Entries for Friday June 29

Tarte’s Lipsurgence in Exposed

• Manufacturer: Tarte Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the Lip Service Lipsurgence kit; also available in the Romantics Lipsurgence kit
• Color Range: pinked tan matte
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$24 for 2.6 ml / .08 fl oz each
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Not my favorite shade ever. It isn’t too yellow for me to wear - always a concern with “nude” lip shades - but I just don’t love how it looks on me. It’s got a very faint hint of pink, so it’s not a straight tan. I just prefer something like Hope, when I want to sport a nude-lip look. This is one of the matte Lipsurgences, so it stays in place pretty well. It also has no shimmer at all, so if you want any shine or shimmer, you’ll need to add your own top coat.

NYX Cosmetics’ Tea in the Afternoon Black Label Lipstick (183)

• Manufacturer: NYX Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the Black Label Lipstick collection
• Color Range: medium deep rose-pink creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$7.00 for .14 ounces / 4 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes - but only from etailers, because the tubes aren't sealed

I really like this color! Putting on my “traditional-society-thinking” hat for half a second (it’s just too tight, it won’t fit right so I don’t do this often) this color is a little too bright for some, a little too “young girl” for most adults, not “young” enough or “bright” enough for most teens. It isn’t a bright enough pop for a “fun summer” lipstick. It’s not garish, it’s not totally subdued…it’s a royal bitch to categorize.

Predictably, I fell in love with it the moment I swatched it. It is brighter but not vibrant or neonesque; it has mauve undertones but it’s not a mauve shade; it’s “my lips but just a touch edgier.” I like the creme finish, as well. (I think a frost or shimmer finish might have been just slightly wrong…and if I really want a shimmer or sparkle, I can add a gloss topcoat.)

I can’t ever seem to find this at the stores that carry NYX, and it would occasionally be out of stock online - so for whatever reason or series of reasons, this color must strike a chord with plenty of other folks. I’m not sure, I’ll have to swatch them side by side, but I think that this shade might be right between Stila’s Long Wear Lipcolor in Petal (lighter) and Muse (more subdued / more mauve.)

Entries for Wednesday June 27

Zoya’s Farah

• Vendor: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released as part of Zoya's True collection
• Color Range: sandy-beige cream
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: no
• Similar shades: OPI's Going Nude, Eh

This color ended up being a bit more greyed than Cho, but still…too yellow to work well for me. I may use this for stamping, but not as an all-over color. I’ll stick with Shay and Pandora, whose undertones work much better for me - I don’t look like I’ve got lobster-hands when wearing either of those colors!

Application was fine, nice and smooth, full even coverage in two coats. I just don’t love the color on me.

Zoya’s Holly

• Vendor: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released as part of Zoya's Gems and Jewels collection
• Color Range: metallic medium emerald green 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:

A nice brighter holiday-green. (Though, I must admit, I liked China Glaze’s holiday greens a little better. The colors were less bright, but just as saturated.)

This polish will show imperfections in the nail, but not quite as much as other polishes. It spreads well and evenly, not holding any brushstrokes. I haven’t tried using this as a stamping polish - this would look striking as a leaf or vine pattern over the top of a dark brown, black, or navy creme.

Entries for Tuesday June 26

Fyrinnae’s Blush collection

• Manufacturer: Fyrinnae
• Availability: through the webstore; original release dates unknown
• Contains: ten blushes
• Cost/Amount: USD$6.50 for approximately 6 grams; $1.50 per sample
• Would you purchase again: individual colors, yes

I don’t remember accurately; but I think that these might have been temporarily unavailable for about nine months, most of 2011. (But like I said, I don’t remember.) All I know for sure is: these were available in 2012; and there were Fyrinnae blushes available in previous years but I don’t know the names or prices of the earlier collections, or if they differed from what was available beginning in 2012.

The site copy notes that these blushes are all designed to give color rather than shimmer - which, personally, is a nice switch from lots of blushes that give a very sheer wash of color with more shimmer than pigmentation. Yes, blush is not supposed to be a swath of opaque color, unless you’re going for Kabuki or mid-1980s makeup styles. But it’s nice to have a bit more color, and in a range of shades. There are a few blushes in the collection that I’m not interested in trying because they’re not shades that I favor using for blushes. Many of the blushes contain lakes and dyes; each blush is marked on the site as to whether or not it is lip- and eye-safe as well as being suitable for use as a blush.

