theNotice: a beauty blog

So… this happened.

I’m not entirely certain when, or why, or how, but it was sitting in my “coming up” folder when I went rooting around for a look to post this Monday, and– well, that’s pretty much all I have to say here. It’s weird, and almost a complete 180 from the neutral lid looks I’ve been posting recently, but (or perhaps “so,”) I hope you like it!

Products used

The basics: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, Smashbox Matte Eye Shadow in Smoke, Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer in Light.

The pigments: MAC Pigments in Vanilla, Grape, and Fuschia; FaceFront Artistic Pigment in Steam.

Everything else: Annabelle Mono Eyeshadow in Lagoon, FaceFront Color Volume Blush in I Dream of Peaches, 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara in Black Tea, La Bella Donna eyeliner in Black.

Alright, so it’s a few days late, but here are a handful of Tokyo Future comparison swatches. I’ve been running about attending far more courses than is generally advisable in order to sort out my schedule, so I apologize for the artificial lighting – by the time I get home, the sun’s already set. (Incidentally, it is likely that this will continue for the remainder of the season. My pre-emptive apologies; looks like photo-taking is going to be reserved for the weekends!)

From my stash, I found that Digital Dragon (the shade I unexpectedly fell a bit in love with) had the most dupes out of this bunch – nothing perfect, and nothing quite as densely molten-metal, but the Ellis Faas 303 Light would give the same effect. Something like Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Solstice might be close, too; if not in shade than at least pigment density and finish.

Secret Samurai reminded me a bit of ULTA Mystique and MAC Satin Taupe, but it’s a bit darker than the former and lighter than the latter. It also has quite a bit more red in the base – I thought it leaned just slightly red, but when compared to other taupes, the difference is more obvious. If you find taupes tend to lean too yellow on you, don’t miss this one.

I didn’t even bother looking for Lost in Nishitama dupes (maybe, like, MAC Spicy Smoke?), and the closest I had to the semi-matte Shallow Depth was Annabelle Lagoon – limited edition a while back, though, and not as much of an intense, straight-up blue. Shallow Depth is the low-budget NARS Outremer, in my head, though I do think the FaceFront pigment is more muted; darker. Perhaps more similar to something like Inglot #388?

Products featured in this post

• Annabelle Smoothie Eyeshadow Pencil in Mokamirage
• Ellis Faas Lights in E303
• FaceFront Tokyo Future Artistic Pigments (4) - also seen in this smokey violet and blue look.
• Annabelle Mono Eyeshadow in Lagoon – LE; also seen in this bright blue and green EOTD, as well as this violet and blue “get graphic” eye (a favourite of mine).
• Fyrinnae Polar Bear - also seen in this geometric burgundy and gold look, this green and gold look, and this soft burgundy and gold EOTD.
• MAC Eye Shadow in Satin Taupe
• Ulta Eye Shadow in Mystique

(Click on the brand name to link to reviews/swatches on theNotice!)

More photos behind the cut »

I don’t want to clutter up this post with too much text, but here’s a quick eye look with Clarins‘ Ombre Minérale 4 Couleurs Wet & Dry Eye Quartet Mineral Palette in Smokey Passion. (What a name! Because “quad” wouldn’t have done it?)

As I’m sure all my fellow neutral lovers already know, there are a ton of looks that you can create with just four shades – but I went with something light, fresh, and a little bit ethereal, using mainly the silver shimmer and the taupe in the bottom right corner of the palette. Then, for a bit of definition, I added a flick of black liner – Annabelle Black Spark, because I wanted to keep that translucent feel, and its sheen makes it perfect for that.

I’ll be reviewing the quad in full tomorrow, but needless to say, it’s absolutely lovely. I might try a more full-on look with it later this week, depending on how much time I have, because I’m certain it would create an intense look that’s just as flawless as this is – that’s the beauty of dense, finely milled eyeshadows, after all.

Keep reading »

This round of the Lipstick Bandits is all about layering lip products – one of my favourite pastimes! (Oh, the lives of beauty bloggers. I mean, gosh, how thrilling, right?)

(But no, seriously. I’m really into layering products; it’s ridiculous.)

The challenge was to find a red lip colour, preferably a lipstick, then layer a shimmery, sparkly, or glittery product overtop. I had a bit of a swatch fest with Annabelle Rouge Velours Lipstick in Adrenaline as my base colour, but alas…

…I didn’t end up going with any of those combinations.

