Marc Jacobs Beauty Lolita Eye Palette

All through the holidays and for a large part of January, I’ve been wearing Marc Jacobs Beauty’s “Lolita” Eye Palette. I have loads of neutral shadows but this one packs that “little something extra.” For $59 (available at Sephora) you get seven highly pigmented shadows including three mattes, one very glittery shade and three shimmers. It’s a well rounded palette and the quality of each shade is good to excellent. See below for swatches and looks.

Shades #1 and #2

Swatches shades #1 and #2

Shades #3 and #4

Swatches Shades #3 and #4

Shades #5,  #6 and #7

Swatches of shades #5, #6 and #7

Shades 1, 2 and 3 are lovely, pigmented cream, nude brown and coffee brown matte shades that are the foundation of many of the looks I have created with this palette. Shade #4 is an extremely glittery pinkish shade that exhibits major fall out (see the loose glitter all over the palette? yeah…now you know where it came from!) unless it is applied on a brush misted with one of those “setting sprays” that are so popular (Urban Decay makes several good ones as does Kat Von D, Mac, Skindinavia, NYX and others). I like this one for either a “fun” daytime look or added to the middle lid of a darker eye look for evening. This definitely should not go above the crease! Shade #5 is a light peachy pink shimmer which I like for the inner half of the eye or the tear duct area (to brighten things up). Shades #6 and #7 are a light peachy shimmer and a light bronzy shimmer. I like these as lid colors with mattes in the crease. See below for three different looks from this palette.

This first look is one I’ve worn a lot! It consists of the nude brown from the lash line and into the crease with the dark matte brown in the outer crease and slightly above the crease. Then I took the nude brown and blended above the crease and finished up with the cream under the eyebrow.

This second look was the result of playing around one day with my Hourglass powder (I temporarily lost my favorite NARS setting powder). I used the light peachy shimmer shade on the lid and the nude brown in the crease. On the tear duct area, I used the shimmery light peach (shade #5) and then the cream under the brow.

The third look is a glitter bomb but I actually loved it! First, I wet my brush with my Urban Decay “All Nighter” Setting Spray , dipped the brush into shade #4 (the light pink glitter) and then patted the shadow all over my lid. Then I took the nude brown to the crease and blended up towards the eyebrow. Cream shadow went right under the arch of my brow. Finally, I reapplied some more of the glitter shadow (with a wet brush) just to the middle of the lid. Pretty!!!

There are so many more combinations that one could wear with The Lolita palette. If you’re looking for a special eyeshadow splurge, I can heartily recommend this one as it does have a little bit of everything!

Have you tried The Lolita? Would love to hear what you think of it!!

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

Go Mad for Mattes!

I’ve long been a fan of matte eyeshadows, particularly for women of a certain age (mine). When I was younger, I used mattes to blend my eye looks so that there were no harsh edges. I still do that but now also find that they are especially useful when applying color to my crease and the dreaded “hood” that I’ve developed over the years. While the look of the ‘80s (big hair, frosty, unblended eye shadow) doesn’t really work with my fine lines, I can still pull off a mean smoky eye as long as I use mattes. That’s where Sonia Kashuk’s Eye on Neutral Matte Shadow Palette comes in! This lovely, reasonably priced palette contains twelve beautiful and neutral matte shades that let’s me blend to my heart’s delight! Read on for more!

For the past month and a half, I’ve enjoyed creating all kinds of great looks going from day to evening. Let’s start with the swatches.

The first (top) row contains the three lightest shades: a bone, a slightly yellow color and then a very light peach. The bone shows up very well on my hand but the yellow and peach are much closer to my skin tone and do not show as well. In the picture above, the second shades are right above the reflective area (I think that was some shine back from something else I had on my skin as both of these colors are actually very matte). Depending on the look I’m going for, I’ve used each of these as both base colors for the lid as well as highlight colors.

The next three colors work well (for me) as lid colors. They include a peachy light terracotta, a coral and a light but warm brown. I also use the light brown in a “no makeup look” as a crease color. It’s nice in that it can lightly define the crease for a subtle look.

Row three contains the most beautiful, creamy matte browns. There’s a warm red-brown, a neutral darker brown and a neutral very dark brown. Any of these make wonderful crease or “outer V” colors. As a liner, the darkest brown looks lovely.

Finally, the lower row features a cool-ish brown that almost looks like it has a hint of purple, a medium gray and a very pigmented black. These three colors can really turn your eye shadow look on its edge and jazz things up.



Eye on Neutrals contains twelve amazingly pigmented shadows for only $19.99 and is available at Target. It is, without a doubt, the best drugstore palette I’ve ever used! If you’re looking for a great collection of neutrals whose quality rivals the best high end palettes, look no further than Sonia Kashuk!

Ages of Beauty rating: *****

Product Review: Sonia Kashuk Monochrome Eye Quad in Textured Rose

I’ve been a fan of Sonia Kashuk’s brushes for years but had not tried her makeup line until recently. My first purchase was the Monochrome Eye Quad in Textured Rose. I mentioned my use of this eyeshadow in my “Rose Gold and a Tan” post here. This product promises soft, blendable eye shadows in matte, subtle shimmer, metallic sheen and sparkle shades. I was very curious and anxious to try it out!

