Bobbi Brown Telluride Collection Shimmer Brick in Sunset Pink Review, Photos and Swatches

For summer 2015 Bobbi Brown wants to take us on vacation to Telluride, Colorado. I have to admit  when I think of summer vacation I don't necessarily think of heading to the mountains (probably because for the majority of my life they have a mere 45 minute drive away), but sure Bobbi - let's do this alpine thing.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Sunset Pink

Inspired by the warm tawny glow of the late afternoon sun in the mountains, the collection focuses around warm, shimmery neutrals. Today I have the Shimmer Brick in Sunset Pink for review ($54.00 CA, LE.)

Sunset Pink is medium peachy-pink highlighter with red undertones and gold shimmer. It has medium to high pigmentation and like all Shimmer Bricks it has a strong metallic finish. Light application for a natural finish is a must with this product! Photos in natural light on NC40 skin.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Sunset Pink

You can't tell from the swatch photo, but this Shimmer Brick packs a punch of metallic shimmer. It has a very strong luminous finish that can easily become overly frosty if application is even remotely heavy. It gives my golden skin tone a peachy sun kissed look that leans on the flushed side. Due to it's fairly strong pigmentation, I would predict this will work better as a luminizing blush for light skintones.

I have a large Shimmer Brick collection, so I pulled a few old releases to see if anything was a dupe for Sunset Pink. Based on how the Shimmer Bricks looked in the pan alone I chose Bronze, Tawny and Brownie for comparison.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks in Sunset Pink, Bronze, Tawny and Brownie.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks in Sunset Pink, Bronze, Tawny and Brownie.

I was convinced that Bronze would be close dupe because the individual strip colours look very similar. Much to my surprize out of the three this was the least similar! Here are some observations based on my swatches:

1. Bronze (P): Much more golden with no pink or peach undertones.  When compared side-by-side with Sunset Pink, Bronze is cooler and ashier.

2. Tawny (LE): Fairly similar in terms of pigmentation with the same medium dark pink tone but lacks any peachiness.The other major difference is Tawny has a silver shimmer.

3. Brownie (LE): A deep plummy rose-brown which runs darker than Sunset Pink and has silver rather than gold shimmer.

Sunset Pink lasts all day on my combination skin with slight fading by the end of the day. My big tip for using any of the Shimmer Bricks is to finish the face with MAC Fix+ or any other makeup finishing mist. I find this extra step helps the shimmer particles mesh with the skin so they look more luminous and less glittery/frosty.

Overall a nice product which certainly recalls the type of healthy flush you might have at the end of a long sunny day of hiking.

Grade: A

J

MAC Bao Bao Wan Beauty Powder in Summer Opal Review, Swatches and Photos

Even for a makeup junkie and blogger/ avid blog reader like me it's hard to keep up with MAC's onslaught of LE releases. I declined buying anything from the past few big recent collections (Lightness of Being, Viva Glam Miley Cyrus and MAC Cinderella etc.), so when the Bao Bao Wan collection started getting good reviews I caved and bought one item, the Summer Opal Beauty Powder (LE $33.00 CA.) 

Photos and swatches in natural light, on NC 35/40 skin.

No one really knows (MAC included it seems) what specific function a Beauty Powder performs, except that it's meant to enhance the face. Some Beauty Powders I've bought in the past can be used all over to brighten the complexion, others have only been suitable as blushes or highlighter. Bao Bao Wan's Summer Opal definitely falls into the highlighter category. It is a soft peachy beige highlighter with fine flecks of gold shimmer throughout. Although it feels a bit dry/firm in the pan, a soft brush will pick up a good amount of product.

MAC Bao Bao Wan Summer Opal Beauty Powder: 

light application with brush (L) and heavy application with finger (R)

As you can see from the above swatch, the gold shimmers are not highly visible on the skin. The frost of the highlighter is quite soft and fine and I did not find this product emphasized uneven skin texture or pores. Summer Opal buffs and blends into the skin effortlessly and it's softness is a nice change from some of the super metallic highlighters on the market.

I found wear time good with slight fading around the 7 hour mark. MAC is competitive with many high end brands on many products, but I feel in the highlighter category they lag significantly behind other brands such as Cle de Peau, Guerlain and even Estee Lauder. Summer Opal Beauty Powder is a nice indication that they can make a good, solid highlighter...now all they have to do is make it permanent!

Grade: B+

P.S: At the time of writing this post, Summer Opal Beauty Powder was sold out online. It may still be available at your local counter or free standing store. I would suggest calling your local store to confirm, as well as frequently checking back on the website as I have noticed that other LE products from this collection have been restocked after initially selling out. I apologize in advance if this post leads to unfulfilled lemmings! Good luck!

Stila All Over Shimmer in Rose Gold Review, Swatches and Photos

I adore skin luminzers and own many. I wear them almost every day. When applied to the skin they bring light to that area and they come in a variety of textures - powder, cream and liquid. On a recent stop at Winners, I found one of Stila's All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminzers in Rose Gold and snapped it up. It's regularly about $26 CDN and I paid about $15 CDN for it. 

Stila's All Over Shimmers are creamy, skin-enhancing luminizers that bring a fresh, radiant glow to the skin. They help to diminish skin imperfections and minimize the appearance of fine lines and sun spots. They contain a potent antioxidant component as well as grape seed oil to nourish the skin. As well as the Rose Gold shade, they are available in Pink, Bronze and Kitten. 

