Category Archives: Eyeshadow and Palettes

Isamaya Core 1.0 Eyeshadow Palette Review

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Although I’ve been curious about Isamaya Beauty since its launch in 2022, this is finally my first purchase! I thought the green and brown shades from the first Industrial Palette looked pretty, but I heard mixed reviews about the formula. I also had a difficult time trying to justify the price, coming from a startup brand. So, I added it to my Anti-Haul.
By now, the Isamaya brand is a bit more established, especially since creating a line for retail stores like Sephora. I have heard the eyeshadow formula of the Core Palettes are better, and they added purples! Throw in the coupon code I could use via Niche-Beauty, and that was enough to get me to finally take the plunge!

Before we get into the review, I’d like to make it known that the information I have about Isamaya Ffrench is that she’s a makeup artist, is or was at some point the creative director at Byredo, and she had an edgy, quirky, and somewhat controversial vision for the initial Isamaya capsule collections. I don’t have any affiliations with the brand, nor personal feelings about the founder.

Isamaya Core Palette 1.0

The official numbering system of the brand begins at Fetish (my #2) and continues clockwise to end at Initiator (my #1). Then, #11-14 are the same. I did not discover this until after all my photos were taken and labeled, so this is the reason for the difference.

The first unique aspect of Core 1.0 is the emesis basin/kidney dish-shaped packaging with 14 custom eyeshadow pans. No two eyeshadow pan sizes are the same. This is well designed, and although I usually dislike non-uniform pans in palettes, the fact that the symmetry makes sense with little wasted space is why I like it. The downside is that I like to apply shimmers with my fingers, and so the smallest pans are a bit difficult to get into. It also means that shade names could not be printed on the palette directly, but at least the brand included the names on the protective sheet that was inside.

Below are some examples of palettes by Danessa Myricks Beauty, Urban Decay, and Kara Beauty that I would never buy because of the maddening eyeshadow pan layout.

When the Core palettes are turned sideways and opened, they almost look butterfly shaped!

Another uncommon feature of the Core palettes are the various consistencies and finishes of the eyeshadows. Even though nearly all are shimmers, I will discuss each shade individually because their performances on me and my experiences with them are not the same across the board.

Initiator is one of the most opaque eyeshadows in the palette, but I still wouldn’t consider it to be heavily pigmented. Medium-high pigmentation is more accurate. It’s described as a metallic green, and although it’s a warm color with pretty yellow-golden flecks, I feel this is one of the less exciting shades in the palette. It’s smooth and easy to pick up with a brush and fingers. It’s definitely not thick, but most of the eyeshadows in this palette are thinner.

Flesh is the lightest, thinnest, and sheerest shade in the palette. It’s even listed as a “loose clear shimmer.” It looks a bit frosty on my skin, but it’s still one of the better shades for me to use to brighten the inner corners of my eyes. This isn’t the type of topper that relies on having a medium or larger particle size to create an instant impact. Flesh has a small shimmer size, so adding it (dry) on top of another eyeshadow won’t show much of an effect without light hitting it. Under the right conditions, it’s twinkly in a very refined way. To make it work in all lighting situations, I wet it to intensify the white color, and that contrast gives the brighter appearance.
Now, I’m not sure if it’s solely my fingers or using a damp brush that causes this particular eyeshadow to form hardpan, but it’s easy enough to remove.

Fetish is described as a “pure ancient gold.” It’s a little less opaque than Initiator, but still less topper-like than the majority of the rest of the eyeshadows in this palette. It’s soft, a little powdery, and the darker base makes it a tad too dark for me to use as an inner corner highlight. It’s also thin enough to easily create a wash of color if a want, like how I used it in my crease in the first eye look below.

Brass is a shimmery orange-red color that looks like it’s going to be richly pigmented from how it appears in the pan, but it’s another medium opacity type of shade. I use it in a similar way as Fetish, which is to be a transition eyeshadow. Its texture is similar to Initiator and less powdery than Fetish.

The brand describes Fuel as a dark grey with green shimmer. I’ve been honestly a little disappointed by this shade because of how prominent the green looks in the palette compared to how much of the grey shows (grey in photos but it looks brown in person) on my eyes. The texture of this shade is the wettest by far and close to me considering it a cream eyeshadow. To pick up enough product on my finger, I have to practically scoop out a small amount and then smooth that over my eyelids. It looks wet and goes well with an editorial look, but it creases and breaks up terribly on me, no matter what primer I’ve used.

I can get this shade to last 5-6 hours before the crease area starts to look noticeably worn in, provided I set my primer with powder and reinforce that spot with a powder matte eyeshadow to act as the first layer the oil eats up. Using the powder trick, I can finish the day without it looking anywhere near as bad as I photographed above.
Fuel is fine on my lower lash line, but I try to keep it out of my crease where there’s too much movement.

Fuel was one of the shades I looked forward to the most because it’s like a roided up version of Natasha Denona’s Antheia, which is one of my all-time favorite eyeshadows. Antheia is a duochrome and Fuel is a multichrome. It’s quite the shame that it’s too emollient of a shade to last on me, but I’m glad Antheia is still performing beautifully all these years later!

Sweat is a purple and blue iridescent eyeshadow. It’s thin and a bit slick feeling. The color reminds me of the shade UV from Clionadh, but Sweat is way less powdery with better adherence and with an even more translucent base. I honestly feel this is a more refined and modern formula than Clionadh’s, which is the highest of praise. To be fair though, Clionadh’s formula for the Series 2 Iridescents is at least five years old.

Ultraviolet is another purple and blue eyeshadow, or more specifically, “violet with bright cyan shimmer.” It’s a gorgeous dimensional multichrome, but it doesn’t look good on me as a lid shade with such a sheer base. So, I have to use this on top of other eyeshadows or keep it to the inner corner in order for me to be happy with it.

Grip is described as a grungy iridescent green. In the daytime, it looks magenta and green. At night, I have an easier time seeing blue and a cooler-toned purple as well. It’s quite sheer and also soft to the touch. It has a similar vibe to Viridian by Clionadh, which happens to be one of their most affordable shades in the Deep Iridescent Multichrome line. Grip has stronger shifts, but takes twice as many layers to build up to the same opacity level as Viridian. I still prefer Grip because it looks green head-on, whereas Viridian leans more aqua.

The brand says that Leather is a, “smokey black putty.” I can create a small indent in the surface, like with putties, but the performance is more like a cream-to-powder. It’s drier than Natasha Denona cream-to-powders, and the black shade from Pat Mcgrath’s Bronze Bliss palette, but wetter and much better performing than the black shade from Guerlain’s Ombres G Quad in Royal Jungle. The formula is such that I can create a thin hazy veil of smoke or build it up to use as a liner in daytime looks. However, it’s not quite enough to satisfy me if I’m going for maximum drama, unless I treat it like a cake liner and dampen my brush. Also, this isn’t 100% waterproof, but there seems to be a little bit of water resistance, along with it being budge and smudge resistant once it has had a minute or two to set. It’s easy to remove though with my Bioderma micellar water.

Some of the sparkles from Ultraviolet and/or Sweat have gotten into my pan of Leather, but I haven’t noticed it effecting other looks. Those shimmer particles don’t seem to transfer easily back out.

Fhume is purple with magenta shimmer specks. I would call this one a high pigment eyeshadow that is opaque like Initiator. It’s soft and easy to pick up on my brush without being powdery. It’s not too thick in consistency, nor too thin. Fhume looks pretty in the pan, but I think it’s even nicer on the eyes.

I’m the most confused by the description of Suspension as a, “plum with soft gold shimmer,” when it looks purely silvery to me. Perhaps they mean white gold? It’s a bit thicker of an eyeshadow and grittier. I definitely need to wet this or use glitter glue. It’s one of the most glittery shades in this palette and contains slightly larger shimmer particles than the others. Even though it has a dark base, that reflect is so sparkly and bright that I can use it like a highlighting shade to amp up the overall bling level of the eye look. I’ve tried using it in the outer corner and utterly failed to create depth there.

Whip is a charcoal color with purple and silvery sparkle. It’s a bit on the grittier and drier side than the others, but still has good adhesion and spreads very well. At least, I can get it onto my eyes without it looking messy. If I want to minimize the fallout, I do still need to use either a glitter glue and/or apply it damp. Despite this having a dark base, the shimmer is so bright that I could use it all over the lid instead of condemning it to only be used in the outer corner, as can sometimes be my instinct.

Motor is a dark antique gold that flashes olive green. It’s chunky in the sense that it’s thicker than many other eyeshadows in this palette, and little parts of it crumble off when picked up, but it’s too emollient feeling for me to call it crumbly. I like this color, but I wish it looked even more olive.

If Heat is a, “champagne with green shimmer,” just note that it has a warmer undertone than most eyeshadows that are referred to as champagne. It’s super thin, very sheer, and a little dry. It goes from a yellowish color to looking green under the light, but it doesn’t have as strong of a shimmery reflect as the majority of the other shades. It’s like a duochrome satin.

I figured I could create monochromatic all-shimmer looks that I liked, but I was surprised to see how many variations of eyeshadow pairings I enjoyed using together from Core 1.0.
The avant-garde makeup aesthetic isn’t really for me, but I love purples and greens, which is why I was so attracted to this palette. I like to incorporate fun pops of color into my looks, so it’s more practical for me to view this as a supplemental palette to use in conjunction with other palettes.

I appreciate the freedom one has to apply these as washes of color or to layer up the color. There’s clearly a market for people who want duochromes and multichromes, but in subtler and more refined versions. This isn’t too difficult of a palette to use, but it’s not beginner friendly either. For example, some shades don’t build up that much stronger even if applied damp or over glitter glue. Some look better with an actual mixing medium. Then again, at this pricepoint, I don’t think many beginners would start with something like this anyway.

My hope for every palette I buy is for the eyeshadows to be of high quality and perform the way I want. It’s an extra treat when those eyeshadows also come in various textures and finishes that I get to play with. It was difficult at first to remember the different ways I had to treat the various eyeshadows, but by now, I can recall just by seeing how they look on the surface. This has eliminated some of my earlier frustrations trying to use certain shades as a topper, and didn’t realize they were too thin to make a color difference on top of the thicker shades. Learning which order to layer them took some time (about a month with sporadic usage).

If I’m going to buy a duochrome or multichrome, I typically want full pigment right away. I want impact. So, it’s quite a new experience for me to find enjoyment in these kind of eyeshadows. The Isamaya brand managed to create something quite niche, even though it’s something I’m pretty familiar with from my experience exploring various indie brands’ eyeshadows. Danessa Myricks Lightwork Palettes are probably more in line with my preferences, yet I still haven’t shelled out the money for any of those, and they’re similar to the price range of a Core palette. That being said, as much as I like Core 1.0, I still wouldn’t pay full price for it precisely because it’s something I want for specific moods and occasions rather than being an everyday kind of product. I say this even if the high price-point can be justified for the custom packaging, where it was made, the formula and pigments, etc.
If the branding and these eyeshadows fit someone’s vibe, I can see it being worth full price. I don’t think someone expecting Clionadh, Devinah, and other high impact indie brand shimmer quality would like this palette, unless the plan is to use it with mixing mediums. For me, I can only recommend this on sale. In previous years, I’ve seen Isamaya products listed at 30% off. This past Black Friday/Cyber Monday, the Core Palettes were also reduced to 30% off from the brand’s official website. That’s definitely a more palatable price.

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Was MAC Holiday 2025 Brilliant or a Bust?

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MAC always has these huge holiday collections filled with limited edition shades of products, new formulas, minis, and plenty of value sets. Unlike other brands, whose holiday items tend to be cheaper quality, MAC’s standard seems to be the same across the board. The brushes are the only things I’ve heard negative things about, and I’ve liked the holiday makeup I’ve bought over the years. This time, I decided to pick up just a few things.

Sugar Crystal Lip Oil Stick in Glisten Up

The cute packaging and uniquely shaped bullet with the gorgeous oil-slick colors is so enticing! I was very curious to experience this formula, because it’s a new innovation for MAC.

As seen in the swatches, the purple-blue-pink shimmer specks are an overspray. One swipe was enough to remove it completely from the slanted portion, and I can see that it’s clear from the inside, similar to the look of the Winky Lux Flower Lip Balms. I believe MAC’s formula is a little more complex and modern than those.
I am at least happy that the sides of the lipstick will continue to look sparkly as long as I don’t touch it. I honestly didn’t want that shimmer on my lips. I get a particle or two each time I wear it, but it’s essentially a clear product. It has a pretty shine, but it’s not very glossy or oily looking.

The surface feels gel-like, soft, and comfortable as I move it across my lips. The bullet doesn’t tug and I get a similar sensation to the k-beauty melty formulas, but the bullet continues to hold its shape and doesn’t look overly emollient on the surface.

I have super dry lips, so I’m always happy to have a product that deeply nourishes and hydrates my lips, in addition to making them look supple and moisturized. Unfortunately, this is not one of those products. It keeps my lips moisturized on the surface for a couple of hours, but it’s not that much better than a typical lip balm and my lips lose that hydrated feeling much quicker than my regular lip oils. I have to reapply a lot throughout the day.

