One look, two shades, with a totally different feel.
A heft of bravery or a hankering for passion. Which path will you choose?
Chanel's Mirifique
Chanel's Diapason
In both looks I applied Mirifique and Diapason in the exact same manner. It's amazing to see the differences in intensity.
Which one is it - black or purple?
LORACs' Pro Eyeshadow Palettes - the original (bottom) and No. 2 (top)
In an effort to avoid beating a dead horse I'll skip reviewing LORAC's Pro Palettes and instead go into the composition of these palettes and why they're selling like hotcakes.
Let's start with the V's: Value, Variety & Vanity
Value - The price point comes in at $42 USD for sixteen shades. The pans while petite in size certainly pack a Hawaiian punch when it comes to colour payoff and overall performance.
Variety - Two different formulas split across sixteen shades (eight mattes and eight shimmery) -- think neutrals, jewel tones, light and dark. Everyday, nighttime and everything else in between.
Vanity - LORAC makes your eyes look gooood.
LORAC Pro Palette
LORAC Pro Palette 2
As for the rest..
Packaging - slim, sleek, compact, complete with a magnetic closure and built-in mirror. LORAC also throws in a sample sized Behind the Scenes Eye Primer in lieu of a chintzy brush, I'm looking at you Urban Decay.
Usability - I'm no makeup artist, but the quality of these eyeshadows makes buffing and shading fun. LORAC put a huge amount of thought into the shade selection; you can wear them separately, but why would you? The magic lies in the blending and the mixing of the shades. Feel free to jump the barrier and use both palettes, make all thirty-two shades mingle like nobody's business.
Swatches - you know I couldn't skip this part, swatching for me is the best bit!
Pro Palette swatches from left to right starting with the top row: White, Cream, Taupe, Light Pink, Mauve, Sable, Espresso and Black
Pro Palette swatches from left to right starting on the top row: Nude, Champagne, Gold, Light Bronze, Pewter, Garnet, Deep Purple and Slate
Pro Palette 2 swatches from left to right starting on the top row: Buff, Light Brown, Cool Gray, Plum, Navy, Charcoal, Black, Snow, Beige, Rose, Mocha, Chrome, Silver, Jade and Cocoa.
Permutation - I stink at math, so please forgive me for not knowing the actual number of looks you're able to create with either of these palettes. However, please believe me when I tell you you'll hit the pan on most of these shades in an effort to get there!
Looks - here are three different looks I created for your viewing pleasure.
In look #1 I used six shades from the original Pro Palette
In look #2 I used five shades from the Pro Palette 2
Here's a breakdown of look 3 using both Pro Palettes:
Why LORAC, what makes these palettes winners?
Availability - Buy 'em online or in-store at Ulta, Kohl's or you can hit up Amazon, buy a couple of palettes and stalk the Mega Pro Palette while you're at it. LORAC even has their own handy dandy online retail store. Btw, LORAC will be selling both palettes at a discounted rate (25% off) on Cyber Monday, 1st December for 24-hours.
Deserted on an island test - Passed. The four other items I'd have on me would be a comb, EOS' mint lip balm, sunscreen and a memory foam pillow. Scott, fret not. You'd be by my side with your own accoutrements.
Audrey, SF - Ulta review:
"This palette is amazing. The colors are all so pigmented, and it offers a wide variety of mattes, shimmers, neutrals, and even a few colors (Garnet, Deep Purple, etc.). The shadows are buildable, blendable, and buttery (hello alliteration) and can create such a wide variety of looks you really don't need anything else. I was even in a situation once where I had 2 Naked Palettes and a Pro Palette at my disposal, and I still used mostly Pro."
Bohdaciousfaces, Indiana - Ulta review:
"I was nervous to spend this much money on one single palette, but honestly this palette has all the neutral shades you'll need in one place. The fact that I can make multiple complete looks with one palette sells itself for me. The actual product is very great quality too and I reach for my Lorac pro daily unless I'm doing an extra special look that day. The only bad thing I have to say is the packaging gets so dirty looking with the shadow kinda smearing all over. I'm an OC cleaner and the smeared packaging just irks me. But I can live past that. Overall it's a must have in any makeup collection."
Quinn O, Memphis - Kohl's review
"I love this eyeshadow. I was iffy at first because I wanted to get either the this or the Naked palettes but decided to go with this one first due to the number of matte colors. As soon as I got the palette I did a matte eye looking using the champagne color and I fell in love. Must have palette for anyone, beginners or pros."
Highlights: great mattes, pigmented, price for number of shadows
Take it from me or any one of these lovely reviewers.
Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayons from top to bottom: Intro(Vert), Plum(Age), Blacquer, Obey-Ge and Ro-Cocoa
In the lead up to Sephora's opening on the 5th of December in Sydney I'll be featuring some of my must-haves you seriously need to consider tossing in your cart upon darting across the threshold on day dot.
