Aube Winter Collection 2007

At the rate I'm going I could have reviewed Aube's Holiday/Winter Collection next season! Sorry about the delay getting this out!



I've had this collection for a while and I haven't yet tried any of it but last night I decided to finally crack it open and take a peek at the colors!

When the collection came onto the scene I wasn't too tempted but later on I decided that I needed to add some of it to my beauty arsenal!

They released a pressed powder with this that a friend of mine was unable to locate sadly so I missed out on that! Out of all the goodies I only ended up with three items which were the newest Jewerly Shower Eyes and the two loose shimmering powders!

The palette is quite gorgeous although not what I expected. Upon seeing the promo images it appeared the model was sporting a white sparkling baby blue look but upon getting the palette I learned the colors are a tad bit different and it left me slightly puzzling over the best way to get her look but that hasn't swayed me from loving it!

The main color in the palette is a cream gold sparkle followed by a beige bronze color and a dark chocolate liner color. The Shower part of the palette (and star of the shower in my opinion) is the light blue gold infused cream color! It's a beautiful shade and it really sparks up the main colors of the palette! I'm not going into detail about application here but if you're interested in understanding how the palette works do click here to review my main review on Aube's Jewelry Shower palettes! My sole rant about the palette was the packaging. I was slightly disappointed that the packaging wasn't the standard shiny metallic style. It seemed they changed the compact to a matte finish instead of the regular shiny metallic compact! I really liked the pretty pink shimmer to the old compacts!

Old Packaging vs New Packaging




The palette sold very well in Japan from what I understand as my mate had a difficult time locating it upon it's release!

The other two items I got were the loose shimmering powders which come in a nice glass bottle. I really love the presentation on these and the packaging is ultra cute however application is a bit messy! The powders come in a nail polish style bottle but they do not have an attached applicator. I thought this would come with a spatula applicator or a brush of some sort attached to the bottle topper but that's not the case sadly. In order to apply you have to tip the bottle while stopping it with a finger tip and then lightly dab the powder where you want it! It's a wonderful silky, sparkly powder that can used on your face, cheeks, or body however application is a tad bit messy with just a fingertip for applying. I guess you can use a really slim brush to fit into the bottle and take a little powder out at a time but I'm still wishing these came with an applicator of their own! The two shades available were gold and pink and both are well worth getting as they are truly beautiful shimmering shades!





Overall, I really like this collection and I'm glad I decided to get some of it! I highly recommend at least nabbing the palette if you have the means of locating it!

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MAC The Originals Con Gratis

I faced the demons, the mad rush, and the evil Christmas shoppers and even Joe Torre (Seriously. He was sitting on one of the benches by the water fountain in the mall! To be honest I'd never have known it was him if my friend hadn't said "HOLY SH*T It's JOE TORRE!" Hey, a man's gotta shop right? Even if he's a New York Yankee!) to head to the MAC counter and explore the wonders and delights that is The Originals Collection.

And I'm here to say.......................

It's just as boring as I originally blogged about. Click here to read my first impression of this collection.

So...

I went, I saw, and I conquered.

The good news is I did get some of The Originals Collection because my darling, sweet, lovely, gorgeous MA gifted me with her "gratis" bag of The Originals. I didn't purchase a single item while I was there but she just handed me her entire bag. I was gobsmacked at her generosity. To be utterly honest I went to the counter for two reasons: 1. To purchase Parrot and 2. To give my MA some truffles I had purchased for her for Christmas.

I ended up not buying anything as she came tearing out as soon as she seen me with the bag full of The Originals.



The really good news is I did fall in love with two of the items in the bag which was the Antique Gold and Blackened Red glitters! The rest was not so great (I feel so incredibly guilty for saying that as I'm eternally grateful for what a sweetie she is to me all the time).

Beautiful! My favorite in the lot! Blackened Red and Antique Gold Glitters


Here's the items that she gifted to me:

I'm not sure how I'm going to make some of this work because some the colors are just not me. To be honest a majority of The Originals Collection just wasn't Muse friendly! But I am very happy to have some of it to play with!