Although I don’t see parfum listed on the website ingredient list, this contains Citric Acid and Vanillin, and it has a mild candy gumdrop type of smell. I get enjoyment from looking at it and using it, but it’s not going to become a staple product in my collection. I think this would make a fun gift for someone, but more as a novelty item. Perhaps others with less severely dry lips will consider the formula to be good enough. I can only speak about my experience using it.

Jelly Shine Eye Shadow in Ice List

Based on the name alone, I was expecting a gel wet-feeling product. It’s supposed to have a “hybrid, jelly-like texture,” but the shimmer particles make it so that it feels dry to the touch with every swipe. I honestly would have called BS on the texture if I hadn’t been able to scrape the product out with my nail and then completely smooth it back out on the surface of the pan with my finger. It has some slip to it, but it’s not wet like the Colourpop Jelly Much eyeshadows, it doesn’t have the creaminess of a MAC Paint Pot, nor the softness of the MAC Glow Play Cushiony Blushes.

As someone who enjoys an interesting tactile experience combined with high performance, I was a little disappointed by how this felt. The results made up for it though. Ice List doesn’t look that impressive on me when I use it on my bare lids, but it really sings when paired with other eyeshadows!

When applied straight from the pan to my lids, it has a scattered effect type of look. I cannot get an opaque application without applying the eyeshadow damp first. I think this is a good quality for a topper to have, so that it suits more people’s eye makeup preferences. I’m not the biggest fan of toppers, but if I can get one to show less of my skin or eyeshadow underneath, I’m fine with that.

I have a lot of impressive sparkly eyeshadows from indie brands, so my expectations were low. I didn’t think a product like this would make such a difference, but it’s great for bumping up the impact and drama of an eyeshadow look. One such example is when I was completely satisfied and happy with my eye makeup using Clé de Peau eyeshadows, but when I added Ice List on top, it took the look to a whole new level!

This can be a little messy to use if an extra chunk comes off, as I sometimes get it in my lashes. It adheres well (I always wet it though), so I don’t notice much fallout throughout the day. However, when I have to take it off is when the sparkles go everywhere and it’s so difficult to get every speck off my face despite using my tried and true Bioderma micellar water with a Makeup Eraser cloth.

M·A·CStack Elevated Mascara (travel size)

MAC has the Foreseeable Future Eye Kit that includes a full size of this mascara, plus full size of the Colour Excess Gel Pencil Eye Liner. I did not buy that set, but I figured I could include this mascara review as part of the holiday collection because of that kit.

The M·A·CStack Mascara is one of my favorites, so I was eager to try this one because I assumed it would be a similar formula, just with a curved brush instead. There are actually more differences than that. For instance, the first M·A·CStack has a “mousse-like texture…for endless stackability” and the Elevated M·A·CStack has a wetter formula “featuring argan oil.” The M·A·CStack has a silicone brush and the Elevated M·A·CStack has a bristle brush.

In the beginning, I really did not like the Elevated M·A·CStack because I felt the formula was too wet and thin. It wasn’t sticking as well to my lashes, so I was lacking volume and couldn’t build it up that much. After about a month or so the mascara liquid became thicker and/or less wet (it gained more grip), and then I started to like how it looked. Although my preferred technique is to build up a lot of mascara in one go, with the Elevated mascara I got better results by applying a first coat and waiting for it to mostly dry before adding a thicker second coat.

Below is another example of how it looks on my lashes. It’s from my Cle de Peau post.

Although this mascara works better for me now than it was in the beginning, and it does a decent job of lifting the lashes, I still prefer the normal version of M·A·CStack. The M·A·CStack is quicker to apply and get the volume and length I like. The only thing to note is it may not be suited to those with sensitive eyes. I have no issues wearing that mascara unless I lay down to take a nap. Then, my eyes get irritated. Although I don’t see flakes on my face when I wear the M·A·CStack, I can only assume that some of it gets in my eyes when I’m in a laying position and causes irritation. Also, when I’m trying to remove the mascara, my eyes are fine as long as I get all of the particles completely out. If a dot of it gets in the back, my eyes will again feel uncomfortable and a little irritated until I remove it.
I don’t know if the Elevated version does this as well, considering I have tried my best to just not nap while I’m wearing makeup. I do not wish to intentionally test this out either.

MAC Lustreglass Sheer-Shine Lipstick in Posh Pit

Since this is a MAC centered post, I figure it’s a fitting place to add photos of this lipstick. It was not included in my first review of the Lustreglass lipstick formula from my Makeup So Good I Had to Buy More post. I bought this shade in April, but I don’t see it on the US MAC website, so I’m not sure if it’s discontinued. It’s listed as out of stock on the MAC DE site, but I can still find it at other German retailers.

A short summary of my thoughts is that I consider the Lustreglass formula to be a more emollient version of the Lisa Eldridge Luxuriously Lucent Lip Colours. The amount of color this gives can be built up, but not to full opacity. The texture is light and buttery feeling and the shine level looks beautiful when first applied, but it’s not that long lasting on me. The tradeoff for this remaining comfortable on my desert dry lips is the fact that I have to reapply a lot.

Final Thoughts

This marks the end of the reviews. If these products were amazing and staple-worthy, I would consider the holiday collection to be brilliant. As it stands, this isn’t a bust either because MAC is holding true to what they usually do. This is the brand that released the Snowflushed duochrome highlighter in 2019, and chose to make a minty shade of highlighter this year. They tend to take more risks with the colors in their holiday collections, and I too am more prone to trying things outside of my comfort zone during this festive time.

The products I got were fun, and it helps that I got them on sale too!

That’s all for today! Thank you for checking out my blog!
Also, I’m wishing anyone who celebrates it an early Happy Thanksgiving!

-Lili ❤

Clé de Peau Beauté Holiday 2025 and Permanent Quads

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For those only interested in the review, feel free to scroll further down to that specific section.

My History with Clé de Peau

In 2011, I was not interested in luxury makeup. In fact, makeup didn’t play as large of a role in my life until several years later. Despite that, it was still impossible to avoid hearing about how, “Kim Kardashian loves Clé de Peau’s concealer.” Mario Dedivanovic’s “triangle concealer technique” was the talk of the makeup, fashion, and celebrity gossip world.

Being the curious person I am, I did some research and was absolutely floored by the prices of everything. At that time, drugstore makeup was all I had experienced, and MAC was considered the crème de la crème among my circle of friends. We were all broke college kids and I didn’t dare look at the legacy brand makeup behind the beauty counters of our mall because they were so far out of my price range. I was shocked to discover brands like Clé de Peau existed with price-points surpassing even those!

Since Clé de Peau was the first non-designer luxury brand I’d ever heard of, the name stuck with me. It wasn’t until the end of 2013 that my makeup obsession began. I started dabbling into mid tier and prestige brands, but beauty subscription boxes are how I was able to try a lot more products in those days (and this is where the “Unbox” part of my blog name comes from as I used to make unboxing content). In 2015, I tried my first Cle de Peau product via the Choix subscription service. I had a small container of the brand’s translucent loose powder. I remember it working so beautifully, but I only used it on special occasions because I knew I would always have a hard time justifying spending over $100 on any single makeup item.
I have the majority of my YouTube videos listed as private, but I’ll make the Choix and Clé de Peau unboxing temporarily visible through the link for those who would like to see it HERE. Also, perhaps 1.5x or 2x speed for the video would be best.

In 2016, I received the Clé de Peau concealer brush and a tiny sample of the concealer in the shade Beige. This was thanks to the blogger nouveaucheap (who unfortunately passed away).

I’m not a fan of paddle shaped flat concealer brushes, so I rarely used this, and stored it in its original box as if it was a collector item. I guess it technically is one now because this style of brush has been discontinued. As for the concealer, it was too light, so I didn’t bother putting it on my face.

2019 was the year I finally started hearing about the Clé de Peau holiday launches. The packaging was always gorgeous, but it wasn’t until 2021 that I started pining after the Luminizing Face Enhancers.

The standard packaging for those highlighters was beautiful enough, but the limited edition ones were truly exquisite. Because the finish is glittery and the brand doesn’t make any in my shade anyway, I didn’t buy them. To clarify, pretty much every reviewer I have seen talk about the highlighters say they look smooth and have such fine shimmer particles that they don’t look glittery. However, what I see in their videos under their lights from my computer screen still looks too visible in my book. Apparently the double digit numbered luminizers are subtler than the triple digit ones, so 22 is the darkest one I could potentially try. Perhaps the luminizer would be like Guerlain Météorites (04 Amber) and surprise me, but I don’t want to spend a minimum of $70 on a refill to test it out. The only place I’m aware of that ships those refills to Germany is YesStyle, and not even on the official CPB website.

At some point the brand started releasing eyeshadow quads as part of the holiday collections, but the options didn’t appeal to me. To spend so much money on a color story I didn’t like would have been no different from buying it for the packaging alone.

In 2023, I started to get my hopes up because Clé de Peau launched a full permanent line of refillable quads. This meant that even if I didn’t like what was in the holiday cases, I could replace it with a more appealing color story. If I didn’t like the options in the permanent range, I could still wait for an expansion to the line and buy a prettier refill in the future.

There was still an issue of the price. In 2023 and 2024, the products sold out before I could catch them on sale. Although customers can purchase eyeshadow refills and the standard case separately, CPB does not sell the limited edition cases on their own. $116 for a quad is still a threshold I’m not willing to cross. It pained me enough to buy the Chanel Boutons quad at full price.

This year, luck was on my side! Douglas started carrying Clé de Peau products, so I kept my eye out in the hopes that they would stock the holiday collection. They do, but the launch didn’t coincide with the timing of any discounts, and the items became unavailable after a few days. Although I was disappointed, this turned out to be a good thing because I remembered that Niche-Beauty also carries Clé de Peau. So, I was able to buy the quad at 20% off, in addition to using reward points. Sometimes this retailer offers 25% off promo codes, but I didn’t want to take my chances on it selling out, which it did a week later! I felt even more confident that I made the right call when I saw the quad return to the Douglas website for €13 higher than the price was before! So, I’m ecstatic to have this quad at a price that I’m at least able to swallow. It’s less than the Chanel Boutons quad, which I am still salty about paying full price for! Or as they say in Germany…

YourDailyGerman.com

Holiday 2025 Review

Clé de Peau Beauté Dreams Express Eye Color Quad in 504 Pastel Tea Safari

This isn’t a color story I would normally gravitate towards, but I saw some interesting eye looks on the website, especially on the model whose foundation shade could be in the NC46 range from MAC. I figured that as long as the brown shade was truly as dark as it appeared in photos, I could probably make these colors work together. So, checking the pigment level of these eyeshadows was the first thing I did.

Also, I am aware of the Asia-exclusive version of this holiday quad with the 505 Jeweled Horizons color story, but I prefer the one I bought.

I found this photo from a seller on Ebay, but I’ll also link a video by Serina.

On dry skin with no primer (which is the condition I always swatch eyeshadows in), 3 of the 4 shades look as weak as I feared. Thankfully, there are two ways to get them to show up better. The first is to use the priming shade, always located in the bottom left corner of the Clé de Peau quads. The second way is to apply them damp, like I did in the right half of the photo above.

The brand refers to the pink color as “pink sparkle.” It’s easy to see those shimmer particles on my bare eyelids because there’s so much darkness underneath, but if I try to apply it on top of the other shades in the same way I use a highlighter to amp up the shimmer, it can barely be seen. The only way for me to use this as a topper, and get some impact, is to wet it.

When I use Pink Sparkle as a primer, as intended, I get more color payoff and shine from the other eyeshadows. This also makes the colors look more cool-toned though.

The texture of Pink Sparkle reminds me of Surratt’s duochrome formula within their Artistique Eyeshadow line because of how much creaminess it has. Pink Sparkle doesn’t have as much slip as a Colourpop Super Shock eyeshadow, but I can tell by touch alone that it’s a dimethicone-forward formula. I’ve been happy to see that it’s not emollient enough to cause the eyeshadows to crease. The other shades don’t crease either, even though they contain argan oil.

Some of my dark discoloration still shows underneath Pink Sparkle, and doesn’t get covered up enough if the eyeshadow on top is light, like the light brown shade. Putting my usual Lisa Eldridge base down first will cause Pink Sparkle to pill off. So, I found it best to either keep the two separate, having just Pink Sparkle priming the lid and the Lisa Eldridge product priming the area between the brow and crease, or to just put Pink Sparkle everywhere and apply the Lisa Eldridge product on top (instead of underneath). That adds the necessary coverage and doesn’t negatively impact the performance of the other eyeshadows.

Even if I do wet the light brown eyeshadow, which is referred to as a “golden beige,” it’s too close to my skin tone to look vivid on me. I’m fine with this because it makes a perfectly good low-impact brightening shade and is a useful transition for the edge of the dark brown.

