Category Archives: Eyeshadow and Palettes

Nars, Tom Ford, Alamar, and other May ’22 Purchases Reviewed

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It’s officially one year since this monthly haul/low-buy series post should have been published. There are products I bought that should have been reviewed by now and are still relevant in my makeup collection. So, continuing with the series on and off as much as I can is something I wish to do. That brings us to our discussion for today! The photo above shows the products I bought this time last year that I will dive into, and add links to the reviews I did manage to post already.

Tom Ford Eyeshadow Quad in African Violet

I bought this from the Cosmetic Company Store website (Estee Lauder Brand Outlet), and the other Tom Ford quads I own were purchased from people who said they also bought it from a CCO. Of course, I have no way of verifying the validity of that, but I think they are legitimate based on how they look compared to the one I purchased last May.

I was planning to do a dedicated Tom Ford post, but scrapped the idea because I’m no longer enamored by the brand. The eyeshadow quality is nice, and in some cases extremely nice, but I would never say they’re worth full price. I remember a time when they used to be $80, but now they’re up to at least $90. I can’t even bring myself to pay the lower Selfridges price despite their quality being admittedly better than Guerlain’s and I’ve spent more on a Guerlain quad than these at under $40 each. But, it’s actually not the price that is the problem as much as the lack of shades. At least with a Pat Mcgrath product, which has formulas I like, I can pay a similar price and have many more color options with it.

The African Violet palette specifically appealed to me because it’s one of the most colorful available from Tom Ford. However, it’s not as smooth, shiny, or blendable as the Wet/Dry formula everyone raves about. The eyeshadows are long lasting, have decent color payoff, and don’t give me trouble with fallout or kickup, but there’s absolutely nothing special about them beyond their performance being good. I can name a ton of brands with well performing eyeshadows in palettes that cost less than half the price with at least double the shade options.

The other quads I own are Photosynthesex and Honeymoon (one shade in Honeymoon fell out and off the plastic grid, so I pressed it back into a spare eyeshadow pan and turned that empty well into a custom magnetic one so that I could continuously swap out any other brand’s eyeshadow that fits).

The quality of Photosynthesex is about the same as African Violet, but it contains a beautiful duochrome and I like the color story way more, so I get more use out of it. Honeymoon is the famed Wet/Dry formula which surpasses the others. It’s more special because of the shiny finish, the minimal effort needed to blend, the refined shimmer that don’t cause issues of creasing, and being flattering on textured eye areas. However, I still feel it’s worth half the retail price at the most. I understand the brand name and luxury packaging bumps up the price, but the sturdy yet basic plastic packaging doesn’t feel as special anymore considering the fun limited edition compact colors they release every so often. I believe the eyeshadows are a pricier formula than some others out there (even within the Estee Lauder owned brands), but I feel the markup is still too high. This is why I don’t foresee myself purchasing any additional Tom Ford quads unless I get it for a price that reflects what I think it’s worth and is in the preferred wet/dry finish. I’ve heard rave reviews about the newer cream formula, but I have not tried those. It’s typically the older quads that end up at the CCS/CCOs.

In addition, Tom Ford quads are incredibly repetitive in color stories and often contain similar shades that don’t look distinctly different enough on dark skin within the same quartet, let alone among the whole line. They’re also extremely neutral leaning. Give me some Wet/Dry greens and skip the brow bone shades, and they might just get another eyeshadow purchase out of me!

So, essentially what it comes down to is me thinking the eyeshadow quality from Tom Ford is good at the lowest and wonderful at best. I have no judgements to those who are fans of the quads. I get the appeal, even though I’m not their target customer. When it comes to luxury, everyone has their own ideas of what makes a product worth it to them versus something else. For me, having some Tom Ford highlighters was worth the splurge instead. I’ll have to review those at some point!

Haus Labs Casa Gaga Blush in Amarone – This was the first of the many blushes I ended up buying from the original Haus Labs collection before they rebranded away from Amazon. A review for it can be found HERE.

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Highlighter in Dream Light, Push Up Lashes mini mascara, and Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer in 3 Tan – These items, plus newer releases from Charlotte Tilbury, have been reviewed HERE.

Nars Laguna Cream Bronzer in Laguna 04

I’ve discussed this product a bit in my other cream bronzer reviews, but I’ll pretend like I haven’t. Essentially, this bronzer is quite emollient, blends nicely, has a strong but pleasant beachy scent, and has the benefit of not forming a weird top layer after repeated use. The downside for me is purely the color. I don’t mind a red toned bronzer as long as it isn’t too red. This has the misfortune of being a little more red on my face than I want, plus being a deeper shade that will probably work better in the summer, but is a bit dark for me now. For those who don’t mind the cons that I listed, I do think it’s a nice quality cream bronzer, but it’s admittedly not in my top favorites. I prefer the Charlotte Tilbury one (even though it’s more expensive) and the one from Anastasia Beverly Hills.

Nars Bronzer Powder in Punta Cana

The photo below was taken in the time frame when I was at my lightest for the year, so this bronzer looks a bit deep in the picture, but normally this is a subtle, but not too subtle bronzer match for me. The depth and undertone (mix of red leaning base color plus gold shimmer) combines to a shade I like. However, despite the shimmer particles being barely noticeable in the pan, they reflect powerfully under daylight lights to the point where all you see is shine and it doesn’t even look like I’m wearing bronzer. For the longest time, I thought this shade was too light for me because of where I normally sit when I apply it and view myself in the mirror. I kept trying it every few months and when I could suddenly see it, I assumed it was because I was in my winter shade. It wasn’t until I happened to look in a different position and angle during one of the wear tests that I figured out what was happening. Once I made this discovery and could properly see how it looked on my skin in various situations, I started to enjoy this bronzer a lot more.
It’s ironic that now that I like it, it’s no longer available!

Nars discontinued their shimmery and matte Bronzing Powder lines in favor of the new, for 2023, Laguna Talc-Free Bronzing Powder. I purchased shades 5 and 6 of the new one recently and have yet to review them on this blog. I can say from a first impression standpoint that I slightly prefer the new ones. The original that I have looks quite pretty on the skin, but it wasn’t seamless blending. It stuck to the skin in places sometimes, but just the tiniest bit. I’m really nitpicking at this point because it’s still easy to blend, just not perfect. I still consider it a good bronzer. Oddly enough, I have more building up to do with the new bronzers because they’re slightly less pigmented. However, they haven’t stuck yet, are smoother gliding across the skin, and an airbrush effect can be achieved with them. It’s not as airbrushed as the Charlotte Tilbury powder one, but enough to at least make me think of it.

For those who already own the older bronzers, I don’t feel it’s worth getting the new ones if you’re satisfied with what you have, and especially if you already have the matte version. It’s not different enough from the previous formula, unless you’re the type of person trying to avoid talc in products. Since the new line contains no shimmers from what I can see, I’m going to continue using Punta Cana when I want a glowy bronzer. It was the darkest in the shimmer range and the base color is similar to Laguna 6, but the shimmer makes it appear a little lighter. That difference makes me feel like it still has a place in my collection. For those who don’t have a shade in the older range, this new one might have an option. Nars now offers minis in 5 of the 9 colors, so that helps in terms of being able to try one without breaking the bank.

Oh, and if you’re my shade twin, I recommend going with Laguna 06. I prefer mixing 05 and 06 together for the perfect color, but I can’t use Laguna 05 by itself because it’s practically my winter skin tone.

Sigma Beauty Bronzer in Deep and Highlighter in Golden Hour

I’ve tried the bronzer so many times and I really do not like it. It’s so hard to blend, and try to fix after it goes on patchy, and it ends up looking like a contour if I blend it in too much because it goes too deep. It looks gorgeously warm when unblended, but it seems like there’s some grey in the base color. It’s still workable, but other than forcing myself to keep using it on top of various foundations (it looks better on top of matte ones) and switching to different brushes, I just don’t want to use it again. In fact, I had to rescue it from the declutter pile when I forgot I was supposed to keep it until I had time to post this review.

As for the highlighter, I was much more pleased with that one. I like the depth and tone of the gold. I like the smooth look to it on the skin. It’s shimmery, but not overly so. It looks even better on top of dewy skin. It’s not in my top favorites considering I do have others that supersede the shine level/reflectivity, smoothness, and refinement of particle size. However, I still use it from time to time and think it’s a fairly nice product. I don’t recommend paying full price for it though. I think I got mine for 25% or 30% off and that’s about the maximum I would pay.

BPerfect Polar Vortex Highlighter in 32F

I haven’t reviewed this elsewhere, but I am unable to do so here either because Beauty Bay shipped this product in a box without bubble wrap or padding of any kind. The only shipping protection was literally one piece of paper, as seen in the photo below the demolished baked highlighter (two if the invoice paper counts). Every bit of it was covered in highlighter from the single open flap of the unicarton to the outside of the compact and all inside the box, above the plastic mirror protector, etc. I tried to re-press it into a spare empty highlighter pan from my DIY days, but because I used a liquid and didn’t dry-press it, it changed the texture completely. When I tried out the broken highlighter prior to pressing it back, it was insanely glittery (which is not my preference). The pressed version still has very visible particles on my face and is texture enhancing, even when I apply it on top of dewy skin to help melt it better onto the top of my cheekbones. So, I don’t feel it would be fair to consider this a review in this altered form, and it’s not something I want to keep anyway.

Suqqu Melting Powder Highlighter in 101 Kagerou (Limited Edition) and Melting Powder Blush in 06 Yuubae.
My review for these two can be found HERE. I’ve purchased several more items from Suqqu and had I known I would enjoy them so much, the Suqqu blushes would have been on my exceptions list for last year’s low-buy. I did manage to stop myself from purchasing every blush shade I wanted, so that counts for something, haha.

Urban Decay Mini Naked Your Way Eyeshadow Palette in Foxy

Once more, my strange aversion to using long rectangular shaped eyeshadow pans is in full effect with this palette. I’ve been able to create a few beautiful looks, but I stopped reaching for it shortly after the excitement of it being new wore off. I was drawn in by the greens, but these are lighter than I typically go for and cooler toned. I prefer the mini gold from Natasha Denona, Dior Backstage Khaki Neutrals, and ABH Nouveau palettes because they have some deeper options as well. Funky Town provides some depth, but I can’t get too dramatic with it on my skin tone.

The quality of these shades is a bit different for Urban Decay since adopting a vegan formula. I didn’t have issues blending the mattes, but they feel a little stiffer and are not as creamy to the touch. I guess all that really matters is how they perform, which is satisfactory enough for me. Foxy tends to disappear off my eyes though. If I want it to show up, I have to build it up a ton. Get Down is closer to a satin, whereas Hot Stuff and Disco are the true shimmers. The shimmers are impactful enough for me to use without feeling the need to wet my brush, but I get a lot of fallout under my eyes with Disco, so I tend to just dampen all of them. I sometimes even use glitter glue because I also have trouble periodically with the shimmers lasting on my eyes in the inner corner (my trouble spot because I tend to rub my eyes there). The shimmers are dryer than I recall from Urban Decay’s formula, and this probably adds to the issue with the inner corner, but it’s more important to me that the shimmers don’t crease on my eyes. So, I’m satisfied with them.

Overall, this is a nice palette. It’s not the most enjoyable experience in terms of textures, but the performance is there. It’s a small travel-friendly size, which I like. For the way I like to do makeup, I get about three different looks from this palette, which I find is a decent amount for so few shades.
I think this should really be in the $27 range, so I recommend waiting for a sale to try it out (I got mine discounted having purchased it from someone who got it in PR). Unlike all my other rectangular pan Urban Decay palettes that I declutter due to lack of use, I’m actually going to keep this one.

Viseart Haul: Viseart Grande Pro 1x, Petits Fours in Peridot, and Bijouxette ÉTENDU Palettes – These items and more from the brand have been reviewed already HERE.

Violet Voss Olive You and Wild Dahlia Palette

I purchased these two from a Boxycharm sale and did absolutely nothing with them for a full year. Since I own so many palettes in the Olive You Forever color story, I’m going to give it to my sister and not even swatch it so it can stay in new-ish condition. So, I don’t have a review for that one.

As for Wild Dahlia, so much time passed that I didn’t realize until I was doing swatches that it contained a beautiful duochrome! This palette offers quite an interesting shade selection. The mattes blend easily, are pigmented, and smooth. The shimmers are buttery, yet not the kind that causes an issue with creasing. I am so impressed! I do own one other mini Violet Voss palette that I depotted in the hopes that it would make me use the shadows more (and it had the opposite effect), so now I’m remembering how nice the quality was and I feel I’ve really been missing out on this experience!

The shimmers are decently impactful on their own, and applying them damp increases it slightly, but not enough to feel like it makes much difference. I also like that I had no issues with fallout either. I can easily recommend this one! The quality is fantastic. The shimmers are shinier in the Urban Decay Foxy palette, but I prefer the colors and tones of the shimmers in Wild Dahlia, plus the softness, blend, and color options of the mattes in this one too.

Melt Cosmetics Haul: Amor y Mariposas Pressed Pigment Palette, Monarca Blush Palette, and Gel Liners in Colibri and Estrella. My review for these items can be found HERE, and since I got such an amazing deal on it, I have no regrets! Even though I don’t use these a ton, I still very much love them.

Benefit Cosmetics Wanderful World Silky-Soft Powder Blush in Crystah, Terra, and Java
Crystah and Terra are in the shimmer formula and Java is the matte formula. I did not purchase anything in the satin formula because I was waiting for the delayed shade, Starlaa, to be released. I planned to review these blushes right away, but I had no idea it would take four months for that one to come out! In any case, I’ve been wanting mid-tone and deeper blush options from Benefit for so long that I just went overboard without thinking it through. My Beauty Resolutions were completely forgotten, or perhaps ignored, for this release. The review of them and even more shades can be found HERE.

Benefit Cosmetics Pore MINImizer Squad Primer Set

Aside from the fantastic price this was listed at via Asos, part of my motivation for buying this set was that I finished up a mini sample of the Hydrate primer and loved it enough to want another, but not a full-size, in addition to being curious about the Lite primer after Angelica Nyqvist raved about it so often, and I had no other setting sprays left in my collection.

I recall trying the original POREfessional primer many years ago, and liking the way it felt on my skin, but it left a cast that lightened the look of my foundation. I was nervous the Lite version would do the same, but it did not. The texture is very strange. It feels dry and chalky when it comes out, though it’s in a form soft enough to be rubbed in completely and smoothly. It’s less gel-like than typical silicone primers. It blurs my skin when I put it on, but with foundation on top of it, I don’t see the blurring effects anymore. Also, if rubbed into the skin excessively, it can pill up.
I don’t consider myself as having that great of an issue with the size of my pores, so I only really require that my primer help my foundation look smooth on top of it and perhaps increase the longevity. I think my makeup looks nice initially when I put it on, but I don’t think it helps past midday. Sephora lists this as being, “Best for Oily, Combo, Normal Skin,” so it’s not surprising that it’s not the best fit for me.

The Hydrate primer, as I mentioned already, is one that I loved. The color and consistency actually reminds me of the Glamglow Thirstymud Hydrating Mask. It feels soothing on my skin because of that added hydration. It’s easy to apply. I don’t know if it extends the wear of my makeup, but so far there haven’t been any foundations I’ve worn with it that I disliked. This one is actually best for, “Dry, Combo, Normal Skin,” and although I don’t notice any blurring at any point, I think it improves the finish of my foundation.

The Super Setter I’ve only used a few times. It has a nice sprayer. Most of it sprays lightly and evenly, but with every spritz I can feel some spots that are heavier, yet when I check the mirror there are never any visible droplets on my skin. This is great news because I’ve had that issue with a few setting sprays in the past. This spray doesn’t make my skin feel tight, nor cooling, or change the look of my makeup in any way. I honestly don’t notice any effect it’s having on my face, even with longevity. So, I won’t be repurchasing it.

Alamar Cosmetics

The two Disney collab products are sold out and discontinued. I strongly regret not posting this in time or in a separate review. I just could not make up my mind about them and kept forgetting the details of my wear tests when I kept trying them with several months gap between uses over the past year. The other highlighter is still available on the website.

Alamar Cosmetics x Disney Encanto Collection Blush and Highlighter in Hermosa Rosa and Flex Alert

The Encanto Blush is in the brand’s Colorete Powder Blush formula. Hermosa Rosa is a stunning shade. On bare skin it has issues with longevity. There was one instance that I applied a sheer layer and it faded within 20 minutes. I then built up the color heavily and it continued to fade, but I was left with a reasonable amount of blush on my cheeks by the end of the day. Over foundation, this isn’t as much of a problem, but I still need to put at least a medium amount of blush for it to last. Trying to keep it looking sheer doesn’t work for me. Aside from that, it’s so smooth looking on the skin and even in color and opacity. It blends well. I like this blush so much that I’ve considered purchasing more from the brand numerous times, but they’re all in palettes and I’m not drawn to the shades available. However, I continue to check the brand website a few times a year to see if they have additional shades I might like as much as this one.

