Lancome, Bobbi Brown, and Estee Lauder have the most products available, but there are many other items to be found from Chantecaille, Hourglass, Laura Mercier, and Cle De Peau among others. I do want to give you a heads-up that some items are listed as being on backorder, so keep an eye out for that if it’s something you need soon.
This blog uses affiliate links (marked with **). I may earn a small commission when you purchase through links on my site. Learn more here.
Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured with my own money. This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program and using affiliate links. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
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.
This blog uses affiliate links (marked with **). I may earn a small commission when you purchase through links on my site. Learn more here.
1. I’d Like To See Smashbox Release Powder Blush and Bronzer in Single Compacts
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 that 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 that 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 are 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.
This New Year Shine collection seems to be a partial launch of MAC’s 2023 Lunar New Year collection. It caught me by surprise both because it is on QVC (I haven’t seen it anywhere else) and because there are supposed to be more shade options for the highlight, blush, and lipstick. I’m not sure if the other shades have just already sold out on QVC or what.
This blog uses affiliate links (marked with **). I may earn a small commission when you purchase through links on my site. Learn more here.
If you are interested in this collection and don’t see the shade you wanted, I’d recommend waiting for MAC**, Ulta**, Nordstrom**, and Macy’s** to launch the products. If you have any additional information about this collection please let me know in the comments.
$ 45.00
Regular Price
MAC New Year Shine Eye Shadow x 8 Year of Glam
$ 40.00
Regular Price
MAC New Year Shine Extra Dimension Skinfinish
$ 33.00
Regular Price
MAC New Year Shine Glow Play Blush
$ 33.00
Regular Price
MAC Cosmetics New Year Shine PREP+PRIME FIX+, 3 .4 fl oz
Disclaimer: I purchased all products featured with my own money. This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program and using affiliate links. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
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.
This blog uses affiliate links (marked with **). I may earn a small commission when you purchase through links on my site. Learn more here.
The Pillow Talk Dreams Luxury Palette is a great option for anyone that 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.
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.
If you enjoyed this post, please give it a like down below. If you’d like to check out more of my content, here are some places to start.
Brands A-Z: Check out this index if you want to know what products I have posted about in the past.
MAC Cosmetics: I likely have some swatches you’ve been searching for if you love Mac as much as I do.
Disclaimer: This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program and using affiliate links. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
Nikki From HR 