I was shocked to find out Dior reformulated the Forever Skin Correct Concealer. With all the love this concealer gets, I wonder if they started the reformulation before it gained traction. Regardless of the reason the update is now on the market with a formula made up of 96% natural-origin ingredients. Now that claim doesn’t mean a whole lot to me, but for those of us with sensitive skin, the downside to this new formula is that it does have added fragrance. I avoid products with added fragrance as a rule, but my curiosity won out and I decided to check out the new formula in store. The fragrance seemed subtle enough for me to tolerate, so I decided to buy it and test it out.
Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer 4WO (old on the left, new on the right)
If you’ve seen my review of the original formula, as long as you keep the added fragrance in mind, then you pretty much know all you need to know about the new formula. Honestly, you guys, I don’t know how they managed it, but this formula is nearly identical to the original. For a point of reference, I have dry, sensitive, eczema-prone skin. Now let’s get into some detail on what I feel is better about the new Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer.
NARS Orgasm Rising Eyeshadow Palette, Orgasm Four Play Blush Quad, and Orgasm Rush Multiple
If you know NARS then you are not surprised that they have released yet another Orgasm Collection. However, if you are new to the brand, let me welcome you to business as usual for NARS. Clearly, this works for them or they wouldn’t continue to do it. Every brand has its claim to fame and the Orgasm powder blush (and every variation on it that they can come up with) is NARS’ golden goose.
With this Spring 2023 collection, NARS has ditched the matte black packaging in favor of shiny pale pink. The packaging doesn’t feel as luxe as the matte black in my opinion, but it is nice. It isn’t super lightweight (so it doesn’t feel cheap) but it doesn’t have much heft to it either. I think the packaging looks nice, but it’s not a show-stopper.
I always stay tuned in to the NARS new releases and their collections are always exciting for me (even with the repetition lol). As you’ll be able to tell from my images, these pictures were taken in Ulta. I think this is a nice collection and I wasn’t disappointed with anything in terms of quality, the options were just too similar to things I already own and love. Even though I decided not to make a purchase, I thought it’d still be fun to share some swatches with you. Enjoy!
Happy New Year! I thought it would be fun to kick this year off with what I want to see some of my favorite brands do this year. I think it will be fun to look back at the end of the year and see if anything I am hoping for actually happens. For some context on my background, I have a long history in retail both as a cashier and as a store manager; I’ve operated my own small business selling makeup bags and brush rolls; and I’m an experienced government buyer (sometimes called a contract specialist or purchasing agent). So while I’ve never worked for a beauty brand, I do have a strong understanding of retail, logistics, and supply chain operations. My point in telling you this is that I’m considering not just the consumer perspective, but I’m also attempting to consider what may be happening behind the scenes of these brands.
1. I’d Like To See Smashbox Release Powder Blush and Bronzer in Single Compacts
Smashbox Medium-Dark Cali Contour Palette
Smashbox has no problem formulating blushes and bronzers, they just always typically appear in palettes. I personally like single products over palettes although I know that palettes give the brand a larger profit margin. They did come out with a liquid blush (Halo Cream Cheek + Lip Tint) in 2022 that is available as a single product, but they didn’t get much attention. The reviews for the Halo Cream Cheek Tint seem mixed, so the brand could still use a reliable blush in its lineup. They could maybe even resurrect the luminous blushes and sunlit bronzer from the now-defunct Becca. The Smashbox x Becca branded highlighter and corrector have remained bestsellers in their categories at Ulta and Sephora and have become bestsellers for Smashbox on their own website. Since that seems to be working out so far, why not take it further? The wish for the sunlit bronzer to make an appearance from another brand is partly selfish, it is one of my favorite products. However, I stand by my thought that it would be a good product for the brand to release.
Smashbox still relies heavily on its face primers and from what I can see, promoting those is where they spend most of the marketing budget. But I think if they took even a small slice of that budget and focused it on creating and promoting some single-color cosmetics, it could be a good move for them. I think that many consumers still like the idea of brand loyalty. I’m specifically thinking of the type of consumers who don’t read beauty blogs and hang out on beauty forums. Expanding the product line to have these types of basics could help foster that feeling in the less adventurous consumer who makes up a significant portion of beauty sales. Then even if people come to them for the primer, they may stay and buy more from the brand.
