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NARS Nordstrom

NARS Endless Summer Collection for Nordstrom

July 18, 2018

The NARS Endless Summer Collection is a new limited-edition launch exclusively at Nordstrom for their Anniversary Sale Beauty Exclusives this year. The focus is on sets with four options to choose from. NARS describes the collection as having a smoldering summer vibe. I feel the colors pull more neutral or fall-like but there are still some pretty options that are wearable regardless of season. I have all the colors swatched for you today along with some thoughts. I love seeing what options and deals are available during the sale, but sets can be touch and go if you don’t love all the colors. Also there are frequently repeats. I do think they are great for beauty newbies, especially since they often give you a price break on the sets. If you’ve been a long-time NARS lover or collector you might want to shop your stash or wait for fall. The four items from the NARS Endless Summer Collection include:

The Hot Escape Eye and Cheek Palette has four eyeshadows, one highlighting blush and one regular powder blush. The overall look and feel of the palette runs neutral-cool with sheer to medium finish. If you’re one who wants to wear a minimal eye makeup look with a neutral rose blush this is a great one.

Colors in the palette:

Aurora Eyeshadow is a matte soft cream
Yucatan Eyeshadow is a soft grey taupe satin
Endless Eyeshadow is a sparkling tan (LOVE this color)
Next Wave is a satiny cool grey
Sunstreak Highlighting Powder is a sheer ultra pale pink shimmer
Hot Pursuit is a dusty rose

While the colors are on the soft side you can definitely build if you use a dense or synthetic brush. Overall lasting power was pretty good. Everything stayed put from morning until late afternoon without budging. I do recommend using a creamy base for the eyeshadows. On dry lids the color will be ultra sheer.

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The Sunseeker Lip and Light Duo has miniatures of their Highlighting Powder in Fort de France and Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita. The powder is small like eyeshadow size and the lip pencil is nice for a trial size. Both are classics in the NARS line and I would actually recommend buying the full size versions – I think both colors are going to work on a wide range of skin tones. Fort de France is my favorite highlighting powder of the new shades launched (reviewed here). The Velvet Matte Lip Pencil is smooth and glides on with a very soft velvety finish. It’s a classic warm rose color.

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Then there are two Liquid Lip Sets, each with four colors. Each set has two Velvet Lip Glides which offer natural to medium coverage in a soft velvet finish gloss. Lasting power is medium – there will be color transfer if your lips touch something and you will have to reapply throughout the day. There are also two Powermatte Lip Pigments which are thin liquid lipsticks that dry to a full matte finish. These stay put all day once you apply, no budging at all! The Undressed Liquid Lip Set 1 has neutrals/nudes:

Velvet Lip Glide in Stripped is a pale beige cream, this is an existing shade
Velvet Lip Glide in Cozumel is a pink beige cream, this is a new limited-edition color (love this)
Powermatte Lip Pigment in Antigua is a neutral-cool beige rose, also new and limited-edition
Powermatte Lip Pigment in American Woman, this is an existing shade and to me one of the most perfect everyday neutrals

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The Undressed Liquid Lip Set 2 has rose/pinks:

Velvet Lip Glide in Bound which is the perfect neutral-cool rose with a hint of mauve
Velvet Lip Glide in Cartagena a bright orchid pink, new shade
Powermatte Lip Pigment in Save the Queen is the prettiest cool mauve color on my arm, but when it dries on my lips it turns very blue
Powermatte Lip Pigment in Haze is a deeper mauve rose

Quality and color-wise these sets are just as good as the individuals. Since there is a mix of existing colors within the sets you might want to pass if you already own some of them. Or if you have friends you can split the sets with that might be another option if you had your eye on certain colors anyways. To me the best colors are Bound and American Woman which you can buy individually. I do have a soft spot for neutrals and nudes, I really liked the Undressed Liquid Lip Set 1. Even though I already own 2 of the colors I still love the 2 new ones Cozumel and Antigua. I’ve set aside the duplicates for friends and swatched the colors I already had in my stash. That being said I do want to mention if you’re a nude lip lover you might also want to look into the NARSissist Wanted Velvet Lip Glide Set in Nude Scene which is an Ulta Exclusive. It has six miniature nudes.