The Encanto Highlighter is in the Sun Soaked Highlighter formula. This is the trickiest one for me to pinpoint how I feel about it because it depends on the time of year. When I’m at my darkest, this highlighter looks terrible on me because the color looks more stark against my skin and each individual particle is that much more apparent on my skin tone which makes it look excessively shimmery. When I’m lighter, I put my blush a bit higher on my cheekbones so the highlighter, when going on top of it, looks more natural. The pink tones with the gold shift match well over the coral color. It’s still borderline glittery looking, but it somehow just works. At least, it works on top of the Hermosa Rosa blush. I haven’t liked how it looks on top of other blushes. Color aside, it looks fairly smooth and lasts all day. And even though there is a lot of shimmer, it’s at about medium intensity because it doesn’t have the strongest reflect. I would recommend this only to someone who doesn’t mind a shimmery highlight while also not expecting it to be blinding.

Alamar Cosmetics Sun Soaked Highlighter in La Playa

I love a gold highlighter, but this one looks extra yellow next to certain blushes, so I’m not sure if this is the best color for me, even though it’s the right depth. This is one of those wet look type of highlighters and it’s less shimmery than Flex Alert, which I like. It has a semi-wet feel to it with some slip, similar to the Charlotte Tilbury Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter formula, except that sometimes that smooth buttery texture adheres too strongly to one spot in a patch/clump. I have to go over it repeatedly to try and smooth it out when it happens. Essentially, this applies better with a more resilient bristle brush. It needs to be strong enough to move the product around evenly as it goes on the skin since it’s harder to blend out once it’s stuck. But once that initial layer is down, the highlighter can be built up stronger and more intensely. I included two photos above to show how it can be applied lightly on a natural finish foundation and a pink toned blush, or built up intensely especially on top of dewy foundation and an orange blush.

Despite how long I’ve had this highlighter, my praise of it goes up or down depending on the circumstances. On paper, this should be my ideal highlighter because of the way it looks like it melted into my skin (when having a shimmer clump isn’t an issue), it being more glowy than glittery, and it being a medium gold. However, because the formula isn’t perfect, it’s not on the list of my favorite highlighters. However, it’s still nice and I do like it…70% of the time.

Oden’s Eye Solmåne II Collection: Sunlight Love Blushers in W102 Peach Gleam, W103 Sienne Lustre and B103 Orange Sunny as well as the Gel Liner Pencils in 002 Orange and 012 Golden Brown.
The review for all of my Oden’s eye purchases can be found HERE. Liners were not allowed in my low-buy, but I was curious, did not own these colors, and wanted to hit the free shipping minimum which would have nearly cost the same amount. The blushes from Oden’s Eye are still in my top favorites, but I don’t use them as often as I anticipated because I have so many other favorite blushes that I need to spread the love among. Plus, I’m still using the original Oden’s Eye blushes, so when I want to reach for one, I split the choices between the new ones and old ones.

Colourpop x Winnie the Pooh Super Shock Cheeks in 100 Aker Wood and Mind Over Matter – They were reviewed HERE.

Sonia G Master Face Brush – This brush was reviewed in Fude 4. I saved $20 on it because of credit carried over from the Beautylish Gift Card sale. It would have been worth it despite my low-buy if I ended up loving the brush, but it was just okay.

CDJapan, Fude Japan, and Hakuhodo USA Haul: This month was the last time I could get Hakuhodo brushes before the price increase (up to 30% in most cases), so I placed Fude Japan and Hakuhodo USA orders for that. From CDJapan, I bought Eihodo outlet brushes, the Chikuhodo PS-2, and Mizuho brushes MB123 and MB125. The Mizuho brushes and Hakuhodo ones can be found in Fude 5. The rest are in Fude 4.

Coloured Raine Haul: Botanical Eyeshadow Palette, Cream Blushes in Copper Rose, Stiletto Rose, and Spicy and Eyeshadow Base in Wheat – These were reviewed HERE.

The Alamar products were the last ones that needed reviewing for the month of May from 2022! I hope this has been helpful and especially from a different perspective all this time later after hype for the products have died down. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Brand Review: Mesauda Cosmetics

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When I was scrolling through the Douglas Retailer website for brands that offered deep skin options in Europe besides the mega parent brands and sub brands from L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, I came across this one and remembered even seeing a few of their items on the French Parfumdo website as well. My curiosity grew. I learned that Mesauda (or Mesauda Milano) is an Italian beauty brand founded in 2007 and mainly spearheaded by Victor Buaron, along with his two brothers who also work in the company. Although Mesauda doesn’t have the best gradient of a shade range, it’s certainly better than the other ten or so brands I hadn’t heard of on the Douglas website that didn’t make anything darker than for medium skin tones. And in some cases, the range from Mesauda is still better than the brands I did recognize. This effort to be inclusive is what got me to take the plunge and make a purchase.

The Ordering Process

Technically, I made multiple purchases via Douglas and the brand’s website directly. I was able to get free shipping via Douglas, but that came with zero packaging protection. There’s no bubble wrap, tissue paper, or padding of any kind. The box itself is sturdy, but the items inside are able to slide around and into each other. Thankfully, I haven’t received any broken items from Douglas.

From the brand’s website, shipping from Italy to Germany starts at a little over 8 euros, which isn’t too bad a price considering you get 20% off your first order if you subscribe to their emails. Unfortunately, shipping outside of the European Union is super expensive. In my first order, I had no issues other than paying via Paypal requiring me to submit the information twice in order for it to go through. I would log into my account, fill in everything, click submit payment (via paypal), get redirected to my paypal to accept everything, get redirected back to the Mesauda website checkout page with everything blank again, relog in, repeat all the same steps, and then it would let me check out! It wasn’t a time-out feature from lingering on the page too long either. This happened even when trying to check out one minute after logging in. This is tedious, but not that bad as long as the orders go through.

The problem arose when I was making a second order and my cart total qualified me for free shipping automatically if I was within Italy*. But because I was shipping to Germany, it kept giving me an error message about needing to select a different shipping option, even though there was no second option to select. So, I actually had to remove items from my cart for it to give me the paid shipping option. Not a great move from a business standpoint if the customer is forced to buy less products to make the purchase go through!

*According to the shipping page, free shipping within Italy starts at 30 Euros and free shipping to Germany is supposed to start at 60 Euros. My guess is either this information is outdated and Germans aren’t supposed to get free shipping at any minimum which led to the error, or it’s supposed to be free after 60 Euros but it switches automatically to Italy’s free standard shipping option instead of the free international one. And since they likely use different post services depending on the location, the lack of coding to switch to the courier they use for Germany (DPD) could cause the inability to check out.

Then, in that same second ordering attempt, I tried to use my reward points which gave 15 euros off my order via a one-time-use code. The problem was that because the Paypal option makes you have to check out twice, the order failing to process in round 1 made the website register as if that code had already been used. So, when I tried to check out the second time in round 2, it said the code had been used the maximum number of times! I essentially had to email customer service (they replied within 24 hours and thankfully in English) and they gave me a new code, so I checked out in round 1 without the new code, waited til it took me back to the cleared page to relog and resubmit everything and put the code in round 2 of checking out, and then it completed the order! So, in the future, if I want to make use of the reward program I will have to hope the paypal error continues so I know to only include the promo code after the first “complete order” entry fails. Otherwise, if it actually goes through, I will have checked out without my code being applied!

I let them know about all of this including screenshots and a screen recording, but it wasn’t addressed in the email response other than giving me that new one-time-use code and telling me to let them know if it worked, so I’m not sure if it was understood.

Another thing to note is that I do not getting shipping confirmation emails from them, even though it says that’s something that is supposed to happen. Instead, I get an email from the shipping carrier the day before the order is due to be delivered.

So, one one hand, Douglas is the less expensive way to go, but they don’t have all the newest products and one has to pray the parcel delivery person won’t toss the package around like they do in the US.

When I access Douglas via Google Chrome, there’s an option to translate some of the page from German to English, but it makes the page buggy and not load sometimes, which is another factor in the ordering process. Douglas also has a point system, but I don’t have enough to see what it does. I believe it accounts for essentially 10% off one’s order at different point intervals.
On the other hand, the official Mesauda website is much more English-friendly and has an option to select English at the bottom of the page that’s built into the site, but sometimes it doesn’t translate everything when loaded and it still shows Italian here and there. The official site also has the benefit of the reward program, but the downside is the potential issues checking out. As I’ve only contacted customer service with Mesauda, I don’t know how Douglas customer service compares. Also, I get the shipping confirmation via Douglas, but no additional emails letting me know when it’s about to be delivered.

Onto the reviews!

Bronze Venus Bronzer in Caramel Macchiato and Rich Mahogany

In the photo above, Caramel Macchiato is on the top left and right with Rich Mahogany on the bottom left and right. The left half of the picture shows how they look in the pan, while the right half shows a more accurate representation of how the colors will look on the skin. I took these photos in the same spot but slightly different angles and the amount of light I got from the window was able to show these drastic differences in the way they look. I believe I accurately captured all swatches though.

Caramel Macchiato

Caramel Macchiato is a warm golden-leaning bronzer shade. This is closer to my skin tone than most of the bronzers in my collection, but thanks to the buildable formula, I can make it very apparent if I want. Between the two deepest bronzer options, I think this one fits me better. However, the other shade shows up more on my skin because it’s less of a match with my undertone.

Rich Mahogany

Rich Mahogany is a medium-dark neutral brown with just a touch of red. This was actually the first of the two shades I purchased, and even though I preferred the color of Caramel Macchiato in the product images, I really didn’t expect that one to work for me. I didn’t even know if Rich Mahogany was going to be deep enough based on how it looked on the arm swatch of the darker model because I’m used to brands manipulating photos when their range doesn’t go very deep. *cough* Hourglass *cough*

I’m happy to report that Rich Mahogany could work for someone a shade or two darker than me, though it will be on the subtler side. The greater difference between Caramel Macchiato and Rich Mahogany is the undertone more than depth.

Six shades of bronzer is a nice amount, although I’m not sure if they go light enough on the spectrum either. It appears that they have the medium-tan range adequately covered.

Photo from the Mesauda Website

I very much like this formula of bronzer. Beyond being buildable, it has the benefit of the soft and buttery feeling texture that reminds me of the way the Huda Glowish Bronzer feels, but in a lighter consistency that’s more powdery in the way it gets picked up by a brush, while still applying to the skin in a beautiful natural sheen that mimics the look of a baked gelee formula. The brand cites coconut oil and Polynesian Tiare flowers as the sources of the “moisturizing boost with smoothing and antioxidant properties,” that is given to the skin. I believe that combination is how Monoi oil is produced, which I thought I would mention for those who like that oil in products, though Monoi isn’t specifically listed in the ingredients and it’s just coconut oil and the Tiara flowers separately. The emollient nature of this product is supposed to also aid in the adhesion to the skin, which I can attest to this bronzer lasting on me all day without fading. The downside is that I sometimes get the issue that in spots that have more moisture than others, I get a little bit of sticking of a patch that’s darker than the rest. I can mostly blend it out to look even with the rest of my bronzer, but sometimes it’s so stubborn in a sticking spot that I have to wipe it off or cover it back up with foundation, then apply powder, then redo the bronzer application in that spot. If I always powdered prior to bronzer, this might not be an issue. However, because I often skip powdering my whole face, I was able to notice this.
And although I prefer to build up quickly a subtler shade like Caramel Macchiato with a brush like the Sonia G Smooth Buffer, I had the sticking issue a little more often with that brush. When I use a brush that doesn’t load on as much product, like the Sonia G Jumbo Bronzer brush, I haven’t had that problem.

To those averse to fragrance, this does contain some. The brand calls it a “floral/fruity” scent, but I just smell slightly soapy flowers. It actually reminds me of the smell of Dior powders, but not as strong.

Please click the photos to enlarge them if needed, and use the arrows to go through the slide before clicking ‘x’ in the slide to return to the post. As I mentioned before, the depths are about the same and the tone is the main difference between the two shades. They’re also on the subtle side now and if I get darker this summer, they might not show up anymore.

This bronzer doesn’t have holy grail status, but I could see myself putting this among the top 20 on a ranking list. Despite having it for over a month, I still feel I need more time with it to see if my interest in using it continues to grow over time or if it’ll be overshadowed by the others I own. For anyone interested in bronzers I purchased prior to 2023 and where I’d rank those, I have a post on that topic here.

Lust For Shine Highlighter in Guilty Treasure

Mesauda has several different forms of highlighter: liquid, baked, gel-powder, and cream-powder. Since my favorites tend to be gel-powder, I naturally chose to order this Lust For Shine formula. The texture is thinner and drier than I expected. The shimmer looks fairly smooth on the skin with its small particle size, while still being reflective. I consider the highlight intensity level to be a buildable medium, though it stands out even more on my skin tone because Guilty Treasure is on the lighter side of workable for me. I only brought highlighters with the same depth as my skin tone on the trip because I thought I would only want my highlight to look subtle, but I ended up still missing having that extra “pop” in my makeup looks. So, I bought this lighter shade out of fear that Deep Attraction might be my skin tone or deeper, which would have defeated the purpose of trying to buy a shade that differed from what I had with me. What helps Guilty Treasure to work on my skin tone is how sheer the formula is in allowing my skin tone to show through, which minimizes the cast I could have gotten if it had a base color as light as the shimmer.
I apply my other highlighters first, and then add this one in strategic places for a spotlight effect. It can be blended out to a super natural shine for those who like the most subtle of highlighters, or layered up to the medium I mentioned, if one doesn’t blend it out too much. This highlighter doesn’t adhere to my skin as strongly. It will stay on most of the day, as long as I don’t touch my face more than a few times. There were some days during testing that it didn’t last more than a few hours and I realized I must have rubbed it off while sitting with my cheek rested on my hand or when I took a nap. A lot of highlighters don’t last through me napping, so that’s not too surprising. It’s just that this highlighter is easier to accidentally wipe away than others, and I have accidentally overblended it a few times already and needed to apply more. This can happen no matter which highlighter brush I use (goat, squirrel, synthetic-natural mix, fan brush, flat top, candle-shape, etc.). Also, if it’s one of my more natural days when I skip foundation, this highlighter definitely only sticks to my face for a short time.
To help it adhere more strongly, I’ve tried spraying my brush to slightly dampen it the way I do with a lot of my shimmery eyeshadows. This added moisture helps increase the shine level and better melt it into the skin, but the effects are only temporary. The best way to make this last longer is to have products underneath that remain at least a little wet or emollient like a dewy foundation or cream highlight.

This formula is fairly nice and it’s easier to pick up product with the Mesauda highlighter than the Nabla one, but I’d still recommend the Skin Glazing highlighters (and it’s one euro cheaper) because of the gorgeous glass skin effect it has on the skin. I love when highlighters have a somewhat wet look to them (which gel-highlighters tend to do), but I only get a slight wet effect using the Mesauda one if all other products with it are fully dry. I still like it more than most standard powder formula highlighters, but it doesn’t make the top of my favorites list. I’m still glad I tried it because the curiosity would have gnawed at me.

Also, unlike the bronzers, this is fragrance free.

Photo from the Mesauda Website

At First Blush in French Kiss, Obsessed, and Lovebite

I wanted Obsessed and French Kiss from the beginning, but I didn’t expect the blushes to actually look as vivid in person as they are depicted in the swatches, and especially for the lightest shades available. So, I bought Lovebite to be on the safe side and realized quickly that although the blushes do look lighter on the skin than in the pan, they are still quite pigmented despite their thin texture (which seems to be a theme with Mesauda powder products). Another consistent feature is the soft and silky feeling to the touch of them.

There is visible shimmer in the pan, but it’s very fine and just adds a satin soft sheen to the cheeks. The brand boasts ingredients like, “rose hip with its emollient and soothing action and Ginko biloba with its antioxidant properties,” but it appears corn oil is a more prominent feature based on the order of the ingredients on the list. The emollient factor was considered a good thing in the bronzers, though it had that sticking to wetness issue. With the blushes, I don’t have any issues like that. Granted, it does fade a little as the day goes on, but I still consider it a decently lasting blush formula.

Also, just like the highlighter, these are fragrance free.

