Entries for Monday August 30

BareMinerals’ Free to Be Naturally Adventurous kit

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: released for Mother's Day / Spring 2009 through all channel partners
• Contains: 3 mini eyeshadow colors, 1 face color, 1 lip color, and a bag
• Cost/Amount: USD$32.00
• Would you purchase again: yes

When these three kits (Naturally Classic, Naturally Adventurous, and Naturally Elegant) were first announced, I remember the initial glee at the news of new and hard-to-find colors…and then the disappointment when the face and eye colors turned out to be minis (.28 grams for the eye colors, .57 grams for the blush). Granted, at $32, the kits weren’t exactly a bad value…but more of those rotted makeup bags!!

Zoya’s Freja

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released October 2008 as part of Zoya's Downtown collection
• Color Range: metallic gunmetal grey shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 15 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Entries for Sunday August 29

Zoya’s Manon

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: part of Zoya's Classics collection
• Color Range: metallic muted mauve-burgundy duochrome shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This is such a deep and extreme red, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get it. Two coats is pretty dark and almost too vampy for me - but one coat over a nude or paler creme looks good. (I haven’t yet figured out a way to apply a lighter color over the top to tone down this shade yet. Don’t know if it’s possible, but I’ll keep trying.)

Entries for Friday August 27

BareMinerals’ Little Wonders kit

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: beginning winter 2010 through QVC
• Contains: 6 mini eyeshadow colors and one brush
• Cost/Amount: USD$42.00
• Would you purchase again: yes

When this kit came out, all of the colors had been previously released - but many were only ever released in one kit, and another had been hard to find up until shortly before this item’s debut. This kit contained mini (.28 gram) jars, which annoyed many BE users who were initially glad to hear of a kit that contained a majority of colors not previously available individually…and then less than thrilled to hear that it was going to be yet another group of mini jars.

This kit spent about a year on QVC exclusively before it also showed up in the BE webstore.

Entries for Sunday August 22

Zoya’s Addison

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released as part of Zoya's Spa Essentials collection
• Color Range: metallic soft rose-mauve shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Entries for Friday August 20

Everyday Minerals’ Funnel Cake

• Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
• Availability: from the online storefront; part of the regular eyeshadow line. Released as part of the Sandcastles collection.
• Color Range: golden tan shimmer
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: Before Sept 2010: $6 for a 10-gram jar with sifter / 2.5 grams (or, with the 45% beauty perk, $3.30 for 2.5 grams)
• Would you purchase again: possibly
• Similar shades:

Another one purchased largely for completeness’ sake, and because it was available in Mini size. (Let’s hear it for OCD. Blah.) Soft mid-tan with a slight amount of gold shimmer (the manufacturer calls it sparkle; but I take issue with their definition.) Reminds me a bit of Bare Escentuals’ Precious, with less pigmentation and a bit less sparkle; or Bare Escentuals’ Pamper.

Everyday Minerals’ Driftwood

• Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
• Availability: from the online storefront; part of the regular eyeshadow line. Released as part of the Sandcastles collection.
• Color Range: golden beige matte
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: Before Sept 2010: $6 for a 10-gram jar with sifter / 2.5 grams (or, with the 45% beauty perk, $3.30 for 2.5 grams)
• Would you purchase again: possibly
• Similar shades:

Gotten largely for completeness’ sake. (And I know companies love hearing that phrase from one of us rabid-avid collectors.) Driftwood is a nice, soft neutral matte. There’s no shimmer whatsoever, and it’s more golden than Cardamom or All Spice (two other brown mattes from Everyday Minerals).

Everyday Minerals’ Smokey

• Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
• Availability: from the online storefront. Also part of the Smokey Eyes kit.
• Color Range: dark grey matte
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: Before Sept 2010: $6 for a 10-gram jar with sifter / 2.5 grams (or, with the 45% beauty perk, $3.30 for 2.5 grams)
• Would you purchase again: possibly
• Similar shades:

Snagged this one to complete the Smokey Eyes kit; and because it’s hard for any company to screw up basic black. True to form for most EDM products, this is less pigmented than other straight black matte eyeshadows (such as BE’s Luxe or TKB Trading’s Black Oxide). It still makes a decent liner, though, if you want deeper color but not solid black.

Entries for Thursday August 19

Everyday Minerals’ Love Letters

• Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
• Availability: released as part of the Lavender collection; also individually re-released in summer 2010.
• Color Range: pink lilac matte
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: Before Sept 2010: $6 for a 10-gram jar with sifter / 2.5 grams (or, with the 45% beauty perk, $3.30 for 2.5 grams)
• Would you purchase again: possibly
• Similar shades:

BareMinerals’ Get Started Eyes II kit

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: permanent; available through Ulta, QVC
• Contains: 4 eye colors and two brushes
• Cost/Amount: USD$39.00
• Would you purchase again: yes

This is just another version of the most popular Get Started Eyes kit - the only color the two share in common is Vanilla Sugar. This version of the kit was available at Ulta and, for a while, available through QVC. Currently this version is not available (that I know of.)