Guerlain: Bal De Minuit Ombre Eclat 4 Couleurs

I'm really late to game reviewing this item from Guerlain's Imperiale Christmas Collection.  The reason I'm so late is that I rarely buy Guerlain, due to the price factor.  The last item I bought from the high end line was probably at least a year and a half ago.

Anyways, I was waiting for a friend in a department store and out of boredom wandered over to the Guerlain counter and swatched this fairly unassuming palette.  Well I was surprized when I saw how gorgeous the shadows were!

Swatches done in natural light on NC 40 skin.

Guerlain Ombre Eclat 4 Couleurs: Bal De Minuit

Inside the smooth silver case are four shimmery, metallic shadows: a subtle white gold, a pale pink, a cool metallic taupe and a rich cool toned chocolate brown.

First off I'm a sucker for cool toned neutrals and metallic taupes, so I fell in love right away.  The texture of the shadows is excellent and they are very well pigmented, especially the two darker colours.

Left to right: white gold, pale pink, metallic taupe, cool chocolate brown

Although this isn't a particularly unique quad, the colours are gorgeous, go together nicely and blend like a dream.  The metallic taupe shade was enough to sell me. As a taupe conoisseur, I consider the metallic taupe in this palette to be right up there with some of the classics (MAC Satin Taupe, Chanel Vega, Shu Uemura ME Brown 850). The cool chocolate brown colour is also a great colour for smoked out eyes. 

This item is sold out in many locations. However, if it interests you it's worth doing some detective work to find it (I had to do a lot of calling around).  I found mine at Holt Renfrew which weirdly had everything in the whole collection in stock just a few days before Christmas. I have also seen the palette on ebay for not too much over what it costs retail ($62.00 CA).

J

Happy New Year!

We here at Beauty Squared would like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers and wish you all a Happy New Year! Keep following our blog as we share with you our beauty obsessions and the latest beauty news!

Wishing you a beauty filled 2010,

Catherine & Jill

MAC Goodbyes

Do you have a favourite product that MAC has discontinued? Did you miss out on products featured in recent collections? Don't say goodbye to them just yet! MAC makes sure to features its Limited Edition and Discontinued products on its websites so that we fans can get our hands on them before they're gone!

Sign up for the MAC newsletter or remember to keep checking the Goodbyes to see what's soon to be unavailable.

For the Canadian Goodbyes click here. For the American site click here.

C.

LUSTING: American Apparel Nail Polish

I have a love-hate relationship with American Apparel. I hate their hipster-than-thou-pervy-ironic clothing but on the other hand they make some good quality clothing, have an excellent colour palette and, well, a little perviness doesn't hurt anyone. Imagine my surprise and curiousity when in an American Apparel store recently I spotted a rack of nail polishes!

Top Row L-R: Poppy, Factory Grey

Second Row L-R: Passport Blue, Hunter

Third Row L-R: Dynasty, Palm Springs,
Bottom Row L-R: Berries, Pinto

Yup, American Apparel is now making nail polish, but just like their clothes and their advertising, they're paving their own route in the beauty department. ALL of their 18 colours are cremes, which means there's no sparkle, iridescence or glitter, just glossy shine and colour. All have the typical AA 80s/self-conscious inspiration - Dynasty, Pinto, Memo, Cotton, Hassid

I have not picked any of these up just yet, but I definitely will be. Likely on my nails will be Hunter (deep green) and either Factory Grey (cool grey) or Mouse (warm grey). These polishes are made without formaldehyde by a polish-making, family-run business in NYC and retail for $7.50 CDN/$6 US.

I will do a review once I own some of these. Stay tuned!

C.

MAC: Warm and Cozy MSF and Eyeshadows

MAC released two LE Mineralize Skinfinishes and three LE eyeshadows and one repromoted eyeshadow (not pictured) for Warm and Cozy. Swatches done in natural light on NC 40 skin.