French Kiss

I would describe this color as a peachy-pink-brown, and on the lighter side of medium in terms of depth. It definitely shows up on me (though it’s harder to see on camera), and does not look ashy, but if it was just a little bit darker it would be perfect for me. I wear it on its own, but it makes for a nice mixing shade if I want to tone down a brighter blush to turn it a little more neutral without making my cheeks darker.

Obsessed

This is a warm medium toned peachy-pink blush. I expected this to be my favorite of the three, but it flips back and forth between first and second place. I like that it shows up on me easier than French Kiss because it’s a little darker, but I think the brown in the other one compliments my skin tone slightly more. However, since it’s a warm leaning pink it’s still complimentary. I use it on its own, but I also like mixing it with French Kiss.

Lovebite

I have to be careful using this one because it’s such a vibrant reddish-pink shade, and pigmented to boot. I tap my brush once into the pan and work that amount of product from my brush onto one single cheek until it’s blended to be less intense. Then I repeat the process on the other cheek.

I find it interesting that my camera is able to pick up the shimmer particles quite a bit. I never noticed them as much in my lighting situations back in Germany, though the intensity of light (even natural light) is quite different from there compared to Florida.

Photo from the Mesauda Website

Blush & Glow in Koralline

I think Mesauda is dropping the “Milano” part of their name because it’s not listed that way on the brand website; only on Douglas. In addition, the only packaging I could see with “Mesauda Milano” on it was this Blush & Glow product in circle packaging. This product is discounted everywhere at a price around 4 euros with only a few of the shade options available at various places, so I am guessing it’s being discontinued or will return in new packaging to match the black squares of the others.

Koralline is quite similar to Lovebite, but with more pink in it than red. I was hoping this would either be light enough to use as a highlighter or deep enough to wear as a full-on blush. I like the base color, but the pearls unfortunately create a cast on my skin tone in certain lighting situations that makes it look ashy, even though it’s absolutely deep enough of a blush shade for me (or would be without the pearl pigments). This has happened to me before with some highlighters that have a base color deep enough for my skin, but the shimmer itself is too dark or too light and that makes it unflattering on my skin tone. I had issues with pearl pigments in my Hourglass vs Guerlain post as well, and even some of MAC’s Mineralize Blushes, which is why it’s the only blush formula from MAC that I’m very picky about. It’s a bit funny that the day I took the photo, it happened to show on my camera the prettiest it’s ever looked!

The blush otherwise looks quite pretty on the skin, is smooth, contains “Jojoba oil with emollient and moisturizing action,” has decent longevity, and does remind me quite a lot of the MAC Mineralize Blush formula. However, because of that pearl (or the combination of the pearls with the “holographic pigments”), and the way it reflects in light, I planned to declutter it. However, seeing how it looks on camera, I will reconsider it.

Gold N-Roses Eyeshadow Palette

Photo from the Mesauda website (above) versus how it looks in person (below).

The online photos on the website don’t do this palette justice. The colors are much prettier in person and I was thrilled to see it contains a duochrome called Oh Wow. These eyeshadows are thin, yet give good color payoff, while being in tones that are on the softer side. For instance, instead of an intense red, we have Felicia which is a deep pink-red. Rather than a vibrant purple, Victoria is more of a muted magenta. This makes the palette perfect for someone who likes neutrals, but also enjoys dabbling in “wearable” colors or having festive options for specific outings/occasions.

The mattes take noticeably longer to blend than I’m used to, but not so long that I would call them “bad.” They just require a bit of effort. I recommend using a brush with bristles thicker than squirrel (like goat or synthetic) with them. Most of these are opaque, but Perception is extremely patchy. From the first time I swiped it on my fingers, I could see spots where my skin was showing through, and this wasn’t the case for any other shadow in the palette.

I understand that some brands prefer to make their black shadows buildable, but it gives a smoky worn out look when I use it since it doesn’t build to be entirely opaque. I like smokier looks, but not necessarily on the grungy editorial side. This shade is still usable, but I’d prefer to reach for another palette’s black eyeshadow.

As for the shimmers, I prefer using them wet to aid in the shiny look and ability to layer them up for average intensity.

Because of the way the plastic packaging feels, the shape of the pans, and the layout, this palette reminds me of Tarte and Persona palettes. However, I prefer the formulas from those two over this one and would prefer to pay the $4-$8 increased price for that quality. Because this palette hasn’t been in my possession for all that long, it still feels exciting to have, but I honestly don’t foresee myself reaching for it more than a few times after this review. I like this, but I can’t recommend it over similarly priced palettes on the market.

BARE HARMONY 3.0 Palette in 205 Hidden Green

My experience with this particular palette has additional positives and negatives over the Gold N’Roses palette. For starters, I bought it because I forgot to bring a deep shimmer or satin brown shade on the trip with me. Plus, I’m a sucker for pretty green eyeshadows and I was so intrigued by the look of Moss. It’s a combination of various green and gold/bronze shimmer, but it doesn’t have that true duochromatic effect. There’s no shift, but it’s undeniably still pretty.

I like that the pigmentation level is cranked up for these mattes, while still being just as thin. However, they require even more work than my other palette for blending. I don’t know if it’s necessarily worth that trade-off since blending time is more tedious to me than being able to get strong color payoff the tiniest bit quicker. As for the shimmers, they are wetter, creamier, and shinier than in the Gold N’Roses palette. My only issue was with Precious, because I had trouble picking up that shade on my brush without it either dispersing everywhere on my eyes in a low pigment scattered effect (because the particles aren’t bound together as much as the other shimmers) or coming up in a giant chunk if I pressed too hard into the pan. Essentially, I had to resort to spraying my brush every time I used it in order to get it to stick on my eyes in the area I wanted with minimal mess.

So, even though this palette is trickier to use, the color story is more my speed and how much more dramatic I can make my looks is why I think I might actually reach for this palette a bit more than Gold N’Roses. I have so many gorgeous palettes now in the green, brown, yellow, and gold color scheme that once the “new” feeling fades, I wouldn’t be surprised if I stop using it after another month or two and go back to using my favorites. As for whether or not I recommend Hidden Green, even though the Natasha Denona Mini Gold Palette is a few dollars more expensive and contains much less product, I believe that’s way more worth the purchase than this one. I don’t regret buying this one though because it was needed while I was overseas and I enjoyed it while my eyeshadow options were limited.

Other Products (Images from the Brand Website)

“The Skin” Foundation. Photo from the Mesauda Website.

I was very curious about this product, but I don’t have a good shade in this line. I’d be somewhere in the 73 or 74 range, but I’d need a color that didn’t have that strong of an orange tone. I cannot speak to how these shades look in person, but it appears that the light to medium range is well covered and much closer in depth between shades. There are huge gaps though from C70 and onward, plus C75 and W80 don’t look like real skin tones. They look like corrector colors on the darker end. It’s not enough for brands to have dark shades in their line. They have to be colors that actually match people, or else it seems like they didn’t invest as much time and effort in the creation of those colors and they are just there for show to look more inclusive than they are.

Concealer Photo from the Mesauda Website

I didn’t try the concealer for the same reason of being unable to find a color that would work for me. W90 is too light and too pink, but C95 is too dark. The range is missing quite a few tan to rich options, but this line does a better job looking like real tones (except the peach one P01 still looks like a corrector).

Face Powder Photo from the Mesauda Website

Talk about a shade jump! The difference between 107 and 108 is staggering! Once more, I did not have a good color match. If this was the translucent type of powder, more people could perhaps be able to pull off using the last two. However, the website states, “The formula is rich in micronised mineral pigments for improved coverage and even application all over the face.” This talk of coverage leads me to believe it’s the pigmented kind of powder that could be used to boost the coverage of foundation. In this case, the range is definitely limited for those who aren’t fair to medium.

As decent of a job as the brand has done with the products I reviewed today, there are certainly areas that could be improved if they wanted to fill out their current range as their brand grows. I wish them the best and hope that this happens. I’ll be keeping my eye out on what they’re up to when I return to Europe toward the end of this year because they make some nice products of interest to me.

That’s everything! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

More Clionadh Cosmetics Stained Glass Shades and Other Eyeshadows

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“At some point in the future, I plan on doing a follow-up post featuring any additional shades I purchased, along with the closest shade comparisons to multichromes among Clionadh and from other brands, and examples of how I’ve worked each shadow into completed eye looks.”

That was my intention after my first Expansion post, but since many things happened between now and then (such as Hurricane Ian, having spinal fusion surgery, and being overseas for a few more weeks) I decided I’ll show the various photos, eye looks, and swatches that I currently have. It was getting confusing keeping track of my files on three different devices dated weeks and months apart. In my next Clionadh update post, I will have those comparisons plus missing eye and arm swatches and completed eye looks.

I’m also adding photos of the newest circle pan eyeshadows I’ve purchased as well! Plus, I finally got the other multichrome highlighter from the Dragonfruit Collection. The most I’m missing are arm swatches of Quest, Auric, and Chalice. I at least have eye swatches of the latter two and video clips of all three.

Earth Vibrant Multichromes

I now own 8 of 12 in the Earth Vibrant category, and this is still one of my favorite and most used lines within the Stained Glass Collection. The combination of beauty and subtlety is what makes these so enamoring.

Electric Multichromes

We’re now at 5 of 12 Electric Multichromes, but I believe I have all the ones in this category that appeal to me and aren’t too similar to other Clionadh shades.

Vibrant Multichrome

I own 2 of the 4 newly expanded Vibrant Multichromes, but 7 of the 12 total. These haven’t ended up being my most used category, but when I have a very specific eye look in mind, these end up being just what I want, filling that void of brightness or uniqueness.

Hybrid Multichromes

I chose to buy Chalice from the original collection because I don’t have as many yellows and golds from Clionadh and I wanted to see how different this one would be from the few I own from them. The answer is, “not very,” as it doesn’t have an easily discernible shift which makes it like a smoother version of the glitter multichromes. This addition, combined with Queen’s Banquet, put me at 8 of the 11. That is pretty wild considering the Hybrid formula is among my least favorite of the Stained Glass lines. That isn’t to say that they’re bad by any means. I just typically like more color impact, stronger shifts, or both. So, it’s a bit funny that I ended up with so many.

Jewelled Multichrome

I now own 12 of the 20, though this category didn’t get expanded last year. It was just a matter of seeing more photos of Forge in a different light that prompted me to get it, even though it’s supposed to be similar to Pat Mcgrath’s Sextraterrestrial shade from Divine Rose II, which I don’t even use that often anymore despite how pretty it is. I didn’t get a chance to compare them yet though, so that will be added to the list for next time.

Dimentional Multichrome

I believe there are just two of these in the line so far, and it was released after the big expansion last year.

This category is supposed to be a brighter, more glittery version of the Jewelled multichromes. By using a grey base instead of a dark one, I can see how this line might be more appealing to those who felt the Jewelled ones were too intense, but that intensity is what I love about them. I can see the increase in sparkle, but there are other lines from Clionadh if I want a glittery multichrome versus a smooth metallic looking one. So, I don’t think this is a category I’ll be exploring as much (since I prefer the Jewelled ones), but I’m happy to have been able to try one.

Arm Swatches

Deep Iridescent Multichromes

Despite missing arm swatches of Auric, I own 8 of 12. This isn’t surprising considering this is my second favorite line from Clionadh. I would love to own them all, but I don’t think I would get as much use out of the missing four shades, though I’m still tempted by Lapis Lazuli.

Also, I’m not sure if I’ve shown this before, but Clionadh has been including brand stickers in orders and I’ve saved them to stick onto custom palettes, such as the Viseart Empty SlimPro Palettes which Clionadh Stained Glass shadows fit perfectly into. I place stickers on the front and underside of the lid.

Stocking Stuffer Shadow Trio in Tree Skirt, Timber, and Tinsel

This was the brand’s holiday release for 2022. It even came with a tiny Christmas stocking to go with it.

Additional Individual Circle Pan Eyeshadows and the Pitaya Fruitlighter

Caribou always appealed to me, but there was a time period when I wasn’t as interested in buying the neutral colors from Clionadh, though that has clearly changed by now. So, I finally bought that one. Centaur is a new eyeshadow released in 2023, and I’m not usually interested in taupe shades, but this one looked so pretty that I felt compelled to order it.

With this purchase of Pitaya, I now have both Dragonfruit Collection Fruitlighters that I use as eyeshadows.

That’s all I have for today! I apologize for this being quite disorganized and unfinished, but I wanted to be sure I finally got out at least something after all these months owning these additional Clionadh products.

Also, for anyone wondering if I’m going to purchase Clionadh’s upcoming Deep Sea Treasures palette the brand showed as a sneak peek of the cover art on Instagram…I’m not sure if I will. Without seeing the color story yet, I assume there will be a lot of blues, which is not my preference. As much as I love the brand, if the palette consists of too much of a shade I don’t wear a lot (such as the reds and pinks in the Dragonfruit palette), then I skip it and save that money towards a different new product release.

So, it’s probably likely there will be a lot of blues, and if so, I will probably pass on this one.

Thank you for visiting!

-Lili ❤

Swatchfest #6: Six Eyeshadow Palettes

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In my Failed Low-Buy post, I mentioned that between Black Friday and holiday sales, there were 24 eyeshadow palettes I hadn’t even swatched. Although I’ve made several palette reviews since then, I still had so many untouched palettes. So, just before I left for my trip, I wanted to at least swatch some of them to help get the ball rolling.

Huda Beauty Em(power)ed Palette

Although I still haven’t used this palette, I wanted to say that Manifest It is that strange gel formula that Huda added to the Naughty palette, but the pigment is in cream form instead of the circular balls. In order to swatch that shadow accurately in this palette filled with all different eyeshadow textures, I had to take a cosmetic spatula and basically recombine the clear hard waxy gel and pigment together to get an even coating of color. Initially I pressed my finger into it, but then a giant chunk came out of the palette, and I figured I would need to fully mix it to get it to even adhere back to the pan without falling out.

Also, when I first saw this palette, I was so excited because I misread the cover and thought Huda was partnering with the (RED) charity, which puts (RED) on their products and I even used to have a shirt with EMPOWE(RED) on it. It was something I used to support when Bono was the face of it back in my high school days and early college days, having bought several merch items with it. Then I realized it was (Power) being singled out in the word and had nothing to do with it. I was disappointed, but still wanted the palette for all its textures, being a neutral color story that actually appealed to me, and to finally have my first of Huda’s larger size palettes and see if the quality is really that much better than the smaller ones as some people have said.

Lethal Cosmetics Evergreen Palette

I prefer to get individual eyeshadows of the exact shades I want from Lethal Cosmetics, but the amount of singles I wanted from Evergreen would have cost more than the full palette. Plus, with the Black Friday discount, I was able to get even more of a deal.

Lethal Cosmetics Eyeshadow Singles in Runic, Symmetry, Lithophyte, Volant, Parsec, and Nox

These were the singles that made more sense to buy individually. I also haven’t worn them yet, but I’m pleased with this selection. They weren’t intended to be a cohesive color story, but it’s a happy accident!

Glamlite Strawberry Shortcake Berrylicious Palette

In addition to the palette, I also bought the adorable strawberry sponge, which I have not used yet either.

I intended to review the Glamlite Happy Hour Collection, but I had such a difficult time dealing with the intense creasing (some of the worst I’d ever experienced) that I was too turned off by the palettes to review them. I stayed away from the palettes that came after, that is, until this one from Strawberry Shortcake. The shades (including those gorgeous Duochromes) were too pretty to resist and I used a code during the launch to make it even less of a risk if it didn’t turn out the way I hoped. We shall see how it goes with this one in the future!

Beauty Bay Dark Fantasy Palette

I’ve heard good things about this formula, so I waited until they had a color story that spoke to me to buy one. They certainly swatch beautifully! I’m hopeful that I’ll like it!

Buxom x Ash K Holm Palette

This is the exception to the palettes purchased during Black Friday 2022, but this palette was from November 2021, and I only used it once back in April 2022. I put one eye look on each eye twice, and never felt inspired to use it again. I like the color story, and as silly as it is, the shade being called Scorpio made me want to like this palette even more. However, the quality was just “fine.” It certainly wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t spectacular either. I barely tried anything from Buxom, which is why I bought this palette in the first place. However, I’ve been debating so long whether or not to even keep this palette because I want more than just okay eyeshadows in my collection now.

That’s everything for today. Thank you for viewing!

-Lili ❤

Oden’s Eye Flora Story and Swatchfest of Holiday Palettes and More

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Joining the Legendary Diversa line from Oden’s Eye, the Perfect World Collection is their new round of Influencer collabs. Makeup Just for Fun and Lauren Mae Beauty are two of the three YouTubers they worked with that I’m subscribed to, but it was only Amanda’s palette that I felt would add something to my collection. I was one of the early purchasers, so I was able to get the faux silk ribbon that came with it.

