Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Airbrush Spray Makeup and Quartz Eye Palette Review and Swatches

If you're a regular viewer of TLCs  What Not To Wear, like I am, you're familiar with Carmindy, the make-up artist who adds the final touches to the makeover recipient in each episode. Blonde, gorgeous, effervescent and a makeover expert she tranforms each woman into something younger, more polished and radiant. She helps each woman see herself in the mirror differently and the majority of the make-up transformations elicits a wow from me. 

For the last season of What Not To Wear I've noticed Carmindy using make-up I didn't immediately recognize and she used the same products on each episode. It made sense when it was announced that she had partnered with Sally Hansen to create a line of make-up products. Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy was recently launched in Canada at select Shopper's Drug Mart stores and on www.theshoppingchannel.com. I spotted it at a Shopper's Drug Mart recently and grabbed some products to review for Beauty Squared - the Airbrush Spray Makeup and an Instant Definition Eye Shadow Palette.

The line includes cream concealers, face primer, eye primer, pressed powder, loose powder, highlighter, liquid foundation, airbrush spray foundation, eyeshadow trios, mascara, powder blush, cream blush, bronzer and lipgloss. The line is paraben(preservative)-free and filled with natural anti-oxidants and botanicals. It's meant to enhance the natural beauty of the face it's used on, so the colours are all wearable and soft.

The Airbrush Spray Makeup I see used often on WNTW - Carmindy sprays it onto a sponge and applies it the face. This product intrigued me since expensive airbrush machines and makeup are now being sold to the individual at Sephora. I'm always anxious to find an inexpensive alternative and so this was the first thing I grabbed.

Airbrush Spray Makeup in Light on NC15 skintone

Blended out with my finger

Airbrush Spray Makeup contains olive oil extract, vitamin A and chamomile for moisture, soothing properties and anti-aging benefits. 

The instructions for Airbrush Spray Makeup are to shake well (it's in an aerosol can like hairspray), spray into the palm of your hand and apply to your face with your fingertips. It's meant to be sheer but buildable and it is. I also applied it with a makeup sponge the second day as some areas of my skin need a heavier touch than others. Here are some photos of my skin with a thin application:

NC15 skintone wearing Airbrush Spray Makeup in Light, in natural light 

NC15 skintone wearing Airbrush Spray Makeup in Light, with flash 

Note that this is my left cheek and on this cheek I have a spot of mild blotchiness. The Airbrush Spray Makeup did a pretty good job of evening out this spot without looking heavy and mask-like. My skin still looks fairly natural. These photos were shot before I'd applied any loose powder or blush. 

The Airbrush Spray Makeup is buildable although it takes time to get any significant coverage, I found. It's fine for a very natural look, but you want to add layers to any uneven skintone to get it to look polished. 

I recommend this foundation. It's very refreshing to apply, especially with a sponge or a brush because when it comes out of the can it's cold to the touch. It's easy to use and at approximately $20, it's a reasonable option for drugstore makeup that gives good coverage. 

I give it a thumbs down for the very minimal colour options. It's only available in four shades which means you may not find your exact skintone and all of you with dark skin won't find anything to work with here. 

Onto the eyeshadow...

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy eyeshadows come in trios, there are no single shadows in this collection. All six palettes are fairly neutral trios with very easy to wear colours that'd work on all but dark skintones. They cost approximately $13 each.

The eyeshadows are made with ginkgo biloba (antioxidant) and dog rose extract (skin retexturizing). The are apparently long-wearing but lightweight, blendable and buildable and apparently do not fade or crease. I've only worn them with the amazing Urban Decay eye primer which makes my make-up last even through a workout, so I can't vouch for the the long lasting qualities of these eyeshadows just yet. 

I picked up the Quartz eye Palette - trio of taupe, brown and cream. 

The highlight shade.

Highlight shade, swatched (NC15 skintone)

The lid colour

L-R: Highlight shade, Lid colour swatched

The contour colour

L-R: Highlight shade, lid colour and contour colour

It's handy to have to colours labelled as this line does. As a rule of thumb, when confronted by a trio like this, the lightest shade is for highlighting (the browbone and the inner corner of the eyes), the medium tone is for the eyelid, up to the crease and the darkest tone is for contouring the crease and also for smudging along the lashline. 

This is exactly what I did in the below photos. I applied the lightest shade to my browbone but forgot my inner corners. The medium tone I applied to my lid and softly below my eye. The darkest tone I used in my crease and along my upper lashes as well as slightly below my eye.

Taken with flash.

Some close-ups of the eyeshadow on my eye.

In natural light.

In natural light.

With flash.

With flash.

This trio is very wearable, a good look for daytime that adds some emphasis to your eyes without looking like you're wearing a lot of makeup. I imagine all of the trios will work this way. The shadows go on very silkily and smoothly and they have almost a creamy consistency. They blend very well and as you can see go on very sheerly. I will be wearing this palette a lot. 

The verdict? I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of these two products. I recommend checking them out if you see them on the Shopping Channel or in a drugstore near you. I plan to check out some of the other Natural Beauty products when I'm next at a Shoppers Drug Mart, although let me just note that the lipgloss that supposedly lasts six hours - why? Does anyone want a lipgloss that stays on your lips for that long? That seems a bit much.

Has anyone tried the Sally Hansen line? What do you think? Do you love it? Hate it? What have you tried?


C.