Entries for Friday December 30

Sula Cosmetics’ He Loves Me cream shadow

• Manufacturer: Sula Cosmetics
• Availability: Ulta, Nordstrom's, and other select channel partners
• Color Range: silvered pale rose shimmer
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 3 grams
• Would you purchase again: no
• Similar shades: Girl Friendly (base color only)

I discovered this brand while in Atlanta, at the larger (and better stocked) Ulta. These were just hitting the shelves of my local Ulta in mid-September 2011. I picked them up because they were inexpensive, the colors looked interesting, and I hadn’t ever heard of the brand and wanted to check them out.

NYX Cosmetics’ Jumbo Eye Pencil in Cottage Cheese

• Manufacturer: NYX Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the Jumbo Eye Pencil collection
• Color Range: metallic cream-white shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$4.50 for .18 ounces / 5 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes

This is, essentially, the metallic version of Milk. The color is also just a little different, though that could be due to the “metallic” finish additive: Cottage Cheese is more of a cream-white, while Milk is definitely a pure bright white. Like the other NYX metallic-finish jumbo eye pencils, this one skips a little bit and takes a little more care and attention to apply evenly. The tip of this pencil is pretty broad, but because of the metallic finish, it would probably make a good color for the waterline (both the color and the finish brightening the eye area.)

Lost in Makeupland’s Say It Isn’t So blush

• Manufacturer: Lost in Makeupland
• Availability: part of the regular blush collection
• Color Range: sheer bubblegum pink with gold shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7 for 4 grams, $1.13 for a sample baggie
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

A bit fainter than I’d imagined - though I can layer it and get more color payoff, the result ends up being almost too garish for my preferences. I’ve had better success layering this one over deeper reds or matte shades that I wanted to brighten just a little bit. On the upside, if this doesn’t work for you as a standalone blush (or even if it does, and you love Things That Multitask) it does make an interesting pink-shimmer-wash over a cream shadow base for a fairly quick eyeshadow look.

Entries for Thursday December 29

Stila’s Smudge Pot collection

• Manufacturer: Stila Cosmetics
• Availability: webstore and channel partners
• Contains: eight gel liners
• Cost/Amount: USD$20 per 0.14 oz / 3.68 g gel liner/shadow
• Would you purchase again: yes

My first cream shadow-things were MAC’s paint pots. Then I branched out to Benefit’s Creaseless Cream shadows, then started trying other brands when I figured out how to use these. This past summer I picked up a few Smudge Pots from Stila. Most of them are a little too dark to use as a cream shadow base, but Kitten is the one exception: because it’s such a light color, it works better as a cream shadow base color than as a liner. (Most of these are targeted as eyeliner colors.) I now own all but two of them: Bronze, and Black. I don’t know if I will pick up Bronze, but think I’ll just leave Black. (I have other black liners, and I tend to use the other shades more anyway.)

My Pretty Zombie’s Drugs Like Me blush collection

• Manufacturer: My Pretty Zombie
• Availability: beginning November 2011 from the company's webstore
• Contains: 5 blushes (and counting, presumably...)
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 3.5 grams (15 gram jar) $1 for a 1/4 teaspoon sample baggie; $5 for a complete sample set; $32 for a complete full-size set
• Would you purchase again: yes

I latched onto these because of MDMA: it’s a duochrome!! I saw that on toxid-lotus’ site, wandered over to the storefront, and had to get a few more. (And the coolest part, in my opinion: these are coming out next year in eyeshadow form!! I’ve seen swatches of LSD and THC, and they’re amazing! So yes, I’ll have to get those.)

Speciallità‘s Hits no Olimpo collection

• Manufacturer: Speciallità
• Availability: beginning December 2011from Speciallità's webstore; (presumably) Brazilian stores; Llarowe's webstore
• Contains: 13 holographic nail colors
• Cost/Amount: R$8,00 (Brazilian stores)/ $10 for 6 ml / .20 fl oz each
• Would you purchase again: yes

Bright, gorgeous holographic nail polishes - including a deep charcoal holo! These are not quite linear holos, like China Glaze’s OMG polishes; but the holographic effects are a little smoother than the Kaleidescope or Tronica polishes. Be careful if you have chemical sensitivities, though: these are not Big-3 free. Depending on the exchange rate and the size of your order (and thus the shipping costs), you might be better off trying to purchase these from Speciallità‘s webstore…but I don’t read Portuguese, and so I can’t find if they ship to non-South American destinations.

Entries for Wednesday December 28

China Glaze’s Soft Sienna Silks

• Manufacturer: China Glaze
• Availability: part of China Glaze's We Adorn You collection
• Color Range: semisheer white 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:

Orly’s Opal Hope

• Manufacturer: Orly Beauty
• Availability: part of the regular line
• Color Range: sheer shell-pink with green duochrome sheen
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$10 for 18ml / .6 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This is another “faux-French” color. There’s the barest coral-pink base color, with a blue-green duochrome flash. More coats deepens the iridescent effect, but the base color pretty much stayed “semisheer” even after three heavy-ish coats. Application was okay, though I had kind of been hoping for more of the coral-pink base color than I ended up getting. The finish is…odd. I think it might technically be a “frost”, because it does look a bit gritty. But the color is so fine, and the duochrome flash is so smooth, that it’s not really a typical “frost”. (And definitely no visible brushstrokes.)

Milani’s HD

• Manufacturer: Milani
• Availability: originally released as part of the 3D Holographic collection
• Color Range: silver scattered-holographic sparkle
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$4.99 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: China Glaze's Sexagon

This and 3D (the gold holographic) were the first colors I bought from Milani’s holographic collection. The holographic effects are more scattered - similar to the China Glaze Kaleidescope collection holos - and this one is a near-exact duplicate of Sexagon. The polish applies evenly, no bald spots, and I get full opacity after 3 coats. (I used two coats in these photos - and you can see the VNL on the index finger.) I advise using three separate coats, instead of trying to apply two coats heavily. You’ll get better results, and a faster drying time for the manicure.

Entries for Tuesday December 27

BareMinerals’ buxom Acapulco

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: part of the Buxom Lip Stick collection
• Color Range: cool fuchsia-pink creme
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$18 for .15 ounces
• Would you purchase again: yes

In some lights this color looks cooler than it appears on my lips. I actually didn’t think I’d like this color, but it’s become one of my favorites. Application is easy and clean, same as for all the Buxom Lip Sticks. In full sun you get much more of a sense of “lilac” than you do under a daybulb, but for whatever reason - maybe because I look good in cooler shades of lipstick and blush - it doesn’t look “naturalistic” on me, but it doesn’t look really oddly out of place, either.

If you’ve been at all tempted to try this shade, give it a go. I can almost guarantee that it won’t be quite what you expect, and if you have neutral to cool undertones it’ll probably look really good on you. The Sephora F&F is already past for this year, and this line is only available at Sephora or its webstore, so watch for coupons or make sure you use something that gets you points back. These are among the more costly lip pencil products that I’ve tried, but I love them and think they’re an excellent value.