At the time that I’m writing this, Flora Story is the only one that sold out. It’s being restocked for one final time on March 23rd, so I wanted to make sure I included my first impression thoughts in this Swatchfest post. I also included two eye looks for this palette, as well as Solmane II, which is another palette the brand continues to restock. Cat’s Breath is still available, but I suspect it will be discontinued once sold out, just like the other items in the Freja Collection.

My previous reviews of other Oden’s Eye products can be found listed with links on this page here.

Oden’s Eye + Makeup Just For Fun Flora Story Palette

It’s interesting that the multichrome, Dawn, looks yellow and pink in the arm swatches when it’s purely orange on my eyes. In fact, this multichrome reminds me of Pink Chameleon from the Norn’s palette and Double-Sided from the Hela palette. I love being able to get multichromes from Oden’s Eye at an affordable price, but they tend to look a bit similar to one another.

These mattes are mostly easy to use, but they feel slightly thinner than I’m used to from the brand. They still give decent color payoff despite being soft muted colors, with the exception of Sage that ended up looking quite similar to Clover on my eyes, even though they look completely different in swatches. The issue is that I had a harder time building up Sage to something deep enough for my outer corner. Without being able to build it up more opaquely, there wasn’t as much distinction from Clover which was used first. Perhaps I would have gotten more color payoff if I used Sage first.

I used Orchid first in my second eye look, but I was disappointed that this turned out to be one of those types of purples that have a magenta tinge that when blended out gives me two different tones of purple and makes it look improperly blended or patchy on my eyes no matter how much I build it up. I still managed to create a look that I thought was beautiful, but I covered up some of the patchiness by throwing the shimmer on top. There might be a trick to using purples like these that I just haven’t discovered yet, and I only played with this palette for one day, so perhaps another primer could have also helped the situation.

As for the shimmers, some felt chunkier and wetter than others. Best Buds felt and performed the most like a typical Oden’s Eye shadow, but I was suprised that Misty was not very easy to smooth onto my lids. Despite being thick, it still had some spots I could see my skin beneath. Magnolia was thinner in consistency and didn’t have as opaque of a base either. It also gave me quite a bit of fallout. In using these shimmers, I suddenly remembered the complaints I’d heard about there being too much mineral oil or dimethicone in some of Oden’s Eye’s new single eyeshadows (inconsistently across the range). I’m wondering if they started increasing the amount of it in their formulas with these newer palettes from Christmas last year and onward. How wet it feels and the consistency doesn’t necessarily dictate how it will perform though because Lush was a little thick and wet, but did go on more opaque than the other shimmers.

It could be the case that these shimmers perform exactly the way Amanda intended. I think she prefers building up her shadows and likes color, but not too intense. For that reason, I wouldn’t want to judge this palette as any sign of the direction of Oden’s Eye. I just wanted to compare it to other palettes in the past so one can have an idea of what to expect.

The eyeliner in the Green look is from Melt Cosmetics.

Even though this isn’t my favorite formula, I still like the palette and the shades and it’s not too hard to come up with a pretty look with a little bit of effort. It’s not so much effort as to make me not want to reach for it though, nor consider it bad in any way. It’s very nice, just not on the level of amazing. I can appreciate though that the colorful nature of it, while still being in softer tones, makes it stand out among past palettes from the brand. I was right in thinking it would be something different from the kinds of palettes and color stories I usually get. Plus, the added wetness led to only the tiniest amount of creasing. The amount I consider negligible.

I bought both the Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas Palettes from Oden’s Eye and received two free ornament keychains with my purchase. I was very easily drawn to the Merry Christmas palette because of the greens and how on theme that color scheme is, but the Christmas Eve palette wouldn’t leave my mind. There was something so intriguing about the non-blue shades. I’m still in anti-blue mode, but I can feel that start to dissipate for now. At the time, I still felt it was worth getting the palette for all the other colors. That turned out to be a great decision because it was even more gorgeous in person and Oden’s Eye did not end up restocking these two despite the pleas from customers who I still see three months later asking for a restock on social media.

Christmas Eve Palette

Merry Christmas Palette

I’ve used these holiday palettes every so often since getting them, but mostly in combination with eyeshadows from other brands. That’s why I don’t have many photos of those instances (used on non-testing days). The hype is real on these! I love the shades. I love the performance. The shimmers are so bright and reflective. The mattes are still on the thin side, but blend and build beautifully. I think there are some similarities between these shades and past palettes, but I like having them in one place. I admittedly have only used half of the eyeshadows in both palettes, but so far so good! If other palettes hadn’t taken priority (ones actually available to purchase), I would have used these way more already. I wanted so badly to bring at least the Merry Christmas palette on the trip with me, but I didn’t have room.

Although the brand hasn’t said anything about restocking them, I think it would be smart if they waited until this coming Christmas to bring them back. As much as the demand is for them now, they are still holiday themed palettes, and it would make more sense to return during the actual holidays. As long as they keep the same formula (which does have some chunkier and wetter shimmers like in the Flora Story palette, but they’re at least fully opaque), I would recommend getting one or both.

Solmane II Palette

I only used this palette once so far, just before I left for my trip. In the eye look using the entire bottom row, I had a easy time applying everything until I got to Black Hole. Normally, I tend to love the black eyeshadows from Oden’s Eye (Colourful Black from the Norn’s palette is still one of my favorites to this day, plus I like Complete from the Hela palette), but this one was tougher to blend. I tried to build it carefully and slowly. I could still make it work, but it’s definitely not effortless.

Galaxy was also not the easiest to use either, similar to Orchid from the Flora story palette. However, I was in a rush doing that eye look, so I’m going to give that one another shot in the future. Meteor is more like a topper shadow, but still pretty. I could have used it on its own and been happy with the look, but it also worked to intensify the shine level on top of Hallucinations.

For being nearly pastels, I was impressed with how Soft Cloud and Dream looked on my eyes (more so Soft Cloud because of the opacity). Pastels aren’t the most flattering on me, from my perspective, but I’m interested to see how else I can incorporate these shades in future looks. They look and perform similarly to shades I own from Lethal Cosmetics.

I definitely need to use this palette more before I make up my mind about how I feel. Sometimes it only takes one instance to know, but not this time.

Cat’s Breath Palette

I don’t have any opinions on Cat’s Breath because I haven’t used it on my eyes yet. I just wanted to share the swatches. This palette and Solmane II are the ones I bought during Black Friday because I was attracted to some of the shades, but not all, and I didn’t think buying them at full price would be a good idea for me. Honestly, I wanted Cat’s Breath for the packaging artwork. I mean, how cute is it?

I hope this was helpful, even though it wasn’t a full-on review. As I mentioned in the beginning, I know the restock for Flora Story is coming in a few days, Solmane II was just restocked recently as well, plus a few of the Oden’s Eye singles. This will probably be when a lot of new purchases will be made, but I also wanted to remind the shoppers out there who love a good bargain (like I do) that Oden’s Eye usually has a decent sale during Easter, or at least they usually have some kind of deal like Mystery Boxes. That could mean wanting products from launches two weeks apart with shipping to consider. It would be a risk to wait if you want the Flora Story palette, but I wanted to at least give that reminder about Easter.

For those who may be wondering, I do consider myself a big fan of Oden’s Eye products, but I won’t be buying the individual shadows unless they make some announcement about they having a “new and improved formula,” after the major creasing and fading issues I’ve seen on Instagram. The fact that I’m on another low-buy this year is what saved me from potentially being in the same boat. I’m also disappointed about the lack of transparency about it and them not addressing it despite how many months have passed. Plus, I’ve heard customer service complaints have been ignored, which in my experience had always been good in the past. So, I’m not sure what to make of that situation. I think it’s important that I at least mention it because I don’t want anyone to make purchases without knowing potential issues that may arise with certain products or customer service.

Have an awesome week!

-Lili ❤

Best of Melt’s Mystery Bundles and Holiday Sale Part 1

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Once again, Melt Cosmetics made mystery boxes available starting on Black Friday with a smaller $25 option and larger $75 box. They repeated these price options for the December versions, and the large December box is still available at this time. Everyone gets the same items in each specific box, so I watched quite a few videos on YouTube so I could know in advance what I’d be getting. Sure, it took the mystery element out of it, but I was able to guarantee the value would be worth it for me.

There are plenty of other items from the Mystery boxes that I am not going to feature because they are products I’ve already reviewed, I can’t wear because they don’t show up on my skin, I don’t like because of the color, or I’d feel uncomfortable trying out due to the suspicious smell (most of the Amor y Mariposas Collection lip liners).

The products I selected for the photo above are the ones I decided to keep for myself from the mystery bundles, in addition to a few extras I added to my cart during the 40% off sale that was simultaneously happening on the website (mystery boxes excluded). However, tackling them all in one giant post was too overwhelming, so I’m splitting this into two parts. Part 1 will cover all the eye products and Part 2 will come at a later date covering the face and Mariposas items.

Gemini II Palette

Sweetheart, Gemelas, Matheo, and Almond Eyes are my favorite shades from this palette. I don’t know what it is about pinks and greens that is such a struggle for me to think of ways to use them together, but that’s ultimately why I didn’t buy this palette at launch. I do like these two color families when used separately, so I continued to be tempted by them. As time went on and I saw the repackaged version of Gemini with Gemini II being used by others more and more, I reconsidered getting them until I began seeing photos online of some sort of growths appearing in various people’s palettes just two months after they bought them. Melt has notoriously had issues with their eyeshadow formulas in the palette versions (as opposed to their stacks), which is why I’ve never been willing to risk getting them at full price in case it happens to mine as well. It had been at least a year since I heard of any major issues, so I was just beginning to let go of my fear until I saw that. However, my two oldest Melt Palettes that I started using Spring/Summer 2022 (Amor y Mariposas and She’s in Parties) are still in perfect condition. So, that’s why I keep taking partial chances because I love their formula.

The mattes in this palette are exactly what I expect them to be from Melt: very pigmented, opaque grungy tones, and easy to blend. Matheo is a real shimmer with its brownish-green color and green sparkles but it’s a bit on the thin side and needs to be built up. Shmood is more of a metallic-satin. Shmood instantly reminded me of the She’s in Parties shadow from the She’s in Parties palette, but that one is a slight purple leaning red whereas Shmood is a warmer red with an orange shift on the eyes. I’m not used to owning such a matte-heavy palette, but I don’t have a single bad thing to say about the performance of any of these shadows. For my personal taste, I didn’t need both Bela and Lady Like since Bela is basically a brow bone shade without being impactful enough for me as an inner corner brightening color and Lady Like only faintly shows up and is the kind of color I just include for the transition shade to blend into, but no quality complaints. Everything is long lasting. The shimmer and satin don’t crease on me. They’re great! I just hope the quality doesn’t diminish over time.

I used the Allday Everyday Ultra Matte Eyeliner in 1987 in both of the green eye looks in this section.

As much as I enjoy this palette and am very pleased with it so far, my inability to use it to its fullest (the color choices and my skill level with color theory) is why I’m glad I was able to get it in a mystery bundle for technically a better savings value with the other items combined.

Rust Palette

Once again, I’m impressed by the mattes. Pigmented, soft, and blendable are the best words to describe them. Rott² is so intense that I have to be careful with that shade, but it can be sheered out if the tiniest amount is applied and heavily buffed. Other than Rott², the other mattes are easy to use. I’m also impressed with Erode considering tons of yellow mattes from other brands don’t show up very well on me because the amount of yellow tone I have to my skin blends in too much with the shadow color. Yellows also tend to disappear off my eye area because they are usually made to be a thinner or more powdery consistency (possibly too much titanium dioxide or another white base powder throwing off the dry base to binder ratio) that dusts off and doesn’t stick for long on me. So whenever I find a yellow matte eyeshadow that actually lasts, is a flattering and easily visible shade that’s also easy to blend, I always take notice.

This palette contains three metallics, but they’re only satisfactorily reflective for my tastes if applied wet. The end result is still on the low-sparkle side compared to the types of shimmers I typically wear, but I’m occasionally in the mood for something on the more subtle side, so I don’t mind. However, in doing swatches and building them up so much on my eyes with my fingers, both Tarnish and Ravage are starting to form a seal on the top layer of those shadows. It’s possible this could also be happening from double-dipping with my partly damp brush to get more intensity out of the shadows, but I think it’s moreso due to oils from my fingers. Redux hasn’t given me any issues yet, but it also has a more traditional shimmer texture to it than the other two metallics. I think it’s a little looser packed than the others, which could explain why it’s easier for me to pick up and why it hasn’t hard-panned.

It’s a shame that Tarnish and Ravage are the troublesome shadows because those are the two colors I like the most along with Erode, Rubbish (the tone of yellow I love to use as a transition shadow), and Rust (a nice warm brown). However, because I enjoy nearly all the mattes, plus the colors of these two metallics, I still very much like this palette overall. It’s not a very inspiring palette for me, but it has the go-to type of shades I like and use. If Pat Mcgrath can charge $65 for an all matte 6-pan palette, then I guess it’s not really my place to say the Rust palette isn’t worth full price considering Melt’s matte quality, but I personally recommend getting Rust on sale if possible.

Smoke Sessions

I’ve wanted this palette for years, but this is the one I heard the absolute most complaints about in terms of formula stability issues. I’ve heard of the shimmers randomly expanding in the pans and exploding out of them (then people pressing them back and it happening again), and I’ve seen the most growths and things appearing in these. From the moment I felt the shimmers, I understood how this may be possible considering how much wetter they are than all other Melt shimmers/satins/metallics that I’ve felt before. When I first got the palette, I opened it just to check that no shades were broken before setting the palette aside. When it actually came time that I was ready to use it about a month later, Blue Dream was cracked in the upper portion of the shadow. I have no idea if it’s just because the shimmers are more softly pressed or if it’s because mine was in the process of a reaction. I’m more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt and say it’s just soft and somehow broke in my handling the palette (even though I never dropped it). I pressed the shadow back with my finger (no wetting agent added) but the consistency of Blue Dream is so loose that it keeps picking up in strange chunks. I took a photo of it below. In order to use this shadow without getting fallout everywhere (plus have it look opaque), I have to apply it with a dampened brush. The binding ability appears to be weird in that one. I will of course update if I notice anything else, but we’ve passed the two month mark and nothing else has changed now. Hopefully there won’t be any additional developments.

Grand Daddy, Black Widow, and Mean Green are like my favorite types of greens in terms of color. Having them all in one palette is what drew me in. Gravity OG, Sour Diesel, and Space Queen are colors I also like, so despite all the questionable things said about this palette, it was just impossible for me to skip forever. I don’t have regrets getting it for 40% off during the sale, but this formula has to be babied a lot.

These mattes are not what I’ve come to expect from Melt. They’re so much stiffer and less easy to blend. I was quite disappointed in Sour Diesel since that murky green just looks murky brown on my eyes. I wanted more of that green tinge to show through. As for the shimmers, they are a wetter texture but they still don’t pick up that well and the consistency somehow isn’t enough to make them impactful on the eyes. I still have to dampen my brush when I apply them. On the positive side, they do look beautiful after that and I’m used to wetting my shadows anyway, so that isn’t a deal breaker for me. I’m just perplexed as to how they’re so creamy/wet yet still under-perform without help. I’ve also had a little bit of creasing with these too, which is something I’m not used to from Melt either. So, as beautiful as these tones are, I was a bit disappointed. I think if Melt reformulated this palette to what they’re currently using in the newer ones, this would have had the potential to be a favorite in my collection, and not just out of the palettes I’ve bought from the brand.

Bad Side Zodiac Mini Eyeshadow Palette in Earth

I bought this during the 40% off sale and before I noticed how similar it would be to all the other Melt palettes I have. I was just so focused on wanting this color story.

Now that I have a lot more experience using Melt’s shadows, I can say that the matte quality of Earth (I didn’t notice a difference with Air) is the tiniest bit lower than in She’s in Parties, Amor y Mariposas, Rust, and Gemini II, but only the tiniest bit. I still very much like them and find them to be quite good. It’s only really when layered on top of each other that they can look a little muddy.

