Product Reviews

The Too Faced Glamour To Go III Palette: These Eyes Have It

November 11th, 2009 by Karen 38 Comments

Too Faced Glamour To Go iii Palette Review closed

The folks at Too Faced Cosmetics are making sure good things come in small packages.

Their latest Glamour to Go Palette (Glamour to Go III, $20) — the third in a series of travel-friendly sets for face, cheeks and eyes — is a lean, mean makeup machine!

Too Faced Glamour To Go iii Palette Review pocket palette

Too Faced nailed the “to go” part, stuffing this slim shady (I love the pink roses on the front!) with eight eyeshadows, a blush and four lipglosses. The sturdy palette easily fits in the palm of my hand, yet despite its diminutive stature looks like it could take a beating from phones, keys and random cans of cat food squirreled away in a purse. 🙂

Color-wise, I think the stars of this show are the eyeshadows. With a good mix of wearable neutrals and fun accent shades, the eight shimmery shades of gold, light pink, dark pink, taupe, black, bronze, silver and violet cover a wide range of potential looks, and I really like them for quick washes of color on my lids.

Too Faced Glamour To Go iii Palette Review swatches
Eyeshadow swatches, top row: gold, light pink, dark pink and taupe; Eyeshadow swatches, bottom row: black, bronze, silver and violet

As for texture and color payoff, the smoothness and rich pigmentation of these shadows remind me of something Urban Decay would create. In other words, good stuff.

Oh, and if you’re a fan of Benefit’s Coralista, check out Glamour to Go III’s blush — a shimmery, peachy pink with a hint of gold that I’m guessing would look great with a snowboarder’s tan.
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The Sonia Kashuk Twist of Fate Brush Set for Holiday 2009: Elegant, But Do They Bring It?

November 10th, 2009 by Karen 72 Comments

sonia kashuk holiday 2009 twist of fate brushes in clutch
Sonia Kashuk Twist of Fate Brush Set, $20

Earlier this decade, Sonia Kashuk reinvented the budget brush market, making drugstore makeup brushes cool. For the holidays this year, she’s taking that budget luxe philosophy another big step forward by introducing a line with twisted faux-sliver handles that won’t break the bank.

But looks aren’t everything, and to find out if Sonia’s new brushes bring the noise, I put ’em to the test.

The six-piece limited edition Twist of Fate Brush Set ($20, on sale now at Target), Sonia’s premium collection of brushes for the holidays, joins five limited edition holiday makeup palettes and accessories (also on sale at Target).

Sonia Kashuk Twist of Fate

With a black clutch purse to carry them in (one that looks like it could cost more than $20 by itself), these six short-handled brushes will be traveling in style.

A powder/blush brush
A foundation brush
A crease brush
An eyeshadow brush
An eyeliner brush
A brow/lash comb

sonia kashuk holiday 2009 twist of fate brush heads

Pros

Look expensive
Brush heads feel soft against my skin and apply/blend product well
Clutch purse fits everything with room to spare
Brushes feel lightweight — perfect for girls on the go!
Fantastic deal; breaks down to $2.86/per item (including the clutch)

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How Bright Are Shu Uemura’s New $30 Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine Lipsticks?

November 4th, 2009 by Karen 21 Comments

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine Lipstick Review open

Have you had a chance to check out Shu Uemura’s new Rouge Unlimited Supreme lipsticks ($30 each)?

There are 14 of them in all, each one of the gloss-in-lipstick’s clothing variety — meaning that they feel like lipsticks on the lips but shine like a gloss.

Shu claims their exclusive color technology (get ready to be blinded with fancy talk!) of hybrid pigments, film-keeping capsules and ultra-shine oils makes them more intensely pigmented than similar offerings from other brands.

I’ve tried three of the shades so far and have to agree. The colors do seem a little more vibrant than those of the other lipstick/gloss hybrids I’ve tried from Prescriptives (RIP!), MAC and Avon.

But does the difference justify the price?

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Supreme Shine Swatches RD 185
RD 185
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How Extreme Is Bobbi Brown’s Extreme Party Mascara?

November 2nd, 2009 by Karen 43 Comments

bobbi brown extreme party mascara review

Why is everything so “extreme” these days? The word brings out my inner grammar grumpasaurus, 🙁 especially when it’s thrown in front of things like pizza. “Extreme sports,” I can fathom; “extreme pizza,” not so much.

bobbi brown extreme party mascara review 2

And then I heard about Bobbi Brown’s new Extreme Party Mascara ($22). “Party Mascara” I would’ve been okay with, but “Extreme Party Mascara”?