Left to right: Comfort and By Candlelight MSF, Modelette, Mulled Cider and Chamomile Eye Shadows

Mineralize Skinfinishes

Comfort - an orange toned bronzer with a very nice, refined, smooth finish. Would work best as a highlighter on darker skintones.  Personally I think this is too orange for lighter or pinker skintones.

By Candlelight - a shimmery golden pink highlighter.  Similar to Porcelain Pink but frostier.

Eye Shadows

Modelette - a golden, soft beige a little reminiscent of an old D'cd shade Camel except a touch more neutral.  This would be great for softening up darker crease contour colours.

Mulled Cider - a warm reddish, slightly mauvey brown.

Chamomile - a very pale pastel yellow.

General Comments

The eyeshadows, which are all satin finish, are nice warm neutrals.  Warm neutrals can look amazing on the eyes, and can suit all skintones.  My favourite of the shadows are Modelette and Chamomile, my least favourite is Embark, the permanent shade that I did not review, because I find it chalky and hard to blend.

Of the two MSF's, I prefer By Candlelight simply because I found Comfort very orange.  It's a bit of a shame because the formulation of Comfort is really fanastic - smooth, silky and with a tiny bit of sheen. 

Pick up any of these?  Let us know!

J

MAC: Warm and Cozy Lipsticks and Lipglasses

If you love nude toned coloured lip products, you're bound to find something to buy in MAC's latest collection. All shades except Siss are LE, lipsticks and lipglasses are $16.50 CA/14.50 US.  Swatches done in natural light on NC 40 skin.

Left to right: 3N, Spiced Tea, Light That Fire!, Warm Me Up, 2N, Siss, Feeling Dreamy

3N - a repromoted lipglass from the beloved N Collection. A milk chocolate coloured gloss with hints of beige and pink. A MLBB (my-lips-but-better) shade for darker skintones.

Spiced Tea - a glaze lipstick which is a shimmery amber brown.

Light That Fire! - a lipglass which is a frosty orangey coral with gold shimmer. Very pigmented.

Warm Me Up - an amplified lipstick which is a beigey pink.  Great for a neutral lip.

2N - another repromoted lipglass from the N Collection.  A decently pigmented pale yellow toned milky pink.  So great for a pale nude lip. 

Siss - a satin finish lipstick and a permanent colour.  A very yellow toned beige - hard to wear on it's own without it looking like you smeared concealer on your lips. Probably best warmed up with a pink gloss.

Feeling Dreamy - a pale pink gloss with tiny pink shimmer in it.

General Comments

Out of the lot, Light That Fire! lipglass is the most unique colour, so if you like corals or oranges, this would be a good one to pick up.  My other must have pick is 2N, which is a fanastic pale pinky nude gloss for NC skintones (it's also great on NW tones).  Of the lipsticks Warm Me Up would be the most wearable and flattering on most people. 

MAC: Warm and Cozy Shadesticks

MAC Shadesticks used to be a permanent item in their line up until they were discontinued two-ish years ago.  Perhaps due to the popularity of certain colours (hello Sharkskin!) MAC has been bringing them back in their colour collections, albeit as limited edition shades.

Warm and Cozy features four LE shades, which fit the theme of the collection well. Shadesticks are $20.00 CA/16.50 US, swatches done on NC 40 skin.

Left to right: Cuddle, Nurture, Warm & Cozy, Relaxed

Cuddle - a frosty white gold shade, which would work well under any warmer toned shadow. Great for highlighting the tear duct area.

Nurture - an iridescent peachy pink, which again would work well under most shadows, warm and cool. Very pretty.

Warm & Cozy - a frosty coppery amber colour.  I did notice the texture of this one to be slighty grittier than the others, which is why the swatch looks splotchy.  My least favourite of the bunch.

Relaxed - a frosty golden brown, a great colour which is warm but not too warm you couldn't pair it with cooler browns.  Would be good for smokey eyes.

General Comments

MAC has really improved the texture and blendabilty (is that a word?) of their Shadesticks.  Shadesticks set after 20-30 seconds or so and make great bases for shadows.  My favourites are Cuddle & Nurture, which would look great on their own and because of their lighter shade, will make versatile bases.

J