Posts tagged eyeliner
Makeup From Sephora Powell, San Francisco: Urban Decay Naked Palette and Illamasqua Blushes.
Aug 12th
Now that I have shown you what we were up to in and around San Francisco, it’s time again to talk makeup. Well, now that I think about it, it’s always time to talk about makeup. 
Illamasqua Powder Blusher
Canadian Sephora sadly lacks the amazing Illamasqua, so I wanted to check out the brand’s blushes (naturally!). They have incredibly smooth mattes that I wanted to take home, but I felt too guilty about hauling so much. I did swatch some of the blushes though, so everything’s not lost.
The blushes really were that pigmented on the back of my hand. I wanted Hussy and Excite.
Urban Decay Naked Palette
My friend from work and I have been stalking Sephora in the past couple of weeks to see if we can snatch up the coveted Urban Decay Naked Palette. When I saw this in SF, my neutral loving self literally skipped towards the cashier with one in my hand. My fellow Canadians, if you are able to hold out for a trip to the US, I would suggest buying there instead. It is US$44 / CDN$53. For reference I am MAC NC35 / NC37.
Click here to see more Urban Decay Naked Palette photos and swatches!
A Tale of Two Annabelle Smudgeliners.
Jul 14th
I have read only amazing things about Annabelle Smudgeliners ($8.95), and so I was really excited when these came in the mail.
Smudgeliners are waterproof pencils that come with a smudging sponge on the opposite end. These are not automatic pencils; they are enclosed in a plastic casing that you sharpen with a regular eyeliner sharpener. The ends have caps to protect both the pencil and the smudger from getting damaged.
Oh and how do we like this background? It’s in boyfriend’s apartment’s backyard. 
I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to read first?
Good news? I thought so.
Good News: Ohmygoth! This is Totally Like, a Great Eyeliner.
Ohmygoth! is a basic, creamy black. It is a rich, dark black. You won’t hear any complaints about the colour from me. It is pretty much everything that I was expecting about Smudgeliners. It wore well throughout my day; it didn’t slide or fade on my lash lines.
Because it is waterproof, I was brave enough to wear this on my waterline. And what do you know? Besides smudging off on the outer corners of my eyes — a.k.a. a makeup slip and slide party — it stayed put on the rest of my waterline. Incredible staying power. This glides on pretty easily just like Urban Decay 24/7 liners, so it gets extra brownie points for that. Great black eyeliner, great price. Rating: A.
Bad News: That was the Calm Before the Purple Storm.
Is there such a thing as being less waterproof? Because that’s what Purple Storm feels like to me. First of all, the colour payoff is just not there. The deep burgundy on the pencil does not translate to rich swatches. It’s just meh. The pencil itself is not smooth like buttah; it tugs a bit when I apply to my lash line. Also, I found the formula to be very clumpy. It feels weird to say that about an eyeliner. I find that this one fades a lot, and because it starts out craptacular, I end up with barely anything at the end of the day. Not a fan of this at all. Rating: D.
And Of Course, Some Swatches!
Swatches, and How I feel about these eyeliners.
After running the swatches under a garden hose. I also ran my fingers back and forth after this — no budging.
Disclosure: These products were sent by Groupe Marcelle for consideration only.
Smink Mineral Makeup: Tundra Collection Swatches and Review.
Jun 7th
I had the opportunity to try out some stuff from Tval Skincare. Although their name suggests a skincare line, they also have their own line of mineral makeup called Smink. Here are some swatches of the eyeshadow pigments from the Tundra Spring 2008 (!) collection:
Nancy Oh! / Bonavista / Winterton / Barren / Changeling / Mummer / Figgy Duff / Little Heart’s Ease
(click to enlarge)
Ingredients
Mica (CI 77491), Zinc oxide, Titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Magnesium stearate. May contain Iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Chromium oxide greens (CI 77289) and/or Ultramarines (CI 77007)
Eyeshadow Pigment Reviews
Nancy Oh! is a dark plum with a slight blue duochrome. The colour payoff is excellent, and it looks even better foiled or applied over a base.
Bonavista is a very shimmery mid-tone silver. I think it would make a rockin’ grey smokey eye.
Winterton is a white with very fine shimmer. It is one of the smoothest pigments in the collection.
Barren is a light olive with fine gold sparkles. This is the least pigmented of the bunch so I don’t like using this dry. I find that the texture was also on the chalky side.
Changeling is a greyish aqua with barely there gold sparkles. I had the same problems with this as Barren — it was quite chalky. It’s also a colour that is difficult for me to pull off, so it might be better suited for those with fairer skin tones.
