Make Me Brighter

Dazzle Me

cleegiants — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Are you afraid of color? I'm not! I live in color and try to incorporate it into my look, whether it's with clothing or makeup. One of my favorite ways to dress up an otherwise plain outfit is with lipstick or lipgloss. If you check my purse right now, I probably have at least 5 lipsticks and another 5 lipglosses in there. It's an obsession that I'm trying to hold under control. One of my favorite formulations are the Dazzleglasses from MAC. They are full of shine and glitter. It may not be for those who want the "no makeup" look, but the range of colors are beautiful. They're fairly thick, but not goopy. They're pigmented but not opaque and not sticky. I normally don't care too much about stickiness, but I know there are a lot who do.

MAC recently released the Dazzleglass Cremes, which look similar to the regular Dazzleglasses, but like the Cremesheen launch a couple months ago, are a bit creamier and have more opacity than usual. Still chock full of glitter though! I currently have five of the Dazzleglasses; three of them original and two of them the cremes. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, consider this post over 5,000 words!

Sorry my picture quality is low; I'm researching a new camera that will take better closeups. These pictures will go in order of color intensity, from the most neutral to the most vibrant.

First up: Smile.

Next is Steppin' Out

Third is Roman Holiday.

Now the Dazzleglass Cremes. Totally Fab is up first.

And lastly, but not least, is Creme Allure.

Aren't they all lovely? I wish the glitter would show through more in these photos, but hopefully you'll get an idea. And don't be afraid of glitter -it works well in these! I swatched these one after another so you can see some smearing, so ignore that please. MAC seems to release a lot of shades that are similar, but I think I've got a good mix. About the only type of color I think I would add would be a coral color but for now, my collection looks good! Here are a couple of shots of the Dazzleglasses lined up so you can see how they compare.
without flash
with flash

From L to R: Smile, Steepin Out, Roman Holiday, Totally Fab, Creme Allure

Honey on the Lips

cleegiants — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

I'm a lipstick fiend and while I have entirely too many, I am always trying out different combinations and usually return to old standbys. In fact, in a smaller clutch that I put in my purse, I have a bunch of lipsticks, glosses and balms that I take with me so I always have a variety of colors. One of the colors is Clinique's Black Honey Almost Lipstick. It's a very wearable shade despite how dark it looks in the tube. It makes me feel like I have natural lips, just with more color! Adding the Lipgloss (currently only available at Sephora in the Black Honey shade) gives it a little more pop, but both are wearable alone. The gloss is sheerer than the lipstick although as you'll see in the picture, looks dark in the tube.

Here's Black Honey by itself.

with the Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss:

The gloss by itself:

And just for reference, here's what the tubes look like:

Simple and neutral, but still put togehter. I like it!

Dazzle Me

cleegiants — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

My friends will attest to the fact that I do not always go for the most subtle makeup looks. I'm not trying to make my face look makeup free, just polished and hopefully blemish free. One guideline I try to use when applying makeup is to emphasize one feature. If I want to create a smokey eye, I'll try a nude lip; a red lip will call for a softer eye. With that in mind, I picked up 2 of the new Mac Dazzleglases. I love the glitter in these Dazzleglasses, but as you'll see from the pictures, it's not for the lady who wants to blend in. Even with a neutral shade, the Dazzleglasses punch some serious Wow.

First up is the Moth to Flame. I thought it was limited edition at the store, but it's actually Goldy Rocks, Utterly Posh, and Stop! Look! that are the LEs. That aside, Moth to Flame is a beautiful color. It's described as 'sheer neutral beige with violet pearl'. You can see the see the shimmer in the pictures, although I don't really see the 'violet'.

I'll be using Moth to Flame for those days when I want some sparkle on my lips without much color. For days when I do want color, it's Love Alert time. Described as 'raspberry red with red pearl', it turns out much more pink on me. It makes my lips shine without feeling sticky. Perfect!

If I had $324, I'd be plopping my money down for all 18 colors, but alas, these 2 will have to do.

