Burberry Beauty Lip Cover Soft Satin Lipstick in Devon Sunset Review, Comparisons

Last week I picked up one of Burberry Beauty's new lipstick shades for Spring 2012, called Devon Sunset No. 28 ($30).  As usual with Burberry, it's love!

Burberry Beauty Lip Cover in Devon Sunset

The formula is divine, and the color is perfect for spring (and summer)!

More details, photos, and swatches after the jump!

Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in No. 22 Pale Barley Review, Comparisons

This Spring Burberry Beauty is releasing a new eye shadow shade called Pale Barley ($29), No.22 in their permanent lineup of Sheer Eyeshadows.  Pale Barley seems like a simple enough color, but it is actually difficult to describe.  No matter how you slice it, this is one gorgeous shadow!

Burberry Beauty Pale Barley Sheer Eyeshadow - direct light

As always, you can click the photo to enlarge it.

More photos and swatches after the jump!

Rouge Bunny Rouge Gleaming Temptations Lip Gloss in I Have My Honey

Anyone who has spent any amount of time talking to me about cosmetics knows about my love affair with Rouge Bunny Rouge.  I have tried many of their products, and I have yet to be disappointed.  I had never seen one of their lip glosses, so I decided to give them a whirl.  I chose the shade I Have My Honey, which is a mauve-colored gloss with pinky-mauve opalescent shimmer.

Swatches after the jump!

Review: Chanel Precision Eye Definer in Khaki Platine - Illusiones D'Ombres de Chanel - Fall 2011

This year, Chanel's collections have been getting better and better.  Fall 2011 has me salivating ... it is so elegant!  Most of the items are permanent, so I splurged on the limited edition items right now, plus the Prelude eyeshadow quad because it just looked so delicious.

First up, I give you Chanel Precision Eye Definer in Khaki Platine (limited edition):

More details and swatches after the jump!

Review: MAC Venomous Villains - She Who Dares Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo

One of the things that arrived today in my MAC Venomous Villains order was the She Who Dares Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo.  It's much the same as My Dark Magic in formulation, except that the colors in She Who Dares are blue and green instead of the plum and violet of My Dark Magic.

More details and swatches after the jump!

Preview: MAC Venomous Villains - My Dark Magic Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo

UPDATE: I have added swatches and more thoughts on My Dark Magic at the bottom of the post!

According to Christine from Temptalia, Venomous Villains will launch online in under an hour from now so I wanted to provide some IRL pics of My Dark Magic.  I have not worn or swatched it yet and hope to do so in the next couple of days before the official launch, but I thought the pics might help. As usual, you can click on any of them to make them larger.

More photos after the jump!

Preview: MAC Venomous Villains - Oh So Fair Beauty Powder

I was lucky enough to attend the Venomous Villains Preview Party at King of Prussia Mall last night!  I want to thank Morgan, Daryl, and Tracy for all their help.  These MA's were wonderful, and if you are at the KOP MAC store I would not hesitate to ask for any of them.  Daryl and Tracy helped my mom pick out some great new products, and Morgan, with whom I have worked before, made sure everything we wanted was set aside for us.  Thank you, ladies!

I picked up two products at the event:  The Oh So Fair Beauty Powder from the Evil Queen's Collection and the My Dark Magic Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo from Maleficent's Collection.  These were the only items that really caught my eye; I have to say that overall I was disappointed in this collection.  I'm probably in the minority I know, but hey we all have different tastes.

First up is Oh So Fair Beauty Powder ($25):

More detail and photos after the jump!

Review: Bobbi Brown Black Velvet Sparkle Eyeshadow

Black Velvet is a Sparkle eyeshadow Bobbi Brown released with their eponymous Fall 2010 collection. 

Swatches and more details after the jump!

Review: Chanel Soho Collection - Rouge Allure Laque in Stunt

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After trying and loving the Rouge Coco in Stunning, I was very excited to try Chanel's Rouge Allure Laque in Stunt, also especially created for the Limited Edition Soho Collection.  The Soho Collection celebrates the re-opening of Chanel's Soho Boutique in New York City after an extensive remodel, and was inspired by the women of Soho and NYC in general.

