Finally — the long-awaited Multi-Dome Eyeshadow photos! Reviews of the quads will be up later today, but for now… feel free to feast your eyes on the photos. Check out the reviews here. My apologies to our out-of-Canada readers; I promise to have more universal material up tomorrow :) I’m thinking… Clinique Holiday collection?
- You like slightly chunkier glitter,
- You’ve always wanted a domed face powder, but MAC’s MSFs are too pricy for you at $33.50, or
- You want a highlighter to paaarty with, but not wear to the office!
- «Les Best» : Oranger en Fleurs, Intérieur Figuier, Mûre Sauvage
- «Les Orientaux» : L’Ambre, Tea and Ginger Bread, Bourbon Island
- « Les Best »: Mûre et Musc, Premier Figuier, La Chasse aux Papillons (love this; review upcoming!)
- « Les Masculins »: Fou d’Absinthe, L’Eau de l’Artisan, Timbuktu
- Ecotools’ Bamboo Blush Brush, which is much less dense and smooth than the Cozzette S135, but is also a ton cheaper {link}
- Any light-coloured MAC MSF, which have a finer shimmer than Nox {link}
- Under-$10 alternatives (not tried and tested) for the face powder: love and beauty {link}, Sonia Kashuk {link}, Palladio {link}
P.S. Did you know that it’s national blog posting month, where bloggers are encouraged to post every single day? I just found out, not that it really matters — we post every single day anyways ;)
For whatever reason, I’m just not feelin’ the whole “structure” thing today… this may have been influenced by the timbits and s’mores. But, on the other hand, maybe it’s just a coincidence! (Or maybe the two have a mutual cause, even.)
Anyhow: the product in Annabelle’s insomnia collection that had everyone flustered is none other but the product we’re reviewing today, the new Dome Face Powder. It comes in one shade, Nox, which is a shimmery, light highlighter.
Nox is neutral enough to be worn with any undertone, warm or cool; sheer but not so sheer that it will for-sure work on all skintones — some people with darker tones can pull off light, shimmery highlighters, but not everyone’s a fan of the effect. (I find that the darker you are in terms of tone, the more obvious off-white highlighters are.)
Personally, while I think that Nox is a lovely sight in the pan, I’m not a huge fan of the product itself: it delivers a shimmer that’s much chunkier than I prefer. I do advise you to take this with a grain of salt, though; I like my shimmer very, very finely milled! However, no matter how large you like your shimmer, I’m giving a huge “NO!!!” to Annabelle’s recommendation that you wear over your entire face.
(Unless you’ve secretly always wanted to be a disco ball?)
massive!cheek wants to show you some patchy, chunky shimmer.
Overall, at $11 for a domed highlighter, Nox isn’t a terrible buy. However, if I could only buy one thing from this collection, it wouldn’t be this. We’ll be reviewing the lipstick and quads shortly – and already have the Glitterama liner reviews up here – and this (thankfully) pales next to the rest of the products!
Nox is more than fine for indoor wear and great for parties, but it tends to turn me into a glitterball in the sunlight. A little like…
Try it if:
far left: nox. flash.
flash
indirect sunlight
What it is: Anatomicals Snoozers Are Losers energy patches
What they say:
The recommended 8 hours sleep a night is a hell of a lot of time to be spent snoring.
So when you’ve got something more interesting to do or, indeed, boring (like working through the night) you’ll be glad of our “Snoozers Are Losers” caffeine packed energy patches. Just one on your upper arm and you’re back in the land of this living quicker than a freshly thawed out Walt Disney.
Here’s the thing: Um, yah. I didn’t expect them to be fabulous (because, obviously, you can’t absorb enough caffeine through your skin for it to be effective in keeping you awake), but I still had to give them a try! And as expected, they didn’t “energize” me… but that doesn’t mean they didn’t work.
What they do: the second you put on a S:RL energy patch, you notice one thing two things: the weird, jelly-like texture, and the cooling sensation. That’s what really keeps you alert — you underestimate how effective a strange, cold patch of what essentially feels like jello can be, grasshopper. It’s super-weird, and somehow, that makes it… effective.
(See? I told you it was weird!)
The verdict? While I won’t be rebuying these (they’re really a novelty item; let’s be honest,) I wouldn’t dissuade you from purchasing them and giving them a go. As I said, they won’t infuse you with caffeine, but they’ll make you feel like you have more energy — and hey, isn’t that all that’s important? :o)
One last thing: Anatomicals, my dears, would you mind making these a little stickier? Because the second they’re on, they’re practically already falling off, and it drives me nuts. I’m not talking, like, a TON stickier, but a little bit would help! Even if they were made in band-aid style, with sticker ends and a less-sticky centre. I mean, they might be okay for normal people, but I’m really damn fidgety when I’m tired, and underneath a sleeve these just don’t have enough stick. Thanks ;)
(They’re ninjas because they’re things you’ve had all along, but they’re hiding! Har har har… too early in the morning for bad puns? Yah. Sorry, I promise I’m done.)
