Marc Jacobs The Siren (Summer 2014)

Despite being a neutrals gal at heart, I'm always on the lookout for that one perfect colorful palette. You know, the only palette that will satisfy all of my colorful shades needs. Supposedly. I passed on the Urban Decay Electric, because to be honest, the fact that not all of the colors are safe around the eye area scared me a bit. Okay, a lot.

So when I saw that Marc Jacobs had released The Siren palette, I couldn't help but place an order. Sleek packaging with seven beautiful colors? Sold.

First things first, the goods. I have always been a fan of Marc Jacobs' packaging, especially with his 7-pan eyeshadow palettes. This was no exception, and the glossy white packaging really complemented my glossy black Starlet palette -- quite possibly the only palette from his permanent line that I can wholeheartedly recommend. They are super slim and compact in nature, and they don't attract fingerprints in the same manner as NARS. I had heard that The Siren was designed to mimic the keys to a piano, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Onto the not-so-goods: the shadows themselves, with swatches to prove.

1. Slightly shimmery white: Easily my least favorite shadow, this not only swatches chalkily but applies patchily too.
2. Slightly shimmery burgundy red: Like the white, this is on the drier side as far as shadows go but applies slightly better.
3. Shimmery, metallic copper bronze: My favorite shade of the seven, this is beautiful and a dream to work with. Highly pigmented and very blendable!
4. Shimmery, metallic gold: My second least favorite shade, this reminds me a lot of MAC lustre formula eyeshadows (translate: glitter-laden with poor pigmentation.)
5. Shimmery aquamarine: Another disappointment of a shade, this needed a white base in order for it to show up true to color on the eyes.
6. Slightly shimmery blue: Very dry in nature and nowhere as vibrant as the color seen in the pan.
7. Shimmery dark teal: One of the better performers, this actually applies well and blends effortlessly.

As you can tell, chalky and dry seems to be the common theme when it comes to the shadows of this palette. With only two stand out, note-worthy shades, I cannot recommend snatching The Siren -- which is a shame, since it is pretty to look at. For the luxury brand and price tag of Marc Jacobs, the performance should not be questionable.

 
On the topic of luxury, might I also add that the included sponge tip applicator is absolutely flimsy and useless? If Dior includes two sponge tip double-ended(!!) applicators with its quints, the least MJ could do is make it double-ended, right? Or not include it at all, because quite frankly, it's insulting for those of us who actually reach for such applicators from time to time.

I had high hopes for (and wanted to like) this palette, but truth be told, it fell short of my expectations. A friend and I were just talking about how there might possibly be different batches of The Siren, since some palettes actually swatch better than others. That might be the case, and if you're one who's willing to take the risk, you might be able to snatch a better performing septet of a palette. This currently retails for $59 at Sephora -- in stores and online. Despite it being dubbed as "Limited Edition", I really cannot see this palette selling out. If anything, I'm half expecting it to show up under Sephora's sale section within the next few weeks.

Guerlain Aquarella Meteorites (Summer 2014)

Guerlain Meteorites... people either love them or hate them. I personally can't get enough of them. Never mind the fact that most Meteorites probably give the same effect and finish, I still need each and every single one that Guerlain has ever released starting with the Perles du Paradis for Spring 2013. Of course, I also blame my beauty addicts of friends for my Meteorites obsession.

What exactly are these Meteorites? To put it immaturely, they are balls of illumination and color correction. [insert your choice of balls joke here] A more mature way of describing them would be  finishing -- not setting! -- powder that contains illuminating and color correcting properties. Depending on your skintone, some work better as highlighters than others, however. I find that the newly reformulated, permanent Meteorites offer better options for darker skintones, whereas the limited edition Meteorites, including the Aquarella, work best as a finishing powder for those with light to light-medium skintones. (Of course, those who are darker can get away with a slight dusting all over.)

Onto Aquarella, which is Asia exclusive and limited edition at the moment, but word on the street is that it might make its way stateside eventually. My dear friend from Singapore was kind enough to track one down for me the first day it launched, and I couldn't be more thankful! What sets this particular Meteorites apart from the permanent line of Meteorites is the pink tin. To be honest, I think that was the selling factor for many people (yours truly included.) The lid also reflects the overall pink theme of Aquarella.

There are six different colored pearls housed inside this tin -- each with its own color correcting and light-reflecting properties. Three of the shades that are pretty universal to the world of Meteorites are white gold, ivory, and the pink. Unique to the Aquarella, however, are the gold, pastel mint green, and silver. Like the permanent Meteorites, these pearls are extremely delicate, proven by the excess powder leftover collecting in the bottom of the tin.