The darkest eyeshadow is called a “walnut brown,” and can create just enough depth for me to be satisfied. If I don’t use Pink Sparkle underneath, I’d say it leans neutral or just a touch warm at most. Pairing Golden Beige and Walnut Brown together makes for a simple, but pretty, eye look.

The purple eyeshadow is described as “lavender purple” and it’s what I rely on as the statement color. It pairs very well with the dark brown and pink shades in this palette. This isn’t my favorite tone of purple, but I think it looks quite nice!

The pigment level, texture, and performance of these eyeshadows remind me of Surratt and Suqqu eyeshadows. I linked my reviews for both, but I have additional Surratt eyeshadows (including a duochrome) that I haven’t posted about yet.

Surratt, Suqqu, and Clé de Peau eyeshadows are all made in Japan. One big difference, at least from Suqqu, is that I can lightly dampen Clé de Peau eyeshadows without it ruining the look of them in the pan or changing the texture. So, I can continue practicing my usual methods in intensifying these eyeshadows to the level that I prefer. This allows me to use this palette in a wider variety of looks than I believed I’d be able to get. I thought I would want to replace these eyeshadows with a different refill, but I like Pastel Tea Safari enough to want to keep it in this case! Between Surratt, Suqqu, and Clé de Peau, I like CPB’s eyeshadow formula the most.

These don’t produce a lot of kickup. They stick well enough to my eyes. Blending is no issue. Essentially, the quality is very nice. It’s just a matter of preference regarding buildable eyeshadows that don’t pack a punch right away (or at least not this year’s holiday quad without help). I consider these to be amped up satins, and the results I get from this quad is what a lot of luxury brands aim for.
Like a lot of luxury brands, these eyeshadows contain fragrance. I’d call it a mildly sweet and slightly floral soapy scent, which is faint enough that I don’t always notice it.

Because I tend to wear smoky and dramatic looks, intense sparkle, and very pigmented eyeshadows, paying the full €92 ($106) price for this quad or even €59 for the refill, will never be worth it to me. €59 EUR is around $67 USD, but Clé de Peau actually charges $78 for the refills on their US website. So, I don’t think I would buy more if I had to order them in the US. It’s not that the quality isn’t worth the price, but rather the price isn’t worth the amount of disuse I expect to have.
There are times when I’m in the mood for these kind of eyeshadows in their non-dampened form, but it’s so infrequent that I can’t justify getting them. If I will only use something occasionally, I want the cost to be lower too.

I wouldn’t put as much pressure on myself to “get my money’s worth” out of CPB quads if I could buy them at 25% off. So, this was my initial thought process regarding any new color stories in the future that may catch my eye. For a long time, I only found the 10 Sea Grass quad appealing, but those aren’t the tones of greens I love. Lately, 4 Ocean Sunrise has been on my mind. Merely one week before this post was set to be published, Niche-Beauty sent out 25% off codes via email. So, I ended up buying another quad.

It’s my birthday month! What can I say?

Lastly, considering my previous post, I feel compelled to mention that the packaging is gorgeous, but it is also lightweight. What makes this feel luxurious is the unicarton, the soft purple dust sleeve, large size push-click button, gold tone elements with concave sides and rounded edges, and the fantastically strange yet wonderful artwork on the lid.

Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quad (refill) in 4 Ocean Sunrise

I get way more pigment with this quad than Pastel Tea Safari! The only eyeshadow that didn’t swatch as well is the first one, and it’s also the only shade that needed to be applied damp in the eye look below. The primer color is icy on me despite looking warm in the pan. It still has a pretty highlighting effect when applied dry, but I applied it wet in the eye look to create a stronger pop of brightness.

I’m pleased to see that the browns between both of my quads are not the same. The darkest color from Pastel Tea Safari looks like a combination of the two darkest shades in Ocean Sunrise.

For now, I intend to just keep the refill in the plastic holder and use it from there. Also, I intend to preserve the pattern in the holiday quad as long as possible by digging my brushes and fingers into specific spots (as seen in the pictures).

Since I bought the holiday quad and refill quad at a discount, I don’t have any regrets. However, I don’t think I can give a completely impartial opinion on whether this would be worth it to other people, considering this purchase has fulfilled a six-year desire to own a CPB holiday item and satisfied over fourteen years of curiosity about the brand. As a general rule though, I prefer not to spend over €50 for a quad that isn’t on my list of top 10 favorite brands’ eyeshadow formulas. That’s why getting a color story I liked, at that lower price, was good enough for me to be content with my purchases.

Blog Updates

If you’ve been visiting my blog for a while, you’re probably aware that I continued my second Project Pan into the remaining half of this year. Even though there are certain products I am trying to avoid buying, I have exceptions to every rule, particularly if it’s something I’ve been wanting for years. Some of the reasons I might have an exception is because the item finally restocked, I’ve been waiting for a color story that would suit me, the product was only sold in a region of the world I couldn’t access, the price was too high at the time, etc.

Based on the details in the history section, Cle de Peau clearly falls into this category of exceptions.

My idea for the “Wish Fulfillment” series is to separate my normal purchases from the products I’ve had on my makeup bucket list. These are products I’ve always wanted to buy, but couldn’t because of some circumstance.
Within the “Table Of Contents By Topics” bar of my blog, where one can select a category of posts from the drop down menu, I have added, “Wish Fullfillment/Makeup Bucket List,” so anyone can easily find the series.

The first one I can think of that should be in this category is the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette. Others from the past have been added to the list.

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading and I hope this has been interesting and helpful!

-Lili ❤

Is Weighty Makeup Automatically the Most Luxurious?

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The D&G Blush, ABH Highlighter, VBB Lid Lustre, and PML Quad are not pictured here, but they will be discussed in this post.

After the bombshell that was dropped regarding the Louis Vuitton Beauty line and their prices, I started to think about which items in my collection were the most expensive, which ones I thought had the prettiest packaging, if the prettiest was actually the most luxurious looking, and which ones had the most weight. I was surprised to discover that so few items fit into all of these categories.

I was happy to see the people I follow enjoying their La Beauté Louis Vuitton products, but some felt they needed to justify their reasons for making the purchase beyond just stating, “I wanted it, so I got it.” Across the board, customers who thought the items were or were not worth buying seemed to at least come to the consensus that the price (besides paying for the brand recognition), was largely due to the packaging. The lipstick components were said to be fully metal, along with the bespoke metal packaging of the eyeshadow quads. “You could hurt someone if you hit them with this,” was stated more than a few times by various people.

How a product looks and its weight are my top two criteria for feeling like the item I own is luxurious. Looks are subjective, but weight can be measured and precise. I started to think about the heaviest packaging in my collection (proportionate to its size dimensions) in order to answer the question…are these automatically the most lux?

Lisa Eldridge Rouge Experience Refillable Lipstick (68 grams)

In order to highlight how great this packaging is, I need to do a deep dive into comparing it to another brand. Please, bear with me on this, especially if you’re a fan of LV. I don’t judge anyone on how they spend their money, and this is just me working out why I am perfectly satisfied with Lisa’s lipstick being the height of luxury for me.

Lisa Eldridge took great pride explaining in her launch video how her refills were mono material, made of 100% aluminum and could therefore be recycled without degrading once repurposed, unlike the vast majority of other brands’ refills that have mixed metal with plastic.

According to Google: “You cannot usually recycle a lipstick refill that has both plastic and metal components together, as most curbside recycling facilities cannot separate the mixed materials and are not equipped to handle small, complex items.”

There is plastic inside the forever case by Lisa Eldridge, as this has a click closure, but she wanted the actual refills to be sustainable.

I cannot compare the LV lipsticks from personal experience, but it is my understanding that the refills are all metal as well and come with plastic caps that can be removed when recycling. The lipstick cases have an aluminum shell and brass detailing, but the magnetic closure that is so satisfying to use (and adds to the weightiness of a product) keeps it from being recyclable as well.

Summarized from Okon Recycling: Recycling magnets is technically possible, but challenging as it involves disassembling the magnet and removing any non-magnetic materials. However, there are some magnets that cannot be recycled.

So, it sounds as if both LV and Lisa Eldridge have cases that aren’t realistic to recycle but have refills that are fully recyclable. The LV lipstick case has a lot of expensive details like the product names and logo being etched in, the monogram flower-shaped refill bottom, etc. Lisa Eldridge has her logo etched at the top of the cap, allows the customer to personalize the base of the case with their initials etched in (up to three letters), and the case shape had to be custom made as well. Perhaps some prefer the sleeker LV design while others appreciate the vintage inspiration of Lisa’s more.

LV’s Lipstick Case + Refill is $160 and the refill alone is $69.
Lisa Eldridge’s Lipstick Case + Refill is $63 (engraving price included) and the refill alone is $30.

Sure, LV’s refill costs the same amount as other high end and luxury lipsticks in their completed form, but considering the details I listed above, is the LV case really $100 better that other brands’ cases, particularly Lisa Eldridge?

It can’t come down to the actual lipstick formula, because that’s part of LV’s $69 refill price.

At the time that I bought the Lisa Eldridge lipstick, I felt it was incredibly expensive. It is still the most expensive lipstick in my collection, based on what I paid and not the retail price. I rationalized my purchase because of the sustainability aspect, all the custom elements, the personalized touch, and how heavy it felt.

Taking branding completely out of the equation and thinking about the components alone, I do feel like this product by Lisa Eldridge is among the most luxurious out there, and I am no longer gritting my teeth at the price.

It would be nice if I liked the lipstick formula more, but there is some hope for me! I wrote a comment on Instagram that the brand responded to, and while the Velvet formula won’t be put in the refillable form, there might still be the possibility of the Lucents that I enjoy so much!

There are other things they’ve been “working on” that has taken years, such as making the empty eyeshadow palettes available for purchase alongside the eyeshadow singles, the return of the liquid blush in better packaging, etc. So, I’m prepared for this to take a while to happen.

If I can get the Luxuriously Lucent Lip Colours and/or Baume Embraces as refills, I will definitely get more use out of mine!

Olivia Palermo Beauty Eyeshadow Palette (226 grams) and Lipstick (79 grams)

Whenever I think about heavy makeup packaging, the Olivia Palermo Eyeshadow Palette immediately comes to mind. I’ve had it for years, yet I’m still not sure how I feel about the pattern, and I’m not sure what it’s technically called (perhaps wicker, woven link, basket weave, oyster strap, etc.). It just makes me think of the types of patterns I’ve seen for watch straps, which isn’t too terribly off track. Apparently Olivia drew inspiration for the packaging, “by a vintage Art Deco bracelet she was given for her 21st birthday.”

The eyeshadow palette has a magnetic closure and mirror, which further increases the weight, on top of the fact that the packaging is metal.

Although I’m not sure if they could have created a different pattern that I would like more, I can say it’s at least cool, unique, and easily recognizable. Plain flat gold is always beautiful to me, but this packaging looks different from any other I’ve seen. Well, almost. As of a year ago, Hatice Schmidt released a refillable lipstick range called, “The Gift,” with a case inspired by jewelry and the pattern reminds me of a curb chain/Cuban link style. So, there are at least two jewelry inspired components from brands that I know of.

I bought the Olivia Palermo lipstick at the reduced price of €32 (originally €40) from Niche-Beauty, and the eyeshadow palette for $28 (originally $58). I’ve discussed how I procured the eyeshadow palette in a past review, but it was during the time that I started working on this post that I felt the compulsion to finally get the lipstick. I have checked in on the brand on and off over the years, waiting for them to release additional products. Earlier this year, I saw a notice on the official website that the beauty products would no longer be sold and that they were turning the website into an influencer style page (oliviapalermo.com now redirects to her affiliate shopmy page). I assumed that meant the brand was shutting down, especially since I’ve only heard two beauty reviewers reference the brand one time each within the last three years. However, I was shocked to see the products appear on the Douglas website in either August or September, and then I saw them at Niche-Beauty as well. I don’t know if Olivia has better sales in Europe, or Germany specifically. I’m not even sure if she still has products available elsewhere in the US.

I felt Lisa Eldridge’s lipstick deserved to be in the post, but Olivia Palermo’s lipstick is the only one in my collection that is heavier. OPB’s lipstick is less expensive, but it isn’t refillable and the central part of the lipstick component is made of plastic. The outer packaging is what makes this seem so fancy.

Regarding the eyeshadow palette, it definitely screams luxury. It isn’t something you want to carry around in your purse or travel with it. Olivia wanted the old Hollywood glamour look and feel to her products, so this is something that you would want to keep on a vanity.

This is by far my most luxurious palette, and though it doesn’t have some of the additional premium features of the LV Quads, it makes me feel a lot more content about my collection and avoid FOMO. If I want heavy eyeshadow packaging, I certainly have it with this product!

Westman Atelier Beauty Butter Powder Bronzer (112 grams)

This is my golden pebble! It is tiny in size but mighty in weight!

Chantecaille is another brand with nicknamed “pebble” packaging, but theirs is plastic, thin, and it doesn’t feel substantial, even though they cost the same amount!

