Ultraflesh Perfect Reds Set Review

Sephora recently started carrying the line Ultraflesh, and there are currently two lipstick sets available: Perfect Pinks and Perfect Reds. The pink set had some light pinks in it, however, since most light pinks clash with my skintone and make my look like a Nicki Minaj wannabe, I opted for the Perfect Reds six piece set. It features minis (see pic of one lipstick side-by-side with a MAC Lipglass) of three shades of lipstick, each in two different finishes: Sheer and Matte. The Sheer lipsticks are very sheer (I had to swipe a few times to get a good amount of color on both my lips and arms) and mildly moisturizing, if at all. The Mattes are very pigmented, with a texture that reminds me of NARS' Semi-Matte lipsticks, and the typical dryness that accompanies mattes. I didn't detect much of a scent of flavor with these, and I found they did leave some staining on my lips after testing them out.

Shades included are Bonfire, a rich, bright red that reminds me somewhat of NARS Red Lizard; Torch, a vivid 1950's red which has more than a touch of coral; and Spark, a cool-toned cherry red.

Left to right: Bonfire Sheer, Bonfire Matte

Left to right: Bonfire Sheer, Bonfire Matte

Left to right: Torch Sheer, Torch Matte

Left to right: Torch Sheer, Torch Matte

Left to right: Spark Sheer, Spark Matte

Left to right: Spark Sheer, Spark Matte

Ok. So the colors are lovely and all, but I feel like Ultraflesh led me on. With a title like "Perfect Reds", I expected something more than just three shades, all of which have a very bright, retro look (especially Torch!) that I can only describe as "technicolor". (If you've ever seen an early Technicolor film, and you've seen the lipsticks the stars are wearing, you know exactly what I'm talking about). Where is a blood red? A vampy purplish red? A true brick red? A cranberry red? A wine red? While these would look beautiful on anyone with a fairer complexion (you'll totally be channeling Grace Kelly with these), they looked so cheap and garish on me. I looked like the love child of Ronald McDonald and a 1980's streetwalker! I didn't dare post a pic, because this is the 'net, and what goes up on the 'net stays on the 'net. Bonfire looked the best on my NC40 (if even that. I'm slightly darker. The flash of the camera makes me look paler than I am) skin, and even then, it was meh. I've had better. Since I prefer my reds to be like MAC Viva Glam I, NARS Fire Down Below, and MAC Dubonnet, I gave this set to a fair-skinned friend. And they all look beautiful on her.

Smashbox Master's Class 9 Custom Color Set in Medium pics + swatches

The latest in Smashbox's "Master's Class" lineup are three new kits that are customized for skintones (light, medium, and dark) and include everything you need for a picture perfect face: eyeshadows, eyeliners, blush, lipglosses, even a lipliner, for $59. I bought the Medium, and I honestly think you can forget about the labels on these and just pick which makeup shades you like- not every pale girl wants to just wear pinks and roses, not every medium-toned girl wants to just wear corals and olives, and so on.

Included in the box is an instructional booklet (actually just one piece of paper you unfold) with steps on how to do two looks (in this case, "Sunkissed Splendor" and "Eyes With Envy") with the products in the kit:

The set contains a Cream Liner trio, Limitless Eye Liner Pencil in Onyx, Lip Enhancing Gloss in Glow, Reflection High Shine lipgloss in Buff, The Nude Lip Pencil in Medium, Fusion Soft Lights for Medium Skin, and an eyeshadow trio with three shades (Bliss, Ambient, and Ivy).

The Cream Liner trio's shades are not only stunning, they're packed with pigment and brush on beautifully. This is maybe my favorite item in the entire kit, since I love the shades so much: shimmery vivid dark violet, shimmery olive green, and a shimmery neutral bronze. Limitless Eye Liner Pencil in Onyx is swatched as well, and for a waterproof eye pencil it has a nice amount of creaminess to it:

Reflection High Shine lipgloss in Buff looked gorgeous in the tube (shimmering nude bronze), but it has almost no pigment once it's on the lips. I barely even saw any sparkle, and my lips aren't pigmented at all. These are the products that make me ask myself, "why even bother putting it on?" It also has a scent that's a little spicy and warm, just like the Buxom lip glosses from Bare Escentuals, and it's pretty sticky. Lip Enhancing Gloss in Glow is another story, however. It's a sheer cream coral with zero stickiness, no fragrance, and a good amount of pigment. It gives lips a nice, summery pop of coral. "Glow" is a perfect name for it:

The Nude Lip Pencil in Medium is a winner. It's an extremely flattering warm rose nude shade that's creamy and goes on with zero tugging. I can see this looking good on just about anyone. I have a lot of lipliners like this, but almost all of them are a bit too rosy or plummy to go with warmer lipsticks. Finally! This one isn't! 

