MAC Le Disko Collection Swatches and First Impressions

MAC’s Le Disko Collection is about to hit Singapore (3 July at all counters except Isetan Scotts), and I hear Robinsons MAC Counters will launch these a week early - so today, 25 June - if you can't wait until next week. I will say right now that if you love color and sparkle, you will LOVE this ultra sparkly, uber-glam collection.

Ironically, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Dazzleglasses. I always felt they look pretty in the tube, but most of the softer shades all look the same once on the lips. The 5 shades in the Le Disko collection are pretty, but they’re pretty standard-issue, and my picks would probably be:

• Rollargirl - (yes it’s spelt like that) taupe-beige with pink sparkles 
• Cherry Popping - magenta with violet sparkles

I can imagine a lot of people will love Sugarrimmed though. It's a can't-go-wrong topper for nude and pale lipsticks.

The 2 Superslick Liquid Liners in a kitschy retro silver and gold are also fun as well. 

But where I feel they’ve knocked it out of the park is with the 12 Dazzle Shadows. 

 Texture

I was half expecting these sparkly shadows to be like the Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadows (which have a tendency to be inconsistent in pigmentation, gritty to the touch, and fall all over your face), but once I swatched these I was sold.

These are creamy smooth, intense, buildable, and highly pigmented (except for Last Dance which has a slightly more crumbly texture than the rest). And most of them are duochrome and multidimensional. The sparkles often come in contrasting tones with the base colors.

Which means you can apply a wash of a single shade all over your lids and it will look like you put in a lot more effort than you did.

Lasting Power

NARS Christopher Kane Collection

Here's a quick overview of and first impressions of some products from the NARS x Christopher Kane collection, which launches in Singapore in June. 

First off, the packaging is gorgeous, with the NARS logo in metallic fuchsia.

And the collection is filled with sparkly colors that sort of remind me of Northern Lights. Glowy duochrome violets and greens, beiges and corals. All these colors might look really intense in the packaging, but are designed to just give you a veil of translucnet color and texture. 

Here are the items that I received for review and the swatches for your reference.

I do have to point out that I like the Parallel Universe duo a lot more than the mono shadow, Outer Limits, which was a bit of a disappointment for me.

In the pan, it looks like it would be almost a creamy, intense sparkle shade, but it really has a dry, coarse texture that will just dust right off your skin. You can use it on top of other shadows as an over-coat but I find the best overcoats have silicone binders in them to make them adhere on top of other dry shadows. This one is just dry, so it does not want to stay on top of other powders. My recommendation is to apply it damp, like below, as that gives you more of a sheen and you can better control where the shimmer goes. Otherwise, it all just ends up on your cheeks after an hour.

Another item that was somewhat disappointing was the Multiple in Violet Atom. This is a lavender shade that looks SO beautiful in the tube, and I love the formulation of the newer Multiples (more silky, less sticky and greasy than the older versions). But it's so subtle that it almost can't be seen once it's blended into the skin.

Below, it looks visible, but that's straight from the tube, before blending out. Once you rub out the edges, it kinda melds into your skin. Which is good if you like an ultra-subtle look. But then it's so subtle that you won't be able to see ANY of that lavender-green duochrome color. You just get a very, very soft glow. It's still pretty of course. But I kinda feel that for the price, it should not look that subtle.

But overall, you can see from my swatches that everything is very ethereal and soft. These products work best layered lightly over other products and bases.

In my look below, I applied a tiny layer of grey cream shadow to the outer corners of the eyes and used Parallel Universe on top of it, with the beige-green over the grey, and the lavender on the inner half of the lids. On the cheeks and down my nose, I have the Multiple in Violet Atom (it's barely visible), as well as Adoration from the Dual Intensity blush range, which I - adore.
On the lips I have Nebulous lipgloss.

I did have to apply a grey cream base to portions of my lid and then apply the shadows on top of it for the shading and definition I want. Like a lot of the NARS duos, there is no "definer/highlight" shade. Which isn't a problem for me because I tend to treat all the shades in my duos and palettes as individual shadows that I can mix and match with other stuff, not necessarily with the other colors in the same palette. But I know some of you hate that and want palettes and duos to be a "complete" look.

What do you think of the products? Love em or leave em?

NARS Spring 2015 Colors - Some Swatches!

NARS St Paul de Vence duo

 When someone saw a picture of St Paul de Vence I posted on Instagram, she missed the details in the caption and asked if it was Orgasm and Laguna.

This is actually from the limited edition Spring 2015 makeup collection, and it does have some similarities to the blush and bronzer duo because of the tawny coral-tan tones. But it's a lot softer and more wearable on the eyes of course.

I personally think it's a very nice warm duo, and while I wouldn't necessarily wear both shades together (one is iridescent and the other is satin, but the colors are close enough that on the eyes, the difference is not obvious), they're great for pairing with darker neutrals.

Just for the same of a demo, I wore both on the lids of course. The satin brown on the outer halves of the lids and in the socket line, and the iridescent coral-tan shade on the inner halves of lids.

NARS St Paul de Vence eyeshadow duo worn on lids

 For a soft warm everyday look, you can get away with wearing both shades together. I also imagine this will bring out the color in grey, blue, and green eyes.

The collection also features a lipstick and 2 glosses (of which I have 1 to show you here).

NARS Liguria lipstick and Vent Salé gloss swatches

Now these 2 I don't especially love, because they're not too easy to pull off. 

Liguria lipstick - If you have extremely pale or tanned/darker skin and want a nice caramel beige color, Liguria is actually quite pretty and creamy-feeling. It's a caramel with a soft gold pearl. On my medium-light yellow-based skin, it just kinda fades in. 

NARS Liguria lipstick

Vent Salé lipgloss on the other hand, is tricky. This is a thick pearlescent white gloss that reflects pale mint-green in the light. On its own it does sink into every line on your lip surface. And over other colors, you kinda have to consider what would work well with a green sheen. 

I like an interesting color any day but it does have to be flattering, and while I can see this as a dramatic lip-color transformer, I really can't see this looking that fantastic on most people.

NARS Vent Salé lipgloss

The item that will probably get lots of people excited is the new Illuminating Multiple, St Lucia, which is the first new color they've brought out in awhile.

Unlike the previous iridescent Multiples, St Lucia has a much finer glow and a texture that sets to a dry finish. Many of the older Multiples are obviously shimmery/glittery on the skin, and also have a greasier cream-blush formula which isn't always great for oily skins.

The best thing though - is the color. Most of the NARS Multiples are very warm and yellow-based, which on yellow-toned skins can look a bit too much. St Lucia is a tawny pink-bronze which sits nicely on most undertones.

NARS Multiple in St Lucia, swatched

It's not as pale as Copacabana, so it can't really act as a highlighter for lighter skins, and it's not deep enough to be a bronzer or blush, but it's really pretty all along the upper portions of the cheeks and cheekbones as a subtle blush/bronze sheen if you're wearing bronzer.

On deeper skins, it's a gorgeous highlighter.