I’m not sure if it’s just because the shimmers are yellows and oranges, which can blend in quite a bit with my skintone, but I felt the need to wet them for more impact. Over Critical is quite a harsh tone of yellow though on me, and wetting it made the consistency a little odd in terms of getting it to lay smoothly and not patchy, kind of like my troubles with the Blue Dream shade from the Smoke Sessions palette. Know-It-All and Materialistic, however, were creamier and easier to pick up and spread smoothly. I’ve noticed that I prefer Melt’s shimmer formula in their newer palettes rather than their older ones, but their mattes are what is special about their eyeshadows. That’s why even though I prefer palettes with more shimmers than mattes, it’s probably a good thing that Melt’s palettes tend to be the opposite.

Ultra Matte Gel Liner in Onyx and Cultura

The Melt Gel liners are fantastic, in my experience, so I purchased Cultura during the sale and received Onyx twice in mystery boxes. I like the waterproof nature to them (and how they still come off with a bit of Bioderma and a makeup wipe without needing a waterproof remover specifically). They dry quickly, don’t smudge, and last all day without the line cracking. I don’t mind using a jar eyeliner if it’s a colorful one, but I would honestly not get much use out of Onyx purely because I find liquid eyeliner pens to be so much easier to use for all my black eyeliner needs.

Allday Everyday Ultra Matte Eyeliner in 1987

I got this liner from the Mystery Bundle. It has been discontinued at Sephora, though it’s still available for sale on Melt’s website. Melt has a new range of eyeliners called “Slick Waterline Eye Pencils,” so my guess is they’re just trying to get rid of the remaining stock. I hope these aren’t too old.

This pencil’s color is dark enough for me, but I prefer ultra rich black liner shades similar to the depth of Onyx. It glides across the lash line easily. It needs a little time to fully set before it will be smudge-proof and water-proof, but that does happen if it’s fully dry. It’s even easier to remove than the Gel Liners, but is tough enough to not budge all day (not that I usually have problems with that unless it’s in my waterline). It’s a decent eyeliner, but I almost always create a wing and the point of this pencil isn’t sharp enough to create that easily. If I want one, I have to use an angled brush to sharpen the outer line or to use concealer. So, I honestly don’t think I’ll get much use out of this either, but I wanted to try it out anyway.

To see these on the eyes, 1987 is in the two eye looks using the green shadows in the Gemini II section. Onyx are in the last two of the three eye looks in the Smoke Sessions sections. Cultura is the yellow liner in the Rust palette eye looks section.

That’s everything for today! Part 2 will probably take several more weeks to give me time to finalize my thoughts, but I have tried almost everything for that one so far and I have been taking photos for it already. Thank you for reading and I hope you’ll check back here again for more beauty content!

-Lili ❤

Charlotte Tilbury Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighters and More

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This review is technically eight months in the making since the bronzer, Pillow Talk Highlighter, and mascara were supposed to be part of last year’s “May Purchases Reviewed” post that I still have yet to complete. In fact, so much time has passed that I fully used up and decluttered the travel size mini of the mascara, and had to rely on a sample size version to complete this review. The advantage of this situation is that I have very solidified options on most of the products we’ll be diving into today. But, let’s start with the newest product that I’m the most excited to talk about first!

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter in Sunset Glow and Bronze Glow

Even though Sunset Glow is my better shade match, the blended out swatch shows that it’s close to my skin tone. If it was the tiniest bit darker, I might not have liked it as much as I do.

This was supposed to be an early 2023 release, but 6 of the 7 shades were available via Selfridges for $38 on December 30, 2022. I knew Sunset Glow was the shade I really wanted the most, but it started off as a CT website exclusive for a week or so before it came to Selfridges, and I had already ordered Bronze Glow. As of this moment, Sunset Glow is still not available at Sephora, SpaceNK, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, or Beautylish. I spotted it on the Feelunique website, so it seems the best chance to get this particular shade (if you live in the US) is from UK based places that have a US site too.

One of the first things I noticed when I got the product in my hands was how much it rattled when I held it and used it, to the point where the pan starts spinning in the compact when I try to do swatches. It’s not loose and it doesn’t fall out when held upside down. It’s just a matter of it being magnetic and not glued down. I don’t know if the ridges/raised elements on the bottom of the pan is the cause for the actual sound from it not laying evenly or if it’s due to having a weaker magnet inside the compact. It’s a minor flaw that I don’t mind because it makes it that much easier to transfer this pan into a different compact if Charlotte Tilbury comes out with something in the future with a pretty design on it. I like this outer packaging design more than the basic logo, but it’s not as cute as some of the past lunar new year compacts for instance, so I’d love to transfer this into prettier packaging some day because I really like this highlighter!

I created a chart using the images from the Charlotte Tilbury website to make it easier to see the color recommendations. Since Sunset Glow is the harder to find shade, I put that one in the middle, though it’s supposed to be in the 5th position.

According to the brand, these shades are “flawless on everyone,” but certain colors look especially pretty on certain skin tones. Bronze Glow is supposed to be the deepest color, but the shimmer looked light enough to work for me based on the brand’s swatches and examples on models. I was right in that regard, but the darker tone does keep it from looking as nice on me as it could. The point of a highlighter is to draw attention to a particular area of the face and bring that forward. Bronze Glow looks flatter and duller compared to Sunset Glow because the base isn’t light enough to create that lifted illusion. It still draws attention due to the sparkle color, but it’s not as pretty as when it’s both shimmery and lighter in depth, but not so light as to leave a pale stripe on the face. For this reason, I recommend taking the depth of one’s skin tone into account when choosing a shade despite the brand’s insistence on a universal aspect to them. As I learned, certain models are demonstrating one specific highlighter color for a reason and I found that choosing the shade closest to the model that looked like me resulted in the highlighter looking its smoothest. The “wrong” one drew a little more attention to texture.

Judging this based on Sunset Glow alone, these highlighters are super smooth. It feels slightly damp to the touch, but it is dry on the face. Part of what’s supposed to make this line of highlighters different from the rest is that it’s supposed to have a finish that looks like it’s melting into the skin like liquid highlighters would, while benefiting from the ease of use as a powder product. It looks beautiful all day and doesn’t lose its reflectivity like some lower quality shimmer in highlighters can do. This is by far my favorite highlighter from the brand and I believe it could be in the top ten ranking among all the ones I own.

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Highlighter in Dream Light

This may come as a surprise, but I wasn’t impressed with this product initially. It’s possible that I just had a sour taste in my mouth from my first one arriving broken. When this one arrived, I was disappointed to see the random larger glitter specks particularly within the dark reddish bronze strip (#2) and champagne colored strip (#4). Part of the theoretical benefit I saw to owning this highlighter was the ability to have four different highlighter colors within one product and be able to customize the shades by mixing two or more together, but the ones on the left and right sides of the pan are so small and thin that a select few brushes allow me to pick up the single color I choose. It turns out that the only shade I feel I can pull off wearing by itself is the deep golden one (#3). For getting just that, I tend to use my discontinued Wayne Goss #15 fan brush.

When I want a stronger intensity level of highlighter, I add the tiniest bit of the light gold (#1) on the very highest point/spot on my cheekbones. Besides the random larger sparkles, my biggest reasons for not preferring Stripe #2 is that it’s too red and dark, and Stripe #4 because it’s too light. Mixing all four shades creates a beautiful middle-ground color that I like, but I don’t wear it that way because of the increased number of random larger glitter specks. Of course, the more I use this and the more the shades kick up into one another, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to not get larger particle size shimmer in #1 and #3. So, it’s something I’m just trying to embrace.

Because this is another relatively smooth highlighter, I do like it. However, if I had to choose between the Pillow Talk highlighter and the new Glow Glide Face Architect ones, I prefer the latter because of the extra smoothness and glow it provides without looking so powdery. They are the same price, and the Pillow Talk highlighter gives more variety, but four pretty highlighter colors don’t compare to one near-perfect shade.

Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer in 3 Tan

I love this bronzer, but it had me going crazy for a bit! I included multiple photos because no matter what background or lighting I use, the color doesn’t look consistent. To my own eyes, when I wear this on my face, it sometimes looks more olive, or neutral, or warm-yellow, or warm-orange. I still can’t give a definitive answer as to what undertone this bronzer in Tan has! When I first started using it, there were times I thought the shade was strange and then other times it was absolute perfection! I’ve been using it on and off since June 2022 and I haven’t figured out the witchcraft that makes it look so different sometimes, but it’s one of my top three favorite cream bronzers now. It blends effortlessly on my face and sets without needing to powder it. The longevity is fantastic. One of the things I’m super impressed by is the fact that the texture has remained creamy for all these months without a film or discolored layer forming on the surface, and hasn’t partly dried out, like some other cream products of mine have done. It’s a pleasure to use every time!
Factoring my powder bronzers into the equation, this product has a ton of competition for claiming a spot in my top five favorites, but this might just be number one among the cream bronzers. I have three others that come to mind, but I haven’t spent enough time with them to say for sure yet which is the best of the best. Perhaps 2023 will be the year I finally do a yearly favorites post again to declare the winner.

In order to enjoy the pretty swirl pattern for longer, I mostly put my brush in the same spot (top right of the compact). It looks barely used, for that reason, from the top down perspective, but I’ve created a decent dip into the pan when taking into account how little product is needed.

Below, I’ve included a photo (taken in June) of another bronzer I bought that same month and love: the Nars Laguna Bronzing Cream in Laguna 04. It’s darker and more red toned than the Charlotte Tilbury cream bronzer, which is why I prefer Charlotte’s over it. Plus, the Nars bronzer is heavily scented.

There are so many reviews of this product by now, so perhaps it doesn’t need to be said, but the cream products are darker than the powder counterparts. For example, the powder version of Tan is lighter than this cream version of Tan. The powder version of Deep is lighter than the cream version of Deep. So, despite there only being four shade options, this helps to round out Charlotte’s overall bronzer line if you don’t mind using cream versus powder. I always wanted a “Dark Tan” or “3.5” bronzer shade in the powder line, but cream Tan is filling that void for me.

The price of this is ridiculously expensive, but it was worth it to me. It’s like if the Danessa Myricks Power Bronzer Cream and Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer had a baby and that baby acquired magical powers.

Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotising Pop Shots in Sunlit Diamond and Cosmic Rocks

I rarely reach for single eyeshadow products, unless they’re in a custom magnetic palette, so I try not to purchase things like this. However, that packaging was pretty, and having a multichrome eyeshadow in a beautiful compact that I could reuse (if I wanted to re-press a different eyeshadow into there) was extremely appealing. So, I purchased Cosmic Rocks. The only reason I ended up with Sunlit Diamond is because the brand sent me that on accident instead of the Sunset Glow highlighter. So, they allowed me to keep it and sent me a second package with my correct item inside. Sunlit Diamond is a beautiful color, so I’m happy to have it, even though I wouldn’t have bought it myself. It’s not due to the product being bad. These eyeshadows are pigmented and sparkly and stay pretty well bound together when picked up, which means I can avoid making a mess when applying them and I don’t have to dampen them to apply them either. However, I did apply the inner halves wet in the eye looks below to see if there would be a dramatic difference and there was not.
I don’t get much fallout during application, but I can get a bit of it as the day goes on. I still haven’t tried these with glitter glue, but perhaps that could prevent some of that fallout throughout the day.

Also, I get the tiniest bit of movement where the shadow doesn’t want to stay in the deepest line of my crease, but it could be the primer I’ve used with this. It’s such a minor amount for me, but I thought I would mention that anyway for those who might have deeper lines on the eyes than mine. Admittedly, since I’m not much of a single shadow wearer, I’ve tested this product the least of everything else (only four times).

As far as multichromes go, Cosmic Rocks certainly can’t compete with Clionadh in terms of intensity, but I’m not certain if that was even the brand’s goal considering their typical clientele. It doesn’t have nearly as dark of a base as the others, so I’m guessing Cosmic Rocks is meant to be a more approachable way to wear a colorful shadow and a multichrome without intimidating neutral lovers too much.

Even without being as deep as Clionadh’s Jewelled multichromes, Cosmic Rocks is still pretty dramatic on my eyes, so I’m still pleased with it. However, considering the full $34 price of the Pop Shots (I bought Cosmic Rocks from Selfridges for $25), I wouldn’t recommend if for those who love really full on multichromes. Granted, it does come in a lovely lightweight compact, so perhaps the upcharge is understandable considering it houses a multichrome eyeshadow. As much as I like Sunlit Diamond, I personally find the full price to be astronomical for a more traditional eyeshadow.

Charlotte Tilbury Push Up Lashes Mini Mascara

Right off the bat, I have to say that my experience with the sample was different from the travel size. I’m not sure if that has to do with the travel size having more product in the tube and being able to fully coat the brush or if there’s a slight difference between the two applicator brushes. All I know is that I liked the travel size enough to where I considered buying a full size, but I would never have been interested in this mascara if it was based on the sample alone, because with the sample I couldn’t build as much volume as I wanted without doing at least two coats. Unfortunately, I used up the travel size many months ago, so I cannot remember which eye looks I’ve taken in the past that I was wearing this mascara. I only have photos of this mascara using the sample size (which is in the pop shots section above).

Based on the travel size, I like that I can create a defined fanned out look with the wand. I get a decent amount of length and volume, although my lashes don’t get quite as long or full as my favorite mascaras can provide. I like that the brush is fairly skinny, so I have an easier time coating my lower lashes. I don’t get any clumping, smudging, or flaking with this either.

I considered repurchasing the travel size again specifically for my lower lashes, but after using the MAC Extended Play Lash, I decided against it because I prefer the applicator on that one and it’s slightly cheaper than the Push Up Mascara from Charlotte Tilbury. Plus, my top favorite mascaras do a good enough job with both top and bottom lashes and I just have to be a little more careful and deliberate when applying mascara to my lower lashes.

I’ve sometimes experienced a difference between the full size tube and travel size of mascaras (if for instance one is wetter or one gets too much or too little product on the applicator), so I don’t know if I would notice yet another difference if I had the full-size. But, based on the travel size, this is a nice mascara, but I don’t see myself repurchasing it.

That concludes this Charlotte Tilbury update post!

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

One/Size Disney Fantasia Collection

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I thought this collection was cute, but I admittedly didn’t purchase it until it went on sale at the end of last year. Now, the products are being offered at an even greater discount at Sephora, so I wanted to post my review while there are still some items left to purchase for those who might be interested.

Disney Fantasia Face and Eye Palette

I hadn’t tried eyeshadows from One/Size prior to owning this palette, but I’m very interested in getting more if the brand comes out with palettes with my type of colors in them. The mattes are so soft and creamy, almost like a wet sensation on the fingers, despite being completely dry and a powder. The closest comparison I can think of is like Tarte Amazonian Clay matte eyeshadows, but even creamier. The matte eyeshadows in this palette are actually the most similar to the matte blushes from the Cheek Clapper trios that I love so much because of how pigmented they are while also being smoothing, blurring, and easy to blend. I’m no cosmetic chemist, but I’m guessing it’s the amount of silica and “cone” ingredients in the brand’s matte products that make them feel the way they do. It’s impressive that they managed to use dimethicone, for instance, in a matte without it sealing itself after being swatched a few times (as I noticed that pattern with certain matte powder products I own and back when I was attempting to make my own pressed eyeshadows), but I’ve observed that ingredient lists with dimethicone in a matte product tend to have kaolin clay, zea mays/corn starch, or some other oil-absorbing dry ingredient with it, so perhaps that’s why silica is paired with it. Perhaps there’s another contributing ingredient as well that I haven’t realized, but either way, I love the performance of these mattes. I have to say though that I noticed Broomstick darkens when wet. That’s why I have it swatched twice in the swatch photo above. With each swipe, to smooth out the swatch, it kept getting darker and darker in places. I don’t know if it was from oils on my finger or if my finger was slightly wet from a spot on my microfiber cloth I use to clean off my arm between swatches. So, I did the second swatch underneath when I knew for sure my finger was dry and after smoothing it just once, it still appeared like it wanted to darken on the edges. I have also observed Broomstick darken a little in my eye looks while on top of my creamier primers. I don’t mind this since it still works as a transition shade for me whether it stays true to color or deepens up, but this may be an issue for those wanting a light non-dramatic eyeshadow look. Then again, considering the intensity of the blushes and the inclusion of very sparkly transformer shadows, this palette isn’t for those wanting completely natural looks.

Ironically, the darkest matte called D Minor isn’t as deep on the eyes as it looks in swatches. It blends to a softer more subtle color (for me).

