GOSH Bohemian Gypsy Eyeshadow Palette

GOSH is a Danish cosmetic line that's sold in Canada at Shopper's Drug Marts. I picked up a four-colour eyeshadow palette from their spring 2010 line recently because it was just so pretty and cool looking. As wary as I am of drugstore brands, I have a few products from Gosh that I've been impressed with so this was too much of a WANT to pass up.

Called the Bohemiam Gypsy Special Eye Shadow Quattro (their regular quattros are flat, round palettes with pressed eyeshadows), this palette contains two of those useless tiny sponge-tipped wands (I throw these out immediately), a good-sized mirror and four rounded eyeshadows.The eyeshadows look pebbled, like the loose balls of facial highlighter or bronzer you can find, only these are set in the palette. Funnily enough, the compartments for the shadows have little depressions on either side, almost as if they're meant to be lifted out with fingers. But they're not loose at all and really, it would be messy if they were.

There is another Special Eye Shadow Quattro available called Modern Gypsy and the colours in it are peacock-inspired (blue, orange, soft green). Those colours rarely call out to me, but the shimmery grey, purple, plum and coral of the Bohemian Gypsy palette definitely do.

Clockwise from top left, the cranberry shade.

The medium grey-silver shade.

The silvery-lavender shade.

The rusty-coral shade.

Swatched L-R: lavender-silver, plum, coral and grey.

I'm impressed by the pigmentation of these. So many drugstore-brand eyeshadows have very little pigmentation (and a lot of shimmer). These eyeshadows aren't as pigmented as higher-end but they're not bad. And the shimmer doesn't overwhelm the pigment like so many drugstore-brand shadows.

My favourite colours are the silver and the cranberry shades and all the colours are complimentary although I haven't worn all four together yet. Overall this is a really good palette to pick up if it strikes your fancy.

C.

MAC Colourview S/S 10 Trends Video

I just saw this video posted on Temptalia and it really fired up my enthusiasm to get out the brushes and try some new, edgier looks. It's easy to forget MAC originated as a brand developed for (and by) professional make up artists, but when you watch a video like this it becomes clear that they are still very much sticking to their heritage.

The MAC PRO team are extremely talented, creative and forward thinking. A personal favourite of mine is Luc, who as well as being a great artist, looks like a French version of Gary Oldman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4UyvLmNhCA

J.

MAC Spring Forecast Lipsticks: Radicchio, Fresh Salmon and Rose Maiden

I spring-cleaned my make-up collection and had enough to get three lipsticks from the MAC Spring Forecast collection through Back to MAC. Here's my mini-haul!

L to R: Rose Maiden, Fresh Salmon and Radicchio

Swatched L to R: Fresh Salmon, Radicchio and Rose Maiden

ALL of the Spring Forecast lipsticks are gorgeous and you definitely should check them out while they're still in stock! 

Fresh Salmon and Rose Maiden are Lustres??? and Radicchio is sheer. All are quite similar in tone and aside from the gold sheen in Fresh Salmon and Rose Maiden, they're basically the same lipstick in different colours! I'm a creature of habit, clearly, but I don't own any lip colours like these and they're very wearable.

My lips, bare.

Fresh Salmon

Fresh Salmon is a corally-pink with a gold sheen. It goes on quite sheer, builds nicely and there's no need for a liner. It's a very easy-to-wear shade.

Radicchio

Radicchio is a soft plum and goes on quite sheer. Right off the bat, this is the one I have worn the most since I got them!

Rose Maiden

Rose Maiden is a cherry tone with a gold sheen. This is the "frostiest" of the three I bought and you'll want to make sure your lips are well exfoliated and moisturized since metallic shine will accentuate any dryness. This is the most dramatic shade of the three and so pretty!

If you haven't yet, head to your nearest MAC counter and check out the Spring Forecast collection. The lipsticks are a highlight as you can see! Or have you already been? If so, what have you hauled? Do you love it?

C.

Lancome: O My Rose Pop 'n Petrol Eyeshadow and Le Kohl Glosses

Lancome's International Artistic Director for Makeup, Aaron De Mey delivers a very unorthodox spring collection entitled "O My Rose!".  I call this collection unorthodox because from the title, you would assume a palette of pinks, roses and mauves.  Instead, De Mey delivers warm, coppery neutrals and cool greens.

I'm reviewing the Pop 'n Petrol eye shadow palette and the Le Kohl Gloss pencils in BB Sand and Pop Petrol. All items are LE, swatched on NC 35-40 skin, natural light.

Left to right: Le Kohl Gloss in BB Sand and Pop Petrol, Pop 'n Petrol Palette.

Le Kohl Gloss ($31.50 CA)

BB Sand - a shimmery beige, with a gloss texture.

Pop Petrol - a stunning phtalo blue, well pigmented with a gloss texture.

