Beauty Product Reviews

Iris brightens face and fades beautifully

I already knew that Wayne’s lipstick formula is gorgeous — comfortable, sophisticated — but this color! Iris is a stunner. I have light-medium skin that is neutral pulling slightly golden-peach, and lips that do not have much natural pigment, and this slightly cool-toned lippie brightens up my whole face. The undertones of this rosy nude shade are utter perfection — not too brown and not too pink. When these kinds of shades look unflattering on me, it’s usually because they look too orange, but I also do not like lip colors that are too pink, and so I have a tough time finding shades I really love. Wayne nailed it with Iris. Even better, Iris lasts well for a cream lipstick and then fades evenly leaving a pretty stain, even on my 52 yo lips. Iris might well be my new favorite lipstick. Thank you, Wayne!

Beautiful but smudged

Let me preface this by saying that many mascaras smudge on me, and so I tend to use tubing mascaras to avoid that. However, I love most of Wayne’s products and this mascara looked so pretty — lengthening, separating, curl holding, and not clumpy. And all of that was true. It looked stunning when first applied. I also loved the slim applicator and how the component is designed to prevent excess product from being on the wand and then your lashes. Unfortunately, despite being waterproof, this mascara gave me mini raccoon eyes. I use a lot of emollient products under my eyes to combat serious under eye circles, dryness, and fine wrinkles, and I can only use a very light dusting of setting powder over these products or I really age that area. I am guessing that someone who doesn’t use relatively emollient products and/or can use a traditional amount of setting powder over them would not have this problem. The look really was beautiful until it smudged.

My go-to bronzer

I have light-medium skin that is neutral pulling slightly warm, and this bronzer is absolute perfection on me. The color looks so natural without any weird undertones. It is also luminous without looking at all sparkly or shimmery on the skin. it is easy to apply a light wash or to build more color without looking powdery, and I have dry, more mature skin. I have not touched any of my other bronzers since I started using this palette. The contour shade is also excellent, having enough coolness to mimic a shadow but without looking muddy or ashy on me. I don't contour a lot, but I do use this shade daily to add dimension back to my lower lash line after using concealer, and I often use it in my crease to add some depth to my eyes on no-makeup make-up days. My only complaint, and it is minor, is that I wish the palette had more bronzer than contour because I know I will hit pan on the bronzer way before I do on the contour.

make-up application feels almost effortless with these

I already own most of Wayne's brushes plus most Sonia G brushes and a few Chikuhodo. Did I really need more brushes? I wasn't really sure, but after watching Wayne demo how to use these brushes, I felt they were different enough to merit my buying them. I was right! First off, these brushes are nearly as soft as his squirrel hair brushes but with better product pickup because they are goat. Second, the shapes of particularly the smaller brushes are amazing. The #5 is perfect for softly defining my crease and then diffusing the color over the rest of my lid for a quick eye look (I have a decent amount of lid space despite having slightly hooded eyes). Then the #6 is perfect for adding a bit of dimension to my lower lash line without any poking or scratchiness. The #3 is brilliant for applying the lightest amount of powder to set my under-eye concealer. It fits right under my lower lashes because of how it is tapered. The #4 might accomplish that task better for some people since it is smaller. I used to use the WG Airbrush (I think that's what it's called) to set under my eyes, but the more severe taper of this #3 brush allows for a lighter application and a less powdery look. The #2 is a beautiful multipurpose brush that applies powders, creams, and balms (haven't tried any liquids yet) with ease. It looks very similar to the WG #13 but has slightly longer bristles that don't appear to be as densely packed. The opening of the ferule is larger. Therefore, I find that the #2 from this set feels more flexible and glides over my 51 year-old skin more easily. My skin almost doesn't move at all under this brush. For that reason, I would guess that this brush is also less likely to disturb foundation if used for cream bronzer or blush. Overall, these brushes make me look like I am better at applying my make-up than I actually am.

Perfect sun-kissed blush

I have light-medium skin and go for natural looks, and so I wasn’t sure Bright Poppy would be for me, but I so loved it in Wayne’s video that I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did! I use a very soft, not too dense brush (my favorite for this blush is Wayne’s Artist Collection Medium grey squirrel hair brush), and I get the most perfect I’ve been out in the sun kind of flush. So while this blush is by far the brightest I own, it is also probably the most natural when used this way. It’s finely milled and blends effortlessly. I knocked off one star because I would have preferred the blush come with a different highlight shade. I can use this one under the blush for a more luminous look or on my eyes, but it’s too deep for me to use as a more traditional highlight.

Perfect for cream bronzer and blush and blending out concealer

I agree with others that this brush is a bit small for applying foundation, but it does a beautiful job of it if you take the time. What I really love it for is for blending out concealer that I use in areas where I have sun damage instead of wearing foundation. It’s also brilliant for cream blushes and bronzers. The size of this brush is perfect for these three uses, and the mix of natural and synthetic hairs absorbs less product than all natural hairs would.

Perfect MLBB shade in a gorgeous formula

In love with this gloss! I have medium skin with a neutral to slightly warm undertone. My lips are not naturally all that pigmented. Petunia is the best MLBB gloss color I have ever found. Worn alone it brightens up my face with natural looking color and with a shine that makes my lips look juicy but in a way that feels totally appropriate for my age (50). The formula is neither too slick nor too sticky. There is a bit of tack, but I like that because the color doesn’t slide around and stays put for a reasonable amount of time for a gloss. There are no gross strings of gloss when you separate your lips — it’s not that kind of tack at all. The gloss also looks gorgeous over any lip pencil I’ve tried so far. I don’t ever want to be without WG Petunia gloss!