Here, it's on the far left, swatched next to (in order from left to right) NYX Mauve lip pencil, MAC Whirl lip liner, and Revlon Colorstay Lip Liner in Nude. As you can see, it's more nude and less rose than the rest:

This was my first time trying Fusion Soft Lights, and I loved this as a blush. The pan is large, and include three colors of strips: shimmering bronze, matte warm rose, and matte soft tan. When you blend them together, the result is a gorgeous flush of rosy bronze:

The eyeshadow trio was my least favorite of all the products in the kit. And the quality of the shadows was not a reason- they are silky and highly pigmented. The black compact is quite large and mirrored- another plus. It's just that I really have no use for the shades. The matte ivory, Bliss is a bit too obvious on my skintone; the gold shimmer, Ambient, is beautiful, but I already have a go-to gold in MAC Woodwinked; and Ivy, the "sage green shimmer" (as described on Sephora.com) eyeshadow I looked so forward to is a very blue-toned shimmery teal. Is it a gorgeous color? Absolutely. But I have little to no use for such a bluish color on my warm green eyes. Check out the swatches (and the pigment!), below:

I'm not blind, right? That is a blue teal if I ever saw one. Where's the sage green? 

Even though I have no use for the eyeshadow trio (no biggie- all of my eyeshadow palette love is going to Flirt! Cosmetics' Eye Enhancing Palette for green eyes anyway right now ;), I adore the rest of the products in the set. I think this was a great idea by Smashbox, and I'm dying to try out the Dark one next for something a little more colorful and dramatic.

Revlon ColorBurst Lipgloss Swatches, Part 1

When I heard Revlon came out with lipglosses for their "ColorBurst" line, I couldn't wait to try them out. Would they be pigmented, like MAC Lipglass? Fruity, barely there color like Lancôme Juicy Tubes? Smooth? Sticky? I am a lipgloss girl, but only under certain conditions: I look for pigment, smoothness (although I almost always sacrifice this for pigment), and little to no flavor or scent. ColorBurst Lipglosses are promoted as having a "micro-crystal formula for 5x the shine of patent leather", a "plush applicator shaped to curves of your lips for smooth, even application of color", "ColorBurst's Elasticolor technology for rich color with a weightless feel", and moisturizers and anti-oxidants such as sweet almond oil and vitamin E to condition and improve lip texture.

I bought (L-R, in various lighting) Rose Pearl, Peony, Sunset Peach, Papaya, Fire, Bordeaux, and Sienna Sparkle (and after trying them out I decided to order a few more online, since they were sold out at stores near me. Unfortunately, Pink Ice, Hot Pink, Orchid, and Strawberry can't make an appearance today because of the recent winter weather. Their shipment has been delayed for days now).

Rose Pearl is a pigmented, very shimmery mauvey rose that reminded me a lot of Chanel's Blizzard glossimer, but it turns out it's actually a lot warmer (it's still not a warm color, however) than Blizzard. It seems to be a similar relative of Clinique's Bamboo Pink lipstick, but I can't be sure how much so until I do a side-by-side comparison.
Rosegold is a beautiful warm rosy pink with small golden pearl and a good amount of pigment for such a soft color.
Peony is a petal pink with small gold glitter. This one has less pigment- it's sheerer and is more of a typical gloss. It's an unspectacular color, however pretty, and is very similar to MAC Lustreglass in Pinkarat.
Sunset Peach is the same as Peony in texture and pigment (seriously...Revlon forgot to burst these two with color), only it's a coral-peach with golden shimmer and glitter. This one reminds me a lot of Chanel's Coral Reef Glossimer - I'm almost positive it's a perfect dupe. Although I don't have a tube lying around to make a comparison, I've gone through enough tubes of Coral Reef to know what looks like it ;) 
Papaya is a pigmented, vivid orange coral with coral microshimmer that looks almost neon in the tube (it reminds me of another Glossimer, Sirop. But Papaya is warmer).
Fire is a bright candy red cream that's cool-toned and definately not for the faint of heart. NARS Bloodwork lipgloss fans will adore this one.
Bordeaux is a pigmented, cool purplish berry with gold shimmer.
Sienna Sparkle is a pigmented deep warm brown with gold shimmer and small golden glitter- I can see this looking just gorgeous on dark skintones. Onto the swatches!

             L-R, Rose Pearl, Rosegold, Peony, Sunset Peach:

  

L-R: Papaya, Fire, Bordeaux, Sienna Sparkle:

The applicator for ColorBurst lipglosses is a twist on the doe foot. It's a sponge applicator, albeit a flat, double-sided, soft and extremely flexible one with a round tip- just as Revlon stated. I like it, but I wasn't ever a person who disliked doe foot applicators to being with. The formula is great- smooth (only Sunset Peach and Peony gave me a bit of a gritty feel), with the silkier feel you would expect from a liquid lipstick, and a bit of the cushiony texture and feel of Chanel's Glossimer formula. No tacky feel or heaviness here (again, as promised). 