(Swatched and blended out: under natural lighting)

I had read about how sparkly and glittery this could get, which initially worried me a bit, as I wasn't sure how much shine my oily skin can handle. Upon first swatch with the included puff, it was indeed noticeably more sparkly and more glowy than the newly reformulated permanent Meteorites. However, rest assured, that it does not transfer in such a manner when applied on the face (and especially when applied with the right brushes!) People should not be able to notice the micro-fine glitter particles on your face, and if they can, they are standing way too close for comfort.

(L-R: Koyudo Fu-Pa 14, Trish McEvoy #37 Bronzer Brush, Shu Uemura 18R, Tarte Buffy Bamboo)

As previously mentioned, having the right tools for the Aquarella really makes a world of difference. On days when my complexion is looking more dull, I reach for the Koyudo Fu-Pa 14 (goat hair), Trish McEvoy #37 bronzer brush (grey squirrel hair), or the Shu Uemura 18r (goat hair.) I find that their natural haired bristles pick up more products while evenly distributing it. On days when I want a more subtle brightening effect, I opt for the Tarte synthetic hair buffy bamboo face powder brush. The bristles for all four brushes fit in the Meteorites tin perfectly and allow for quick swirls over the pearls themselves. It's a matter of preference, really.

Do I think that Aquarella is worth tracking down? Yes, absolutely, and not because it is a limited edition collector's piece! I have practically neglected my other Meteorites upon receiving this, because I like the more noticeable glow and the soft-focus effect it gives -- even on my oily skin, even in the hot weather. The effect is one that I can only try to describe, so I cannot recommend trying the Meteorites for yourself enough where these are currently being sold if you are having seconds thoughts on Aquarella. It is one product from all of the Summer collections that you surely do not want to miss!

If you're not yet convinced, check out Lorraine's (aka Crazycoquelicot) review on the Aquarella here!

Guerlain Summer 2014 Sun Celebration, Terra Tropica, and Terracotta Le Parfum

 

Summer collections can be a hit-or-miss, but I am always drawn to Guerlain's summer offerings, especially the limited edition bronzers. It seems as though Guerlain releases two mini Summer collections each year, all within a two-month span, so just when I thought I was done with the collection, another new and shiny packaging bronzer grabs my attention. This year was no exception. I safely passed on the Rouge G's, polishes, glosses, brush and eyeshadow duo that also launched with the first collection, since I didn't find them too unique (although some may beg to differ on the Rouge G in 864 Rose Grenat.)

Sun Celebration Terracotta Bronzing Powder ($76)

There were mixed reviews on this bronzer, so I initially held off on purchasing it, but now that I have it, I just cannot stop using it. This is definitely the more versatile of the two bronzing powders, since it is technically two blushers and two bronzers housed in a wooden magnetic compact. It is easy to concentrate on each of the four quadrants with a small blush brush though. This powder can be easily worn as a peachy bronze blusher with all four shades combined. The gold overspray -- while beautiful and provides some shimmer -- only lasts for a couple uses. There is also a strong tiare flower scent that is very apparent upon detaching the compact and when applied, so do make note of that if you are one sensitive to fragrances.

(Clockwise starting with the orange quadrant):
#1) Satin Soft Orange: This is my favorite quadrant, but then again I may be biased, as I have a weakness for orange blushers in general. This particular shade blends and wears beautifully throughout the day. It imparts a subtle yet healthy glow in of itself.
#2) Slightly Shimmery Golden Tan: This is the most subtle of the four colors and the one I had most trouble swatching. This is a neutral-toned bronzer that will suit fair-light skin tones. I can also see it working as a fairly nice contour shade, despite the hint of shimmer.
#3) Satin Medium Rosy Pink: I really need to use a light hand with this particular shade, since it translates much darker on my skin than it looks in the pan, thus giving me that sunburnt cheeks effect.
#4) Satin Terracotta Tan: This is more suited for medium to darker skin tones, and it has the reddish undertone that Guerlain bronzers are very well known for. This is noticeably warmer and smoother in application than the shimmery golden tan bronzer.
#5) Slightly Shimmery Peachy Bronze: As you can tell, mixing all four shades gives this pigmented, universally flattering blusher that is neither too matte nor too shimmery.

Terra Tropica Bronzing Powder ($72)

I had to dig for gold in order to achieve the swatches you see below for this bronzing powder, so I nearly wrote it off as a complete and utter failure from the collection. However, I later learned it was one of those products that performs much better with brushes, and with the right brush at that. With a synthetic brush, all I saw was shimmer on my cheeks. With a denser, natural hair brush (like the Hakuhodo G503), though, the mix of the bronzer and blusher shades just gives a fairly shimmery, understated light peachy-coral color that is beyond gorgeous. That said, this is tailored more towards the fair to light-medium skin tones. Any darker than NC/NW35, and this bronzer may serve more as highlighting purposes.

