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.

The product: MAC Viva Glam V Lipstick (Lustre)

The purpose: One thing that I love (absolutely love) is seeing how the same shade will translate onto different skintones. Luckily for me, my friends are just as crazy.

For the April round of the Lipstick Bandits, we all bought the same tube of lipstick: MAC’s Viva Glam V. I believe it was Tracy who suggested the shade, and if you ask me, it’s absolutely perfect. Viva Glam V is one of those great MLBB shades that wears well on almost everyone, and today, you’ll get to see how it wears on twelve different skintones. 

(Can you tell that I’m excited? I’m really bloody excited.)

Both images above: Viva Glam V, in slightly different lighting. (Isn’t it a weirdo?)

The cherry on top is that MAC’s Viva Glam line donates 100% of the purchase price to the MAC Aids Fund, which is pretty much as good as it gets, as far as charitable products go. Most companies will donate a dollar or two per tube, and more often than not, there’s a cap on how much they’ll donate overall.

So, without further adieu, I bring you MAC Viva Glam V!

The formula: Unfortunately, I’m not much of a fan of MAC’s Lustre formula. Like Desire (a gorgeous creme-finish burgundy, and my autumn Lipstick Bandits choice), I find VG V to be a bit okay, more than a bit shoddy in the moisture department. It’s more comfortable than a cheap matte, of course, but I find my lips are begging for moisture by the time this wears off.

As always, the MAC lipstick formula is paraben-free and scented solely with vanillin.

Bare lips

MAC Viva Glam V lip swatch

The shade: Viva Glam V is an interesting shade, though. Based on how it looks in the tube, I had expected a more dense colour, and with more brown tones in it. When swatched, though (whether on my lips or just the back of my hand), it’s unexpectedly pink – sort of a neutral-rose, rather than a lightly pinked brown.

In line with many of MAC’s other Lustre shades, Viva Glam V is sheer with quite a bit of shimmer. I find it rather unforgiving on my dry, too-wrinkly-for-their-age lips, but you’ll have to check in with the other Bandits for the final judgement on that one! (I’m excessively picky. Y’know, in case you hadn’t noticed.)

MAC Viva Glam V swatch – heavily, then lightly.

Wearing VG V – it’s quite a natural-looking shade!

The verdict?

Okay, so I’m not thrilled with Viva Glam V on its own. I’m excited to see the shade on the rest of the Bandits, though, and I know a number of them are crazy about it!

If your lips aren’t too dry, and you’re looking for a neutral rose with a bit of shimmer, I’d give this one a go. There isn’t a better lipstick to put your money toward than the Viva Glam line, so I’d definitely say they’re worth checking out on the whole! Give the lustres a skip if you have lips as dry as mine, though, and beware of this particular shade if you’re not a huge fan of shimmery lipsticks.

A few links: Karla has the permanent Viva Glam lipsticks swatched here, as well as swatches of the current LE Viva Glam products (Nicki and Ricky) here; Bluebell’s Beauty Blog has lip swatches of the first five Viva Glam shades here; and finally, The Shades of U has the permanent VG lipsticks swatched on a darker skintone here.

And now, the good stuff! See Viva Glam V on the rest of the Lipstick Bandits »

So, I was going to do another colour post for today – in green, of course. But while I was swatching the eyeliners I’d picked out, I came to the (rather startling) realization that they were more or less two sets of almost-perfect green eyeliner dupes.

And this, of course, absolutely begged to be covered.

L-R: MAC So There Jade, Marcelle Caribbean, Clinique Intense Ivy, Marcelle Metal Green.

(Click to enlarge!)

On the left, we have MAC’s Powerpoint Eye Pencil in So There Jade and Marcelle’s Waterproof Eye Crayon in Caribbean, two iridescent aqua-green longwearing waterproof liners. MAC describes So There Jade as a “light green jade,” but I call bullshit – I’d say it’s more of a metallic seafoam green than “jade,” and I’ve been to China.

(See, that’s funny, because jade is “the” Chinese stone, but you don’t actually have to be Chinese to recognize that Jade is typically, well, green, with perhaps a bit of blue.)

(… and now we’re making tongue-in-cheek jibes at hipster racism and the fact that it is WRONG, ANDERSON, WRONG! at ten o’clock at night. Sherlock references and passive-aggression at the beauty industry over sexism, racism, and orientalism: just a regular Saturday at theNotice.)

But, back on topic. Caribbean is So There Jade‘s prettier, smarter twin sister – she’s smoother, better priced, and more opaque. The Marcelle is a little brighter and bluer, but honestly, there’s no contest: if you’re in Canada (or you’re ordering Marcelle online from the US), go with Caribbean!

Marcelle Lux Metallic Liquid Eyeliner in Jade over the straight swatches, and alone on the far L&R.

Other eyeliners in the same order as above: MAC So There Jade, Marcelle Caribbean, Clinique Intense Ivy, and Marcelle Metal Green.

