Eye Shadow – Page 3

First Look: Chanel Inimitable Intense Collection

June 24, 2010

Chanel Inimitable Intense Collection has arrived on Chanel.com. Take a look at the collection (so far) and be prepared to for dramatic lashes and seductive eyes!

Chanel Mascara — Inimitable Intense Mascara

Inimitable Intense Mascara claims that “Lashes appear longer, thicker and more curled, yet each lash, even the finest, is still precisely separated – without clumping, spiking or flaking.” This new mascara is available in Noir (black) and exclusively on Chanel.com for $30.

This unique eyeshadow palette offers two types of complimentary shadows. The lighter shade is a creamy shadow that can be used as a base or as a highlighting shadow. The darker shade is a bit more pigmented and true to color with a matte finish. Two applicators are included in this palette: a foam tip applicator and a small blending brush. The color combination featured is Gris which are silver and deep gray tones, however there will be six additional duos available this summer. This eyeshadow palette retails for $42 and is sold exclusively on Chanel.com

Will you be trying out Chanel’s latest collection?

Unleash your alter ego with Illamasqua

May 28, 2010

“Illamasqua is for the bolder person hiding inside all of us. It is an act and an attitude. A symbol of tolerance. A celebration of idiosyncrasies. A confident statement of self-ownership.”

I’m new to the brand Illamasqua but I was anxious to try it because the alternative vibe and bold colors. Illamasqua was conceived by makeup artist Alex Box who shaped the brand’s development from conception to execution. Box has created avant garde looks for designers such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. Alex strives to bring to life the fantasy within all women and aspires for them to express their alter ego.

The first product that I tried from this line was the Illuminator which is a face and body product that can be applied to the eyes, cheeks, cleavage etc to highlight and enhance. It goes on wet but dries quickly to a high shimmer. The tips provided by the product suggest that this product can be applied over eyeshadow or lipstick for greater intensity. These are colors that you definitely want to wear at night due to the intensity of the pigments.

The color that I tried was Halcyon which is listed an an ivory pearl shimmer but it’s really more of a pale gold color when applied.

This multi-purpose illuminator comes in 4 other colors: Fondle (peachy pink), Glimmer (golden tan), Odyssey, (white pearl) and Poised (pale pink). I will say that the product does dry pretty quickly so start by blending a small amount and then add more as necessary. To soften the color a bit you can blend it with you favorite moisturizer and voila a soft sheen!

Illamasqua is sold exclusively at Sephora and this product retails for $18.

Disclosure: The product(s) featured in this review were provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of a product does not guarantee review and all opinions are my own. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

My thoughts on e.l.f. cosmetics

April 27, 2010

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about using e.l.f. (eyes, lips, face) cosmetics because they are quite ahem…cheap. Each piece costs $1 and their studio line costs about $3 per piece but in general each item is a buck. I’m super picky about what I put on my face because my skin is super sensitive and I’m prone to breakouts. Now I’ve tried elf makeup a few years ago (with no reaction) but I just wasn’t impressed, I didn’t like the colors, textures, pigments etc. However lately I’ve been reading some reviews on elf and they have been quite positive so I decided to give it another try. Here are some of the products that I purchased:

I really liked the eye shadow colors, so I picked up two of the creme shadows: Berry Mix (L), Mocha Swirl (R)

elf eyeshadow swatches — Berry Mix (L), Mocha Swirl (R)

Natural Lash Kit in Black – Who can resist lush lashes that only cost $1?

These Hypershine glosses have a very similar design to Stila glosses…and for the price of $1. The shades are: Flirt (L), Honey (R)

Makeup brushes: Total Face Brush, Bronzing Brush, Eye Shadow Brush, Lip Defining Brush, Eye Liner Brush (L to R)

Complexion Perfection powder (to even skin tone and control shine) from the Studio Collection – this piece was $3

Overall I find the products to be a bit “hit or miss”. I liked the eyeshadows, they were easy to apply and had lots of staying power. The eyelashes were quite good, similar to the ones that you would purchase at the drugstore, more than worth the $1 cost. The glosses were quite sheer – almost too sheer for me to want to buy them again. The glosses just do not give off as much color as I like in my gloss but they do smell and taste great. The complexion perfection powder was too pale for my complexion but I’m not surprised since the main ingredient is Talc. The eyeshadow applicators were just too rough for me to use so I won’t be buying them again. The eyeshadow brushes were quite soft and I will be stocking up on more of these during my next trip to Target. I would also say the same for the Total Face Brush which was one of my favorite pieces that I purchased so I will also pick up an extra one of these brushes.

