I first came across the Marc Jacobs Beauty line when the online community was buzzing about it some time last year. The first images that came out, I admit, didn’t grab me. There was a buzz of reviews when the line was new and then it sort of all quietened down, with preference falling back to the established, tried and true brands.
Knowing that most exciting new brands take forever and a day to reach our shores, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention until the local buzz started that Marc Jacobs Beauty was landing on our shores at Sephora stores. Now, how on earth?! We’re actually WITH IT! 😀
Marc Jacobs Style Eye-Con No. 3 RM137
As of last week, Marc Jacobs Beauty is now available at all Sephora stores nationwide. Marc Jacobs, if you didn’t already know is mostly known for his fashion and at one time was the designer over at Louis Vuitton. He was responsible for some of the more interesting and edgy designs to have come out of the luxury design house.
I used to be keen on the Marc Jacobs brand bag (being the bagaholic that I am) but they were all so heavy! He uses a lot of hardware in his designs and that spells weight. The Marc by Marc Jacobs line is more wearable and less weighty. So being quite familiar with his more flamboyant fashion designs, I was a little surprised at how sleek the MJ Beauty line was.
Here are some pictures of some of the products available, and some preliminary thoughts of a couple I’ve quickly tested in store.
The first thing to notice is the sleek black packaging with its rounded curves. This was apparently inspired by 2 things. Marc Jacobs’ love for polka dots, and a highly polished black lacquer table he owned. This is translated into all the items as every item bears a black case and glossy finish with rounded corners.
Style Eye-Con No. 7: Tease (bottom) and Lolita (top)
The polka dots theme is also found in the little details – the silver buttons to open the case, as well as round pans of colour within. A popular item is the Style Eye-Con No. 7 eyeshadow palette (RM207) above which comes in a few different colours. Unlike other palettes that come in compact geometric shapes, this one comes in a long slim case with 7 complementary colours, 7 being his favourite number as the story goes.
The most popular item so far is the Lolita palette whic you can see above. It’s the neutral palette that has gotten a lot of raves, having a decent mix of matte and shimmer shades and 7 shades of neutral browns and beiges. Neutrals seem to be doing well in recent times haven’t they?
At first swipe, they appear fairly pigmented and have a fine texture. I can imagine that Lolita will be very popular here as well.
Shameless Blush Bottom-Top: Provocative, Tantalizing, Promiscuous, Reckless
My eye naturally gravitated towards the Shameless Blush (RM140) which comes in only a few colours for now. If you are a woman of colour, I can tell you off hand that you will find it easy to get colour in this range because the colours are bold and bright!
If you prefer lighter shades of blush then you will, like me, have a little more trouble. I would suggest that you try Obsessed, which you’ll see in a picture below. That’s the one I bought, this is a light peachy pink. It’s fairly pigmented but because the colour is light, mistakes are minimised.
The Lovemarc Lipstick (RM95) have a creamy pigmented texture and come in sleek cases with a magnetic clasp. There is a good selection of shades to pick from from light to dark and all cases are black bar one – Showstopper, Marc Jacob’s version of the perfect red lip. I didn’t have the chance to test this one so I can’t say for sure how it fares.
A colour I was told to try is a very nude shade called Moody Margot, that is supposed to go on lips more pigmented so it gives lips a neutral yet natural look. It looked a bit nude to me hence my hesitation but if you are in the market for a good nude, try that one.
The Lust for Lacquer glosses (RM89) are bright shiny pops of colour in a sleek case and comes in lots of very lovely colours that I can imagine may capture the imagination more than the lipsticks. I didn’t test these either so I can’t tell if they’re sticky or not, but colour wise, they look very promising.
At back of the picture, you may see a large bronzer pan. This aptly named O’Mega Bronzer (RM137) is a gigantic bronzer that you can use on face and body and if you love bronzers then I suggest you check it out simply because it’s one of those things that make it worth your money LOL!
Interestingly, Marc Jacobs launched their beauty line with a full set of face brushes available for sale. All brushes are synthetic barring the angled blush brush and they feel very thick and dense and very soft as synthetic brushes feel. At the counter, you will notice the brushes paired with the products on offer so it takes the guesswork out of figuring out what brush to use with which product. There are no eye brushes yet, but I expect that will be in the works in the future.
Brushes bring me to the item that I received a lot of queries about – the Genius Gel Foundation (RM189) because at the launch, we were showed how easily this foundation could be applied using the Marc Jacobs Face 1 Brush which is a fluffier, dense liquid foundation brush.
The texture of the Genius Gel Foundation is as the name implies, rather like a gel which means it takes some getting used to if you’ve never used anything similar. Just off hand, the texture is fairly sheer but buildable to medium coverage and the gel texture is lightweight on skin. Let me take this for a spin for a while and I’ll bring you more detailed thoughts to come.
