delicate hummingbird.

Sep 26, 2011

FOTD variations with RBR Delicate Hummingbird.

time to give the name giving product for this blog some more attention! so last weekend i was playing with it a little bit again and now i want to show you how different this shadow can appear depending on what colour you combine it with...
but to be true i foremost intended to work with my new Hakuhodo brushes a bit more ;P

first what i used for the face:

foundation: Vichy Aera Teint Pure in 23 Clair/Ivory (#1 - review) applied with Hakuhodo G5557 2mm Powder & Liquid Brush round/angled (#2 - this is a new one and will be reviewed soon).

cream blush: Illamasqua Rude (#3 - review) applied with Hakuhodo G5552 4mm Powder & Liquid Brush round/angled (#4 - also will be reviewed soon)

powder: Chanel White Essentiel Brightening & Smoothing Loose Powder (#5 - review) applied with Lunasol Powder Brush N (#6 - review)

powder blush: Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess Sea Star Bronzing Blush (#7 - review) applied with Hakuhodo G5519BkSL Blush Brush (#8 - will be reviewed soon)

for the rest of the make up:

brows: MAC Copperplate eyeshadow (#1) applied with Louise Young LY30 Brow Brush (#2)

lips: on the lips i only had lip balm (Crazy Rumours Fresh Grapefruit Juice Lip Balm, #13)

the eyeshadow variations:

it's interesting how Delicate Hummingbird looks like a plummy taupe when combined with a bronze eyeshadow and its purple tinge is much stronger when i wear it with a purple shade.
it almost looks like two different eyeshadows!

#1 - combined with bronze

for the "bronze" eyeshadow variation i used: Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow in Delicate Hummingbird (#3 - review) on the lid and along the lower lashline, Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadow in #6 (#4 - review) in the crease and outer part of lower lashline, MAC Retrospeck (#5) in the tearduct area.
everything applied with the MAC 242 brush (#8) and blended out with Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush (sorry, not on picture - review here).
then i added black liquid liner (L'Oreal Super Liner, #9), curled lashes (Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, #10) and applied mascara (Maybelline False Lashes Waterproof, #11 and sample of Shiseido The Perfect Mascara as top layer, #12)

with flash:

full face:

#2 - combined with purple

for the "purple" eyeshadow variation i used: Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow in Delicate Hummingbird (#3 - review) on the lid and along the lower lashline. L'Oreal Color Indefectible eyeshadow in Purple Obsession (#6 - review) in the outer corner. MAC Vex (#7) in the tearduct area.
everything applied with the MAC 242 brush (#8) and blended out with Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush (sorry, not on picture - review here).
then i added black liquid liner (L'Oreal Super Liner, #9), curled lashes (Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, #10) and applied mascara (Maybelline False Lashes Waterproof, #11 and sample of Shiseido The Perfect Mascara as top layer, #12)

with flash:

full face:

MAC Blushes revisited: Dainty.

next in alphabetical line of my MAC Blushes is the Mineralize Blush in Dainty.
lightweight baked minerals should enhance the luminosity of your cheeks. the Mineralize Blushes contain 3.5g and cost 23€ (in germany) /22$/19£.
they only come in the container form and not as a refill pan due to their lower stability due to the baked formula and the dome shape that wouldn't fit into the Pro Palettes anyway.

Dainty is one of the permanent shades, it's a basic and easy to wear warm candy pink. very girly and youthful. it has very fine multicolour crystal glimmer bits and doesn't appear frosty at all, so it doesn't make you look greasy or emphasize on uneven skin and enlarged pores. the texture is rather dry but not chalky, it applies and blends very well to give you a fresh and bright look with a nice dimensional highlight effect. i really appreciate the nice quality of these blushes since i find many drugstore baked blushes either being too chalky or too frosty. Dainty is a great colour for spring.

click here for more MAC Blushes reviews.

MAC Dainty in sunlight: swatched heavily and blended out.

tihilw

without blusher - with MAC Dainty.

comparison

1 - Cargo Polynesia, 2 - Chanel Pink Explosion, 3 - MAC Dainty, 4 - Cargo Montebello, 5 - NARS Deep Throat

colourwise, it's quite similar to NARS Deep Throat, but lacks the fine gold sheen DT has.
it's much warmer than the other shades i compared it with.