Overall some nice options if you end up liking all the colors or have been wanting to try NARS products I think this is a great time to start. The prices are really good, especially for the lip sets considering each lip color full size is $26, so 4 of them individually would cost $104 and the sale set price is only $49.

You can find the Endless Summer Collection now at Nordstrom for their Anniversary Sale Beauty Exclusives. Everything is limited-edition. Did you pick up anything from the sale yet or are you shopping it this week? More swatches and reviews of my haul picks to follow soon!

NARS Endless Summer collection provided courtesy of NARS for review.

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Charlotte Tilbury Nordstrom

Charlotte Tilbury Glowing Pretty Skin Palette + Pretty Pink Lipstick Set Review

July 14, 2018

Charlotte Tilbury has a few sets and palettes available for this year’s Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and I hauled two of the items! I picked up the Glowing Pretty Skin Palette ($75) and the Pretty Pink Lipstick Set ($60). As a long-time Charlotte Tilbury fan I was thrilled to find some new color options for the sale and think both picks are worth checking out.

The Glowing Pretty Skin Palette is a mirrored compact with six powders. Each powder is 2.8 g/0.09 oz and the texture is very soft but pigment is visible and smooth. If you’re familiar with her Instant Look Palettes you know they tend to have sheer/natural color payoff. For many of you her first Natural Beauty was really nice in concept but didn’t have enough pigment or color to show up on your skin (it didn’t show up on me). The good news is that this Glowing Pretty Skin Palette is MUCH better and has everything I want in a face palette.

In this palette you get:

Airbrush Powder #2 – a neutral skin-tone matte powder that covers very well
Pretty Blush – a soft peachy flush satin
Illuminating Glow – champagne soft pink shimmer
Bronze and Contour – neutral-cool soft grey tan matte
Summer Blush – a peachy coral with a hint of sheen
Highlighting Glow – a soft yellow gold shimmer

Both blushes swatch almost identical on the arm. At first glance I felt it was almost a waste to have 2 of the same color in a palette. You will notice a difference on the face though. The bottom one is more shimmery and a tad more vibrant while the top one is more matte. The overall effect is soft but still noticeable on my medium tan skin. By comparison to the Becca Be a Light Palettes this Charlotte Tilbury one runs more neutral in undertone for the powders and the blushes have more color. Texture and finish of course are completely different.

Swatched next to the Filmstar Bronze and Glow and Filmstar Blush and Glow (reviewed here):

Quick side by side comparison for size reference to her Filmstar Bronze and Blush Glow Palette and the Beauty Filters Compact Duo:

Next is the Pretty Pink Lipstick Set which has three full-sized products in a K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Blushing Dream, Matte Revolution Lipstick in Rose Kiss and Lip Cheat Lip Pencil in Pillow Talk. The lipsticks are new and exclusive shades but the lipliner is a repromote of one of her best selling colors. Texture and formula of everything is really good.

I’ve reviewed her lipsticks many times before but in case you missed the reviews or are new she has a few different formulas. The K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick is a full coverage, super creamy and very opaque lipstick formula. It can pull on the thick side but all you need to do is blot. They have a natural shine finish and stay put really well. Blushing Dream is a pretty soft pink. She also has a Matte Revolution formula which is one of the few matte lipsticks I love. They’re a luminous matte in the sense they have a matte finish but it doesn’t look or feel dry and they don’t make the lips look like shriveled raisins like some mattes do. I absolutely love them! Rose Kiss pulls very rosy on my lips and on the warm side.