In the bag was Parrot which I'm properly chuffed to have a 3rd pot of because as I explained 2 pots of Parrot weren't enough to get me through my lifetime!

Here's the rundown:

Eyeshadows
Parrot-Gorgeous! Need I say more?
Charred-Quite a nice color for a smokey eye! I can definately make use of this guy!
Daisychain-Kinda blah. I actually though this would be much better in person but sadly it's just a really meh shade of pale yellow! Good for a highbrow highlighter I guess!
Clue-I don't even have a name for this! It's sorta a brownish gray! Not so fab at all! This will be difficult to work with!

Lipglass
Full on Lust-Not so great. It's a rather boring matte muddy rose color!

Lipstick
Chinz on Chinz-A soft chocolate color that I'm liking! I could make this work I think!
Nouveau Fro-A really awful beige mod color! I'm going to need to do some serious thinking on how to fit this into a look!

Glitters
Antique Gold Beautiful! Wouldn't have purchased myself but happy to have this!
Blackened Red Lovely! Was definately on my "maybe" list and I'm happy to have a jar!

Overall, this is kinda fun as there aren't many colors in the bag I'd have chosen for myself so now I'll have a fun challenge trying to fit these into looks for myself!

The Originals Collection isn't exactly what I hoped for but since I got some of it free I can't complain too much ;)

A big thanks to my MA for spoiling me something awful!

MAC Originals Color Story

I've been reading so much about the Originals Collection that I'm an absolute walking encyclopedia about it by now! I know the colors, I know what collections they had previously been in, I've seen swatches, etc...etc...etc....

This has popped up on everyone (and their mum's) blog this week! It's MAC excitement and cosmetic whores (excuse you but I proudly call myself Cosmetic Whore thanks very much!) and junkies far and wide are absolutely rolling around breathlessly in joy that Parrot is back!

How long has it been since Parrot's been gone? 2-3 years or more? You can read my Ode to Parrot by clicking over here.

Now I'm not immune to the lure of Parrot by any means and I love her just as much as you or anyone else does but I have two pots that are carefully stashed away and guarded by rabid pitbulls in my beauty vault already so I'm thinking to myself do I really need another pot of Parrot and I'm listening to the voices in my head that are screaming HELL YES (I've been told it's ok if the voices speak in my head it's just if I answer them that I have to worry!).

So...I guess that means I'll be skipping my way over to the MAC counter to purchase another pot because obviously two pots aren't enough and god knows I'll live to be at least 70 or more hopefully and I KNOW I'll want a vibrant shade of aqua blue in my train case when I'm 60 and freaking hip beyond any means! And two pots won't get me through this lifetime never mind the next one so best get a 3rd pot as a backup JUST IN CASE. Plus who the bloody hell knows it might just turn into a solid gold piece later on in life when I need to sell it to fund my future child's college tuition.

Anyway....

It's not exactly smart to face the Holiday crowds just to nab a pot of Parrot even though we know it's well worth it. I'm strapping on my bullet proof vest to make my way into Nordie's to fight my way to the MAC counter and glance at the array of the Originals Collection!

So...

This color story has me saying....

Yawn.

I'm a little bit shocked that nothing aside from Parrot is crying at me to buy it!

I'm somewhat disappointed in everything.

Someone slap me it can't be that I'm not fawning over MAC what's wrong with me? Where's my MAC spirit?! I'm MAC's biggest cheerleader what's going on!?

I guess some of the colors are just boring for me. I like more bold shadows and these aren't doing so much for me! Plus the piggies I already have and the reflects glitter aren't something I am entirely keen on.

You've read it everywhere by now but here's the low down on what's out this week:

• Parrot
  
• Ochre Style
  
• A Little Folie
• Daisychain
  
• Memorabilia
  
• Clue
  
• Alum
  
• Charred
  
• Frisco

Pigment

• Kitschmas
• Violet
• Melon
  
• Golden olive
  
• Steel blue
  

Reflect Glitter

• Blackened Red
  
• Very Pink
  
• Transparent Teal
  
• Antique Gold

Lipstick

• Sandy B.
  
