MAC Club Vs Bare Minerals Mirage

Club is one of those iconic products from MAC that most appear to have in their makeup bag.  Described as a "red-brown with green pearl" it is, in fact, a beautiful, and versatile eyeshadow that deserves its cult status. When I was sent the new Bare Minerals eyeshadow duo in "The Vision", I thought one of the shades looked familiar, so I thought I'd do a comparison post.

Can you see what I saw?  The Vision eyeshadow duo (on the right there), contains a pistachio shade ("Illusion), and, what Bare Minerals refer to as a "deep lagoon" colour "Mirage" on the right.  I immediately thought that this was a dead ringer for MAC Club!  Take a closer look:

Mirage's texture is a little more reflective than Club's, so it looks a little more washed out in these pictures, but next to each other you'd be hard-pressed to say there was any difference at all.


So, how do they swatch?  

Swatches applied with finger, no primer - MAC has two layers, and Bare Minerals has one. Now, it must be said that many MAC shadows need a primer, but just look at the pigmentation of the Bare Minerals!  And you can see the pearl straight away, too.


Here's another look:

Can't deny that the MAC has disappointing application.  Club is one of their Satin finish eyeshadows, and mine is a couple of years old, so it may be that my pot has dried out a little, but I've often found that MAC shadows can be a little hard and underpowered in the pigmentation department over the last few years, I can't deny.


Mirage is from Bare Minerals' new "ready" range which features their famous loose mineral powders made solid - they're not "pressed", by all accounts, but they are a really lovely, soft, buttery texture with excellent pay off and wear.  Just in case you want to see both shades in The Vision palette swatched, here they are:

Again, there is rich pigmentation, but I find the shade itself a little chalky, and, I have to admit, it's not a shade I'd ever wear in a million years, but it's definitely a high-quality shadow.


MAC single eyeshadows cost £12 for 1.5g, and the Bare Minerals duo is £19 for 3g,  (which works out at £9.50 each)

The Fine Print: Purchases and PR samples all mixed up ...


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Beaute Weightless Lip Creme - Masochist

Let's get one thing out of the way, it's not out of focus, it's arty, mmmkay?

Beaute Weightless Lip Creme in Masochist was inspired by the works of noted fashion photographer Helmut Newton, who was, it might be fair to say, rather taken with images of red lips:

Canadian brand Beaute Cosmetics, brought to us by makeup artist Beau Nelson,  specialises in feather-light lip products, and it may be that Masochist is the most famous product from the line.

It's a gorgeous, deep, blood red, that comes with a standard doe-foot applicator making application very easy.  I find this sets quite quickly, but as with all liquid lipsticks, you need to apply it very carefully.

It's a very light texture, one you really can't feel in wear, so it's lovely for people who don't like the heavy, waxy feeling that you can get with some heavily-pigmented lipsticks.

Again, my cooler skintones make this colour pull a little orange on my skin, but this is a really beautiful shade, and one I've worn very often since I purchased it in a blog sale a while ago.  I only wish these were easier to get hold of!  You can buy Beaute Cosmetics from CocoBeau.co.uk for £21.

For fun, I thought I'd compare this to the Bare Minerals in Upper Class that I showed you on Tuesday:

As you can (possibly) see, Masochist is a little more orange, and the texture is a little lighter.  There isn't a whole lot between these shades though, so if you aren't a red lip addict like myself, there's probably no need to have both ... I do though, so ...

The Fine Print: Purchase.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Summery Coral Lipsticks from Clinique, Max Factor and Sisley

It's summer - allegedly - and I normally swap to more coral-shades in summer.  Whilst the sun hasn't really blessed us much this year, we do have some top lipstick shades around at the moment.  I picked up three at random, and thought you might like to see them:

So, we have Clinique Runway Coral, Max Factor Bewitching Coral, and Sisley Sheer Peach, or, in my words, the orange-coral, the pink-coral, and the peach.  Take a look:

They're all lovely in their own way, the Runway Coral from Clinique is one that I saw a Sales Assistant wearing at one point, and HAD TO HAVE, and the Max Factor is one that I initially trialled last year, and fell in love with.  The Sisley is, well, it's Sisley, and sometimes you just really want a very expensive lipstick. Or is that just me?