I bought my WA bronzer at 20% off, so the title of most expensive bronzer in my collection belongs to Hermes, even though I only bought the refill. Had I paid for the compact too, that wouldn’t have helped it to feel more luxurious than the Westman Atelier bronzer, considering Hermes’ thin plastic packaging.

This has a tiny mirror that I don’t use, and a magnetic closure. The brand has highlighters and face powders in this same style of packaging. I haven’t used their cream sticks or drops, but they don’t look as luxurious to me. The only other Westman Atelier packaging I have handled are the powder duos, which are certainly substantial and pretty to look at, but I don’t think it compares to this gold compact.

When it comes to the prettiest bronzer packaging, I think of Gucci’s and Charlotte Tilbury’s powder one, even though they are much lighter in terms of their size. However, I would never call something that’s a solid gold color ugly. So, it may as well be my most glamorous bronzer.

Fara Homidi Essential Bronzer Refillable Compact (106 grams)

This compact is about the same size and weight as the Westman Atelier Butter Bronzer. The amount of product from FH is 3.5 grams and the amount of product from WA is 8 grams. That is close enough to accounting for the 6 gram difference when I weighed the two products, which is why I’m still including it in this post.

Aesthetically, I find the Westman Atelier bronzer to be more appealing. Shiny things get me. However, I still think Fara’s is classy and pleasing to hold in the hand. Her other products come in red and blue packaging of the same weight. I don’t like the red, but the blue is very eye-catching. If the next product she releases is in purple or green packaging, it just might surpass WA’s as a favorite compact for bronzers.

D&G Cheeks&Eyes Match Blush (91 grams)

I have plenty of blush packaging that is bigger than this, and therefore heavier. However, for this small size, this is very heavy! Nothing really comes close to the weight, but I have to say that Gucci’s powder blush packaging is quite nice too, even if it’s lighter. Visually, I like Gucci’s more as well. In fact, I have a lot of blushes that aren’t luxurious feeling, but I love them anyway (such as YSL’s Make Me Blush Bold Blurring Blushes and Too Faced Cloud Crush Blushes).
So, this is one of the few categories where my heaviest blush might be the most luxurious, but it isn’t necessarily my favorite packaging. I do like it a lot though!

I have to add that this packaging feels like a mixture of plastic and metal components. I believe there’s something in the base of this compact adding weight artificially, especially since it doesn’t even have a magnetic closure. It has a push button instead.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Products:
Matte Bronzing Brick (166 grams), Eye Wardrobe (116 grams), Cheeky Posh (37 grams), and Lid Lustre (41 grams)

Similar to Olivia Palermo Beauty, VBB has a certain aesthetic that they maintain across most of their products. I like the horn brown/tortoise pattern, and it can be fashionable, but I don’t automatically associate it with luxury because of how many cheap products I’ve seen made in tortoiseshell style. The gold colored trim helps to elevate the look of the packaging, but it is the weight and feel of these components that make them undoubtedly luxurious.

The Bronzing Duo and Eyeshadow Quad are among my heaviest based on size. The Cheeky Posh blush is small and doesn’t have that much extra weight, but I figure that’s because the component isn’t refillable like the other two. I’m including it because it has the same style of packaging as the others, and I still feel bougie when I handle it.

I rarely buy single eyeshadows, so I don’t have much to compare in terms of weight. The prettiest I own is probably the Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotizing Pop Shots, but those have lightweight plastic packaging and they are powders, which I don’t believe is fair to compare. It would be interesting to see how the glass packaging of Charlotte’s Eyes to Mesmerise stacks up, but I don’t own that.
I no longer have the glass packaging of Maybelline’s 24 HR Color Tattoo, but the best I’ve got is Melt’s Gel Liner (47 grams) and a MAC Paint Pot (56 grams).
I like glass as a component material, but it’s not uncommon to find for eye products. The Lid Lustre packaging has an elevated look compared to MAC’s, for example. The Melt Cosmetics Gel Liner that has the gold lid and butterfly print around the rim with the glass base is prettier to me, while also being slightly heavier. However, the font for the brand logo makes it look less sophisticated. I don’t think eye related categories of makeup follow the trend of weight indicating how luxurious a product will look and feel.

One thing about VBB packaging that does take away from the experience is the issue with the closing mechanism. I heard this was a problem in the past, and I never had an issue with my Bronzing Brick, but my eyeshadow quad doesn’t always stay shut when I snap it closed. Sometimes it’s fine, but other times it likes to pop back open with the slightest touch. I haven’t heard about anyone else having an issue with the quads, so perhaps I’m unlucky in getting one of the few faulty ones.

Pat Mcgrath Mothership Palettes (392 grams) and Eyeshadow Quads (122 grams)

All the previous components I’ve discussed had metal or a mix of metal and plastic packaging. The Mothership Palettes are fully plastic, but they are quite hefty in weight. The palettes are big for only holding ten eyeshadows, but that black shiny lacquer with the gold bottom still look lux to me. My Victoria Beckham and Olivia Palermo palettes are the only ones I can recall from my collection that aren’t made of plastic or cardboard. In fact, the Victoria Beckham Eye Wardrobe quad is only six grams less than a Pat Mcgrath quad, but Victoria’s compact is almost half the size!
I still chose these PML products as the next heaviest in the luxury category, though I have to admit that I have some lightweight quads that look fancier because they are gold colored. For example, Tom Ford (the trim technically), Guerlain, YSL (trim), Prada (mixed gold and silver), Lisa Eldridge, etc.
I find it difficult to equate weight with luxury in the eyeshadow category because of how many bulky heavy palettes brands have released over the years. So many of Jeffrey Star’s earliest palettes, Plouise, and Glamlite’s Food palettes were huge. I also recall when Stila had the Luxe Eye Shadow Palette in Happy Hour, which was a similar weight and size to the Mothership Palettes, but I bought it for $36. I can’t remember what the full retail price was, but it cost nowhere near the same amount as a Mothership.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that weight doesn’t automatically equate with luxury in this category either. However, because of how uncommon it is to find hefty quads and palettes that are reasonably sized (Olivia Palermo, Victoria Beckham, and Pat Mcgrath), the ones that are weighty feel extra special to me.

Beekman 1802 Milk Tint SPF 43 Tinted Primer Serum

I didn’t want to include skincare, but this technically falls under the makeup umbrella. If I count it as a primer, it might be the heaviest I ever owned (even heavier than the glass bottle of Rituel de Fille Thorn Oil). Beekman’s looks like ceramic, but it’s colored glass.

I have to say “might be the heaviest,” because I don’t recall how it compares to the Guerlain L’Or Radiance Primer (now called the Guerlain Parure Gold 24K Radiance Primer), which is definitely the most luxurious looking primer I ever bought. The look of the Beekman product doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I was so impressed by how it felt in the hands. I had to leave it behind though because it was so heavy that I didn’t want to bring it back in my luggage.

If this counts as a skin tint, then it’s a lot less special. Plenty of brands make glass bottle complexion products. That’s why I didn’t include any true foundations or concealers in this post, because the prettiest bottles in my collection tend to look and weigh around the same.

When it comes to heavy primer packaging being the most luxurious, I have to say the Guerlain primer squashes that theory.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Smooth Blur Bronzer (112 grams) and Glow Seeker Highlighter (125 grams)

This bronzer is larger than the one from Westman Atelier, but it weighs the same. The reason I decided to include it anyway is because it’s still substantially heavier than the remaining bronzers in my collection. Plus, the highlighter component is a similar size and even weightier.
I cannot think of a single highlighter I own that comes in heavy packaging, other than this one.

I have noticed over the years that ABH has gradually been upgrading the packaging of most of their products. Their two most recent mascaras felt like either super heavy plastic or a mix of metal and plastic. The Smooth Blur Cream Contour Stick has a brushed gold colored metal cap and additional gold details. The Smooth Blur Matte Bronzer and Glow Seeker Highlighter have a magnetic closure and they feel quite substantial in the hand. I’m impressed with the packaging and find it to be quite pretty, but this is still another example of how weight doesn’t necessarily equate with a luxurious look. This packaging feels so much more substantial to hold and interact with than pretty much all others in the drugstore, mid-range, and high end categories. It feels like it should cost more than it does, and it looks appropriately high end to me, but not quite broaching luxury territory. I still think the Gucci Bronzer packaging tops it, despite it being lighter in weight, because it looks classier overall. As another example, MAC’s Sunstruck Bronzers look so beautiful, even though they are in lightweight compacts as well.

Final Thoughts

Based on my own personal collection, I’ve confirmed that in certain makeup categories, the most luxurious packaging is the heaviest. At the same time, I have many other products with a timeless and elegant look to them that are lightweight and made of plastic or other inexpensive materials. Essentially, the weight of a product enhances the luxury experience, but it does very little to elevate plain looking packaging. The best example of this is the Beekman 1802 Tint.

If I can get an Olivia Palermo palette that retails for $58 and feels ultra lux, but I can also buy a limited edition plastic Chanel quad for $86 and still feel like that’s luxurious as well, would that be considered silly? Should I be raising my expectations for all luxury brands?
At the beginning of this experiment, I would have said yes. However, I now see that if Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and other designer brands used higher quality materials, their products would likely fall in the LV Beaute range of prices (if not more). Some examples of that are the Chanel 31 Le Rouge lipsticks in the glass case, Dior Rouge Premier Lipsticks with the ceramic case and “formula infused with 24k gold,” along with the Guerlain Rouge G Exceptional Piece lines. There is only so much a person is willing to pay for a product from a luxury brand if the materials are the same as a mid-tier brand. So, that keeps designer brands from going overboard with their prices. There are also advantages to using lightweight materials, such as them being more convenient to take on-the-go for customers or makeup artists with large kits, sitting at attainable prices for aspirational shoppers, thinner packaging contributing to less waste of materials and sustainability efforts, etc.

So, when I really think about it, I wouldn’t be able to buy as many products in the luxury category if the components were more expensive to make or if they were made from higher quality materials. In fact, the majority of the products in this post were purchased with some kind of discount. Of course, I would love to have all my luxury goods in weighty packaging, but if that means I would have to accept those products being less likely to go on sale and/or accepting that the prices of them would double or triple, I am unwilling to do so.

The Dior Powder-no-Powder is one of my favorite makeup products of all time, yet the most I was willing to spend was €45 (essentially just paying full price) to get my name etched onto the compact. If I had the opportunity to buy it in a gold colored compact with a magnetic closure or some stunning limited edition pattern for €100, I don’t think I’d be willing to do that. This tells me that despite a product having a holy grail formula that is unable to be duped, I still have my limits. Some makeup will just never be worth it to me to buy, past a certain pricepoint, no matter what it’s made of. That means I cannot use the product’s weight, materials (including formula), or looks to justify a super high spend amount. However, I know that when a product gets hyped up, it can be much easier for me to consider crossing that price threshold if I can make a case for it being top tier from every other angle.
I bought one of the Chanel Boutons quads directly from Chanel because so many influencers were told by their SAs that the collection would be extremely limited, and I feared missing out. Less than one month after launch, I found the quads at multiple retailers for a minimum of 30% off.
FOMO works similarly to getting caught up in the hype of a product. I sometimes make purchasing decisions that I normally wouldn’t.

This is why I decided to make this post. I know there are others like me who enjoy luxury makeup and don’t have the biggest budget to work with. There are those who will be tempted by the exclusivity of a certain new beauty line and would normally not even consider getting anything at those prices, but the hype may be wearing down that resolve.
To those that want to be talked out of buying makeup at $100 or more…just remember that luxury makeup with fantastic formulas and high quality packaging can be found at a lower price. This post is full of examples of this. If one brand is out of your price range, you might be able to get similar products from another prestige brand. Other amazing and beautifully packaged products are just around the corner.

I hope this topic has been interesting, and even helpful.

Thanks for reading!

-Lili ❤

Anastasia Beverly Hills Embers Palette, Cream Contour, and Highlighter Review

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I remember a time when everything this brand launched with had a ton of hype surrounding it. The pace of their new releases slowed in recent years, so much so that I didn’t even buy anything from them in 2024.

When I think about my ABH purchases in 2025, I’ve realized that nearly all of them were bought to replace something I missed out on. I didn’t get the brand’s first iteration of powder bronzers because I didn’t think the darkest shade (Mahogany) would work for me. I ended up buying their Smooth Blur Bronzer instead. In 2016, I wasn’t interested in the Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario, but later regretted not buying it. So, Embers seemed like the next best thing.
I also always wanted a dark skin friendly version of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Highlighter, but they didn’t create additional colors. So, I hoped the newest shade of Glow Seeker Highlighter could fill that role.
I finally bought the Stick Blush four years after it launched, figuring ABH had no plans to expand the range further. I feel like the production of the Magic Touch Blush Trios are confirmation of that. Lastly, the only product I didn’t buy to fill a void of something I missed out on, is the Smooth Blur Contour Stick. I liked the cream bronzer so much, along with the powder bronzer from the “Smooth Blur” line, that I eventually caved and bought the contour in the hopes I’d like it too.

