Guerlain Meteorites Birthday Candle Pearls

I have a dirty little (expensive) secret I've been keeping from you, dear readers.

I'm a ball-a-holic.

No, wait, that came out wrong. Unless you were a frequenter of that thread in the old school Specktra forums. Then, welcome!

What I meant to say is that I've been honest about my nail polish hoarding, my taste for pricey lipsticks and makeup... but somehow even though I've blogged on and off for four years I've never mentioned that I'm obsessed with Guerlain Meteorites.

Part of my Meteorites collection PART.

Perhaps it's because I'm slightly embarassed to collect hand-rolled balls of powder that retail for $62 each? I'll explain why I love these after I talk about the latest LE release- the Meteorites Birthday Candle Pearls. As of writing this review, they're still available at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Dillard's.

For your $62, you get the latest limited edition release that celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Meteorites- and whose case reportedly is similar to the original.

Let me take a minute to talk about why I love this product. It's a lovely finishing powder, but more than anything else, it just makes you feel good using it. There's something reminiscent of a forgotten era when you swirl your brush into one of these tins.

I like the effect that these finishing powders produce, but I also love the way they make me feel. And that's worth every penny.

According to the brand, this iteration contains "gold pearls to fight dullness, pink pearls to reveal glow, and champagne and white pearls to reflect the light."

It's almost impossible to show a real impact on the face, so I'll just show you how shiny my hand is. These are glowy.

When these are blended out, they don't look powdery on the face.

Still I kept thinking that these reminded me of some other versions in my collection. I pulled a few close comparisons;

They're the closest to a glowier version of the old Teint Beige (which was reformulated into Medium and lavender added).

Bottom Line: I love these but I'm also a collector. They're close to a product likely in your collection, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend one of the glowier versions for the first set of Meteorites in your collection. The collector in me feels so happy to have these, and I've been enjoying them.

Giorgio Armani Luxe is More Palette

A quick note for you, dear readers. I've been doing my best to faithfully get one post up per day, but I may have to start spacing the content out a bit. Work and family life has gotten crazy- I'm planning some family-related travel at some point this month (not telling the internet when I'm coming/going though) and may not see a day off until Palm Sunday. I rely upon the weekends to shoot photos and outline posts, so I'm quickly running out of time.

But we'll see.


Today I have a very special item to talk about with you. It was actually Armani's holiday 2015 offering, but it's currently available at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Armani's own website. I'll be honest, I was compelled to write this after not seeing a lot of love for this.

Enter the Giorgio Armani Luxe is More Palette.

This ultra-pricey ($140), double-decker eye/face palette is stunning and, appropriately, luxe.

As you can tell by my box, it's been in heavy rotation (ie the box has been taken in and out of the drawer over and over:

Let's talk about the palette. First off, it's huge. It's not the size of the traditional Armani palettes.

This is the pouch (with brushes) that it comes in:

Pretty standard.

The palette itself is a light gold, with Armani's signature on top:

Here's the bottom. You might get an idea of the scale:

Inside, it contains a lot of product for your $140. Upper level is comprised of 10 of the best neutral eyeshadows around:

Let's look at some swatches.

Here's the upper row (the rose gold is a color I use at least 2-3 days a week):

You have, L-R, a perfect nude to smooth out imperfections and act as an anchoring base, a divine rose gold, a light burnished gold/copper, and a light tan shimmer with gold leanings. Amazing.

Here's the middle two:

That's a mostly-matte charcoal that really is almost black and an icy, true silver metallic shade. Love!

Here's the bottom row:

L-R, you have a metallic white (needed as a finishing highlight), two taupey brown shimmers, and a rosy dark brown shade that you just want to cuddle.

Put together, you have an expertly curated set of 10 neutrals. You can do anything from the lightest look to a deep, sultry smoky eye with this palette. It's literally all you need if you're traveling. Even if this was all you got, these would ring in at $14 each, a bargain for Armani.

But wait... there's more.

I normally hate all-in-one palettes, but the eyeshadows swing up to reveal the second level:

OK, hear me out on this. You have a finishing powder and two creams that can be used for concealers (per the instructions). It's meant to flatter a medium skintone. You know I'm a NW15, so here we go on how to make it work. There are also 2 cute little Armani sponges.

Here's the lower level swatched (powder between creams):

Now, here's the hack on how to use this one. CONTOUR!

First of all, a very light dusting of the powder is pretty universal on most light-medium skintones. The powder is also great for absorbing powder, so that's how I've used it- with a light hand.

I've used the creams for subtle contouring and love them as such.

Bottom Line: This is an investment. It's luxurious. It's Armani. But these products perform at such a high level that the lack of love for this palette (now a staple in my stash) that I felt compelled to talk about it. Check it out if you can- it's worth it.

