Marc Jacobs Gel Crayons~ Swatches and First Impression

If you haven't heard there is a new brand out at Sephora by Marc Jacobs. I am unsure about the animal-testing status of the company. I'm going to try and find out more and will update here when I do. I haven't purchased anything from the line, I'd like to say (and I won't until I can determine the animal-testing status) I merely swatched the products in store.

These gel pencils are supposed to be an innovative for their use of a gel texture. I'm sure I've seen something similar before but I can't remember from where. First though here are the swatches.

T-B: Th(Ink), Intro(Vert), N(Ice), Ro(Cocoa), Jazz(Berry), Blacquer

T-B: Th(Ink), Intro(Vert), N(Ice), Ro(Cocoa), Jazz(Berry), Blacquer

The best shade by far was Blacquer- super opaque, super gel-cream texture, really really easy to apply- it just glides on. Ro(Cocoa) comes in second place just a tad behind Blacquer with the same texture and almost as good of pigmentation. It is a lovely satin shade of medium-dark brown.

Unfortunately the good dies off a bit after those two. Of the rest Th(Ink) an indigo shade (a dark blue with purple undertones, think blueberries) is the next best. This however doesn't have the same texture as the other two instead being much drier and lacking the 'gel' cream. You can build up the pigmentation with this until you get the desired result and a couple passes gets rid of any patchiness. N(Ice) and Intro(Vert) are about tied in terms pigmentation. Kind of patchy also and needing multiple passes. Also dry in texture in comparison with the first two shades. These two are also the sparkliest of the selection. Intro(Vert) is a kelly green and N(Ice) is a glittery silver. Finally Jazz(Berry) the most interesting colour in the line and the worst performer. Swatched so so patchy and seriously took way too much work to get the swatch I did. And if you look at the top picture you can still see the patchiness. Very disappointing, especially as the colour is so nice- berry with a burgundy metallic.

One thing I will say about these though is that they are really hard to get off! I seriously scrubbed at these swatches with a cotton round soaked with makeup remover and they barely budged. I still have remnants on my wrist where I couldn't get these all off!

Anyone seen the Marc Jacobs Beauty line yet? Does anyone know their animal testing status? What do you think of these liners?

Milani Shadow Eyez Pencils Review & Swatches

L-R: Royal Purple, Brown Deluxe, Cafe Au Lait, Sand Dunes, Almond Cream

Milani is a brand that has been on my radar for a few years. It's a difficult brand to find in Canada and so I was never much interested in it. Lately however, Milani has been really stepping up their game and has released a Limited Edition Shadow Eyez collection that's been getting rave reviews, and so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Close-up of the products

The shades I picked up (in two separate shopping experiences) are Royal Purple, a matte rich medium-dark purple shade; Brown Deluxe, a shimmery bronze with a gold tone to it; Cafe Au Lait, a matte medium neutral brown shade; Sand Dunes, a super shimmery beige-gold; and Almond Cream a matte pale beige.

Let me start off by saying that these blow me out of the water! Everything you've heard about them is likely true, except maybe the ability to bring Unicorns to life- the jury is still out on that one.

Seriously though these I can see easily becoming a staple for me. They're creamy and easy to blend with, simple to apply, portable and highly pigmented. Plus once they dry down these do not budge. You can get them wet and they won't smear or rub across them (which I did) and they won't smear once they've set. They also can be applied without any primer straight to your eyelid and it won't crease all day. Just swipe, blend and go. Ahh, the pure simplicity!

In function they are much like the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencils. In fact they may even be better due to how creamy they start out being and the blendibility of them. Just make sure the little plastic lids are on securely and they'll stay this way too. 

(Click on any of the photos to make them bigger).

Natural Light, L-R: Royal Purple, Deluxe Brown, Cafe Au Lait, Sand Dunes, Almond Cream

Indoor Light, L-R: Royal Purple, Deluxe Brown, Cafe Au Lait, Sand Dunes, Almond Cream

A bit about the individual shades:

Royal Purple applies the patchiest of the shades I own, but it isn't so bad that I won't use it. Just swipe it again and the problem is solved.

Sand Dunes as far as I can tell is actually lacking a base pigment at all and is all shimmer- there isn't a matte or metallic base portion to the colour at all as compared to Deluxe Brown. That being said you can barely tell this as the shimmer is so dense it appears like it may be one. Creates a lovely sparkle effect that is almost airy. Very pretty.