When I spoke to Marc Jacobs Beauty International Education Specialist Melissa Laughrey-Taieb about her favourite products, she proclaimed it to immediately be Moody Margot lipstick, which she’s wearing the picture above (but which you can’t see very well) and Remedy Concealer (RM110).
Remedy Concealer comes in a click pen form with a cool palladium tip that cools down your eye area when you run it over your lid. I’m a sucker for under eye concealers so I picked one up and I’ll tell you I’m not terribly impressed off the bat, but let me wait a bit and see if I figure out how to use it properly.
I do also have some colour products to have a good ol’ play with and I’ll tell you what I think of them too in time to come. They are all permanent so there’s no real need to run out and buy them all. As with all beauty brands, I think there will be some hit and miss items so I’d suggest doing some research and seeing what people like that they think is worth trying. I say so because the price point is rather high, with the Marc Jacobs Beauty brand being positioned as a luxury makeup brand. So as wise consumers, let us be sure we get our money’s worth yes? 🙂
Style Eye-Con No. 7 The Vamp, Genius Gel Foundation 22 Light Bisque, Remedy Concealer 2 Wakeup Call, Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Blacquer, Magic Marc’er Precision Pen Blacquer, Lust for Lacquer in Boom Boom and Shameless Blush in Obsessed
Have you already checked out Marc Jacobs Beauty at Sephora? Did you buy anything? Which item do you want to hear about first?
I’ll take requests, and I’ve already put the Genius Gel Foundation on the top of the list to review as soon as I possibly can but if you are keen on finding out more about the other items I have, holler and I’ll try to oblige! 😀 Were you excited about the brand being available here? I admit I was a little underwhelmed. Clearly, I was the only person who hadn’t done her research going in for the launch 😀
Paris B
Marc Jacobs Beauty is available at all Sephora stores. Prices are as set out above
Love the stash you have! Review the blush first!!!
Will try ASAP! 🙂 But now you have it as well, maybe no rush eh? 😉
I hope you can review the Moody Margot lipstick – I got hooked on nudes after Dior – not that I am anywhere near to being called a lipstik bandit.
Unfortunately I don’t have Moody Margot JK 🙁 The colour in tube is a bit of a nude-pink-purple tint that I tend to shy away from personally because I just don’t do nude lips very well (I tend not to play up my eyes a lot seeing as my skills are pretty rudimentary) so I prefer lipstick with some colour. But you’re so right about Dior’s nude colours. They’re ALL so wearable it’s shocking 😛
I was at Sephora Pyramid last weekend and I went home with the lip gel in Understudy, rather gleefully. The hubs thought me mad when I spent half an hour taking photos of a tube of lipstick … but it’s so pretty!
Anyhow …
I love how pigmented the colour is but the texture when applied does need some getting use it – perhaps I’ve grown way too accustomed to Dior Extreme lipsticks and not know how to adapt to anything else. Hmm …
Looking forward to your reviews. I am most intrigued by the lip vinyl, which I shall be back for soon. I wonder how it compares to Estee Lauder’s?
Ooh you got a lipstick! I couldn’t decide so I left it for another day 😀 It’s interesting that you mention the texture, which I’m told is gel textured, and you’re right Dior does spoil us don’t they, with their awesome lipstick textures? I find the Lip Vinyl not as pigmented as Estee Lauder’s which work like a liquid lipstick. This one worked more like a pigmented gloss for me 🙂
I have yet to splurge on MJ eyeshadows, cos I find it so difficult to choose! I like the one you have above, but I also like another one with all shimmer. I duno, I need to drop by and swatch each and every shade available.
I’m a bit of a stick in the mud so I thought the colours for the shadows were quite bold except for the famed Lolita palette LOL Gosh, I feel so old now that I say it! I haven’t used colour on my eyes in yonks so it’s going to be interesting to see how this palette fares. Hope you find one you like soon!
I am curious about the gel foundation. 😀
Gel foundation coming right up! 😛
I was just in Sephora an hour ago testing and swatching all his products, LOL! I loved the gel foundation actually and I found the ultimate perfect shade for my skin tone (which I tell you does not happen very frequently to a woman of colour :P) The only other thing I really loved apart from the foundation was the blush in Tantalizing. Oh gosh, how it tantalized and flirted with me. ;D
Ooh it’s great that you found a foundation match in MJ because I was quite impressed at the array of shades available! Did you pick it up? I found the foundation quite pricey to be honest. As with the blushes. Most of the shades available would suit women of colour very well, which left me with quite a few choices! Interesting turn of events haha 😀
These are one of the things I was so excited about when I touched down at KLIA. I admit I was very excited to get my hands on these sleek babies but since it is quite luxurious aka expensive, I guess I’ll wait and see what you think about these.
