Beauty Product Reviews | Page 5

Unique deep teal gel liner

Shade was one of my first gel liners, EVER! I was immediately drawn to this unique deep teal green shade at the counter and I had to have it. It's packaged in a pot, like all other popular gel liners. I use either a MAC 263 angle liner brush or a MAC 266 angle liner brush for lining (the former for thinner detailed lines). I love wearing it with peaches, spring greens, lavender, gold, beige. Even though it's a unique green eyeliner, it's surprisingly wearable with many shades. I love this particular shade of green because it's got a great balance of yellow and blue, leaning slightly toward the blue in my opinion. The shade makes my brownish warm eyes turn olive green and brings out the hidden gold rings! I love MAC Fluidliners because they literally last all day and do.not.budge. Fantastic.

SWATCH: Rubenesque

First off, I'm obsessed with art history. When you name something relating to Renaissance Paintings, I'm going to buy it. This is fact.

When I first swatched 'Rubenesque', I was in love. MAC definitely hit the nail on the head with this name; the iridescent peachy gold shot with gold shimmer completely references the aesthetic influence of that particular artistic era. I use it as a base for other shadows, as a shadow on its own, or as an eye brightener on the inner corner of the eyes. In the photo, I've paired Rubenesque with an olive shade on the lid (the purple on the bottom was a bit of an experiment :D) On my brown eyes, Rubenesque shines and brings out their warmth.

MAC Paint Pots are a great product. They are a cream based eye shadow packaged in pot form. Usually I just use my fingers to apply them, or a synthetic flat brush to pick up the pigment better, They are priced at $16.50, a good deal if you're buying a product you'll use at least 3 times a week. The lasting power is really great for an eyeshadow, but on my incredibly oily lids, it still creased a tad without any primer on. All in all, a beautiful color...I don't regret the purchase. If you are a fan of cream shadows, definitely give these a try.

Great non sticky balms, don't expect a lot of pigment!

I loveeee Clinique superbalm glosses! I originally used their regular superbalm formula, so when they came out with tinted gloss shades I was PUMPED!

I've always been on the hunt for lip products that would give a dewy, not glossy looks to my lips without the sticky texture of regular lip gloss (MAC Lip Glass on a windy day, enough said.) My top two favorite tinted balms have to be Clinique Superbalm and Prada lip balm. The aforementioned is very much cheaper than Prada's, so I'm definitely more drawn to it :)

I purchased Ginger, which, in the tube, looks like a non shimmer muted melon shade. On lips, it shows up clear with a hint of coral, and brightens up my face nicely. For $14, Clinique gives you .5 oz of product which is a pretty good deal for a high quality mid-end brand like Clinique. It's great to throw in your purse if you're on the run and want an incredibly moisturizing, lovely textured balm to give supple shine and a small hint of color.

Lovely 'egyptian' liner...

Clinique cream shaper for eyes is similar to MAC kohl liners, except Clinique promises long-lasting, non-smudging, all-day wear. That's a big promise to keep, but Clinique kept it!

I saw Egyptian in the store and immediately wanted to swatch it on my hand. What a color! It's a deep blackened olive/khaki with subtle gold bits glimmering in it. It's a lovely alternative to a harsh black that still gives oomph to the eyes. I have brownish greenish eyes and this just makes them glow olive! It's beautiful when smudged on the lashline with peachy gold shadow on the lid (like MAC All that Glitters or Stila Oasis Eye Shadow). Or you can pair it with a shimmering olive shadow to create a sultry olive smokey eye (try MAC Sumptuous Veluxe Pearl Shadow).

Great makeup remover

Clnique's Take the Day Off Makeup Remover is an excellent product to remove ALL makeup, including oil based and waterproof. For $17.50, you get 4.2 oz of product, cheaper than Lancome Bi Facial at (4.2 oz for $26). I still use my Neutrogena eye makeup remover because it works just as well as these mid and high-end alternatives. However, if you're looking for something in the mid range that does just as good of a job as the high end, and enjoy Clinique products or skincare already, than this product is worth a shot.