(Just kidding no I’m not!)
So… here are some of your secret beauty weapons, ready and waiting at your disposal!
Sleep.
I thought “beauty sleep” was some huge myth — until I pretty much stopped getting it. Now, my sleep schedule’s never been the greatest, but these last few months have been particularly brutal. So, take it from me: when you’re getting one or two sleepless nights a week, you get dark circles. Bags. Breakouts.
Everything bad that could happen, does happen. It’s okay at first, but once you reach that tipping point… yikes.
So stop partying; stop worrying yourself awake at night; stop whatever it is that could keep you away from a good night’s rest! They’re incredibly important for keepin’ ya pretty. And happy, which is even more important ;)
Umbrellas.
Think about it for a second. Not only can you use your umbrella to attack shifty passerbys, it keeps your hair and makeup in decent form — no matter what your hairstyle is. Straight, wavy, curled, it doesn’t matter. Unless you were born with model!hair (in which case, I hate you) and want to walk around in waterproof makeup 24/7, an umbrella is always a good idea when you’ll be walking around outside and it’s drizzling.
Mascara spoolies.
Aka mascara wands, etc. The point is, these do a lot — you can use them to apply mascara or comb through mascara if they’re clean, taking out clumps and redirecting your lashes. They’re also perfect for combing through your brows, whether you’re setting them in the morning or trimming them at night, and a mascara spoolie whisked through a gel or cream product can create some seriously cool makeup effects.
VASELINE!
Y’all know I’m crazy about the stuff. It’s great for doing pretty much anything in a pinch: hilighting cheekbones, adding gloss to your lips or lids, moisturizing pretty much anything, sheering out lip products and giving them some shine, making perfume last longer, protecting your hairline for at-home hair colouring, soothing chapped skin, adding gloss and texture to short hairstyles, giving you photo-ready legs and arms…
Enough said. Unscented petroleum jelly is the bomb dot com. (I can’t believe I just typed that. But at the same time: how have I not typed it before?!)
Water.
I kid you not; water is good for so much more than drinking.
No, seriously. It does even more than my beloved Vaseline!
A spritz of water helps freshen up any caking base products, intensifies colour as you put it on (foiling), tames and hits “refresh” on unruly hair… heck, you can even use it to re-moisten (some) products that are drying up! And, of course, without water, we wouldn’t be able to get clean half as well, and that just leads to a whole slew of other issues.
Water’s totally underrated, and that’s the truth. Oh, and being dehydrated? Never a good idea. Just one more thing that good ‘ol H20 is good for!
Do you have any “secret beauty weapons” that a bunch of serve functions they totally weren’t meant for? Let us know in the comments — I’m dying to hear them!
images via: one, two
See? Every bloody year. Halloween never grips me until after it’s already passed! (Alternately, it does grip me, but the sun refuses to shine until it’s come and gone).
Anyhow… here’s a bit of a more fantastical eye of the day for you. I really wanted to use the amazing Disturbia palette (from Annabelle’s insomnia collection) in an EOTD, and this kind of, um, happened. Hope you like it! I don’t adore it, but I also don’t hate it — it isn’t good for much other than the specific set of photos I wanted it for, but it was a nice change from the neutral eye I do on a regular basis :P
For a step-by-step photo breakdown, more photos of the finished product, and a product listing, read on!
How-to:
To get the look started, I did a quick “volcanic” eye that was appropriate for day wear. First, I pushed black liner (MAC Blacktrack) into my lashline from both the top and bottom, and then smudged it out thoroughly with a q-tip. Next, I prepped the entire lid with an eye base (NYX Milk), and foiled on three of the four Disturbia shades: the red in the inner corner, the brown on the outer corner, and a touch of the burnt orange in the middle of the lid.
If this was a day look, or any other sort of non-Halloween look. I would have cleaned up the edges with a q-tip, concealed, added mascara, filled my brows, touched up my liner, and stopped there. Instead, I followed it up with a series of lines, foiling on the last Disturbia shadow in parallel, diagonal lines.
And lines in the other direction…
Finally, I foiled a silver shadow (Marcelle Slate) into a few of the squares at random to add a little interest to the eye look. Here’s two shots of the entire look from a bit farther away, so you can see all the edges:
The end result:
Products used:
Annabelle Multi-Dome Eyeshadow palette in Disturbia
Marcelle Wet and Dry eye shadow duo in Slate
MAC Fluidline gel eyeliner in Blacktrack
Marcelle Power Volume mascara in BlackSmashbox eye shadow in Smoke
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in MilkSephora Concealer Palette; Lilac
P.S. So not thrilled about the fact that it’s already November. You?