Deluxe Brown is the best pigmented of the bunch. Not that the others aren't pigmented (they are) but this one seems to apply itself. Smouldery and rich this one makes me this of metal goblets and medieval embroidered gowns. Makes a very easy brown smoky eye.

Almond Cream is my favourite (only slightly) because it can be blended to match my skin colour perfectly. Very creamy, very pigmented, it works well as a highlight and to just even my skintone on and around my eyes. Even if you are darker than this shade it will work well as a highlight.

Cafe Au Lait is very neutral in it's undertone- it doesn't lean red or yellow. I can see this being a nice staple item for the crease for me as it's not too dark. If this is close to your skin colour I recommend it!

To remove these you're going to want to use a good eye make-up remover, water isn't going to work, and soap will work but not well. I recommend finding one that is oil based and made specifically for eye make-up removal so you don't agitate your eyes. 

Lastly I wanted to see how these worked as a sticky base for other powder eyeshadows. I don't know if the crease-free all day feature will still apply with another shadow on top but I wanted to see how they'd look. I had to work a bit quicker than normal but not so fast that I felt too rushed. The results are below.

I used a variety of different finishes and pigmentation-levels in my powder eyeshadows for this. Each line is a different Milani pencil shade with two shadows swatched on top of them with the original pencil colour peaking out the bottom for comparison.

On the left is Almond Cream with Too Faced Satin Sheets over top and Wet n' Wild's Blue Lagoon Color Icon Single in the middle. Satin sheets is usually a light semi-sheer pink with gold duochrome. Blue Lagoon is normally a medium shimmery blue.

On the right is Cafe Au Lait with Too Faced Like A Virgin on top with Mac* Sumptuous Olive in the middle. Both stayed true to colour pretty much as Like a Virgin is a matte grey and Sumptuous Olive a shimmery khaki green shade. 

On the left is Royal Purple with Urban Decay's (old sheerer formula) Asphyxia on top and Too Faced Poison Plum in the middle. Asphyxia is a sheer shimmery lavender with blue reflect. Poison Plum is a charcoal-purple with purple glitter.

On the right is Brown Deluxe with Urban Decay's Zodiac on top and Too Faced Push-Up in the middle. Zodiac is a dark sooty green with a massive amount of green glitter, and Push-Up is a Metallic pink-bronze shade.

Basically with the darker shades you are going to get some of the base pencil colour showing through, however sometimes this seems to enhance the shades as seen with Cafe Au Lait and Sumptuous Olive, or Asphyxia and Royal Purple. They also hold glitter well eliminating the need for a separate sticky eye base. I know I plan to rock both Zodiac and Poison Plum (my glittery shades) with these for bases.

One thing to take note of though is that to apply the shadows overtop I found you had to pat them into the pencils instead of swiping the powder shadows on. If you swipe the creamy base moves and doesn't work.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about these shadow pencils. They're portable, easy to use, last all day and are reasonably priced. They cost $6.99 on the Milani website. The only real downfall is that some of the shades are limited edition- including my favourite Almond Cream, as well as Cafe Au Lait and Sand Dunes.

If you are interested in getting the Limited Edition Shades Click Here. The link isn't sponsored it's just to the Milani website page where I ordered mine from. It's kinda difficult to find on their website for some weird reason.

Rating: 10/10

Would I buy it again? Yes. In fact I want another Almond Cream for back-up, and I am eyeing up the  other shades too!

What about everyone else, have you spotted these before? Do you like pencil shadows?

A Mudslide of Brown, Gold, and Nude Eyeshadows

Arm 1

It's been quite a while since I've done one of my swatch-a-thon eyeshadow colour posts so being bored out of my mind this weekend I decided to do one of my most requested colour schemes the browns, golds and nudes. I've got three whole armfuls! Enjoy.

T-B: Revlon Matte 001 Vintage Lace, Wet n' Wild Color Icon Single Brulee, Fyrinnae French Vanilla Shake (Disc') 

T-B: Fyrinnae French Vanilla Shake (Disc'),  Too Faced Heaven,  Kat Von D Confessional,  Mac Dalliance (Disc')

T-B: Kat Von D Confessional, Mac Dalliance (Disc'), Mac Nanogold, Mac Stacked Pigment Gold (Disc'), Fyrinnae Polar Bear

T-B: Mac Nanogold, Mac Stacked Gold Pigment, Fyrinnae Polar Bear, Venomous Cosmetics Last Unicorn, Urban Decay Nylon