Solid mid-end mascara to own.

I am a big proponent of drugstore mascara. Since you have to toss out mascara every 3-6 months, I don't believe in spending over $10 on it. However, at $14.50, Clinique's High Impact Mascara is a great mid-end mascara if you want to splurge a little more. It does a fantastic job of separating and defining lashes for a day look. The packaging is a beautiful shimmering emerald black plastic, and the wand is really nice on lashes. For a full effect, I apply mascara to the roots of my lashes and wriggle them up a few times (this ensures maximum lash coverage). I usually wear Cover Girl Lash Blast which I love, but for a Clinique Gift with purchase, I'd definitely purchase this :)

Excellent powder from Stila, yet again.

I love Stila's foundation range. Their color spectrum fits my skintone perfectly and mixes the right balance of undertones that fit many colorings. Their Illuminating Powder Foundation is one of my favorite products, EVER. It was no surprise that I wanted to try their Sheer Powder for days where I didn't want to wear any makeup, but wanted oil control. This product does its job. With a puff powder, I applied it in the morning lightly on my face, and it wasn't oily for the entire day (to be fair, it was March, but I'm in the Bay Area so winter doesn't exist here.)

This is a great blotting, touch up powder, and the metallic packaging is cute to boot! Obsessed with the swirly design on top :) Light is a perfect match for my fair skin (I wear 20 watts in their Illuminating Powder Foundation) Not sure they have an option for Dark skins but that would be an issue...

Beautifully designed bronzer

I'm such a sucker for packaging. In particular, anything Stila designs.

Their Sun Bronzing Powder SPF 15 is no exception, I'm completely obsessed with the metallic tan mirrored compact with the cute little solar design on top. For $28, you get .28 oz of product, a little more on the expensive side but not too exorbitant if you buy bronzer once every year or so. I have really fair skin, so I got Shade 1. I apply it with either a simple blush brush (like Bobbi Brown's blush brush) or a duo fibre stippling brush like MAC 187 skunk brush. Either way, the product is definitely pigmented and shows up on my skin. The reformulated SPF 15 in the product is a little gimmicky because it takes WAY more than SPF 15 to protect my skin. Also, why would I only put SPF 15 on my cheeks? I'm just imaginging the awkward sunburn to come...

Products tend to oxidize on my skin, and this, unfortunately, turns slightly orangey. It's not orange like the sun, but one can tell that it looks unnatural. That said, I'll probably still continue to use this because I love the packaging so much. Sigh.

Excellent quality, specialized brushes

I only use a handful of makeup brushes in my arsenal, and was happy to add this to my collection! I was browsing sephora, looking for a great brush to target the shape of my outer corner. I saw this duo brush and absolutely had to have it! The angled crease side is precisely targeted to place pigmented color on the outer corner. In conjunction with the MAC 217, my shadow application always looks precise yet well blended. The other side of the brush is a small slightly pointed soft brush. This is the perfect shape to smudge a thick and dark shadow along the top lash line, and the perfect brush for smudging shadow softly along the lower lash line. At $32, it seems a bit expensive, but think of it this way: you are paying $16 each for two really good quality brushes that will last you forever with proper care. I recommend this brush for all eye shapes, including asian (the angled crease shade is perfect for angled lid work as well!)

Starfruit: One of my favorite glazes!

Starfruit is definitely my favorite lip glaze out of the whole line. It's a gorgeous and luscious shimmering pinky coral. The smell is divine and very pleasant, not overly cloying or sweet. The texture of lip glaze is still a little too sticky for my tastes, but this shade is so darn flattering on my coloring that it's hard to resist! (I'm fair with peachy undertones, have brown eyes/hair). I wear this glaze with greens, brown, black, gray....basically anything I want (see photo, wearing it with neutral browns)! This shade might look a little too warm on cooler coloring, so I recommend it for neutral, neutral-warm, and warm coloring.

*** Please see my review on Apricot Lip Glaze for a general review on Stila Lip Glaze