apples of your cheeks and blend up. Perfection! I only needed one application on each cheek. These blushes are wonderfully pigmented. It's just SUCH a shame Nuance is LE :\ But with MAC that's to be expected with the favs!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -Bobbi Brown - Gel Eyeliner Ivy Shimmer
brookecouture 12/5/2008 11:14:00 PM
First of all, I am beyond impressed with the Bobbi Brown brand. I've steered clear of it, not sure of the reasoning, but was just never interested. I saw a few eye looks on a friend here and it got me lemming the inks. F&F came up and I ordered Black Mauve and Ivy. They are both GORGEOUS. Ivy is comparable to the MAC Forest Green pigment but a liner. Beyond perfection. These Shimmer inks go on smooth, deep, and stay put. It even stayed on the water line!! They wipe off easily though with makeup remover, which is a HUGE bonus, as I hate waking up with raccoon eyes! I took a pic of me wearing the Ivy liner and it's up for a limited time in my profile. I've already placed another order for the Sapphire Shimmer Ink. Home run, Bobbi Brown, home run.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eyeliner -MAC - Kohl Power in Black Karat
brookecouture 11/29/2008 1:14:00 PM
why why why is this LE?!?! This is a gorgeous kohl that I never picked up in the beginning because swatches said it was so similar to Orpheus, which I already had 2 of. Boy was that dumb. It is slightly similar to Orpheus BUT the shade difference makes ALL the difference!!!! This is my fav eyeliner by far and I didn't think anything could beat out Orpheus. I don't know what I'm going to do when this runs out, but I'm definately on the look out. It applies smoothly and evenly and I have been able to use it on my waterline. It's very versitile and can be used with blacks, browns, any shade really. Today I have it on with Tarte Patina Lock & Roll (which is a mint green). If you have the opportunity to pick this up DO IT. Its gorgeous and worth it!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -NARS - Cordura Duo
brookecouture 11/26/2008 1:50:00 PM
I was so disappointed in this duo. I've been lusting forever. I finally picked it up with a gift card I received for my bday. The darker side is BLACK brown. The lighter side is a very dark brown. The swatches appear a shade lighter. It goes on like mud and doesn't spread very evenly, you almost have to pat them down, especially the darker side. if you are after some seriously dark browns this is the way to go, if not.... definately pass.
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