• Rozz Revival
  
• Chintz on Hintz
  
• Russian Red
  
• Twig Twig
  
• Supersequin
  
• Nouveau-Frou
  
• Retrofluid
• Back to Del Rio
• Utter Pervette

Lipgloss

• C-Thru
  
• Full on Lust
  
• Avarice
  
• Real Desire
  
• Nico Now
  

Eye Pencil

• Ebony
• Coffee
• Indigo

Let's pick this apart a little and see what the Muse is contemplating.

I'm sad that the eyeshadows aren't all that and a bag of chips. They brought these back because everyone really, really, really, wanted them right? Normally the first thing that catches my eye when a new color story is released would be the shadows but aside from Parrot nothing is yelling at me! Maybe Daisychain?

Ok glosses. I see two that look interesting here those would be Avarice and Real Desire.

Lipsticks I really have to see in person to decide.

Pigments have 'em all already. Glitters mmm maybe yes maybe no.

Eyeliner and Mascara? Skip.

Wow I'm saving money left and right here kids!

Maybe when I see this in person I'll have a hard time saying no to it all but at the moment it's not what I expected at all! I expected more wow!

Oh well!

Money saved for another day and another MAC Collection!

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NARS Dolce Vita Set

I did a CP order for a mate when the Friends and Family Event was taking place at Sephora and of course I couldn't just go in and buy her stuff I had to dig around for me so I ended up nabbing the NARS Dolce Vita Set.

It's quite a nice set! I'm in love with the blush and highlighter included with the set and I'm slowly liking the gloss as it's a bit too natural looking for me!

Overall, it's a fab set at a nice value $40 ($32 for me as I got 20% off) so if you're looking for a nice posh gift for a friend this would be something she'd love!

MAC Metal X

Sometimes being a MAC Whore is hard work. Last Thursday MAC released Metal X which is a collection of gorgeous metallic cream eyeshadows and some fantastic glitter eyeliners! The entire lot is very appealing and of course the Muse wants it all!

Sadly, I'm having a hard time keeping up with MAC lately! I still have the Finery lip bags, Stylistics, and now Metal X on my wish list! Oh woe is me! Choices, choices, choices! It's so difficult to decide! I want them all to be honest but it's the Holidays and it's time for giving, to others, not myself so I'm in the boat deciding which collections to pass and which collections to get!

As appealing and gorgeous as Metal X is I think I may have to pass. I've heard reviews about the shadows creasing rather badly plus I'm not a cream lover anyway! As for the glitter liners I know they'll somehow make their way into my cart one way or another but I should kindly remind myself that I still have last year's liners which are almost the same colors as this years (except renamed).

Metal X's collection consists of the following yummie goodies:

Cream Eyeshadows

• Virgin Silver
• Pure Ore
• Goldspice
  
• Fusion Gold
  
• Pink Ingot
• Metalblu
  
• Cyber
  
• 6th Sin
• Plum Electric

Glitter Liners

• Blitzed
  
• Wonderwhite
• Enbronze
  
• Limedandy
  
• Pewterpink
  

Previous Glitter Eyeliner comparisons:

Limedany=Divine Lime
Glamourgold=Blitzed
Pewterpink=Saucepot or Pinkphobic
Enbronze=Oxidate
Wonderwhite=Spunsilver

From Left to Right: Spunsilver, Saucepot, Divine Lime, Oxidate, Pinkphobic, Blitzed


I know that the Metal X glitter eyeliners are going to win me over and I'll somehow end up purchasing at least one or two of the eyeshadows out of curiosity but as you can see from the photo above the glitter liners appear to be very similar to previous releases! I haven't yet seen any of the collection in person but I hope and a pray I'm right that the liners are pretty much the same colors I already have in my collection (or should I say my wallet prays)!

Overall, it looks like a fantastic collection but I'm trying hard to resist!

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Bourjois Paris Ombre A Paupieres New Colors

Since we are on the topic of Bourjois Paris might I introduce you to a few new shades of their eyeshadows that are jawdropping!

I LOVE these with a passion! The colors are very bold and dramatic for Bourjois Paris and I'm really wanting these!

