MAC is Beauty Lipsticks Reviews, Swatches and Photos

Today I have three of the LE lipsticks from the latest MAC is Beauty collection for review. The MAC is Beauty lipsticks are primarily a mix of pastel and neutral shades. I purchased Call the Hairdresser!, Catty and French Twist - all Lustre formulations. All photos in natural light on NC 35/40 skin.

Call the Hairdresser!, Catty and French Twist

Call the Hairdresser! - Is a medium pigmented sheer red coral.

Catty - Is a sheer, pale yellow based pink.

French Twist - Is a sheer, classic warm peach-beige nude.

I know a lot of bloggers dislike sheer lipstick formulations but I personally love them. I have full, very pigmented (red) lips and I often find full coverage lipsticks - particularly pale or bright shades - make my lips stand out like a neon sign. The Lustre formula allows me to wear less natural shades without having them look like a sticker on my face.

Call the Hairdresser!, Catty and French Twist

All three shades have limited wear time (about 1- 2 hours) and provide a softly shiny finish. MAC's Lustre formula is glossy but not moisturizing, so I recommend a good lip balm underneath. Out of the three shades I purchased, Call the Hairdresser is my favourite and has the longest wear time because it was more strongly pigmented. Overall, if you like sheer lipsticks then you will find these shades soft, pretty and versatile.

Grade: B

NARS Summer 2014 Adult Swim Collection Lost Coast Duo Eyeshadow Review, Swatches and Photos

NARS' Adult Swim collection for summer 2014 features two limited edition eye shadow duos: Lost Coast and Tropical Princess. Today I have Lost Coast for review ($39.00 CA/ $35.00 US), NARS Duo Eyeshadows "feature micro-fine powders that are highly pigmented, long wearing and crease resistant." All photos taken in natural light on NC 35/40 skin, swatches on top of Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

NARS Lost Coast

NARS Lost Coast on top of Too Faced Shadow Insurance

According to NARS the first shade in Lost Coast is a is a "golden pewter," the shade is a sheer, light greenish taupe with a grey undertone. It's an interesting colour as the shimmer seems golden from some angles and silvery from others. This shadow is very finely milled but sheer, so primer is essential to getting a true to pan colour.

The other shade in Lost Coast is described as "lilac snow." This shade is a very sheer pastel lilac with very fine white shimmer. Like the other shade in the duo, this shadow is finely milled, but it is even sheerer than the pewter colour. It's so sheer it reminds me of Guerlain's Meteorites pearls face powder swatched heavily on the skin.

I like Lost Coast - it has that unexpected colour combination that NARS is well known for. Unfortunately I do wish the shades were more pigmented, though I am not in theory against sheer eye shadows. The problem is on medium or darker skin tones like mine, the pewter colour gets totally lost when used without a primer. The sheerness of these two shades is exacerbated by the super fine texture of the shadow - without primer the shadows can easily be blended away into nothingness!

So the morale of the story with this one is use a primer, primer, primer.

Lost Coast is available exclusively at The Bay,Holt Renfrew and NARS online.

Grade: B-

Lancome Spring 2014 French Ballerine: Blush Highlighter in Rose Ballerine Review, Swatches and Photos

A few weeks ago to celebrate Chinese New Year Lancome had a 15% off code for their online store. Wanting to take advantage of the discount I went online and discovered their new "French Ballerine" inspired spring collection. Naturally I was drawn to their LE Blush Highlighter Rose Ballerine...except when I tried to order it (numerous times) the website either wouldn't let me place it in my basket or when I did mange to get it in my basket it would tell me it was "no longer available".

So I just gave up. I'm tired of online retailers not programming or maintaining their websites correctly (I'm looking at you The Bay online.)

Luckily, I got a second shot at this product at a local Shopper's Drug Mart. Rose Ballerine is a LE Blush Highlighter that is a "universal shade of subtle, soft pink [that] perfectly refreshes and illuminates every complexion." It retails for $52.00 CA, all photos taken in natural light, swatch on NC 35 skin.

The compact is lightweight plastic and has a mirrored top adorned with the brand name and a fuchsia bow. Although I think the compact is reasonably cute and theme appropriate, I wish the compact itself was more streamlined and less bulky. Inside the compact is a pale, yellow-toned warm pink powder deeply embossed with the signature Lancome rose. The powder has no over spray and has a subtle satin sheen.

