The Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year is Marsala and there are some beautiful options for lips, cheeks and eyes that have been released. In this year’s color collection we have:
- Marsala Layering Lip Collection ($28) a five piece chubby stick lip pencil set
- Pure Marsala Matte Lip Creme ($18) a full coverage cream matte lipstick
- Shimmering Marsala Cheek Trio ($28) trio of two blush shades and a highlighter
- Facets of Marsala Multi-Finish Eye Palette ($39) twenty four shades of eye shadow
- Cooling Marsala Multi Stick ($25) tinted cheek balm in a twist up stick
- Marsala Metalshine Liquid Liner ($18) metallic liquid liner
- Bold Marsala Mascara & Brow Highlighter ($20) tinted volumizing mascara
- Marsala Pro Angled Blush Brush #49 ($32) limited-edition version of a Sephora pro brush
I have two items to share with you today (and a giveaway too!). First up is the Pure Marsala Matte Lip Creme. This is a full coverage cream lipstick. It’s labeled as a matte finish color but I didn’t find it to be a true matte. It has a creamy feel with a slight sheen making it look more plush than a pure matte. This is the first Sephora branded lipstick I’ve tried and I found the pigment and coverage phenomenal. There’s no added fragrance although it does have a slight lipstick scent. On me it’s a dark pink wine color but not so dark that it’s a vamp shade. It is darker than what I am normally used to wearing but I found the color naturally flattering. If you want a darker lip but don’t want something quite as dramatic as a vampy shade, this is a good in between transition color. Texture is very smooth and glides on the lips easily. I found lasting power to be very good.
Here it is swatched with two swipes each lip, I found that if you layer it with a few more swipes, you can get a deeper more pigmented/vampy dark lip look:
A few comparisons to other shades (previous reviews are linked):
Charlotte Tilbury Stoned Rose (review soon)
Next up is the Facets of Marsala Multi-Finish Eye Palette. This is an impressive palette with 24 pigmented shades. The focus is primarily on reddish burgundy shades, but there is a good mix of others in the palette to coordinate with the reds. The colors in this palette are very much outside of my comfort zone although during makeovers artists often like to use warmer sable shades or wine shades on my eyes layered to warm up the entire look. I’ve experimented with some (like the wine shimmers from Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscopes) but use the color in small doses. This palette has a wide range of finishes and textures. Most of mattes are good if used as a liner or smokey eye, some of the textures of the mattes are a bit chalky if you try to use them all over the lid. I think they are best layered for added depth or as a liner. The shimmers range from glitter to finely milled shimmer to chunky sparkle. There are a few finely milled shimmers that have a very smooth easy to blend texture. Some of the chunkier shimmers have fallout when you apply them, but I found they did adhere ok to the lids once they were on the eyes. The glitters weren’t my favorite (I’m not a fan of glitter eyeshadows in general), but I’m still experimenting with them. I think performance and quality does varies per shade.
Colors are swatched by row:
- Autumn Blonde is a pale matte bone colored base with silver glitters, this one was very powdery and chalky on my skin
- Toasted Nut is a shimmering pumpkin color, it has a medium-to-high frost with a smooth texture
- Marsala Matte is a pigmented matte red wine color
- Marsala Satin is a pigmented semi-matte/semi-shimmer red wine
- Shifting Sand is a chunky silver with a high frost, there was fallout when applying this shade, but once it’s on the lids it stays put
- Cocoa Brown is a satiny cool brown with a slight sheen
- Burro is a neutral cool satiny matte color, it has a slight sheen but on the eyes goes on matte
- Deep Taupe is a cool-toned bark brown that looks more blue on my skin
- Marsala Metallic is a shimmering red wine, it has a smooth texture, I found it easy to blend and layer with other eyeshadow shades
- Marsala Glitter is a red wine with red and silver tiny glitters
- Kelp is a warm olive gold metallic, it has finely milled shimmer
- Dusty Olive is a darker metallic olive, it also has good pigment and finely milled shimmer
- Desert Mist is a highly frosted buttercream gold
- Butterum is a medium golden copper metallic sparkle
- Macaroon is a satiny tan with a hint of camel and pink
- Chutney is a reddish matte red
- Nimbus Cloud is a chunky cool-toned silvery white sparkle
- Moonlight Blue is a sheer glittering blue, you can get more pigment if you layer it with a damp brush or over a liner but alone it’s pretty sheer
The last row of colors includes my favorites in the palette:
- Carob Brown is a satiny medium-warm brown, it’s primarily a matte but has a slightly reflective quality when layered and swatched in a large area
- Bracken is a dark chocolate cool brown base with gold shimmer loaded into it
- Russet is a warm matte brown, this also looks satiny because of the flash, but it performs like a matte
- Hot Chocolate is a warm reddish brown matte
- Castor Grey is a duo-chrome metallic similar in concept to MAC Club Eyeshadow
- Red Mahogany is a matte plum red brown
I’m really pleased with the quality, pigment and color of the Marsala Lip Creme. It works just like a lipstick should. I think the Eyeshadow Palette is a good value set that will offer a diverse range of colors, textures and finishes. There are a lot of different looks that that you can create with the 24 shades. The quality of the shadows is mixed, but overall it’s a good palette. Color-wise, I’m almost exclusively a neutral eyeshadow wearer but I’ve played with this for a week now and found that I can use some of the reds layered with the cooler-toned shades and it’s very wearable. If you’re at a Sephora store, I definitely recommend you giving this a look.
For the other Marsala beauty items, I’ve played with the lip crayons and blush palette. There are a number of spring releases trickling in stores now so I’m waiting to see other items before purchasing, but the blush palette is seriously tempting me.
I have an extra set of the two items featured in this review to giveaway thanks to Sephora! This is an international giveaway, but you must be 18 years or older to qualify for entries. Simply enter using the Rafflecopter Widget below. One winner will be selected at random to win (x1) Pure Marsala Matte Lip Creme and (x1) Facets of Marsala Multi-Finish Eye Palette. Entries will be collected through 1/8/2015 (refer to terms and conditions in the widget for all the details). All entrants must submit their own entries. Please note if you select to leave a comment via the Rafflecopter option, any with links or urls listed to blogs, websites, giveaways, Facebook pages etc. will be considered spam, will not be published and the entry will be disqualified.
Good luck!
The Sephora + Pantone Universe items in this review and
giveaway were provided courtesy of Sephora.
giveaway were provided courtesy of Sephora.
