Comparison: MAC Virgin Isle CCB vs BB Cabo and Calypso Coral

Long time no see everyone!! I've just been really busy with some stuff, but hopefully things will be settling down soon so yay! :D

Summer is quickly coming to an end, so I figured I'd do a swatch comparison of my favorite summer coral cream blushers: MAC Virgin Isle, BB Cabo Coral and BB Calypso coral. They are all similar and within the same color family, but I do think they are different enough to own all three. (Or maybe I'm just trying to rationalize it to myself.)

In my opinion Cabo coral is the most different from the three. It's much more "subtle"/nude coral as compared to Calypso Coral which is a bright corally pink and MAC Virgin Isle which I find is a corally orange.

FYI: MAC Virgin Isle CCB is availible ONLY at MAC Pro unfortunately. HOWEVER, it did come out in a collection a while back and can be found at some of the Cosmetic Company Outlets.

MAC Gold Mode vs MAC Blonde's Gold

It has been said that gold mode pigment and blonde's gold pigment are dupes of each other. However, now that I have both, I must say they are NOT the same. They are similar, but they are different enough to own both...or so I say.


Gold Mode: Texture is a little chunkier. It's much more shimmery than BG. It's also a much brighter gold in my opinion than BG. Much more "night out" while BG is like it's softer more daytime safe sister.

Blonde's Gold: Finely milled. Smooth and easy to apply/blend. A nice shimmery beige-y gold neutral. My go to for ever day looks.

Hanae Mori No. 1 ---- A Review

And so my perfume addiction pushes on full force. The new Hanae Mori perfume is my latest addition to my collection. It was, to be quite honest, an impulse buy even though I feel that perfumes are one of those things that make for terrible impulse purchases. A perfume needs to be worn around for a bit before so it can fully develop and you can go through it's wonderful....or terrible stages.

At any rate, onto the good stuff. The perfume bottle shape is the same as the original Hanae Mori perfumes, but the juice is a delicious lilac-y purple and No. 1 is inked into the back of the bottle in a traditional Japanese calligraphy sort of way. The perfume only comes in a 3.4 fl. oz bottle and retails for $95.00. Also some of the proceeds go to a clean air and wind something or the other. Good causes = 2 thumbs up :D The sales associate at Nordstrom told me that No.2 will be blue with aquatic/marine notes. Fortunately that is not my kinda thing so YAY!

So part of me is kicking myself for impulse purchasing this perfume as it does smell veeeeeeeeeeeeeery similar to Givenchy Hot Couture. Though I did a spritz of each on opposite wrists and they don't really smell exactly the same. (The notes are indeed similar though as noted below.)

NOTE COMPARISON:

Hanae Mori No.1 - bergamot, black currant, grapefruit, mulberry leaf, blackberry, jasmine, raspberry, white musk, sandalwood, amber and vanilla.

Hot Couture -

• top note: Bermagot, Orange, Raspberry

• middle note: Magnolia, Black Pepper, Vetiver
  

• base note: Sandal, Amber, Musk

They have a similar rich juicy sweet raspberry theme in the opening. However I find the opening sweetness of Hot Couture to evolve into a sharper spicy bite whereas Hanae Mori maintains the original burst of sweetness and creaminess. Hanae Mori No.1 also opens with a similar ripe raspberry sweet scent and has a interesting citrusy zing to it. Then it mellows down into a sweet vanilla cream on me with a lingering berry sweetness. Strangely, I find this very fleeting on me, which bothers me particularly since the price is rather steep. I honestly expected it to last longer than 10 min.... Ok fine, I exaggerate...a little. Also, the sillage isn't very robust and it sticks close to the skin (on me at least). I suppose it's not bad for the summer since I really don't want something overly sweet for the heat of summer. I did notice however while I was working out, that it intensified the smell which was a pleasant surprise.