So, how to they compare to the famous Super Lustrous glosses? When compared to my Super Lustrous glosses in Nude Lustre and Pearl Plum, all of the ColorBursts feel far less "lipglossy" (SLs have more of a gooey feel) because of their smoothness, but they also give lips less of a shine. I honestly don't know what Revlon was thinking when they decided to advertise "5x the shine of patent leather" on these- they're not even as shiny as patent leather, at least on my lips. Fans of the super wet/ vinyl look when it comes to gloss will be disappointed. ColorBursts also have a slight sweet fragrance that I just can't put my finger on...it's almost like icing at times, contrary to Super Lustrous glosses' much more chemical scent. The ColorBurst tubes are rectangular and sleek; strikingly similar to Chanel Glossimers. When compared side-by-side to a Glossimer (Rose Pearl vs. Blizzard), Revlon actually gives you more gloss than Chanel does, and at a fraction of the price:

What else is there to say? These are a steal for around $8.00 a tube and an excellent drugstore find (even if they are only "just about the shine of patent leather" ;). My personal fave right now is Bordeaux, but Rose Pearl and Rosegold are definately going to be taking me into spring.

Urban Decay Cannonball Ultra Waterproof Mascara Review

I hate to start off a review so negatively, but it's not ultra waterproof at all, sadly. When I saw this on Sephora's website, I couldn't wait to try it. I purchased it from the Urban Decay website because it was sold out on Sephora's.

Cannonball comes in a thick black tube with a teal cap; the brush inside is slender and long. This is marketed as a godsend for mermaids, gym rats ("rigorously field-tested in the ocean as well as sweat-drenched gym conditions"), high maintenance types (i.e the Kardashian klan), or anyone with a tendency to weep. It claims to be sweatproof, waterproof, and cryproof, while at the same time thickening, lengthening, and preserving the natural softness of lashes. The secret to Cannonball is supposedly the exclusive Japanese formula with microcrystalline wax. After reading the label, I thought it would be a lot like Shu Uemura's Mascara Basic -also a gel based waterproof formula- and it is, except Mascara Basic was better for me. 

Cannonball did an amazing job at lengthening and darkening my lashes- one coat instantly made them stand out. The formula is very lightweight, just as I expected. When I went to apply it to my other eye, I could have sworn I saw all these tiny fibers all over the brush and around the neck of the tube out of the corner of my eye. So I wiped a bit of the mascara on the back of my hand and smudged with my finger a bit, and sure enough I could see these tiny clear fibers! As a contact lens wearer, this worries me. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but still. I've never worn a mascara with this characteristic. I read the ingredients list and saw rayon as one of them- could that be it? And I didn't see anywhere on my box "opthalmologist tested".  Tsk, tsk.

As for Cannonball's performance, it should be known that I don't have oily skin or eyelids at all, so what I experienced with it can't be blamed on that. It smudged under my eyes after about five hours. So much so that I looked as if I took a grey shadow and completely smudged it under my lashline. While it wasn't the full on black-ish raccoon eyes that someone can get with regular mascara that smudges, it was still beyond noticeable. Everyone who saw me noticed. When I explained that I was test driving a waterproof mascara, a guy friend said, "Well, this one's a FAIL..." No kidding. For $20 and all of UD's hype, I thought I was going to get the best waterproof mascara of all time. In my experience, any drugstore waterproof mascara is better: they may have a slightly heavier feel than this one, but they don't smudge!    

Chanel Le Vernis in Péridot and Graphite

Peridot is my birthstone (August baby here). As a kid, I disliked it (my two best friends had aquamarine and amethyst as theirs), but I changed my opinion of it as I got older and now I think it looks really cool. When found out Chanel was doing a polish with this name for Fall 2011, I had to check it out....would it be straight up limey?

Chanel's Péridot is a bit different than the stone. In the bottle it looks like a duochrome, murky metallic green-gold shade that almost looks like a shade you'd see in a mood ring- and I swear I'm seeing strong hints of blue in my bottle. On my nails, it's actually less metallic/ chrome and very shimmery olivey green-gold color. In direct sunlight, it dazzles and sparkles. In darker/ low/ indoor lighting, it actually just looks like a straight-up metallic... much less dimensional. It can almost look like two different colors at times. While I'm not exactly disappointed, I got spoiled by seeing it in bright sunlight first, in all it's shimmering glory:

 
And here's a lower lighting comparison:

I think Péridot looks quite good on my medium skin :)

The other polish Chanel released is Graphite, a rich gunmetal with silver glitter (Chanel released a third polish for Fall 2011, Quartz, that I am craving but it's sold out at a few local counters and I'm waiting on a phone call when they get more). Usually, greys aren't my favorite since the coolness seems to clash with my warmer skin, but Graphite is magically neutral enough for me to fall head over heels in love with:

Isn't it cool? What I love about Graphite is that it shimmers and sparkles indoors as well as outdoors, unlike Péridot. Indoors or in darker lighting, people can tell I'm wearing a glittery polish- probably partly due to the shimmer in this being chunkier than the shimmer in Péridot, and also because of the contrast between the lighter silver glitter over the darker gunmetal. Many compliments on this one; lots of oohs and aahs. And I think it'll look even better in the fall and winter months.

