Murad Hybrids Skin Perfecting Primer and Eye Lift: Swatches and Launch

Murad, the brand most famed for its wide, all-encompassing range of skincare products, including everything from acne to anti-aging, has now branched out into makeup! The brand's maiden offerings are still small, consisting of tinted face primers, the Skin Perfecting Primers, and eye concealers and brighteners, the Eye Lift products. Murad's selling point is that these are a hybrid of makeup and skincare, and have have accordingly named the entire range Hybrids. The Hybrids range is supposed to not only cover your imperfections in the short run, but also contain ingredients that improve the skin with long-run usage.



The Murad Hybrids website lists three Skin Perfecting Primers (Dewy, Matte, Acne), but in Singapore we only seem to have the Dewy and Matte. The main difference between the two is that the Dewy Finish primer is meant for dry skin, and gives a more glowy finish, while the Matte Finish primer is more for oily skin, and is meant to mattify the skin.



Both the Skin Perfecting Primers come packaged in sleek, black, packaging. The one thing I liked about this range from the outset is the very practical, no-mess, no-fuss, hygenic packaging - it's something a doctor would have come up with, as opposed to a sales and marketing person. The primers all come in pump bottles, which are much more hygenic than jars. The pumps have a fine opening, so you can be sure that you only pump out as much or as little as you need, without wastage.



Murad claims that all of the Skin Perfecting Primers are the same colour, and that the primers will adjust to any skin tone. When I heard this, I was really skeptical about the claim - I mean, since when did colour pigments magically change properties upon contact with skin? So I decided to put the products to the test, by swatching them on the spot. The photo below shows both the Dewy Finish and the Matte Finish primers swatched.



When I first swatched them, it appeared that both shades were too dark for my skin (around NC20 in MAC). Also, although both shades were supposed to be the same colour, it appeared to my eye that the Dewy Finish Primer was a hair darker than the Matte Finish Primer. But of course, I had to blend them in to be sure.

Upon blending, I had to admit I was mistaken. Both primers blended into my skin, and they didn't seem too dark at all. It seems like the primers are quite sheer in terms of coverage, thus the natural skin colour beneath shows through, which is pretty cool if you ask me! I'll definitely be trying out the primers a bit more to see how they actually fare on my face!



As you can see from the swatches, both primers - even the Matte Finish one - actually have tiny specks of shimmer in them, but the shimmer fortunately is quite muted in appearance. I don't foresee any problems looking like a discoball with these on. Also, the Dewy Finish primer is slightly thinner and more watery in texture than the Matte Finish primer, but both of them blend and apply in a similar manner, and provide similar coverage. These, as primers, are meant to be used under the skin, but since they provide a small amount of coverage, I can imagine that these could be used alone if you have reasonably good skin.

The other stars of Murad's Hybrids line are the Eye Lift products, consisting of the Eye Lift Illuminator, and the Eye Lift Perfector. These also come packaged in slim, black tubes.



As with the packaging of the Skin Perfecting Primers, Murad chose a very hygenic, practical packaging for the Eye Lift products. These are dispensed in click-pen form, but instead of the more commonly-used brush at the end of the pen, the product actually is dispensed by a slanted plastic tube. I know a plastic tube looks odd, but I much prefer it to the brush - in my experience, brushes tend to get all gunky and gooey and clumped up with product after a while, which makes them very gross. Plastic applicators are so much cleaner.



The Eye Lift Illuminator is meant as a under eye brightener, and contains a purple-violet sheen to brighten undereye discolouration. The Eye Lift Perfector functions more like a concealer, with a yellow-beige shade.

As you can see in the swatches below, although both have some form of shimmer, the Eye Lift Illuminator has larger, denser shimmer, as well as the violet sheen, while the Eye Lift Perfector has shimmer that is smaller, and more similar to the shimmer found in the Skin Perfecting Primers. Both have a light, watery texture that blends in easily and is quite pleasant to apply.



I'm pretty excited everytime a skincare brand launches makeup products, as my experience tends to be that the brand pays more attention to the formulation and ingredients used in the products. I'm hoping that these products fare well on my uber-sensitive skin. I'll be trying out the Skin Perfecting Primer, and will be reporting back on how it fares on my skin!