Noir Emeraude


Noir Precieux


Noir Cobalt


A few lighter shades have been released as well in various golds, roses, and whites but these three colors really popped out at me especially that deep emerald black green! WOW!

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Wish List for your Muse!

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Pink Quartz Shimmer Brick First Impression

I fear my curiosity got the better of me and I had to go sneak a peek at the Bobbi Brown Pink Quartz Shimmer Brick. On seeing it in person I, of course, fell in love with and had to have it so somehow it ended up in my cart (that happens alot! Stuff randomly falls into my cart without me even realizing it! Honest!). I have a love/hate relationship with shimmer bricks but I must say that the Pink Quartz did tickle me as being quite gorgeous so it suddenly became a must have for me upon seeing it in person!



I originally thought this would be a very light shimmering pink but I was completely wrong. It's actually a bronze, dark, dusty pink that shows up quite nicely on my cheeks! You are getting some softer pink tones but the darker browner pinks are dominant in the palette. I don't normally like bronze colors of any tone or shade but these are quite lovely together! Of course, like almost all Shimmer Bricks you're getting no color! I normally jump around in excitement when I see a darker Shimmer Brick in hopes it'll work as a shimmer and a blush but sadly that's not the case! It's not nearly pigmented enough to work solely as a blush so you need to use this over your blush as a highlighter! I tried it on my bare face and it makes me look silly but over blush it makes my face light up and sparkle!





The palette itself is the standard Limited Edition palette which consists of a black case, goldish bronze lettering on the front, and the gold surround inside the compact. I love the LE cases as they are a bit more glam than the standard Shimmer Brick compacts!



Overall, for $38 I'd say it was something you should consider picking up! It's quite inexpensive for the price and if you're absolutely a HUGE lover and collector of Shimmer Bricks you're going to want this really badly!

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Bare Escentuals Classic Rock Collection First Impressions

I've done first impressions on both the Gold and the Platinum Collections that Bare Escentuals introduced and now I have the Classic Rock Collection which is more of a sparkling white diamond in comparison with the silver and gold of the other collections! If you missed either of the posts about the other collections you can click here and here to view them!

This collection is quite nice but a bit smaller than the others as it doesn't contain nearly as much product and goodies as the others do! I'll be doing a comparison post of all three sometime next week but this definately contains a considerably amount less product than the Gold and Platinum Kits however it is still nice.

The first thing that deserves mentioning is the Buxom Lip Gloss included with this kit. Bare Escentuals must be listening because they have changed the applicator on the Buxom Lips from a sponge to a brush. Many complaints have arisen about the Buxom Lips being a great product but the sponge applicator wasn't distrubing enough product and you would be triple dipping to get enough gloss to apply on your lips. Well, have no fear, this Buxom Lip Gloss has a brush applicator and makes application simple. It's entitled Dominique and is a gorgeous clear gloss with a ton of sparkle. Our other two sets did not include a gloss but a lipstick. While this failed to include a lipstick the gloss is gorgeous enough to make up for that!

Dominique Buxom Lip Gloss


YAY Out with the Sponge Application and in with the Brush Applicator!


This set included two brushes instead of the normal three as seen with Gold and Platinum however they brushes are far more prettier than those collections in that they have a cute little rhinestone on the handle! You get a Flawless Face Brush and a Tapered Eyeshadow Brush with this kit! Both are pretty soft and I haven't seen any shedding yet after applying blush with the Flawless Face Brush this morning! So far so good!








You also, like the Platinum Collection, get a Beautifully Luminous Mascara Duo. If you're worried about getting repeat products when purchasing both sets you can rest easy knowing that both sets are dramatically different color wise. Where as the Platinum Kit contains a silver Beautifully Luminous Mascara this kit includes a sparkling white one! You can read my review on Beautifully Luminous Mascara by clicking here.





The Diamond Gossamer included with this kit is a gorgeous sparkling white color! They recommend using the Gossamer's as a body powder for arms, legs, cleavage, etc...I personally like using it on my eyes, face, and body! It's possibly my favorite Gossamer aside from the gold that was included with the bareGold Kit!