The Max Factor is probably the best all-rounder for me, the pinker-shade makes it more wearable with a variety of looks, but the Clinique definitely has more of the wow-factor on the skin, even if it does need more dramatic makeup to carry it off.  The Sisley sheer peach is lovely, but might suit a different skintone better, someone either really fair, or very dark I imagine would look wonderful in this.

What are your picks for summer lipstick shades?

The Fine Print: PR samples.
 
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Bare Minerals & Virgin: Upper Class Red Lip Colour

When you think of Virgin Atlantic, what's the first thing you think about?  Well, I normally see red, to be honest, the livery of the planes, the uniform, the  ...  lipstick?

Well, with that in mind, Virgin Atlantic have teamed up with Bare Minerals to create their perfect red shade, matched to the uniforms worn by all Virgin Atlantic staff, designed to last through long-haul flights and not be drying.  Initally it's available on Virgin Atlantic flights, and it's due to be released through Bare Minerals stores later this year.  Oh, and it's actually now part of the VA uniform, so it's the only lipstick the staff can wear!  Having worked for several years in the travel industry prior to becoming an accountant, there's actually nothing particularly new about this, lots of holiday companies dictate the shades of lipstick their staff can wear, but this is the first I've heard about a brand creating the shade in the first place ...

So, how does it measure up?  This is a gorgeously pigmented red, that slips beautifully over the lips, and stays put for quite some time.  However, it does fade, and it will give you the Red Ring Of Doom (the RROD - you'll see this acronym a fair bit over the next couple of weeks, btw) as it does.  

The applicator is a wonderfully flexible springy thing of beauty, but I do find that the wider bits at the base can lead to a slightly smudged application if you're not careful with it.

I find that you must (no ifs, ands or buts) wipe off the excess lipstick back into the tube, because if you don't, you will end up with a lipstick/teeth-type situation that you won't appreciate, but if you apply lightly, in layers, then you'll have a lovely glossy finish that eventually dries down to a stain.

  
This is a lovely tomato-red, it's actually fairly blue-based, but it pulls a little orange on my cool-toned skin. 

Overall, this is a good liquid lipstick, if you apply it carefully.  I like the shade, don't love the applicator, and like how long it lasts (again, if you apply it carefully), but how does it measure up to other red liquid lipsticks?  Well, I'll let you know that over the next two weeks, where I'll be comparing it to other iconic red liquid lipsticks (from Chanel, Beaute and Guerlain, for a start), and I'll keep you posted.

The Fine Print: PR sample.  From Bare Minerals, not Virgin Atlantic.  Dear Virgin Atlantic, if you're reading, I'm planning a honeymoon.  This is "not" a hint.  Okay, it is a hint.  I'm cheap, sue me. 


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Bourjois One Seconde Gel Polish: Shades 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 & 15

(L-R: Shade numbers 6, 4, 15, 5, 3, and 9 Didn't realise they had numbers when I lined them up - sigh)

Whilst hanging around in Superdrug (you know, like you do) recently, I had my eye caught by these colourful little numbers!  Also, they were on 3-4-2, so it would have been rude not to pick up a couple or three.


My nails are horrendously ridged at the best of times, and I was intrigued by the gel-like finish promised by these polishes, I was hoping that they would give me a smoother-looking nail.  Oh, and they're pretty, so very pretty!  I'm not much of a fan of pastels, but Bourjois do a nicely saturated, not too white based selection of pastel shades normally, so I'm always willing to give them a try.

(L-R: 15, 9, 6, 5, 3, 4)

Most of the shades have a cream finish, aside from 15, which is a clear coral (which makes an excellent top-coat, to darken other colours), and 5, which is a coral with golden shimmer.  Here's a closer look at the finishes:

As to my ridge-filling requirements, well, I've been very impressed, I mentioned my nails are very ridged at the moment (no ideas why, alas), but I've found that these polishes have a nice, "cushion-y" finish, which minimises their appearance:

My ring finger in particular has the worst ridge on my left hand, and here you can see how smooth it appears here, I couldn't be happier!  The brush is a wide, flat and has a curved edge, meaning you can cover most of the nail in one stroke, I have a bit of trouble with this brush, as I have extremely narrow nail beds, but, once you get used to it, it's very easy to use.  The picture shows two coats with a topcoat, I found that two coats was more than sufficient to a) colour the nails, and b) cover any ridges.  The formula is a little on the thick side, so three coats might be one too many.