#1) Shimmery light golden tan with slight orange undertone: This is the noticeably larger, crescent-shaped portion of the compact. It is quite shimmery, so I do not recommend this for contouring.
#2) Shimmery light peachy-coral: There is golden shimmer running through this blusher, so additional highlighting is unnecessary. However, it is quite light, so it does require some packing on to achieve the color in the pan.
#3) Shimmery light terracotta: Quite frankly, I am drawn to blusher shades like this, especially come summertime. While shimmery, this never accentuates my pores and even when it slightly fades (by the 10th hour), it does so evenly.

Terracotta Le Parfum ($73)

According to Guerlain, the "fragrance's intricate harmony opens on captivatingly fresh notes of bergamot, before developing into a heart of tiare flower and ylang ylang. One of Guerlain's emblematic ingredients, ylang ylang infuses scents with its warmth. Its sweet, sensual signature finally reveals a delicious vanilla-tinged dry down."

Right.

In short, I would describe this as 'beach in a bottle.' Then again, there's a good reason why I don't  attempt to describe scents, let alone review them.

The last time I ordered a perfume "sight unseen" (so to speak) was never. I blame Guerlain releasing extremely limited quantities of this scent, prompting a national Terracotta Le Parfum crisis, for my hastier-than-normal checkout process. To be honest, I don't usually gravitate towards these coconut, borderline suntan lotion smelling fragrances, but the apparent orange blossom and jasmine notes made it a more sophisticated and more pleasant tropical scent. Longevity-wise, the perfume -- despite being an EDT -- easily lasts eight hours on me without needing to reapply. In fact, I find it wears better as the day progresses. The fragrance itself is similar to the scent found in both of the bronzing powders, so if you fancy that particular scent, you will enjoy wearing this perfume as well. Personally, this is reserved for the summer months when I am anywhere but at the beach, but it is still a wonderful addition to my perfume collection nevertheless.

All three pieces are still available online on Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdale's (and possibly at local Guerlain counters at said department stores), but I recommend picking the products up sooner than later if any of them sparks your interest! If I were to recommend one item to get, it would have to be the Sun Celebration Bronzing Powder. Not only is it a collector's piece, but it is one that I can imagine many folks actually reaching for and using all year round.

Les Merveilleuses Laduree Face and Eye Color (Summer 2014)

Like its macaron counterpart, Les Merveilleuses Laduree makeup focuses more so on the quality and presentation, rather than the quantity. Admittedly, I don't own a lot of Laduree products, because the practicality is quite questionable for some of the items. Don't get me wrong -- I would love to own every single one of their rose petals blushers... if I had an unlimited paycheck. However, I knew I had to get my hands on the Face and Eye Color, limited edition for Summer 2014, as soon as I saw the preview. Without a doubt, this is the star of the smaller-than-usual collection that just launched.

What exactly is this so-called Face and Eye color? In short, this is the Guerlain Meteorites in seashell, conch fish, and starfish shapes instead. It has the same color correcting, finishing powder properties as the Meteorites. In the container, one can expect purple starfish, pink conch fish, pearl white seashell, yellow starfish, and green conch fish. For those of you who are familiar with the old and new formulas of Meteorites, I would say that Laduree's version falls somewhere in between. It has apparent color-correcting and illuminating properties without being over-the top-shimmery. My favorite brush to use with this is actually the same brush I use for my Meteorites: the Shu Uemura 18r. It picks up just the right amount of product while applying it evenly.

Where Laduree got the notion that these can work as eyeshadows is beyond me. As you can tell from my swatches, they barely impart any noticeable color (as it should be for an illuminating finishing powder.) To start, the pieces are all very delicate. There is a slight give when applying light pressure either with a face brush or with a finger, but I cannot imagine how going in with a shader brush will not just ruin the overall composition. Even if one were to pick up the color with a dense shadow brush, the most color payoff is a hint of lavender or a tinge of mint green.

The Face and Eye Color has the very distinct, sophisticated, "mature woman" scent that is common across all Laduree products. It is a fragrance that is difficult to describe, but if I had to put it into words, I would say it is a strong powdery floral scent. Do keep in mind that it does linger, so if you are not keen on heavily scented makeup, Laduree's line may not be for you.

I half-jokingly mentioned I wanted a redo once I saw that the container was only a quarter full: 2 purple starfish, 2 pink conch fish, 4 pearl white seashells, 2 green conch fish, and 2 yellow starfish, to be exact! Might I also add that each one is, literally, paper thin. Ounce for ounce, the new Guerlain Meteorites, hands down, contains more product per container at 0.88 oz, when compared to the 0.03 oz of the Laduree Face and Eye. So you can just imagine my initial shock when I first lifted the cardboard top off the container! Will I be putting this finishing powder to good use? You best bet I will!

