Entries for Friday September 30

Everyday Minerals’ Champagne blush

• Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
• Availability: from the online storefront; part of the regular blush line
• Color Range: pale beige shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 5.5 grams / .19 oz
• Would you purchase again: no
• Similar shades:

This adds a little tiny bit of color, but a WHOLE lot of glow. It’s almost a metallic finish!! I tried using this on my cheeks, and just wasn’t happy. It made my skin look almost robot-like, as if I was wearing Tin Man makeup or something. I’m far happier using this as a highlighter on my inner eyelid and browbone. It works excellently there, focusing and reflecting the light to brighten either area quite easily. It also doesn’t add much color, so for me this is excellent. I have no idea how this would work on deeper skintones, though. It’ll provide the same reflectivity, but I don’t know if its base note coloring would be more noticeable on deep-toned skin than it does with my own pale coloring.

Entries for Thursday September 29

Tarte’s Lipsurgence collection

• Manufacturer: Tarte Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the regular line, through the Tarte webstore and channel partners
• Contains: 19 lip colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$24 for 2.6 ml / .08 fl oz each
• Would you purchase again: yes

I tried my first Tarte Lipsurgence when I received a freebie from Ulta (yep, this was during The Great Atlanta Shopping Trip.) I then got a three-pack of Lipsurgence colors: Pouty, Moody, and Envy. When I got home and tried them out, I added three more.

Lipsurgence has a lip stain component, so the color stays in place a long time. The pencil twists up from the base, so while it looks like a lip pencil there’s none of the hassle of sharpening. Lipsurgence comes in three finishes: original (creme), matte, and luster (shimmer/light frost). The big ‘wahey’ about Lipsurgence is that, with 28 days’ continued use, they’re supposed to “give you a 6000% increase in lips’ moisture content in 28 days”. I really kind of think that the percentage is a bit bilgey - I worry when any percentage is that high, that’s kind of absurd, and my inner vestigial statistician-gnome calls bullshit squared and cubed - but they do apply smoothly, the color does last a long time, and they don’t dry my lips. I haven’t used one for 28 days straight yet to see if the claims of increasing my lips’ moisture-levels is true or not. They are formulated without any mineral oil, paraben, sodium lauryl sulphate, or phthalates.

Zoya’s Provocateur collection

• Vendor: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: beginning July 2006 through the webstore and salon retailers
• Contains: 6 nail colors
• Cost/Amount: $36.00$48.00
• Would you purchase again: not the whole kit; but individual colors, yes

I started out with just the one color from this collection: Yasmeen. Then much later, I added both Racquel and Valentina. The jury’s still out on Bianca - I think it might be a toned-down version of Areej, which is nice enough but not a huge personal favorite of mine - and I think I’ll pass by Dominique and Sofia. Now if they were cooler shades, there may be a bit of interest!!

Entries for Wednesday September 28

China Glaze’s Robotika

• Manufacturer: China Glaze
• Availability: originally released in September 2009 as part of China Glaze's Khrome collection
• Color Range: metallic faded mocha-copper shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I really like this shade! It’s still available…occasionally…from this or that etailer or Ebay vendor. It’s getting harder to come by, though, and unlike 2030 or Millenium, which had near-clone re-releases a little over a year after their own release (from the Tis the Season collection), China Glaze hasn’t yet released another metallic of this particular shade. Which is kind of sad, because I’d love to be able to use it both for regular manicures and for stamping!! As it is, I feel a need to ration it a bit and really get the most enjoyment out of it as I possibly can.

OPI’s Chicago Champagne Toast

• Manufacturer: OPI
• Availability: part of OPI's Route 66 collection
• Color Range: faded-rose tan frost
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8.99 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: no
• Similar shades:

A truly lovely shade that reminds me - slightly - of Zoya's Lexi. This color provides near-complete full opacity with a single coat. Unfortunately, it's a frost finish...which means that it shows brushstrokes rather prominently. (Even in these blurry photos - sorry about that!!) I like this color a lot, but the poor spreadability really wrecks this one. I'm thinking of using this as a stamping polish - the color's lovely, the consistency is thick enough to hold its shape after stamping and not leave bald spots, and if it's used for stamping it will have the slight frost finish but will never be in wide enough swaths of color to show any brushstrokes or bubbling.