This collection going on sale at Sephora and the One/Size website since last December leads me to the conclusion that this hasn’t sold very well, and I can’t help but wonder if part of the issue is due to it trying to appeal to everyone. We have the very neutral eyeshadows that will give soft looks. Dream is a satin that looks like a pale iridescent pink at certain angles. We have pigmented but not intense mattes. Classical has small size shimmer for a refined look, while still being nice and shiny to the point where I don’t feel the need to dampen it on my lids, but the virtue of the color on my skin tone makes me want a little more impact when used in the inner corner. Anyway, the subtleties of those shades are countered by the highly reflective and glittery Oh Boy and Yensid shadows. Those are going to appeal to people like me who enjoy a more impactful look, but even Yensid could turn off some people due to the duochrome being like an iridescent pink with blue and purple shimmer. Those might be too wild of colors for a neutral wearer to ever want to use. I heard the transformer shades could be used as face highlighters as well, but that’s too outside of my comfort zone to try. Fun fact for those who don’t know: Yensid is Disney spelled backwards.
Then we have a matte blush called Symphony for those with light to tan skin tones that’s so pigmented it manages to still show up faintly on me. Then Orchestra is super dark and likely intended for medium to rich skin tones. Those that prefer matte blushes will likely not enjoy the intense shimmery golden orange, Intermission, with its metallic reflective shimmer that is not for the faint of heart. Lastly, we have the even more intense and deep blush, Finale. By having something for minimalist and bold makeup wearers, plus products for two very different skintone spectrums, there are going to be some products in this palette that people skip using altogether. Sure, the blushes can be built up or sheered out, and used on the eyes* like I did in the eye looks above, but not everyone wants to do that. I’d wager that the majority of makeup users don’t want a gigantic palette that they only use half the products and neglect the rest. Funny enough, this mixture of having a little bit of everything makes this palette actually work fairly well for me, but I’m certainly not in the majority.

*I don’t know if the blushes are deemed “safe to use in the immediate eye area” or not, so I’m not advising anyone to do what I did without conducting their own research and determining its safety for one’s self. I’m just posing a hypothetical. Blushes can generally be viewed as multi-purpose.

This palette has extra touches that could make it appealing, such as the beautiful Collector style book cover with actual Disney designs (and not just Disney-inspired drawings). The mirror lifts up to show a cute paper cut-out that reminds me of the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette days. I love book style packaging, but we’re moving away from bulk these days as Pat Mcgrath Labs must have learned after the sales of the Bridgerton Blushing Delights Face Palette. Even if the size and shape makes sense for the collab, the majority prefers pretty yet sleek packaging.

I love using round cheek brushes, but in order to get Orchestra to apply sheer and even, I needed to switch to a sweeping style brush instead and apply it in one direction rather than circular buffing.

Going back to the blushes, Patrick Starrr mentions in the launch video that they are the Cheek Clapper formulas from the Trios, but the matte blushes don’t feel the same to me. They’re not as smooth and definitely feel more like a typical powder. They’re not bad, but they’re not something I’d grab to wear if they weren’t already in the palette when I want to use the eyeshadows.
The shimmery blushes I doubt I will use beyond this review. I forgot to powder my cheekbone after reapplying the Becca Under Eye Brightener (which is a sticky product) and Intermission immediately stuck to the spot, so I’d caution against wearing the shimmer ones on a dewy base. Making sure it goes on top of a powder layer first helped apply Finale more evenly, but the type of shimmer in these are not my style and are barely better than the blush shades within the Coloured Raine Glowlighters line that I despised. The color of Finale is too deep for my preference anyway. I can use Intermission as a highlighter if I’m feeling up for having it look quite apparently orange-gold. The base color is darker in Intermission than the one in the Freaky Peach Cheek Clapper Trio that I feel more comfortable using as a highlighter instead.

As seen in the photo, the shimmer formulas are very different. In the Cheek Clapper Trio, it’s a thinner sheerer powder with ultra fine shimmer that’s closer to a satin. The other one is chunky, wetter, and although it has pretty small shimmer particles as well, it’s more visible on top of the deeper orange base color. The one improvement in favor of Intermission is that the drier formula from Freaky Peach had a harder time sticking to my face and lasting on my cheekbones as a highlighter. Intermission having a wetter bind improved the longevity.

Disney Fantasia ​Bit of Magic Highlighter

If this isn’t the first review of mine you’re reading, then you know I typically prefer a subtle highlighter (or a beaming one that looks smooth and/or wet on the skin), so I’m going to just put it out there that I knew this was going to be glittery before I bought it and I still bought it anyway because of the sale and the cute gimmick of the highlighter having a different pattern depending on how it is held. That being said, Disney makes me think of sparkles and glitter, so it fitting the theme is something I’m happy about, even though that also means I’m not likely to reach for it. It’s a weird contradiction, I know.

This is semi-transparent, but there’s just enough pink-champagne hue (and mix of gold and pearl sparkles) that make it borderline able to work but also a bit on the light side for me. The depth of base color helps the situation for me, but that very thing could make it too dark for quite the range of people.

I noticed that it does blend better into the skin if it’s on top of something dewy. I’ve used three different brushes with this highlighter: the Chikuhodo Zen ZE-5, the Too Faced Diamond Light Highlighting Brush, and the Rephr 36. The Rephr brush is the most dense of the lot and worked the best for getting more than just a sparkle layer of highlighter.

There isn’t anything much else to add. Either the color will work or it won’t and either the potential buyer likes the glittery look or doesn’t. The packaging and trick with the imprint is about as special as it gets. Without that, I would say it’s a middle of the road highlighter.

Disney Fantasia Point Made Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner Pen

The Disney eyeliner is the same as the standard One/Size eyeliner in the color Bodacious Black, just with slight tweaks to the packaging. When the original was first released, I didn’t pay too much attention to the reviews, but I remembered hearing that it was easy to control, dispensed a nice rich black color, but it had some kind of packaging design flaw. At the time that I bought the Disney one, I completely forgot about the design issue and only remembered the positives. The photos above and below demonstrate my experience that I can get a really thin, controlled, crisp line or at times too much comes out at once and it gets very thick. Contrary to what I had heard, it’s not immediately easy. If I do shorter strokes, I can create the line how I want, but if I rush it or try to do too long of a line in one go, I end up making it too thick. Overall though, I think I’d have liked this even more than my holy grail Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner if it wasn’t for the leaking issue with the One/Size liner when too much product is at the tip and it doesn’t go back down in the tube so it gets all over the pen. I tried to resolve this by storing it tip side up, but I don’t know what the long term performance will be like, especially with the other issue of the cap. There’s no snap closure. A small touch can make the lid lift back up, which is highly likely going to make it dry up faster if I’m not careful. When I originally had it in my makeup bag, I saw a thin line where the lid hadn’t come off completely, but it was still not shut all the way. And there have also been times that after I used it, I put the cap back on and was about to put it to the side and realized it wasn’t closed all the way because just pressing it down instinctively isn’t enough. You have to look at it every single time you press down to make sure it’s actually closed because it isn’t going to make a snapping sound that a lot of pens and markers have to indicate that it’s closed. For that reason, I wouldn’t repurchase the original either unless it was put in a different component.

As I mentioned before, I can’t remember much about the original launch, but I’m not sure if the brand decided not to make the lids snap close in order to be easier for those with difficulties with their hands? The way that the pen also has a very smooth top and bottom but a rougher plastic portion where I would naturally grip the pen (and would be easier to avoid slipping) was intentional and called a “comfort grip handle,” so I’m not sure if the cap is for hand mobility too. In that case, I would understand this feature, but that would also make this not something intended for me.

I have photos wearing the eyeliner in the first two eye looks in the palette review section.

Disney Fantasia Ultimate Mickey Puff

I’ve never been the powder-puff using type, but I always said that if I were to buy one, I would prefer for it to be thick and feel puffy and soft, which the One/Size puffs in the standard and Disney shapes check off all those boxes. The original one is a bit more practical for those who like that thick edge to be able to create a sharp line for baking certain areas, like under the cheekbones, but the Disney one has the advantage of technically being three puffs in one. So, I’ve used the bigger one (bent to avoid having the sponge ears get in the way) for applying powder foundation and setting powder. I’ve used one ear for blush and one ear for attempting to dab away shine at the end of the day. Regarding the oil, it didn’t do very much because my dry skin usually just produces enough to mix with my foundation and appear glowy, but not actually seep onto anything or actually feel oily. It’s mostly the work of my dewy foundations and mica in them, so there isn’t much that can actually be absorbed in the puff. So, I’m not the best person to test out that aspect. As for applying powder foundation quickly, it was nice for that. For getting an even but light layer, I prefer my brushes (and paid good money to ensure that those are my best tools for powder), but if I want more coverage, this puff is certainly handy for that.

Another way I’ve noticed I can get use out of the puff is almost like an eraser. If I carry my contour or bronzer too low down, I just use part of the puff (folded again to create an edge) to go over the spot with the bare puff or powder foundation to make it a little more crisp and cover up the mistake.
Because I pretty much never use sponges or puffs that come with products, I have no idea how to treat them. Do I just toss them after they get too dirty? Do I wash them by hand with soap and water? If I do need to clean it, how frequently should I do that? Also, I don’t want this floating around my train case or makeup bag, so I’ve been putting it back in the plastic pouch after each use. Powder puffs for something like a translucent powder wouldn’t look too messy, but with my products, that’s another story!

As silly as it sounds because makeup puffs have been around for ages, I’ll have to do some research on them!

Other than the Cheek Clappers and travel size minis of the Ultimate Blurring Setting Powders, I hadn’t tried anything else from One/Size until now. My interest in the brand continues to grow, though my favorite thing is still those Cheek Clapper Blush Trios. I didn’t need this collection. I have friends that are true Disney fanatics, so I know my very general liking of Disney is super low in comparison. However, even someone like me can see how much thought went into the collection and I can respect the brand for attempting to combine high quality makeup with the collectible factor, even though it’s not the most practical of packaging. I liked my items enough to be happy with my purchases. I would just love it if One/Size changed their eyeliner components because that’s one factor that made what would have been a holy grail product become something I wouldn’t purchase again. For big time Disney fans and those who were interested in these items from the time they launched, I’d say it might be worth checking out while it’s on sale and still available.

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Pat Mcgrath x Star Wars and Holiday 2022 Review

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Pat Mcgrath Labs is one of my favorite brands. Even though I was trying to avoid buying her holiday collection and only one of the Star Wars quints, those 30-40% off discounts got me in the end! The things I’m reviewing today are the remaining unreviewed items from the brand that I purchased in 2022. Technically, there are also lip glosses I haven’t showcased, but those will be in a lip collection post in the future.

Regarding what people are calling “Sticker-Gate” and whether or not the brand can be considered luxury or not, I will reserve that discussion for the very end of this post.

Pat Mcgrath Labs Eye Shadow Palettes in The Golden One, Divine Droid, and Nude Allure

I have 4 out of the 5 quints released from Pat Mcgrath. I specifically said in my review of Bronze Bliss that I didn’t want Nude Allure, but I saw additional photos that showed how the shadows actually look in person and the camera just doesn’t do them justice! So, now I own both of the holiday five pan palettes. The missing quint from the Star Wars collection is Sith Seduction which only one shade in that appealed to me until I realized it was darker than I wanted. So, I passed on that one. The completionist in me wanted to grab it anyway, but these five pan palettes are a hit with customers. I foresee the brand releasing a lot more of them in the future and it would be unrealistic for me to try and collect them all, especially if the color story isn’t to my taste. These four that I purchased are my types of shades.

Starting with the only palette that slightly disappointed me, Divine Droid, I can at least say the colors are beautiful. They look like they’re going to be as sparkly as the others in the pans, but Astro Lime, Optic Fuchsia, and Ultraviolet Messenger look slightly duller by comparisons on the eyes. Out of the reviews I’ve seen so far, I’ve observed that the highest praises for this specific palette come from Influencers that tend to wear mostly neutrals, and the strongest opinions against the palette are from Influencers who are used to indie brands’ shimmers and those who love truly vibrant colorful glittery shadows. These shades are bold and they are shimmery, but I think it comes down to the nature of colored shimmer versus reflective metallic sparkle that the colorful shades don’t have as much of as the others. The only other way I can think to explain it is that satins are shiny from a sheen and tiny shimmer particles, and Divine Droid eyeshadows look just like that, except that these shimmer particles are more apparent and textured. The shine level is the equivalent of an amped up satin. Secret Blueprint is an exception because there’s a lot of whitish-silvery sparkle, but I don’t like light blue shades and only use them when the look can benefit from having one. To get Secret Blueprint to stay bright on the eyes, I have to apply it damp. Bronze Circuit has some golden sparkle, but the color itself is less olive in person than I hoped. It’s still a pretty antique bronze-gold with a slight green tinge, but the shade doesn’t go far enough in the direction of green to be that unique.

Even though I wanted a little more from the first four shades, the true disappointment is Ultraviolet Messenger because it doesn’t blend as well and there’s barely any visible shine when it’s on the skin. By not blending well, I mean that it goes on harsh no matter how little product I use, so it requires blending, but it diffuses so easily that the magenta tone in the base starts to appear, which makes it look splotchy compared to the darker purple. I have to be extremely careful when blending it out and packing the color back on in places. It’s not so bad when I use Optic Fuchsia with it because the magenta just looks like an extension of that shade, but it’s more of an issue when I’m trying to use Ultraviolet Messenger right next to the green or blue. And despite being applied with a finger or wet, the shine doesn’t stay. It looks dull and matte on the eyes. This might make some people happy, considering we don’t have a matte in this palette and this shade could act as one or might just stay in the outer corner as a deepening shade only, but the part that made me the most excited for that purple was because it looked the most multi-colored in the pan. I wish that translated to the eyes.

The other downside to not having a proper matte is that these shimmers have so much slip to them that they’re prone to creasing without using the right products with them. In order from most effective to least effective anti-creasing abilities out of the primers I’ve tried with them are: Gerard Cosmetics Clean Canvas, Coloured Raine Paint Base, and then tied between the MAC Paint Pot and Makeup by Mario Master Eye Prep & Set if those last two are set very well with powder. Essentially, the drier the primer the better. However, even the best pairing of the primers isn’t good enough on me without having a matte in the crease to fill those lines. In some of my eye look demo photos, I skipped using the matte crease, but in practical daily usage I would always use a matte with these shades in the future.

Also, I no longer have the PML Nocturnal Nirvana Quad, but the lime green, blue, and purple shades from Divine Droid reminded me of that one. Sure enough, Dr. Ash on YouTube had the same thoughts and held them side by side in her video. Of course, the green in that palette is more multi-dimensional than this one. I don’t care for either blue shadow. As much as I was disappointed by Ultraviolet Messenger, it is easier to work with it than the purple in Nocturnal Nirvana. I sold that quad (and replaced it with the Interstellar Icon quad) purely because I wasn’t getting enough use out of it, and not because I disliked the shades. I’ve thought about that quad several times since it left my possession, so I don’t mind having something similar back in the form of Divine Droid.

We were given an actual satin in The Golden One palette, but I use Coral Blitz in place of a matte. The actual matte in that palette is Tatooine, which is a lighter brown than the one from Nude Allure. I had no intention of buying The Golden One until I realized it had that extra blendable matte formula unique to the five pan palettes so far from Pat Mcgrath, and because I was curious about Coral Blitz. As to be expected, I was thrilled with Tatooine, but the surprise hit for me was Coral Blitz. I don’t own a satin-shimmer in that tone. The closest thing I can recall is City Dawn, a “rich matte” from the Bobbi Brown Luxe Eye & Cheek Palette last holiday. This shade, with the peachy-coral and less orange tone, plus the tiny golden sparkles make it even prettier to me than the one from Bobbi Brown.

Binary Sunset is a little drier than the other shimmers whereas Cyborg Relations has extra slip to it, like Bronze Mink from Bronze Bliss. This palette isn’t as inspiring as Nude Allure or Bronze Bliss for me, but it has some great staple warm toned neutral options that will continue to benefit me as I use these palettes together.

Above is a photo comparing the three mattes (plus Coral Blitz) together, and it shows the depth differences between the browns as well. I would be thrilled for an all-matte 5 pan from Pat Mcgrath in this specific formula. If the brand includes one more brown that is lighter than Tatooine, I will feel they’ve reached their quota of neutrals and I will really be wanting more colorful mattes and/or satin-mattes. The allure of buying these quints specifically for the mattes won’t be as strong of a lure if it starts to feel repetitive. When it comes to the shimmers, I’m already feeling like we’ve hit the maximum amount of bronzes and golds needed. I also decided to compare a photo, this time below, of the most similar shades to each other from among the four palettes.

Font Color Guide: Yellow-Orange = The Golden One, Pink = Nude Allure, Brown = Bronze Bliss, and Blue = Divine Droid

If the brand can figure out how to make the colorful shimmers as sparkly and reflective on the eyes as the neutral metallic shimmers, I’d go even crazier for these palettes. For now though, after comparing the four, I’m feeling pretty satisfied with this bunch. It would take something really specific to my tastes to make me want to purchase more than these.