Classic Rock Eyeshadow is a sparkling silver color much like the silver color that was included with the Platinum collection but it is a bit lighter so it'll be nice to use both in a look for contrasting!



The blush you'll get is called Laughter and is a peachy color which is very nice! I fail to see too much diamond sparkle in it though! It appears quite matte to me but it's still a nice color.



Nice Rock Glimmer is a sparkling chocolate brown and you can most definately see the touches of diamond powder in it! I'm eager to give this a try!



And finally you get a cute little white clutch which I'm in love with. The other two kits did not include clutches but instead sturdy boxes to store your bits in! However, I am loving the clutch as it's quite lovely!



Overall, the collection is quite nice but I'm happy I didn't pay the original price tag of $59 for it. It's a nice set but the shadows included just don't seem to match up in my eyes (silver and chocolate?!?!).

There are definately some plus posh items in the lot such as the gossamer and clutch plus the brushes but it still fails to give me that WOW that I'm looking for!

It's definately a nice gift or for yourself but don't pay $59 for it! Nab it now while 20% at Sephora is still ongoing so you can save a few bucks on the kit!

Nice but no wow factor!

The Muse likes it but felt it was missing something!

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NARS Night Series Palette First Impression

I got my Sephora Friends and Family order a few days ago and inside lay my gorgeous Night Series Palette from NARS! Oh My! This is beyond yummie my friends and well worth the money!





I had blogged about this previously and must take back any bad thought I had about it! The palette just looks boring when you view it online! It looks matte and unexciting and just not something that I must have! So really when I originally seen it pop up on Sephora I just passed over it really quickly and chalked it up as rubbish that I didn't need!

However, upon seeing it in store I fell in deep lust and it ended up on my WANT, MUST HAVE NOW list!

The palette is $55 regularly but I got it for $44 with the 20% discount. $55 may seem a bit much but if you break it down it's less than $10 per a shadow which is a pretty good deal! I must say that I prefer paying $44 for it in comparison to it's original price tag of $55 however I'd pay the regular price if I had to because the palette is most definately a high quality item in my humblest opinion.

The palette contains a favorite shadow of mine which is Night Star! I love this shadow! It's an understated gold sparkle affair that is fantastic as a base or all by itself.

The rest of the shadows I don't have but all of them are gorgeous. One of which I'm deeply in love with is the Night Snow which is a gorgeous shimmering white sparkle that's going to be absolutely perfect for many great Holiday eye looks!

Other shadows included are Night Fever which is a black with tons of red glitter, Night Clubbing which is black with gold glitter, Night Rider which is purple with silver glitter, and Night Fairy which is lilac with gold glitter!



I love the two blacks in this palette because the shimmer has totally transformed the colors from being basic black to something completely WOW!

Overall, the palette is most definately on my awesome list! I'm completely loving it and it's Muse approved for sure!



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Awake Limited Edition Stardom Holiday Collection

The Muse has a coven of little elves to help her locate exciting goodies for you! So you might want to give a special thanks to the Muse's mate and reader, Betsy, for locating this gorgeous little fine!

It appears you won't need to stalk Japanese websites or beg friends to get you Awake's Limited Edition Stardom Holiday Collection because Betsy has kindly pointed out that your local Neiman Marcus has it available for a mere $50 (Betsy also kindly pointed out you can nab it with Free Shipping by using coupon code WINTER). Have we told Betsy how much we love her for this?

Awake Limited Edition Stardom Holiday Collection as seen on Neiman Marcus


This set includes Mascara, Dimensional Eye Color in Love Light and Angel Wing, Face Powder in Champagne Glow, Lip Gloss in Fairly Pink, and Nail Varnish in Magnetic Violet Sheer and let's not forget it comes all wrapped up in a cute red awake box!

Want it?
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Go get it! Click!

Thanks again to Betsy for filling the Muse's Christmas Wish List with dreams of the Awake Holiday Set!

Bare Minerals bareGold Pure Luxury Color Collection First Impression

Today I received my Bare Minerals bareGold Luxury Color Collection in the mail and I must say I'm pretty impressed! You can view my previous blog about this collection by clicking here.