Tarte’s The Romantics Lipsurgence kit

• Manufacturer: Tarte Cosmetics
• Availability: unknown release date; available through the Tarte webstore and channel partners
• Contains: 3 lip colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$32for
• Would you purchase again: yes

This isn’t available for purchase any longer; but it was one of the better ways to pick up a good selection of matte Lipsurgence colors. The mattes have the best staying power, in my opinion; and you can always jazz them up by adding a layer of your favorite gloss or lip polish. Since the Lipsurgences cost $22 apiece, getting three full-size Lipsurgences for $10 more is an excellent deal - even if one of them, Exposed, is not precisely my top choice. All three were softer shades, in keeping with the “romantic” theme.

Entries for Monday June 25

TKB Trading’s True Coral

• Manufacturer: TKB Trading
• Availability: part of the regular line
• Color Range: semisheer orange-red pearl
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$14 for one ounce
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I don’t know if this color doesn’t have the same color payoff as True Green, or if it just seems that way…either way, this color is closer to a slightly orange red, than what I personally envision when I think of “coral.” Pigmentation level is decent, just more in line with what I’d expect of a straight mica. It also requires a base or primer to stay in place - wet or dry. If your coloring and skintones are very cool, and you have problems wearing any orange-ish colors, you may need to pair this with a deeper neutral so that it will look good on you without clashing with your undertones; but I have no problems wearing this color as a red-substitute. This is definitely a red with hints of orange, though - not a solid “orange” shade. (It is warmer than True Red, which I also purchased. But…it’s still cooler than what I’d call “coral.”)

Persephone Minerals’ Rock On Rudolph

• Vendor: Persephone Minerals
• Availability: part of the Santa's Rockin' Reindeer (2011 Christmas) collection
• Color Range: rich blue-red shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: ...I forget...
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

I really love this color of red. It’s rich, it’s not orange-ish, it’s not bright or garish, but it’s not dark or verging onto burgundy. It’s -=red=-. The pigmentation level is great, and while it doesn’t have tons of shimmer, it does have some. But mostly I love this for the color! I have many red eyeshadows. They range from pink-red to fuchsia-red to orange-red to brown-red to cabernet-red. Color payoff varies from semisheer to fully opaque. But trying to find precisely, exactly the shade I want isn’t the easiest thing in the world.

And I finally found it!

...and of course, it was part of a limited-edition collection, and in addition the shop has closed down for the forseeable future. (Don’t know if Persephone will open up in the future or not. I hope so - she had quite a few duotone and duochrome eyeshadows…)

Aromaleigh v2’s Pass the Glogg

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v2
• Availability: released as part of Aromaleigh v2's Holly Days collection
• Color Range: medium-light dusty pink shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$7 for 1.2 grams; $1.00 for a sample baggie
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Ever since I missed my chance to get Infernal Chaos, from one of Aromaleigh v1’s final collections, I keep looking for a dupe. I find some nearly-there colors, but nothing exact. I didn’t know if Pass the Glogg would be similar, or if it would be too bright. I suspected that it was less greyed than Infernal Chaos was, but it looked like a nice muted pink-rose. The color is actually a little bit deeper than Infernal Chaos - not much, but barely. It’s not exactly the same. And the opacity is just a bit less than IC or any of the colors from Victoria’s Revenge. But still…it’s a nice dusty-mauved-rose shade that looks very good on me.

Entries for Sunday June 24

Concrete Minerals’ Mineral Eyeshadow collection

• Manufacturer: Concrete Minerals
• Availability: permanent; through the webstore
• Contains: 50 eyeshadows
• Cost/Amount: USD$7 per 1.5 gram eyeshadow
• Would you purchase again: yes

When Concrete Minerals debuted their Pro Matte line of highly-pigmented eyeshadows, they created the “Mineral” collection for their previous eyeshadows. The colors all debuted in 2010 and ‘11; the collection wasn’t grouped as such until spring 2012. It didn’t contain any new colors when it was introduced, and if CM’s history is any indication, new colors will be added sporadically and in small amounts.