Marc Jacobs' Highliner Gel Eye Crayon, a never fade, long-lasting liner that you just can't quit. While it's not the sharpest tool in the shed with its sub-par built-in sharpener, a negative attribute I am willing to look past; its intense, true colour payoff and bombtastic performance is where it's at.
Highliner Gel Eye Crayon swatches from left to right: Intro(Vert), Plum(Age), Blacquer, Obey-Ge and Ro-Cocoa
In terms of application I prefer to tight line with Blacquer or Ro-Cocoa (reviewed here), highlight the inner corners of my eyes with Obey-ge and add a pop of colour along my upper lash line with Intro(Vert) or Plum(Age).
Other colours under serious consideration: Luna(Tic), Th(Ink) and Brown(Out).
In the States Marc Jacobs' Highliner Gel Crayon retails for $25 USD or you could shell out $45 USD for the Sky-Liner Seven Piece Petite Highliner Collection which features O(vert) (forest green), Brown(out) (bronze with shimmer), Th(ink) (deep navy), (Plum)age (vivid purple), Blacquer (black), Sunset (golden bronze shimmer) and Midnight in Paris (inky indigo blue).
Curious about the other brands available for your makeup hoarding ways? Elle has the complete list.
Here's hoping Sephora's pricing promise rings true.
Liquid foundation has always proven to be treacherous territory for me. The difficulty with pinpointing the perfect formula and colour can be downright intimidating. Then there's the recipe: primer versus no primer, concealing, highlighting, to bronze or not to bronze, contouring and blush all while avoiding the dreaded mask line.
Give me a second, I need to catch my breath.
For years now powder has been my friend, because in all honesty liquid foundation scares the crap out of me. When it comes to powder foundation the guesswork is minimal and it's wicked easy to apply. The thing is when your skin is combination to dry, both pressed and loose powder magnifies flaky bits and well, that isn't cute on anyone.
So I did my homework, watched loads of videos and picked two liquid foundations I thought could work for me.
Taking the good with the bad, let's start with the dud first.
Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer (left) and Silk Creme Foundation (right)
Swatch of Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation in Creamy Ivory
On workday mornings I really don't like to muck about with my makeup, I'm more of a swipe on and go kind of gal and I can't afford any surprises. When Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation proved difficult in the application department I had no qualms sticking it in the 'to bin' pile. Then I thought about the expense and took a different approach, so I binned the sponge instead and grabbed my favourite foundation brush to do the dirty work.
Wearing Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation in Creamy Ivory
The immediate result was just what I was after, read: smooth and natural. As the day wore on, however, my skin appeared mottled and slightly tortured.
Envision a safe haven for a million miniature, milk filled saucers. The primer and the foundation both failed to keep my skin covered and opted to pool within each individual pore. Yikes!
Can I bin it now?
Because I always take the less is more approach with makeup, I looked to other like-minded bloggers and virtually shopped their stash and walked away with a goodie. Say hello to Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation.
Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation in shade 118
Swatches of Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation in shade 118 - blended (left) and unblended (right)
In terms of consistency Make Up Forever's HD Foundation resembles Chanel's Perfection Lumiere Velvet Smooth-Effect, it sheers out just as well as Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation, yet manages to stay put all damn day.
Wearing Make Up Forever's HD Foundation in shade 118
Make Up Forever's HD Foundation for me is the gateway to clearer looking skin without masking the stray freckle, I really don't mind them. Classified as medium to full coverage, HD Foundation tidies things up quite nicely with minimal effort and I can do it all with a single pump of product. To finish things off, I set my makeup with Chanel's Vitalumiere Loose Powder Foundation.
Semi-related side note: Sephora + Pantone's magical Color IQ gizmo really works. The sales associate captured images of my skin in three different places (forehead, cheekbone and jawline), applied a bit of math by averaging the swatches and spat out 2Y06. If you're unable to get matched in store, but have a bottle at home in a shade you really love you can also find your match online -- just make sure Sephora stocks the brand in question. Go on, give it a whirl.
Nicole is a Melbourne (Australia) based beauty blogger who has a lifetime of experience admiring all things bright and beautiful in the world of fashion, makeup, handbags and more. She moved to Australia with her husband Scott in October of 2010 and has brought with her a passion for polka-dots, a mania for manicures, and a hankering for handbags. Bagful of Notions is dedicated to Nicole's adventures in these colourful worlds as she shares with you top beauty tips and delicious discoveries she's sure you'll enjoy!
A Melbourne-based beauty blogger and personal makeup shopper who considers herself as a local guinea pig, litmus tester, makeup cheater and your friend who will tell you when something is stuck between your teeth. Here's a toothpick.
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