2. I’d Like To See MAC Revitalize The Sheertone Shimmer Blush Formula
Even with the huge emphasis on glowy skin, there are tons of makeup consumers that don’t want to use cream products (like me 😂). It is past time to capitalize on that market and give people an easy to use blush with a glow. MAC does still sell 3 Sheertone Shimmers, but that isn’t nearly enough. I do have a swatch of the shade Peachtwist. You can see below how it compares in finish to burnt pepper (matte finish) and breath of plum (sheertone finish). Ambering Rose and Sweet as Cocoa were cult classic sheertone shimmers (especially for women of color) that unfortunately, MAC has discontinued. If the brand has no plans to bring back some of those fan favorites, they could at least release some new more modern shades. MAC’s blush line used to be much more extensive and I’d love to see it return to its previous more vast range.
L to R: MAC Burnt Pepper, Peachtwist, and breath of plum
MAC does have the baked mineralize blush finish (see swatches here), with some of those shades being the closest they currently have to a powder blush with a glowy finish. But that formula is also limited in number and some of the shades have a matte finish. The shades that do have a sheen like love joy and love thing don’t provide as much glow as some may be looking for these days.
MAC does still formulate and release new blush shades, however, they are always grouped into a limited edition collection. The limited edition shades have also been typically either matte or the Glow Play formula. Consumers are loving the Glow Play formula, so they can play off that popularity and release a powder version of them. They could call it Glow Play Velvet and they could either tweak the existing formula into a baked version or use their existing baked formula (Mineralize Blush) as a jumping off point. Since those formulas are already available and the packaging already exists, they don’t have to start from scratch. I’d also love to see an expansion to the existing Glow Play formula, but I feel like I’ve talked about that a ton in the past year already lol. I have two posts featuring the shades Groovy, Heat Index, and Rosy Does It if you want to know more about them.
3. I’d Like To See More Mini Size Foundation and Concealers Being Offered
As someone who regularly falls between shades, it would be nice to see more mini sizes being offered so I could save some money when I need to buy two shades. This is something that is happening more often but I’d like to see it from even more brands. It’d also be nice if the mini came in all the same shades as the full size, which doesn’t always happen. There are some brands that only pick select shades to make in mini sizes, which leaves a lot of people that can’t take advantage of the minis. The two items I featured above, bareMinerals Tinted Moisturizer and NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, have both sizes available in every shade which I appreciate. And again, this is something that is becoming more common, but I’d like to see mini sizes of some of the top-selling foundations like MAC Studio Fix Fluid, Estee Lauder Double Wear, NARS Natural Radiant Longwear, Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation plus Concealer, and the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24HR Foundations. It’d be nice to see mini sizes for the Too Faced Born This Way, Rare Beauty Liquid Touch, ABH Magic Touch, and MAC Pro Longwear concealers.
I hope you enjoyed the holidays. It has been busy and a little crazy moving so close to Christmas, but I’ve survived so far 😅. We stopped on the way to our new home to enjoy the holiday with family and that has been a welcome break.
So anyway, I wanted to share some of the best products that I tested this year. These items aren’t favorites of mine but I can still appreciate them for how well they perform. For more stand-out products, check out my recent post on the Most Surprising Products of 2022. Let’s get into it.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Dreams Quad, $53
Pillow Talk Dreams Luxury Palette
The Pillow Talk Dreams Luxury Palette is a great option for anyone who likes to keep things simple especially if you have a medium to dark skin tone. Those with lighter skin tones can still use this quad, however, all of the shades being mid-tones and darker keep it from offering as much versatility. That is just my opinion, of course, so don’t let me discourage you if you feel that I’m off base with that assessment.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Dreams Quad
All of the shades are nicely pigmented and although the shimmers offer a nice amount of shine, they are forgiving to eyelid texture. One thing that may be important for some of you is that the mattes in this quad do darken when they are applied over anything that may still be wet. If you want to see how dark they get, check out my full review post by clicking here. So if you use a cream base or concealer, the matte shades will look darker. You can also check out that same review if you want more details on this quad.
Smashbox Halo Tinted Moisturizer, $41
When I wear the Smashbox Halo Tinted Moisturizer I feel like I’m having a good skin day. Even on my driest days, it makes my skin feel moisturized and it wears comfortably all day. One caveat is that it isn’t as forgiving to eczema texture as something like the MAC Face and Body is, but honestly, that is a lot to ask of a product. It’s a dewy finish that can benefit from a little powder if you don’t like a tacky feeling on your skin.
When you are learning about makeup and how to apply it to yourself, you inevitably end up mimicking other people’s styles and techniques. However, once you get the basics down and begin to experiment with the “rules” in order to come up with your own style, there are some things you end up dropping. That’s what I wanted to talk with you about today. I have realized that these techniques don’t suit my personal style, don’t suit my skin type or face shape, or take more time than I’m willing to spend doing my makeup.
