NOTD - ORLY: Royal Velvet

At first glance Orly's Royal Velvet is a shimmery dark purple polish. Take a second look and its now a very intense dark blue velvet color. That is the effect of duochrome polishes; they change colors in different lighting almost as if the nailpolish was a mood ring for the nails.

Orly's Royal Velvet polish is from Orly's Spring 2011 collection and I found it at Sally's in the clearance section for about $3.00. Considering Orly polishes retail for around $8.00, I would consider this to be a great savings.

MAC: Naturally Collection - FOTD & Haul / Shop Spree

MAC Naturally collection arrived at MAC counters in the US on January 5th, and is still available at your local MAC counter and on the MAC website.

I first saw promo pics of this collection back in December and I knew right away that I wanted the Subtle Breeze blush. From the promo pics the blush looked really pigmented and it seemed well suited for those of us who have pinkier skin tones. It was definitely a beautiful bright pink color and in my book, a definite "MUST HAVE" item for your blush collection. Now I wasn't to crazy about the mineralized eyeshadows because the majority of them looked as though they contained a fair amount of chunky glitter; which I hate with a passion. However, when I checked them out at my local MAC counter, I found one mineralized eyeshadow, Daylight, to be the exception. It didn't contain big chunks of glitter, and the presence of the slight veining was so miniscule that it was practically nonexistent. Also, when I swatched it, I immediately fell in love with the slightly purple, almost lavender color of the mineralized eyeshadow. Then there were the two mineralized skinfinish products, one of which I had missed out on previously, which both were re-promotes from a previous MAC collection. So I bought the Redhead Mineralize Skinfinish.

Anyway, one thing I have learned when it comes to the release of new MAC collections, is that its best to purchase your "MUST HAVE" items or the more popular products, on the day of the launch. Otherwise you risk missing out on getting them.  

 
The MAC Naturally collection consists of the following products:

Lipsticks ($14.50 US)

A Perfect Day - Pale natural pink
Beach Sand - Light tan
Sweet Sunrise - Light neutral peach-pink
Pillow Talk - Neutral pink

Lipglass ($14.50 US)

The Wee Coquette - Naked neutral pink
Fresh Air - Light pink
Naked Space - Creamy mid-tone nude peach
Hot Spell - Bronze with multicolored pearl

Mineralized Eyeshadow ($20.00 US)

Daylight - Pinkish peach with a subtle purple veining
In the Sun - Gold with violet veining
Summer Haze - Palest gold with deeper gold veining
Cloudy Afternoon - Cream with gold, grey, and pink veining
Twilight Falls - Cool brown with bronze veining

Eye Pencil ($14.00 US)

Ebony - Soft black
Coffee - Muted Espresso brown

Mineralized Skinfinish ($28.00 US)

Redhead - Gold to salmon pink degrade
Blonde - Soft pink to rose degrade

Mineralized Blush ($22.00 US)

Subtle Breeze - Blue-pink
Fresh Honey - Warm apricot
Early Morning - Peachy coral pink

I believe there are two brushes that are available with this collection as well. Just go to the MAC Cosmetics website, to check everything out.

Here is a look I created using Daylight for the eyeshadow, Redhead as a highlight, and for the blush I used Subtle Breeze.

BOBBI BROWN: Rose Gold Shimmer Brick Compact

With the Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Rose Gold Shimmer Brick it is all about the shimmer and none of the glitter which unfortunately, is so prevalent in many highlight powders now days. The Rose Gold Shimmer Brick gives a beautiful, healthy all-over glow that radiates warmth and thoughts of the upcoming Spring and Summer months.

I have been asked by several people how does the Rose Gold Shimmer Brick compact compare to the Pink Quartz Shimmer Brick that is from the Bobbi Brown permanent line, and I have to honestly say it doesn’t. The reason is the Rose Gold is just like its name. A range of pinks, yellows, peach-y corals and gold colors blended together in varying intensities, whereas the Pink Quartz features more of the pinks and pinkish-browns. I believe the Rose Gold Shimmer Brick will actually appeal to even more people due to its wider color range and you’ll be hard pressed to find any glitter here, which is a welcome change.

In my opinion, when I look at the compact or the swatches, the first color strip from the top looks like a frosty pink with a hint of yellow luminosity, the second strip a yellow gold, the third strip a pinkish-peach gold (almost a rose gold), the fourth strip a golden peach, and the fifth strip reminds me of a coral peach-y color. Keeping that in mind, when trying to photograph the Rose Gold Shimmer Brick I found significant color variations and intensities so I took multiple photographs in different light settings to try and capture these differences.

I will try and post a review and swatches for the other Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Shimmer Brick in Wild Rose which is from the Rose Gold collection (read more about the entire collection here) within the next few days.