CND’s Vinylux Kiss of Fire (288)

Glitter polish! (Sort of.) This is a bit like Zoya’s non-glitter sparkle polishes - you see texture and some flashes of light, but you don’t spend ten minutes soaking each nail in polish remover to get every last trace of it. One coat gives you full coverage, but...

Zoya’s Bridal Bliss 2018 collection

Zoya first released a “Bridal Bliss” collection in 2018. All of the colors had previously been released. In marketing terms, it was really smart: repromote some of their softer shades that people may have missed the first time around that tend not to get as much attention among all the brighter,...

Shiro Cosmetics / Detrivore’s Rigor

elf’s Studio Flawless Face Brush

One of the face brushes from elf that I actually like. The brush bristles are a little shorter, so there’s not a “flopping” effect; and they’re cut and shaped to be really good for large-area soft-focus applications. They don’t necessarily work so well for sharper contouring, but...

L’Oréal’s Voluminous Butterfly Sculpt Waterproof Mascara

This is my favorite of the Voluminous mascaras! The brush gives me definition and some length without being long or unwieldy enough that I can easily accidentally poke me in the eye. It does volumize fairly well, but I don’t get too much clumping. I would dearly love to...

Sally Hansen’s Jazzy Jade (409)

NYX Cosmetics’ Machinist: Ignite palette

I was somewhat interested in these (in spite of myself!) when they came out…but I wasn’t going to pay $25 for them. I was lucky enough to buy them on sale shortly after Christmas 2018, when they were 50% off. Steam and Ignite are almost complementary palettes: Steam is the cooler...

Notoriously Morbid’s The Grand Empress

This is such a great liner shade for me! I get the definition in a color other than black or brown, and the patched-copper shimmer adds an extra element of both a contrasting color and some light reflectivity. This color is incredibly saturated! Just a little goes quite a long...

NYX Cosmetics’ Suede Matte Lipliner in Stockholm

I hoped that this color would be a bit more pink than coral-brick…but, nope. The color depth is nice for a summer color for paler skintones. I was interested in trying some of the reddish shades that looked interesting but did not make it into the Suede Matte Lipstick...

Kiko Cosmetics’ Smart Colour Mascara in Warm Brown

I’m not entirely sure where they got the “warm” in the description. (Maybe they just wanted an adjective before the color-name and this one won the coin- or dart-toss.) I was hoping for a mascara a bit more like Fired Earth, but with a better consistency. Straight up dark-brown...