Closing Thoughts: Overall I do like this perfume as a nice, lighter alternative to Givenchy Hot Couture, but I honestly don't know if I would have bought it had it not been an silly impulse purchase.

Hot off the press!!!! NARS Multiple Tints!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!! I was beyond excited when I first found out about there new Multiples. Being the NARS addict that I am, I bought all 3 of these gorgeous limited edition multiples.

I got all three of the shades untried of the NARS website because I figured I couldn't go wrong with something with "tint " in the name. I'm really glad I got these because these are absolutely awesome! They have a gel like consistency so they are very smooth and glide onto the skin easily. However, they are slightly tacky once applied on the cheek like the Tarte cheek stains, but I like the consistency/feel of these better than the Tarte ones. They are also on the sheer side as the term "tint" implies. However, I find that the "sheer gel" makes it all the easier to use. Due to their gel like consistency, I find I don't need to use fingers or brushes with these. I just dab dab dab like a rubber stamp on my cheeks then a little blending with my fingers = perfection. I absolutely ADORE these and am so happy I got them!!!! While I doubt I'd ever run out, I am sad that they are indeed limited edition :(

So with out much further ado, the grand un-veiling!
All pictures are in the order as follows: Beveryly Hills, Turks & Caicos, Cadaques

Color Descriptions:
Beverly Hills - watermelon flush
Turks & Caicos - soft flushed peachy/coral
Cadaques - soft yet bright cool toned slightly neon pink

Swatches:

And on my Turks & Caicos on my otherwise bare face.
As compared to the regular line NARS multiples. As you can see, the Multiple Tints (packaging-wise) is much bigger than the regular line Multiple.


Product-wise, the Tints have 1 more gram of product than the regular line Multiple. They both retail for $38.00 usd.

TRESemme Fresh Start

Lately I've become more frugal and have been browsing the aisles of the drugstore rather than my usual haunts. I have been washing my hair every other day as my hair has been suffering from dryness. On those no wash days, I have been using TiGi Rockaholic dirty secret dry shampoo (6.3 oz. retailing for approximately $19.00) and Klorane (3.2 oz retailing for $18.00). I found these to be both rather price-y and was ecstatic to find a cheaper alternative.




I found the following coupon (I am in no way affiliated with TRESemme or the coupon site. Everything was purchased with my own money.):

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vg&tqnm=zdvnedb13159742&o=62587&c=TR&p=o79TZ8sR



I went to Target where I found the dry shampoo and refresher hair mist as a pack for about $4.00. So I got 2 sets for $4.00 which is an AWESOME deal. The TRESemme line has a dry shampoo for straight normal hair as well as a waterless foam shampoo for wavy/curly hair. (I picked up the dry shampoo for straight hair.) The line also has a refresher mist and no-frizz cream. On their site TRESemme says of the product:

- Formula with Mineral Clay soaks up excess oil and impurities to leave hair looking refreshed. - Contains Citrus Extracts to neutralize odor and enhance clean feeling. - Volumizes oily/straight hair that becomes limp in between shampoos, giving hair added body and bounce. - Perfect for color-treated hair, it reduces the need to wash as frequently, which prevents color from fading. I found the smell to be quite pleasant as I do love citrus. I didn't find any noticeable volumization of my hair but it was enough to get rid of the 2nd day oilies. It definitely works well enough to keep my hair from looking un-washed which is all I need. Not to mention it's at a price you can't beat!

Drugstore Perfume - Coty Jovan Musk for Women

As I've mentioned before I'm a huge lover of musks in perfume. I originally thought Musk = dirty armpit or something but I found that musks are actually quite light, clean and fresh in scent, though there are the more animalic musks out there (I haven't tried any though so I don't know). Also musks smell different on everyone and some people cannot smell musk or certain musks. I guess the musk molecules are quite large thus heavy, hence the fact that the sillage is not that strong.