Swatches:

Swatch comparisons to some of her other lipsticks below:

One beauty look wearing:

Foundation – MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC35 (swatched here) + Hollywood Flawless Filter in #4 to highlight and add glow to the face (all of them reviewed/swatched here)
Powder – Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder #2 all over
Brows – Diorshow Brow Styler in Universal Brown
Eyeshadow – Urban Decay Palette in Naked2
Mascara – Tom Ford Waterproof Extreme
Cheeks – Glowing Pretty Skin Palette, all shades
Lips – K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Blushing Dream
Top – Madewell Boxy Sweater Tee (lighter weight alternatives here, here and here)

Overall thumbs up. I have medium-tan skin and the palette still shows up on my skin in a natural way. If you are lighter than me it will for sure show up and is neutral enough that it won’t pull orangey on your skin. If you are 1-2 shades darker I think it will still show up on your skin but it will definitely be a lot more neutral/flesh toned. I hope she makes more of these because I love the soft natural texture and finish.

For the lips nothing would have stopped me from buying the set, but I do think Blushing Dream is really close to The Duchess (reviewed here). Rose Kiss is warmer than I’m used to but I still think it’s a very wearable pretty romantic shade that has color without being too bold. I already own a few of the Pillow Talk Lip Liners, I would have preferred a new shade but the set is priced at a value price. I’m gifting the liner to a friend.

You can find the Charlotte Tilbury Glowing Pretty Skin Palette ($75) and the Pretty Pink Lipstick Set ($60) both exclusively at Nordstrom for the Anniversary Sale. Early Access for the sale is going on until the 20th and then it opens to the public.

There is also a set called The Gift of Glowing Skin Set ($75) and Supermodel Body XL Shimmer Shape, Hydrate & Glow ($75). Her body shimmer is one of the prettiest ones I’ve tried but since I rarely wear body shimmers I did not buy this one. Also be sure to check the Beauty Gift With Purchase page!

Have you checked out these sets yet? Are they on your radar?

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Chanel Eye Makeup

New Chanel Eye Makeup Review

July 10, 2018

Chanel has some new eyemakeup out right now as a mini-release. I ordered some things from Nordstrom and Chanel including some eyeshadows, a lash primer and new eyeshadow base. After testing I think there are some hits and misses. By now their Fall-Winter Collection has already launched online with the Le Mat de Chanel. What I hauled:

Ombre Premiere Longwear Powder Shadow in High-Profile
Ombre Premiere Longwear Cream Eyeshadow in Ultra Flesh
Stylo Ombre Et Contour Eyeshadow-Liner-Khol in Nude Eclat, Electric Brown and Rouge Noir
La Base Ombre Paupieres Longwear Eyeshadow Primer
La Base Mascara Nourishing Mascara Base

There were also two new Eyeshadow Quads which I passed on because I didn’t love all the colors in each palette and knew there was a good chance they would be neglected.

Up first are the two eyeshadows in the Ombre Premiere Powder High-Profile and Ombre Premiere Cream Ultra Flesh. I reviewed the Ombre Premiere formula nearly a year ago. The formulas are indeed long wearing, the creams are particularly good to last in hot humid weather. With this launch High-Profile is a soft satiny nude gold that looks like skin but just a tiny bit lighter. The shimmer is ultra soft, a lot softer than Flesh or Ray (both of which pull more pinkish). Ultra Flesh has a pink peach shimmer finish. I was worried it would be too pink but it actually is light enough in color that it works for my skintone to give a soft peachy wash. Color is shimmery as well but in a natural way. To me these are both hits although High-Profile matches my skin so closely it almost looks like nothing on my lids.

