theNotice: a beauty blog

The product: Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stain in No. 27 Pêche Cerra-Colla

The shade: I have to admit, Pêche Cerra-Colla isn’t exactly my usual shade. A slightly pinked peach, it has a blissfully shimmer-free finish, and fades to a soft, super-sheer tangerine.

A solid “medium” in both opacity and depth, this peach Glossy Stain is darker than my bare lips, but creates a very natural effect — far from bold or brash, it delivers good colour while still maintaining a wonderful visual translucence. Though the touch of pink makes this wearable on my cool, pale complexion, I can see it creating a beautiful “my lips but peachier” shade for warmer skintones, too.

The application: Like many bright, translucent stains, Pêche Cerra-Colla applies with a milky finish that soon disappears (think Benefit Posietint, but better). The applicator is a thin, slanted doe-foot, and it distributes the perfect amount of product for an even, glossy lip.

It’s not your typical applicator, but that only makes me like it more. The thin profile keeps you from picking up too much product, and the shape makes it easy to both apply product quickly & get right into the corners and edges of the lip.

Swatched L-R: YSL (1) Volupté Sheer Candy in No. 12 Tasty Raspberry, (2) Glossy Stain in No. 27 Pêche Cerra-Colla, (3) Glossy Stain, sheered out

The wear: The internet is a crazy place, but they get some things right… one of them being that YSL’s Glossy Stains are awesome.

Lightweight and relatively non-sticky, even a sheer shade like Pêche Cerra-Colla wears for ages: I can get a solid five hours with a glossy finish (if I don’t eat or drink anything), and a few more with just a light stain. While not hydrating, it’s reasonably comfortable for a solid 5-6 hours, even on my dry lips – as long as there’s still a tacky finish, the Glossy Stain formula is incredibly easy to wear.

L-R: YSL Framboise Craquante, Pêche Cerra-Colla heavily/sheerly

YSL Pêche Cerra-Colla Glossy Stain – stains

The verdict?

Like almost everyone else who has tried out a YSL Glossy Stain, I’m pretty smitten with them. While I could do without the added fragrance, the Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres Glossy Stains (what a mouthful!) pair fantastic wear time with ease-of-use, comfort, and a fantastic shade range. They’re as easy to apply and wear as a gloss, but you get the extra-long wear time of a stain, too.

Availability:$34 USD/$36 CAD. Pêche Cerra-Colla was new this January with YSL’s Arty Stone Spring 2013 collection, but is now part of the permanent line.

Recommendations, dupes, lip swatches & more »

The products: Benefit They’re Real! Mascara and Watt’s Up! Luminizer

↳  as seen in Real Birthday Turn-Ons!, Sephora’s 2013 Beauty Insider birthday gift

It’s not my birthday, but this year’s Sephora BI birthday gift almost makes it feel like it is. I’ve been playing around with the highlighter and mascara duo, and (while I don’t love it quite as much as last year’s Fresh lip balm duo) it’s pretty great.

Honestly, though: the freebie consists of two best-selling Benefit products, shrunk down into miniature form, with puns in tow. How could it not be?

Benefit They’re Real! Mascara, $23 USD/#29 CAD

Described as “a jet-black mascara that lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts, and separates lashes,” They’re Real! has a very cool applicator. Made out of a flexible plastic, it has staggered short-and-long bristles that go all the way around the tip of the wand – perfect for adding length and separation right down to the roots & the hard-to-get outer corners of the eye.

I haven’t tried the much-loved Benefit BADgal Lash, but according to this cool chart on Benefit’s site, They’re Real! is glossy and lengthening (both of which I can hands-down confirm) while BADgal is matte and volumizing.

The pitfalls: I really wish They’re Real! wore for longer on my eyes. Like with most mascaras, I start seeing some smudging after 4-5 hours, which (at $29 CAD for the full sized version) is pretty disappointing. My lashes could use a little more volume, too, but that’s easily excusable for a mascara made to focus on lengthening!

The high points: The applicator! You wouldn’t think having bristles on the tip would make much of a difference, but it makes getting picture-perfect outer corners a cinch. It does a great job at providing length, too (particularly on the lower lashes), and I really love the soft, glossy finish. 

