I'm back from my MAC store and have more or less the same things to report:
Chez Chez Lame: Gives a neutral white, very smooth highlight. It's not the same as Truth & Light MCP, which is more of a nude highlight, but it's similar used dry. With some Fix+, it starts to get that really slick sheen and is easier to build up in layers than the MCP, which can get powdery fast. The ultimate wet sheen I was searching for I finally got after using just a touch of Chilled on Ice PP over this - now that is just jungle sexy gorgeous...has that extreme reflective quality like you see in the promo picture. I'm satisfied and think I'll be set for highlighters for a good long time. Just as a comparison to the Stylishly Yours BPs - I found them to be more powdery. Definitely more lady-like than Chez Chez Lame, and who needs that?
Rose Ole: Not as swinging as Chez Chez Lame, but a very pretty color - maybe this would be great on you, but it didn't pull me in enough for me to really fiddle with it, much less buy it.
Dangerous Cuvee:
LOVE it. Very modern effect. Packed on it's got a dense but moist texture you could call a frost, but it's more complicated that your usual frost. The way to describe it is moist, grey tinted underlayer, dense grey silver micro-shimmer mid layer, and then medium dense, bright silver larger glitter top layer, so overall it's got a metallic effect but very, very dimensional, so the metallic effect is only in the highlight tapering to plain grey where it's not catching the light. I have pretty smooth eyelids for my age, but this stuff definitely allows for a shimmery, flake effect without the old-fashioned frost texture that just is a metallic of uniform reflectivity that winds up sitting in every little crease and wrinkle. Instead the shiny bits sit above the skin in their own layer, while the smoother base gives color and smoothes the eyelid texture. You can blend it down very well because of this, which will cut down on the heavy glitter and also the micro-shimmer particles, but also sheer out the grey color to just a wash. I tried Mauvement over it and it was lovely, but almost unnecessary - I'd say the way to use this is either on its own or with a matte shadow on top so just a hint of the textural effect peeks through.
One note, my MA was a rather dark toned Asian gal and she was working the DC, but it looks much sheerer on darker skin that on my NC15 - the same textural effect was there, but the smooth grey underlayer was maybe half as obvious, like it just disappeared into her skin. This would be something to consider, if you really wanted a very strong grey color result.
Chilled on Ice: Not as complex as DC, but exactly what I've been looking for in a coolish, white gold creamy highlighter texture. It's smooth without the extreme dimensional effect of DC and as I mentioned above, combined with Chez Chez Lame on the cheekbones is super sexy. Again, frosty, but not a frost that is going to sit flat in one heavy, opaque layer, settle in your eyelid wrinkles or get dried out looking. This was 100% bought by me.
Vintage Selection: Cooler and frostier than Chilled on Ice. More opaque whitish mauve color too. I'd say it's halfway between DC and CoI in opacity and texture. I skipped it, though, because I have a feeling Prance Mega Metal shadow is going to be a very similar shade and may look better in that formula.
Let Me Pop: Like a peach-copper version of DC. Just replace "grey" with "peach" and "silver" with "copper" in what I said above and you will have the exact description of this PP. The only thing to note is that since the base color is nude peach, this one is going to start to look sheer on much lighter skin tones than the grey in DC does, but that's due to the shade, not the actual opacity/pigmentation. I didn't get it, but this one will look gorgeous and be very handy for something modern but everyday looking for a lot of women.
Bubble Lounge: This is the only lip gelee I actually tried on, but other than the sparkling glitter bits lip gelee texture, this looks almost exactly the same as Spree lipglass from Fabulous Felines. Now, I adore Spree and wear it all the time on its own as well as over Pet Me Please l/s, but I can't justify getting the gelee too, since the only real difference is you have more individual pink and white glitter bits suspended in it. If you missed Spree, you won't go wrong with Bubble Lounge if you have quite red pigmented lips and want a modern looking nude brown color. Tempting, but I'm holding off.
All in all, these lip gelees are all nice colors for soft nude lips for different skin tones and lip pigmentation, but they weren't hard to skip with Peacocky coming up. I'll probably go back when it's less crowded and try Sin-tillation, because that was the one color that stood out to me as being a bit different from what I already have and also a very appropriate color for the suspended glitter texture of lip gelee. Straight to the Head was really nice too, and would be the equivalent of Bubble Lounge for darker skin with yellow warm undertones - if you are Asian with darker skin, this might blow your mind. I'd say just avoid all of these right out, except maybe Luxure, if you have thinner lips.
Flustered: I tried this one, since HerGreyness speaks highly of it. On my lips I found it to be sort of a subtly frosted, slightly sheerer & moister version of Call My Bluff l/s (which I love and which works for me very well). The only thing is, it's a bit warmer/yellower than CMB and somehow in the store lighting, this was just enough of a difference to just not work as perfectly for me (NC15), although from a pigmented lip perspective, this is a great shade to cancel out red or dark coloration. So, slightly darker to a lot darker skin tones with more of a warm cast are going to find this to be a perfect subtle brown nude - i.e. you'd be done looking for the rest of the season and be perfectly high style and content. These brown nudes are very picky and you just have to try a bunch of them to find the one that just clicks
, but when it does you will know it. It's really a gorgeous color and texture though, so good luck, ladies. I'm going to have to sit it out and see what else comes down the pike this season for my ultra-perfect version.
I Get No Kick: Pass. I just think this is too creamy pencil-y to use in the tear duct or under eye area for maximum reflectivity and minimum creasing and other weirdness. If your skin is smooth like a baby's butt and not dry at all, ok maybe. Otherwise, the pale center shade in the Soften the Mood MES trio from In the Groove is almost the same color (with just a touch less pink undertone) and would be easier to work with, wet or dry, and more flattering. I'm sure most of you have one powder or another that could stand in for this pencil. Besides, those pale Mega Metal shadows in the inner eye are going to be way more fashion forward that a pencil style texture in the same place. Basically, this pencil is just too heavy a texture to be truly modern, even if it's a nice color overall. SKIP.
Feline: I got one to finally check out the hype, although other Kohl Powers have been a horrible smudgy mess on me. It's been sitting in my waterline since I got home about 2 hours ago with no raccoon city hijinx and it truly is rich and black with no sign of fading and no harsh sensation during or after application. I'd probably be dumb not to get another one for a back up, even with all the black pencils I've already got.
Nail polishes looked pretty swanky, but I didn't check them out. Might be dupeable but only with some funky old colors, not with other brands' 2011 offerings, so far.
It was really nice to get my ass out of a MAC store without spending $100+ dollars, so maybe that is my best overall opinion of this collection. What's good is seriously good in a modern sexy way, though.