Velvet Matte---upper left pan

Subtle Shimmer –upper right pan

Metallic Sheen---lower left pan

Sparkle---lower right pan

I found each color to be very soft with mostly a lighter pigment. Each shade was fairly blendable with the most being the matte shade and the least being the sparkle shade (but all were acceptable). Despite what looks large chunks of glitter in the picture above, the sparkle shade was very wearable, particularly in the tear duct and inner eyelid areas, which is great for women our age. Even the “metallic” wasn’t so obnoxious to render it un useable. In fact, it was probably my favorite finish in the quad. Although it’s difficult to build any kind of real intensity with this quad, Textured Rose is a great option, on it’s own, for a subtle summertime look. During the cooler seasons, it will be a great compliment to more pigmented, darker shades.

Velvet Matte, Subtle Shimmer, Metallic, Sparkle

As far as wear time is concerned, I had no creasing after eight hours but minor fading after four (I have moderately oily eyelids and shadows tend to crease easily on me without a primer).

Velvet Matte on lids, Metalllic in crease and Sparkle in tear duct area

Overall, I do like this eye quad for a subtle, sheer look. In fact, I am probably going to purchase at least one of the other three colors to try out as well!

Sonia Kashuk’s Monochrome eye Quad can be found at Target for $13.69. It is also available in colors Textured Cocoa, Textured Mauve and Textured Taupe.

Have you tried this product? What do you think?

Ages of Beauty rating: ***

Sneak Peak

I’ve been busy doing research on skin care along with my normal search for new products to love. Here are a few shots of products that I’m testing right now. I’ll report back over the next few weeks on which ones I love (and don’t love so much!).

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair Moisturizer; Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 “1970”; Vichy Aqualia Thermal Serum

Julep Glycolic Hand Scrub; Hampton Sun Continuous Mist Hydrating Aloe

Smashbox CC Cream; Chanel Soleil Tan; Becca Luminous Skin Color Ultra Sheer Foundation

The Balm and Tarte Blushes

Jergens Natural Glow Firming Daily Moisturizer

The Balm Schwing Eyeliner and What’s Your Type Mascara; Sonia Kashuk Eyeshadow Quad

Maybelline Studio Quad; L’Oreal Eyeshadow; Blinc Mascara

NYX Lipgloss; elf Pout Perfector; Nars Chubby Pencil

Ulta Fragrance Mist

Stay tuned!

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Sparkle Eye Shadow in Lilac

Okay, I have to admit, I was scared to death when I first purchased Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eye Shadow in Lilac. Not being a fan of glitter on anyone, nor am I in favor of sparkle eye makeup for women over thirty, this one was not an easy pick for me. But I decided to take a walk on the wild side and try this one out. 

Click below for my thoughts.

Product Review: Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows

I may be late to the game but I just had to write about my love for the Maybelline  Eyestudio Color Tattoo 24 HR Cream Gel Shadow. While I don't recommend wearing any eye shadow for 24 hours, there is so much to love about this product that you just have to try it!

You NEED this product and I'm going to tell you why! 

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Eye Palette

Ever since I first saw the ads for Bobbi Brown's Lilac Rose Collection, I knew I had to get the eyeshadow palette! It finally arrived and I've been testing it since late last week. Did it live up to my expectations? Click below to find out!

Face of the Day: Drugstore Brands

I've been working for the last few days to get back on track after being away for over a week. Today was the first day that I actually took the time to put on makeup so I thought it would be a good time to do a Face of the Day (FOTD) post. 

Every item I used today is from the drugstore. Just about every item I used has not been reviewed yet so you can look forward for more reviews of some quality drugstore products. Click below to see what makes up this look!

Face of the Day: A Simple, Chic look

I'm a big fan of Lisa Eldridge, a famous celebrity makeup artist from the UK. Not too long ago, she did a You Tube tutorial on a makeup look she called "Flawless and Chic," available here.

It's a look that can be worn during the day or for an evening out and I've worn it many times. Click below to get the details and the products I used.

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Sticks

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago (here), Bobbi Brown launched her new Long-Wear Cream Shadow Sticks. I purchase two of them (one is a color that Katie is wearing in the picture above) and tried them out. Do they pack the punch that Bobbi's cream shadow pots provide? Click below to find out!!!

Bobbi Brown launches their NEW Long-Wear Cream Shadow Sticks!

Katie Holmes is Bobbi Brown Cosmetics new celebrity spokesperson and she's looking better than ever! 

The new Long-Wear Cream Shadow Sticks promise a lasting formula that can be used to shade, line and highlight the eyes. These should be great on their own or under powder shadow. If they're anywhere close to the quality of Bobbi's cream shadows in the pots, they are sure to be amazing!

Colors available include:

• Vanilla
• Golden Pink
• Sand Dune
• Iced Blue
• Forest
• Shadow
• Bark
• Violet Plum

   I don't have them yet but will in a few days so I will be sure to let you know how they work out. They are $28 at Nordstrom.com but will be available at the counters in February.

   See additional pictures after the jump!