I didn’t want to go really in-depth and cover the Holiday collections, because quite frankly, you’re probably getting a lot of this info from other blogs and I don’t want to clog up your readers.
So, here’s our solution! These boxes *should* contain each line’s Holiday collection, minus the LE shades of perm items (they’re awfully hard to track down in these widgets). Of course, you can read more about the collections on sites like Temptalia and Makeup4All, but for those of us just wanting one, quick post, here’s The Lazy Lady’s Guide to the Holidays. Enjoy!
P.S. Please feel free to link to this — it took forever and a half to compile, so I’d love if it was as accessible as possible :)
Did we miss one of your favourite makeup lines? If so, give me a heads-up in the comments and I’ll be sure to track it down for you!
Chanel I’ve decided that Chanel has released every one of these items for the sole purpose of putting me, personally, in heart-wrenching amounts of pain. See also: Guerlain.
Benefit
Bobbi Brown
How cute is that “Sparkle Glamour” quad? I love how it’s one pan with four sections. (From what I’ve heard, though, are those shades ever sheer!)
NARS
Smashbox
Dior
Guerlain
Lancome (holiday sets)
L’Wren Scott for Lancome
Givenchy
This is killing me. I mean, I usually ooh and ahh my way through the Holidays, but this… this is just cruel.
Make Up For Ever
Tarte
YSL
And a few misc. items:
L’Artisan Parfumeur holiday sets (avail. at Ogilvy’s in Canada early December). The candle trios run at $60 CAD and come in:
A very chic lip trio/charm/thing from Burberry (that price — ouch!)
And the fragrance trios, at $95 and include 15mL (each) of:
The boxes for the sets are stunning as well — is “adorable” in for the Holidays or something?
Actually, I’m going to warrant a guess and say yes, some sort of luxe-adorableness is the new black. Why? Check out this (holiday-appropriate) new fragrance by La Prairie:
(Frightful because it is mine, not because it is actually frightening).
The other contouring video mentioned can be found here. Happy Halloween; hope you enjoy the media!
Products mentioned:
Possible alternatives:
ETA: here are a few photographs that you might find helpful! The first is a straight-on shot to help compare the effect of the two types of contouring (notice the sweeping roundness of the cheek on your right, vs the harder line on your left), the second is a shot of smooth contouring, and the third is the straight-line cheek.
P.S. Anyone going trick-or-treating? :P
P.P.S. Damn, do I ever need to start filming in the daytime…
Clinique’s current GWP is pretty awesome — six pieces with any purchase over $21.50, plus two cosmetic bags. I would totally go for this… if I was in the US :( I so want to try that mascara, and the quad looks fabulous! {Clinique}
And for us Canucks, MAC is offering free shipping plus a free sample of their PRO eye makeup remover from now until Nov 14th with the code MACSAMPLE. Go get ’em, tiger! {MAC}
mark. (Avon for the younger set, essentially) has a number of products that are buy-one-get-one-free right now. Did you know that they sold clothing? Because I did not, and I find it quite strange. {mark.}
Finally, in the spirit of Halloween, you can use TREAT1 or TREAT2 over at Origins for a free sample of either their Checks and Balances or Never A Dull Moment cleansers, respectively. Cute names, eh? (That’s right, I’m a Canadian and I just said “eh.”) {Origins}
Okay, but honestly. I have tried multiple times over the past months to write a proper review of this… but I just can’t do it.
The reason? It smells awful. Seriously; just bloody awful. I know loads of people who love the scent (described as crème brûlée, of all things), but I absolutely cannot stand it. It smells like cereal aftertaste, to my annoying, finicky nose. Alternately, it could be described as cheap fragrance molecules masquerading as cereal aftertaste…
Either way, it’s gross.
swatched quite sheerly
It’s a pity, you know; everything else about this gloss is fabulous. Max is a lovely warm medium-nude with considerable opacity and fabulous shine. It turns peachy on my lips (not too nude), and the gloss doesn’t slip to the edges immediately. It’s just so darn pretty!
The texture is thick but still quite nice altogether, and I do like the brush applicator. Plus, it’s an honest-to-god cream finish! (Microshimmer, no glitter, no frost). Do you know how hard it is to come by one of those nowadays, especially when it comes to glosses?! IT’S HARD! Really hard!
So, really, why did they have to scent these like cereal, of all things? I mean, I could have dealt with vanilla. Cocoa. Even something obscure, like… lord, I don’t know. Oakmoss or something. Pumpkins. Basil. But nothing — nothing — drives me crazier than cereal aftertaste.
(No, seriously. I can’t even eat cereal unless I know I’ll be able to brush my teeth right after. Ridiculous.)
Oh, Max. You and I were never meant to be!