The only exception to this one is when I am testing a new eyeshadow product. It is important to know how shadows layer, blend and build when I’m reviewing a product for this blog but not as much for personal use. I have found that eyeshadow is most flattering on me when I only use 1 or 2 shades. I feel like I look my best in one-and-done eyeshadow looks, but occasionally I’ll use a blending shade to blend out the edges. My rationale for this is my slightly hooded eyelids. Taking one color from the lash line and blending it out makes it appear as though I have more lid space than I actually do. It makes my eyes look brighter and that’s ultimately what I’m going for. If I’m not careful, deepening the outer-v can start to make my hood look heavier than it is. And on a day-to-day basis, I don’t want to have to be careful, I prefer to get my eyes done quickly and get going. I even started limiting how many dark eyeshadow shades I purchase because they just don’t get enough use from me.
This mostly has to do with the application, I just can’t be bothered to take the time to do eyeliner 😂. My eyelids have a natural puffiness to them right at the base of my lashes, so it makes lining incredibly difficult. There are some products I’ve been able to work with like the MAC Technakohl Liner, Stila Smudge Stick, and the L’oreal Laquer Liner, but it still doesn’t feel worth the time to me. I find that wearing mascara gives me enough lash line definition to be happy and it’s easier for me to work with.
A lot of people I see do their makeup on YouTube applying foundation first and then under-eye concealer. I’m the opposite and now exclusively apply my under-eye concealer first. I always get a better blend and if the concealer is slightly too light, adding the foundation second keeps me from looking like I have raccoon eyes.
I love the finish of using a beauty blender, but I feel like it dries my face out. As someone with dry skin, I can not afford to do anything drying if I can help it. I also prefer the experience of using brushes over sponges.
If I am wearing a matte foundation I skip powder altogether, but there are some foundations that need setting because they feel tacky on my skin. But instead of setting my entire face I just set the areas where I’m going to apply bronzer and blush. This keeps my driest areas from looking too dry and textured.
There is nothing groundbreaking or special about not doing these techniques, I just thought I’d share in case you needed a push to stop doing something that may be annoying you.
Are there any techniques that you’re using because you’re “supposed to” and not because you like them? Let’s talk about it in the comments section below.
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bareMinerals Bare Pro 16HR Powder Foundation in Medium 35 Warm
Armani Lip Power Long Lasting Satin Lipstick in 400
Even when products don’t work for me initially, I do my best to test them in different ways to find a way to use them. Unfortunately, these are some products that I could never get to work. Labeling these as the worst makeup products of 2022 doesn’t mean that they won’t work for anyone else, but for me, there are several other products with better performance that I would recommend over them.
ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr Turn Up The Base Buttersilk Concealer, $25
The ONE/SIZE Turn Up The Base Buttersilk Concealer was so bad for me that I returned it. I don’t think it is a bad product, but it did not work for me at all. This formula dries down quickly, but not so quick that it is hard to work with. Since it is matte I was hoping that I could wear it without powder, but unfortunately, I got creasing. Creasing is a typical issue for me so that definitely doesn’t mean it will crease on everyone. Setting it with powder did help the creasing, but it was already so dry looking on its own that the powder only made it look worse. Obviously, that makes sense, but since I was trying it out anyway, I tried it with powder just to see how it went. In addition to how dry it looked, it also felt uncomfortably dry as I wore it.
I also couldn’t find a good shade match. I only have one shade to show you a swatch of but I did try 2 different shades. Medium Dark 4 (GO) was better for me for my under eye area but I sometimes need something a little darker for spot concealing. Shade Medium Dark 3 (G) didn’t work well for me and all the other options were too dark or had an even worse undertone.
This is a matte, full-coverage concealer, so if you know my skin concerns (dry, sensitive, eczema-prone) you may be wondering why I even tried it out. Well, the Sephora product information does claim that this can work for dry skin and I also watched several reviews from other people with dry skin that love this formula. So it just doesn’t work for me personally. I would recommend the Pat McGrath Sublime Perfection Concealer and the Too Faced Born This Way Super Coverage Multi-Use Longwear Concealer over the ONE/SIZE concealer. The Pat Mcgrath is the most similar with its full coverage and matte finish. The Too Faced concealer has better coverage than both the Pat McGrath and One Size but it has a natural/satin finish. For swatches and more details on Pat McGrath and Too Faced concealers, I have a post that you can check out by clicking here.
As I started to put together my 2022 favorites list, it started to look like the If I could Keep Only One Tag Post that I posted back in May. Since I often reference my favorite products and formulas throughout my reviews and sales suggestions, I thought it’d be more helpful to shine a light on some different products. So, instead of favorites, I want to talk about 4 products that surprised me (in a good way) this year. These products just don’t quite hit the mark to be my favorite, but they are still great products that are worth checking out.
