Blush -MAC - Prom Princess
piratecaptain 2/19/2013 12:58:00 PM
VERY PIGMENTED bright berry blush from Archie's Girls collection. It is a hard color to describe because it seems to straddle the fence between cool toned and warm toned, but I think the best color description I could come up with would be rich raspberry with shimmer. It is a great color on my NW20 skin, but I can see this working on literally every single color of skin out there. The shimmer on the face is pretty low key and I actually have yet to even notice it when it is applied to my cheeks, so all your frost-fearers need not be spooked. My only complaint about this blush (no fault of its own) is that it is not the purple toned pink I was hoping for, but it is an awesome blush in its own right, and I highly recommend it!
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Grand Galaxy
piratecaptain 2/19/2013 12:49:00 PM
This might be the most amazing eyeshadow in the entire world, and it is definitely my favorite out of the HUNDREDS that I own. It is really difficult to describe because it is made up of purple, grey, blue and taupe, and everytime the light hits it it reflects a different color. It blends out beautifully, can be built up or sheered out, works great as a crease color and a lid color, and is just generally an amazing work horse of a shadow. I am wearing it alone today (no colored base or other shadows involved) and it honestly looks like I am wearing about 3 different shadows to create my look. I would buy this a million times over if it wasn't LE. (PS- I know everyone sees color differently but I could not disagree more with the other reviewer who said this e/s looked just like Stars n Rockets. SnR is a bright sheer fuchsia with a blue duochrome and GG is a smokey purple blue taupe with a brown-grey undertone. Totes different in my opinion!)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -MAC - Mineralize Blush - Early Morning
piratecaptain 12/7/2012 11:32:00 AM
To my cool toned surprise this blush is a winner! I did the same thing as the other reviewer when I first saw it (said "Uh-oh" because it looked wayyyy too warm toned for me), and I almost swapped it away without really giving it a good try. Thank goodness for moving (all my other blushes ended up packed except for this one so I really had to put it to the test for a few weeks) because it actually looks great on me, like a very natural flush. In fact, if I have to run out the door with no time for any other makeup this blush is what I grab. Works shockingly well on bare skin, and colorwise actually looks better on me that way vs when I am actually wearing foundation. Go figure. Bottom line: Cool toned ladies needn't run in fear, this blush may be great on you!
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Lipstick -MAC - Venus
piratecaptain 12/6/2012 3:20:00 PM
I think this is the prettiest, most GLOWY pink lipstick I have ever seen! Well, besides Chanel Frivole. But they are very similar in the sense that they are both light-to-medium "girly" pinks that are amazing about absorbing and reflecting light without being "frosty". The color of Venus is a nice neutral cool, but the golden iridescence makes it wearable for a range of skintones. I loved this lipstick so much I bout 4 BUs of it! Looks amazing with neutral or smokey eyes.
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Eye Shadow -NARS - Lhasa
piratecaptain 12/6/2012 3:12:00 PM
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!! This is an exact dupe for the only eyeshadow I have ever said I couldn't live without, and which of course has long since been discontinued: Clue by MAC. NOT CLUB, CLUE. C-L-U-E. A cool subtle taupe frost with a slight blue/cool sheen when the light hits it. It makes the BEST subtle crease color, but is also lovely as a lid shade. I cannot recommend this shadow highly enough for cool toned ladies who are also total taupe hoors. This one is for you!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Sun Blonde
piratecaptain 1/25/2012 9:30:00 AM
LOVE THIS YELLOW!!!!!! Makeup artists are always saying that gals with hazel eyes should wear yellows, but until THIS yellow, that was not particularly true for me. Something about this eyeshadow is just cool-toned enough, and the texture is just shimmery enough (without being frosty) to really brighten the eyes. Even on my London-pale skin I was able to pull this off the other day, with just a tad of lighter gold on the inner corners, some black liner and mascara, and a touch of Warmed MSF on the cheeks and a peachy gloss and it looked fabulous! If you are interested in yellows but have so far not found the right one, try this one out! I have owned a million golds, Chrome Yellow, Going Bananas, etc and until this one none of them worked. Sun Blonde is a gem! I want a back up!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Oceanique - frost
piratecaptain 12/21/2011 12:11:00 PM
I hunted this down because of all the rave reviews here talking about how shimmery and complex it is. Unfortunately I find it to be incredibly boring. I don't see any of the "green" or duochrome that has been mentioned, and it is so subtle in terms of shimmer or frost that I don't even find it useful as an inner eye brightener. On my skintone this looks just like Shroom, and that shadow bores the pants off of me. I suppose if you are looking for a subtle browbone highlight that this will work, but considering that it has been DCd for like 5 years, please don't swap anything crazy to get your hands on it. Just look for Creamy Bisque (from Fall '11) or stick to Shroom.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Remotely Grey Eyshadow
piratecaptain 12/21/2011 12:05:00 PM
Remotely Grey...VERY remotely. In fact on my fair cool skin what I see most when I apply this is brown, and a very red/wine brown at that. Yes there is a topical coolness lurking on top of this base color, but fair ladies be warned that the reddish/plu/brown undertones are stronger than any trace amount of grey that may exist. It is a very beautiful color, and the texture is really smooth and lovely, but if you are looking for a taupe or grey-brown I would say keep looking.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Illusionary Burning Ambition mineral duo
piratecaptain 11/2/2011 10:09:00 AM
Gorgeous! I have been stalking this MES for quite a while now and was just lucky enough to swap for it. I initially was only interested in the bronzey brown side, but when I swatched the gold side I fell in love...It is like Solar White on steroids! A yummy duochrome golden haze, gorgeous as an inner eye color but also spectacular over colored bases as an overall lid color. The bronze is delicious and decadent, a bit more gold/brass than the brown from Natural Flare MES or Interview MES. Looks like a color Cleopatra would wear......like riches for your eyes. I could see this duo being a bit too warm for some girls, but I as a lady who generally fears really warm golds and browns I personally still find this very wearable. I will just require good concealer and a bit more blush to pull it off. The colors are very sparkly, but not in a glitter way, more in a hyper-shimmery way (and only when the light hits them directly) and the texture is smooth and buttery.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Mineralize eyeshadow in Ether
piratecaptain 11/2/2011 10:00:00 AM
AWESOME. I just RIS and I am in heaven! I have one with excellent sections of veining so I am able to pull out a silvery mermaid inner eye color, a muted golden grey mid lid color, a deep dark navy outer 1/3, and a bright teal pop for lining the lower lashline. I LOVE that there is a golden shimmer throughout each of the colors, making even the "muddy" grey tones so much more than just that. I think this will be my perfect go-to for travel, having all those colors in one little pot is just awesome! Looks great on my hazel eyes and N1 (Face & Body) complexion. Also it is more shimmer and less glitter than a lot of other MESs. All around fabulous!