General Comments

The Le Kohl Glosses are essentially an eye gloss in a stick.  The formula is very glossy, soft and smudgeable.  I was immediately attracted to Pop Petrol, as phtalo is my favourite shade of blue. I wanted to buy it immediately!  But I held off, mainly for the reason that eye gloss is notoriously difficult to wear because it never sets and will always crease and smudge.  Add in the price factor, and I'm just not sure it is worth spending $31.50 on something that you're going to wear very few times in very few situations.  You can get the same effect by layering a face gloss such as MAC's Clear Gloss ($22.00 CA) over a similar shade of eyeliner. You could also dupe BB Sand this way by layering gloss over a shade like MAC Shroom. These are very pretty products but unfortunately not very practical and quite expensive.

Pop 'n Petrol Palette ($55.00 CA/48.00 US)

Another item I wasn't sure if I wanted or not! This is a fairly unique quad that features a shimmery white, deep metallic teal, slightly greenish silver and a matte sage. The colours are on their own, very pretty - particularly the greenish silver, which (if memory serves me correctly) is a kin to the legendary Erika F shadow Lancome sells in Europe (comparison coming soon!). What stumped me though is the combination of the colours. I'm not an expert in colour theory, but I know enough to recognize that the warm brownish sage shade doesn't quite fit in with the otherwise cool tones. All that being said, I am going back to pick this one up and will definitely try to do a look using all four colours.

J

Dior: Edition Dentelle 5 Couleurs Pearl Glow 059

As per my post on Monday, you will know that I fell hard for Dior's spring collection. Today I will be reviewing one of the "must have" products from the Dentelle collection, the Pearl Glow 059 eye shadow quint ($59.00 CA, LE).

Dior 5 Couleurs Edition Dentelle Pearl Glow 059

I believe this quint qualifies as part of the iridescent line, as it's number begins with a "0" and its texture certainly follows suit.

As you can see the quint has a gorgeous lace embossment on the shadow that makes this almost too pretty to use. It would be a shame though if you didn't use it, because it will look even prettier on your eyes! Swatch done indoor light, no flash on NC 35-40 skin. Shadows swatched clockwise from upper left corner of quint, center colour last.

The quad contains a smokey purple, a frosty white, a delicate pale pink, a silvery taupe and a greyed blue. All colours have a frost/iridescent finish and are buttery soft to apply. I can see this quad being very versatile - you could go light for day by using the taupe as a base, the white as a highlighter and a hint of purple or blue at the lashline or in the crease, or for night you could go smokey with the purple or blue over smudged black liner and one of the lighter shades in the center or inner corner of the eye.

Catch anyone's fancy?

J

Dior: Edition Dentelle Spring 2010 MEGA HAUL!!!

Here's a little makeup porn to make your Monday more exciting. I recently did a mega haul of Dior's spring collection thanks to a very large collection of Shopper's Optimum points.

Left to right (top row/bottom row): 5 Couleurs Edition Dentelle Pearl Glow 059 & Coquette 743

Poudrier Dentelle Pink Lace 001, Dior Vernis Silver Pearl 604 and Diorblush Edition Dentelle Vintage Pink 839

I am usually indifferent to spring collections because I don't like pastels, but Dior shows us that spring can be filled with smokey neutrals, deep iridescent purples, blues and taupes. Everything in this collection is beautiful, sophisticated and of course haul worthy!

I had been saving up my Optimum points for more than a year to splurge on something really luxurious and outstanding and I think I picked just the right collection to cash in on.

Stay tuned for swatches!

J

LUSTING: NARS Cruising Lipstick (and the rest of the Spring 2010 Collection)

A friend sent me this link from The Frisky featuring a lip colour from NARS Spring 2010 Collection. She was lusting over the lipstick (Cruising) that Amber Valetta is wearing in the promo photo. I admit, it looks completely lustworthy but nude lip colours are a tricky beast and you MUST MUST MUST try them before you buy them. So I'm not completely in lust over it just yet. I will definitely be trying it out once it's at my local Sephora!

Let me wax poetic over the looks of the entire Spring Collection, however. The photos and colour collection are inspired by the legendary Catherine Deneuve in the 1968 film La Chamade and I am a sucker for ANYTHING 60s-inspired. Now, I'm not sure I could pull off the yellow eyeshadow but I love the otherwise softly emphasized 60s-style eye and nude lip. Not to mention the amazing mane of hair that only exists for me in my dreams...

More photos of the colour collection:

  

 Top Left: NARS D. Gorgeous Single Eyeshadow $23

Bottom L to R: Camargue Duo Cream Eyeshadow $32, Kuala Lumpur Duo Eyeshadow $32 and

Glitter Pencil $24

  

 L to R: Cruising Lipstick $24, Easy Lover and Ophelia Lip Glosses $24 and Purple Rain Nail Polish $16

Oh dear, I'm lusting after that GORGEOUS nail polish too! AND the glosses! AND the Kuala Lumpur Duo!

Lusting, lusting, lusting...and fanning myself.

C.