Highlight
Stila Indian Summer swatches….
A couple of days ago I promised swatches…Here they are!!
Click on this one, because it’s fairly large…
All in all, I’m pretty happy with the collection. I can’t wait to see what you guys do with your Stila goodies!
MAC | Naked Honey Product Images
I had a chance to test drive the upcoming Naked Honey products and I have the rundown for you on a few of them: Highlight Powder in Golden Nectar, the Skin Salve and the Creme de Miel shadow.
To be honest, when I first heard of the Naked Honey collection, I was over the moon (as usual, right?) with the details of a new collections. Then, after the initial high dissipated, I was questioning how impressed I would really be once I saw it in person. It was, after all, quite neutral and skin-centric and I tend to go for colourful lip and eye products. I also love the smell of honey when it’s done right, but did MAC hit the nail on the head? All questions evaporated once I got a chance to play with the collection. The honey scent is warm and evokes visions of warm summer days. The products, as a collection, meld together perfectly to collectively highlight the face and body in a suitably, low-key glamour summer style.
HIGHLIGHT POWDER IN GOLDEN NECTAR
$24.50USD / Shade: Muted golden tan with gold shimmer
For those uninitiated with the highlight powders, the first thing that needs to be said is that the shimmery finish on top is just a frost overspray. It disappears within the first 10 uses or so. So the first few applications have much more shimmer than the rest. That said, this powder does highlight, just not in the obvious way that MAC’s Mineralized Skinfinishes do. Due to the ingredients and finely-milled pigments, these highlight powders produce a slight glow that is more of a glow from within. Like the slight glow you get from Mineralized Skinfinish naturals, just slightly amped up.
Golden Nectar is a lovely med-dark, caramel colour with infused gold tones. As far as the overall tone, to me, it looks more yellow toned in the pot, but there is a slight pink undertone. This will look amazing as a bronzer on porcelain gals, beautiful for more coverage on med-dark gals and wonderful has a highlighter on darker skin tones. This is almost the same shade as the med-dark Mineralized Skinfinish Natural, only Golden Nectar is a bit lighter and more pink-toned.
NAKED HONEY SKIN SALVE
$18.50USD / 1.41oz
I have been using this for about a week now and can honestly say that I really like it. The consistency is like a balm/salve, but it is not loose and goopy like say Vaseline. It is firm in the jar and it kind of melts into your hand as the heat and friction of your hand rubs on the product. Whilst it isn’t goopy, it is probably a bit much for a hand lotion on a regular basis. I love it as a cuticle conditioner, on elbows and knees, and occasionally on my hands and feet overnight. For a salve, it feels pretty light on the skin and gives great results. No more Solar Oil for my cuticles, Skin Salve is my new fave.
The scent is really nice. It is a subtle honey blended with a powdery scent (like a baby powder scent). If you are familliar with the flower scent of heliotrope, it smells exactly like heliotrope with honey. Divine.
CREME DE MIEL EYE SHADOW
$14.50USD / Shade: Frosty light yellow gold (Veluxe Pearl)
I am always looking for my next HG brow bone highlighter. As an NW20, Rice Paper can be too subtle, and Nylon can be too cool toned and too bright. Creme de Miel is the embodiment of my perfect brow bone colour. It is a beautiful neutral with gold undertones. It is as if Nylon eye shadow and the perfect, neutral gold had a lovechild. It applies smoothly and stays nicely, as do all veluxe pearls. I love it as a highlight, on the lid, at the tear duct or at the corners of the inner lid. This will be stunning on darker skin tones. Like seriously amazing. It is more golden and a bit darker than Nylon. Definitely darker than Solar White and zero pink undertones. This will be back up worthy. Trust.
I will have more info/swatch pics for you shortly. If you would like to see the full collection details and promo shots, check out the Specktra Naked Honey colour story thread. The Naked Honey Collection will be available on MACCosmetics.com on 09 Jun 09 and at stores and counters on 11 Jun 09.
