BareMinerals’ Go Bare Baby kit

I’m never totally sure what to make of these “face color/glow powder” kits. On the one hand, they’re a good way to get multiples to try and a lower-than-retail price. On the other hand…I appreciated the blush kits far, far more.

BareMinerals’ Crown Jewels kit

The overall pairing is a bit warm for me, with my slightly cooler undertones. I would personally swap True Gold for a medium lilac, and substitute a slightly more neutral lip polish (possibly Eva, or maybe Tara). The colors coordinate decently, and there isn’t a brown eyeshadow!

Sephora’s Colorful Shadow Liner in Gold

A slightly aged gold, but not too deep. It leans just barely orange, but it isn't an orange-yellow, just and “old gold” yellow. It's a near-metallic finish, and it applies very nicely, no skipping or “frosty” behavior (ie, behaving like a frost-finish cream shadow or pencil: skipping, streaking, generally carrying...

BareMinerals’ Big and Bright eyeliner in Black Sea

This is a very dark color, but I don't know that I see it as “blackened.” I think this color might be similar to UD's Loaded, but a) without the blackening and b) not a microglitter-shimmer finish. This one was easier to apply than Loaded, though - like all of...

Femme Fatale Cosmetics’ Daughter of Eve blush

The photos make this look like an orange-ish blush, but there are more pink tones in there than are readily visible. The overall color is softer, and has a very faint shimmer. I'd imagine that this would look good on a wide variety of skintones, both warm and cool; but...

NYX Cosmetics’ Jumbo Lip Pencil in Hazelnut

This is a very soft color. I almost don't see any color at all, just a very slight deepening and muting of my natural lip color. (Other than the pearl finish, which is the most visible thing about this.) The brown color is attractive. If this were an eye pencil,...

BareMinerals’ Metallic Lavender

BareMinerals’ Velvet Sea

Most of what this color is, when foiled, is the “velvet” finish. Applied dry it's a cool medium slate gray. It works as a contour shade, doesn't work so well as a liner, and if you don't look good in ashy colors, avoid this one as it probably won't be...

CND’s Vinylux Cake Pop (135)

Nice thick formula…maybe a little TOO thick. You can see a couple of uneven spots in the manicure where the polish tended to glom together, rather than spreading out nicely. It is a pretty basic color. You can find similar pink shades (near-pastel, but just slightly cool) in nearly...

Femme Fatale Cosmetics’ Narnia collection

I first saw the individual colors while browsing Femme Fatale’s site, and didn’t realize that they were part of a collection! I have two of the blushes and eight of the eyeshadows, and while I do like the highlighter, I think I may hold off on that one. ...