Eye Shadow | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Kevyn Aucoin Eyeshadow

Overall, Kevyn Aucoin is a quality line of cosmetics. Pricey, but quality. I purchased a Kevyn Aucoin: The Essential Eyeshadow Set and couldn’t be more pleased. The palette that I picked out (Palette #1) has five neutral shades that are perfect for everyday wear.

Kevyn Aucoin eyeshadow is finely milled, well pigmented, very blendable and very buildable. It is right up there with Dior in terms of absolute favorite shadow for me. It also is right up there with Dior in price. On the good side, there are five shades in decent size pans, so if you look at it that way, the shadows are actually pretty affordable—around $11 per shade. Below are swatches from the Kevyn Aucoin palette:

Kevyn Aucoin makes additional palettes in other shades. Look for them at Beauty.comor Comparison shop for Kevyn Aucoin Makeup.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Amazing Cosmetics Mineral Makeup Makeover

I prefer pressed mineral makeup and also like to avoid bismuth, but finding a bismuth free pressed mineral makeup can be difficult! My favorite had been Sephora Brand, but when I went to refill mine, they told me that it was being discontinued! Awhile later, I was at Ulta and walked around checking the ingredients on all of the makeup brands and found one, just one, that had a pressed mineral makeup without bismuth. That was Amazing Cosmetics Velvet Mineral Pressed Powder Foundation. The Amazing Cosmetics rep happened to be at the store, so I had my whole face done, which allowed me to try a few other items as well.

Coverage with Amazing Cosmetics Mineral Makeup was pretty good. Apply it with a brush for sheer coverage, use the included pad for medium, or as the rep showed me, try a makeup sponge for more full coverage. It builds pretty well too, so I can apply it sheer to medium on most areas and then put extra over my areas of melasma. The selection of shades is not huge, but is OK, and the packaging is nice, with a mirrored compact. I found that it wears very well. I get most of a day out of it, which is more than I often get from powder mineral makeup. So, this is a winner, which is good since it is one of the few bismuth free pressed mineral foundations out there (Neutrogena and Jane Iredale also make bismuth free pressed mineral foundations and if you want a good bismuth free powder mineral makeup, check out Purely Cosmetics).

Anyway, like I said, I had the rest of my face done, and I liked Amazing Cosmetics overall. Here is the look, using Amazing Cosmetics Suede Eyeshadow Collection in Wheat, a couple of fabulous lip products, Amazing Cosmetics Lipcolor in Oliva and Amazing Cosmetics Lipgloss in Kathy, and a new favorite blush for me, Amazing Cosmetics Blush Matte in Pink Chocolate. All wore wonderfully, and I ended up buying the lip products and the blush to go with the mineral foundation. You can read more about the lip products in my review here on Girl Gloss: Amazing Cosmetics Lip Products. This picture also ended up being used for my Open Sky Store.

Overall, I was quite glad that I tried the Amazing Cosmetics brand. They have quality products all around.

You can find Amazing Cosmetics at Ulta and Sephora.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Urban Decay Show Pony Shadow Box

The Urban Decay Show Pony Shadow Box has a decorative case with illustrations by LA artist Kime Buzzelli and a mix of six vibrant and neutral eyeshadow shades. Also included is a primer potion and a 24/7 eye pencil.

Urban Decay eyeshadow does not lack for pigment! The shades are quite brilliant and last very well. I was quite impressed when I gave them a try during a recent field trip to Sephora. Below are swatches from the Show Pony palette. This was taken well after I swatched the palette since I was looking for better light for direct photos than in the store. I thought they might wear off from rubbing on my jacket sleeve, but the color stayed on strong.

The Urban Decay Show Pony set is quite versatile. You can get a decent neutral look from it, or a vibrant party look, making it good for many different people and many different occasions. It would also be a good holiday gift. I give it a big thumbs up!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Givenchy Holiday Collection 2009

The Givenchy Holiday Collection has a really pretty looking eye palette and some nice limited edition lip shades. If you haven’t tried Givenchy lip items before, you should! They have great pigment and feel great. Below is information on the Holiday Collection. You can also shop the entire collection at the Givenchy Shop on Holiday Makeup.

Popularity: 1% [?]

MAC Holiday Eye Kits and Swatches

I finally got myself out to the store to see the new MAC Cosmetics Holiday Collection! I really like the packaging this year. Everything is in pretty silver cases and the shades are particularly pretty. Included in the MAC Holiday line are four MAC Holiday Eye Palettes . Here they are with swatches. Unfortunately, the light was not the best for some of these, but hopefully they will give some sense of the shades.

The MAC Smoke and Mirrors Palette has neutral shades that allow for a smoky evening look or a natural day look,

The MAC Devil May Dare Eye Shadow Palette has nice fall shades, including a gorgeous green and burgundy. I almost bought this one, and still might order it.

The MAC Mystic Palette has vibrant and bright shades. The turquoise shade is particularly nice and very well pigmented.

The MAC Sorceress Eye Shadow Palette focuses on purple/gray shades and is quite lovely.

I also fell in love with the MAC Magic Mirth & Mischief Nail Lacquer in the shade Lucky Number, which is a neat silvery lavender shade. But it was sold out in both the MAC Store and at the Nordstrom store, so I ordered it online. I’ll have it up in a few days after it arrives!

Shop the MAC Holiday Collection at Holiday Makeup!

Popularity: 2% [?]

More Items From the Luna Twilight Makeup Collection

The Luna Twilight Makeup Collection will be available beginning tomorrow! (October 22, 2009) and is also now available for preorder. The line has some interesting items and appears to be very well designed. Last week, I looked at the palettes and creme blush. Here are few of the other particularly interesting items from the collection.

First Light Face Glow contains light reflecting pigments and can be used to soften imperfections and as a highlighter. The collection also includes a similar Body Glow product.

The Luna Twilight Mascara from the line is unique in that it includes a metallic shimmer in its formulation. I am quite curious about it!

Luna Twilight Moonshadow eye shadow has unique pairing of pigmented glitter dust and a light cream shadow that can be worn separately or layered.

Lip items from the collection are equally interesting, especially a nice looking stain/balm, and a combo DuWop Lip Venom and Stain where, depending on how you use the applicator, you can apply each separately or it can be shaken to use the products together. For more coverage of those items, see my write up at Girl Gloss on the Luna Twilight Makeup Lip Products.

Popularity: 2% [?]

MAC Trend F/W 09

The MAC Trend Collection puts together a nice look using smoky blue and grays, coupled with dark lip shades.

The collection also has a particularly nice blue/gray MAC Trend Eye Shadow Palette . Below is the palette and swatches of the shades.

Looking for a good liner to pair it up with? Check out this Greasepaint Stick in Bright Blue Violet from the MAC DSquared 2 collection. This grease pencil is rather amazing. It can do a thick or thin line with bold, luminous color, and you could pretty much go swimming with it on and have it last perfectly (it doesn’t come off easily—so use eye makeup remover). It also has a sharpener hidden in the end.