Arm 2

T-B: The Body Needs Pixie Dust, Morgana Cryptoria Mordred, Fyrinnae Atomic Afterglow, Fyrinnae Fire Opal, Fyrinnae Damn Palladins, Nyx Taupe, Too Faced Teddy Bear

T-B: Fyrinnae Atomic Afterglow, Fyrinnae Fire Opal, Fyrinnae Damn Palladins, Nyx Taupe, Too Faced Teddy Bear, Stila Eden, Urban Decay YDK

T-B: Nyx Taupe, Too Faced Teddy Bear, Stila Eden, Urban Decay YDK, Urban Decay Twice Baked, Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Urban Decay Half Baked

Arm 3

T-B: Mac Spectacle of Yourself (disc'), Too Faced Push-Up, Too Faced Honeymoon, Too Faced Ever After, Wet N' Wild Bronze Goddess palette Top Left, WnW BG palette Middle Left

T-B: Too Faced Honeymoon, Too Faced Ever After, WnW BG palette Top Left, WnW BGP Middle Left, WnW BGP Bottom Left, WnW BGP Top Right

T-B: WnW BGP Bottom Left, WnW BGP Top Right, WnW BGP Middle Right, WnW BGP Bottom Right, Urban Decay Sellout, Urban Decay Mushroom

*Whew!* That's a ton more browns, nudes and golds than I thought I owned! My favourites are Urban Decay Mushroom, Sellout, Twice Baked, all the Fyrinnae shades, VC Last Unicorn, Too Faced Ever After and Too Faced Heaven, Mac Spectacle of Yourself, Stila Eden, MC Mordred, and Wet n' Wild Brulee.
Which ones are you digging the most? Any browns, nudes or golds you think are awesome that I don't have?

Cult Nails Winter Pre-Sale- This Weekend Only!

THE SUPER POWERS COLLECTION Power Thief (right) is a milk chocolate brown with a spark of powerful shimmer Time Traveler (below left) is a royal navy blue jelly that dries to that perfect Cult Nails shine Mind Control is a slate gray polish with a perfectly complementary magenta fleck Clairvoyant (left) well... honestly... need we say more

Cult Nails http://shop.cultnails.com

Get all 4 colors for $30 plus shipping and handling  www.cultnails.com Twitter: @CultNails facebook.com/cultnailslacquer

The pre-sale event will start 11/4/2011 and go through 11/11/2011

The collection sells for $30 (USD) during the pre-sale event only.  That is 25% off the regular price!  The pre-sale event will only include the entire collection.  Individual colors from will collection will release after the pre-sale event.

Darling Ghoul, Darling Girl Halloween Swatches and Review

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but my family has just moved houses and I've been going through midterms so trying to get my package has been difficult. I didn't get a chance to do lip swatches but Darling Girl's Halloween collection Darling Ghoul is one of the best Halloween releases of the year. I'm really happy with my order and wish I had gotten more. Though the shop is closed right now, Susan will have it back up after Halloween for a week before the limited edition collection will be taken down. 

My samples! Starting from the clam-shell clockwise: Going Batty Holo Gloss, Will-o-wisp Spectral Shift, Everything's Rosy Blush, New Grass e/s, Pumpkin Eater e/s, Darling Ghoul Sticker, Whimsy e/s, Incognito e/s

Starting from centre going down and clockwise: Corpse Candle Spectral Shift, Jack's Lantern e/s, Monarch e/s, Ghost Light spectral shift, Ghouls Gone Wild lip jelly,  Just Bitten Cream Blush, Poison Plum Kiss You Off Balm, Sweet Lips Sugar Scrub in Amaretto

A little bit about the products. Spectral Shifts are duochrome highlighters/eyeshadows/blushes in one. They can pretty much be used in any fashion you like and are completely awesome. The Sweet Cheeks Cream Blush is also multi-use in that it can also be used as a lip tint. In addition to this, I got quite a few shades from the core line so I'll make note of that  when I come to a swatch of those. First up is the lippie items.

L-R: Sheered layer of Ghouls Gone Wild Lip Jelly, Layered Just Bitten Cream Blush, Single layer Just Bitten Cream Blush, Layered Posion Plum Kiss You Off lip balm, Single layer Poison Plum lip balm.

