Musings of a Muse

My review of concealers continues, today with a rather posh concealer palette!

If you’re looking for a corrector palette that’s both inexpensive and versatile might I recommend the Diorskin Face Pro-Styler Palette? At $39 USD this is a great deal and offers a number of options for concealing skin woes.

This is brand new and exclusive to Sephora at the moment but who knows it might pop up at a Dior counter near you soon. The palette contains four different concealers and a translucent setting powder in one slick compact. Remind you of anything?

Without Flash

With Flash

Yes, it probably does remind you of Bobbi Brown’s Face Touch-Up Palette. The similarities between the two are uncanny however the price and the amount of product is vastly different. Although I’ve grown to love Bobbi’s concealer palette I must admit that the retail price of $58 USD is pretty expensive plus the compact is small. However, Dior Face Pro-Styler is considerably larger in size and about $20 USD less plus it offers the very same options that the Bobbi version does with an extra color! Bobbi’s version contains three shades of concealer where as the Dior version contains four.

The concealers range in color from a pink ivory shade, up to a deeper brown beige. Each shade is suitable to mix and match together to cover dark circles, skin imperfections, and blemishes. Although the darkest shade in the palette appears too dark for my skin tone I’m able to quickly redeem the color by adding a touch of the lighter shades and it instantly becomes the perfect color.

Colors included are as follows:

• Pinkish Ivory-Good for brightening dark circles
• Yellow-Perfect shade to conceal dark circles. Apply and fellow up with the pink beige shade to create flawless eye coverage
• Beige-Perfect for concealing blemishes on your face.
• Deeper Beige with tinges of brown-Mix with beige to create heavier coverage for blemishes, skin imperfections, etc…
• Transulent White Powder-Transulent powder to set concealers.

The concealers all have a moisturizing formula so it’s perfect for those of us with drier skin or dry under eye areas. The setting powder allows the concealer to set and hold wear for around seven hours before a touch up is needed.

For very dark circles the deeper beige shade in the palette can be used in conjunction with the pinkish ivory shade. Conceal with the deeper beige and place the ivory shade on top to brighten the eye area.

Mixing, matching, and combining shades to suit both your skin tone and skin problems make this palette versatile and easy to use. Coverage is of medium pigmentation but the darkest shade may very well be buildable to cover up stubborn dark circles. The palette only comes in one color varation and is suitable for most skin tones do to the ability to mix shades.

All in all I think it’s a rather good deal and I recommend checking it out for yourself. Four concealers plus a transculent powder is truly a great deal at $39 USD.

Want this?

Tried it?

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Favorite Dior concealer?

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Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer Review

L’Oreal Visible Lift Concealer Review

Patricia Wexler, M.D. Instant Airbrush Concealer Pen Review

Lancome Effacernes Waterproof Concealer Review

Physicians Formula Circle RX Concealer Review

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Review

Lancome Maquicomplet Coverage Concealer Review

Jelly Pong Pong Nicola Roberts Dainty Doll Concealer Review

Clarins Instant Light Eye Perfecting Base

Eyeko Touch Up & Go Concealer

Cargo Blu_Ray Concealer Review

Lorac Double Feature Concealer Highlighter Duo Review

Bobbi Brown Corrector Concealer Review

If you fancy a bit of a fresher, natural look for Fall you might want to try out Pop Apple of the Cheeks stain.

These cute stains are available in two color options and can be used on cheeks or lips. The formula is a gel so it’s not a messy application, swipe across cheeks, blend, and you’re left with a very natural, fresh look! The novelty of these would be the scent! The stain carries the sweet, slightly tart scent of apples! Too cutes! Color options available are Au Natural which is a rosy bronze shade and Rouge which is a bright berry red color. Color is buildable so you can have a sheer finish if you desire or build it up for a popping, just out of the cold look.

The Muse likes these and approves ‘em for purchase!

Click on over to Pop Beauty’s main portal site to see what else is new! Check out the Pop Beauty Cabinets while you’re over there!

Love Pop?

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Check other Pop Beauty items the Muse loves!

Pop Beauty Lip Lust Review

Pop Smokey Rose Palette Review

Pop Day to Play Palette Review

Pop Rose Belle Blush Palette Review

Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em Sephora continues to pump out it’s line of “super” palettes that contain everything you need to create several face looks. Brand new is the Sephora Crystallized Palette Collector’s Edition for $38 USD which includes 16 eyeshadow shades, nine lipglosses, two sponge applicators, and one lip brush.

This particular black is crystal adorned and it’s petite size makes it slightly different from previous releases brought to you by Sephora.

I’m not particular partial to these “have it all” style palettes however if you’re looking for a nice gift for someone or planning ahead for the upcoming holidays this may very well have all you’re looking for dressed up in a nice little package!

Available now from Sephora.

Love it?

Like this palettes Sephora keeps putting out?