Next are the Eyeshadow-Liner-Khols which I think are both hits and misses. I expected these to be like their previously launched twist up shadow sticks. They’re still twist up but a lot skinnier than I expected. Also there’s no sharpener and as many of you have commented in the past, this kind of packaging isn’t ideal for long term use. Once you wear down the tip it’s going to be difficult to line with the same precision as you can with a pointy tip. It has a smooth creamy texture that glides on the eyes like a liner. The lighter shade Nude Eclat (shimmery champagne) is easier to blend over the lid, but the other two Electric Brown (soft shimmery brown) and Rouge Noir (deep reddish plum) are best used if smudged slightly along the lash line. You can apply more and blend but blend quickly as they set fast. The best thing is once they’ve set there’s no smudging. My solution for when the tip wears down is to use a detail brush and swipe it along the top then apply on the eyes with the brush. I appreciate the design intent to be an all-in-one kind of product but I think it’s not going work well as both a liner and shadow if you can’t sharpen the tip.

Next are two base products. The Longwear Eyeshadow Primer seems to be only available at Chanel.com right now. It’s a pink tinted cream but applies to a clear finish on the lids. It dries down to a smooth soft matte and is designed to improve wear of shadows. This is one product I could not tell if it worked to improve wear or not. My shadow stayed put the same. What it does do is smooth out the lid surface and makes it stay matte all day. For me I prefer cream shadows as a base or liner because of the emollient texture. Since this is matte it doesn’t really help shadow apply richly like other bases. But it did keep my lids matte all day so if you have oily lids this is worth a look. The La Base Mascara also launched. I am not 100% sure if this is a new formula or relaunch. It’s labeled on the bottom as Volume and Care which to those aspects it does both. It’ a white base you coat onto the lashes and it does indeed add volume but nourishes them as well. The only downside for me is that once applied it straightens my lashes immediately even if I curl them. For me almost all mascara bases have straightened my lashes.

Overall some nice additions. The most interesting things to me were the two bases but I think your mileage will truly vary depending on your lash type or eye primer preference. I have difficult straight lashes so most formulas are hard to work with for me. The eyeshadow base is something I’m going to continue to try – right now I’m not convinced it improves my shadow but at the same time I do like how it smooths the entire eye area without adding any color.

You can find the new Chanel Eye Makeup Collection out at all counter right now. I bought mine from Nordstrom and Chanel. Have you checked these out yet? What did you think?

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Becca Highlighters

Becca Be A Light Face Palette Review + Swatches

July 9, 2018

Becca Cosmetics has launched the perfect natural contouring and highlighting compacts called the Be A Light Face Palette ($46 each 0.52 oz/ 15 g). There are two shade options Light to Medium and Medium to Dark. They have powders Becca calls their Sheer Glow Filter Powder and they’re skin-enhancing powders to smooth and blur the complexion. I’ve never been a huge fan of contouring because it’s been tricky for me. Powder colors are often too sharp or grey for my skintone, shades are often too light or too dark for me, and I’d rather just use a soft bronzer to add depth. Now that these Becca Be A Light Face Palettes have launched I’ve finally found a natural looking contouring and blurring palette with enough options to brighten, contour and add color.

The Be A Light Face Palettes come in huge mirrored compacts with four shades per palette. I love that the shades are separated so you can easily pick up one color at a time. I tested these with a few different brushes and to me really any powder brush will work. The texture is soft and smooth with a natural finish. It is medium to sheer but you can definitely build either the blush color or deepest contour color. Since the powders are soft there will be powdery kick up/debris from the brush. On the face it will stay put.

Color-wise I am the skintone right now that I could wear either. If I had to pick one I would probably pick the Light to Medium for everyday because the lighter shades are sheer enough that I can use them as a finishing power on certain areas of the face without adding too much color. For me it has the perfect amount of warmth to work for my olive skin tone. Wearing Light to Medium below, it’s really natural in the photo – everything shows up a lot better in real life. On the lips is the Becca Glow Lip Gloss in Opal.

A closer look at Light to Medium where you have a pale champagne beige highlighter powder to brighten, a peachy shimmer blush, a deeper beige to blur and even out complexion and a darker contour powder.

