Category: Beauty

I have a few new things and one product that is new to me, and I wanted to share some swatches and my thoughts on it all. I’ve also updated some older posts with new information. I’ll leave a list of those at the end.

Let’s start with the new limited edition Summer 2025 Eye Color Quad in Bronze Isle from Tom Ford.

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**Tom Ford Soleil Eye Color Quad Bronze Isle – $100

I said I wasn’t going to become a regular at the Tom Ford counter, but here we are 🤦🏽‍♀️. The quality is very nice. The texture of the eye shadows in the Bronze Isle Quad is smooth and blends easily. The quad comes with two mattes and two shimmers, and while there isn’t a lot of versatility, I do think all four shades are useful, with a slight problem for my skin tone that I’ll mention in a bit. I haven’t had trouble with creasing, which was a relief after my experience with the creme formula from the Tom Ford Olive Smoke Quad. I typically use the brand’s wet/dry formula, so this traditional powder formula is new for me. Back in maybe 2012 or 2013, I tried the formula, and it irritated my eyes. My hope with buying the Bronze Isle Quad was that it had been long enough for the brand to have changed the formula. So far, so good.

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Make Up For Ever (MUFE) keeps the claims simple with the **Artist Blush and **Artist Highlighter lines. They are promising a buildable, blendable formula that melts into the skin. I mostly agree, with the slight caveat that you should go in lightly and not overload your brush. If you are heavy-handed or have a lighter skin tone than mine (NARS Tahoe/Estee Lauder 4W4), you might find this formula to be less buildable. I would recommend using a fluffy or sparsely packed brush to control the pigment more easily. I haven’t had any issues with longevity or fading throughout wear (usually about 10 hours) with the blush or the highlight.

Before we get into swatches, I want to call out the size of this product. Both the Artist Blush and Highlighter that I purchased at Sephora @ Kohl’s were $32 and list .14oz/4g on the packaging. However, Sephora, Sephora @ Kohl’s, and Make Up For Ever’s websites all list .17oz/5g. I’m unsure if the size varies by shade, but I wanted to point out the discrepancy.

The Pat McGrath Mothership XII Petalmorphosis Eyeshadow Palette ($128) is the first Mothership Palette I’ve purchased from the brand. If you are familiar with my preferences, you may know that I prefer singles, quads, and smaller palettes. I still get tempted by palettes, but with how expensive the Motherships are, I really wanted to be happy with all of the shades in the palette to get my value out of the purchase. Huetopian Dream and Sunlit Seduction were close options, but ultimately, as you can see, I bought Petalmorphosis and got the limited edition lavender case.

There are mixed reviews, which is pretty typical for the Pat McGrath brand these days, so I can’t say I’m surprised. Many people are disappointed that Mothership XII Petalmorphosis doesn’t have any of the “special shades” the brand is known for. I can’t compare this palette to other Motherships, but I have tried the baked formula that appeared in the Bridgerton Part 2 Collection. I personally wasn’t as in love with that baked formula that people rave about. I don’t know if that formula differs from the actual Mothership palettes, but from what I thought at the time, they were the same. The formula was okay, but there was too much fallout, and it looked dry and textured on my eyelids. I don’t use glitter glue or wet my brush, which could’ve been part of my issue. So I wasn’t upset when the product information was released, and there were no baked shadows. This is just some background to keep in mind as you read my thoughts.

Ok, let’s get to the swatches!

Using the Natasha Denona Bloom Eyeshadow Palette prompted me to stop dragging my feet on finishing my review of the Natasha Denona Hy-Glam Concealer ($30). At first, I wasn’t going to post about it because there are so many reviews out there already. I have seen that people either love or hate this concealer. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground. I don’t love or hate it, although I would love it if my dry, sensitive, eczema-prone skin agreed with it better.

Before I talk about how the formula performed for me, I wanted to talk about the shades. The shade range is excellent because it has 50 concealer shades and 6 corrector shades. However, that also makes the shade range hard to navigate, and the Hy-Glam Concealer is only available in a limited number of Sephora locations. So, many people shopping for this concealer will have to rely on brand swatches, reviews, and swatches from YouTubers and bloggers. This made me want to post swatches of the shades I tried, especially after I struggled with the shade range. I had issues even though two of the times I purchased shades, I saw them in person. The undertones are diverse, but different than what I’m used to, and the number depth isn’t the same depth in every undertone. For instance, P7 is described as tan dark peach, but Y7 is medium yellow. In my mind, these should have the same depth but different undertones. This is not a unique problem for the Natasha Denona brand, but it is something I still wish was more straightforward.

My best foundation matches for shade reference are the NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in Tahoe and the Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in 4W4. After swatching in person, I started with shade P7 and then ordered shade YP11 online. After the second time I went in-store to swatch shades, I finally settled on NY12. Unfortunately, I didn’t own all three simultaneously, so I couldn’t swatch all three together. Something else to note is that the color changes slightly as the Hy-Glam Concealer dries (see below in the swatch of NY12). It is common for matte concealers and concealers with added skincare (which this has) to dry down slightly darker.

Say hello to the 2025 reformulation of a classic. Estee Lauder just launched a new Double Wear Stay in Place 24-Hour Concealer ($38) formula. The previous formula was one of my hero products, so I was intrigued to see how the new formula would stand up to it. They are somewhat similar in performance for me. I prefer the longevity and transfer resistance of the old formula, but I like the new formula’s more comfortable, less drying feel. Let’s get into the details.

First, some point of reference information. I had to mix 4W and 5W in the old formula, but the shades changed a bit. 5W in the 2025 formula works for my NARS Tahoe/Estee Lauder 4W4 skin tone. I recently got back from a trip to Vegas and it was sunny and warm the whole time. So I’m a little darker than my usual winter skin tone. When I bought this in Ulta, they didn’t have testers out yet, so I couldn’t see how the new shade range looked before purchasing. The range has 30 shades to choose from, so hopefully, people that typically buy a particular shade in Estee Lauder will also be able to do so in this formula.

This is just a quick one today. I wanted to share swatches of the Natasha Denona Bloom Eyeshadow Palette ($69). I have seen a couple of people compare it to the Sigma Cor-de-Rosa Eyeshadow Palette, but I don’t think they’re that similar. I did swatch a few of the shades that were “close,” but overall, the Sigma Cor-de-Rosa palette is more colorful and warmer. If you already own the Cor-de-Rosa, I can understand why you might feel it has a similar vibe. If that is the case, and you enjoy using your Sigma palette, I’d let that be good enough and pass on purchasing the Natasha Denona Palette. As a makeup lover, it can be easy to justify slight shade differences, but I genuinely don’t think these two palettes will create the same looks. At least not on my skin tone. However, if you are more concerned about utility (which isn’t bad), this could be a pass for you. They will be at the end if you are interested in the comparison swatches.

For shade reference, my best matches are NARS Tahoe and Estee Lauder 4W4. I am typically the lightest shade in the medium deep category or between that shade and the next shade lighter. I have a warm olive undertone that can make a more significant difference in how colors appear on me than how dark I am considered. Just some things to keep in mind.

I took pictures of swatches in two types of lighting because I had trouble getting the natural light pictures to show the colors as I saw them. I’ll explain the takeaway from each kind of lighting when we get to it. Ok, let’s get into the swatches.