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Sephora Enchanted Eye Palettes

Leif Designs Holiday Color Palette

Ulta’s Holiday Blockbuster Palette

Ulta’s Color on the Go Palette

I got Bourjois Paris Pastel Teint Essential Pressed Powder during the Sephora clearance on all Bourjois Paris cosmetics. I think I paid around $7-8 USD for this or possibly less but I can’t really recall at the moment. I’m actually really happy with it and now I want to track down a few of the other shades that are available within different countries.

This is a basic baked pressed powder that comes in a rather cute plastic retro case with sponge applicator. I simply love the packaging although I read a few reviews saying the packaging was cheap, I thought it was rather charming!

The powder is a light peachy beige tone which is supposed to have a translucent finish however I find that it shows up a little bit glowy and peachy on my skin. This is perfect for quick touch ups or to set your makeup. It carries a rather lovely rose scent that Bourjois Paris is known for. I know some people are a bit put out by the scented facial products but I don’t mind in the least I think this ads to the charm of Bourjois Paris. The powder is rather great for brightening up dullness on my skin and gives a fresh, awake appearance. It goes on matte but manages to work very well with my dry skin so the finish is velvety and light.

The reason I’m bringing the review to you today is I did see quite a few of these in Sephora all over the city so now is a good time to go out and grab one at a rather great price!

The Muse loves this one and approves it for purchase!

A perfect little powder for waking skin up and giving a nice glow to your cheeks and face! Likey!

Bourjois Paris Ombre Stretch

Bourjois Paris Eau de Gloss Review

Bourjois Paris Clubbing Mascara Review

Bourjois Paris Ombre A Paupieres UK Colors

Bourjois Paris Shimmer Shine Liquid Eyeshadow Review

Well, gee I should be shot for not reviewing MAC Starflash sooner as it was a rather great selection of awesome shadows.

As you already know by now the MAC Starflash shadows ere definately something to grab up and stash away. The texture is smooth, creamy, shimmery with the feel of velvet and the glide of a cream these were a hit with MAC fans everywhere.

I didn’t indulge in all the shades but I got the four that appealed to me most. I guess I’m kinda hit a low spot with MAC lately so I’ve been a bit more reserved with the items I pick up. In this case the four shadows that appealed to most were the following:

• Grand Entrance-Peachy, Frosty Beige
• Talent Pool-Shimmering Aqua
• Dreamcatcher-Shimmering Gold
• Bold and Brazen-Frosty, shimmering copper

The best part of Starflash is the ability to build color. Those who are scared of intensely pigmented shadows can go for a light all over color wash when using Starflash or build up color for a popping, pigmented look. The choice of how you use these is entirely up to you! These blend like an absolutely dream and offer a wonderful shimmery finish.

If you haven’t already, MAC Starflash is definately worth taking a look at! The Muse Approves these for purchase!

Loves ‘em!

Did you grab some MAC Starflash?

Loved ‘em?

Which colors did you haul?

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Forgotten Collections: MAC Solar Bits

MAC Electro Flash Review

MAC The Originals Review

The Mysteries of Fafi for MAC Beauty Powders

Recommendations: MAC 183

MAC Beauty Powders Blush Review

MAC DazzleGlass Review

MAC Naughty Nauticals Review

MAC DressCamp Review

If you lurk here often you probably know I don’t really go for sophisticated looks. I’m a fun loving girl and my choices in cosmetics reflects that part of my personality.

However, I’ve had my eye on a few collections this season that are a bit “grown up”, elegant, and sophisticated one of which happens to be Smashbox Wicked Lovely.

Smashbox Wicked Lovely is made up of an array of interesting shade choices that I would not normally go out of my way to purchase but, as I tested out Wicked Lovely this week I did so end up liking it.

The collection consists of several options to create a “wicked” or a “lovely” look hence the name. In this case you can go from day to evening with certain shades or lighter to darker depending on what your preference is for makeup or like me you may just enjoy variety.

Smashbox did a lovely job with the packaging on the collection. Each box is printed with “Wicked Lovely” and features pink that melds into dark black. I found this packaging quite in keeping with the concept of the collection. Each black compat features a twirling floral design on the lid of each item. The gloss was particularly with a little hanging tassle from it’s cap. A bith goth and a bit innocent the design definately mimics the theme of both a bit naughty and a little bit nice.

One of my very favorite items in this collection is the Smashbox Wicked Lovely Blush in Rush. It’s not my normal shade of blush as I tend to lean towards very cute, pink cheeks as I feel they are most flattering however Rush is a warm, dusty rose shade with just a tiny hint of shimmer. The effect Rush produces is more of contoured, sophisticated look. I really liked the natural, warm look I created using Rush. I was pleased with how well Rush simply worked with just about everything else in the Wicked Lovely collection as well! Now Rush is a great color but allow me to mention the very interesting packaging design as well. This happens to have a really nifty pull out mirror housed underneath the compact. The mirror is attached to the compact and is not removable however it easily slides in and out of the underside of the blush compact for easy access! Small, important touches like this are always a pleasure as far as the Muse is concerned!

