Pigment powders and loose powder eyeshadows

I was introduced to pigments and loose eyeshadows about 2 years ago and in the process I built up quite a collection of them. I then got to wondering what the difference was between pigments and loose powder eyeshadows and why some companies called them such.

From left: Make Up For Ever Star Powder #90920, Barry M Dazzle Dust #14, MAC Coco pigment

MAC Cosmetics as most will know, sell pigments. These are jars of loose pigment powder that you can use not only as eyeshadow, but also for lips and face. Originally, these were supposed to be the basic ingredient of coloured makeup. Mix it with clear gloss and you get your custom coloured gloss. Use it on cheeks and you get a blush. There’s More! Continue reading →

Why use neutral eyeshadow?

I received an Isetan mailer recently which had pictures of the new Bobbi Brown Nude eye and lip palette (RM210). I also saw the palette in person last week and the shadows were 4 similar colored nude or neutral eyeshadows. It reminded me of a question I used to ask before - Why would anyone want to use neutral eyeshadow or eyeshadows that look nude? Isn’t the purpose of eyeshadow having colour on the eyes?

Clockwise from bottom left: Bourjois Brun Irrel, Bourjois Beige Rose, MAC Coco pigment, MAC Naked Pigment,
Shu Uemura ME Silver 945, Stila Kitten, Wheat, Oasis, Sun

I’ve since worked out the answer for myself. There are some days or some occasions when having other colours on your eyes won’t do. Examples are strict work places or serious events or even just when you want to be taken seriously like if you have to attend meetings or meet new customers or clients or business partners. If you are in a serious sort of job, having beautifully made up eyes with coloured eyeshadow just won’t do because people just don’t take you seriously otherwise (unfortunate but true). (Read more after the jump) There’s More! Continue reading →

MAC Dress Camp Collection - tested

I was out today at Isetan in Lot 10 when I remembered that the MAC Dress Camp collection had launched. My main intention was to check out the Dress Camp face palette.

The face palette comes with a blush (Dress Camp Pink) and 3 eyeshadows and a brush in a palette that looks pretty much like what you see in the picture. As I expected, it looks quite tacky in terms of packaging. But how does the product measure?

Dress Camp Pink blush is very bright in the pan. I swiped it to test and it went on very pigmented. You would be advised to use a light hand with this one. The pink is a warmed pink which I was quite surprised as I thought it looked cool. I think it would look nice on, with a light hand.

The 3 eyeshadows, Sunny Girl, Trend and Golden Girl are surprisingly sheer. Sunny girl showed up sheer gold on my arm whilst I couldn’t get Trend to show up at all! I kept rubbing away at the tester but nope. Nothing. Golden Girl was also a sheer deeper gold. Definitely nothing as pigmented as what you see in the picture. So, all in all, I’d say that you are getting a pretty wearable palette although it looks garish.

The Dress Camp lipstick (Too Fab) is a bright fuschia. I found it too bright to be worn together with the face palette. However, the sales assistant assured me that it was nicely toned down with the use of the lipglasses She-Gold (gold with glitter) and Fashion (bright pink).

As I don’t use MAC cosmetics at all anymore, I have nothing to compare the textures or finish with. The blush would be lovely if sold separately. As a palette, its too bright for those with light skintone (but the eyeshadows would work well) and it would be nice on those with darker skintone (but the eyeshadows will fail miserably) so its just too complicated for me to get my head around!

I however, had a very pleasant browsing experience at the MAC Counter in Lot 10 (located in Isetan). I was attended to by Baby (a guy) and he was friendly and helpful. Through him too, I found out that Heatherette (MAC’s upcoming collection) is due in Malaysia at the end of April or early May 2008 and Baby assures me that that eyeshadow palette is worth waiting for, so look out for that one!

Back to M.A.C - M.A.C Cosmetics cares

Ok, MAC Cosmetics has got all sorts of bad rap on this site so far. It seems to me that the issue of bad service must be something that M.A.C should address, unless they see it as part of their branding - I’m not sure that is a smart consumer move, really.

There is one thing however, that I must commend M.A.C for. Their “Back to M.A.C” recycling program. In an effort to protect the environment, MAC encourages recycling by offering a brand new full size lipstick for 6 plastic primary packaging products.

Basically, if you have 6 plastic cases of MAC cosmetics products, you can take them back to your local MAC store and exchange it for a lipstick of your choice (except Viva Glam lipsticks as their proceeds go towards AIDS research). So e.g. if you have 6 lipsticks or eyeshadow cases or a mixture of lipstick and eyeshadow plastic cases, you can take it to the MAC store and choose a lipstick for free. There’s More! Continue reading →