Ok, my all-time favorite might be dramatic, lol, but I’ve updated the “My Favorite Makeup” page on the website. If you are a regular reader, there shouldn’t be many surprises.
Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured with my own money. This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
Update July 31, 2025: I have an updated post with swatches and a review of the Chanel Ombre Essentielle formula in shades 248 Latte Frappe, 240 Brun Fauve, 252 Peche Glacee, and 224 Ble D’or Antique. If you’d like more info and to see the additional shades, click here.
Today, I’m sharing pictures featuring 2 eyeshadow shades from Chanel’s Spring Summer 2025 Limited Edition Collection. I first saw this collection online at Saks, but they are now sold out of all shades except 252 Peche Glacee, although they may still be available in stores. I purchased mine from Nordstrom for in-store pick-up when they became available on the website on Wednesday. I bought the Chanel Ombre Essentielle Eyeshadow ($40) in shades 248 Latte Frappe and 252 Peche Glacee. The other shades available are 250 Mauve Sucre and 254 Menthe A Leau. UPDATE: The collection is now available on the Chanel website.
I haven’t used these yet, so I can’t speak about the performance or quality just yet. But since it can be hard to find Chanel swatches on those close to my skin tone, I wanted to go ahead and post swatches since these are limited edition. I have a warm olive, medium-deep skin tone (sometimes medium or tan, depending on the shade range). My best foundation matches for shade reference are NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Tahoe and Estee Lauder Double Wear 4W4 Hazel. This is an occasion where keeping my undertone and depth in mind is important. These shades look pinker on me than I have seen in the YouTube videos I have come across for the collection. However, all the videos were from people with lighter skin tones and different undertones than mine.
Happy New Year! To kick off 2025, I thought a repeat of last year would be nice. So, I’ll share any updated thoughts on the products from my top 10 most-viewed blog posts of 2024. If you want to see the original post I am referencing, click on the numbered title.
But first, an update. 2025 is going to look different around here. If you are signed up for e-mails, you won’t get as many because I won’t be posting as much this year. I will be updating the website with more guides like the Concealer Ranking and Foundation Round-up so visitors to my website can easily find products by category. Currently, the Brands A-Z page is the best way to find everything I’ve posted, but for those looking for a certain product rather than a brand, this should help. If you visit those pages (concealer ranking, foundation round-up, etc.) or my Makeup Swatches page, you will see a notation of the last day it was updated. I will be available by e-mail (editor.nikkifromhr@gmail.com) and will continue to respond to comments. So, you can always reach out to me in those ways with specific questions. Thank you for your time and support. I hope my website has been helpful, and I hope any future posts, however few, will continue to help you spend your beauty budget wisely. 🙂
OK, let’s get into the top 10 most-viewed blog posts of 2024!
L to R: Revlon rum raisin, raisin rage, desert escape
Once again, this post is my number 1 most viewed for 2024 and remains my most popular post of all time. The Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick line comes in several different finishes (cream, pearl, and a separate matte line) and in many colors. I also have swatches of Make Me Blush and Extra Spicy if you want to check out those linked posts. This formula does have a lanolin ingredient (C10-30 Cholesterol/Lanosterol Esters), so keep that in mind if you are allergic to lanolin. This classic, medium pigment, fragrance-free bullet lipstick feels comfortable and moisturizing. I do still think this is a good formula, but it isn’t at the top of my list of favorites. I do appreciate the shade range, but at the drugstore, I still prefer the Maybelline Color Sensational formula more. It is scented, but for whatever reason, I am not bothered by it. I also think that L’oreal Colour Riche Lipsticks have a better formula than Revlon Super Lustrous, but I can not tolerate the fragrance of those. The Maybelline and L’oreal lipsticks also contain lanolin. The Revlon formula is thinner in texture and fragrance-free, so those points may be preferable to some.
As the title says, I reviewed Dior’s 2023 reformulation of their popular Skin Correct Concealer in this post. I mentioned in my Favorite Makeup of 2024 Post that this is no longer my go to concealer, so you may already know my updated thoughts. I still think the Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer is good and performs well for me. I just don’t like how much fragrance it has in it. I’m either nervous about it irritating my skin, so I don’t wear it, or I wear it, and I notice the smell off and on all day. While I haven’t had any adverse reaction, I’m just tired of being concerned about it. The Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear All Over Concealer is now my most used concealer.