L'Oreal HIP Metallic Shadow Duo in Gilded.

i haven't expected to buy yet another gold eyeshadow - i thought i already had all the good ones of 'em ;)
but when i was browsing around for another of the Metallic Shadow Duos of L'Oreal's HIP (High Intensity Pigments) range, i stumbled upon some swatches of #806 Gilded and instantly felt the urge to have it hahaha, i still cannot resist a good gold. it seemed like a great duo, right up my alley.
unfortunately for me, L'Oreal doesn't sell their HIP line here in germany (and if they did, i'm sure only at a ridiculous price point). i was lucky to find this duo offered on ebay, though, at a moderate price (i think i paid 6-7€, shipping included).

its container is simple and opens two ways, in the bottom section there is a little sponge applicator.

the duo itself consists of a intense metallic gold, almost with a foil finish. it has a fine texture and a high pigmentation, it applies opaque in one swipe. i like that it has no orange tones to it. however i find that this eyeshadow doesn't "glide" onto my lids easily like good eyeshadows do. still, it applies evenly and intensely light reflecting.
the other shade is a shimmery rich coffee-brown infused with gold sparkle bits. the gold sparkles won't blend away like in many other similar eyeshadows.
this one feels even more dragging upon application as the other one (as if it contains too much xanthan gum or other binders), i don't like this fact but at least it looks even after proper application.
it has a good pigmentation but is harder to blend than i'd like to, even a bit muddy and grey if one doesn't blend precisely. a soft, fluffy brush can't do much here but once again, my Edward Bess Luxury Eye Brush could show off its skills ;)
my other complaint is a bit of very fine, but very stubborn fall out that won't go away unless you remove the foundation/concealer on your cheeks and apply anew, otherwise it will darken your eye area subtly or give you a grey cast.
the shadows last on me without any problems when i apply them over my UDPP.

overall i think this is a nice duo because it houses a beautiful gold eyeshadow and you can do great eye make ups with it. also i think it is a good dupe of some fabulous higher end eyeshadows. but that matter will be discussed below. however i think the quality could be better.

L'Oreal HIP Gilded in natural light

with flashlight: L'Oreal HIP Gilded

two totally different eye make up looks i did with this duo:

#1 - the "subtle" look

for the softer look i used the gold shade on the inner 2/3 of the lid, the dark shade in the outer corner and blended into the crease, also used as a soft liner on the upper lashline. on the lower lashline i had MAC Patina and in the tearduct area a dab of MAC Retrospeck.

with flash:

#2 - the bold look

for the more intense, smokey eye i packed on the dark shade all over the lid and up over the crease to a slightly elliptical shape, i also applied it on the lower lashline. blended out the edges. then i used the gold shade just on the center of the lid, center of the lower lashline and in the most inner corner. on the picture the gold shimmer in the dark shadow looks very apparent, so you can't distinguish the colours, but in real the gold foil effect is just very intense in the center of the lid.

with flash:

comparison

MAC Rose Gold - MAC Mayhem - NARS Etrusque - L'Oreal Gilded - NARS Cordura - Hourglass Dune

as you can see, the gold of L'Oreal Gilded is quite a good dupe to my beloved NARS Etrusque, eh? but look at Etrusque, how it's cracked and crumbled at the corner :*((
well, the gold in Gilded is a bit more metallic than Etrusque, and the quality is not as nice.
it's less orange than MAC Mayhem Mineralize Eyeshadow and is lighter and less bronze than MAC Rose Gold Pigment , but almost similar from the finish.
the dark side remembers me of NARS Cordura (the dark brown of the duo, or, in my case, bottom right in the Pleasures of Paris Palette), but is cooler and less red toned than Cordura. it might be similar to NARS' Mekong, i have bought the latter, too, but still am awaiting it so i can't compare yet.
the brown in Gilded is warmer than the dark shade in Hourglass' Dune duo, though. Dune has a green tinge to it which Gilded doesn't.

Sep 25, 2011

MAC Blushes revisited: Blushbaby.

let's jump right in into the MAC Blushes revisited series (overview post) - starting with the Sheertone Blush in Blushbaby.

MAC Blushes come in the signature simple plastic compact with transparent lid. it contains 6g of product and retails for 22€ (in germany)/17£/19.50$ in a container and 18€ (in germany)/14£/16.50$ as a refill pan.
i like them for the huge colour range with different finishes. the rather affordable price point and the easy accessibility make them a fabulous basic range to start your blush selection with. plus, MAC products are probably the most discussed in the online beauty world so you can easily find good reviews and photos for products you might not be able to test in real. the quality is medium-high according to the different finishes while i like the Sheertone finish the most.

Sheertone blushes have a smooth and light texture, they apply rather sheer but are nicely buildable.
Blushbaby is described as a beige-pink, i would rather describe it as a rosewood colour; a dusty pink with terracotta brown hues.
it applies evenly and sheerly as a very subtle, natural looking rosy wash on my cheeks. the finish is somewhere between matte and satin, it doesn't contain any shimmer bits but has a soft silky sheen when applied.
this is a very sculpting colour and wears great with any strong eye make up - it's not overpowering but gives your cheek a great definition without being too brown. since it's so subtle and neutral of course it is also a nice everyday-blush, especially in autumn/winter times. this is one of my go-to colours when i want a no-make-up make up.