MAC Flamingo Park Collection Part IV: Eyeshadow and Overall Thoughts

Welcome to Day Four of Flamingo Week... Oh, wait. That's just the scope of what I bought from the MAC Flamingo Park collection.

Speaking of flamingos and feathers, I hope you all like the new look for QBB. I had a lot of fun designing it.

I'm wrapping up my reviews with the lone eyeshadow offering, the Flamingo Park Eyeshadow x 9 palette. Early info on this collection (and reality in some markets like Europe) had a bunch of new singles. The US got this palette instead. I have to admit that I'm disappointed, especially since there are some shades in the palette worth having in a full-sized pan (and backing up). I'm also a bit OCD about my large MAC Pro palettes, so....

That said, I like this for travel even though I can pull some similar shades from my collection.

At first glance, this palette is downright frightening but it does scream Spring. Here's she shade breakdown.

Row 1: Flounce (Matte), Glamour Light (Satin), Floridazzle (Satin)
Row 2: Flock & Roll (Matte), Sushi Flower (Satin), Bird's Eye View (Satin)
Row 3: Free Roaming (Veluxe Pearl), Naturally Fabulous (Matte), Wierdly Wonderful (Veluxe)


Let's talk about this for a moment. We have 4 pink shadows, 1 light yellow, 1 lime green, 1 bold blue, 1 dirty lilac, and one dark brown. Let's all have a communal WTF moment on this particular assortment of colors.

Now that we've had that moment, let's talk. On its surface, it makes no sense. Digging closer, it does. You've got the flamingos represented with all of the pink, and pale yellow, lime green, blue, and brown cover the park part of Flamingo Park. Although I'm not sure where the purple comes in, I'll take it. Gladly.

I know some early reviewers complained about pigmentation. Nope, it's not equal among shades, but it's absolutely genius on my NW15 skin. I can buff these shades out for daily wear or pack 'em on for night.I already owned Sushi Flower, but it's the only one.


Now, some row-by-row swatches and discussion. I'm having issues with some text formatting but that's not worth holding the post up.

Top Row:

Flounce (Matte) is a sweet, white-based pink. It brightens or can be used as an overall base color. I love shades like this in small doses. When I tested this palette yesterday, this was part of my overall look. It performs like a dream.

Glamour Light (Satin) looks way more orange against my pink undertones than it does in the pan. In the pan, it's a soft light yellow not that orange. Please believe me on that. It has good payoff, and I'm looking forward to constructing a look that includes it.

Floridazzle (Satin) is a pastel lime with yellow undertones. It brightens the overall look. It had the lovely payoff that Flounce has. I used this as an accent in my overall look. It lasted but faded as a liner eventually.

The middle row is all about pink. Here's a swatch:

 Flock and Roll (Matte) took 2 passes to build up that color. It's more of a light salmon pink. I included it in my overall look and had no issues.

Sushi Flower (Satin) is a repromoted permanent shade and the absolute worst-performing shade. That swatch requires 3 passes. Oddly enough, I didn't have these issues with my regular pan of this shade.

Bird's Eye View (Satin) scares the heck out of me. It's incredibly pigmented and really is that bold. Payoff is awesome as well.

The bottom row has my favorite shade in the palette:

First, can we just take a moment and enjoy that pigment? It's stunning.

Free Roaming (Veluxe Pearl) is worth the cost of admission alone. It's a greyed lilac with a perfect formula that blends like a dream. I need a full-sized pan of this! It performs like the best of Veluxe Pearl shades.

Naturally Fabulous (Matte) is a great grounding brown shade that will make this palette workable on a daily basis. I didn't test it in my initial look,but it swatches brilliantly.

Wierdly Wonderful (Veluxe) is an electric blue pop. Stunning pigmentation. I'm going to learn to figure this one out.

Here's my attempt at a full swatch:

I think this x9 palette is a winner. I've stayed away from them until now, but I love this one. The inclusion of the non-pink shades make it totally workable. I want to roll in that gorgeous dirty lilac on the bottom row. Gorg. I hope MAC somehow makes it permanent, or I'll be backing up this palette just for Free Roaming.

I don't have photographs to show you, but when I used the entire top row, Flock & Roll, Sushi Kiss, and Free Roaming yesterday and blended (blending is your friend), it produces a stunningly delicate and feminine eye. I paired it with Pink Swoon and with a bit of elbow grease got Long Legged & Fabulous to work. So lovely and girly, which is a huge surprise just looking at this palette in the pan.

One last final note, there are also two Beauty Powders in this collection, Pearl Blossom and Sunny Surprise. I skipped online, planned to purchase in-store, but skipped when I swatched the glosses instead. Here's a counter swatch of the two Beauty Powders though:

I may go back for Pearl Blossom in a few days, but I'm going to let my wallet cool off- especially with a whole new Chanel nail line.

That wraps up my coverage of MAC's Flamingo Park collection. I hope you enjoyed it!