Lancome Blush Highlighter in Rose Ballerine

The consistency of the powder is fairly firm in the compact, but once the top layer is buffed away, the beautiful, finely milled texture of the powder is revealed. Rose Ballerine is a product similar to MAC's Pearlmatte Face Powders albeit it much more refined, silky and less frosty. Somewhere in between a blush, highlighter and a face powder, Rose Ballerine will function as a subtle blush for pale skins and a brightening powder for medium and dark skin tones. The finely milled powder applies sheer on the skin with a subtle but natural sheen. Medium and dark skin tones can build and layer the product for a light pink wash, but ultimately this is a whisper light product that gives a fresh glow and not a serious flush.

This product is exceptionally pretty layered over other blushes to give the cheekbones greater dimension. As an all over wash for the face it brightens yellow toned skins beautifully. Pale skinned beauties who find it difficult to wear blush will like this one too because of the soft, sheer buildable colour.

Overall this is a nice product, though if you are looking for a straight up blush or highlighter you may want to look elsewhere. I have a few powders similar to this (Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light and Shu Uemura Luring Face Powder in Rose) and I'm always surprised how much more radiant my skin looks with a pink toned powder!

Grade: B+

Chanel Superstition Fall 2013: Les 4 Ombres in Mystère 43, Review, Swatches and Photos

This review is a little late to the game as Chanel's fall collection has been out since August, but the collection is still available online and on counters at such retailers as The Bay and Holt Renfrew in Canada.

I have the American version of the eye shadow quad for review which features the non-baked eye shadow formula (Canadian and European counters get the baked version). This quad is LE and retails for $59.00 US/$62.00 CD. Photos in natural light, swatches on NC 35/40 skin.

Mystère features four shades (clockwise from the top right): a sheer cream with tiny gold flecks, a satin mid tone cool grey brown, a light satin taupe and a deep green/brown/black with tiny gold flecks.

I swatched this quad two ways, the top swatch is on bare skin and the bottom swatch is on top of Urban Decay Primer Potion. This quad got mixed reviews on the interwebs, with some notable blogs such as Temptalia panning it, and other blogs such as Beautezine loving it. 

The apparent deal breaker for some is the level of sheerness of a few of the shadows.  Both the cream shade and the taupe shade are fairly sheer, even on top of primer as my swatches attest. If we use Le Metier de Beaute's shadows as a marker for pigmentation/opacity (100%) then I would rate the cream and taupe shadows at 55% opaque and the two darker colours at around 70-75% opacity.  While I did find using them over primer increased the opacity, only the darkest shade showed a dramatic change, while the cream and grey brown shade showed modest improvement and strangely the taupe shade almost remained the same!

For me, the sheerer quality of these shadows isn't a deal breaker, sheerer eye shadows can mean less blending. In the end, I do think Chanel should offer a creamier, less powdery and more pigmented formula as seen in the Topkapi palette for their regular offerings given the price point of their palettes. What I do really like about this palette is the range of cool neutrals and satin finish shadows. Cool neutrals are a favourite of mine, and these shades can run the gamut of looks from natural to sophisticated to edgy. 

Grade: B

Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish Review, Swatches and Photos

I  don't know if I've ever mentioned it on the blog before, but Illamasqua is one of my all time favourite brands for nail polish. Highly pigmented, perfectly textured and long wearing, you probably cannot go wrong choosing any of their shades. Even better yet, is their polish (but somehow not their makeup?) is now available in Canadian Sephora stores.

I recently ordered Hemlock, one of their new shades for spring, which is described  as "pale opal green iridescent"....pretty apt description as Hemlock is an iridescent duochrome green shimmer suspended in a sheer beigey grey base. For the most part Hemlock flashes green, but if you catch it at the right angle it flashes orange too. Photos taken in natural light, three coats of polish with no top coat.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Hemlock

This is a very pretty polish that is soft enough to wear to work, but kicky enough to still feel fun. The one thing that may be a drawback is the opacity of the polish - it is very sheer. The above photos are taken with three coats and my nails are still clearly visible through the polish, although the base has significantly lightened my nail bed . For some this may be a deal breaker. It's sheerness doesn't bother me too much, as I like it's ethereal fairy dust quality, but I do wish I could reach the effect of three coats in the standard two. Wear time and application are excellent as with other Illamasqua polishes. This polish is limited edition ($18.00 CA/$14.00 US).

Grade: B

Lipstick Queen Saint Eden Lipstick Review and Swatches

One of the shops I made a point to visit in New York City was Space N.K. in Soho. Space N.K. is a beauty boutique that originated in London's Covent Garden in 1993 and has expanded throughout the U.K. and the U.S. I remember visiting a Space N.K. in London's Soho neighbourhood years ago. 