Mummer is an incredible chocolate brown. It is very pigmented and smooth with or without a base. Definitely one of my favourites.
Figgy Duff is a shimmery beige. It works well as a highlighter, and it is just as smooth as Mummer.
Little Heart’s Ease is a shimmery rosy pink. This colour screams Springtime, and its pretty colour is well-complemented by its smooth texture and excellent payoff.
Trussle is a taupe that I unfortunately didn’t receive. We love taupe! I’m going to look for a swatch of this online… or maybe buy it.
The Low Down
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of these pigments. At only $6 per 5 mL jar, these pigments are a good deal considering the high quality pigments you are getting. I did not have any problems with fallout when using these.
I recommend: the really delicious neutrals like Winterton, Mummer and Figgy Duff. If you like colour, get Nancy Oh! and Little Heart’s Ease.
Look for: Trussle, the taupe. This reminder is for me, anyway.
Skip on: Barren and Changeling.
Disclosure: These products were sent to me by Tval Skincare for consideration only.
Shopping my Makeup Drawer: GOSH Velvet Touch Waterproof Eyeliner in Bananas.
Apr 30th
This s#!% is Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! GOSH Velvet Touch Waterproof Eyeliner in Bananas is a very light pearly yellow. I remember getting this when GOSH eyeliners were 40% off at Shoppers Drug Mart. This was one of those “swatch-and-go” impulse buys.
After trying this once, I admit that it remained untouched in my vanity drawer for months. I kept thinking, “Why did I buy this? It doesn’t work for my skin tone at all.” Then something amazing happened. I read Beauty Geek Janine’s post about Speedy Makeup Tricks to Look Great with Little Effort, where she mentioned this very pencil.
For those of you who (like me) think you look strange wearing white eyeliner — to be honest it looks so stupid on me — this is the perfect alternative. GOSH Bananas opens up the eye for those tired days, and stays put on my waterline all day. It went through watery eyes (thanks to seasonal allergies!) and a teary breakdown (thanks to a sad video on Vimeo!) and still held strong.
GOSH “Bananas” swatch
This stays on better than my dear Urban Decay 24/7 pencils, for about half the cost. They come in a wide variety of colours, so even you colour lovers will definitely find something that you like. In fact, GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner is so good that I’m giving it a spot in my holy grail. Amazing! Rating: A+++++
My Oily Eyelids vs. Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner.
Apr 3rd
I have oily lids. In makeup terms, that usually translates to eyeshadow creasing, eyeliner sliding around to create lovely raccoon eyes.
Model for Chanel on Fashion Week
While it looks great on the models in fashion week for Chanel, for the rest of us, it just doesn’t look that cute.
Needless to say I have high standards when it comes to eyeliner — I need something that stays put all day. There should be no budging through humidity, water, sweating, and eye grease (oh sexy!). With this in mind, I put Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Indigo through a test.
Swatches: one swipe; five swipes
It is definitely Waterproof.
I tested for waterproofness by applying on the back of my hand to see how it stands up to hand washing. There was fading after 3 or 4 vigorous hand washes, the liner stayed put where I applied it. There was no sliding or smudging.
This was an extreme test, of course. For normal wear, you would only be caught with rain or tears, without any harsh rubbing to the eye area. If you do get caught in the latter situation, please! Call for help.
Is it Greaseproof?
With an eye primer, Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner passed with flying colours. It stayed put until removed with waterproof makeup remover. Because of my oily eyelids, I never put on eye makeup without an eye primer. For beauty research (and partly because I am crazy!) I did. For the biggest test yet: will it stand up to my oily eyelids? Keep in mind that Marcelle only claims that this liner resists to “water, humidity and heat.”
Marcelle waterproof eyeliner freshly applied at 9 am, no primer
Marcelle waterproof eyeliner at 7 pm, no primer
On oily lids, there was visible creasing around 3 pm (6 hours later). It has definitely faded, but no sight of raccoon eyes. Thank goodness, I was at work after all! This was not bad at all. For reference, when both worn without an eye primer, this fared so much better than MAKE UP FOR EVER’s long wearing Aqua Eyes liner. Amazing, right? I wish I could show you, but I’m currently not that crazy to wear it to work.
The Low Down
Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner…
- is 100% waterproof and smudge resistant.
- works fabulously for those with non-oily eyelids.
- is amazing over your favourite eye primer for oily skin.
- has medium pigmentation that layers well to get more oomph out of it.
Overall, I like this liner very much, just falling short of Urban Decay’s 24/7 Eye Pencils. If this had better pigmentation and had a wider range of colours, I’d be all over it. Rating: B+.
Disclosure: This product was sent to me for consideration by Groupe Marcelle.