Let’s dive into the reviews and see if these products ended up being worth getting!

Embers Mini Eyeshadow Palette

I acknowledge that this is a soft color story, and that soft tones don’t pop as easily on dark skin. However, I expected these muted eyeshadows to still be pigmented, along the lines of the Nouveau Palette. Most of the swatches in the photo above needed to be built up in 3-5 swipes instead of my usual 1-2. I have five other ABH palettes and none of them require the amount of building up I’ve had to do to with Embers. I have to be so precise with my placement of the deepest shades in order to avoid the other eyeshadows blending into it and lightening it up too much in the process. I have to actually dampen my brush when using some of the satins in order to aid in packing on the color.

I was looking forward to having a subdued and earthy palette, but these shadows are more gently pigmented than I could have anticipated. After all, according to the brand, “Anastasia Beverly Hills Embers Mini Eyeshadow Palette was designed to spark artistry with depth, warmth, and intensity. Featuring 9 full pigment shades—including rich, blendable mattes and molten metallics that glow like firelight…”

I’m sorry, but to call any of these non-mattes a molten metallic is wild! Which of the shades in my swatches are rich or intense? Is the “full pigment” in the room with us?

Anyway, because it’s so easy to create toned down looks, I did my best to show the maximum color payoff I can get with this palette. The end result is at the subdued level I wanted, so my only issue is how much effort it took to create the three looks below.

Creating a bold look isn’t going to be a problem for someone within the fair to medium skin tone range, but those expecting high-shine metallics (instead of sooty satins and low impact shimmers) might still be disappointed.

To anyone who was hoping to achieve the kind of look that’s featured on the official website, I recommend managing your expectations. I couldn’t get that depth of color from the browns, so I checked the brand’s YouTube page to see what kind of techniques were used. I am fairly certain the “Terracotta Spice Fall Eyeshadow Look,” is the one used. How the makeup appears in the video looks washed out, but how the photo is depicted on the Anastasia Beverly Hills site looks manipulated to appear bolder. The truth might be somewhere in the middle!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Youtube Tutorial vs Website Photo

The mattes blend and layer decently, but I had a hard time creating depth with C3 and struggled to have B2 show up. I expected B2 to be like Metro from Nouveau, but it’s not. When I think about that palette compared to Embers, I start to feel like perhaps I should have just stuck with the former!

If the Master Palette never existed, I would have thought Embers was meant to be a companion palette and/or a softer version of Nouveau.

A1, A2, and B1 are the inner corner type of shades, which I’m satisfied with. C1, C2, and B3 are the visual standouts, but they have a sooty quality to them that I can easily see when I rub them into my skin. I’ve seen this kind of effect from multichromes, duochromes, and sparkly formulas to look even more intense. With the type of finish these have, I feel like these colors veer away from the muted category and closer to dull. I wish these had more of a wet metallic finish instead.

On the bright side, I don’t have issues with creasing or fading throughout the day. I get quite a bit of kickup in the pan, but I feel that’s pretty normal for ABH. The shadows are soft to the touch, but not creamy or buttery. The eyeshadows don’t feel like they were pressed hard into their individual pans, so it makes sense that it’s easy to pick up a lot onto my brushes.

The Nouveau Palette is more to my liking because of the formula. The Nars Climax Palette has a similar vibe to Embers, but the mattes are more pigmented and the shimmers have so much impact. Metaphorically, Climax and Embers aren’t sisters, but they could be cousins! Climax is also a light neutral palette with pops of green and blue!

Joking aside, I don’t feel as bad about making this purchase considering I didn’t pay full price for it. I’ve had far worse performing palettes in my collection: ones that stick in one place and are patchy, ones that don’t layer well on each other, some that don’t adhere to the lids, etc. So, I consider the quality to be at least “okay.” I don’t know how this formula compares to the other minis in the 9-pan format, but I don’t consider it to be as good as the brand’s larger palettes (excluding Fall Romance).

A final point I should mention is that I had the worst experience with these eyeshadows when I applied them on skin primed with the MAC Paint Pot. Using the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk Eyeshadow as a base gave better results. Perhaps the Embers Palette would look even better on top of ABH’s own primer, but I no longer have that one.

Smooth Blur Cream Contour Stick in Core Shadow

I’m the one in my friend group that everyone comes to for beauty product recommendations, but this cream contour was actually recommended to me instead! I held off on buying it because I felt unsure if Core Shadow would be the right shade for me, in addition to me being on a cream product low-buy.

It turns out this shade is great around my cheekbones and jaw, but I can see a touch of red when I apply it along my nose. The consistency of the cream also breaks down my concealers. In addition to the bridge of my nose, I usually also apply a little on both sides where I have discoloration. Putting product on these particular spots gives the illusion of pushing those spots back, which makes my nose look less flat. Unfortunately, this trick just doesn’t work with this shade of contour and this kind of cream formula.

When I tried to take a photo of the contour below my cheekbone, it looked too natural. So, I drew on more product and left it unblended so it would be easier to see the sculpting power of the Core Shadow shade on my skin tone.

When I use my go-to cream and liquid contour brush (by Patrick Ta), it’s too easy to go overboard. If I use a small amount of the cream contour and try to build it up, it doesn’t look as well blended in the end because some parts have dried at different times and other parts have a heavier look from the overlapping of layers. If I use a normal amount, it looks better blended, but it’s more intense than I want. So, I end up having to use leftover foundation from my brushes to try and tone it back down. It’s an extra step in my routine that I would rather not have to do.

This product isn’t as stiff as the Milk Makeup Sculpt Cream Contour Stick, but it’s stiffer than the one from Uoma Beauty that I used to use, and it’s a little drier than the Fenty Match Stix Contour Skinstick. I hoped this would be more like the Rare Beauty Warm Wishes Effortless Bronzer Stick that is so easy to blend and melts into the skin. Even the Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer is easier to spread. While it’s typical for a stick version of something to be firmer and less emollient than a pot version, I didn’t expect this one to be more difficult to blend than the Anastasia Beverly Hills Stick Blush. Perhaps this is a tradeoff for longevity, because this contour at least lasts on my face all day.

I don’t have a lot of contours (compared to my collection of bronzers), so even though this isn’t perfect for me, I’ve continued using it beyond the testing phase. At the discounted price I paid, I don’t regret buying it. However, I still think there are better options out there, especially at a lower price. It gets the job done with extra effort, and the packaging is nice to look at, but I’m a little reluctant to recommend it.
Between the cream stick blush, cream bronzer, and now cream contour stick that I’ve used from ABH…the best product is definitely their Cream Bronzer.

Glow Seeker Highlighter in Enchanted

I can’t think of another highlighter that has received as much long term hype and praise as the ABH x Amrezy Highlighter from 2018. It was the standard by which all highlighters were compared for so many years. Even Champagne Pop from Becca x Jacyln Hill in 2016 didn’t manage to stay relevant for quite as long. Becca’s highlighter (technically now Smashbox x Becca) might have made more sales overall, but Amrezy’s continues to be referenced more in the makeup zeitgeist of the past decade.

When ABH released the “Iced Out” highlighter four years ago, so many influencers were claiming it was the same formula as Amrezy’s. I was suspicious when I found it online for 25% off in just the first few weeks of launch. Then, I understood. It is pretty, but dry, and the color is yellow gold with a slightly greenish tinge (thankfully the green didn’t show up on my cheeks). To me, it wasn’t similar enough to the Amrezy texture to feel like my wish was fulfilled. I was so annoyed by the intentional or unintentional trickery that I never ended up reviewing it on my blog.

Now, we have the Glow Seeker Highlighters that everyone has been saying is practically the Amrezy formula. I can’t help but feel slightly led astray again. This highlighter has a lot more of a shimmery mica sheen, and it doesn’t have as much of the wet-look shine that I associate with gelee formulas like the Amrezy one. The Glow Seeker formula seems to have less squalane and more glycerin. It’s at least less dry than the Iced Out highlighter, but I still wish there was more slip considering I have dry skin and prefer highlighters to look slick and smooth. I can admit that I’m extremely picky about highlighters, so other people will probably say the two products are similar enough to be dupes. This is most likely also the closest ABH will get to making the Amrezy highlighter without recreating the formula completely. Someone who likes high impact and shimmery (but not glittery) highlighters will probably be pleased with this.
The brand launched a single shade at first, called Sun Idol, but now there are two additional shades: Ethereal and Enchanted.

I like glow, and I’m glad this isn’t sparkly with large shimmer particles, but the shimmer isn’t quite as refined enough for me to like this as is. However, there is a bright side. I have found that when I use a finishing powder on top, it tones things down and makes my highlighter application look smoother. Typically, I use a finishing powder first before adding highlighter as the final step in my makeup routine to avoid dulling down the shine, but it works better for me to swap the order in this case! Using this method has made me like the highlighter a lot more.
I don’t like adding extra steps to my routine, but since it’s merely adding finishing powder to a spot I usually skip, I don’t consider this to be a problem.

I unfortunately can’t do comparison swatches with either of the previous ABH highlighter formulas because I left them in the US.

Color, finish, texture, and all other preference things aside, I don’t have any issues with this product. I can pick up the amount I want easily on my brushes, it adheres and blends well enough on my cheeks, and the glow doesn’t dim or disappear until I’m ready to remove it myself.

I didn’t pay full price for this, and the full presentation of the weighty packaging and embossed highlighter surface is beautiful, so I wouldn’t regret buying something like this under normal circumstances. However, I can’t feel like it was a great purchase if it hasn’t surpassed my top highlighters (Hindash and Prada included). I was only interested in this highlighter for nostalgic reasons, wishing I could capture the Amrezy excitement that I didn’t get to fully participate in because the color of that highlighter was too light for me. So, this wasn’t a good buy for me personally, but it’s nice enough that I wouldn’t discourage someone else from ordering it.

I would say the quality is on par with Nars, and theirs is $42. I’m more inclined to recommend Hindash’s Gradiant Highlighters, which cost the same $40, but ABH does have better packaging. My highlighter favorites tend to be quite expensive, but I’d rather buy something with worse packaging if the tradeoff is an amazing formula.

As a side note, Amrezy debuted her own brand in August. They only have lip products at the moment. I’m guessing Amrezy doesn’t have the rights to ABH’s formula, but I wonder if she will try to capitalize off of the past hype and come out with her own highlighters too.

So, that’s all I have for today! I’ve been impressed by this brand stepping up their packaging and releasing decent products, but they haven’t really become staples for me. I would say perhaps others will have an even better experience with the makeup than me, but I don’t think the brand is doing so well right now. After all, Anastasia Beverly Hills’ credit rating was downgraded after missing their payment to their creditors in August. So, that’s not a good sign regarding the brand’s finances.

In any case, I hope this post has been helpful. My opinions of these products may seem a bit critical to some, but there are plenty of other reviews going around the web singing the brand’s praises. I wish someone had told me some of the downsides to these products before I bought them. They’re not bad, but they’re not going to be right for everyone.

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Victoria Beckham Beauty Cocoa Eye Wardrobe and Lid Lustre Review

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I love the brand’s Eye Wardrobe in the shade Victoria, so when they released the Cocoa collection, I thought I would love this color story even more, particularly because I prefer how warmer tones of eyeshadows look on me.

Before we get into the review, I wanted to take the time to describe my order experience for those who have never ordered directly from the website. I used to get my VBB products from Selfridges, but the regulations are back with Selfridges being unable to ship food and cosmetics to Germany. So, I created an account to join the V-Suite, the brand’s Loyalty Program. When you join, that makes you eligible to add a free sample in your order, but I happened to sign up during the time when there was a glitch that didn’t allow that option to pop up in the cart. After missing out on a second order, I contacted the brand, and they were kind enough to send the ones I requested in a separate shipment. I will share details about what I got at the end of this post. Also, I checked the website a week later and the glitch was fixed.

The dust pouch comes with all orders and standard shipping is free over €70. Paid standard shipping to me costs €5 and they ship to Germany via UPS. Each time has been an interesting game of receiving the shipment confirmation within a day or two, getting an email the day after that stating that my order will arrive the next day, then the next day getting an email about the delivery being postponed/delayed, and then the product arriving after that. I’m happy that VBB ships fast, and now that I know things will not actually come the first day it’s expected to be delivered, I can just anticipate the actual date of arrival and plan accordingly. Whenever I get a package that ships out of Netherlands via other carriers, it usually takes 3-5 days or more. So, I’ve been really pleased to get my VBB orders from Netherlands to Germany in two days.

The price listed on the website includes VAT already and I have not encountered any additional fees after ordering.