Ingredients

The Rose Gold shade is a soft peachy-pink with a good dose of gold shot through it. The texture is creamy and the applicator is much like a nail polish bottle and brush. 

With the applicator, it's easy to control the amount of luminizer you apply. Simply dab it onto the tops of your cheekbones, or brow bone and blend it. Or dab it on your hand and mix it in with a dab of moisturizer or your foundation for an all over glow.

Here is what it looks like on the back of my hand, unblended. At first it seems like it might be pretty intense but as you can see in the following photo, once blended it is much less intense. There's still a lot of shimmer to it, so it doesn't give a natural glow. Still, it's very pretty and unlike some of the powder luminizers I have, doesn't sit heavily on the skin. Because this is a gold luminzer, it's warm on the skin. That's why most highlighters and luminizers are warm-toned - silver looks artificial and unnatural, even on cool skintones.

If I were to place the Rose Gold All Over Shimmer onto a scale ranking of highlighters/luminzers with one being "barely noticeable natural" and 10 being "holy disco shimmer, Batman!", it would sit at a six or a seven. 

Swatched on NW15 skintone.

Swatched on NW15 skintone (blended out).

I anticipated the Rose Gold Shimmer to be quite pink and possibly used as a blush, or on top of a blush to enhance it. But it sheers once blended in, leaving hardly a hint of pink. I could still use this on top of blush but it would be for luminescence only. 

I've been wearing this on the weekend and occasionally during the week, as my makeup routine involves applying my blush and any contour/highlight underneath my foundation, so everything is muted. 

A note about the formula: liquid products always blend beautifully on most skintypes, and tend to be very sheer. Because of this, they tend to look the most natural, like they're part of your skin, not sitting on top of it. 

The Rose Gold Luminzer looks gorgeous dabbed on my cheekbones, brow bones and if I'm dressing up, on my collarbones.

If you're looking for an easy to use, medium-intensity highlighter/luminizer, you can't go wrong with Stila's All Over Shimmer in Rose Gold. 

Grade: A

NARS Final Cut Collection: Decanso Satin Lip Pencil Review, Swatches and Photos

The last of my NARS Final Cut haul is Decanso Satin Lip Pencil (LE, $30.00 CA/$25.00 US.) All photos in natural light on NC 35 skin.

NARS Final Cut Satin Lip Pencil in Decanso

Decanso - Described as NARS as "tea rose", Decanso is a beautiful warm peachy rose with beige undertones. The formula is opaque, naturally glossy, smooth and weightless on the lips. The crayon shaped bullet allows you to easily line and fill in lips. Decanso is a perfect warm nude shade for anyone with yellow undertones, and on cool toned skin Decanso will pull more pink. For people with medium (or darker) skin tones, Decanso is a great choice for a "nude lip" look as it has enough depth of tone not to make the wearer look washed out.

Grade: A

J

MAC RiRi Hearts MAC Bad Girl Gone Good Blush Review, Swatches and Photos

In addition to the Cream Colour Base in Diamonds, Bad Girl Gone Good powder blush is my other favourite product from the limited edition RiRi Hearts MAC collection. If you missed it's launch in MAC stores and online, you still have a good chance to haul it tomorrow at MAC counters in The Bay ($27.50 CA/$23.00 US).

Photos on NC 35/40 skin, in natural light. Apologies for the somewhat dim light as these were taken in the late afternoon.

Described by MAC as a "warm copper", in the pan Bad Girl Gone Good looks fairly dark and orangey-brown like a bronzer. On my skin, it transforms into a medium dark peach with slight brown undertones. This is definitely a fall blush colour - it's dusky and earthy - not your usual bright pop of summer coral. It took me a long time to appreciate brown based shades of blush such as this one because I always thought brown based shades would look muddy against the skin. However, what makes brown based blush shades great is that they usually are very neutral, and therefore are great to pair with more dramatic eyes or lips.

RiRi Hearts MAC Bad Girl Gone Good

It applies smoothly, blends well and is buildable. This would be a great colour to pick up for medium to dark skin tones. On lighter skins this could be a great contour/peachy bronzer shade. Despite my overwhelmingly large collection of blushes, I can't think of one I already own that is like this colour. Recommended!

Grade: A

J

MAC Prêt-à-Papier Lipstick and Lipglass

I picked up two lip products from Prêt-à-Papier, Dressmaker Dressmaker lipglass and Fold and Tuck lipstick. Top photo taken indoors with flash, swatch taken indoors no flash, NC 35-40 skintone.

Top to bottom: Fold and Tuck and Dressmaker Dressmaker

Left to right: Dressmaker Dressmaker and Fold and Tuck

MAC Pret-A-Papier LE ($16.50 CAD/14.50 USD)

Fold and Tuck - a beautiful, pinked coral. This would be flattering on every skintone, it's pretty, soft and feminine. It is also a creme gloss, so no frost or sparkle which makes it both natural and sophisticated.

Dressmaker, Dressmaker - sheer and peachy. A little more yellow toned than Fold and Tuck. Again, a very pretty, feminine, wearable colour.

General Comments

I think these two shades would be a welcome addition to anyone's palette. They can give you that spring look without being pastel and chalky. Layered on top of each other yields a very beautiful effect. These would also be great paired with a smokey eye. Both products go very well with Instant Chic blush which is also part of this collection.

Anyone get lip products from this launch?

J