Medium to Dark has the same concept but colors are all a lot deeper.

I tested both of these on a few different occasions. It is natural looking but stays put on the face, even in heat and humidity. The Medium to Dark one stayed on my face all day and even lasted through a 12 mile bike ride in humid 90+ degree weather. My face was completely sweaty and was 100% dewy and then some but the color remained on the face and everything looked like it stayed put. Just in case you are wondering, I don’t usually wear makeup for exercise or bike rides. I had everything put together because I thought we were going to have a quick and easy weekend bike ride but my husband had something else in mind. He decided we were going to test some bikes out from a rental shop and bike back and forth across the Courtney Campbell Causeway from Tampa to Clearwater. I was really surprised everything except my foundation lasted through the sweat – I also wore the Sunday Riley Influencer Foundation in 190, Tom Ford Waterproof Extreme Mascara, Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Golden Pink mixed with Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Stick in Copper and the Sisley Phyto-Lip Delight in #3. I was really surprised that even though most of my foundation/base had sweated off my forehead and chin that my cheeks and eyes still looked like color stayed put. Granted everything was glowing with sweat but surprisingly was still there.

To me these are perfect. It has just the amount of glow it’s not 100% matte but at the same time there’s not really a lot of shimmer, except for the blush. They have a similar vibe to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders but the colors of the Becca brighten, blur and contour options are more skin-like for me vs. color correcting like the Hourglass ones. I think you can also say they are similar to the Laura Mercier Candleglow Powders but softer in texture. If you prefer something matte, the best ones to me are still the Marc Jacobs #Instamarc Light Filtering Contour Duos (reviewed a few years ago here) although those are completely matte and therefore not the same as the Becca palettes.

Bottom line love.

You can find the Becca Be A Light Face Palettes out now, available at Nordstrom, Sephora, Ulta Beauty and Becca Cosmetics. Have you tried these yet? What did you think? More beauty reviews to follow from NARS and Chanel later this week. Also the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for Early Access starts as well, I’ll be sharing my haul picks for the Beauty Exclusives. In case you missed it you can see a sneak peek of the beauty offerings, dates and details on this page here.

Becca palettes provided courtesy of Becca Cosmetics for review.

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Sisley-Paris Skincare

Best Beauty Oils for Summer from Sisley-Paris

June 29, 2018

I’m excited today to have a roundup of some of the best beauty oils I’ve ever tried. As I age I’ve become more and more interested in oils for the face and body to help restore moisture and elasticity to the skin. So many of you have raved about the Sisley Black Rose Precious Face Oil as the only face oil some of you will use. I test this in a trial size last year from one of the Beauty Subscription Boxes and was instantly hooked. I’ve since hoarded every mini I could find from various GWPs but now am thrilled to be the happy owner of a full-sized bottle. This now completes my Sisley oil collection for hair, lips (launched earlier this month), legs and face so I thought it would be perfect to do a roundup – especially since so many of you have been really curious about the Hair Rituel Precious Hair Care Oil! In addition the Sisley team has offered to do a really fun giveaway. Details are at the bottom of the post.

I’m going to start with the best one which is the Black Rose Precious Face Oil. After testing this in person I understand why so many of you only use this oil. It’s easily the most concentrated face oil I’ve tried so a little truly goes a long way. It’s rich and thick but has a silky smooth finish that is super nourishing. Sisley recommends using between three to seven drops in the morning or evening on clean skin. You can apply it on the face and neck. I’ve been using it only on the face and at night. I also will sometimes mix in a drop of the oil with the Black Rose Skin Infusion Cream which I usually use for day if I need a bit more moisture. For the Black Rose Precious Face Oil, the key ingredients are plum oil, camelina oil (to soothe), phytosqualane, Natural Tocopherols, Avocado unsaponifiables (to plump), Black Rose extract (to soften), Bulgarian Rose essential oil (to tone), magnolia essential oil (to soothe) and geranium to purify.