Coral Kiss and Mahogany Angel are the two main stars of this palette. Plum Eclipse comes in third, but it shares a similar issue with Ultraviolet Messenger from Divine Droid in that the gorgeous multi-colored sparkle doesn’t show as easily on the eyes. It still does a little and at least looks satin-like instead of matte, which is why I still like it. Coral Kiss doesn’t look as multi-colored as in the pan, but it does still look dynamic in person which is what counts the most to me. I love this shade and I love the first eye look demonstrated below. As for Mahogany Angel, it goes on the eyes darker than I expected, but I like that because I wanted a deepening shade that would work well with most eye looks. La Vie En Noir from Bronze Bliss has that blue leaning tinge that keeps me from using it as my deepening shade for most of my eye looks, though now that I think about it, it would probably pair well with the blue, purple, and green from Divine Droid.

Naked Bronze, to me, is like Coral Kiss without the extra oomph and vibrancy. It pales in comparison to that shade or even the other Bronzes from the other palettes because it is such a standard light bronze color. I’m sure others will like it more than me though since my style for most of 2022 was to wear neutrals with a twist. So far, this preference has carried into 2023 as well.

If I had to rank these from most liked to alright/fine, it would be: Bronze Bliss, Nude Allure, The Golden One, and Divine Droid. Bronze Bliss easily wins because it has the most of those metallic type shimmers which are what’s special about this new formula from the brand, in addition to the matte. Nude Allure comes second because of Coral Kiss and having an even more useful matte. The Golden One has the very special Coral Blitz, plus a matte, plus the gorgeous Cyborg Relations, but it is the least inspiring color story together in one palette which is what knocks it down from what could have been the second spot. Divine Droid is last because of there being no mattes, less reflective shimmer, and the stubborn purple.

These aren’t effortless shadows because of how easily they can actually overblend, the potential to crease, or the differences in textures causing a need to really spread and smooth out the shadows into each other. However, I really like these and am happy with my purchases. It’s one of those instances where I can say with confidence that I’m going to continue getting use out of these eyeshadows beyond this review.

MTHRSHP Mega: Celestial Nirvana

I swatched these from left to right going downward two columns at a time because I see these eyeshadows pairing nicely together in groups of six. So, the first set are the first two columns, the next set are column numbers 3-4, and the last are 5-6.

This palette has greens, purples, golds, and browns. This is very much my kind of color story, but that means it had to compete with the tons of other greens, purples, and neutrals in my collection. I heard mixed reviews about the quality of this palette, but it was honestly Altered State that continuously filled my thoughts. So many of us had been dying to get a matte green from the brand or just more greens from PML in general. They’ve released like fifty bronzes, golds, and pinks but like five greens. I actually think Pat Mcgrath hates the color green. Anyway, the old Lili was the type to buy a full palette just for one shade and I did not want to go back to that type of purchasing habit, but the brand had this on sale and after seeing Tina the Fancy Face’s in-store swatches, my resolve just melted away.

The palette was significantly heavier than I expected. I don’t know how Celestial Nirvana stacks up in weight compared to Celestial Odyssey because I skipped that Mega Palette, but it’s much heavier than the original Celestial Divinity. I like that feature because it feels more lux to me, but I also dislike it for being so large for storage and even handling every time I want to use it.

The majority of these shadows are extremely pigmented! I’ve gotten so used to creating eyeshadow looks with more softly pigmented shadows like the Lisa Eldridge Seamless Mattes and Velvets, Dior shadows, and Bobbi Brown Jadestone that I felt out of practice handling the level of pigmentation from every matte except Desert Divinity and Nightfall. I like that the brand gave softer options out of these shadows that perform like pressed pigments, but they’re almost too weak to hold their own in a palette with such bold other shades. Desert Divinity makes for a nice transition shadow, but it’s not the type that helps me blend the edges of the other colors very well. Nightfall is darker than Desert Divinity, but doesn’t give me as much depth in the outer corner as I prefer, which is why I have to lean on the brown tones within Auburn Allure to meet that line between the colorful red side and the slight lean towards brown. Auburn Allure is my best alternative if I don’t want to have to resort to the deeper yet more colorful options such as Nocturnal Navy or Violet Vixen. It was in times of searching for a neutral deepening option that I realized most of the shimmers are light and neutral (not my preference within a big palette) with Bronze Infatuation and Starlit Copper being the darkest ones that are medium depth level at best. Also, as dark as the mattes are, they deepen up even more on my eyes. Venusian Peony looks so light-medium pink in the pan, but turns medium-dark pink on my skin. The dark shades going darker (likely due to oily lids or too wet of a primer) isn’t as much of an issue for me as trying to keep the look light with the lighter shades, but it going darker than I expected.

I don’t think these mattes are as blendable as Pat’s usual formula. They’re still nice, and better than Urban Decay or Too Faced mattes for example, but not as easy to work with as I’ve gotten accustomed to for PML. Perhaps the quints have spoiled me in that regard. The truly troublesome shade is unfortunately Altered State that I was looking forward to the most. It has a tendency to stick in one place where I put it, no matter which primer I use with it and it goes on super intensely. Also, it has a blue tinge to it which I didn’t use to mind in the past, and I know that helps it to pair nicely with the blues in this palette, but I much prefer a yellow-leaning green. However, I can still make even that shadow work.

The shimmers are great. They’re fantastic. They’re impactful and just what I expect from the brand’s standard formula (not the “special” shades in the last two columns of Mothership palettes, multichromes, nor the quint shimmers). They don’t give me issues with creasing or fading, and there are no longevity issues.

In the green, blue, and purple eye look above, I attempted to tweak the look of the deep mattes by putting shimmers on top. It can be done, but it was such a long process because the mattes have to look perfectly blended underneath first. They are so intense and opaque that trying to blend them into each other just kept covering each other up rather than mixing. When I was adding the shimmers on top, which are also quite opaque, I noticed they were doing the same thing. Eventually, I was careful enough and applied the shimmer lightly enough between them to achieve the look I was going for.

For these reasons, I recommend this palette to those who love colorful shadows and are used to working with the kind that are pigmented and opaque. Even though this palette has neutral and softer options, this isn’t the type of product suited for those who just want to dip their toes into color. It’s intended for the full on color lovers. Also, as much as this price point makes sense for Pat Mcgrath, I personally wouldn’t have bought this for any less than a 40% discount because it’s not unique enough in shades or formula for me to be willing to spend a fortune on it. If this came out two years ago when we had far fewer high quality green and purple options, I’d have said this was worth the full price, but things have advanced and we’ve been flooded with options by now. There’s a lot of competition!

At the time I’m writing this, Sephora USA still has this palette available and on sale.

Divine Blush + Glow Cheek Palette in Nude Venus

When this palette went on sale, I bought it knowing full well that I had singles of Nude Venus, Paradise Venus, and Desert Orchid (in the form of the lighter half of the Paradise Glow blush duo) sitting in my blush drawer. I think we can all agree that someone who wants to use up their products shouldn’t buy a duplicate of them.

What I really bought this face palette for was the Sunset Nectar highlighter, Divine Rose III blush, and the convenience of having my favorite shades in one palette so I can take this traveling in lightweight durable packaging. I notoriously reach for blush singles over blush palettes, but that’s because pre-made blush palettes usually have shades I don’t like or can’t use, so I subconsciously make a mental note to skip it if I’m in a rush to put on makeup (which is almost every time). However, since this has all the ones I love, it’s more memorable and I do actually reach for it. By purchasing this palette, my original singles no longer served a purpose in my collection, so I gave Paradise Venus to my sister and Nude Venus to one of my best friends. I’m keeping Paradise Glow for now, but it may not survive my next declutter.

I have been enjoying possessing my favorite shades in an all-in-one palette that makes it so much easier (and less messy than dealing with kickup in multiple separate compacts) to dip into multiple pans at once to create tailored blush looks on my cheeks. In addition, I know exactly which product to grab for those shades, whereas the black lacquer packaging between the blushes, blush duos, and highlighters are identical and require me to read the backs of them all to tell, without having to open them, which shade is which.

I probably didn’t need to have Divine Rose III considering I already owned the other three blushes, plus Electric Bloom, as well as the Divine Rose II duo and Cosmic Coral duo. I’m still happy I got it though, because it’s giving me the effect I wanted from Nude Venus, but with more depth. Because Nude Venus has to be built up a lot to show on me, I always paired it with Paradise Venus and kept it concentrated on the apples of the cheeks. Now, I either use Divine Rose III on its own for a medium toned pink flush, or mixed with a combination of all the other blushes in the palette. To see additional blush photos with my review of the single blushes, they can be found here or my review of the blush duos can be found here. I haven’t noticed any quality differences between the individual blushes versus the ones in the face palette. They’re just as beautiful and long lasting as ever!

My favorite highlighter from Pat Mcgrath is still the Skin Fetish: Ultra Glow Highlighter in Divine Rose. It has the smoothest formula, gives the wet look I love that melts into the skin, and it doesn’t look glittery. Sunset Nectar is more similar to the permanent line of Skin Fetish: Divine Glow Highlighters, which have more apparent shimmer particles, but they still blend beautifully into the skin. I keep wishing for a Skin Fetish Ultra Glow Highlighter in a dark golden color without the slight pink tinge Divine Rose has. I didn’t expect Sunset Nectar to work for me because it is extremely light in the pan, but it somehow does! It looks powdery and stark pinkish-white on my skin when it first goes on, but when I blend it in and then pass my blush brush back over the edges around it, I think I can pull it off!

Below are different examples of lighting and days wearing these products. The first photo of the three is the Divine Rose III blush (no highlighter yet) under a ring light and wearing MAC foundation in NC47. The second photo is the same day with the same products, with the addition of MAC’s Sparkling Wine shade of highlighter, while under indoor light (with a little natural light peeking through the side). In the third photo I’m wearing the Sunset Nectar highlighter, plus a combination of Paradise Venus, Nude Venus, and Divine Rose III blushes. It’s under the same light as the second photo, but I have the Estee Lauder Futurist Foundation in 5W2 mixed with the Nars Light Reflecting Foundation in Macao mainly on the perimeter of my face.

We’ve reached the end of the review, and this is the point where I’d like to give my input on the recent “controversy” the brand has had over the Star Wars Collection, as well as the discussions around the brand devaluing itself between the frequent sales at significant discounts and the cheaper palette options and materials.

Starting with the Bantha in the room…As much as I love the Pat Mcgrath brand, it was certainly not a good idea to put Midnight Sun on sale for around $70+ until literally the day of the Star Wars launch of the same Midnight Sun palette for the full $128. It automatically sends the message to the customers that the Star Wars version isn’t worth the price and/or to wait for the Star Wars one to eventually go on sale for $70 as well. I was pretty shocked when I heard the news and watched the video going around because of what it signified for me about the brand going forward. Still, none of us can confirm with certainty that the Star Wars stickers were slapped on top of old unsellable palettes and put in Star Wars unicartons, the same way we can’t confirm that this year’s holiday specific lip products and mascaras had Star Wars stickers added to them after being removed from their original unicartons and put into Star Wars ones. Even if that’s exactly what they did, rather than viewing it as the brand trying to dupe people into buying an unpopular palette, I can see it from the perspective of the brand no longer keeping Midnight Sun on sale and putting it back at the original price with the bonus of a Star Wars sticker for free. I have been craving owning another special edition packaged palette from Pat Mcgrath, like if they took the Mothership unicarton artwork and found a way to get a high quality version of that print onto the palette, I would be thrilled. If it comes in the form of a sticker, I wouldn’t mind that either, so long as the sticker couldn’t just be peeled away. That’s where I think the brand really went wrong.

When I had packaging I didn’t like, I used Washi tape, stickers, and Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to create something I felt was beautiful. The way I did it, nothing is going to be lifting up or peeling off anytime soon. So, I don’t think Pat Mcgrath using stickers is as big of an issue as them placing many of them crooked (which cheapens the look) and not using a permanent adhesive. I don’t know if they had factory workers or machines applying those stickers, but if it was real people, I can see the benefit of making the stickers removable so they can attempt to fix extra crooked stickers on the palettes, but that’s a bit cheap to not use a stronger adhesive and be willing to toss out the imperfectly placed ones in order to ensure the customer won’t have the edges of the sticker lifting up within weeks or months of owning those palettes.

When I first saw the Star Wars Midnight Sun palette cover in photos, I actually thought it was a sticker with epoxy resin on top. Perhaps epoxy wouldn’t be clear enough (as it can turn yellow, although the vintage Star Wars image being yellow might have hid that), but at least then people would have an actual plastic feeling packaging that couldn’t be removed. This reminded me of the time when I was experimenting with Mod Podge versus Epoxy Stickers for jewelry when it came to cutting out images from Archie comic digests and turning them into pendants. I wasn’t very satisfied with either outcome so I abandoned the idea. However, that was due to a clarity issue. People who have the palettes in hand seem to think the stickers are pretty and are just disappointed by how easy they are to lift up or some people just don’t find stickers to be luxurious. The flat type of stickers I agree don’t look high end, but the raised ones are different in my eyes. Most people wouldn’t know how to make one themselves. The arts-and-crafts-loving side to me instantly started wondering if I could create my own covers for the PML palettes, but with how expensive they are, I don’t trust my skills enough to chance ruining it. However, I started thinking there might be people on Etsy working on making their own Mothership Stickers to sell. I think the brand could make bank creating their own palette sticker covers if they find a much stronger adhesive. I’d pay $15-$25 just for that because of how much of a sucker I am for pretty packaging. It’s a shame they ruined the concept because of how they went about “Sticker-Gate.”

I’ve seen some other complaints about the fact that we have stickers on top of the quints and them being cardboard. While that’s valid for people to feel that it’s not very luxurious, I feel the growing complaint about it is piggybacking off the Midnight Sun issue. We’ve had cardboard packaging for ages, starting with those six pan MTHRSHP palettes which I believe the brand released for the first time for holiday 2018 with the cumbersome envelope style flaps. The original six pan Star Wars palettes were the first time we got magnetic closure cardboard palettes in 2019. At some point (I believe 2020) we started seeing clear sticker labels on the bottoms of the packaging instead of the print being etched on. I remember being perturbed along with everyone else when the sticker on the first Mega Palette for holiday 2020 (Celestial Divinity) was crooked, but that was the point in which we all could have gotten off the hype train with the brand if we wanted.
It’s as if people are just now noticing the printed paper edges of these palettes. It’s not new. The holiday quints from 2022 has stickers on them too, but they were the same pink background color as the palettes, so perhaps it wasn’t as obvious as the white ones from the Star Wars Collection. People are also pointing out the edges of the paper covering all of a sudden, but again, it’s only obvious because the paper is a shiny solid color without the busy pattern to distract from the fact that the holiday quints are folded and glued the same way.

I thought it was a bit funny that the holiday Mega palette for 2022 is larger and thicker than the first one. That extra weight ironically makes it feel more luxurious, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about that. Another funny thing is that the sticker on the back of my Star Wars quint was crooked and I was able to peel that off and affix it at least better than it was previously. It’s the kind of sticker that air bubbles are prone to form under without using something like a credit card to press it down evenly, but I was able to get the bubbles out with my fingers without one.

I think there is absolutely something that can be said about the downgrade of packaging between the Mothership palettes to the cardboard ones, plus the sticker labels. I think it’s absolutely valid to feel like it’s not luxury. I’d just like to point out that Natasha Denona doesn’t have labels etched on her palettes either. There are clear label stickers. Her things are a similar price point to Pat Mcgrath, and she has long been experimenting with more “affordable” options with the $69 midi palettes and $27 minis, yet I hardly hear a conversation about it being less of a high end brand for offering smaller and more wallet-friendly palettes. Also, for environmental reasons, an argument can be made about using cardboard versus plastic, though I think a lot of beauty collectors prefer the plastic (myself included to be honest, but I don’t turn up my nose at cardboard anymore). Charlotte Tilbury has sticker labels on the back as well. I see most of the complaints are about having stickers on the front, but I’ve also seen complaints about them being on the back instead of etched in, which is why I wanted to mention it because those same people never said a word about the other two brands I mentioned.

Everyone knows by now to not buy Pat Mcgrath at full price in most situations. However, if we’re going to accept that we’ll only buy the products at 20-40% off, we cannot expect to still get weighty plastic or metal bespoke type of packaging. It just doesn’t make financial sense for the brand. And the big Mothership palettes don’t usually go on sale for lower than $89. We can have a luxury line in the form of those larger palettes with the luxury packaging while still offering other price points like Natasha Denona has done or even Dior with their Backstage line. I’m at least glad they aren’t lowering their ingredient quality or “Going Full Urban Decay” by releasing a product and immediately putting it on sale for 50% off two weeks to two months later.