Despite blogging for 9 years (I published my first blog post in October 2013 😲), I’m one of those people who still get excited to try new formulas. I can appreciate that, for instance, all blushes give you a flush of color, and I am still curious to know how the formula and color differ from one another. I go into most reviews expecting products to work just fine. There aren’t many products that are truly bad these days. So when something impresses me and moves beyond that “just fine” feeling, it can be especially exciting for me since I have tried so much makeup over the years.
Oh, and I realize that many new WordPress and email subscribers may not be familiar with my preferences as well as some of you, so I’ve created a page that lists my favorite products along with any corresponding blog posts. You can check out that page by clicking here.
Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder, $46
Hourglass Veil Translucent Loose Setting Powder
Despite hearing rave reviews about this powder, I couldn’t find much information on how it works for individuals with both dry and dark skin. Based on the claims, the powder is supposed to work for all skin tones and have a natural finish. So, in theory, there should have been no issue, but I was still skeptical, so I went to Sephora to check it out in person. As you can see, it impressed me enough in the store to go ahead and purchase it. I don’t typically like loose powders unless they come in mesh screen packaging, which most people dislike, but I thought this sifter-style packaging looked like it wouldn’t be too messy. I still prefer the mesh style, but this isn’t too bad. Since I only need a little bit of powder, it dispenses way more product than I need for one use, so I haven’t had any issues. If you pack on powder or have oilier skin, I can see how this style of sifter may not give you enough product.
There is no white cast on my Estee Lauder 4W4/NARS Tahoe skin tone, and there is no flashback in photos. My skin doesn’t feel dry or tight when I use this, and it works well for both my face and my under-eye area. I like it better on the face because I feel like my NARS Light Reflecting Powder does a better job of setting my under-eye area. I am, however, impressed that this is one of only two powders I’ve ever tried that minimizes the movement of foundation and concealer under the nose pads of my glasses. The other powder is the Morphe Cloudlight Soft Glow Veil Powder.
Now, you guys know how much I love MAC, but I can admit that the brand has missed the mark with this eyeshadow formula. They really should have spent more time refining it before putting it on the market. The worst part to me is that they are still using this formula in palettes, so they seem to be running with it. There do tend to be inconsistencies in other finishes (from other brands as well, not just MAC), but given that there are only 10 Dazzleshadow Extreme shades, they really should perform more similarly to each other than they do. The shades that I have tried are Objet D’ Art, Couture Copper, Joie De Glitz, Celebutante, and Incinerated, and between these 5 shades, they feel like 3 (maybe 4) different formulas.
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Update October 2, 2025: Today, MAC released a new **Dazzle Collection, which rebranded the Dazzleshadow Extreme formula. The new ones are labeled “Eye Shadow [Metallic]” and some of the old Dazzleshadow shades are there, but the formula is different. The new formula doesn’t have talc in the ingredient list.
L to R: Objet D’ Art, Couture Copper, Joie De Glitz, Celebutante, Incinerated
Objet D’ Art and Joie De Glitz perform the same in that they have a gritty texture with noticeable sparkle and a good amount of fallout. If you are someone that doesn’t mind doing your eyes first or cleaning up fallout, I actually would recommend these two. I’m not sure how anyone at MAC felt right describing Celebutante as extreme. It has a very soft finish, it looks much shinier in a swatch than it does on my eyes. I would say it is satin at best, there is nothing metallic or extreme going on in my experience. If you like a more subtle eyeshadow, I do think this one performs nicely and I had no issues with fallout. It just doesn’t deliver what it should since it is grouped under the dazzleshadow extreme finish. I did purchase Celebutant from the Cosmetics Company Outlet, so I guess it is possible that it was part of a bad batch that got sent to the outlet as overstock.
Couture Copper is smoother than Objet D’ Art and Joie De Glitz and doesn’t have a noticeable sparkle to it but does have more shine than the typical MAC finish you may be used to. It is also more finicky to apply than Objet D’ Art and Joie De Glitz, applying best with fingers. I still like and use Couture Copper, but there are better more user-friendly shadows. The reason I said there are “maybe 4” formulas is that while I think that the formula of incinerated is most similar to Couture Copper, it has a thicker texture that makes it the hardest of all shades to work with. Hopefully, there isn’t much more variation in the formula of the other 5 shades in this line, but at this point, I wouldn’t be shocked.
Have you tried this formula? What do you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below.
Nikki From HR 