Double Dazzle

cleegiants — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:30:00 -0700

Back to a MAC launch. I'm a little late with this, as it's already released at stores. Double Dazzle features 18 liglosses - all Dazzleglass shades. If you aren't familar with the Dazzleglass formula, it's quite a glittering, shimmering treat for your lips. Should you crave a neutral, subtle look, steer clear of the Dazzleglasses! The Double Dazzle in this collection references the Dazzle Mascaras being released.

All you need is Love… Lips and Lashes! Summer simplified for the modern makeup minimalist. Double Dazzle will daze the closest competition with colour-changing, light-reflecting pearl-shine lips; paired with a new formula for the ultimate in voluptuous lashes, et voilà! Lips lead: seven new Dazzleglass shades bring the scintillating selection up to 18! The flotilla-of-lights formula imparts the pearl combination with mega-glisten shine, creamy comfort and the subtle sensation of vanilla. Lashes follow: multiplied, volumized, utterly glorified by our newest eye innovation…This sly new small-and-mighty brush has been developed to capture and emphasize each and every lash. Lips, Lashes, Lovers…Look out!

Dazzleglass shades ($18.each)

Sugarrimmed Milky pale pink with red, teal and white pearl
Goldyrocks Sheer soft yellow with pink and gold pearl (LE)
Moth to Flame Sheer neutral beige with violet pearl
Smile Light coral with pink and gold pearl
Steppin’ Out Clean yellow pink with red pearl
Utterly Posh Mid-tone orange with pink and gold pearl (LE)
Love Alert Raspberry red with red pearl
Date Night Deep plum with blue and gold pearl
Funtablulous Purple with violet pearl
Extra Amps Sheer bright blue pink with blue and pink pearl
Like Venus Clean light bubble gum pink with red pearl
Stop! Look! Sheer violet mauve with blue and pink pearl (LE)
Money Honey Mid-tone rosy mauve with red pearl
Rags to Riches Plumm y pink with teal and red pearl
Baby Sparks Pale pink with violet pearl
Bare Necessity Caramel apricot with red and gold pearl
Girl’s Delight Sheer mid-tone tan with gold pearl
Get Rich Quick Warm yellow brown

Goldy Rocks

Sugarrimmed

Moth to a Flame

Smile

Utterly Posh

Steppin Out

Love Alert

Funtabulous

Date Night

Extra Amps

Like Venus

Money Honey

Rags to Riches

Get Rich Quick

Bare Necessity

Girl's Delight

Baby Sparks

I saw these at Nordstrom's yesterday, and while I liove the formula, a lot of the colors looked similar. Hopefully I'll get a chance to actually try them, but I will definitely say you won't need to purchase all of them.

The Pink Collection

cleegiants — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:30:00 -0700

Sister Princess, this post is for you, lover of pink.

Shu Uemura is a Japanese brand known more for their eyelash curler and falsh lashes than anything else. Well, that may all change with the release of their new lipsticks, The Pink Collection. Pink is a pretty common lipstick color, but I admit that most pinks are pretty similar. You have your pale pink, your dustry rose pink, and then a bright pink. As you can see from this chart, Shu Uemura has developed 4 different color ranges of pinks.
The Pink Hybrid Pigment, which was discovered by Shu Uemura laboratories, is made up of a fusion between a mineral core and an organic shell, which produces particles that are perfectly round and regular in shape. This consistency is what makes the hues of the lipstick so bright and pure. This is what creates the new and unique hues of pink seen in the collection with shades that range from never before seen light, yellowish, dark and bluish pinks.

I was trying to do some research as to what exactly makes these pinks different and I think it has something to do with using a mineral core and organic shell. For all you scientists out there, how does one make lipstick?
Rouge Unlimited ($23 each)
Soft Peachy Pink           Warm Rosy Pink
Soft Pale Pink               Sheer Pink Beige
Sheer Petal Pink           Opaque Baby Pink
Soft Lavendar Pink        Sheer Electric Pink
Opaque Hot Pink

Gloss Unlimited ($22 each)
Hot Pink SparklePale Pink Sparkle
Sheer Rosy PinkSheer Melon Pink
Clear Baby Pink

The Pink Collection is available now at Shu Uemura counters and online.