What are your impressions of the Naked Honey collection so far?
Dupe It | MAC’s MSF in Stereo Rose
We all have it. A yearning for that one product that got away. Whether we weren’t into the line or the product at the time, the end result is the same: an utterly insatiable lemming. Now that so many lines are jumping onto the mineralized and highlight bandwagons, it’s easier than ever to find some great alternatives for one of the more coveted LE MSFs, MAC’s Stereo Rose. I have put together a few delish options for those of you looking to dupe it. Click “Read More” below for more details and pics….
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Top Row: MAC’s Stereo Rose
Bottom Row, L-R: Laura Geller’s Pink Grapefruit, ignore this colour as I didn’t mean to include it, DuWop’s Pomegranate, DuWop’s Apple, LORAC’s Exposed.
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Laura Geller’s Blush – N – Brighten in Pink Grapefruit
This is definitely the same tone as MAC’s Stereo Rose. It is a bit darker though. A light hand could make this one of the closer dupes. It is just a touch less shimmery than Stereo Rose. Pink Grapefruit isn’ the least bit chunky or glittery. It goes on quite smooth. A good dupe choice for med dark to dark complexions.
Shade: Beige/ mauve/ pink shimmer
Price: $29.50USD/.32oz
Available: Sephora.com
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LORAC’s Baked Matte Satin Blush in Exposed
Shade: Peachy pink
Price: $24.00USD/.017oz
Available: Sephora.com
This is a new product from LORAC. It is breathtakingly beautiful. I was totally mesmorized by it at Sephora. The name is a bit confusing as the word “matte” would seem to suggest that it is shimmer-free, but it is just the opposite. It goes in incredibly smooth for a sheen of colour that provides a great glow, as well as nice, natural, buildable colour. A great choice for light to fair complexions. Zero chunky glitter. This new blush comes in two other shades and I plan on picking up both. They are all smashing!
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DuWop’s Blush Booster in L-R: Apple, Pomegranate
Shade: Pomegranate: shimmering coral/ Apple: Soft shimmering rose
Price: $22.00USD/0.12oz
Available: Sephora.com and Beauty.com
These are intended to be worn alone for a sheen of colour or over other blushes to give that pearly glow. I tend to wear them on their own, because they are just that beautiful. Like the first two products, these are free of chunky glitter. These go on sheer, but build colour very easily.
Apple: This is definitely the lighter of the two and my suggestion for porcelain gals. It is noticeably cooler than Stereo Rose. It is more of a light to medium pink.
Pomegranate: This is your closest match to MAC’s Stereo Rose, in my opinion, but it is a bit more coral. A fantastic warm, coral-tinged rose. Great for medium skin tones.
Hope that helped. I have more MSF dupes coming shortly. Have any of you tried these? What did you think?
Milani Brow Fix Eyebrow Powder Kit – review
The quest for perfect brows is never ending for most makeup mavens. They can always be just a *little bit* better…and in that search, we’ll spend half the gross domestic product of a small nation trying to find the perfect tool, powder, gel, serum, brush, whatever…to get them.
Milani Brow Fix Eyebrow Powder Kit was something I picked up today, on a whim. I was standing in the drugstore and saw it and thought…hey…if this works well, it’s a darn sight cheaper than some of the other stuff I’m using!
The kit comes with a mini (by mini they really mean shrunken smaller than leprechaun hands would use them tools) brush, sponge applicator, and a pair of tweezers that aren’t even two inches long. I was dubious, but…I had a $5 off coupon so…what the hey, right?
Each powder kit comes with a highlight color and two brow shades that are to be blended for the ‘just right’ color. The highlight has soft shimmer, but it’s not obnoxious. It’s very sheer, but it does the job quite well. The brush is stiff enough to apply the powder and shape the brow, but not so stiff that you’re drawing the brow on, and the tweezers are surprisingly easy to use, despite their practically microscopic size.