Materials aside, I understand why there’s a growing feeling that Pat Mcgrath Labs is losing its luxury feel when people have spotted the products at T.J. Maxx and when it feels like there have been discounts basically all year long with the sale announced and lasting what seems to be 2-4 weeks, a week break, and then the next one starts in an ongoing cycle. It does bug me sometimes when I purchase something and just a month later it goes on a deeper discount.
I don’t have anything to say to rebut that feeling. It’s valid. What is also valid that I think are bigger reasons the brand doesn’t feel so luxurious is the ridiculous wait time between when the products launch and when it finally ships out. There are points where it felt like we all just paid for an unofficial pre-order because nothing ships out to anyone for weeks or the launches have been staggered out and only the palettes are available at one time and the blushes get launched a week or so later. Pat Mcgrath doesn’t have a reward program, so myself and others sometimes prefer to skip the guaranteed 10% off promo code at launch in favor of being able to purchase from Sephora using a gift card or to have the reward points accrue over there. Many times the product finally comes to Sephora by the time the warehouses PML uses starts to ship things out. Unhelpful or slow to respond customer service is another thing that makes the brand not feel like a luxury one. Items not being properly wrapped in the boxes and arriving broken is another. It has been my experience with them that if an item is known to break easily, they will send a new one with the acknowledgement that it’s possible the replacement will come broken again, but they will still ship it out anyway as a “one time courtesy.”
Perhaps PML isn’t in the luxury category anymore, but they are still a high end brand in my eyes.

So, do I think Pat Mcgrath Labs is going downhill? It feels that way, but not necessarily. I think they’re cutting corners and have been cutting corners for several years now. I think they’ve set a precedent to wait for a sale. I think Sticker-Gate isn’t as big of an issue in itself, but is one example of a larger issue within the brand. I think plenty of people will closely scrutinize everything the brand does going forward, but the hype won’t die down. The issues the brand has are all able to be fixed and forgotten if that’s what they actually want to do. There will be exciting new launches to come. People, like me, will still try to wait for a sale, but also certain items will likely be bought at nearly full price. I also expect more repackaged products to be released. I’ve done my fair share of complaining about the issues within PML, but they’re still one of my favorite brands and I’m excited to see what’s next.

Thank you for reading.

-Lili ❤

Reviewing Coloured Raine After a Two Year Break

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From 2018 until 2020, Coloured Raine used to be my number one favorite brand for non-multichrome eyeshadows. What made me take a long break from buying their palettes was them discontinuing their eyeshadows to go full vegan.
I’ve had issues with some vegan formulas blending away to nothing, or being too hard to blend, and being patchy. Some of the ones that did perform decently didn’t have an acceptable preservation method (tying in with the “clean beauty” anti-parabens movement), so I’d get hardly a year before the performance of the shadows changed and/or went bad.
So, I was already skeptical about whether or not Coloured Raine’s new vegan formula could measure up to their old one. When they released their Juicy Boost Collection in August 2020, the reviews I watched with the demos were terrible! That was enough for me to want to steer clear of their eyeshadows until their 2022 Memorial Day sale in May. I figured that should be enough time for the brand to fix whatever formula issues they had, so I decided to give them another chance.

The formulas, textures, and how the makeup performs turned out to be different depending on the collection. In today’s post, I’ll be sharing my observations and experiences with these products. Just keep reading to find out which items I loved and which ones I should have avoided!

Coloured Raine Cream Blushes in Spicy (Original), Stiletto Rose and Copper Rose (Botanical Collection)

The first thing to know about these blushes is that despite them all sharing the description of “cream blush,” the original four that launched, which includes Spicy, are completely different from the two blushes from the Botanical Collection. The ingredient lists are different, along with the textures and pigmentation. The container of the originals are larger than the Botanical Blushes too!

Spicy has a waxy consistency that’s so tacky it lifts up when touched. It’s thicker and more opaque. Picking up a little is still too much, so I put it on the back of my hand and warm up a small section first before applying it to my cheeks with that finger in tapping motions and then a final light sweep of the finger across the cheeks to ensure it’s fully smoothe. A little product comes off underneath, but it’s so pigmented that it will cover up the missing spot anyway. A brush will pick up way too much, but it’s still possible to use by putting it on the back of the hand or a makeup palette first (or even tapping the excess off on a towel) to get a lighter even layer across the bristles before applying it to the cheeks. I still prefer fingers because I have more control that way and can also warm up the product.

The Botanical Blushes have a higher concentration of slip agents (various silicones) that feel a little more gel-like, but still like a softer wax once the heat of a finger melts that top layer. I keep my finger on top of a spot for several seconds before I start to rub to pick up the blush onto my finger and tap it onto the cheeks. It looks like it will be just as pigmented as the original line of blushes, but when blended, it sheers out a fair amount. So, it takes a few light layers to build up to my satisfaction. This product also lifts what’s underneath, but it still looks fine to me as a veil of color. In the spots with discoloration that lifts, I put concealer back on top of the discolored spot and pack a little more blush on top, and those additional layers help it to stay.
I can use a brush with these, but it doesn’t pick up as much product without warmth.

These blushes remain creamy on the face. If I’m wearing something like the Rose Inc Luminous Foundation Serum, that wetter products tend to set well on top of, and apply the Botanical blushes in a thin layer with a brush, it can mostly set down. However, for the amount of pigmentation I want that isn’t just a flush, it’s going to remain creamy feeling on the skin unless I set it with powder. Spicy will absolutely not set on its own, plus easily transfers, so I only wear it powder-set. Setting all three of them with powder only temporarily makes them feel dry but at least does take down the creaminess enough that it won’t feel sticky or tacky. Powder-setting also makes the Botanical Blushes more transfer-resistant, but when it comes to Spicy it will definitely still transfer when touched, just a little less. Setting with powder has the final benefit of toning down the intensity level of Spicy, and even Stiletto Rose if I go overboard with that color.

These blushes will last all day, even without powder, as long as they aren’t touched. However, it’s just my preference to set them with powder, especially with a powder blush on top to add some nuance to the shades.

The photos above demonstrate the blushes with different foundations and at different times of the year. The middle three with the dark blue shirt were under the lighting conditions of my ring light. The others were with indoor lighting and some natural light coming in from behind the window blinds.

Had I completed this review three months ago, I’d have said, “These blushes require a little more effort, but are nice enough that I may still reach for them from time to time.” However, I’ve been going through my cream and liquid blush collection a lot more lately, and in comparison, these rank so low on the list. They still aren’t bad products, but I have so many options that don’t pick up product underneath, don’t require warmth or having to baby the formula, or do any other extra steps. Plus, my other blushes are in far more interesting colors. I’ve realized that I don’t like standard crayola type of blush colors like a pure orange, pure red, or pure pink. I love reddish browns, terracottas, pinky-orange corals, pinkish-browns, etc. Those type of colors look more natural on me. I expected Spicy to be a reddish orange with some brown, but it’s actually a slightly yellow leaning orange that may as well just be “orange.” Copper Rose sounded like it would be a fun copper-pink, but most of its warmth just comes from being picked up and mixed with my foundation and concealer while being blended on my cheeks. It’s not a very unique pink by itself. Stiletto Rose is a very common rosy red, although it’s the prettiest to me of them all.
I always wore a combination of Stiletto Rose and Copper Rose (on the apples) together anyway, which is why I initially had a better impression of those blushes. However, if I view these as individual products, they’re not something I want in my collection anymore.

Coloured Raine Lip Liners in Pine (Secret Garden), The Bee’s Knees (Queen Bee), and Decadent (Botanical)

It was very difficult to tell the differences among the selection of lip liner shades on the website. I now realize it’s because the ones I wanted are so incredibly similar! Pine was the first one from Coloured Raine I tried and later bought a backup of because it’s the first shade I ever found that I can actually cover my full lip-line with and have it look normal. I have a very thick and pronounced lip line (Vermilion border) that is way lighter than my lips and surrounding mouth color. So, when I have used lip liners on my actual lip line (and not just the edge between the lip and lip line), it always emphasized that thickness and looked like I attempted to overline my lips because it sticks out, even when it’s still within the lines. The color is described as a “spiced brown” and I consider it like a caramel-pink-brown.

The Bee’s Knees is described as a “brick” color, but it looks more like a neutral brown to me on my arm. In fact, I looked at the website photos again comparing the other shade in the Queen Bee collection and The Buzz is supposed to be the neutral brown. I almost wondered if some got swapped in the manufacturing process because my lip pencil stick doesn’t have any red in it that I can see, like the ones below, and instead looks like the brown ones near it. However, on my actual lips I think I see some red tones after building up the color? Like maybe a splash? If so, it’s certainly not as red as I expected and less red than I’d expect from a brick color. When built up, it’s also darker than Pine. It’s pretty regardless.

The third and final lip liner shade is the darkest of the three and also the creamiest, which I find interesting since it’s the one that launched first. I’m guessing the brand decided to switch formulas after this collection, which is a very plausible theory based on a comparison of the ingredient lists. The other two glide across the lips nicely and aren’t too soft or too stiff, but I do prefer the feel of Decadent. This color is described as, “neutral brown with slightly cool undertones” and I can see that in the squiggle swatch. Also, the lip liners from the Botanical collection came with sharpeners at the bottom. The newer lip liners do not. Perhaps the brand didn’t feel it was necessary because of the formula differences.

I haven’t noticed any issues or differences with the longevity among them all. They suit my needs and because they’re all so similar in color, they all work for me and give me that ability to line my lips in a way that others I’ve tried haven’t. It’s very specific to me, but it’s a huge deal. In general, objectively, I still believe these are a nice comfortable long lasting product.

Coloured Raine Paint Base Eyeshadow Base in Wheat

I first tried this primer underneath the eyeshadows from the Coloured Raine Botanical Palette and was disappointed to see the shadows creased. After all, the eyeshadow primer is expected to work the best with the brand’s own eyeshadows, so that wasn’t a good sign for anything else I planned to use with it.
However, in using it with my well behaved and favorite eyeshadows, and then as an alternative primer for eyeshadows I was testing that didn’t perform as well with my MAC Paint Pot, I realized it actually wasn’t the fault of the Paint Base! I’ll get back to the Botanical Palette in the next section, but basically every palette I tried with the Paint Base performed better or at least equal to my other primers! It quickly became one of the primers I keep in rotation along with the Gerard Cosmetics Clean Canvas and MAC Paint Pot. In fact, I bought a backup of it during the brand’s Black Friday sale.

I really like the ABH eye primer, but it is quite drying. That one helps to combat the oils that produce on my eyelids, but that’s sometimes to the detriment of buildable type of eyeshadows being able to stick properly. This Coloured Raine primer is similar to the ABH primer, but is less drying, which makes it the better of both worlds between combating the oils but still ensuring the eyeshadows can adhere properly. It’s fantastic! Because I bought the shade Wheat, it matches the color of my eyelids better and isn’t so stark against my skin, but still helps the shadows to pop. As with most primers, a little goes a long way (though not as long as the ABH and Gerard Cosmetics ones which are even more pigmented and thicker in consistency). Wheat still provides a good amount of coverage over the discoloration on my eyelids.

It’s interesting that the brand touts the squalane and sodium hyaluronate because I would have expected that to not go well with oily prone lids and would produce too much moisture for me, but it works somehow! The Paint Base sets on my lids to a natural finish. Perhaps those ingredients are what keeps it from being as drying as the ABH one.

When I’m working with an eyeshadow formula that’s not very creamy with a rougher texture, this primer can take a little longer to blend the shadows on it, but it’s a minor difference in time. That’s the extent of the negatives I’ve found in using this primer throughout the year, which made it an almost entirely positive experience.

Coloured Raine Botanical Eyeshadow Palette

I mentioned in the Eye Base review section that despite it being from the same brand, the Coloured Raine eye primer and this palette worked fine, except that it could not keep the shimmers from retreating from the deep line I have on my lid/crease. I have since used this palette with all my tried and true primers, and none of them stop this from happening. The best results I get though is if I set the primer with powder first. Then I’m much less prone to movement and creasing, but it’s not foolproof.

Cream Gerbera barely shows despite packing it on. I don’t mind, as I’d prefer a shade that light to be subtle rather than stark. Iberis and Leonidas have a decent amount of pigment and all three are decently blendable, but that’s a little bit of a letdown in itself because I remember how rich in color and buttery feeling Coloured Raine’s mattes used to be before they got rid of their single shadows. These are fine but not particularly special. The same goes for the shimmers. They are pretty and shimmery enough for my taste, but the formula is so much thinner, less smooth, way less impactful, less pigmented, and not vibrant like their single shadows once were. I mean, Coloured Raine shimmers used to be S-tier. Being “just fine” is going to be hugely disappointing by comparison. The quality of this palette reminds me of Colourpop, which is mostly good, but it’s not even like the best of Colourpop’s formulas.

These types of colors and this overall color story is a lot softer compared to what the brand used to release. I commend them going outside of their comfort zones. However, it isn’t just the color selection and lack of color saturation that makes it slightly underwhelming for me. There are so many brands that make satin shadows and have palettes with soft colors that still somehow look elegant and beautiful on the eyes. The literal texture of the eyeshadows themselves are so soft and buildable. These shadows don’t have those same qualities. They aren’t made the same way.

I also thought it was quite strange that the colors I expected based on how they looked in the pan did not look the same on my skin. Iberis was much more red than plum. Leonidas was a truer orange instead of terracotta. Rose Gold also had a stronger red tone, like a burgundy, when I was expecting a shimmering plum. The colors are still pretty, but when other eyeshadows like from Oden’s Eye and Sydney Grace give me a visceral excited reaction to using their palettes, I don’t see why I would want to reach for this one that doesn’t spark joy. It’s a new year. Being a decent, nice, workable palette isn’t enough. On the bright side, this isn’t one of Coloured Raine’s newest palettes and I believe they’ve continued to work on their formulas since the next palette is one that I actually will be keeping in my collection.

I forgot to mention in the last look that a tiny spot of Primavera is in the center of the lower lash line too.

Coloured Raine Queen Bee Palette

Unlike the Botanical Eyeshadow Palette, this one does not have “Eyeshadow” in the name, which is because it contains pressed pigments. Considering my experience with the previous palette, I was so nervous that the bump up in intensity with the mattes would mean the shadows would perform worse, but that’s not the case. Honeycomb is actually very soft and smooth feeling. I absolutely love this color of orange. Beehave and Pollen in Love are a little rougher to the touch, but they pack on the lids well and blend fairly well. I’ve had a little trouble building Bee-Witched on the other shadows at times, but it just takes a little more effort to get the definition I want without overdoing it or having it look unblended. It’s definitely not my favorite black matte, but it’s workable.
Using Honeycomb and Beehave together in the same eye look can be a bit tricky because I get a lot more pigment from Beehave right off the bat and it can easily overshadow/overpower Honeycomb, so I have to be careful with its placement.

The two shimmers look like they would have the same texture, but they’re definitely not the same formula. Unbeelievable is a chunkier and flakier shimmer that gives me a lot of fallout. It’s a foil shadow, but even applying it damp doesn’t give me the smoothness I want. I don’t enjoy that shadow at all and won’t be using it again when I open this palette. It’s a shame because the color is so pretty.
On the other hand, Mind Your Beesness is an almost glowing green-gold duochrome with more slip to it so that it glides easier across the lids. Because the binding solution is better, I get less fallout with this one. Honeycomb, Mind Your Beesness, and Pollen in Love are the colors that make this palette memorable and make me excited whenever I use it. This is the one that gives me hope for even better palettes in Coloured Raine’s future.

Black liner was also added to the upper lash line of the last look.

The eyeshadow primer and lip liners are absolute wins for Coloured Raine. The blushes aren’t the best and I have mixed views on the palettes. Considering what I paid, it was worth it to me to give them a chance and figure out how I feel about what the brand produced in 2022. At this point in time, I have hope for them in 2023 and I am truly rooting for them. However, the competition among indie and mainstream brands alike is the toughest it’s ever been. I recognize that they’ve lowered their price point, but I’d rather spend more for better quality. For me to continue purchasing from them, their products have to be truly special or incredibly appealing to my tastes. I look forward to seeing what they’ll release this year and I hope others will still give them a try. I heard positive reviews about their Rebellious Nudes palette, so I feel they’re on the right track. Here’s hoping!

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!

-Lili ❤