And to end off, that's a photo of myself and some of the other bloggers at the event, including my friend Lynn (whose brother used to be my classmate in University, way back when), and fellow beauty blogger LunaLunaFace. I don't know why I put that photo up when we're all squished in a corner, you barely see half my body, and the lighting was so bad that noone in the photo looks good (including myself). But hey, we all love photos, don't we?

St Tropez Skin Illuminator Swatches and FOTD!

One of the exciting shiny new products that have been released of late are their range of Skin Illuminators! These are making quite the splash, given that St Tropez's product range consists mostly of bronzing, self-tanning products and related suncare products. But here they are, with a line of products that appeals to people who wouldn't have an interest in bronzing.

The Skin Illuminators are making their debute for Spring/Summer 2011, and they are packaged in sleek, flat tubes.



Just in case you didn't know, although these are new products, St Tropez has actually had the Skin Illuminator out for awhile. The first Skin Illuminator was the Violet shade, and back then there was only one shade, so it was just called Skin Illuminator. It came in a smaller white tube, and contained 30ml instead of the 50ml that we have now. Yay for increased product size!

Anyway, the story goes that the first shade of Skin Illuminator proved so popular that St Tropez decided to supplement the Skin Illuminator with more shades, Rose and Gold. But for nostalgia's sake, here's the old tube:



The products come in a squeeze tube, and you can squeeze out a bit at a time, just enough for what you need.



Here are swatches of all the three products. You can see that they give off a distinct coloured sheen, which is very pretty.



L-R: Violet, Gold, Rose

And just because I know you guys will be interested in seeing the products up close and personal, here are close-up shots of all the the products one by one.

For starters, here's the Violet Skin Illuminator. This one doesn't have any discernable glitter or shimmer bits, it just produces a kind of purple-blue sheen on the skin, which I think is very cool. I can imagine this one being uesd for all kinds of effects, from subtle to out there. If you're afraid of having a blue glow on your face, it can be blended in. But the violet shade would be good for people with sallow yellow skins.



The Gold Skin Illuminator will probably be much sought after in the Western markets by customers looking to enhance a tan. This one doesn't give off much of a iridiscence like the Violet shade, but it has a certain glow. It also has more discernable bits of gold shimmer, but nothing that would draw your eye too much.



Lastly, the Pink Skin Illuminator. I can imagine this being very popular among Asian girls, since pink-tinged primers and creams are all the rage in this part of the world. This one has the least sheen adn iridiscence, and is the most subtle in terms of effect, so I think this could very well function as a skin primer under makeup as well. It has a soft pink glow, which is very pretty.



To end off, here is an FOTD (Face of the Day) I did with the Pink Skin Illuminator. The Skin lluminator is used on my cheeks, over a matte powder blush. As you can see, it just adds a soft kind of glow that isn't like a glitterbomb. I really like this effect.



As you can see, other than the colour, all three are slightly different. The Violet Skin Illuminator has the strongest sheen/iridiscence, while the Pink has the weakest. The Gold shade also features tiny speckles of shimmer, so depending on your preferences, one may suit you better than the other. Then again, of course, you could just get all three!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Jelly Pong Pong Brazilian Sun Bronzer and Wide Awake Palette

Think of cutesy makeup, and Jelly Pong Pong immediately comes to mind. I swear, the brand finds a cute way to package even the most mundane of products, and their recently-released Lavish Gift Bags are no exception to the rule.

There are two Gift Bags, Gift Bag A and Gift Bag B. In my last post, I looked at some of the Gift Bag products, namely, the Jelly Flush cheek stain and Lip Frosting. Today, I'm completing my peek into the items by featuring the Brazilian Sun Bronzer, and the Wide Awake Palette.

Okay now, let's gush at the packaging together! Ahhh, so cute! *Happy squeals* However, unlike the previous products featured which smelled of sweet edibles, these two products don't have any fragrances added to them.



The Brazilian Sun Bronzer is probably one of the cutest-packaged bronzers I've seen in my entire life. To be sure, the huge packaging is kinda clunky and not very travel-friendly, but it's just so cute. I was wondering why the bronzer needed such a large box, and when I opened the lid, I was quite surprised to see this:



My first reaction was - what is that? There's a flower in my bronzer! But it's not a flower. It's actually a powder puff for the bronzer, but it has the cutest flower top ever.



