Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

Sleigh bells ring, are ya listening? In the lane, snow is glistening…

While the leaves on the trees outside my window haven’t yet changed colors for fall, I’m already excited about the holidays. Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner, and makeup lines have started releasing their limited edition holiday goodies (yay)!

Here’s an early look at one such release by a favorite brand of mine: Benefit Cosmetics.

Available online now and on counters this November, the Peace Love & Glossiness lipgloss set ($26) and the Primpcess eye kits ($34) are sure to warm a crisp fall night.

I love the packaging. It’s not too stuffy or serious, and the purple and gold add a regal feel to the fun designs.

Peace, Love & Glossiness

Does m’lday like to keep her options open? If so, the set provides a lot of options. Two of the six shades in Peace Love & Glossiness are a purple and a gold, and each of the three double ended gloss sticks come with two coordinating glosses, to be worn by themselves or mixed together.

Gloss Stick One
My People, Your People: sheer, shimmery pink
Kiss You: sheer fuschia

Gloss Stick Two
Magic: creamy taupe-plum
Who Does Your Work: creamy wine

Gloss Stick Three
24K: shimmery gold
Talk to My agent: shimmery mauve

Swatches from left to right: My People, Your People; Kiss You; Magic; Who Does Your Work; 24K; Talk to My Agent

The glosses are taste-free, but they do emit a fruit punch scent, which fades after about 5 minutes.

I think the thin, non-sticky texture feels kinda like MAC Lipgelee Lipgass. Not only is it moisturizing, but the sheer color payoff makes them easy to apply.

A good holiday kit or set should be a bargain, right? Well, the full set saves a bundle over the cost to purchase all of these shades separately. Separately, they’d cost about $100. Bought with the set, the cost of each mini-gloss breaks down to $4.30!

The price makes the set a pretty fab way to get several different Benefit shades in one fell swoop!

And because the colors are sheer, easy to apply, and not garish or overly-sexy, I’d feel comfortable giving the kit as a gift to a younger cousin or someone just starting to wear makeup.

My People, Your People

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Target used to be where I’d go for deeply discounted bargains on budget beauty products, kinda like an upscale Wal-Mart, but the company has been on a roll lately when it comes to beauty, expanding the number of premium brand beauty products carried in Target stores.

Yes, girl, the House of Tar-ghay now sells $18 eye shadows.

But in true Target fashion, expect to get a lot of bang for your buck. Target knows you want to save some money, but they also want you to spend some, too. 🙂

Joining recent Target beauty bargains on Sonia Kashuk brushes (holla!) are three new beauty lines — JK Jemma Kidd, Pixi by Petra and NP Set. Each line features items in the $12-$40 range.

I’ve been playing with a few of the eye products and one of the lipsticks from the JK Jemma Kidd line. The entire line includes more than 100 different eye, lip and face products and makeup tools.

With modern colors and provocative packaging, the JK Jemma Kidd line for Target is designed to be stylish enough for the catwalk yet still wearable and affordable enough for the everyday woman.

Jemma Kidd’s name is new to many peeps here in the US, but she’s been a fixture in Europe’s beauty scene for a while. A makeup artist and former model, she opened a popular makeup academy in London back in 2003 and launched her own cosmetics line a few years later.

I don’t expect to be working the catwalk anytime soon, but I can relate to the everyday woman part. 🙂

JK Jemma Kidd Hi-Design Eye Colour in Modernist, JK Jemma Kidd I-Design Eye Colour in Editor ($18 each)

In terms of eye shadow quality, don’t expect Shu Uemura, but I think you can expect products somewhere between MAC and Lancome. There are two shadow lines: Hi-Design (brighter colors) and I-Design (neutral shades).

Modernist (a light, shimmery lavender) and Editor (a cool, shimmery taupe) have finely milled powders, soft to the touch and easy to blend, and both have lots of pigment.

The payoff surprised me. While the colors apply sheer, you can still see that the shades look jam-packed with color. They’re easy to build up and layer for bolder looks.

I love it when products give me options, and these eye shadows do just that, providing plenty of color flexibility. They even last all day long.

Yesterday morning, I applied both colors on top of a layer of Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer. That night, as I was removing my makeup, I noticed that the shadows hadn’t creased or migrated on my lids. They looked just as good as they had hours earlier in the morning.

Sheer Vanity Gloss and Glaze in A La Mode ($18)

Sheer Vanity Glaze and Gloss does lipgloss without the goop! It’s a sheer, glossy lip gloss in lipstick clothing. The texture isn’t sticky, thick or goopy like traditional lip glosses. It will totally come in handy in the fall and winter when the wind whips my hair into my face.

The faint licorice scent fades quickly. I licked my lips to check for a flavor, but it’s taste-free.

One layer of A La Mode’s pastel, shimmery coral-peach gives my lips a pretty, natural color with lots of shine. I dig the hot pink packaging, too. Props for the dainty floral pattern!

And the formula moisturizes like a champ. My lips were dry yesterday morning (I guess I didn’t drink enough water the night before), but Sheer Vanity worked a little like a lip balm, smoothing and softening my pucker throughout the day.

The light, shiny and sheer finish reminds me of Shu Uemura Crystal Shine lipstick and Stila Shine Lip Color, and like those products it needs to be reapplied often (every two hours or so).

Overall, I’m really impressed. As the weather cools, it’ll be nice to have a moisturizing lip gloss that won’t stick to my hair every time the wind blows.

From left to right: Modernist eye shadow, Editor eye shadow, A La Mode lip gloss
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