L-R: Going Batty Holo Gloss single layer, Multi-layer Ghouls Gone Wild lip jelly, Single layer Ghouls Gone Wild, Multi-layer Just Bitten Blush, Single layer Just Bitten

L-R: Going Batty Holo Gloss layered, Single layer Going Batty, Multi-layer Ghouls Gone Wild lip jelly, Sheered Ghouls Gone Wild

Sweet Lips On The Go Sugar'd Lip Scrub in Amaretto

Sweet Lips On The Go Sugar'd Up Lip Scrub

 I was really impressed by the lip products I got from Darling Girl. My favourite has to be Poison Plum Kiss Me Off Lip Balm though. The colour is absolutely stunning for fall and I think it really suits all skin tones. A dark berry with a ton of gold and violet sparkle. The packaging is slim and easy to use, plus the label is waterproof, though it does overlap slightly. The balm itself is moisturizing and balmy in texture, but not so much that it slides around. It has a buildable texture so you can apply sheerly for a tint for layered for a lovely darker lip. I absolutely love it. Poison Plum costs $4.75 USD.
Mini Rating: 10/10 

Ghouls Gone Wild is very pretty but much more subtle than I was hoping. Certainly it is full of holographic glitter which is non-gritty but I was personally hoping it would impart more of a green tint when applied than it does. When you look at it in the pot, it has this amazing light green irredesence but this doesn't transfer to the lips, it really goes on clear. I also wasn't crazy about the pot, as though it was full I had to be really careful when opening it as the whipped texture had a tendency to drag and get outside the pot edge. It does feel nice on though, slightly moisturizing and non-sticky. Doesn't last too long however is better than some glosses I have. It will make a nice layering product. Ghouls Gone Wild Lip Jelly costs $4.25 USD.
Mini Rating: 7.5/10

Going Batty Holo Gloss at first looks scary and unwearable but is the exact opposite in reality. It's absolutely stunning and I wish I bought the full size product instead of just a sample. It's a dark-medium brown based gloss with holographic, orange, pink and green sparkle. On the lips it goes a pretty pink-brown with fantastic sparkle. I've never seen anything even remotely like it. It has a slightly stiffer texture than Ghouls Gone Wild but feels very similar on. Gloss-like with no stickiness and slightly moisturizing. It has decent wear-time for a non-sticky gloss too. I think it looks great on it's own and would be a nice addition over lipsticks in berry and wine shades too. The holo glosses cost $4.50 USD.
Mini Rating: 8.5/10

The Sweet Lips On The Go Sugar'd Up Lip Scrub is a wonderful product too. It is a sugar scrub that you can choose the flavour of out of 36 different flavours (that's a HUGE amount!). I chose Amaretto (my favourite alcoholic drink. I particularly love it mixed with strawberry daiquiri instead of rum. Yummy!), and I am SO glad I did. This smells amazing and exactly like Amaretto does (a sort of almond-cherry for those of you who haven't tried the drink). Plus it tastes awesome too, lovely and sweet without being overpowering. A bit tough to get the hang of, you only need the smallest amount of scrub from the top of the overpacked spin-up tube to sufficiently scrub dry patches from your lips. When you're done you can sort of rub/wash/lick away the excess. *guilty of licking* It doesn't leave much of a residue, though I kind of wish it did. Though I found my lips very soft and smooth afterwards, I did feel that I needed a balm after to really finish treating my lips as they felt a bit battered. This may be because I used a bit much on my first go though (I'm still experimenting with perfecting exactly the right amount to use- you need so little it's hard to estimate at first.) Overall, this is the best lip scrub product at the most decent price I've found to date. Most of the bigger brand companies only offer lip scrubs at exorbitant prices in pots. I love not having to dip my finger in a pot then transferring it to my lips afterwards. This lip scrub costs $5.50 USD.
Mini Rating: 9/10

Just Bitten Sweet Cheeks Cream Blush was originally made as a dupe for the Tarte for True Blood Cheek Stain, and I have to say I like the texture of this one even more! Though slightly expensive for the size at $6.50 USD you need so little of this product to get the needed amount for your cheeks it will take you quite an amount of time to get through the pot. It's a beautiful red flush with a very subtle and spread-out gold shimmer (you can only sometimes barely see it). I do wish the gold showed up a bit more personally but others who complained about the Tarte True Blood one having too much gold shimmer will like and appreciate this one. This product spreads well and sinks in super quick. Despite some of the main  ingredients being oils they aren't bad for your skin oils but instead ones that are good for it instead- meaning it won't break you out. I love the flush this gives and it makes me want to try out other shades from the Sweet Cheeks range. I'm not too sure I like the pot, just because I find it kind of deep so as I go through it I can see having to angle my finger weird to get product out and I don't like grooves near my blush/gel products because I'm spoiled and messy and am likely to eventually get product stuck in the  threads.
Mini Rating: 8/10