What I will say is that for the price of these items you are certainly getting more than your moneys worth, you’ll just need to try out some of the products and see which ones work best for you.

Foiled again with bareMinerals!

April 26, 2010

While at my favorite makeup store I saw a kit by bareMinerals and decided to try it out. As I’m sure you’re aware of by now, I’m a little OCD about palettes and kits because their just easy and included everything you need. I snapped up this little gem on my way to the register so I really didn’t even look at it to see what was included in it. But since it was a kit I figured that it would have all that I needed for a new look. On the cover the kit reads: “Learn the lessons they didn’t teach you in school. Tutorials: Foiled Eye”

On the inside flap of the kit is the “tutorial” or rather instructions on how and where to apply the shadow. I was kind of hoping for something a little more in depth. Take a look:

The kit includes two mineral shadows and a double-ended brush.

The two shades are Night Owl and Disco Glimmer – cute names huh? Night Owl is a translucent steel amethyst shade and Disco Glimmer is a lilac pearl shade. Both shades can be worn wet or dry depending on the effect that you are looking to achieve.

Bare Minerals eyeshadow disco glimmer — Disco Glimmer

The shadows are pretty pigmented dry on skin, here are the swatches:

Bare Minerals Swatch — Night Owl (l), Disco Glimmer (r)

I love these shades for the evening, I don’t know if I would wear them during the day. I also found the loose shadows a bit messy so it’s going to take me a while to get used to using them.

Overall the kit was worth the price because it includes two shadows and a double sided eye shadow brush.

The foiled eye kit retails at $32 and can be purchased at Sephora.

MAC Cosmetics Art Supplies review + swatches

April 6, 2010

I stopped by the MAC store to check out their latest line of limited edition cosmetics called Art Supplies. MAC has incorporated the look and feel of artists tools and translated it into makeup, and being that I was a Fine Arts major in college this really appealed to me. One of the first items that I looked at was the Pro Longwear Lipstain Marker, this lipstain has a felt tip just like a marker would. I liked that it’s long wearing as I can’t always refresh my lipstick after eating a quick bite. The formula dries to a matte finish so I also purchased a Lipglass Lip Gloss to add some shine to it. The color that I chose was Modern Mocha, which is a light brown shade, there are a total of 9 shades available in this collection. The Lipstain Marker retails for $16.00 and the Lipglass Lip Gloss retails for $14.00.

MAC Lipstain Marker Swatch — Modern Mocha Swatch

Another limited edition product from the Art Supplies Collection was the Greasepaint Stick. The pencil is thick and the colors are edgy, this collection of eyeliners can also be used as eye shadow. I couldn’t decide on just one color so I got two! The colors were so fun that I opted for something other than a basic black or brown liner. I picked up Zinc Zone, a dark metallic shade and Charred Mauve, a funky metallic purple shade. There are a total of eight shades available and each Greasepaint Stick retails for $17.50.

MAC Greasepaint Swatches - Charred Mauve (l), Zinc Zone (r)

The only item that I did not get was the Pearlglide Intense Eyeliner. The colors were pretty and had shimmer to them but I felt that I would be able to use the Greasepaint stick for eyeliner. There are six shades in this collection and each one retails for $14.50 and is also available for a limited time.

Of course while I was there I thought that I should pick up some foundation and powder, hey you can never have too much of a good thing right? Here’s a pic of my total purchases:

MAC Cosmetics Art Supples — MAC Cosmetics purchases

Visit your favorite MAC Cosmetics store to purchase these beauties or order here online.