Confessions of a Cosmeholic: disappointment

Monday, September 17, 2012

Les Twin Sets De Chanel- La Provocante Rouge Allure Velvet Review

I know i am so late with this post but to be fair i really was less than thrilled with this. I was extremely excited about this shade, La Provocante, from the Fashions Night Out Chanel collection. Touted as a matte finish, deep plum, really fell flat.

For starters the finish isn't matte. I love matte lipstick and finding out that i just spent $32 dollars on a sheer lipstick (why does this keep happening?) is more than disappointing. If i wanted a streaky violet color i would have bought Revlon's Va Va Violet (good color, not enough pigmentation). It is so sad that i have to compare a prestigious brand to a drugstore brand, and not in a positive way. Aside from the streaky and uneven coverage, this shade was just too sheer. To get full color payoff (and i use the word full very lightly) you need to swipe numerous times or just use many layers. Maybe better color payoff can be achieved using a lip brush. Because of the high streak properties it will show every single flaw in your lips. You can exfoliate with a tooth brush and some sugar or salt to smooth your lips out, or smooth out your lips with balm before hand.

This color does have a savior. Using Pixi line and prime i cam able to take this un-matte, super streaky, low pigmented, bad applying color and make it wearable! Using Pixi line and prime under this lipstick smoothed it out, brought out the color, make it more opaque, and helped the streaky problem. While the shade is still not matte it is closer using this lip primer. Using the primer underneath the color lasted for about 5 hours.

While this shade was sold as a twin set with a matching nail polish i was decided to pass on the polish. If you would like a similar shade try Zoya Katherine. If you missed this limited edition shade of lipstick MAC Rebel is a close second to this shade.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Drugstore Dissapointment

It feels a little soon to talk about drugstore dissapointments when i just talked about fabulous finds, or maybe they even each other out, either way this is going to be a post of meh.

Let me start off by saying i am a sucker for a good cupon, buy one get 1, 50% off, even 20% off. When i found a $3 dollar off any two covergirl products i was pretty happy. My local Duane Read is severly overpriced and leaves me little option or desire to try new things when i know they may not live up to the quality. Why pay $10 dollars for covergirl lipstick that may be terrible when you can pay $15 (MAC has raised their prices again) for a high quality one. Don't get me wrong some Covergirl has great products, their foundation and face powder are great. I even recently fell in love with one of there lipsticks, but just one. So i figured, maybe, just maybe, i would try something new and be blown away. It is that kind of expectation that really makes one fall hard.

Covergirl Tropical Fusion 205 Eyeshadow Palette-
I chose this palette for it's tropical look and well it was suggested in the magizine i got the cupon for. They wouldn't reccomend a completely crap product would they? Yes of course they would. Now to be complrelty fair if you like very low pigmented, unblendable, soft, fall-outty (this is so bad i am making up terms now!) eyeshadow, then this is for you! If you have bought this and had great luck with it then maybe i just got a bad one, but i would not recomend this to anyone.

In order to make these swatches visible, since they are very sheer except for the last blue, i had to use a sponge applicator since a brush wouldn't pick up the color. These are over primer and with about 4 coats of color. There is a difference between sheer, and little to no pigment. This palette color range does not seem something that someone would want sheer color for, maybe if one was sheer as a lid base, but this fails on all levels. Not to mention that there was quite a bit of fall out as you can see on the bottom of blue, i tried to wipe it all away but apparently i missed some. These colors do not blend well, i tried to make them lead into one another but they kind of just sat on top of each other. I guess each color alone, advertised as sheer or hint of color (which they were not). I would have had a less harsh opinion on these. So if you like the colors and are willing to work hard to make these work, pick this up. If not pick up it's over priced, but higher pigmented twin Aquataenia from Lime Crime.

Covergirl Tropical Fusion Eyeshadow Palette swatch. Swatched over primer without flash.

Covergirl Tropical Fusion Eyeshadow Palette swatch. Swatched over primer without flash

On a side note, in the store i kept having this gut feeling like i shouldnt get this palette, not only because i was so iffy on the qaulity but also because i felt like i had it. Like the exact same colors, arranged very similaryly. Once i got home i figured it out, it is the exact same palette colors as in Lime Crimes Aquetaenia. You will be hearing a rant from me about that shortly after i post this!

Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue-
To go along with my crap palette i decided to buy a blendable blue eyeliner. I have been getting into the smokey look latly just to step out of my bold, pop of color, comfort zone. While this color looks amazing as a liner, it is a matte navy blue, the smudge brush, which actualy is just a sponge applicator disguised as a smudge brush does nothing. It does not blend, it does not smudge it does not make smokey. What does it do? Well it kind of removes the color. It would make a great makeup mistake corrector. Isn't that sad? This product doesn't do what it says it will, and half of it will remove itself. It's almost as if it is aware of it's own bad quality. While it is a pretty color, it is very dry and tugged at my eyelid. I also had to go over the line 3 times to achive full opaque color. This would have worked if it was softer. It would have felt better on the lid and also would have been bendable.