The collection wow'ed me a bit more than the Bare Esentuals Pure Platinum Collection (Bare Minerals is the same company as Bare Esentuals if you were wondering). You can see my impression of the Pure Platinum Collection by clicking here.









For starters the collection comes in a far better box than the Platinum Collection. The box is highly reusable and perfect just to keep the entire collection together. Plus it has an awesome flip up mirror which is ideal for application. Don't get me wrong the Platinum Collection had quite a nice box as well but this is just quite a deal better!

In my opinion the bareGold Collection is much more wearable for the Autumn than it will be for the winter and holiday season as the colors lean more towards browns and golds while the Pure Platinum Collection contains cooler colors that are better suited for the colder weather and the upcoming holiday season!

Like the Pure Platinum Collection the bareGold Collection comes with three brushes however the similarities end with the Full Flawless Face Brush. The other two brushes are completely different. Where as the Pure Platinum Collection comes with a crease brush and a shadow brush the bareGold Collection comes with a liner blending brush and an eye shaping brush!

I'm somewhat thankful that these came with different brushes as having duplicates is somewhat pointless!

The brushes are pretty ok quality so far that I see and no shedding as of yet! The liner blending brush is a bit pointless and I'd have prefered some sort of eyeshadow brush but I'll find a use for it I'm sure. My favorite in the lot of three brushes would be the eye shaping brush. It's pretty soft and it has a nice curve to it so I can fit it precisely into the crease of my eye quite nicely. It'll serve well as a multitasking brush for my lid and crease area.

From Bottom to Top: Flawless Face Brush, Eye Shaping Brush and Heavenly Liner Blending Brush


The collection comes with a Mineral Veil in full size which was was missing from both the Classic Rock and Pure Platinum Collections. Mineral Veil is actually one product I do approve of in the BE line of foundations products so getting a full size Veil with this set is such a nice extra!

My favorite item in the set is most definately the Gold Gossamer powder. It's shimmery and gorgeous and just perfect to use just about anywhere you want a bit of gold sparkle! Eyes, Face, Body, wherever you desire a bit of glittery gold you can apply this lovely Gossamer! This is a tiny bit more wearable than the Platinum Gossamer powder because it's such a universal color that'll work well with most all skin types!

Gold Gossamer




The glimmer this set comes with is called Golden Earth and is quite a gorgeous brown shade with golden sparkle! Upon viewing some of these colors you'll see why I believe they are better suited for the Autumn than the Winter!

Golden Earth Glimmer




Gilded Taupe glimpse is is a beige color with specks of gold and quite lovely. I've noticed that the gold infused in all these colors is much more prominent than the crushed diamond in the Platinum Collection!

Gilded Taupe




Last but most definately not least in the shadow department is the Gold Mine Liner Shadow. This can be used a liner or an eyeshadow and it's my favorite of the several eye products in this collection! It's a deep mineral brown color with tons of gold! I'm so loving this and I'm envisioning several looks I can do with it!

Gold Miner Liner Shadow




The blush in this set I find much more flattering than Posh Blush which was included with the Platinum Collection! This blush is called Riches and it's a shimmering rosy peach with quite a nice dose of gold!

Riches Blush




Finally another win for me is the lipcolor in this collection! The Platinum Collection included a muddy rose color that I'm not entirely in love with where as this collection included a brownish peach color with a bit of gold!





I'm most definately favoring this set over the Pure Platinum Collection plus it was cheaper!!!! The only thing missing from this set was a mascara and beautifully luminous lashes duo but the good news is I already have gold beautifully luminous lashes so I'm covered ;)

As with most BE collection and eye sets this comes with great instructions for application! Anything that makes makeup easy is always a plus for me! It's so nice to open a package and have some really helpful hints, tips, and general step by steps for applying what where and how! Sometimes colors can stump us all and it's difficult to firgure out just where something should be on our eye area and BE always seems to simplify that stressful part of application!

This set would make an amazing gift and like I said the price is just too sweet to pass up!

I'm eager to get my Classic Rock Collection now and see how it is and make my final decision about which could be my favorite!

Do see my original post about this collection to nab it for yourself at a very nice price! Click!

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