Entries for Tuesday July 10
Aromaleigh v2’s Chiara collection
- Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v2
- Availability: part of the regular line; beginning March 2012 from the webstore
- Contains: 10 eyeshadows
- Cost/Amount: USD$7 for 1.2 grams
- Would you purchase again: some of the colors, yes
The description of these shades is “jeweltone”. I tend to define jeweltone a little differently - rich, deep, and clear color. About half of these are what I personally would call “jeweltone”, the other half are richer shades, but either muted or “heathered” (laced with grey). They’re describes as a mixture of frost and shimmers - again, my definition of “frost” is a little different. Some have less of a shimmer finish than the other, but I don’t know that I’d personally call them “frost.” Then again, definining “frost” seems to have a bit of range within the category for the variances!
If you’re looking for “frost” finishes like the Aromaleigh v1 Satin Petals eyecolor…they’re not really here. (Which to me is good, since I was less than fond of most of those colors.) About the closest you could come would be some of the muted shades in this collection: Elisabetta, Lucia, possibly Nadalina and Amalia. Most of the rest are thescattered shimmer that seems to characterize Aromaleigh v2 eyeshadows. There’s enough shimmer to pick up light, but not enough to start looking to glitzy.
Tarte’s Precious Gems kit
- Manufacturer: Tarte Cosmetics
- Availability: part of the regular line, through the Tarte webstore and channel partners
- Contains: four mini creme eyeshadows
- Cost/Amount: USD$44 for four .1 fl oz each
- Would you purchase again: yes
Four waterproof shimmering cream shadows, in miniature size. The shadows contain Amazonian clay, which is supposed to have excellent oil absorbing properties…but I’ve seen Tarte go on and on about Amazonian-clay this and that until I’m ready to scream. ANY product that contains clay is going to be better at absorbing oil, because of the clay. It doesn’t have to be from a certain region. And when used improperly, with the wrong mix of ingredients, or in the wrong format, clay can make the product less easy to use (for example, heavy use of kaolin clay in loose-powder eyeshadows.)
I tried these with and without a primer. They did stay in place a little bit better than cream shadows or paint pots, but I didn’t get all-day creaseless wear out of them unless I used a primer.
This was supposed to be a limited-edition release, but it’s been nearly nine months and the kit is still available from Sephora and QVC. Likewise, I’m now seeing these available in full size - and they’re marked “New”, so I think they’re a recent addition to Tarte’s lineup. I don’t know if Seashell synchs up with Pink Champagne, but it doesn’t look like there’s an equivalent full-size to Shimmering Golden Beige. (They must have decided that enough companies had golden-beige cream shadows, so they didn’t need to add their own.) If you’ve wanted to try these cream shadows from Tarte, pick up this Precious Gems kit - for the price of two fullsize shadows and a latte, you get four shades to sample.