Rouge Allure Laques are known for their amazing pigmentation, creamy formula, and long wear.  Stunt did not disappoint!

More details, photos, and swatches after the jump!

Review: Chanel Soho Collection - Rouge Coco in Stunning

Today I received my Chanel Soho haul - the lip products.  I have just a minor obsession with lipsticks and glosses, so when I saw these I knew I had to get them.  They are part of Chanel's Limited Edition Soho Collection in honor of the re-opening of Chanel's Soho boutique. I'll be reviewing both, but first up is Rouge Coco in Stunning.

More details and swatches after the jump!

Review: MAC Blankety and Half n' Half Lipsticks

I have been on the hunt for some great pink-nude lipsticks that would suit my NC20-ish complexion.  Two shades I settled on were both MAC amplified cremes: Half n Half and Blankety.  I was impressed with their creamy consistency, smooth application, and their opaque-yet-buildable formula.  They look like almost the same color in the tube, with Half n Half (left) just a shade darker than Blankety (right), but that is absolutely not the case!

Swatches and more details after the jump!

Review: Korres Cherry Oil Full Color Lipgloss - #22 Naked Rose, #25 Natural Purple, #30 Naked Beige

I recently picked up some of Korres Cherry Oil lipglosses after playing with them in Sephora.  I was impressed by the color selection, the moisturizing feel of the glosses, and the natural formula.

More details and swatches after the jump!

Review: Pangea Organics Egyptian Calendula and Blood Orange Cleanser

I'm glad that project is over ... I literally stopped working only to sleep.  Back to the blogs!






For the past couple of weeks, I have been testing Pangea Organics Egyptian Calendula and Blood Orange Facial Cleanser, which I purchased during a 25% off sale they had on their website.  It's a milky cleanser with a bit of a strange scent that is hard to describe, but does smell natural nonetheless.  It left my skin smooth and refreshed, and was cleansing but did not strip my skin.  My face fest smooth and supple after washing with this cleanser, and I quite liked the results I was getting.  My skin was clear and clean, and I was actually able to use less moisturizer because of this cleanser.   I used it morning and night for almost two weeks, and stopped using it a few days ago when I suddenly broke out in two massive cysts on my chin.

I would love to give this cleanser a glowing review, and up until a few days ago I would have, but given the pain the lower part of my face is in right now, I will not be using this cleanser again and would not recommend it for anyone who has sensitive or acne-prone skin.

Looks like for now I will be going back to my Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Cleanser.  It's doesn't meet all my criteria, but so far it's the only thing that I have found to work on a consistent basis.

Review: Benefit Eye Bright

Things have been kind of hectic around the Addicted household of late, and I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should.  I have been looking into products that will help conceal the effects of said sleep deprivation, and my research led me to Benefit's Eye Bright pencil ($20 at Sephora).

At first I was a little wary of the color.  This pencil is a pale pink, not a true white like a lot of other eye brightening pencils.  I was afraid the pink would make my eyes look bloodshot and highlight the redness and circles around my eye area.  Not so!  I applied the pencil to my waterline and was very pleased.  The pale pink actually looks more natural and less jarring than a pure white pencil looks.

 You can see from the arm swatch (no flash) that the color is much more subtle than a white pencil, but it doesn't really look pink either.  The results are eyes that look awake and fresh, even though they may not necessarily feel either of those two things.


The texture of the pencil is creamy, so it's very easy to apply.  It doesn't drag like other eye liners; the color goes on nice and smooth.  After it's applied, the color does seem to fade over time, but I've been wearing it for about 4 hours now and my eyes still look bright ... the effect of the pencil is definitely still noticeable.

Overall I am very pleased with Benefit Eye Bright, and will likely repurchase when I the time comes.  You get a lot of product with each pencil, so I don't think I will run out but rather proper hygiene will require a replacement.

What do you think of Benefit Eye Bright?

Review: Rouge Bunny Rouge - Part II

Part II of my Rouge Bunny Rouge review features Succulence of Dew Sheer Lipstick in Fluttering Sighs and Hues of Enchantment Colour Burst Lipstick in The Plot Thickens.