Eye Wardrobe in Cocoa

The leftmost shade, which I call Shade 1, is the first satin I’ve used from the brand. Applying a normal amount looks opaque at first, but when I blend it lightly to smooth it out, it becomes a lot more sheer. If I don’t perfectly even out the discoloration around my eyes with primer, the pearly mica within this eyeshadow creates an unflattering grey tinge (due to the level of darkness underneath). So, I have to really pack this on to use it in larger areas, I must ensure that the eyeshadow primer I’m using will create a completely blank canvas, or I just need to use it strategically in smaller areas where I want to add brightness. The latter is the easiest option for me.

Shade 2 looks super warm when applied heavily, but if I’m just using a normal amount, it doesn’t look as bold. If I blend it out too much, it doesn’t stand out enough on my skin tone. That’s just the nature of having brown skin with a warm undertone, then trying to add a warm brown eyeshadow on top that isn’t too different in depth! So, I try my best to pack this shade on, and I’m glad that it’s buildable.

The photos above and below are the 4 steps to creating a single eye look. I wanted to show the process because of how easy it is for Shade 1 and 2 to get lost in the overall look.

I like how the eye makeup turned out in the photo, but this was actually my third attempt. I didn’t like my previous looks for several reasons, the first being that I used Shade 1 from the brow to the crease, which made everything that I tried to layer on top of it look a lot more muted. I tend to dislike my eye looks if there isn’t much of a gradient or distinction between colors, so the look became murky and unflattering. Even when I used less of Shade 1, I really did not like having it and Shade 2 blending into each other. The base color of Shade 1 is warm, but its semi-frosty sheen from the mica clashes with the intense warmth from Shade 2. I usually start my eye looks from lightest to darkest, but I found it was better to use Shade 2 strongly built up in the crease before adding Shade 1 in my usual highlighting spots. That way, I could add enough of Shade 1 for it to stand out in the look, but not in a thick enough layer to turn frosty-looking.
My final reason for disliking my earlier attempts is that I didn’t use enough of the darkest shade, which is needed to create that gradient and sculpt out the outer corner. Attempting a light, everyday type of look just isn’t my style. I wanted to celebrate having some lightness because these Eye Wardrobe color stories tend to be smoky and glam, but that’s what appealed to me in the first place. I just needed to embrace the drama, and that led me to finally creating a look that I liked.

Speaking of drama, the star of the show is supposed to be the bold warm shimmery brown in this palette. As seen in the photo below, it was really not that impactful in the beginning! I liked the shine a little more when I applied it wet, but I was quite disappointed to discover that Shade 3 didn’t have the same level of sparkle as the shimmer shade in the Victoria palette. The mattes from VBB seem to be generally good, but the standout formula for me are the shimmers. When I feel the texture of the Cocoa shimmer, it isn’t as creamy or chunky as the shimmer from Victoria.

This may have just been an issue in the beginning of the testing process because some of my recent looks have been more to my preference. I guess I just needed to use the quad enough times to dig those shimmer particles out of the pan and onto my eyes. Granted, Cocoa is still smoother and drier than the Victoria shimmer by comparison, and since it’s a dark gold on top of a medium-dark bronze, the sparkles don’t stand out quite as much as silver on a blackened taupe.

In the swatches below, Cocoa looks a lot more impressive than in the beginning.

I’m not sure if my photos are good enough to be able to tell, but Shade 4 is not as smooth as the mattes in the Victoria palette, or even the terracotta color in Cocoa. It’s not rough or dry, but it just doesn’t feel as silky to the touch, and I’m not sure why considering the ingredient list isn’t any different. It’s quite surprising that Shade 3 from Victoria is much darker and smokier, yet quicker to blend out without patches than Shade 4 in Cocoa. I thought it might just be that Shade 4 doesn’t layer as well over Cocoa’s shimmer, but I didn’t use that shimmer in the mascara section and it still just doesn’t build up the same way. Perhaps the choice to make Shade 4 require more building was intentional. I haven’t seen anyone else mention this, but none of the creators had the same skin tone as me, so it doesn’t require as much product to build up this shade on them.

I’d like to clarify that I don’t think this shade is a dud. It’s not as if I can’t get it to work. It’s just not effortless on me, which I can’t help but notice because of how much use I get out of the Victoria Eye Wardrobe.

Additional information about Shade 1 that I want to share is that although I wish the base color was stronger, it’s still less sheer than the lightest shade in the Chanel Boutons Quad I reviewed a few months ago. Also, a benefit to it being somewhat translucent is that it makes a surprisingly pretty highlighter on me! I don’t know how often I’ll use it this way, but it makes me less disappointed by this shade.

I wouldn’t want to get anymore satin eyeshadows from the brand, since I doubt I would find them to be more useful than this.

Overall, it’s still a very usable palette. I’ve just ended up preferring to pair this with Victoria rather than using it alone. The shimmer in Cocoa being on the smoother side, but still reflective, leaves me feeling satisfied…enough. I have to admit that I’m just not as in love with the palette as I would have been if there was more bling, or rather, if it was easier to transfer the blingy bits from the pan onto my eyes. The only feelings of regret I have is when I think about the other neutral luxury quads I already own, but then I don’t feel as guilty for spending the money on Cocoa after making another look with Cocoa and Victoria together. So, perhaps it was still worth it in the end.

Lid Lustre in Velvet

So many people were praising the shimmer formula of the Eye Wardrobes when they first released, particularly the one from Victoria, because they said it was like having a Lid Lustre in a pan instead of a pot. Some even said the Lid Lustre formula is superior.

I am not a single eyeshadow type of person, but I find the idea of being able to buy additional shimmers without them being tied to a full quad quite enticing. So, I bought Velvet as my first one to try out!

Velvet is described as, “a golden olive with antiqued pearl, infused with Malachite.”
Many high end and luxury brands like to tout their crushed pearls, diamond powder, and whatnot as the key ingredient of their shimmery eyeshadows, despite the fact that we know it’s most commonly mica and/or synthetic fluorphlogopite doing the heavy lifting. In the case of the Lid Lustres, they are supposed to be “crystal infused,” with the ingredient lists citing the stones as extracts.
For example, there’s “malachite extract” in Velvet, “amethyst extract” in Midnight, “citrine extract” in Starlight, “opal powder” in Honey, quartz in Tea Rose and Mink, and so on. Since these crystals are so far down in the ingredient lists while synthetic fluorphlogopite and/or mica are right at the top, I feel like the contribution of these crystals is almost negligible except to New Age crystal therapy believers. However, I cannot deny how great the formula is, and how much shine and sparkle I get from Velvet, which is the most important thing.

I think it’s evident in the swatches of the shimmer eyeshadows compared to the Lid Lustre that the Lid Lustre is indeed more sparkly with a wet-look shine. I had assumed the Lid Lustres would feel like a cream eyeshadow, but it’s nowhere near that level of wetness. However, there’s still water, squalane, hydrogenated vegetable oil, glycerin, caprylyl glycol, caprylate, and propanediol in the formula, so the brand included a plastic protective lid within the jar to prevent those moisture elements from drying out.

I mentioned that I’m not a single-eyeshadow type of person, especially when it comes to cream and liquid formulas, but I thought it would be interesting to compare the Lid Lustre shine level to the Pat Mcgrath’s FetishEYES Longwear Liquid Eye Shadow and Lisa Eldridge’s Liquid Lurex.

I’ve always been impressed with the Lisa Eldridge liquid eyeshadows because they tend to be a little more impactful and set better than the ones from Pat Mcgrath, plus they happen to be less expensive as well. While they’re $30 for LE vs $32 for PML in the US, the prices in Germany are €25 for LE vs €34 for PML. So, it’s easy to see why Lisa Eldridge became my go-to if I want to use liquid eyeshadows.
VBB Lid Lustres are $38 in the US or €42 in Germany. The Lid Lustres are more impactful, but they also cost a lot more money. In Germany, the price of two Lid Lustres is the same as four eyeshadows in the Eye Wardrobe. I could spend €42 on a Lid Lustre or €55 for an Eye Wardrobe refill. So, as much as I like the idea of being able to just buy a single, the Eye Wardrobes are arguably a better value. Then again, if future Eye Wardrobe shimmers aren’t going to have as much bling as the Lid Lustres, the money may be better spent on the Lid Lustres instead. For all I know, there could be some tamer shades of Lid Lustres too. I haven’t seen the full range in person.

Since I’ve only had this pot eyeshadow for a few weeks, I can’t say how long this will stay fresh. I can only say that the formula adheres well to the lids, although it works much better when I apply it with my finger instead of a brush. I haven’t noticed any fallout. I don’t get creasing.* There’s no fading. I am very satisfied with the sparkle and shine level. If I apply these with a damp brush, the surface looks smoother, but the overall effect doesn’t change a whole lot.

*UPDATE: NOVEMBER 10, 2025 – I have to specify that I don’t get creasing or fading in the usual way I wear a Lid Lustre, which is with a primer of some kind underneath. Typically, I use the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk Liquid Eyeshadow to conceal the discoloration around my eyes, and it’s also a good barrier to prevent the oils from my eyelids from breaking down my eyeshadow. Since it’s second nature for me to prime my eyes before using a Lid Lustre, I didn’t realize that using a Lid Lustre on my bare oily eyelids will cause creasing before it starts to break down fully. So, please be aware that if you have oily lids too, a good primer is likely necessary.

If I were to store this in a drawer or someplace other than right where I do my makeup, I would not get enough use out of this product for it to be worth it. However, I have been keeping it next to the Victoria Eye Wardrobe, so when I want to use that palette, it’s not too much extra trouble to dip into Velvet as well. I definitely would like to have more of these, but I will think it over when Black Friday rolls around because the brand usually has 20% or 25% off products during that time.

One final thing I wanted to mention is that I have been very tempted by the Olive Eye Wardrobe color story, but a few people were disappointed with theirs, stating they didn’t like the satin and the shimmer didn’t have enough oomph. This is why I bought Velvet instead, and I feel like I made the right choice.

Website Samples/V-Suite

Victoria Beckham Beauty Vast Lash Mascara (Deluxe Sample)

I love the richness of the black mascara, and I could definitely use some volume, but I still prioritize length over volume. I used this in the Lid Lustre demo photo, and my lashes could hardly be seen above my eyeliner. So, I made sure to do as thin of a line as I could in the photo above, so the effects of the mascara can be seen. I have only used this twice and I didn’t have issues with clumping or smudging, though I did find a mascara flake under my eyes one of those times.

I know VBB has another mascara called Future Lash, which might be more my speed. I hope it will one day be a free sample option or that the brand will make a travel size.

The Concealer Pen (Sample Booklet 2: Medium Dark to Rich)

I’m mostly just sharing what the shades look like. There wasn’t enough product in the foil samples to try more than once, and I had to cut the wear test short.

I was pleased with the amount of coverage I got. There was a tiny bit of fading early on (perhaps I didn’t apply enough), but then for the next six hours it continued to look the same and didn’t fade any further. When choosing a concealer for my under eye area, I want it to match the color of my skin above my brows and my cheek area since my eyelid discoloration will be covered up with a primer, eyeshadows, etc. MD1 was too light and MD2 was too dark and too strong of a peachy-orange color and turned olive looking on me. I was going to give up there, but decided to try DK1 anyway, and it was definitely the closest match of the bunch! It’s still a bit neutral compared to the warmth of my surrounding skin color, but I think I can still pull it off when the rest of my makeup goes on.

There is a shade called MD1.5 that was not part of the sample pack, but it’s available on the website. It is described as having a golden undertone, which sounds like it would be better for me than a peach or neutral that the majority of these medium dark to dark shades have. However, since MD1 was too light and MD2 was dark, There’s no way for me to know if MD 1.5 could still be too light, or if it could be perfect. I don’t usually buy brightening shades of concealer because it makes my under eye circles underneath look grey.

From my limited experience with these samples, I’m interested enough to want to buy one during a sale, but I don’t know if I should take the chance on MD1.5 for the undertone or play it safe with DK1 for its depth. Perhaps I should not get one at all, though I want this concealer not just for the makeup aspect, but also the advertised skincare benefits.
I’m working on a big concealer post that will probably be ready by December or sometime in the early months next year. So, if this doesn’t make it into that post, you’ll know I decided to skip it.

Well, that’s all I have for today! I hope this post has been helpful!

I don’t usually post referral codes, but I wish I had known about it to get 20% off my first order. According to the website, clicking this link, gives customers 20% off their first order of $75 or more. If you’re not interested in this method, the brand also offers 15% off for signing up to their emails. I used the code HELLO15. My internet searches say at some point WELCOME15 and/or GLOW15 worked as well.

-Lili ❤

Singe Beauty Agate Temptation Palette

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I will forever think of Agate Crosner when the word “Agate” comes up in anything.

Gaming reference aside, this is my first eyeshadow palette from Singe Beauty. I love greens and this color story reminded me of the Oden’s Eye Merry Christmas Palette. Of course, the thought crossed my mind that I should probably not get this palette if it reminds me of something else, but I was too impatient to try and wait for the brand to release a color story that attracted me while being different enough to be unique to my makeup collection. Singe doesn’t do fast releases, so it could potentially take years for me to be interested in another palette of theirs (though Paisley Hoot is quite pretty). I wanted to see what kind of eyeshadow formula Angie chose, so having a lot of colors I liked was good enough for me.