Whimsy eyeshadow (Main Collection)

New Grass eyeshadow (Main Collection)

Everything's Rosy Blush (Main collection)

Incognito eyeshadow (Main collection)

T-B: Ghost Light Spectral Shift, Pumpkin Eater eyeshadow, Will-o-Wisp Spectral Shift 

L-R: Monarch eyeshadow (Main collection), Jack's Lantern eyeshadow, Will-o-Wisp Spectral Shift 

T-B: Corpse Candle Spectral Shift, Ghost Light Spectral Shift, Pumpkin Eater eyeshadow

L-R: Pumpkin Eater eyeshadow, Ghost Light spectral shift, Corpse Candle spectral shift

I tried to get these as colour accurate as possible but some of them are off or only showing one part of the duochrome effect. I tried but I wasn't as successful as I'd hoped to be. All the eyeshadows and spectral shifts came with sticker-sealed shifter tops on them.

The spectral shifts are lovely products. Well pigmented and slightly washed out shades they have awesome duochrome to them. I LOVE Corpse Candle and Ghost Light- both are truly unique and pretty. Corpse Candle is a light grey with lavender duochrome. Ghost Light is a washed-out teal/medium blue with lighter blue duochrome. Exactly what a ghost-light I think would look like. The shade is really other-worldly and ethereal. It's not as bright as the pictures show it to be in real life. Will-o-Wisp is a slightly coral pink shade with slight blue reflect. Another really unique shade though I'm not quite sure how it will look as a blush I'm highly tempted to try it as such. 

Spectral Shifts Mini Rating: 8.5/10

Pumpkin Eater is a bright orange metallic shade with really small green glitter. I was a bit disappointed with this one as I was hoping for a more obvious/denser green sparkle as it is really subtle. It is a very pretty shade though.

Jack's Lantern was the last of the Halloween eyeshadows I got. It is a black-plum shade with a medium/dark purple/burgundy highlight. It's supposed to represent the glowing cut out portions of a Jack-o-Lantern. I think the colour idea is a great one and I get the feeling of the inspiration from it but personally find it a bit too black/charcoal-like. I had to layer it quite heavily to get the burgundy/aubergine aspects to really show up.

Mini Rating for the Halloween Eyeshadows: 6.5/10

Monarch eyeshadow was the Gift with Purchase for the week that I purchased my order from. It's a reddened brown with super-sparkly blue/green shimmer. It's reminiscent of Mac Club though not as duochromy or dark as that and less green. It also reminds me a bit of Fyrinnae's Sumatran Tiger eyeshadow. It's a nice shade that was prettier than expected because of it's uber shimmer but one I don't think I'll use too often.

Whimsy is a light grey shade with a light green duochrome. Very pretty and subtle but an interesting everyday shade. It was well pigmented too.

New Grass was a free sample from my purchase. It's a bright grass green with an interesting but subtle purple/red glitter. Not obvious enough to make it look christmasy or strange but unique for sure. 

Incognito was my other free sample with purchase. A bright reddened purple shimmer. It's very rich and pigmented. 

Eyeshadows Mini Rating: 7/10

Everything's Rosy Blush is a yellow based medium pink with very faint gold in it. It is very pigmented so you'd have to go extremely light when applying this but it is a nice shade. Not too unique but pretty.

Mini Rating 6.5/10

Darling Girl has a slightly long TAT (Turn Around Time) of about 14-16 buisness days but everything is well packed and her samples are generous. Plus I got little goodies with my order (a package of Candy Corn a Darling Girl Sticker and two Halloween rings which was cute). The variety of product sizes was great (most things have a sample size, a small size and a large size). The prices are also reasonable and the shipping is low. Plus Susan the owner is an absolute sweetheart to speak to in person or over facebook. Plus she keeps a blog that regularly updates with information about what is happening in her life, what is going on at Darling Girl and upcoming products.

The most popular products from the Darling Ghoul collection are Poison Plum Lip Balm, Ghost Light Spectral Shift, Bats in the Belfry eyeshadow and Jack's Lantern eyeshadow, if you want a starting point at what to look for!

Sprite Overall Rating: 9/10

Would I buy from Darling Girl Cosmetics again? Yes! I'd love to try more of their products. This company is so unique and the quality is really there. Not to mention the sheer variety of products!