Zoya’s Lillith

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released in July 2007 as part of Zoya's Masquerade collection
• Color Range: magenta with blue iridescent shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: vaguely similar to Sally Hansen's Hot Magenta

I don’t know that I’d 100% agree with Zoya’s “duochrome” definition. This doesn’t change colors like Ki or Adina or Space Cadet or Waves of Enchantment or any colors that are easily recognized, even by people who aren’t nail polish afficionados. It’s a hot magenta base color with a faint blue sheen atop it, almost more like a barely-visible bluish cast. Rich and lovely, but not what I’d class as a full duochrome. (Zoya seems to use that term a bit liberally, perhaps hoping to make more sales.)

Entries for Tuesday September 27

Morgana Cryptoria’s Anastasia lip balm

• Manufacturer: Morgana Cryptoria
• Availability: from the online storefront
• Color Range: apricot-tan creme
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7 for 4 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I can’t decide if this is a neutral warm shade, or a warm neutral…but I like it! It’s one of my favorites. (Now that Morgana’s announced that she’ll be discontinuing her lip balms I ordered another tube!! I’ll store it in the refrigerator to help it last longer. Yes, I am that weird. Don’t judge me.)

L’Oréal’s Infallible Le Rouge Lipstick in Opulent Organza (812)

• Manufacturer: L'Oréal
• Availability: part of the Infallible Le Rouge Lipstick collection
• Color Range: medium-light orange-tan creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$9.99 for .09 ounces / 2.55 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes - but only from etailers, because the tubes aren't sealed

A warmer neutral...right on the border of "colors that work for me", and "colors that don't". It's similar to buxom Nantucket, but a little less peach and a wee bit more tan. Application is excellent, and whenever I want a little more color I just add a sheer lip polish on top. Just...buy from places like drugstore.com or walgreens.com rather than in your local drugstore. As I noted on the collection page, the tubes aren't sealed in any way.

NYX Cosmetics’ Velvet Diamond Sparkle Lipstick

Manufacturer: NYX Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the Diamond Sparkle Lipstick collection
• Color Range: faded lilac-mauve sparkle
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$4.50 for .14 ounces / 4 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes - but only from etailers, because the tubes aren't sealed

I couldn’t find swatch photos of this online, so I wasn’t really sure what color it would be. It looked a little like it might lean purple, just from the various product photos (which, I have learned, are sucktastic and not really representative of the product.) Velvet Diamond Sparkle is a kind of cool taupe / tanned lilac-ish shade, with (of course) plenty of sparkle. I wish that these lipsticks didn’t feel so unpleasant when I applied them, or I’d wear Velvet more often!

Entries for Monday September 26

Sassy Minerals’ Jolt

• Manufacturer: Sassy Minerals
• Availability: available as part of the regular eyeshadow line
• Color Range: soft teal-green sheen
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: $4.25 for 1 gram
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This is a very soft color - not “invisible” (like most of Sleek’s matte shades, and like some other indie shadows) but definitely not highly pigmented. Good to use for softer looks, or as a blending shade. The green deepens when this color is applied wet, and the shimmer is more readily visible; but it’s still one of the softer shades I’ve purchased from Sassy.

I might be able to use this patted over a dark cream or gel liner, and get some nice subtle effects. I also tend to lean towards “watercolor” looks, so I can wear this green either wet or dry and it works with both my coloring and my personal style. If you favor bolder looks, this particular shade might not be the best choice for you. Look into Lyrical or Sorceress instead - both of those shades, also from Sassy Minerals, are deeper and more pigmented than Jolt.