Also, Paris, a question for you. What is your skin type?
Haha gosh, everyone seemed to know about MJ Beauty’s arrival way before I did! If you have a chance, I think having a good play with them at the counter is a good idea mostly because of the price tag. I’m still trying to figure out of they’re worth the asking price because I’ve noticed they’re on par with many high end brands and for a new player in the market, it’s a bold step to take.
As for my skintype, it’s normal-dry. I have drier skin on my cheeks and normal everywhere else 🙂
I was at 2 different outlets of Sephora last week and totally ignored Marc Jacobs Beauty eventhough it was at the front row of the shop. Hahaha. Did you really buy all those products in the picture? Must have cost you a small fortune. LOL. Do let us know your thoughts on the foundation and especially the blush. Happy weekend my dear 🙂
You know what Victoria? I tend to ignore the counters right at the front of the store every time too, which is why I rarely paid attention to Urban Decay (since it used to be placed right in front) I just feel funny standing right at the entrance, checking out makeup LOL! I bought the liner, blush and concealer. The rest were press gifts which I have to delve into at some point, but yes, it cost a pretty penny nonetheless!
Hi paris,
Yes, i so agreed with you!. This line was launched in Spore last week too, and many reviews online have rated this line to be so-so only. Not worth the price…im also adopting a wait-and-see approach. No hury to go and burn a hole in the pocket yet..hahaha…. 🙂 you hv a great weekend ya!
Since everything is permanent, there’s no rush 🙂 I can’t say I’m blown away by anything just yet to be perfectly honest. Mainly because I do work with products from a luxury price tag standpoint and they tend to blow me away but this is like a small breeze instead LOL
Gosh gosh gosh! The topic coming on my blog tomorrow as well!!!
I actually picked it up on Good Friday, but didn’t have time to take pictures and do a little testing.
I so know what you mean by “didn’t pay much attention” because all the hot stuffs take forever to reach our shores. Man, I was shocked-surprised when I saw Marc Jacobs at Sephora. They really kept hush-hush about it.
Hi-5 Hi-5 because I wanted to buy The Vamp eye palette too!! I didn’t in the end. Still find their eyeshadows too limited. I already have ALL of those colours in a couple of other brands like MAC and UD. Wanted the Lolita (neutral) palette but that was out of stock at Ion Orchard.
I tried the blush a little. But must say that it really doesn’t impress me as much as I expect from a true luxury brand.
But you MUST try the lipstick!!!!! Do go back and buy the lipstick. Buy more. They are way better than Tom Ford’s. And they really are one of a kind. None of the lipsticks in my crazy collection feels close.
And sweep up the brushes too! I got the #2 Face Brush and it is better than a $200 Hakuhodo Kabuki I bought last year. MJ is only $71.
The Eyeliner is another MJ product that you should just buy all the colours. The black is amazing. I didn’t get the other colours because they are too bright for my work.
Nail polish has great finish that is quite unique. But it does wear off easily if you don’t put top coat. I will likely repurchase more MJ nail polishes too!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the range Jyoan 😀 I have to agree that the colours aren’t special, but I think the pairing in the palette is, although I find the palette far too bulky. I prefer compact sized palettes instead of a long one like this that can barely fit into a travel makeup bag! The eyeliner did wow me I’ll admit so that one I’m quite excited about. I’ll take your word about the lipstick and nail polish, especially for the latter since I don’t wear nail polishes! The packaging for the polish is, I’ll admit, very impressive and different and it’s good to know that it performs well too!
Unfortunately, the colours in the lipstick range isn’t too fantastic. I went back a second time, deliberately to find more lipsticks, but none of the other colours wow-ed me.
Also, I tried a couple of the other nail polishes, and I thought I was really lucky the first time round, because some of those on my second try didn’t perform up to standard.
Oops! That’s a bit of a bummer! On the bright side, money saved! 😉
When I first saw the promos, I knew that I had to get the nail polishes. I only have one shade at this point (lola) and I REALLY love it, I want/need more.
I think their nail polishes have really gotten a lot of raves, which is great! I remember that it isn’t too pricey and the packaging is very impressive. Pity I’m just not into polishes (or maybe not coz I’d be too tempted otherwise! 😉 )
Would love to see your review of the lip gloss because that’s the one I didn’t buy! I thought it looks too much like Hourglass glosses which I do own, so didn’t want to repeat buying another high-end gloss of the same kind.
Interesting that you should liken it to Hourglass 🙂 I have one by Hourglass but I don’t remember being very impressed by it. Will have to dig it out and compare 🙂
I bit the bullet and bought two the “heavy” lip glosses. Hehe. Still skipping the sheer lip glosses though.