Benefit They’re Real! ingredients:

Water (Aqua), Paraffin, Polybutene, Styrene/Acrylates/Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Beeswax (Cera Alba), Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, C18-36 Acid Triglyceride, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Triethanolamine, Vp/Eicosene Copolymer, Acacia Senegal Gum, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol, Tetrasodium Edta, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Laureth-12 Sulfate, Glycerin, Potassium Sorbate, Sericin, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tilia Tomentosa Bud Extract, Citric Acid, Bht, Sorbic Acid. [+/-: Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Titanium Dioxide

L-R: Benefit They’re Real!, Benefit Watt’s Up! (straight from tube), Benefit Watt’s Up! (blended)

Benefit Watt’s Up! Soft Focus Highlighter, $30 USD/$36 CAD

Watt’s Up! is a cream-to-powder “luminous champagne” highlighter for the cheeks and browbones, which (in the full-size form) comes with a little “soft glow blender” to smooth out the luminizer into an even, diffuse sheen.

Honestly, my favourite part about Watt’s Up! is its adorable pun & packaging, but the product itself definitely has its merits, too!

The finish of Watt’s Up! is a tiny bit too shimmery for my tastes (I prefer a super-finely-milled sheen), but it does still create a gorgeous, noticeable glow. Unlike highlighters that depend on a mix of base pigment & shimmer to lift the complexion, this one is mainly based on peachy-champagne shimmer, which means that it’ll work well on a really wide range of complexions, right from NW15 through to NC42. 

It’s not too warm (orange-gold) or too cool (silvery-pink), either — I can wear this tone without a hitch, but my warmer, darker mother (around a NC35 in the winter) can pull it off no problem, too.

Keep reading! »

The product: Yves Saint Laurent La Laque Couture Tie & Dye Pearly Coloured Top Coat (Top Coat Coloré Nacré)

   ↳ in 01 Cool Coat, 02 Pop Coat, 03 Hip Coat, and 04 Ice Coat

The hardest part about writing this review wasn’t that the product was phenomenally good, or horrifyingly bad, or even incredibly surprising. Nope: the hardest part of writing this review was definitely, absolutely, hands-down the fact that I took almost two hundred photos of these, and all of them were stunning.

Not because of the lighting, or the camera, or the staging, of course. It’s just that the Tie & Dye topcoats are really, really cool — a four year old with a point & shoot could make these look absolutely riveting! 

YSL Tie & Dye Pearly Coloured Top Coats

YSL Tie & Dye Top Coats (partially mixed)

A brief overview of the effects

-01 Cool Coat reads as breathtaking blue-violet duochrome over a dark polish – perhaps because I swatched it over brown? On its own, however, Cool Coat is a dense white shimmer with pink reflects. 

-02 Pop Coat creates sheer veil of warmth (red), with a small amount of pink and gold shimmer. This one made my bare nails look a bit as if they’d been dipped in beet juice, but I can see it being a good “nothing” sheen on warmer, darker skintones!

YSL La Laque Couture Tie & Dye Top Coat swatched on bare nails

L-R: 01 Cool Coat, 02 Pop Coat, 03 Hip Coat, 04 Ice Coat

-03 Hip Coat translates into a cool pink sheen on the nails; more brightening and densely shimmery than Pop Coat. (I found this to be the most brightening “natural” shade for my hands’ colouring.)

-04 Ice Coat, finally, is a super-sheer blue jelly with strong blue shimmer. It’s a through-and-through shimmer (not a duochrome, like Cool Coat), and I think it would be the only one I wouldn’t wear on bare nails.

YSL Tie & Dye Top Coats 01-04 swatched overtop YSL La Laque Couture in 37 Taupe Mauresque ($25 USD), a shimmer-free brown from the Summer 2013 collection. [ flash ]

A bit more about the topcoats / I’d recommend… »

The product: OB for shu uemura UV Under Base

   ↳ Brightening Mousse SPF 30 PA ++ in Pink Purple

   ↳ POREraser Mousse SPF 35 PA +++ in Beige

I’ve been trying to put together a review of the YSL Tie and Dye topcoats all week, but — no dice. (I think I took way too many photos; seriously.) In the meantime, here’s a review for something that really blew me away this month!

(how cute are these?!)

The POREraser UV Under Base Mousse in Beige

To start off with: shu’s Beige Under Base (SPF 35 PA +++) is made to even out skin tone and texture, reduce redness, and minimize the appearance of pores.

It’s kind of like — you know how makeup primers tend to be a clear layer of silicones, while paint primers are there for adhesion and tint? The POREraser is more like the latter, not only filling pores but creating a more even tone, too. I’d say its pore-filling prowess is less than a heavy “filler” (think Benefit The POREfessional), but it’s worth it for the lighter feel and silicone content.