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Mineralize Eyeshadow in Mercurial
piratecaptain 11/2/2011 9:49:00 AM
VERY GLITTERY. And I know that everyone's will be different due to the variations in veining, but when mine is all mixed together and applied to my lids it is PINK. A nice rosey pink, but pink all the same, and with my eyes and skin that is not okay. I was definitely hoping for more a taupe feel, but that is not a word I would use to describe this color. And the texture is very dusty in the pan, definitely needs to be applied wet and over a base, but there was still quite a bit of fallout this way. All in all I would say this is a bit of a fail for me, but I can see this being fab on blue eyed girls who like glitter.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lipstick -MAC - Lipstick in Hibiscus
piratecaptain 9/6/2011 10:55:00 AM
Good God this color looked HORRIBLE ON ME!!! I know it is a beautiful tomato-y orange and I am sure that it looks fantastic on many a warm toned gal, but on my neutral-cool skin it was god awful. Just wanted to let people know that although this is a spectacular color, not everyone can wear it.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Modelette (Warm & Cozy 2009)
piratecaptain 9/6/2011 10:39:00 AM
I bought this shadow online at a time when I was collecting shadows like they were all going out of style. When I saw it in person I was not impressed and thought it looked far too warm for my neutral pale skin but decided to give it a shot as a "crease transition color" as one reviewer suggested. Now if that sounds like a ridiculous thing to need to own, I hear you, I never thought that would be something terribly useful considering good blending generally eliminates the need for such nonsense..... HOWEVER, it truly is quite magical for exactly that purpose and I do find myself reaching for it on a daily basis. I usually use Wedge or Aria as my crease color and Brule and Shroom as my browbone highlight, and Modelette with its lovely sheer satin texture falls perfectly between these colors. I highly recommend it!
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Eyeliner -Yves Saint Laurent - Automatic Eyeliner
piratecaptain 8/5/2011 5:49:00 PM
I need to put in my two cents here. I have owned this liner for over 3 years (yes, I know that is too long to be using a pen liner without replacing it) and IT STILL WORKS BEAUTIFULLY. It has not dried out in the least and still makes beautiful thin lines, the tip is soft and flexible, and the liner lasts incredibly well throughout the day (and on me that is a miracle). Sometimes if it has been a few days since I have used it I will need to run it across my lid a few times to get it going, but once it's ready it works like a dream. I love it enough that I am about to go out and by a fresh one (and as a makeup adventurer that rarely happens), and I will probably get another color as well. The only down side is that the "Black" is actually more of a dark smokey pine green on me.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Unsurpassable Mineralize Eyeshadow (Semi Precious)
piratecaptain 7/26/2011 2:38:00 PM
LOVE THIS SHADOW! I mean, I love almost ALL the shadows from this collection, but this one is getting a special kind of love from me...enough that I bought a back up! Although it was less because I thought I would ever run out of it than the fact that I saw one that had a HUGE strip of purple down one whole side, which I knew would bring out even more awesome combination colors than my first one. It's almost like now I have one for picking colors out of with my 219, and another for actually swirling the brush throughout the pan the way they are designed to be used. Anyway, the overall color of this shadow is surprisingly neautral as the other reviewer mentioned, for the amount of green in the pan it is crazy how "taupey" the overall color ends up being. The base color is like a glowing matte chartreuse (that will stain your lids a bit) and then that gets topped off by a mixture of purple, copper, teal and silver to create a perfect "presence of all colors" kind of neutral. My favorite kind! I definitely always use a base for these shadows (TFSI) and apply them damp with Fix +, and I find the wear to be quite spectacular. There is a bit of glitter migration, but it is not an alarming amount (and nowhere NEAR as much as Clarity has). I highly recommend this shadow, even if you are not one who usually wears greens!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No