theNotice: a beauty blog

This round of Lipstick Bandit posts came with the challenge of the starter lipstick: your very first (for those of us who still remember what our first shade was), or a lipstick that would make a good gateway drug into a full-fledged lipstick addiction.

The lipstick I chose to feature wasn’t my very first lipstick, but it was one of the first that I really fell in love with. I hope you will, too!

The product: Lancome Color Fever lipstick in Rose Tempest

I feel a little guilty about featuring this one, seeing as it’s long since been discontinued, but, well – what can you do, right? It was “the one,” and memories don’t exactly grow on trees. (Though it would be fabulous if they did, wouldn’t it?)

Rose Tempest is an interesting shade; a rather plain-Jane my lips but better sort, but there’s something just so about it. Imagine if you crossed a yellow-based pink with an olive-brown nude, gave it a lovely satin-creme formula, and scented it lightly with rose petals and bright, juicy berries. You’d get Rose Tempest exactly; the perfect daytime lipstick, with an unexpected edge of versatility and luxury. (This would look brilliant on so many different skintones that it’s not even funny, and have you seen that tube?)

A single swipe of Rose Tempest

bare lips

One layer of Rose Tempest on lips

For a dupe, try something like Maybelline Warm Me Up or MAC Modesty. They’re not exact copies (I much prefer the Color Fever formula and scent to both, though of course it isn’t without its flaws), but the shades are almost spot-on.

The Maybelline is great if you’re on a budget, but I’m not fond of scent, and the formula feels much heavier on my lips; on the other hand, I’ve never been a huge fan of MAC lipsticks (I find most of their formulas too drying), and I prefer lip products that are lightly fruity than ones that smell like vanilla.

I don’t get a ton of wear out of Rose Tempest, because I’m rather afraid of what I’ll do when I run out, but, well. If either of these dupes are even half as lovely – you’re going to adore them.

Keep reading! »

The product: Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream SPF 15 in Medium/Dark

The look: Garnier’s BB Cream is more sheer than I had expected, and more dewy. You know how I mentioned that the Marcelle BB Cream is really… I don’t know; BB-Cream-ish? I feel like Garnier’s isn’t – I can’t tell how it differentiates from a basic tinted moisturizer, in coverage or in finish.

If you have quite good skin to begin with that just needs a small “pick me up,” this may be an option – but don’t expect it to give your skin any more than a bit of a boost. I think I would have been a lot happier with this if it had been marketed as a sheer, luminizing base rather than a BB Cream or “Miracle Skin Perfector,” because it’s just that: it imparts a warm, dewy finish, but with very little coverage.

Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream in Medium/Dark on NW15ish skin

The shade: I was sent Medium/Dark, which is a massive error in logic that I’m not even going to begin to approach. I had a bit of fun with it, though – sometimes it’s nice to fake out a different skintone for a little while, and it blended in really well, probably because it’s so sheer. I’m fairly certain that Garnier’s Medium/Dark is darker than Marcelle’s Medium to Dark, so if you’re still searching for a drugstore BB cream but you’re on the darker end of the spectrum, this might be a shade option you’ll want to check out.

While I can’t speak for the lighter shade, I found the undertones of this one to run a bit pink – not so much that Asian skintones will find it completely unwearable but enough that it’s noticeable; it adds a bit of warmth by way of red undertones, rather than orange ones.

The ingredients: ingredient dropdown

Try it if

• You have normal to slightly dry skin that’s just looking a bit lackluster,
• You want a sheer base product to give a bit of a warm glow,
• You’re looking for a drugstore BB cream with a bit (but not a lot) of SPF, or
• You want to “fake out” a slightly darker skintone for an editorial look, rather than out & about in public.

Skip it if

• You’re looking for something that will disguise large pores, uneven colouring (eg. redness, blotchiness, or sun spots), or blemishes.
• You can’t stand scented products – I think this scent is brilliant, to be honest, but much too strong in execution.
• Heavy products drive you crazy (I can feel this when I’m wearing it, even after I give it plenty of time to sink in.)
• You have dry patches, oily patches, or dehydrated patches – I’d say this is best suited to people who are fairly content with their skin to begin with.

Swatched L-R: MAC NW25, Garnier Med/Dark B.B. Cream, MAC NW30, MAC NC30, Garnier B.B., MAC NC35.

All MAC shades are Studio Finish SPF 15 concealers.

The verdict?

Garnier describes their BB Cream as an ”all-in-one every day moisturizer [... a] light, velvety-smooth lotion.” And, honestly, I’m going to have to say that it’s none of the above. It always irks me when a product isn’t bad, but doesn’t do as it should – because as a blogger, what am I supposed to rate it by, then?

If you’re looking for a B.B. Cream that will provide a sheer, dewy, luminizing base, then I would say this is worth checking out. However, if you’re on the market for more coverage, something scent- or silicone-free, or that truly “flawless” finish, this isn’t the product for you.