Think I might be the only one that don’t really fancy their packaging. I don’t know. It’s just something about the rounded, irregular shapes that I don’t quite fancy on a makeup packaging. 🙁
But! That big, fluffy brush has been on my wish list since they debuted the brand here in the States. MUST. HAVE. FLUFFY. BRUSH. 😛
Did you get a chance to play with any of the brushes?
Not to worry, Sze Ling, I felt the same way the first time I saw it in pictures. I’m not feeling the packaging for the eyeshadow that’s for sure. It’s just not conducive to storage or travel. I prefer more compact palettes. The brushes do feel very lovely but (and don’t say I said this) they feel rather similar to RT brushes 😉 Just saying, you know 😉 I touched them, but didn’t try them on my face so I can’t say how well they fare.
The cut of the brush is rather different from RT though. The Face II caught me. And went back for the Concealer brush too.
But the others (powder brush and blush brush) were not that impressive. Pretty regular shapes.
Perhaps, but it just “felt” similar from running my hands over it. I like the density and the softness but I’m not one for synthetic hair brushes so it’s not likely to be much of a want for me right now. But we’ll see 😉
P…..review on the remedy concealer please!!! Thanks
Soon as I can, Kel (summary: not terribly impressed)
Would love to see a review on the lip products when you have time please. I saw this just in time, as a friend is going to Malaysia today. She is super excited to hear MJ has landed at Sephora! I sent her your website address to enable her further 🙂
Yikes! I’m a week late to reply but I hope your friend found her way to Sephora and had a good time picking up lots of beauty goodies! I’ll try to get some thoughts on these products up soon. Turning out to be harder than I expected, finding time >.<
So delighted to meet you at this launch, Paris! Totally unexpected – but I guess not really surprising after all given that you ARE Paris B and this was one of the biggest cosmetic launches to land on our shores.
By the way, really and truly, thanks for being so sweet and kind to this starstruck blog stalker.
I have a few pieces from the MJB collection myself now courtesy of my win in the Sephora FB contest so I’m looking forward to have a decent play of this much talked about addition to the beauty world. I’m quite enamoured with the packaging and am happy with most of the products but I think Mr. Jacobs really wasn’t able to reinvent the wheel with his current eye shadow formula or shades. I do hope he’ll be able to impress us a little more in this area a few seasons on.
Hi Shopgirl, were you the one I met as I made my hurried exit? It was lovely meeting you and I’m sorry I didn’t have the time to stop and chat longer. Hopefully we meet up again in other events or elsewhere 🙂 I must say the MJB collection, while impressive in it’s range is, I feel a little normal. Without the backing of the name behind the brand I doubt it’s get much of a second glance especially at the asking prices. Still, there are one or two good items in there so it’ll be interesting to see how it develops from here 🙂
Oh, I’m glad they brought in the brushes too! I’ve read great things about the bronzer brush. Have to go look the next time I’m at Sephora. Thanks for the info, PB 🙂
Welcome Lily, next time you’re in KL, do take a look. All the face brushes are in as well as practically the whole collection. Can’t say the brushes grabbed me outright mostly because they’re synthetic and I’m a little less enamoured with synthetic brushes but they do feel lovely!
All that you’ve picked are wonderful. I’ve tested them out today. Excited to get the blush (reckless or obsessed), gel foundation, that Boom Boom lip lacquer (sold out) and i think i might like that ink eyeliner very much but at S$50, i think it’s very overpriced. Anyway, I held back and am looking forward to your reviews. And I am intrigued too by that remedy concealer which was so raved by the sales person. Good thing i read this post beforehand else i might have been convinced to get some of those items.
I past by another Sephora today and saw the price of that eyeliner is not $50. I might have most likely saw the wrong price. hmm….
I found Reckless a little red. Promiscuous looks like a promising colour to have 🙂 The crayon liner is quite nice too and a wee bit cheaper than Bobbi Brown’s if I remember collection. I bought the Remedy Concealer thanks to the raves of the visiting MUA but I’m not sold on it. Maybe that’ll be my first review haha! 😀
Yay! Can’t wait for the foundation review! Too tempted to buy it! =D
Soon, hopefully Nicole! Have you checked it out yet? The texture does take some getting used to 🙂
Gah, come on, is Australia never going to get the good shizz?? The Sephoras in Europe don’t stock Marc Jacobs Beauty, at least, they didn’t when I was there so I couldn’t pick any up to try. The Lolita palette has been talked to death on YouTube, so I’m really glad you picked up the more colourful palette instead. Can’t wait for your reviews!
I think MJB is only now trickling its way across the globe. I’m just wondering if Sephora is the primary distributor of MJB products, that will seriously deprive the rest of the world that doesn’t have a Sephora! You know, I didn’t even know about the Lolita palette – that’s how little I know about the brand haha! The colours in the Vamp palette does scare me a little but we’ll see. Maybe I can even make it work for work eh? 😛