Try this if: You’re looking for something to even skin tone without “flattening” the face. Use before your foundation —  or instead of, if you’re around a NW20-30!

shu uemura UV under base – POREraser/beige (L) and brightening/pink purple (R)

The UV Under Base Brightening Mousse in Pink Purple

Here’s the one that really steals the show for me. Like the POREraser Under Base, the Brightening Mousse was created to be a weightless way to even out skin tone and texture — but with a brightening benefit, too, both in immediate effect and long-term reduction of imperfections.

With SPF 30 PA ++, this primer is phenomenal at brightening up a fair to medium skintone (perhaps a deep skintone, too, if used sparingly), and works particularly well with yellow undertones. You definitely need to spread this one out (the shu website recommends applying a walnut-sized amount with their pentagon sponge) and make sure to cover all exposed skin, but it is absolutely, definitely worth it.

Try this if: You already have a sheer-to-medium foundation that you love, but want something to help “pick up” your complexion without relying on shimmer or sheen.

shu uemura UV under base swatches – beige (L) and pink purple (R)

The verdict?

shu uemura’s POREraser Under Base is great, but the Brightening Mousse – wow. From the spot-on Pink Purple shade (which really does have pink-purple undertones) to the wonderfully unique mousse format, it absolutely blew me away. 

I don’t feel like these are absolute must-haves (perhaps because I personally don’t wear an all-over base), but at $46 CAD, the shu bases are a very novel, wonderfully packaged product.

Availability: At Holt Renfrew & select Sephora boutiques (Canada); shuuemura.co.uk (United Kingdom). The bases are permanent, but the packaging featured here is limited edition!

See the brightening mousse: featured in this OB for shu uemura teaser post & used as a base for this blue eyeliner look.

Ingredients & more »

The product: Clarins Palette Eclat Face Blush & Powder

I’m not always the best at reviewing things right when they come out, and the Face & Blush Powder in the Clarins Rouge Eclat collection was no exception.

That said, the tardiness is entirely my own issue — it says nothing (nothing!) about the product itself.

Like many of Clarins’ other limited edition face powders, the Palette Eclat is a gorgeously intricate pressed powder marketed as a “Face & Blush Powder” — that is, you can use it sheerly over your entire complexion, or focus the product on the cheeks as a highlighter, bronzer, or blush (depending on your skintone) with a denser brush.

Because I’m quite pale, I tend to use face-and-blush duos just on my cheeks, as warm blushers — you can see it used as a contouring blush in:

• This blue eyeliner look from this Monday,
• This violet-eyed Rouge Eclat look from February, or
• This “brow resolutions” focus piece, also from weeks and weeks ago.

(If you have a medium-deep complexion, Karen’s review on this blush at MABB is a can’t-miss!)

Clarins Palette Eclat swatches: more pink vs. just beige.

I’m in love with the scent of this season’s Clarins powder (it’s very noticeable, for a face powder; exquisitely blended powder and violets), but it’s definitely not the only thing to be smitten with. The matte finish blends in seamlessly with the skin, and the strips of colour are insanely pigmented — I thought they’d be an overspray, but they go right down & really influence the tone of the powder.

With a focus on the coloured strips, you’ll get an intense pink cheek, with a little bit of a yellow/orange lean; with only the solid beige, you’ll get a soft, natural peach.

Clarins Palette Eclat Face Blush & Powder swatches: just beige / just pink / whole pan

Clarins Rouge Eclat collection Face Blush & Powder swatches

Here’s the stunner, though: with a swipe across the whole pan, you’ll see a gorgeous peachy pink. (Imagine what would happen if you took a drop of fluorescent hibiscus pigment and diluted it with 10 drops of neutral-warm skin tones… and then add an extra five points for awesome.)

(FOR AWESOME.)

The verdict?

If I could give a verdict as, “eeeee!”, I totally would. I am crazy about this powder — the price is reasonable for what you’re getting; the pigmentation and versatility are gorgeous; the design and scent are perfection. 

I find it hard to write reviews for products wherein I literally cannot find a single bad thing to say about the product (because there’s a dearth of such products, not because they’re hard to write), but… well, this is one of the few. You need this. 

Get it at:Nordstrom; Clarins counters. $35 USD/$40 CAD.

P.S.: See all of our Clarins Palette Eclat features here!

Keep reading! »