On the right hand side of the swatches, we have Clinique’s Quickliner Intense in Intense Ivy (a recent release – review of the formula soon!) and Marcelle’s Waterproof Eye Crayon in Metal Green. And you’d expect that I’d be all over the Marcelle again, right? Because that would only make sense.

Content on theNotice rarely makes sense, though, so then there’s that. (I’m sorry, I’m so sorry; I can’t seem to be able to turn off the meta tonight!)

While startlingly similar, the differences between Clinique’s Quickliner Intense and Marcelle’s Waterproof Eye Crayon are more varied, both in shade and in performance. Intense Ivy features a creamier formula, easier to apply & with a more complex shade, but Metal Green is cheaper, water-resistant, and makes it through more of my sixteen hour days.

As for which one I’d recommend? Well, that depends. If your lids aren’t too oily, go for the Clinique Quickliner Intense – the buttery texture is to-die-for, and the more nuanced shade of Intense Ivy is (har, har) really intense. It’s more black, more green, more metallic, and contains tiny gold flecks that just take my breath away. If your lids are oily, though, opt for the Marcelle Waterproof Eye Crayon – Metal Green is still breathtaking, and wears much better on my lids.

I should probably start rambling about now, but there’s one last thing we have to go over: I compulsively add Marcelle’s Lux Metallic eyeliner in Jade to all of my green liner swatches. It’s a bit of an addiction, admittedly, but can you really blame me? It’s gorgeous. 

–

P.S.

For a green swatch post that actually managed to happen without getting sidetracked, here’s last year’s St. Paddy’s mini-post: Green swatches for St. P

So, in an excellent showing of “it takes Rae forever to post absolutely everything,“ here’s an eye look that I absolutely couldn’t wait to photograph & post. The photos, snapped within 48 hours of my becoming re-infatuated with lavender (totally Xiao’s fault), are… wait for it… three months old.

/sighs

Despite the fact that I am now considerably less excited about lavender (it’s so much more exciting during a season in which it isn’t already being overdone), I’m still quite fond of this look. Enjoy!

I used Rimmel Glam’Eyes in Royal Violet (review) for the violet in this look, but I think I’m going to need a new matte lavender soon – it’s good, for a $5 shadow, but you really have to pack it on. If anyone has recommendations, they’d definitely be appreciated!

To juxtapose something warm and wearable against the ethereal purple tones of Royal Violet, I added a mix of MAC Satin Taupe (swatches) and Ulta Molten (swatches) around the edges and along most of the lower lashline - a sheer layer of Satin Taupe toward the inner corner, and Molten concentrated on the outer corner, to add depth without closing in the eye area.

The look was finished with a smudgy flick of Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Expresso and one coat of Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara (review). I’d thought about lining with the gorgeous MAC Teddy (review), but the Marcelle won out in the end – though Teddy is absolutely delicious (and a dream to smudge out), the wear time on the Marcelle is so much better.

Since doing this look (and this is a bit of an unrelated ramble), Expresso has actually moved into my “daily” tin – brushes, liners, and mascaras that I find myself reaching for quite often. It’s not breathtaking, but it’s still a lovely chocolate brown with subtle gold flecks; the perfect balance between no-nonsense and attention-grabbing.

Swatched L-R: MAC Satin Taupe, Marcelle Expresso, Rimmel Royal Violet, Ulta Molten

One last thing…

Just threw together a quick assortment of other lavender eyeshadows, in case anyone else is being bitten by the lavender bug as well! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these, if you’ve tried them, or perhaps if anyone has an etailer recommendation for a nice matte lavender shadow?

For those of you that can’t wait until the 16th (online exclusively at shop.marcelle.com) for the new Marcelle BB Cream ($22.50 CAD, in stores Feb 6th), here are a few others…

What makes up a BB cream?

The blemish balms that have been sweeping through Asia over the past few years are finally making waves in North American brands, too. These all-in-one bases are lightly tinted to even out the skin, creating a smooth, even base under foundation (or, depending on the brand and shade, replace foundation altogether.)

I’ve also seen “BB” cited as “beauty base,” “beauty balm,” and “blemish base,” but they’ve always been blemish balms in my head. You may recognize them from brands like Skin Food, Dr. Jart, Etude House, Missha, and The Face Shop – and those are just the big ones. BB creams are, more or less, the tinted moisturizers of the other side of the world; sheer foundation with an extra marketing punch. (And, hopefully, an extra-punchy formula, too.)

There are a number of multinationals that do Asia-exclusive BB creams, so perhaps they’ll show up here sometime, too. I know Maybelline, L’Oreal, and Garnier do them, as well as department/boutique brands like La Roche Posay, Dior, Estee Lauder, and Bobbi Brown, so perhaps it’s not too much to hope for! (Note, the Estee one sold here is different from the one sold in Asia; theirs launched earlier and is part of the Cyber White line, not the DayWear range.)