I’d like to note that I’ve owned this palette since June, so this is far from a first impression. I’ve been using it every-so-often organically in the latter half of 2025. By now, I’ve used it enough to share my thoughts.

I’ll start by getting into the specifics of the eyeshadows.

Achates and Metamorphic are very uncommon tones of orange and brown. I am shocked to say that they’re my favorite mattes in the palette, even above the greens! Achates reminds me of a higher quality version of the orange shade from the Juvia’s Place Nubian Glow Palette or a bit like Oromo from the Juvia’s Place Tribe Palette.
I can’t recall where I’ve seen a shade like Metamorphic, but it reminds me of chocolate chip cookie dough. I can’t explain why!

I usually rely on black eyeshadows to add depth and smokiness to the outer corners of my eyes, but Dendritic is such a beautiful rich brown that I feel perfectly happy just using this. It’s somehow soft and intense at the same time!
Chalcedony is too light and thin, so I can see my skin through it unless I pack on a ridiculous amount of layers. I wish more of the pale mint tinge would show instead of it just looking white, but it doesn’t because of my skin tone. It would need to have more grey than white in the base for the green to show on me, like the shade Memory in the Urd palette from Oden’s Eye.
Banded is not neon on my eyes, but I don’t mind that it’s an easier to wear kind of color. It’s thin as well, but I have an easier time with Banded than Chalcedony to hide my skin peeking through.

Moss, Slice, Geode, and Plume deserve recognition for being the kind of greens I use a lot. They just aren’t as uncommon, as they are similar to Melt Cosmetics greens, Oden’s Eye greens, the Coloured Raine Safari Palette and Juvia’s Place Tribe Palette.
As for Volcanic, it’s not a shade I make a fuss for, but it goes well with the color story.

In summation, the mattes blend and layer nicely. It’s not a quick process, but it’s not tedious either. They have a semi-silky feeling, but they’re not creamy. The kickup is minimal. The pigmentation is high, but I still have to build up certain shades. Metaphorically, it’s as if someone took the old school Juvia’s Place formula (that I like way more than their current one) and combined it with Natasha Denona’s current matte formula (which is nice but still not a favorite).
A few weeks ago, I reviewed my first palettes from Cosmic Brushes, Glaminatrix Cosmetics, and Wicked Widow. I can say, I definitely prefer Singe Beauty mattes over all of those.

The shimmers are impactful, but Quartz is super reflective and sparkly. The particle size is small enough to have a refined look to the eyeshadows, but not at the same level of high end and luxury brands, which is still fine. I don’t always want a blinging shimmer, or conversely a subtle satin, so this palette’s shimmers are great for the times when I’m in-between moods.

The consistency of the shimmers isn’t too thin or too thick. Quartz is the thickest. These eyeshadows feel a bit slick, but not enough to give me problems with creasing. In fact, it wasn’t until I was nearly finished with my final draft of this review that I learned Angie intentionally wanted shimmers on the thin and less emollient side so there wouldn’t be creasing.
Translucent is the aptly named duochrome topper, which is bold, but not as intense as other indie brands’ more expensive eyeshadows. The same can be said for the multichrome, Chrystallized, which is pretty to look at in the pan, but not that shifty on my eyes. It’s ironic that it’s possibly one of the more expensive eyeshadows in the palette, yet its also one of my least favorites. Regarding the textures, I need to spray Translucent to combat the fallout and be able to apply a smooth and even amount to lids. Chrystallized is the hardest to pick up with my natural hair brushes, so it’s easier to apply with my finger.
I admit that I haven’t used this palette with my Singe eye brushes, which are synthetic. They’re not in my container of brushes in rotation because I’m really behind on my Fude reviews. The Singe F03 is still in there though!

Silica is the “sparkly wet-looking topper,” that appears mostly gold in darker and warmer light, but I can see the mix of silver and gold in brighter settings. Examples of this are in the eyeshadow demo photos.
Gilded is stunning, even though it’s a more “traditional” shimmer. The tone of this warm gold is just so flattering on my lids.
Fire is a warm red with gold sparkles. So many brands make pink to gold eyeshadows, so it’s refreshing to see a twist. Reds aren’t my favorite for eyeshadow (unless it’s a rusty red-brown), but the shade is on the fringe of looking coral on my eyes, so I’m not opposed to it being in this palette.

When I think about the qualities of Agate Temptation, the phrase, “Jack of All Trades, Master of None,” comes to mind. This is a solidly good palette; it’s just not at a level that I could call phenomenal. These days, with the number of influencers that say everything is “amazing” or “my new holy grail,” something that has the rating of “really good” can still seem like it’s not worth anyone’s time. However, I like Agate Temptation enough to easily recommend it to anyone interested in buying it. These aren’t the world’s creamiest, most blinding, immaculately effortlessly blending eyeshadows on the market. These aren’t like my YSL or Prada eyeshadows, but I still enjoy using this palette. I don’t have Juvia’s Place Tribe or Coloured Raine Safari eyeshadows with me in Germany, but Agate Temptation gives me similar vibes and I get a nostalgic feeling when I use it. I’ve also been obsessed with the warm-mint chocolate chip eyeshadow combination I’ve seen others do, and I’ve enjoyed creating my variations of the look.

I see myself continuing to reach for this palette even after the review, which made it even more worth it to buy over some of the other palettes that I consider to be better performing.
I know my criteria for judging a palette’s worth is largely centered around how much I love the formula. So, it’s strange to say these eyeshadows rank below my top ten favorite formulas, but still manages to be a purchase I’m glad to have made. The quality is good enough for me to enjoy working with the palette, and the mix of interesting neutrals with fun pops of color continue to entice me.

With the international shipping cost and fees in mind, I don’t know if this would have been worth it if I had to make the purchase directly from the Singe Beauty site. However, I am glad Angie continues to work with Monolith to provide products to the EU so that the prices aren’t double or triple what customers in the US pay.
Also, for anyone interested in the rising cost of eyeshadow palettes, the ongoing debate whether a brand should focus on leaving out “special shades” to keep costs down, and how multichromes changed the trajectory of the indie community, I recommend watching Angie’s video How Multichromes Destroyed the Indie Makeup Pricepoint.

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

YSL Unexplored Garden Quad

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I don’t have a good opening paragraph. Let’s just get right to the review!

YSL Couture Mini Clutch in 830 Unexplored Garden

Just like the previous four quads I’ve reviewed, and the holiday one, I haven’t had issues with fading, creasing, fallout, nor any problems picking up product with my natural hair brushes. I don’t need to spray my brush to get the sparkly shadow to stick to my eyes or be intensified. The shadows adhere on the first go. They blend well and quickly.

I still consider this eyeshadow quality to be among the top three that I own. I can’t decide for certain which one is number one.

When it comes to this color story, I haven’t found it to be that versatile, but I just need to create one pretty eye look in order to be happy.

Shade 1 is in the designated topper eyeshadow area of this quad (the top left corner). It looks white in the pan, but the shimmer is actually a light green color that is beautiful!

Shade 2 is the typical one that’s usually too light to show up much on my skin. I use this shade between my brow and crease to keep that space open and looking clean, plus blurring and blending out edges of the crease shade.

I consider Shade 4 to be a soft matte army green color. It’s desaturated and adds depth to the look. It’s not too deep for me to use in the crease, but I wish it had a little more vibrancy.

Shade 3 looks warmer on my lids than I expected, especially considering I can see silver sparkles in it.

Overall, this color story is pretty, but it doesn’t excite me. These aren’t the tones of green that drive me wild. I knew I had these feelings, but because I love the YSL formula and have been impatiently waiting for a green palette by them, I still wanted to own this anyway.

For anyone curious, YSL’s Over Brun is still my favorite quad of the bunch, followed by Golden Lace in second place.

That’s all for today! It’s a quick review since my opinions aren’t different from what I’ve said about the previous quads. I hope the brand will continue to explore colorful options in the future.

-Lili ❤

Indie Brands Firsts: Cosmic Beauty, Glaminatrix Cosmetics, and Wicked Widow

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None of these palettes are new within the world of indie eyeshadows, but this is the first time I’ve purchased anything from each of these brands. This was made possible thanks to the brands working with the European retailer, Monolith!

I hear so many great things about many more independently owned businesses, such as Blend Bunny, Bella Beaute Bar, Dede Signature, Whats Up Beauty, etc. I’m just waiting for a launch from them that’s so exciting that I can no longer resist giving them a try.

For now, I have the following to play with…

Cosmic Brushes Tis the Season Palette

I purchased this palette in December 2024.

I consider the Cosmic Brushes matte formula to be better than Beauty Bay’s, on par with the better of Colourpop’s formula, but it doesn’t quite top the best of BH Cosmetics’ formulas. The mattes are colorful, pigmented, a bit dry, and are blendable enough to layer well with the other shades, but I wouldn’t call them low effort. That can make it sound like they’re troublesome to blend, which they are not. It just takes a little more time and I think it’s because most of them are pressed pigments rather than regular eyeshadows. So, that’s the trade off for the extra pigment.
I find it best to work slowly, use smaller and fluffier brushes, and apply in the order from light to dark when trying to build the eye looks. If issues still occur, I recommend trying a different eyeshadow primer.

The only matte I consider a real problem is Party, because for some reason it fades like crazy no matter how much I layer on. To be more precise, it darkens to an ashier grey-purple shade that’s a similar color depth level as my dark circles and skin discoloration, giving the illusion of it having faded to almost nothing. I had to keep packing on more of Party while taking photographs of my eye looks so that the purple tone could continue to be seen. I have a similar problem with Ribbon, but because that shade is so bright to start with, what lingers behind is still a lighter sort of grey. Switching eyeshadow primers did not help with this one. Building up about six to eight layers makes it visible for a few hours, but it’s really not even worth the effort for me as those are not the kind of purples I like anyway.

Even though the mattes generally aren’t bad, I’ve been too spoiled by more expensive eyeshadow brands and prefer to work with those over these. When it comes to indie brands that have a better balance between pigmentation and ease of use, I recommend Fantasy Cosmetica and Oden’s Eye.

Regarding the shimmer formula, I’m pleased that they have the kind of impact I expect from an indie brand. There’s no need to spray my brush in order to intensify the shine, but a shade like Baubles is on the flakier side and could benefit from a damp brush to minimize the fallout. Candle Light and Fairy Lights are a bit thick, but smooth out across the eyelid nicely. Decorations is also chunky, but the wettest of all the shadows is Celebrate.
Festive is thick and stiffer than the others, but somehow isn’t dry feeling either. It reminds me of the way Sydney Grace eyeshadows feel. Tinsel feels similar to Festive, though slightly less stiff.
Cranberries is the smoothest of the shadows, but it doesn’t have that much more slip or wetness than the others.

According to the brand, the special shades are Cranberries, “a multichrome that shifts from a cranberry red, to orange to green,” Fairy Lights, “a multichrome metallic that shifts from pastel purple to pink, to soft yellow,” and Tinsel, “a duochrome pink to gold metallic.”
I agree with their assessment of Cranberries and Tinsel, but Fairy Lights acts like an iridescent purple and pink duochrome on my skin tone.
And even though Candle Light is only described as a, “fiery orange metallic,” and Baubles as, “a reflective fuchsia purple metallic,” those two look dimensional and above ordinary to me.

Although the shimmer formulas are damp, I thankfully don’t have to deal with creasing per say, just that the shimmers don’t like to stay in the deepest line in the crease of my eye, so that’s the first place for the eyeshadow to go missing.

Using this palette brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings. It was like working with the kind of indie eyeshadows I used so often in the early years of my makeup journey.
I like the colors in this palette, and if I got this in 2019, I think I’d have been much happier with this. But, now that I’ve been spoiled by buttery, creamy, soft, highly blendable and very expensive eyeshadows from Victoria Beckham Beauty, YSL, Pat Mcgrath, and more, I am most likely to only whip this palette out during the holiday season. Even though my beloved Oden’s Eye Merry Christmas Palette contains no purples, it’s at least a holiday palette that I use all year round.

I also want to add that I think this is one of those palettes that is good for the price. To get multichromes and duochromes for $39 is pretty great, but I don’t know how much the shipping from the UK factors into the cost for those that live in the US. From the EU retailer Monolith, this cost me a little over €48 ($56) from VAT, but no additional shipping costs since I ordered enough other things to reach the free shipping minimum.

Glaminatrix Cosmetics Nocturnal Mini Palette

I bought this in October 2024.

These mattes are also quite stiff in the pans, but that doesn’t seem to effect the blend too much. I like the colors and tones, but the blues and purple are prone to changing color when I try to layer them and create a gradient. Shade mixing can be a good thing, just not when I want them to stay true to how they look in the pan. So, in order to have each individual shade be clearly recognizable in the photos, I couldn’t blend them as much as I wanted. Some of the eye looks I had to recreate a few times so they wouldn’t look like a muddy mess.
Also, Gloom turns very dark on me as time goes on, to the point that it looks like a contour color on me. It going from grungy yellow-brown to an ashier kind of brown in spots can look really messy on my eyes without even trying to layer other shades with it. As for Fog, that color also darkens to more of my skin color, but if I can get it to show true to color for most of the day if I build up enough layers.