After using this at night I find in the morning skin that my skin is plump, firm and my fine lines on my forehead are not visible. Skincare usually takes a while to see results but with this oil I see results by the next morning. With regular use skin looks a lot more bouncy and youthful. As I’m aging I’m more conscientious of fine lines and loss of firmness in certain areas and since I’m still terrified of needles I haven’t tried Botox yet, although a number of you have e-mailed me some really thoughtful messages about trying it.

One more quick note about the oil is that it’s intended for mature or dry skin, but I know many readers who used this starting in their 30’s and also some who have normal/combination skin that still use it. I have truly combination skin these days. It’s prone to dry patches and dry feeling in general with air conditioning that I’m around constantly. At night I need extra moisture so I’ll work an oil in 2-3 times a week, as needed.

Next is the White Ginger Contouring Oil for Legs. This is priced at a steep $190 but I tried it in a sample packet, loved it and bought the full size last summer. I tried to use it sparingly but used it up entirely and am now on my second bottle. It’s an energizing contouring leg oil but I use it mainly for it’s nourishing properties. It does make tired legs feel energized. This year both Andrew and I have made more of an effort to live a healthy and active life. We’ve been exercising more and started to incorporate some weight training. The White Ginger Contouring Oil for Legs does relieve some tension from soreness of working out. The texture allows for you to massage the legs so the effect is partially going to be in the application technique. It’s an emollient nourishing oil that smells amazing. I’m desperately trying to find a dupe but have not. The texture and scent is unmatched.

For the hair, Sisley launched a haircare line with their Hair Rituel by Sisley collection. Everything is exquisite and I am working on a full dedicated post on all the products. I know hair care picks depend a lot on hair type, length, and treatment but I think the best and most universal product that will work on anyone is the Precious Hair Care Oil. My hair care process has completely changed since moving to Florida, especially with shampoo and conditioners. The water here simply won’t rinse out everything like it does in California! Quick note that the Revitalizing Smoothing Shampoo is one of the few that works for my hair here (I’ve already repurchased it twice). I’ll review it in detail in a later post.

The Precious Hair Care Oil is one of the best smelling hair oils I’ve ever tried. It’s hard to describe but it has a very nice, pleasant natural scent. It adds just the right amount of shine to the hair without weighing it down. Texture is rich enough to hydrate dry ends but light enough that it won’t weigh down my hair. You can use it on both damp or dry hair. I like to use it as a finishing product starting from the middle to the ends and then finish by rubbing any remnants at the top. It has a blend of oils including shea oil for smoothness and shine, passion fruit, shea, cotton and Moringa oils for added nourishment and shine.

Last but not least are the newest oils from Sisley which are the Phyto-Lip Delights. These are my go-to soft lip tints for summer. They’re a nourishing and plumping lip oil. They also contain a blend of oils to hydrate and plump the lips including Shea, Jojoba and Plum oils and Padina pavonica extract. I reviewed them in this post here so you can check out the lip swatches and more thoughts there. Quick takeaway is that they’re beautiful nourishing oils that give an effortless shine! They are expensive but I’ve loved every Sisley lip product I’ve tried. I loved the Phyto-Lip Twist in Baby that I discovered last year I bought several other shades. These lip oils do not disappoint in terms of how soft they make the lips. Pigment is sheer-medium. Enough color that they show up, but definitely on the natural side.

Swatches of 1 Cool, 2 Pretty and 3 Sweet:

One last look:

Everything from Sisley is pure luxury and the skincare line is among the best I’ve tried. The Black Rose Precious Face Oil is in my top three face oils that I’ve ever tried and I agree 100% with everyone who has recommended it to me that it’s definitely worth giving a try. All of their products are on the expensive side so I recommend either trying their Beauty Subscription Program (6 months reviewed here) or make a wishlist and save your haul for one of their gift with purchases (they have them frequently online). If you are ever near one of their free-standing boutiques I highly recommend stopping by – they are really quite amazing. In the US they have one in Miami, New York, Las Vegas.

