IMATS LA 2013

I arrived, checked in to the Sheraton, and went next door to the show venue and meet up with Phyrra and Crystal and Kristy, from BFTE Cosmetics, at their booth. BFTE had a good spot, not right by the main door but by the second set of doors that entered...

Maybelline’s Gold Shimmer Color Tattoo cream shadow

Maybelline’s Rich Mahogany Color Tattoo cream shadow

I avoided getting this color for the longest time. It's just another brown, I said. I don't use brown cream shadows or eyeshadows nearly enough to need to buy another one, I thought. Then, when most of these NYFW displays were picked clean of all but a few items (mostly...

Black Rose Minerals’ Royal Orchid

Nominally purple…but actually, it can go either way: a very cool wine-purple red, or a red-plum purple. This reminds me of Bare Escentuals' Magical. It's a similar base color, but more than that, it's a purple that I initially didn't think I'd be able to wear easily. Turns out...

Maybelline’s Barely Beige Color Tattoo cream shadow

A lot of people seemed to think that having neutral Color Tattoos would be kind of silly. After all, there are lots of neutral or near-neutral cream shadows offered by just about every other brand, so what's the point? The point is…the Color Tattoos are inexpensive. They're very easy...

Maybelline’s Mossy Green Color Tattoo cream shadow

While I was thrilled to see the original Color Tattoo lineup, I was also happy to see some shades in a different palette. Mossy Green is still a bit of a jeweltone, but not a bright candy-pop jeweltone. It's got a bit more depth, perhaps halfway between a dark green...

Beauty from the Earth’s Smoke

This is like a slightly softer version of Fyrinnae's Immortality. The black base color is just slightly softened, and the sparkle is just a bit subdued. Not much “softening” on either part, though - the biggest difference I spotted was in the base color: there's more difference in the base...

MAC’s Little Black Bow fluidliner

Like Stila's Black Cat, like MAC's own For Effect…like any cream or gel eye color with sparkle, really…Little Black Bow doesn't apply quite as smoothly as one might wish. I definitely get better results out of this one if I dot it on, rather than use the brush...

Revlon’s Colorburst Balmstain in Crush

Beauty from the Earth’s Beach House

Another one of the matte colors that has been discontinued. I don't know if it's going to be reformulated and re-released, or if that was it for this color for a while. This is a nice, “seashore” sunbleached slate blue with the barest hints of shimmer. It reminds me a...