October 2017 Favorites

Much like September's favorites, I'm going to try to keep it simple here. I was all over the board in terms of testing new products this month (I hope the diversity of posts- and the frequency- was a tipoff to that.) Consider this the best of the best.

Eyes:

Eyeshadow: Quite unexpectedly, Tarte Clay Play found its way into my heart this month. I find it such a quiet but reliable friend that can rescue most looks gone awry. I also became obsessed once again with putting highlighter on my eyes- in this case, Fenty Beauty Trophy Wife. I've been looking for the perfect gold for years and this is it. I haven't talked about it in this space yet, but my Inglot Eco Palette was a go-to. Marc Jacobs The Lolita continues to be that go-to when I don't know what else to do.

Eyeliner and Mascara: I'll continue to give a written nod to the perfect ABH trio of liners that are the foundation of my work. I continued to enjoy my Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Precision Longwear Eyeliner and the Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara.

Cheeks and Face:

Blush: I got in a rut this month. I think Fiona Stiles Soft Cheek Veil in Valley was on my cheeks all but a few days, and Physicians Formula Butter Blush in Plumrose the other days. It was a neutral month, ok?

Bronzer: I finally finished my Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer this month, and I remembered why I love it. L'Oreal Glam Bronze continues to lurk around.

Highlight: I don't remember what I was wearing before it came into my life, but aside from the days when I was testing something else, MAC Whisper of Gilt has been my BFF. I get it, y'all.

Contour: Kat Von D Shade and Light palette. Enough said.

Primers: I wore quite a few, but nothing's fab enough to shout out. I have a quiet routine, but I'm not going to write the same thing every month.

Concealers and Correctors: I'm trying a new concealer that I'm not yet ready to shout-out... wait for the review.

Foundation: I discovered a new HG foundation this month- Inglot HD Perfect Coverup Foundation. Look for a full review soon. I also rediscovered how much I enjoy MAC Studio Fix Foundation, which is a true classic. An old HG, Chanel Perfection Luminere Velvet, just wouldn't stop jumping into my hands in the morning.

Powders: I rotated through a few powders this month. After taking the sifter off, I rediscovered just how good NARS Soft Velvet Loose Powder in Flesh is. I also continued my love affair with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light, RCMA No Color Powder, and Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light.



Lips:


I'll be honest, I've been playing with holiday releases for most of this month (for example, all 6 LORAC kits), so I don't have any favorites! I'm looking forward to giving my lips a break in November!

Nails:

I  pulled out some classic shades this month- Chanel Rouge Noir, Chanel Atmosphere, and Chanel Particuliere.

That's it- it's a light October because of all of the testing.  I'm doing something different this month- an entire month-long everyday makeup drawer. Wish me lujck.

Inglot Comes to Town: My Experience

Today I have a bonus post of a different sort to share- my experience at the opening of an Inglot freestanding store recently. I hesitate to post this for a number of reasons, but since Inglot freestanding shops are fairly rare I feel it might be useful information.

I attended as a member of the general public, as evidenced by the fact that I only have a photo of the closed-door gala from the outside.

The whole experience was interesting. Even with it being an opening, there were learning opportunities- especially for mall security.

Pre-Opening:

I queued with quite a few others because there was a promised bag for the first 50 customers. Sadly, I felt quite uncomfortable as there was a group of teens that were generally behaving like teens who were badly in need of some adult supervision. Exhibit 1: nearby construction. It wasn't open before they got to it.

I was rather irritated when mall security didn't care about this behavior even after reporting.

The other thing that left me with a poor initial impression was the delay in opening the store. I understand it was the public opening. The line doubled between 9:30 and 9:45 in advance to the 10AM opening. By 10:08 the queue had exceeded the waiting area. We saw the first staff at 10:10 when they started a photo shoot outside of the closed store, and started interacting with our first staff member at 10:15. The doors ultimately didn't open until 10:22. Ouch. However, things do happen for an initial launch- just not the impression that the brand probably intended to make. Luckily, I didn't hold a grudge.

The store itself looked immaculate. I'm going to throw in a few shots as we go along.

The Store:

It looked amazing. There were several makeup stations, where artists were ready to work on a select few.

I'm looking forward to someday sitting down in one of those chairs- but opening day wasn't the time.

The products just looked stunning before the public got to mess with them:

I was so impressed by how sleek it all looked. The only other exposure in-person I've had to the brand was a counter in a local Macys. This was so much nicer.

There was so much that I wanted to play with, but I barely scratched the surface. It was quite busy since it was the initial launch. The 20% off being offered only kept the crowds around.


The Gift Bag: 

Let me caveat the discussion about the swag bag given to the first 50 customers with this: these are four full-sized products and I'm grateful to receive them for free. I don't look free lipstick in the packaging, if you know what I mean.

We each received a small shopping bag with four of the lipstick pans (retail $7-9 each) for free. (Caveat: these are on clearance for $3.50 on Inglot's site but Beautylish has them for regular retail.)

I suspect these are older packages- note the differences with the two pans I later went back for.

I actually received two of one pan- a bright yellow.

The Experience:

I feel like being early led me to my initial wait and searching for assistance. I did just give up eventually and started matching myself to base products while waiting for assistance and eventually someone was free to grab the products that I had selected- who turned out to be a manager. She was lovely and went above and beyond.

I ran back into the store a second time to get some wearable lipsticks to test and was surprised how quiet the store was. I was able to get in and out relatively quickly. I wasn't able to get everything that I wanted, but that's ok. I will be back in the future.

I'm looking forward to see how the store does as the staff gets more familiar with the products and helping an assortment of customers. I still have a lengthy list of items I'd like to try- and I will eventually.

I did purchase a large amount of products to test, so you'll be seeing them in this space over the next few weeks or months. Even after discount, I was pushing $150.

An update- I came in a week later and one of the associates actually remembered me. It was like a great oiled machine and the experience was seamless- I'm glad that my initial suspicion that the store would step it up was correct.

Bottom Line: I'll be back and look forward to really getting to explore and learn more about the brand.