Bare Escentuals: Box of Gems

This is one of the larger holiday kits from Bare Escentuals. It is only availble at QVC right now. The Box of Gems has ten mini eye shadows, five mini buxom glosses, and five 100% natural glosses. Most of the the glosses are old colours but there are two new ones, I think. All ten eye shadows are new. Most of the eye shadows are neutral.

Sparkling: Is a soft foggy white. At first I thought it would be similar to snowflake but when you put sparkling on it looks matte.

Gleam: Is a very pale pink that reminds me a little bit of blush. When you put it on the eye by itself it does not look pink it looks just like a light neutral. It is also matte.

Glow: From the swatch I thought glow would be more sparkly but on the eye it just has a slight sheen. It is a soft light orangy peach.

Twinkle: Is a cranberry redish brown. It almost seems like a pink brown but with earthy tones. It also applies matte.

Incandescent: This is more of a chocolate brown with a neutral glowing shimmer. The shimmer comes out more when you foil it. It looks darker in the swatch than it applies. If you do a light layer you can see that it is actually a mid-tone shade. It would make a nice crease colour or all over lid colour.

Solitaire: This is probably the most unique shade of all the colours in this set. It is a sparkling slate. It has blue/grey tones and a slight silver sparkle. The sliver sparkle disappears when you apply it. It looks grey on.

Jewel: This looks like a bold pink in the swatch and I'm sure you could get it to show up that way on the eye if you foiled it or just did a heavy layer of it. But I was pleasently surprised how soft it went on when I used a light hand. This also applies matte.

Beam: Is a medium blue that is similar to Ocean but more blue. This also applies matte. It is a pretty shadw but similar to other blues I have.

Gem: This is a really pretty emerald green with a hint of teal. It applies mostly matte and the green, rather than being bright, applies as a smoky green.

Locket: This is so pretty! This is a nice dark purple with blue sparkle in it. It blends out nicely as a crease colour. It retains some of its sparkle when you apply it wet and it is dark enough to use as a liner.

Overall this set is just okay. If you love matte shadows then you should get this. But if you were looking for exciting colours and a wide variety of textures I think you would be disappointed by this set. I'm not sure I would buy it if I had it to do over again.

Here are some comparison swatches:

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,

50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,

Gleam under brow,

Glow lash to crease,

Twinkle in crease,
Incandescent outer corner,
Big and Bright liner in Charbronze upper lash line,
Buxom mascara.


CHEEKS: Gorgeous blush
LIPS: Tarte Glitzy

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
Sparkling under brow,
Gleam lash to crease on inner 1/2,
Jewel lash to crease on outer 2/3,
Locket in crease and outer corner,
Locket wet lined on top and bottom,
FDVM.


CHEEKS: Miracle blush
LIPS: Cranberry Sorbet gloss

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
Sparkling under brow,
Gem lash to crease and lower lash line,
Beam in crease and outer corner,
Solitaire in V,
Round the Clock liner in Midnight top and bottom,
Buxom Amplified mascara.


CHEEKS: Floret blush
LIPS: Tarte Perky

Brown Smoky Eye Inspired by MUFE

This was my attempt at the brown smoky eye in the ad for the makeup forever smoky palette. I think it turned out okay but I like the green on better. My brown drawer is severly neglected so it was nice to have an idea for a brown look.

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
Brave under brow and inner corner,
Starlet Casey lash to crease,
Cognac Diamond lash into crease on outer 2/3ish,
Bark in V,
Big and Bright eye liner in Intense black top and bottom smudged out with cognac diamond,
Falsies Flared mascara.
CHEEKS: Vintage Peach blush
LIPS: Tarte Reduce tinted lip balm

Green Smoky Eye Inspired by MUFE Smoky Palette

A few people have been talking about the Make Up Forever Smoky Palette that was supposed to be at Sephora but hasn't showed up yet. In any case the looks that are associated with this palette in the advertizing are really pretty. So I decided to do a look inspired by the green look. I think I will try to do the brown one tomorrow. Here are the MUFE looks:

I am going to put and (R) next to shadows that are from the Bare Escentuals Ready Palettes. Some of the shadows in the palettes have the same name as the loose minerals so it might get confusing.
EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
LORAC Beige lash to brow,
Swanky under brow and inner corner,
For Real lash into crease on most of lid and dry lined along lower lash line,
Black Tie Optional (R) in V,
Big and Bright in Intense black along upper and lower lash line softened with For Real,
Falsies mascara.


CHEEKS: TTYL blush
LIPS: Sydney Buxom with a little bit of Tarte Pouty smudged into it.

Bare Escentuals: The Cocktail Hour 8.0 Ready Palette

The Cocktail Hour is one of two special edition holiday palettes from Bare Escentuals. I was about to get this palette in the preview sale. It is really pretty. Many of the colours have a little bit of sparkle to them or at least a sheen. There is one matte colour Black Tie Optional which is a drak grey. I'll just go through the colours and describe them as best as I can.
Black Tie Optional--matte dark grey that is almost black.
Icebreaker--a very light pink with some sparkle in it.
Swanky--a blue purple with gold sparkle.
Spiked--this colour is a little hard to describe it is a medium tone peach with hints of gold and pink in it.
Elixir--light purple with a slight irridescence, this is similar to Boudoir from the Dream Sequence palette but it is slightly darker and more purple.
Invite Only--is a light green toned colour with a sheen. It does not really show up as green on the eye it looks like a foggy neutral.
Libation---is a light to medium taupey champange. It is light enought to wear under the brow but shows up well enough to wear as a lid colour.
Shaken Not Stirred--is a very dark navy with blue sparkle in it. When you put this on it looks almost matte and is very smoky and I don't think it comes across as blue exactly. The blue sparkle pretty much disappears when you blend it out.

Some people were worried that The Cocktail Hour and The dream Sequence were too similar but I don't think they are. Elixir and Boudoir are the most similar but beyond that the other colours are very different.

You can see that the shadows in the 8.0 are smaller than the ones in the 4.0.

I did four looks with The Cocktail Hour. Hopefully this will give you a good sense of the colours in this palette.

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
Icebreaker lash to brow,
Spiked in crease,
Round the Clock liner in midnight along upper lash line,
Elixir smudged over midnight,
FDVM in Blue Black.


CHEEKS: Azalea blush
LIPS: 100% Pure Sugar plum lip and cheek stain with Smashbox Smile enchancing gloss over it.

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
Icebreaker under brow and inner corner,
Spiked lash to crease,
Swanky in V,
Swanky dry lined top and 1/2 way on bottom,
Spiked dry lined on inner 1/2 of lower lash line,
100% Pure Black Tea mascara.


CHEEKS: Boost blush
LIPS: Jelly Roll gloss

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance,

50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,

Libation under brow,
Shaken not stirred lash into crease on outer 2/3 and lower lash line,
Invite Only lash to crease on inner 1/2ish,
Big and Bright Midnight Moon liner,
Buxom Amplified mascara.


CHEEKS: Flirt blush
LIPS: New Orleans Buxom lipstick

 

EYES:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance,
50/50 mix well rested/clear radiance all over,
Turn On under brow,
Elixer lash to crease,
Black Tie Optionl in outer corner and lower crease,
Swanky middle of crease and lid,
Big and Bright Intense Black liner,
FDVM.


CHEEKS: Miracle
LIPS: Cherry Bomb