Seriously, what makes it so extreme? Are there flames and zombies involved? 🙂

bobbi brown extreme party mascara review brush

But, as usual, curiosity got the better of me, and I had to give it a try. I read that Bobbi created Extreme Party Mascara to mimic the look of false lashes. Her site even calls it her Boldest. Mascara. Ever.
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Lights, Camera, HydrAction! — Dior’s Tinted Moisturizer Delivers Exceptional Coverage

November 2nd, 2009 by Karen 39 Comments

dior-hydraction-review

I knew Dior HydrAction Deep Hydration Skin Tint SPF 20 ($38) was something special when I tried taking a few pictures with it on.

Most of the time I’ll wear a full-coverage foundation for pics because many tinted moisturizes appear too sheer for flash photography — not HydrAction, though. It disguises EVERYTHING, and almost passes for a foundation in pictures.

dior-hydraction-karen
Dior HydrAction in action! I have no idea what’s going on with my hair…

Lightweight

But while it may cover like a foundation, it doesn’t feel like one on my skin. It’s light, lets my skin breathe and looks so natural that I sometimes forget I even have it on — perfect for days when I want good coverage but don’t want the weighty feel of a foundation.

Dior’s “ultra-fine pigments and light-reflecting micro-pearls” must be magic… One small blueberry-sized dollop of the richly pigmented formula covers all of my red patches, pigmentation spots and pimples, leaving skin that’s almost flawless (as close to flawless as my skin gets).
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Blinc Eyebrow Mousse: Help for Overplucked Brows

November 1st, 2009 by Karen 8 Comments

MBB guest post! Today UK-based bridal makeup artist Rochelle O’brien tells us what we should know about Blinc Eyebrow Mousse.

Blinc Inc Eyebrow Mousse

Fountain of Youthful Colour Eyebrow Mousse, the newest edition to Blinc’s range of bestselling products, is designed to give fullness and colour to sparse brows. As well as having a long lasting colour formula, it also has anti-ageing properties to benefit the skin beneath your brows, too.

blinc-eyebrow-mousse

I love that all Blinc products come in cute little tins — they appeal to the packaging geek in me — and their eyebrow mousse is no different.

The applicator looks like a regular mascara wand, and the information leaflet explains that you to start by brushing the wand through your brows to build up the colour before using the tip of the wand to add fullness where you need it.

Now, my brows have never been the same since I plucked them all out back in the late ’80s, and it would take a lot to drag me away from my trusty Clinique brow pencil that I use daily; however, after trying Blinc’s brow mousse, I could well be converted.
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Soap and Glory Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths: Watch Out, Waterproof!

October 29th, 2009 by Karen 39 Comments

soap-and-glory-off-your-face-cleansing-cloths

Greetings and good morning, girls. 🙂 How did you sleep? Following yesterday’s makeup look, I wanted to touch on makeup removal, particularly Soap & Glory’s Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths ($7 for a pack of 25).

To find out how these oversized, velvet-soft wipes fare against long-wearing and waterproof makeup like MAC Fluidline, Stila Lash Visor Mascara and Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter liner, I put ’em to the test.

What about the waterline?

Most makeup wipes can handle regular-wear products, but many struggle when it comes to removing waterproof. That, and some take too much effort (read: rubbing) to use along my delicate waterline.

Soap & Glory says they created Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths to help women multitask, with the wipes cleansing, toning, removing makeup and exfoliating in one fell swoop.

How’d they do?
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Celebrate Halloween with the Glitter Polishes in Lippmann Collection’s Celebrate Set

October 28th, 2009 by Karen 28 Comments

lippmann collection celebrate

After my out-of-body glitter experience with Lippmann’s Happy Birthday polish last week, I thought I’d go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs when I spotted the sparkly bottles in their 10th Anniversary Celebrate Set ($35, limited edition).

If you really think about glitter — and I mean REALLY think about glitter (LOL!) — there are different kinds, right? From the Celebrate Set, I’d expected shiny happy glitter, but it surprised me with darker, less shimmery shades.

The color 411…

Ruby Slippers: For this shade, Lippmann jammed bits of red glitter into a black jelly base. The glitter bits vary in size, and the resulting polish, a semi-opaque black with a medium-shine finish, strikes me as something that would go well with sexy Halloween costumes, perhaps a nurse or traffic cop. 🙂 It’s not something I’d wear every day, but it earns points for originality. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Funky Chunky: I just could not get this color to look pretty… It’s a shiny black with black hexagon-shaped glitter, which, in theory, could be very cool, right? Nope, not for me. While it has potential, it looked bumpy and messy, like fresh tar. That, and the glitter hardly even sparkles, BOO! Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: C-

Superstar: This polish packs small bronze glitter bits in a brown jelly base. I’ve liked the color ever since I saw it in last year’s Holiday 2008 collection. I still think it’s fun and totally appropriate for fall. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

lippmann collection celebrate ruby slippers
Ruby Slippers

lippmann collection celebrate superstar
Superstar
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