RBR's Succulence of Dew Sheer Lipstick has a light yet spicy scent and a smooth texture.  It glides on nicely and feels quite moisturizing on the lips.  It also has pleasantly surprising color payoff for a sheer lipstick ... Fluttering Sighs in particular is a lovely peachy pink hue shot through with gold shimmer that brightens my complexion nicely.  It's perfect for when you want a nude lip with a little something extra. 

I was also pleased with how long this lipstick lasted.  It's not a long-wear product, so I was happy that I got at least a couple of hours' worth of wear from it before I felt I needed to reapply.

I will definitely be repurchasing this one over and over again.  Traditionally, I am more of a gloss girl than a lipstick girl.  I love the color and texture of this lipstick though, and will likely try some other colors.


Succulence of Dew Sheer Lipstick in Fluttering Sighs (click to enlarge):

 
 RBR's Hues of Enchantment Colour Burst Lipstick has a creamier and more luxurious texture than the Succulence of Dew Lipstick.  The color is also more opaque.  I found the formula to be hydrating as well, although I did feel it was less hydrating than the Succulence of Dew Lipstick.  It did, however, last longer than the Succulence of Dew.  

The Plot Thickens is a gorgeous peachy nude shade with very subtle shimmer.  While it is brightening, it is not as brightening as Fluttering Sighs.  In my opinion, The Plot Thickens is a wonderful complement to a sexy, smokey eye.

Overall I like this lipstick a lot, but as I tend to wear my makeup more casual, I find myself reaching for Fluttering Sighs on a more daily basis.  The Plot Thickens is a fabulous lipstick that I use when I am going out or for special occasions.  It's a great base for many of my lipglosses, and I love it paired with a smokey eye.  I'll likely repurchase this lipstick when the time comes, though I think I will go through the sheer lipstick in Fluttering Sighs much faster.

Hues of Enchantment Colour Burst Lipstick in The Plot Thickens (click to enlarge):

Here are swatches, Fluttering Sighs on top and The Plot Thickens on bottom (click to enlarge):

The shades look similar, but Fluttering Sighs is brighter, more pink, and has more shimmer than The Plot Thickens.  The Plot Thickens is nude with just enough pink in it to keep you from looking washed out.  The shimmer on The Plot Thickens is also much more subtle ... Overall, I would say The Plot Thickens has more of an opaque satin finish, while Fluttering Sighs is shiny and sheer with an apparent golden shimmer.

I think which one of these formulas you will prefer depends on your day-to-day makeup tendencies.  As a lipgloss lady myself, I found that the sheer lipstick fit better with my normal routine and aesthetic than the colour burst lipstick.  If you normally tend toward true lipsticks, however, you will probably find the colour burst lipstick moisturizing and luxurious.   I love both formulas for different reasons, and they both fill a gap in my makeup collection.  The price makes these lipsticks a bit of an indulgence, but in my opinion they are worth it.

Review: Rouge Bunny Rouge haul - Part I

I have been dying to try Rouge Bunny Rouge (RBR) since I first read about it a while back at The Gloss Goss. RBR is a relatively new brand (it started up around 2005) from Russia, and within the last year it made its way over to the UK. RBR formulas contain a lot of natural extracts, and the products are designed to be treatment in addition to color. The brand story imagines that the collection emerged from an Enchanted Garden, weaving together "a Victorian fairytale and a whispering sense of danger." The packaging is gorgeous - dark, shiny black with white blooming flowers and fluttering butterflies - and the names are equally enticing.

RBR is a high end brand. Their products run anywhere from about 17GBP ($25)to 66GBP ($100), with many products coming in around 22GBP or so ($33). Frankly it's more than I usually prefer to spend on cosmetics, but the brand has gotten such rave reviews that I was still dying to give RBR a try.

Currently, the only place you can purchase RBR products (provided you are in the U.S. or Canada) is through a British website called Zuneta. With taxes, shipping, and the awful exchange rate, shipping the already-expensive RBR line to the U.S. has been cost-prohibitive.