The kit doesn’t come with a wax or a gel to set with, so I used some clear mascara over the powder and then smoothed my finger across to settle any unruly hairs.
All in all, for under $8 at any drugstore, I would say this brow kit is a steal. Normally, I find drugstore cosmetics to be hit or miss; in this case this is a HUGE hit in my book. I’ll be reaching for this regularly, for sure.
Anastasia | Highlighting Brow Kit
I periodically swing by the Anastasia site, as I love her products to the nth degree and there are some great tips to be found. Today’s visit reminded me of my brief encounter with this kit. I had this in my hands the other day at Sephora and was this close to getting it. However, the guilt of my already bulging Sephora shopping basket, made me say no. Looking at this picture today, I totally regret not picking it up.
There are a couple of reasons I am lusting after this kit. (Click on blog story title for further info and video tut)
1. Anastasia’s products have never let me down
2. I love the fact that there are multiple shades of the brow shader and the highlighter. This will work for a ton of skin tones and give each user several options.
3. The highlight powders are baked, mineral shadows that give that subtle glow we all crave and ummm…hello…who on this site doesn’t love anything mineralized?
4. I love her clear brow gel. In my opinion, there are a lot of people who could benefit from this product, but tend to overlook it. I find that it not only holds brows to perfection, but it also seals the brow shader powder so you have greater durability.
5. And…last, but not least, Anastasia provides this awesome tut that will have you all lemming.
You can find this kit at Sephora.com for $32.00. For the amount of product and the possible combinations, it’s a fantastic buy.
DOES ANYONE HAVE THIS IN THEIR STASH? THOUGHTS? 
MAC Love | Iridescent Loose Powder
Sometimes in the scramble to feed our constant hunger for new MAC collections, we tend to forget about some classics in the regular line. Case in point: Iridescent Loose Powder. As much as we are always gagging for new Mineralized Skinfinishes, I’m surprised that I don’t hear more about the Iridescent Loose Powder. They really give you a lot of the same effects and as part of the regular line, they are always available. Do we just have a thing for products that play hard to get? (Click blog story title for further details and pics)….
Whilst I’m not a super huge fan of the pressed variety, the Loose Iridescent Powder is a completely different animal. It is such a multi-tasker that gives serious beauty bang for the buck. It’s made for spring and summer so it’s prime-time to show it some love people!
I love the super-fine texture of these powders. It gives you the ability to easily control application and play with a ton of possibilities from face to body. Here are some of the ways I love on my Iridescent Loose Powder:
1. Use as a highlighter on cheeks and high plains of face.
2. Use has a highlighter on the brow bone.
3. Silver Dusk opens up the eye area when applied to the tear duct area.
4. Mix Golden Bronze with your face or body lotion for the most subtle, amazing glow.
5. Mix a very tiny amount of either Golden Bronze or Silver Dusk with Fix+ and spritz your face for an ethereal glow.
6. Mix either colour with hair gloss sprays to add a subtle boost to your hair’s shine.
7. Mix a very small amount with your foundation for a barely there glow.
8. Mix with mixing medium for a super shiny eye shimmer.
9. Use all over the body to add glow (Silver Dusk) or bronze (Golden Bronze).
10. After applying your eye makeup, apply a small amount of Silver Dusk to the center of the lid to add contrast and make it pop. This gives the effect of a glossy eye (sans the goop).
11. Mix the two shades together for your own custom colour.
12. Mix them into flat, matte, loose shadows to add shimmer.
NOTE: I don’t know that the loose powder is tested as eye safe. Personally, I have never had any reactions, but let your own judgement serve as a guide for your use of this product.
TIP: Golden Bronze Iridescent Loose Powder will be featured in the upcoming Style Warriors collection, so if you are interested in picking it up, do so before the rush.
VITAL STATS: $21.00USD for 12g/0.42 oz / MACCosmetics.com