The good: Things were off to a great start with the Revlon Colorstay Flex Wear Full Cover Concealer, and I find it to be high coverage, easy to use, and long-wearing on my 41-year-old, dry eczema-prone skin type.
The weird: After only a week of using it, I discovered that the formula for the shade Deep (060) had seemingly gone bad. I also bought the shade Medium Deep (050), and that formula is still the same as when I opened both tubes in September. I’ll talk you through the details.
Revlon Flex Wear Full Cover Concealer Medium Deep (050)
I am impressed with the coverage and performance of this concealer, and I don’t need to set it with powder for my dry skin type. It does get dry looking by the end of my day (@ 10 hours), but that is not surprising considering the matte finish and my skin type. On the upside, it never felt tight or dry. Color selection is a slight issue (for me) because the Medium Deep (050) is too light, and the Deep (060) is too dark. Latte (055) falls between the two shades but has a cool undertone, so I can’t make that work. Deep (060) was passable by itself in September when I still had my summer tan, but it was still a little dark even then. It is not abnormal for me (Estee Lauder 4W4/NARS Tahoe) to mix shades, and I often buy two. So I can tolerate the need to mix Medium Deep and Deep.
The Sephora Collection Luminizers come in 6 different shades and retail for $14, but the Sephora Collection often goes on sale for 30% off, making these $9.80 during those sales. These sales are only open to Sephota Beauty Insiders, but joining is free. The two shades that I have are 01 Glitzy Gold and 02 Sparkling Honey. Before we jump into the review, I want to warn you that the images of these highlighters on Sephora’s website are inaccurate. It took me many tries to find the best lighting to get my pictures to match what I see in person. Even then, my images do not match what I see on the Sephora website. That is not uncommon, but I feel like these are more off than usual, so I wanted to mention it. It is also important to remember that we all see color differently and that our skin tone and other colors within an image can alter how shades appear.
Covergirl Sweet Seduction Blush, Maybelline Mauve for Me Lipstick, and Dior Addict Shine Lipstick 716 Dior Cannage
Today, I wanted to revisit some makeup products that have been on the market for a while. These are products that I don’t always have an occasion to talk about, but I still use them. For two of them, the formula stands out to me; for the other, it is the color that has me continuing to use it. So let’s talk about and see some pictures of the Covergirl Trublend So Flushed High Pigment Blush in Sweet Seduction ($8.98 @ Walmart), the Maybelline Made For All Color Sensational Lipstick in Mauve For Me ($5.64 @ Walmart), and the Dior Addict Shine Lipstick in 716 Dior Cannage ($46 @ Sephora). For shade reference, my best foundation matches are Estee Lauder 4W4 Hazel and NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Tahoe.
Also, if you like hearing about makeup that has been on the market for a long time, here are other “What’s Old at X” types of posts that I’ve done.
The Lip Favorites Set Created for Macy’s retails for $25 and features 1 full-sized and 4 mini-sized lip balm and lip oil products. The set came with a $5 coupon for any future $20+ beauty purchase at Macy’s. Unfortunately, this set is sold out, but since all of its products are permanent, I figured I’d go ahead and talk about what I liked and didn’t like from the set. For reference, I have dry lips that prefer lanolin-based lip products. However, none of the featured products have any lanolin or lanolin derivatives.
This set features the Clarins Lip Comfort Oil Pitaya, Clinique Almost Lipstick Black Honey, Lancome Lip Idole Butterglow Keep It Glowy, Tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Balm Rose, and Wander Beauty Lip Retreat Oil Oasis Glow (full-size). I will list the prices and sizes of the full-sized products so you’ll know the retail price and the amount of product you’d usually get.
The Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Pressed Powder in Translucent Tan ($54, 10.5g) is a sheer, vegan, cruelty-free, talc-free powder, and it partially lives up to the brand’s claims. I had difficulty finding reviews of this powder that went into much detail. It seemed that people either loved or hated it, but I couldn’t find much information about why. At this point, I’ve been using this powder for over 3 months, and I think it is ok. I’ve tested it during both summer high temperatures and, more recently, when it has been in the 20s at times. First, some background about me for context: I’m 42 and have dry, eczema-prone skin. My best foundation matches are Estee Lauder Double Wear in 4W4 Hazel and NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in Tahoe. The TL;DR is that the formula is fine, controls shine well, and works well for touch-ups, but other powders perform better for me for less money. Now, let’s get into the details. 🙂
Nikki From HR 