Well, at the end of this past May, just in time for Memorial Day (a Bank Holiday in the UK), Zuneta announced that it would begin to offer free international shipping on orders of 100GBP (about $150) or more. They also offered a 20% off any purchase promotional code good for the Bank Holiday weekend. I had to bite.

My haul arrived yesterday, and I have to say that the products do in fact live up to the hype. I was able to swing a few items with this haul because of the code ... they ended up costing about $25 each, which I consider to be a good deal for what I received.

The products I chose are:

• When Birds Are Singing Long Lasting Eye Shadows - Unforgettable Oriole, Bejewelled Skylark, and Delicate Hummingbird
• Feline Gaze Eye Kohl in Delilah
• Succulence of Dew Sheer Lipstick in Fluttering Sighs
• Hues of Enchantment Colour Burst Lipstick in The Plot Thickens
  

First up, two of the When Birds Are Singing Long Lasting Eyeshadows (22GBP/$33):

Unforgettable Oriole (shimmering white gold):




Bejewelled Skylark (shimmering deep chocolate brown):




These eyeshadows are nothing short of amazing. I have never tried shadows that were so pigmented and blended so easily on my lids. They are an absolute dream to apply. The radiance and depth of these shadows just can't come through in pictures.

Unforgettable Oriole is a great basic shade. The color reminds me a bit of Stila's Kitten eyeshadow, but the texture completely blows away anything Stila offers. It's the perfect highlighting shade for brows, cheekbones, whatever you'd like. It's pure shimmer ... no chunks of glitter, just a pretty pearlescent sheen.

Bejewelled Skylark is perfect as a liner shadow or for a chocolatey, shimmerimg smokey eye. It's a deep chocolate-brown with reflections of copper. Also, no glitter here; all shimmer. The color is deliciously rich and multidimensional. It comes up a bit washed out with the flash on my camera; the color is a bit deeper In Real Life (tm).

Here is a swatch, with Unforgettable Oriole on top and Bejewelled Skylark on the bottom (one swipe of the brush):




RBR asserts that these shadows will last 8 hours when worn dry and 14 hours when worn wet. I have only worn them dry, and I do think they are very long lasting. It took me several minutes to remove these swatches; I had to wash my arm three times.

I love these shadows and I definitely will be purchasing more the next time Zuneta offers a promotion. In my opinion, they are worth every penny of the pricetag. I absolutely cannot wait for this brand to come to the U.S.! I hope they do it sooner rather than later; until then I will just have to wait for Zuneta codes.

About Zuneta ...

If you are considering Rouge Bunny Rouge, I highly recommend Zuneta. You can set up an account and provide your phenotype (hair color, eye color, skin tone, etc.), and they will make product recommendations for you depending on the information you supply. This is especially helpful with products you can't see and touch before buying (like RBR).

The service at Zuneta is also very good. They shipped my order very quickly, and a customer service rep sent me a personal email to let me know that one of my items was backordered. He told me that it would be shipped to me immediately when it came back into stock, and he told me when to expect the item to ship. I received a shipping confirmation exactly when he said I would receive it, and the item is now on its way to me. My first shipment arrived nicely packaged in a Zuneta gift box, and the items (and a hefty sample) were swathed in beautiful purple tissue paper. I am very pleased with the service I have received from Zuneta, and will definitely order from them again in the future.

What do you think of Rouge Bunny Rouge and/or Zuneta?

Review: J.Crew Haya stripe hoodie

I have been in a summery, beachy state of mind lately, and as soon as I saw the Haya striped hoodie ($65) on jcrew.com I knew I would be getting it.





The price is outrageous for a hoodie, but I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I found the hoodie at my local b&m and tried it on. I loved it!

The material is like a very soft and stretchy terry cloth. It's highly breathable and ever-so-comfortable. There are little pinky-peach darts at the pockets and the hood are attached, which add a pop of color and add some (otherwise lacking) femininity of the piece. The darts will also keep the seams from ripping/unraveling (ehem).