Swatched R-L: Clarins Rouge Prodige Lipstick in Passion Rose, Clinique Lip Smoothie in Strawberry Bliss, Korres Cherry Lipgloss in Rose and Fuchsia, Benefit Ultra Shine Lipgloss in So Frisk Me.

Even after all that (and taking two full photo sets of Adrenaline + Korres Fuchsia), I ended up going with a new find that I can’t get enough of – the Bite High Pigment Lip Pencil in Pomegranate. (Review here). After a quick layer of Pomegranate, I layered Stila’s Brown Sugar Lip Glaze overtop for a bit of shimmer and shine. In retrospect, though, I should have picked something with larger shimmer particles – the change in texture is obvious, of course, but I feel like the shimmer could have “popped” more!

LEFT: Bite Pomegranate (only) / RIGHT: Bite Pomegranate + Stila Brown Sugar

LEFT: Bite Pomegranate / MIDDLE: Bite Pomegranate & Stila Brown Sugar / RIGHT: Stila Brown Sugar

Above: wearing Bite Pomegranate (only)

Keep reading! »

The product: Annabelle Smoothie Eyeshadow Pencils in Melonade, Mokamirage, Cocoaloco, and Licoriche.

The shades: Annabelle’s definitely outdone themselves on this colour range, if you ask me! It’s great to see such a variation of shades from a drugstore company, and to be honest, I wouldn’t expect any less from my favourite Canadian drugstore brand ;) There are eight shades available right now, four neutrals and four brights, and while that isn’t a ton, what’s really great about it is that all eight shades are different.

So,  yeah. If you give the formula a try and you really, really love it… well. You’re going to need all eight of ‘em.

Melonade is a distinctive peachy, melony shade. Mokamirage (my favourite) is a lovely taupey-champagne. Cocoaloco is a medium-light brown, sort of a slightly bronzed chocolate. Licoriche is a smooth, matte black.

I’d love to see an inner corner shade added to the line (Melonade’s rather too orange to use as such, at least for me), but aside from that, I can’t really think of any “essentials” that they missed.

Swatched L-R: Melonade, Mokamirage, Cocoaloco, Licoriche

Swatched L-R, blended: Melonade, Mokamirage, Cocoaloco, Licoriche

The formula: as I pointed out in our review of Licoriche, these feature the exact same formula (and really similar packaging, to be honest) as Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils ($24) - so at under $9 CAD, Annabelle Smoothies are definitely a great buy. Both lines have a great colour range, in terms of brights and neutrals, but I don’t know if there are any spot-on dupes.

I find these pencils a bit difficult to work with; they glide on really smoothy, but don’t blend out very well – I have to pull at my lids in order to move the colour, and they tend to go a bit patchy if sheered out.

The wear: The first time I tried these, I tried a really sheer layer… and, predictably, was a mess within the hour. The wear is a lot better if they’re applied thickly, but I still feel like the colour sort of “slides” down my lids, ending up thicker around my lashline and sparse on the edges. I don’t end up with a thin, crinkly line of eyeshadow, like I do with a lot of other products, but the colour migrates downwards if I’ve blended it out too much.

Unfortunately, I also found that I can’t wear the shimmery shades on my waterline – I was really impressed by Licoriche (which is matte) when I tried it there, but the other three itch and slide off within a quarter of an hour. Not for the sensitive of eye, I suppose! :P

The verdict?

Okay, so I’m right on the fence with these. They’re a fantastic drugstore dupe if you’re into Urban Decay’s 24/7 shadows, and I know a ton of bloggers who love them, but they just don’t work on my lids. Which, I mean, kind of sucks, because they have some pretty awesome shades, but – well. Nothing you can do, right?

(Except quench your sadness in ice cream and pie, of course.)

(What? Don’t look at me like that. Creasing eyeshadow is totally a good reason to sad!eat ice cream.)

Try them if…

• You’re going for a graphic shape: if you can refrain from buffing them out (I can’t), they honestly do not budge.
• You like the UD pencils, or you wanted to try them,
• Your lids aren’t as finicky as mine – if TFSI or UDPP work for you, I think these would, too!
• You usually like eyeshadow pencils – though I didn’t love these, they’re the best eyeshadow pencils I’ve tried thus far.

P.S. Check out Licoriche in superhero form!

Ingredients and more photos »