Entries for Saturday March 31

Benefit Cosmetics’ Sippin’ n Dippin’ cream shadow

• Manufacturer: Benefit Cosmetics
• Availability: from the webstore and select channel partners
• Color Range: gilded peach shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$19 for 3 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: MAC Cosmetics' Rubenesque

A bright peach with just a slight gold duochrome effect, along with the shimmer. Very similar to MAC’s Rubenesque, but this limited edition shade’s base color is just a little bit brighter than Rubenesque, and there’s no hints of the very faint blue-violet duochrome that Rubenesque has. Benefit’s frost cream shadows don’t have the same application problems that MAC’s seem to - not to the same degree. They apply evenly and don’t have as many thin or bare patches, and it’s easier to apply Benefit’s “frost” or shimmer-finish cream shadows, than the MAC frost paint pots. I like how the color brightens my eyes without looking clownish. It’s beautiful on its own, but also adds a pop to taupes, mauves, and other neutrals. If you have Rubenesque, you didn’t necessarily need this one as well. (Unless you managed to get in on sale from Benefit’s site, like I did, when they were clearing out inventory.)

Entries for Friday March 30

BareMinerals’ buxom Emily

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: released in the Swinger Girls kit; part of the Buxom Lip Polish collection
• Color Range: sheer light warm brown with gold shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$18 for .15 ounces
• Would you purchase again: yes

A pretty enough gold-shimmer rose-tan, but it’s a bit softer than I’d prefer. I don’t know that I’ll wear this one too much…or if I do, it’ll be in some surprise combination. This shade is extremely soft. The gold shimmer and the faint rose undertones are all that kept me from re-homing this particular shade when I first swatched it. If you’re fond of nude lip looks, or can wear soft tan lip colors well, you’d probably enjoy Emily. This can be found occasionally on Ebay - the kit is long since out of stock at BE boutiques or even Sephora.

NYX Cosmetics’ Sweet Prawn Black Label Lipstick (170)

• Manufacturer: NYX Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the Black Label Lipstick collection
• Color Range: medium-bright pink creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$7.00 for .14 ounces / 4 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes - but only from etailers, because the tubes aren't sealed

The color on the tube looks like a medium-bright coral. When applied, I get a medium-bright pink that isn’t neon, but is still bright. It reminds me of the undercolors in Indian Pink - which is excellent, because I love that shade but don’t love that it won’t stay put for very long. This color doesn’t have the shimmer factor, but there’s a similarity to the base shade. Sweet Prawn is a great “spring” color! (Now if spring would actually arrive…! I’d feel odd wearing this to work with my heavy sweater and winter-weight jeans.)

BareMinerals’ Rosy Outlook blush

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: released as part of the More Than You Hoped For kit
• Color Range: semisheer rose pink sheen
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: $18 for .03 ounces / .85 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This is almost-but-not-quite a raspberry shade. It’s very flattering to me, but I think women with very warm undertones might not have the easiest time wearing it. I do wish it had a little bit more color payoff…but that’s Bare Escentuals for you. I enjoy using this under some of my pink shimmers, or under something like Luxe Radiance, which is lovely and just a tiny bit warmer than I’d prefer. This color gains the shimmer, and a little bit of warmth, while the Luxe gains a bit more color depth.

Entries for Wednesday March 28

China Glaze’s Icicle

• Manufacturer: China Glaze
• Availability: part of the Let It Snow collection
• Color Range: metallic silver 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: China Glaze's Millenium

Smooth silver shimmer. This is very similar to Millenium, from the Khrome collection of nearly three years ago; but this one is a bit more durable than those polishes. I don’t know if it’s the formula. From the Romantiques to the Khromes to the metallics in this collection, China Glaze keeps improving the various flaws that we spot.

Zoya’s Ariel

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: part of the Smitten collection
• Color Range: metallic bright red shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Not a neon red…but close! Smooth coverage in two coats, and excellent longevity. Even better was that it didn’t stain my nails, like some other brands’ brighter reds do. I don’t know if I personally would choose to wear this as a manicure, but I can see using it as a vibrant stamping color.

OPI’s New Year’s Red-solution

• Manufacturer: OPI
• Availability: part of the Sephora by OPI collection
• Color Range: metallic medium red shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$9 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I got this when it was on “clearance-sale” prices, in late December 2011, when Sephora was looking to clear out its holiday shades. I don’t know that I personally own any color that’s this exact shade of red, but I think that China Glaze’s Mommy Kissing Santa comes close, and I think that one of the other reds from that collection - the brighter one, that I didn’t buy because I wanted the deeper shade - is probably much closer. The finish is somewhere between a metallic and a frost, so it shows the brushstrokes a bit more than I’d prefer. The formula wasn’t watery, but it was just a little…off somehow. (Or maybe it just wasn’t perfected for this, and so you get the spreadability problems.) A nice enough counterpoint to Countdown to the Kiss, and not a horrendous color for $5.

Entries for Tuesday March 27

Concrete Minerals’ Deathly Sexy Collection kit

• Manufacturer: Concrete Minerals
• Availability: beginning 2010 through the webstore
• Contains: 3 eyeshadows
• Cost/Amount: USD$18.00
• Would you purchase again: yes

I personally have not ever been the hugest fan of the “smokey eye” look. That’s just me - I always want either soft muted neutrals or a pop of color. These three colors are all excellent additions to anyone’s makeup stash, I just don’t know that I’d personally use all three of them together. Maybe two with a third - a bright blue, or a vivid yellow, or a muted lilac - but not just these three by themselves.

Entries for Monday March 26

Meow Cosmetics’ Balderdash

• Manufacturer: Meow Cosmetics
• Availability: from the webstore; part of the Shattered Equinox collection
• Color Range: faded deep teal shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I’m not too sure if this is a “muted” color or a “faded” (I should figure out how I classify these…) It looks a little bit like jeans after a few dozen washes: the color is still there, it’s not as dark as it used to be, but they’re not pale yet. There’s a very faint amount of scattered shimmer, so if you’re looking for this shade in a matte, this comes fairly close. The color doesn’t differ much from pot to application - minus the shimmer-particles, what you see is pretty much what you get. Opacity is good, and it’s a soft enough greyed teal that it’s not going to look garish, even applied damp to the palest skintones.

Meow Cosmetics’ Cat o Nine Tails

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