The fit is what I'd call a boyfriend fit. It's more form-fitting around the arms, and looser in the body. I took my regular size S in it, and it fits perfectly. There is quite a bit of stretch to the fabric, so if you want the hoodie to be snug try the next size down.

Here is a pic in less than optimum lighting (click to enlarge):




The Haya hoodie was going fast at my store, otherwise I would have waited on it. I was a bit surprised at first, but not after I tried it. J.Crew makes the best loungewear, in my opinion; it's always so soft and comfortable. Thumbs up on this one!

Review: J.Crew Croquet-stripe Caprese tunic

I ordered the Croquet-stripe Caprese tunic ($38) in the dusty shale colorway. I had heard that it ran large, so I ordered both my normal size S and an XS just in case. Indeed, to say this top runs large is a gross understatement. It is easily a full size too big, if not more.

I am 5'5" and a 36B, normally a size 4 or size S in J.Crew tops. 98% of the time this is the case. This tunic clearly falls into the other 2%, because not only did I take an XS in it, but the XS was actually a little roomy. Smaller/petite ladies will definitely be sized out of this one, unfortunately. It's a shame, because it's a lovely tunic.

The fabric is a soft, lightweight cotton, but it is not sheer. It feels almost like a chambray. As the description on J.Crew's website states, the stripes are woven into the fabric as opposed to being printed on, which results in a nice texture in both the tactile and visual senses.

Here is a swatch of the fabric (click on it to see it larger):

The color in the swatch is a little washed out from the flash, but it shows the texture nicely. You can see that there are thin ivory cables at at the edges of the shale and ivory stripes, and that the main blue part of the tunic has ivory interwoven into it. It's really very lovely, and I recommend it if you are thinking about it.

Also, just be aware that the front buttons are placed pretty low on the placket, though I did not have problems with the neckline gaping open; the coverage was fine for me. The only issue I had was wearing a cross-body bag ... I felt like the strap on the bag pulled open the "v" in the front a little bit, but my husband assured me that nothing was visible when that happened. In the future though, I might wear a cami underneath when I am wearing a cross-body.

EDIT: This top just arrived arrived at my local b&m, and the price is $49.50, which is $11.50 higher than the price online. Really, J.Crew?

Review: LORAC aquaPRIME

I wanted to give a shout out to LORAC's aquaPRIME. It's a water-based makeup primer that I decided to try on my last visit to Sephora, because it's been so hot and humid here my makeup has been sliding off my face almost immediately. I was attracted to this primer because it's water-based and doesn't have any harsh or harmful ingredients that would irritate and/or clog up my sensitive, acne prone skin (LORAC is great for that). I got a sample that I have been using it for over a week now, and I have to say that I love it. My makeup has been going on so much better and lasting so much longer. I still get a little bit of shine after several hours (and I always will, just cause that's my skin), but it's not even in the same ballpark as it used to be. It's so little shine that I don't really feel the need to blot.

Just by way of background, I have combination skin that tends toward oily in the summer. It's also very sensitive and acne-prone, as I mentioned. Historically, I have had trouble finding a good balance for it. I have tried other primers like those from Smashbox and Tarte, and I have also tried the anti-shine primer from Sephora. They all made my face more oily. If you have similar skin issues to mine, I think you will like aquaPRIME. If your skin is dry, you might find that it's not moisturizing enough, and if your skin is oily, you might find it isn't mattifying enough. This primer has really helped me though. I apply a thin layer of it after moisturizing and before foundation and it has really worked beautifully for me. I just purchased the full-size bottle. It's not pricey as far as primers go; it's about $30 for a decent-sized bottle. A little goes a long way ... like I said, a small sample lasted me for over a week.

The packaging is alright; I found it a little difficult to get the product out, having to pump a few times to get the desired amount. I like that it's not messy though, and because it's so conservative it keeps you from using too much. I'd rather have it that way than have primer flying all over the place. The consistency is thin and feels like a very watery gel. It's cool and quite refreshing on the skin.

Overall I think this is a great product and I will definitely re-purchase for use during the summer months ... I will also try using it in the winter months too, although I don't have as much issues with shine at that time of year.