The collection also includes two eye items, a liner and loose shimmer compact and a duo eyeshadow. The shadow duo is available in two color selections, I tried out the Sexy/Demure version of the shadow duos. The compact contains a shimmery peachy shade and a shimmery brown. You’re supposed to use the brown as a liner but you can of course use it as a shadow if you please. The peachy shade feels a bit different in texture compared to the brown, it has a velvet like formula that has a frosty effect when on the eyes, almost a mod look about it. The brown is more of a shimmering silky powder. Pairing the two up by using the peach shade on your lid and crease and finishing with the brown as a lower lash liner creates a frosty, shimmering look with hints of both cuteness and innocence as well as an edge do to the liner.

The second eye item included with the collection is the Wicked Lovely Liner and Loose Shimmer which is an interesting little item. It contains three gel liners the likes of which happen to be my favorite item from Smashbox. I’m not a fan of MAC Fluidline and have used Smashbox Cream Eye Liner for many years so having three shades in one compact is rather nice. The compact is versatile as you have the option to use the liners as a base for the loose shimmer and shadows or you can line your eyes using it. In order to create the Smashbox Wicked look the darkest shade of the liners is used as a base for the loose shimmer. The liner shades are Taupe, Bronze, and Gray and each has a metallic finish. The shimmering powder is a pewter gray that’s perfect for use with a smoky eye look.

And finally to finish up your look Smashbox released some interesting glosses and a dual ended lip pencil/liner duo. Smashbox Doubletake Lip Color works double duty lining and filling lips. Each end has a different shade of lip color with a different finish. One end contains a nude pink-peach shade that’s creamy, mod, and nude while the other end contains a peachy pink shade that has a shimmering finish.

The glosses are extra cute in this collection with a hanging tassel on the top of each gloss. The color I tried was Coy which is a nude shade. The applicator is a lip brush which I prefer as it gets a nice amount of color onto lips. Coy happens to be an extremely nude shade and not my typical lip color however I am going outside the norm with a majority of this collection so it was interesting trying out a new look using this gloss!

Since I wanted to recreate the Smashbox Wicked and Lovely, the colors I got were everything used in each look on the website, duping the looks was fun. I did a total of four looks with the collection, two of which were using the exact products used on the models for the Wicked Lovely shoot.

I liked the way my Wicked look came out best so I’ll show you that first. To dupe the look I took a look at the Smashbox Wicked Lovely video available on the site. Click on over for a look if you like!

I used Smashbox Wicked Lovely Cream Liner and Loose Shimmer on my lids. I first used the gray metallic shade as a base and topped it with the loose shadow. I followed up with the Smashbox Wicked Lovely Blush in Crush on my cheeks and finished by using the Smashbox Wicked Lovely Doubletake Lip Color to fill in my lips. The side I used was the peachy mod shade. I proceeded to top my lips with a coat of Smashbox Wicked Lovely Lip Gloss in Coy and there you go I’m Wicked!

For my Lovely look I used the same products for my lips and face as I did for my Wicked look. For my eyes I used the Smashbox Wicked Lovely Eyeshadow Duo in Sexy/Demure. Sexy was used to line my lower lash line and Demure I used as an all over color wash. I don’t think my Lovely look came out nearly as nice as my Wicked look for some reason! Le Sigh!

Finally I spiced things up and went and did my own versions of the Wicked and Lovely looks by adding a few other items into the mix of things!

In this case I think my Lovely look came out better than my Wicked look this time around! For my lovely look I just used Demure eyeshadow all over my eye. I used the other side of the dual ended lip pencil which was the shimmery pink shade and topped it with some clear gloss. On my cheeks I used a peach shade instead of the dusty rose.

I liked how much better Demure looked without Sexy on the bottom lash line. It gave my eyes a nice bright look and really created an aura of innocence and “lovely”.

Now my Wicked inspired look I didn’t like. I used the same color shades for my eye as in my previous Wicked look but finished my lips with a deeper shade of color. For some reason the colors contrasted rather badly. I also lined my bottom waterline and upper lash line but it seems to have a bit overkill!

So…that’s all folks!

Smashbox Wicked Lovely Fall Collection definately has a little something for everyone especially if you’re a big lover of natural, nude shades. I have my eye on a few other pieces for the selection myself such as the Sultry lip gloss!

Check out more of the Smashbox Wicked Lovely Collection by clicking here! While you’re visiting check out the new Smashbox Encore Eye Palette…oh my gods..the Muse wants it!

Want this collection?

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Are you Wicked or Lovely?

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Check out the latest and greats for Fall by clicking through some past reviews!

Shu Uemura Instinct Fall Mode Makeup Review

Too Faced Fall Collection Review featuring the New Too Faced Smoky Eye Palette Kit!

Majolica Majorca Fall Collections 2008: Majolook Trick On Palettes Review

MAC Overrich Review and Swatches