To end this roundup Sisley has offered a fun giveaway! They are giving away one set of the three new Phyto-Lip Delights to one reader on my blog. Simply enter through the Rafflecopter widget below. Open to US Residents only. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Will run through Monday July 2nd, 11:45 AM EST. I’ll select a winner and email them. Sisley will ship out the prize. (P.S. They’re also going to host another one on my Instagram so be sure to check it out sometime today to enter there as well for a separate chance to win.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sisley products provided courtesy of Sisley for review. Many thanks to the team for hosting this giveaway!

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Highlighters Pat McGrath Labs

Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish Sublime Skin Highlighting Trio, Buffer Brush + Highlighter Balm Duo

June 28, 2018

The latest from Pat McGrath Labs includes products in her Skin Fetish Collection. Today I have a review of three new items that are part of her collection and one item I previously hauled including the:

Sublime Skin Highlighting Trio ($50)
Buffer Brush ($25)
Skin Fetish Highlighter Balm Duo in Nude ($48)
Lip Fetish Lip Balm ($38)

As usual in addition to individual products, there are also bundle options available on her website where you can find a price break for buying the sets.

The Sublime Skin Highlighting Trio is a highlighting palette that comes with three iridescent ultra shimmery highlighters. They are versatile in the sense you can control the shimmer from light to intense depending on what kind of brush you use. The less dense the brush (or more fluffy) the lighter/sheerer look you can get. You can layer for an extreme sheen. Lasting power of the highlighters is excellent. They’ll stay put all day without budging. The only color I wasn’t crazy about was Fine Gold – long time readers know I don’t really wear yellow golds well. Iridescent Pink surprised me because I’ve tried duo-chrome pinks before and find them harsh on my olive-toned skin. However this one actually went on quite nice!

Colors include:

Bronze Nectar – super sparkly gold bronze, this had some brush fallout with the sparkles but once it’s on the skin it pretty much stays put on the face
Fine Gold – is an iridescent pale yellow gold shimmer
Iridescent Pink – is a duo chrome opal pink, shimmer is ultra smooth

Each of the highlighting powder on the cheeks just by themselves to show the color:

Above I’m wearing the Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Foundation in Buff, Armani Luminous Silk Powder Foundation #4, Diorshow Brow Styler in Universal Brown, Pat McGrath LuxeTrance Lipstick in Realness, Pat McGrath Eyeshadow Palette in Bronze Ambition.

There is a white Buffer 003 Brush that is a smaller sized duo-fiber brush. It’s well made and performs well but if you already own the MAC 188s then you most likely will not need this one. I do think the Pat McGrath version is softer and better than the MAC one but they are really similar. The Laura Mercier Fan Brush will also give your skin a similar finish.

Swatch comparisons to the NARS Highlighting Powders and Hourglass Vanish Flash Highlighting Sticks:

The Skin Fetish Highlighter Balm Duo comes in three color options, I received the lightest one in Nude for review. It looks like your standard champagne pale cream shimmer on one end but on the skin it glides on beautifully to give a real skin glow look. The other side is a balm which I would only use on the lips. From my testing it appears to be the same as the Lip Fetish Lip Balm although the description seems to indicate you can use it on the face as well. Indoors in cool weather the highlighter wore well all day long without fading on top of my powder + foundation.

Above wearing the Nude highlighter blended, on the lips is the LUST Gloss in Flesh Fantasy.

Last but not least is another look at the Lip Fetish Lip Balm in Clear. This is going to be launching in shimmer shades soon. I bought the clear version months ago and it kept selling out. I’ve reviewed it in a roundup before and I really like it. It’s hydrating, smooth, not sticky or thick and does hydrate dry lips beautifully. That being said I think the $38 price tag is steep. I still enjoy mine and have no regrets buying.