MAC Cream Team

cleegiants — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:30:00 -0800

Hope you all had a good weekend! Did you watch the Superbowl? I"m actually writing this on Saturday night, so I'm not sure who won yet, but I'm plannng to watch.

Aren't you looking forward to all those MAC launches I mentioned Friday? Turns out I forgot one - and this one launches this Thursday, February 5th! As a self-proclaimed lipstick/lipgloss junkie, I love the look of this Cream Team Collection. I've also seen it go by Creme Team if you're looking for more information online. This is a a follow up to the Creamsheen (Cremesheen)launch last October; the glosses are limited (LE) until March or until sold out, but the lipsticks are supposed to be permanent. I missed out last time, so with time on my hands, I'll try to test these out for you.

With the exception of Lavender Whip, all the colors sound like colors I want to try.

Cremesheen Lipstick ($14.each)
Creme Cup Light blue pink
Shy Girl Creamy neutral coral beige
Crosswires Clean pinky orange
Lickable Bright clean blue pink
Lavender Whip Light cool lavender
Creme In Your Coffee Creamy mid-tone pink brown
Spice Is Nice Creamy warm dark brown
Hang-up Deep berry

Cremesheen Glass ($18.each)
Ever So Rich Sheer Lilac
Fashion Scoop Pale cool baby pink with light pear
Boy Bait Light neutral beige with pearl
Partial To Pink Light creamy yellow pink with light gold pearl
Melt In Your Mouth Mid-tone creamy clean pink
Petite Indulgence Mid-tone bright blue pink
Creme Anglaise Mid-tone neutral mauve
Looks Like Sin Sheer deep berry

Cremestick Liner ($14.50.each)
Sublime Culture Neutral pink
Pink Treat Dirty pink
Caramellow Neutral caramel
Velvetella Blackened plum

Creme Cup, Shy Girl, Crosswires, Lickable

Lavender Whip, Creme In Your Coffee, Spice Is Nice, Hang Up

Ever So Rich, Fashion Scoop, Boy Bait, Partial to Pink, Melt In Your Mouth, Petite Indulgence, Creme Anglaise, Looks Like Sin

Sublime Culture, Pink Treat, Carmellow, Velvetella

source: temptalia.com

Lipstick Combos Again

cleegiants — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

I have another batch of lipsticks to show you; apparently I have a lot of lipsticks.

Lancome Le Rouge Absolu: Beach Flame

Beach Flame + MAC Soft & Slow

Estee Lauder Pure Color: Pink Parfait

Pink Parfait + Nars: Female Trouble

Lipstick combos

cleegiants — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:30:00 -0800

I mentioned in an earlier post that I usually combine lipstick with some sort of lipgloss, so here are a few pictures.

Stil Lip Glaze Stick: Starfruit + Smashbox Gloss: Stunning

The following 2 are pictures are lip glosses from Smashbox. Combined with Maybelline Lipstick in Plum Wine

Lancome Juicy Tubes: Fifth Avenue Frosting + Maybelline Lipstick

Nars Dolce Vita Lipstick

More combos after the break

More Prescriptives

cleegiants — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:33:37 -0800

I just realized I had a few more of the Prescriptives lipsticks to show you. Remember this kit?

Here's the post for the first 3 lipsticks.

For this review, the first color up is Champagne.

I wouldn't call this a typical champagne color, but it's a nice neutral.

This next color is True Bronze. Again, it's not really a "true bronze", as I would think it should be darker.

And last, but not least, is Juliette's Kiss. It's a frosty pink, paler than the others in this kit.

Okay, that's all for this kit. All 6 (err, 7?) are highly wearable on their own, but Cabaret and Pink Paradise might be too bold for the conservative office.

Prescriptives Lipsticks

cleegiants — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:00:00 -0800

While I was out doing my Christmas shopping, I saw this lipstick set from Prescriptives. As I've mentioned before, I love lipstick, so this set ($29), was an impulse purchase. The lipsticks are not full size, more like...1/2 of one. I am impressed with the colors, although my kit included 2 of the Chocolate Frost.

Cabaret: A nice red

Pink Paradise: a bright, happy pink. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Chocolate Frost: Darker than most of my colors, but still a lovely brown with nice shimmer.