Garnier’s Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream (quite the name!) retails at a SRP of $19.99 CAD, though you can get a $3 off coupon at their site, here. Full-face comparison photos later this week, if I can find time ;)

The product: Calvin Klein forbidden euphoria (eau de parfum)

Marketed as yet another “fruity floriental,” I wasn’t expecting all that much from the latest euphoria flanker. And, okay, it’s more or less what I’d expected – but in some respects, that could be a good thing.

When you go with a generically seductive fragrance from a brand known for its pretty-but-mainstream offerings, you’re not going to find anything riveting. Which sounds terrible, but it works both ways: the more adventurous a brand is with their scents, the more likely it is that everything is going to end up in a terrible mess of overdone scent molecules and trying-to-hard sillage.

forbidden euphoria, like the classic it is based off of, plays it safe: it’s the kind of scent that most people will kind-of-sort-of like, but perhaps not love.

Launched September 2011, the bottle is a spin on the original just as much as the scent is: the same shape, and the same idea, but this time in a gorgeous, translucent berry. I could photograph this for ages – and, to some extent, I suppose I did. (It’s so easy to go overboard on photo-taking when you’re working with a product that looks like this.)

The Calvin Klein house describes forbidden euphoria as a younger interpretation of euphoria, which is a description I’d have to agree with. It lists top notes of sparkling mandarin, peach blossom, passion fruit, and iced raspberry; heart notes of  pink peony, tiger orchid, and jasmine; and base notes of cashmere woods, patchouli, and skin musk.

(And I’m sorry, but I cannot use the name “forbidden euphoria” without quotation marks or stylized text. I just can’t do it. Please, for the love of grammar, capitalize your bloody product names, industry; you’re driving me crazy.)

Silver to the sides, or silver to the front and back? The adverts say translucent facing forward, but I think the silver looks rather cleaner.

The bottom line

I get an indiscriminate kind of fruity from this scent; soapy and very sweet. (“Soapy” as in commercial soaps and shampoos, not “soapy” as in aldehydes and Chanel No. 5.) I think iced raspberry was a very apt description of it – it’s like someone theorized a raspberry syrup that you’d make a tasty (and extremely alcoholic) drink from, created an absolu, and infused it into forbidden euphoria.

If I had to sum this all up in one word, I think I’d go with “tasty.” (Because, seriously, it’s more mouthwatering than any fragrance has a right to be.) I doubt forbidden euphoria will be winning awards for innovation anytime soon, but it plays its strengths – and (god help me), I kind of find myself accidentally enjoying it every now and again.

It toes the line of headache-inducing and I definitely have to use a light hand with this one, but it’s also the perfect guilty pleasure. Let’s keep that between the two of us, though, yeah? ;)

There’s more! (No, seriously, really is; keep reading.) »

The product: Facefront Tokyo Future Cyber Gel Cream Eye Liner + Color Base in Weekend Warrior and White Rice

Oh, FaceFront. Why do you have to do this to me on such a frequent basis? I feel like you’re creating innovative new torture methods, just for beauty bloggers, and I’m your sample size of 1.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, yeah? I’m going to start with the good stuff, then work our way to the bad.

The shades

Weekend Warrior (Pewter Finish) is a gorgeous deep purple, with strong blue undertones but red microshimmer – a violet-lover’s dream. It’s even prettier in real life than it is on camera, and is up and down a “true violet” if I’ve ever seen one. I think it’s due to that perfect blue-and-red mix; it’s hard to make a violet that’s really violet both on film and in person, but FaceFront nailed it with this shade.

White Rice (Pewter Finish, and don’t even get me started on that name) is described by FaceFront as being “a slightly metallic and very bright classic white,” but I have to disagree. It’s definitely bright, but I’d describe it more as “packed with microshimmer” than “metallic”, and it’s more of a light silver than a classic white.

Either way, it’s gorgeous. Whites and off-whites can get boring pretty fast, but this one has me rapt!

Swatches of Weekend Warrior and White Rice. Incandescent lighting + colour correction (sorry.)

Smudged with a light tough, after being given twenty minutes to set (and stubbornly refusing to do so).

The wear

Aaaand here’s where things start going downhill. As pretty as these two shades are, they just don’t cut it when it comes to wear - neither really “sets,” so even if you manage to get them perfectly even (easy to do with White Rice, obscenely difficult with Weekend Warrior), the results won’t last long.

I wanted to talk about wear with some lid swatches, so I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you hanging for a bit. I should have part two of this review ready by tonight or tomorrow, but I’ll keep going and give these a verdict for now! Wear will be discussed extensively in the next part; for now, all you need to know is that it was (very much) not impressive.

The big issue

There are a handful of reasons why I typically go for products that are “mass-produced,” rather than mixing things up at three in the morning to meet my specifications exactly. One of those is time, sure, and another is a lack of a chemist’s lab in my office, but the big one is consistency. When you buy from a brand, you can expect a general level of consistency from shade to shade of a formula… right?

(I’m sorry, I think I need to take a breather to laugh hysterically.)