Overall these are true to Pat McGrath Labs style in terms of quality and color payoff. I think you can definitely dupe the colors although the Skin Fetish highlighter is so smooth and pretty I’m tempted to see the others when they launch in stores near me (hopefully).

You can find the Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish Collection out now. Available at Pat McGrath Labs. Have you tried these yet? What did you think?

Skin Fetish collection provided courtesy of Pat McGrath Labs for review. Lip Fetish purchased by me.

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Lips NARS

NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer Review + Swatches

June 25, 2018

New lips just launched from NARS in a few different formulas and today I’ve swatches of all the new NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer ($26 each for 0.17 oz/5.5 ml, currently available at NARS and Barneys New York). There are 10 shades in this formula and 1 special-edition color Orgasm (reviewed here). In addition there are 5 new colors of the Velvet Lip Glide (reviewed here) and 5 new shades of the Powermatte Lip Pigment (to be reviewed soon). The NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer is an opaque, rich color, full coverage gloss with a high shine. They come with a flat applicator with a sponge tip on one side and plastic portion on the other. One will dispense a lot of color while the other blends it out more. There are 10 shades total, 6 creams and 4 sparkles. I believe there are hits and misses with this launch formula-wise.

Most of the colors have a beautiful smooth application. There are some however that apply streaky on bare lips and settle into fine lines. Color descriptions and thoughts on which ones are the best below. First a look at the shades and swatches.

Shown above from left to right:

Santo Domingo is a medium to light muted dusty pink, it settles into fine lines at first but once you let it set on the lips, it smooths out
Conquest is a perfect medium bright warm pink
Valencia is a bright coral hot pink, this also settled into my lip lines
Red District is the best cream formula, it’s a perfect bright red, smooth, opaque, glossy
Mississippi is a sheer mauve plum, it takes a few layers but applies smoothly
Baden Baden is a gorgeous deep plum, but alone it was streaky, I’d recommend applying it over a matte lip pencil
Abruzzo is a high sparkle metallic wine plum with gold and silver flecks, I thought this would be too glitzy but this is a truly stunning color, smooth coverage and no texture
Everglades is one of the scariest lip colors I’ve seen, having actually driven through the Everglades a couple times I’d say this color evokes the same feelings I had driving through alligator territory (they are probably the most frightening living creatures I’ve ever seen)
At First Sight is a sheer sparkling white silvery gold, it’s pretty sheer, almost transparent but has the prettiest sheen
Cape Town is an iridescent duochrome orange, pink loaded with multi-color sparkles, it’s very metallic but smooth

Overall the shimmers performed better on my lips formula-wise. I would say the cream colors Valencia and Baden Baden are the higher maintenance ones for me as the color settled into fine lines if I applied these on bare lips.

Close up lip swatches on bare lips. For skintone reference I’m wearing the MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NC37, Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Concealer in 3w1 (reviewed here) and Armani Luminous Silk Powder Foundation #4 on top to set.

All the lip swatches side by side:

Overall some beautiful colors and lovely formulas (patchy colors aside). There isn’t really any detectable scent to these. Lasting power is pretty good, they are thicker than the Velvet Lip Glides due to the high shine so they adhere better to the lips. Lasting power is pretty good, not as good as their Powermatte Lip Pigments, but for a gloss they stayed put until I snacked. My favorites are Santo Domingo, Red District, Abruzzo and At First Sight. Compared to other lip glosses these are among the most full coverage that I’ve tried. Ones like the Pat McGrath LUST Glosses or Chanel Rouge Coco Gloss are a lot sheerer. Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Glosses are probably the most similar (but hers are thicker), Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Liquid is also thicker with a more lipstick feel.

You can find the NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer now at NARS and Barneys New York. Starting July you will also be able to find them at other NARS retailers like Sephora and Nordstrom. Have you tried these yet? What did you think?

NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer provided courtesy of NARS for review.

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