Eye Shadow : Beauty and Fashion Tech

M.A.C. Cosmetics Ungaro Collection

Here is a pretty limited edition collection and look form MAC Cosmetics—The Ungaro Collection. Designer, Esteban Cortazar, celebrity makeup artist, Sharon Dowsett, and M·A·C came together backstage to create this collection in the spirit of today’s Ungaro.

I gave the eyeshadow shade mineral a try, which is a beautiful soft brown. Weell pigmented and long lasting, as is the norm for M.A.C. shadows.

I also adored the cream colour base in fresh morning. It is designed for use on lips and cheeks, but I love it as a highlight shade on my brow bone. I also have been using it as a cheek highlight. If you like delicate pink shades for highlights, this is a must have item!

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Stila Talking Smoky Eye Palette

The Stila Palette, Smoky Eye has always been popular. Now it talks too. I picked one up, and while I love the eye shadow, I could do without the talking part.

the first thing I noticed with the talking smoky eye palette was that it was rather thick. I suppose this is to accommodate the speaker mechanism. The lid has a button to push to receive instructions on using the palette to create a smoky eye. The sound is a bit scratchy, but instructions are useful and accurate. However, I’m not sure they really are all that necessary. Are people really going to play them over and over?

The shadow itself, shown with swatches above, is divine. Stila makes wonderful finely milled shadows and they chose the best selection of shades for their smoky eye palettes. I wear just the lighter shades for a day look and then can easily convert to a classic smoky eye evening look with a few additions. The slightly blue tint to the light gray shade really brightens the eyes. The result is a compact that is a staple in my makeup wardrobe.

In the end, I love this the Stila Smoky Eye palette. I don’t think it needs to talk though. You can find Stila online and cosmetic specialty stores such as ULTA Beauty.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

M.A.C. Manish Arora Collection

Its already sold out online, but you might be able to find it in stores. The M.A.C. collection from Indian designer Manish Arora is full of fun colors and lively packaging.

I’m headed to the Schaumburg, IL MAC Store on Monday, so I’ll see if they have it in stock there.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Alima Pure Mineral Eye Shadow

Alima Pure is a mineral makeup company that boasts 60 shades of foundation! I’ll be writing more on that in the future, but today, I am looking at their eye shadow.

I tried out four shades from the limited edition sweater set collection. Swatches are pictured below:

Alima’s makeup is 100% certified natural, which is good news for those who get itchy from the bismuth found in many brands of mineral makeup. You won’t find that or other fillers in the Alima products.

The eye shadow is smooth and well pigmented. Thanks to the mica in it, It has a nice luminosity to it that I particularly liked. The shadow can be applied wet or dry. I suggest using it wet as a liner.

The set is available for $25, and $2 from the sale of each set will be donated to the Global Fund for Women. So not only can you get some great eye shadow, you can also help a great cause!

I have some more Alima reviews in the pipeline, so keep an eye out for more.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

Budget Beauty! Tropez Eyeshadow Palettes

When I first wrote about the ultra cheap, but nice quality Tropez Cosmetics, my chief complaint was a lack of choices in eye shadow shades (read previous review). Well, that has now been improved!

Tropez now has a few very nice eye shadow palette available with six shades per palette. I picked one up at Walgreens and love the colors and the luminous quality of them. I also particularly love that the palettes come in at around $5 or less. Below are swatches from the palette that I choose from the Sunrise to Sunset line in Bali Blue:

The shadows have a nice shimmery luminance to them that isn’t overdone. They are well pigmented and lasted a full day for me. You can find them at Walgreens and K-Mart stores.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Fall Makeup Trends with M.A.C. Cosmetics

With their involvement in so many aspects of the beauty industry and multitude of runways shows, M.A.C. Cosmetics is always on top of the trends. Actually, they often set the trends! So I was happy to meet up with M.A.C. representative, Heather Park, and M.A.C. senior makeup artist, Konstantine Mironychev in Chicago a while back to take a look at what is in store for fall.

One of the top runway trends from M.A.C. that I have already seen on the street is the rich and dark lip. It is often worn with little else to make a statement on its own, or for a twist that is new this year, it can be coupled with a rich smoldering and stand-out eye color, as seen from the Cult of Cherry Collection pictured to the left.

The collection has some of the most interesting and gorgeous eye quads that I have seen from M.A.C. in some time and, the mattene lipsticks in the collection are fabulous. this is my most recommended fall collection.

Another trend for fall is the brightly colored eye, with neon themes from pop art or punk-rock glam looks inspired in part from the 80’s. For some particularly dramatic pigments, look to M.A.C.’s Overrich collection .

Pretty feminine looks with a bit of an artsy eye or almost nude or androgynous looks with a pink lip are also around. So if the deep dark shades are too much for you, pair a neutral mineralized skinfinish duo from the New View Collection with a pinkish nude lipglass for a simple, yet classy look. Or do the same thing but with more color on the lip if just the overdone eyes are too much for you.

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Popularity: 23% [?]

Elizabeth Arden Limited Edition For Fall

Elizabeth Arden has a nice selection of limited edition duo eye shadows for fall, along with a nice gel eyeliner, eye primer, and other items.

I tried out one of the duos in Illusion (center left above) and loved it. Elizabeth Arden shadows are always quality. They are finely milled and have a particularly good color payoff. Arden’s packaging is also always nice, with heavier attractive cases and many choices in palettes. The duo I tried is perfect for a light smoky effect. Pictured below are swatches from the duo:

I also was impressed with the gel liner,which comes packaged with a brush. The brush is useable, but I preferred to use my favorite, a Smashbox Arced Liner Brush. The gel goes on smooth and is easy to work with to create either a sharp or smudged line. There is an eye primer too that I have not tested yet. So keep an eye out for a later review of that!

Elizabeth Arden is available at better department stores, specialized beauty stores such as ULTA Beauty , and various online sources.

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Popularity: 20% [?]