Bourjois have informed me that they're releasing more shades in this formula later in the year, and are including some metallics in the range, I can't wait!

The Fine Print: Some are purchases, some turned up on the doorstep AFTER I made purchases, thanks to the existence of the Nail Varnish Fairy. I love the Nail Varnish Fairy, she's a very nice ... um ... mythical being.


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis À Lèvres or Glossy Lip Stains

 

I'm months behind on reviewing these, there was a lot of blog-love for these a few months ago, and, I can't deny it, I'm underwhelmed with them.  A bit.  The shades are lovely, and I adore the applicators, but ... I just can't get them to stain my lips for love nor money.

According to Twitter, it's my fault for making poor colour choices, but ... heck, I don't want to take the blame for a product not working on me, frankly! I have shades 3 (Brun Cachemire), 12 (Corail Fauve) and 5 (Rouge Vintage).

On initial application, the shades are beautiful, even the brown, which I usually find difficult to wear.  This is thanks to it's purple undertones, which you should be able to see here:

So, we have a brown, a coral, and a pinky-red.  I love the shades, and I love how they look on my lips.  Some people have reported that they're very drying, I've never particularly had that problem with them, but this is my problem with them:

Can you see the stains?  No?  Me neither.  They are there though, I promise you.  These are billed as a glossy lip stain, I get the gloss, which I love, and I adore how pigmented they are, but I find they fade unevenly, and ... well ... the stain part is just non-existent!

How did you get on with YSL glossy lipstains?

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Plum by Mary Greenwell

Confession time: Mary Greenwell is one of my all-time idols.  Alongside Kay Montano, a young Get Lippie used to collect pictures of the looks these two women created for the likes of Princess Diana, all the Supermodels, and practically every celebrity you've ever heard of (and a few you haven't) ever since.  Both ladies are still going strong today, and Mary, in particular simply can't put a foot wrong as far as I'm concerned. 

Normally you'd expect a makeup artist's eponymous line to start with a makeup item.  A range of lipsticks, perhaps, or a perfect eye palette, but no, Mary's decided to go with a perfume, and it was, I have to say an inspired decision.

Plum by Mary Greenwell is ostensibly a fruity-floral (normally my most loathed perfume genre), but this is far more of a modern chypre.  To my nose it appears perfectly balanced, to the extent where I can only rarely pick out any of the individual notes, to me the perfume smells, always, perfectly of itself.  It's not too sweet, and I can't, in all honesty pick out any fruit in the perfume at all.  My nose just isn't up to it.The listed notes contain:

Top: peach, blackcurrant, plum, bergamot and lemon.
Middle: gardenia, tuberose, orange flower absolute, rose absolute and jasmine absolute.
Base: woods, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli, amber, and white musk.


Reading that list, you expect a screechy fruit-y marmalade-ish affair, which will dry down to a nothing-y skin scent at the end, suitable for teenagers of all ages. But lists of notes can be misleading, because Plum is a very grown-up affair indeed.  Sophisticated, and glamorous, even.  MrLippie likes this one a great deal.   

It's quite a perfume-y scent, in the style of Chanel No5, but without the shouty aldehydes at the beginning. I notice that the cunning Mary has styled the bottle after the classic flacon of Chanel, topping it off with a stylised gold representation of a plum that will do some serious damage to you if you're ever unlucky enough to drop it on your toe (take it from one who knows). 

Mary considers a spritz of fragrance to be the perfect finishing touch to a beauty routine, and, with this unashamedly feminine (not girlish) fragrance, I have to say that this is one of the better spritzes out there.  You can buy Plum from House of Fraser, or you can buy it direct from marygreenwell.com

The Fine Print: I won my bottle in a Twitter competition.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.