(But seriously, what beauty blogger hasn’t mixed up a shadow or lip product or blusher or five? God, we’re all just junkies scrambling for our next [colour] fix.)

Right, so back to expecting consistency. Which is to say: not so, in the case of the Cyber Gel line!

Using just these two as an example, White Rice is has the texture of frozen butter, if that makes any sense -  solid, but it “melts” smoothly onto your fingertip or brush. (Which is a good thing, in case that wasn’t clear. I don’t think that was clear.) And then there’s Weekend Warrior. Completely unlike White Rice, it’s solid and dry, rather than solid and buttery, and it’s a pain in the arse to work with.

The verdict?

Skip on these, if you know what’s good for you. The shades are absolutely gorgeous, but are still very much not worth the hassle – there are a ton of other great (or even just “better”) cream formulas out there, and these just aren’t up to snuff.

I hate to give such a negative review for these, because FaceFront do some of the most unusual, breathtaking colours, but sometimes (read: right now), I feel like they should stick to powder products until they figure out the perfect creme formula.

Which they’ve yet to do.

Ingredients & more »

The product: Marcelle BB Cream in Light to Medium

What they say about it: Marcelle is marketing their BB Cream as a hypo-allergenic beauty balm/skin enhancer, calling it an 8 in 1 product. I couldn’t quite suss out what those eight claims were, but I’ve numbered off my guesses – and will try to judge the product accordingly!

Your ultimate skin care enhancer for all ages and skin types, this multi-purpose skin care cream is more than a tinted moisturizer or simple make-up base. It perfects the skin to (1) reveal a more even epidermis and (2) well-hydrated, (3) flawless complexion, all in one. Use it (4) alone as a tinted moisturizer;  (5) over your moisturizer to unify your complexion and (6) reduce the appearance of blemishes, (7) apply as a make-up base under foundation for total coverage and (8) improved stay-on power. BB Cream is offered in two shades and is suitable for a wide variety of skintones thanks to its self-adjusting pigments that transform and adapt to skin tone.

Please note that because I am sensitive to silicones, I will be unable to judge the long term or long-wearing effects of this product – that is, claims 1 through 3, and 8. I can, however, speak toward all of the other claims, so keep reading for the review!

The shade: Somehow, Marcelle has managed to put just the right amount of pigment into their BB cream - more on par with a sheer foundation than a tinted moisturizer. It’s enough to tone down my awful undereye circles, but not so much that only having two shade choices will be terribly limiting.

Light to Medium is darker than my own skintone, and yet, it’s completely seamless: my face still matches my neck, but I’d feel completely comfortable wearing this and nothing else as a base product – as long as I’m not in the middle of breakout, that is! Check back tomorrow for shade comparison swatches.

Update: check out comparison swatches (MAC, 100% Pure, other Marcelle foundations) here!

Marcelle BB Cream swatches – all Light to Medium, with differing amounts of blending.

The finish: Again, Marcelle has hit the nail right on the head with this one. Similarly to the amount of pigmentation, the finish is absolutely natural – just enough glow to give my skin an extra little boost, but not so much that it’s obvious. (I’ve got a super-close-up flash photo of a swatch below; you can tell that there’s a small amount of super-finely-milled mica that’s literally imperceptible to the naked eye.)

I like to think of this as a natural plus finish - no one would ever guess that you were wearing a base product, and yet, the results are just that tiny bit more flawless.

Super-close-up swatches of Marcelle BB Cream in Light to Medium; indirect sunlight with additional flash.

The ingredients: Marcelle’s BB Cream is paraben-free, perfume-free (though it is not scent-free), and hypoallergenic. For the full ingredient list, click here.

Odds and ends: So, that throwaway comment about this being perfume-free but not scent-free? I’m not sure what to say about it. I can’t stand the slightly-sour scent of this, even after a good half hour of wear. But here’s the thing: my scent-sensitive sister? Can’t smell it at all.

My advice is that if you’re not already convinced that you’re crazy (that is, you’re frequently annoyed by a faint sour scent when everyone else is convinced a product is scent-free), I wouldn’t worry about it in relation to this BB cream, either.

Lastly, I want to give a quick shout-out to the brilliant packaging of this BB cream. Not only is it super-cute (white is underrated, you guys), but it’s blissfully user-friendly. It’s light, easy-to-use, and super sanitary. No trigger-finger pump, no bacterial contamination, and no need to worry about fingerprints or fragility!

The verdict?

Marcelle’s BB Cream retails for $22.95 CAD/45mL and is available in Light to Medium and Medium to Dark shades. I’m hesitant to give a verdict for this one, as I wasn’t able to test it for long-term or all-day wear, but I love what I did get to test it for.

With more coverage than a tinted moisturizer, a completely seamless finish, and just the right amount of “glow,” the Marcelle BB Cream is a fantastic introduction to BB Creams on the whole. I’m no expert, of course, but I’ll say this: if the rest of the trend is anything like this one, I completely understand the craze!

One last photo »