For the longest time I was tempted to try the Jovan Musk that you can find at your corner drugstore for fairly cheap. I finally caved and got mine this past weekend at Jewel-Osco in a 2 fl. 0z size "gift package" for $15.00. I think you might be able to find them on discount perfume sites and ebay for cheaper, but I wanted instant gratification so......


Packaging: The bottle is simple with no particular bells and whistles. It definitely seems cheap, but it's what's on the inside that counts so no big deal. The lid is particularly flimsy which annoys me, but fortunately it seems to snap into place well.

The Juice: Upon initial spritz, it's all alcohol very much like a cheap hair spray, a la aqua net or something. The alcohol/hairspray scent is it's one biggest down fall. I'm am a little annoyed that it smells like this, because if I wanted to smell like this I may as well have picked up a bottle of cheap hair spray for a few bucks. At any rate, once the alcohol/hairspray scent fades, it settles into a lovely clean skin scent with a hint of powder...which makes it well worth the wait. When I say a hint I mean a hint. I personally despise powdery perfume as they are usually headache inducing for me, particularly when mixed with florals.

Not to mention for being such a cheap perfume, the staying power is surprisingly strong! It lasts a good half day if not more on me. Staying power is a huge make or break with me. I hate those perfumes that disappear within an hour, but then again, I guess the fun is in the application. :D

Overall Rating: Overall I give this a 5/5. I think it's worth the $15.00 price tag for a 2 fl. oz bottle, particularly since it had fantastic staying power. It lasts a good half day if not more for me. Even so I will give it a little refresher spritz every so often. It's a lovely everyday, subtle scent. Very work safe in my opinion. A very nice relaxed perfume. I will definitely be re-purchasing when I run out.

Diving into Illamasqua

So without question my all time favorite blush brand has got to be NARS. With that said, I think Illamsaqua blushers fall into second place. During the Sephora 15% off madness, I got 3 Illamasqua blushers: Katie, Tremble, and Create.

Top: create
Bottom left to right: Katie, Tremble

PACKAGING: It's a little bulky, but something about them is kinda nice. I like the ergonomic design of them. They are lightweight with a clear lid so you can see the color inside unlike the NARS packaging where everything looks the same. I also have to say the plastic case that it is in seems a little flimsy and cheap, but I'll live.

PRICE: $23.00 for 0.14 oz compared to NARS $26.00 for 0.16 oz
PRODUCT: Ok. I have to say the texture of these blushers are unlike any other blush I've had. In fact I find it hard to explain/drescribe these. I find that the texture of these blushers are a bit "chalky" and powdery. However, they apply like a dream. They are easy to blend and apply. They are also very pigmented, but not as much as say NARS Exhibit A or NARS Taj Mahal...which is a good thing. I'm finding it tedious applying these uber pigmented blushers lately.

COLORS: I know the most popular color that I see people using is Hussy, but for some reason I passed over it and opted for these 3. They seemed more "unique" as to what I own and have seen out on the market. I also like how all the blushers in this range (thus far at least) are all matte in a market overflowing with shimmer and glimmer.

- Create is a lovely peachy bronze color that's great for contouring or for use as a bronzer. I find that this doesn't really pull that orange on me despite the burnt umber shade that it is in the pan. I find this color to be very unique! I have yet to find a blush that is like this! (I'm sure there is a dupe out there somewhere but none that I've come across.)


-Katie is a lovely pale lilac-y pink...a matte version of MAC Well Dressed from what I've heard. (I don't personally own Well Dressed so I can not speak as to how they compare.) I was a little hesitant to order this since it is a cooler lilac-y pink blush and I was worried it would clash with my warm yellow complexion. However, this gives me the most fresh, innocent pink glow and I think it even counteracts my yellowness a little.

-Tremble is a slightly deeper pink tinged than Katie and less milky, no trace of lilac and with a little tiny tiny hint of rose. In the pan it's a pretty peachy pink shade, however on the cheek I find this to be similar to Cargo Catalina and possibly a matte dupe of NARS Deep Throat.