I should also note that despite these mattes being super pigmented, Shadow is even more so. I have to be very careful incorporating this into my looks. It can get out of hand quickly.
I find it easier to do my crease shade and then put Shadow in the outer corner before adding the eyelid shimmer and topping a little bit of Shadow back on top. This is because Shadow doesn’t build on the shimmers as easily.

I like these mattes more than the ones from Cosmic Brushes, but I can understand why someone might disagree if the colors blending into one another or darkening is viewed as problematic.
These remind me of Terra Moons mattes, but better.
Despite considering these mattes to be nice enough to keep using, I still prefer to reach for easier formulas. Since living in Europe, I don’t do bold colorful looks as often, which is why the extra time needed to create these kind of looks isn’t worth it as much to me right now. However, this preference could change and in the times that I do want punchier colors, I am happy to have these options. I couldn’t resist the appeal of these tones of colors, and it cost me money to finally satisfy my curiosity. I at least paid less (€49) by getting this mini size version with 22mm eyeshadow pans.

Milky Way and Luna are the flakier shimmers. Night Vision and Dusk are the smoothest ones while Constellation is smoother than the first two mentioned, but thicker than the latter two. All five of these are considered by the brand to be duochromes and are recommended to be used with glitter glue because of their thick texture.
I haven’t found the need to use glitter glue with these, but I dampen my brush to minimize fallout.

My only gripe with Milky Way can’t really be helped. On my skintone, even when I’ve used this on top of a pink matte shade from another palette, it’s just blue. I don’t count an eyeshadow that looks one color and then disappears to turn into a different color as being a shift. That’s the same kind of trick a ph-adaptive product has. So, what makes Milky Way special to me is the high shine/reflect. I’m content enough with that. It would have been nice to be able to see some pink too though.

Night Vision is one of the shades that appealed to me most from the palette. The tradeoff for it looking smoother though is that it’s not as sparkly. The grungy dark base keeps it from looking the tad bit more vibrant as I would have liked. I believe in eye look number two, I put Murky on the lid first before adding Night Vision on top in the hopes that it would enhance the green tinge (but I cannot remember for certain). These shimmers are too thick to have a matte color underneath make a difference in the overall appearance. At least on myself, and at least with the shadows from other brands I’ve attempted to use these with.
Also, the only time I’m impressed with the look of Night Vision is when light shines on it directly. I am not satisfied with a lit up room being required.

Luna has a blue to purple shift, but it mainly just looks blue on my eyes. It’s a beautiful color, but considering I’m way more interested in purples, this color helped push this palette further into the blue territory than I enjoy. It’s the most intense shimmer in the palette, so I can’t complain too much.

Dusk just looks purple to me. It’s usually easiest for me to see a shift in a chrome shadow by holding it at different angles pointing towards and away from light sources. With this shade, I have to hold it at a very harsh angle to see it change from a cool purple to what I believe is a warmer pink-purple. I just consider it a pretty purple eyeshadow. The shift isn’t prominent.

Constellation is like a bronzy-orange to green. I can see the color change easier with this shadow than Dusk, but the green isn’t obvious on my lids. If I saw this color on someone else, I would be able to detect that there’s something fascinating and special about how it appears. I would know it’s not just a simple bronze or orange, but would not be able to figure out what’s different about it. I think that’s the power of the green shift. It’s like an optical illusion where one catches a quick glance of something, but once the eye tries to focus on it, it’s unable to be seen anymore.

I’m proud of the first and fifth eye looks. They are the most eye-catching to me, but Constellation is actually my favorite eyeshadow in this palette.

I could not find this palette on the official website, so I don’t know if it’s discontinued. However, Monolith continues to stock it.

Wicked Widow Tales of Terror: A Haunting Palette

I bought this in June 2025.

What drew me to Tales of Terror is how much the matte shades reminded me of the Viseart Dark Mattes Palette I bought in 2016. It was my favorite Fall color story, but around four years later, the eyeshadow performance gradually worsened. In 2021, I tried to use the Viseart Dark Edit Palette as a replacement, but I majorly disliked that palette. By now, there are less expensive options from Viseart, but I don’t have as much confidence in the consistency of Viseart’s batches anymore. This is due to the period of time when Viseart was transitioning from their products being produced in France, to being produced in the US.

Typical sale pricing on Viseartparis.com

The Tales of Terror palette has similar colors I loved, without the blues and red that I didn’t care about, plus the addition of shimmers. So, I felt compelled to give this a try! I waited for a sale on this one though because €69 is a lot of money to spend on a brand I hadn’t heard of until the release of this palette.

As these photos show, these shimmers are very big in particle size, bold in color, and reflective. Because they appear more textured, they naturally look less refined than the kind of shimmers I tend to use. That’s not a bad thing, as I bought this palette specifically for the eye-catching nature of it. It’s just that some brands, like Pat Mcgrath, are better at balancing intensity and sophistication at the same time. So, this palette is better suited for someone that wants maximum impact and drama. Someone who isn’t satisfied by mainstream eyeshadows is most likely to love a palette like this. Conversely, someone who likes toned down types of colorful palettes and neutral ones with a few exciting pops might find Tales of Terror to be a little too exciting.

The brand classifies all these shimmers as duochromes. They’re a bit thick and have an emollient feel. This formula is the most prone to want to migrate out of the deepest line of my eye crease. Also, the opacity level of the shimmers is so high that I can accidentally cover up all the crease work if I’m not careful with the placement. They definitely overpower the mattes, even though the mattes are super pigmented. The mattes also layer and blend out quite well.
Of the three palettes I reviewed today, I like these mattes the most. As for the shimmers, it’s tied with Glaminatrix Cosmetics because it depends on my mood. The ones in Tales of Terror are the most intense, but I don’t always want intensity.

The important thing to note about specific shades is that Creepy Crawlers and Nevermore look very similar on my eyes when used together, but it can’t compete with the twin-ness of Flickering Lights and Autumn Dreams.
The duochromatic shift is not as easy to see with Dark Void, but it changes from a spring green to a cooler aqua-green. Lastly, Spooky Nights is the kind of shade pretty much every brand that has duochromes and/or multichromes releases. However, this one is at least formulated very well. I never enjoy this kind of shade if it’s too sheer on my lids.

I like Tales of Terror enough that I foresee myself actually continuing to reach for it, though most likely just in the Fall season, the way I used to use my Viseart Dark Mattes palette. However, I don’t think I will buy more from the brand. This palette is still a bit bold for my current makeup style, and I don’t see that changing in the future. Adding additional ultra colorful palettes to my collection would be wasted on me.


I have a few more indie palettes to review, but they are coming much further in the future.

The timing of this post could not be helped. So many indie brands have suspended shipping to the US because of the tariff situation. It is ironic that I couldn’t get indie products for so long and now I might have access to makeup that my friends in the US can’t!

I hope that this post will still be helpful all the same.

-Lili ❤

Prada Lip Balm and Pansy Eyeshadow Quad Review

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I said in my Prada review ten weeks ago, “For now, I’m content with the two products I have.”

Yet, here we are again!

The contentment did not last. I couldn’t stop myself from buying Pansy to mix and match with Primula. I also watched a lot of balm related videos on YouTube, and the Prada balm kept ranking among the top. So, despite the fact that I’m on a restricted low-buy regarding lip products, I bought one anyway.

The triangular compact mirror was a free gift with purchase via Douglas.

Prada Dimensions Holo Nude Eyeshadow Palette in Pansy

I thought these shades were going to be on the darker side of medium, but the darker pink and shimmery/satin brown are lighter than I expected on myself. I still consider this palette to be pretty, especially the triangular eyeshadows in the bottom left and right sides of the palette. I don’t know how else to describe that shimmery brown, which has a pink tone to it.
In my previous review, I also said that Primula had the prettiest Holo shimmer among the three quads Prada launched, but I might have to reconsider that statement.

The quality is on par with Primula. The shadows are incredibly creamy feeling, as though it’s a cream-to-powder formula. The eyeshadow payoff is the soft buildable type. I don’t get fallout, fading, or creasing, and they are easy to blend.

The downside, is that I can’t build any depth using this palette exclusively, but I knew that before I bought it, plus I intended to use these shades with Primula.

Prada Optimizing Care Lip Balm in 11 Noisette

I love how this balm color looks on my lips! It is so rare to find a light shade that is dark enough for me to not need to wear a lip liner with it, without being too saturated/vibrant, and also contains enough pigment to show true-to-color. I’m always looking for a medium-toned pink, but they end up being too cool-toned, have too much mauve, too much of a white base and looking milky or ashy, or too sheer to appear different from my natural lip color.
I am super happy with this shade!

Without eating, and with a normal amount of drinking, this lasts about 4-5 hours on my lips before I feel the need to reapply. My lips feel nicely moisturized and hydrated while I wear it, but I do have lip balms, oils, and glosses that are better at conditioning my lips. However, I’d still place in somewhere in my top 15 or 20. I also don’t consider it to be that sticky.

There are two flaws, with one being far more significant than the other:

  1. As beautiful as the color is, it’s not perfectly smooth. The color can sometimes settle into the lines of my lips, so I need to really rub and blend them together to get the color to smooth evenly back out. I notice this during the initial application, and then it’s good until there isn’t as much left on my lips, so I need to reapply anyway.
  2. My biggest issue with this balm is the added fragrance. It not only smells overpoweringly strong of florals, but I can literally taste the perfume! It even makes my tongue tingle when I accidentally get some of it in my mouth! I try my best to avoid putting the balm too close to the inner rim of my mouth, but I still manage to taste that gross floral perfume anyway.

I admittedly only did four all-day wear tests because I could not handle anymore attempts to eat food while I had remnants of the balm on. Most balms aren’t so gross tasting that I have to bother wiping everything off my lips before eating, but Prada’s is.
After I quit doing wear tests, my M.O. has been to put on the balm for photos and then wipe it off after I’m done. This is the only way I can continue to use this product! The color is gorgeous. The formula is quite nice and cushiony on my lips, but the parfum and additional aroma ingredients (limonene, geraniol, linalool, citronellol, etc) seriously impact my desire to wear this. I don’t understand how this doesn’t bother more people, besides apparently myself and State of Kait.

The amount of fragrance in the foundation, I can ignore. The highlighter is powerfully scented, but I power through because it’s unlike any other in my collection. However, the lip balm’s perfume is nearly as strong as the highlighter and I cannot tolerate having them both on at the same time. I get an instant headache.

The packaging is beautiful and luxurious. I love all the details with the logo on the cap, around the sides, the Prada green color on the inside of the cap, the shade name near the opening of the tube, the magnetic closure, and the fact that this is refillable. Sure, the price is high. However, I would have said it was worth it if not for the scented aspect. I cannot recommend this product based on the experience I’m having with it. I seriously hope the fragrance will dissipate over time or that they reformulate these in the same colors, but make them fragrance-free. I bought this at 20% off, but I would repurchase a parfum-free version at full price in a heartbeat. This had the makings of being a holy grail product. What a shame!

Prada Reveal Skin Optmizing Refillable Foundation (sample) in DN75

I got a foundation sample card in one of my orders and DN75 was the closest match out of what was available. I would say it’s still a shade too light for me. I assume either DW75 or DW80 would be better for me, but I don’t plan on buying the full-size because the finish is more matte than I would like. It if looks like this on me in the summer time, I can imagine how dry and dehydrated I’d look in winter. My hydrating setting sprays could help, but I will just stick to using the foundations I already have.

I have noticed during longevity tests that this foundation gets more dewy on me as the day goes on, but I’m not sure if that has to do with the hydrating skincare I use (such as hyaluronic acid) taking effect. This kind of thing happened to me with the Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation, but I prefer to have a hydrated look from the start and it staying the same all day, instead of having to suffer through looking dry in the morning and then by afternoon I’m glowier in a way that looks worn in, the way this Prada Foundation does.

According to what’s written on Prada’s website, this foundation has, “buildable medium coverage and a long-lasting soft matte finish,” plus, “…the technology-powered formula instantly enhances radiance and hydration with additional overtime care.” So, perhaps this “additional overtime care” explains the dewy phenomenon. Looking more radiant is welcome to me, but I don’t like being able to actually feel the moisture increase on my face. This foundation is not transfer-proof, and I agree with the medium coverage claim.

Because of the fragrance and dewiness throughout the day, I’m glad I was able to use the sample and didn’t have to commit to buying it first.
I tested this foundation 3 or 4 times, as there was plenty in the container and I was able to use tape along the sides to keep it as fresh as possible between uses.

That’s all for today! I truly do think I am slowing down on buying more from Prada, especially if there’s going to be fragrance in those products too.

Thanks for reading!

-Lili ❤