Apologies for being on hiatus; I had so many things going on in real life. Upcoming reviews and pics include Urban Decay's new 24/7 liquid liner (awesome product, I just had to say it now!), Bobbi Brown's Tortoiseshell Bronze palette, Sephora for OPI's Make The First Mauve, and L'Oreal Le Gloss lipgloss

Urban Decay Rollergirl Nail Kit

Urban Decay has just released a new set of nail polishes called "Rollergirl Nail Kit", consisting of six mini bottles with shades ranging from shimmery taupe to purple glitter. This is my first time trying Urban Decay polishes (for some reason I always ignored them), and the kit seemed like a steal at $28 for six nail polishes.

The box is really cute; it's a little slide-out cardboard tray with floral print on the front and a superfly 70's rollergirl on the back:

The colors in the kit are shimmery taupe, heavily shimmered/ glittering gold, purple glitter, pearly purpley pink, hot pink creme, and white pearl. Swatches below.

Fame: shimmery taupe. A lot like Urban Decay's Underground Deluxe eyeshadow, but in a polish. It's a cool twist on usually boring neutrals; this reminds me of Zoya Pasha but less....complex and more purely taupe:

Superfreak: glittering gold. This literally looks like glittering lamé on your nails. It's awesome and completely glam. Like a much more awesome, warmer version of Deborah Lippmann's Believe:

Xanadu: purple glitter. This was sheer on the first coat, surprisingly opaque on the second, but I added a third for depth and richness:

Miss T: purpley pink with silver pearl. This is a bright, hot color and what I love about it is that it's not too frosty or metallic, which colors like these usually look like. It really pops against a tan:

Woodstock: hot pink creme. This is as neon as you can get without the "my-eyes-hurt-from-looking-at-it" quality many neon pinks have. To me this screams 80's, and doesn't really belong in a 70's rollergirl set, but it is a gorgeous, fun, and hot color for summer. I got many compliments on this one:

Love Train: white pearl. This is very sheer on the first coat, and like Xanadu, is surprisingly opaque on the second. Love Train is one of the prettiest and best white pearls I've ever come across (and I love whites and white pearls). It's a clean, pure white. No silver undertones or flashes of colors like pink or blue. I love it:

The formula is nice and smooth, the colors are rich and opaque. My only complaint is that the brush in the bottles are quite long- it's no biggie, and it makes sense for reaching the bottom when you start going through these, but it's just a tad awkward for me since I'm used to shorter ones. Every color in this kit is a winner, the variety of shades is excellent, and most of all, it's fun. It's just a really fun kit for summer. I can't recommend it enough.

Chanel Summer 2011 nail polish in Mimosa

When I first heard Chanel was releasing a new yellow nail polish for Summer 2011's collection, it made me pause. "Didn't they already do that with the Robertson collection?". I remembered the much-loved, limited edition lemony shade called L.A. Sunrise. I never owned L.A. Sunrise, and after seeing the two other shades Chanel is offering up for this summer, Mimosa was the only one I walked away with. Morning Rose is a very pretty warm pink with gold sparkles, but I already own Ming, which looks ridiculously similar on my hands. And the sheerer-than-an-essie-sheer Beige Pétale is a joke, to put it nicely ;)

Mimosa is a bright and cheerful medium yellow with small gold glitter in it. Honestly, I don't like that about it (I prefer the subtle microshimmer/ perle that Chanel does so well). I have never owned or even worn a yellow polish, so I thought it would be fun to give it a whirl. Of course, the sales associates kept telling me on and on how fabulous and amazing Mimosa was, but I couldn't help but notice that Morning Rose was the chosen shade for all of their hands and feet. Hmmm.....

So I wore it as a nail of the day. And...I think this is the most love-it-or-hate-it color I have ever worn in my entire life. A couple of people saw Mimosa on me and liked it, but the large majority of people actually winced, turned their heads away, and said things like, "UGH! What IS that color?!" MIMOSA!

The formula was nice, and it went on opaque in two coats. But while fun to try, at the end of the day, Mimosa just isn't me (but it has a happy new home with a friend of mine :).