This is now available wherever Laduree products are sold. I personally recommend either Imomoko or Ichibankao, as I have ordered from both sites in the past and, thus, can vouch for them. I have seen them going anywhere from $68 to $75USD, and that is the typical price range one can expect most Laduree products to fall under.

Tom Ford Eye and Cheek Compact in Unabashed

 

Tom  Ford's eye and cheek compact in Unabashed, limited edition for Summer 2014, needs no introduction. It had makeup addicts all around the world calling department stores to pre-order back in February, when leaked images surfaced on many social medias. Heck, it had my heart racing a mile a minute when I first saw said images! As many of you may already know, it is housed in the same compact as Tom Ford bronzers, except in the ivory and gold packaging that I simply adore (and clearly cannot get enough of.) There is quite a bit of product in the compact, so I personally think it warrants the $95 price tag. Of course, if you're a makeup collector, this palette is a no-brainer of a purchase.

 

To start, there are three eyeshadows in the left column. At the very top is a light beige-y glitter shadow that works best as an eyeshadow topper. Alone, it really just provides glitter with no noticeable base color. Like all Tom Ford glitter shadows (which I like to call 'adult glitter'), this is a dream to work with, and I did not experience any fallout. Next, is a cool-toned, matte, grayish taupe shade. It is probably the easiest shadow of the three to work with, as it is incredibly smooth. I also learned that this works quite nicely as a cheek contour. So, if you feel as though you had missed out on Chanel's Notorious sculpting veil, give this a go. You might find that it gives the same effect! Lastly, there's the striking matte royal blue shade. Royal in more ways than one, i.e. a royal pain to remove when swatched on my arm and when applied on my eyes! Word of caution: this shadow in particular does stain, especially on bare skin! This is extremely pigmented, however, when it is blended out, it becomes more of a dark teal color. (I intentionally blended out the edges of this shade in my swatches below so you can see what I mean.) This is probably my least favorite shade of the three, as it is quite dry in nature.

Moving on to the "bronzer" and blush, and I say bronzer with quotation marks because technically, the top pan acts more like a highlighter. (You really should not attempt to warm up your complexion with such a frosty, borderline metallic, product unless your goal is to look like a walking disco ball.) As a highlighter, it is stunning! However, on my NC25 skin tone, I find it a bit too dark of a highlighter (or at least dark enough that I can't achieve the lifted cheekbones effect when applied with a traditional highlighter brush.) Thankfully, I find that with a fan brush, all is well, and it has earned a spot in my Top 10 Highlighters of all time! Like the matte taupey gray eyeshadow, this is also multi-functional. I've used this as a lid color several times, and it works just as phenomenally!

The star of the palette, in my opinion, is the warm pink blush that some have deemed the adult version of NARS Orgasm. I can see why with its strong golden lean and frostiness, but that's where the similarities end. This blush is undoubtedly smoother and easier to blend than the infamous O. Despite it being frosty, it also never accentuated my pores (which can happen with Orgasm at times.) It reminded me a lot of Tom Ford's blush in Love Lust, so I went ahead and did comparison swatches (see below.) I would say if Love Lust and Frantic Pink had a baby, this would be it. That said, if Tom Ford ever releases this blush in a single form, I will be the first in line to pick it up. I love it that much!

In conclusion, Unabashed is a welcome addition to my embarrrassingly growing TF collection (and my palette collection, in general.) I was wary of ordering the palette in the beginning, because this is the first eye and cheek palette he has ever released, so I didn't know how it would compare to the top-notch quality of his permanent line eyeshadows and blushers. I am happy to report that both cheek products perform just as well as his blushers, in terms of pigmentation, blendability and lasting power (well over 10 hours with no signs of fading!) As far as the eyeshadows go, apart from the royal blue, the glitter and matte shades are comparable to the shadows from his quads and trios. (Read: amazing!) I did hear folks passing on the palette because it resembled the limited edition trio in She Wolf, but rest assured, they are not similar in my opinion. If anything, I would say the glitter shade is most similar to the one in Silvered Topaz. I wasn't able to find a dupe to the matte taupey gray shadow in any of the quads I currently own, but I still went ahead and swatched the shadows in the matte gray color family from both the She Wolf and Silvered Topaz palettes.

I have seen Unabashed popping up online from time to time on Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Bloomingdale's. If you are still on the fence about this palette, I would recommend snatching it up before it sells out completely -- something I can foresee happening in the very near future -- and see for yourself if it is worth keeping. I promise that this is one palette you will be happy to have in your own collection!