While there, I picked up a lipstick by Lipstick Queen by Poppy called Saint Eden. I'd heard about Lipstick Queen before but don't think I've ever seen it in person before. It turns out there are only two locations that stock Lipstick Queen in Canada so I'm glad I got to check out the line in NYC!

Lipstick Queen has two lines of lipstick - one called Saint and one called Sinner. These are ten shades, one sheer (Saint) with 10% pigment and one opaque (Sinner) with 90% pigment. This is a great idea. Lipstick Queen focuses on the colours and formulas and just adds more pigment to some of them. That way someone a little wary of wearing a red lipstick (there's a lot of you out there!) can opt for the sheerer shade.


Lipstick Queen lipsticks are approximately $18 US. 

The shade that I bought, Saint Eden is a bright watermelon red shade.

Let's take a look.

I really like Lipstick Queen's packaging. It's a simple plastic sleeve with a thin piece of cardboard for presentation and I LOVE the art and colours. So retro, elegant and playful.

The lipstick itself is in a buffed matte gold tube and it's got a nice solid weight to it. 

Here's Saint Eden swatched on my arm. See how sheer it is?

Lipstick Queen lipstick is very moisturizing as you can see from the sheen. Lipstick Queen lipsticks are highly moisturizing and their Saint lipsticks are the most moisturizing of them all. 

Saint Eden is a bright cherry-watermelon shade. It can be applied thinly or layered for more opacity. It's a great not-quite-red shade that will work on both warm and cool skin tones. 

Due to the sheer, moist nature of Saint Eden, it isn't a long-lasting lipstick and it will come off when you eat or drink. But its sheer nature allows you to touch up pretty easily on the go as well.

Saint Eden can be applied from the tube, with your finger or with a brush. Wearing it on top of a lipliner will give you more opacity and wear.

I really like this lipstick. I love the texture and the fruit punch colour. It's perfect for the bright lip trend of spring 2012. 

Have you ever tried Lipstick Queen lipsticks?

FACE Atelier Facade Review and Swatches

FACE Atelier kindly sent Beauty Squared some samples of their new silicon lip stain, Facade, to try out.  Facade is a cheek and lip stain that comes in five shades and has a liquid-to-powder formula. 

Facade makes creams obsolete as its one-of-a-kind, silicone-based, liquid-to-powder formula provides translucent, non-streaking, buildable matte color that sets with a natural glow. Silky soft and extraordinarily light, Facade comes in five shades for face and lips.


FEATURES & BENEFITS

• extremely blendable with seamless, even application
• ideal for use with high definition technology
• long-lasting
• slant tip for easy application
• moisture and sebum resistant
• longer drying time allows for movement and adjustments
• fragrance and flavor free
• 100% vegan
• non-comedogenic

PRO TIPS

• looks like liquid but applies like powder
• will buff down to lightest hint of color or build to create intense shade
• don't be afraid to mix shades to vary effect (add a touch of Livid to, or on top of Chameleon for a natural sun-kissed look)
• tint lip or use as color base with lip glaze
• start light and build intensity as required
• sets without powder to a fresh, natural-looking finish

$26.00 each   8 ml/.33 fl oz


This was my first experience trying any of FACE Atelier's products.


The five shades of Facade are a great range of colours that can be used on the cheeks or lips as a "lit from within" sheer glow. Facade can appear very sheer or can be layered for a more dramatic effect. 

FACE Atelier Facade in Livid

FACE Atelier Facade in Cha Cha

FACE Atelier Facade in Godiva

FACE Atelier Facade in Chameleon

FACE Atelier Facade in Arabesque

I swatched the five Facade's on my arm. The texture is very smooth, almost not wet at all under my fingers. Once blended down into my skin, it turns into powder and balls up as I rub (see second photo). But it stains the skin, very very sheerly and can be reapplied for a more intense effect. Obviously, in the photos below, the colours are true since the skin on my arms doesn't have as much pigment as the skin on my face or on my lips.

L to R: Livid, Cha Cha, Godiva, Chameleon, Arabesque

L to R: Livid, Cha Cha, Godiva, Chameleon, Arabesque

I tried each shade on my lips but not on my cheeks (if it'll stain my lips, it'll certainly stain my cheeks).


And here is what each looks like on.

Livid

Cha Cha

Godiva

Chameleon

Arabesque

I like the effect of Facade, although I prefer a lip product that has more moisture to it. My lips get quite dry. But the effect is very pretty and I like that you can layer them for more intensity. Topped with a sheer lip balm or gloss, it's very wearable and natural looking.