So what about the bronzer itself? The bronzer pan is glued to the bottom of the entire container, and it's a pretty big pan of bronzer. Since it's lodged inside the container, though, you'll have to use either the puff, or your own bronzer brush to apply the powder.

The colour of the bronzer is also very pretty. It's a medium brown, that doesn't run orangey or look too brash. It's actually quite wearable. It has some shimmer, so this probably won't be your best choice for contouring.



Here's a swatch of the Brazilian Sun bronzer, applied perhaps a bit more heavily than a normal person might apply. On me, it looks a little ruddy, so I'm actually considering using this as a blush colour, in addition to being a bronzer.



The last item that I have to cover is the Wide Awake Palette. This is also a very pretty palette. The packaging is clad in paper, though, so you wouldn't want to put this on your sink, or anywhere it would get wet.



The packaging is so pretty! I love the flower and bird illustrations on the cover.



The Wide Awake Palette consists of an illuminating cream, which is a cream highlighter with a beige colour, a soft lemon yellow highlighting cream, and an eyebrow sculptor, which consists of a trio of eyeshadow powders.



Here's a close-up shot of the products in the palette.



I've swatched the two cream highlighters side by side. Honestly, on my skin, they both turn kind of off-white and look quite similar. The good thing about the creams is that there isn't any discernable shimmer, and both creams are good for highlighting the high points of the face, or even acting as a concealer or brightener for the skin.



Here are swatches of the eyebrow sculptor powders. There is a good gradation of powder colours in the set, consisting of a tan beige colour, a medium warm brown, and a lovely neutral dark brown. A pretty wide array of shades are covered with the colours in this palette. The powders are also actually very soft and pigmented. I actually kind of think they could double up as eyeshadows in a pinch.



Would I recommend these products? I love the bronzer and would recommend it, cute flower puff and all. The palette is also very useful with its variety of creams and shades, but I wouldn't recommend it if you are planning to bring it along for travel. But if you are planning to use it at home, or if you want something with pretty packaging, this would be a good choice to check out.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Benefit Finding Mr Bright Swatches and Quick Peek!

Benefit has released Finding Mr Bright, a boxed set comprising of some of the brand's bestselling products, including highlighters, a liquid cheek/lip stain, and a concealer. You know I have a thing for sets, and I was pretty darn excited to get my grubby little hands on this baby!

The product comes in the cutest little paper box ever, complete with girly flourescent orange and pink print. This would make a really great gift, because it's just so cute, pretty, and presentable!



Opening up the package and taking a peek got me all excited. It really did feel like opening a treasure trove of cute little mini items, all delightfully packed.



Inside, you have a 7.5ml tube of Girl Meets Pearl, a 4.0ml mini bottle of Posietint, a 2.5ml mini bottle of High Beam, and a 3.2g jar of Erase Paste, in No. 2 Medium.



I'll eventually be reviewing some of the products individually, but for now, I thought I'd give a quick look into the set by swatching the individual items.

First up, the two highlighters, Girl Meets Pearl, and High Beam.


L-R: High Beam (applied heavily and lightly), Girl Meets Pearl (applied heavily and lightly)

It might seem a bit redundant that Benefit included two highlighters in the set, but after playing around with these, I can see why. Girl Meets Pearl is meant more as a brightening primer, and the highlighting effect in this product is very subtle. In fact, if you blend it in, you'll barely get any shimmer at all. It's also a bit more skin-coloured, as opposed to High Beam's pale-pink shade.

High Beam, on the other hand, can definitely be a reflective highlighter, suitable for selective highlighting on areas you want to bring out, as opposed to all over the face. In fact, I wouldn't recommend you use High Beam all over the face, unless you blend it into moisturizer or foundation or some similar base, as indiscrete usage could make you look like a discoball!

Next up, we have the ever-popular Posie Tint. I have to say, although Posie Tint has been on the market for awhile, I was never drawn to it, until I tried it:



When Posietint first came out, my thoughts were, "Meh, pale pink? I don't do pale pinks on my cheeks or lips." But what do you know, this is one pretty darn gorgeous shade. While it's a pale pink, to be sure, it wasn't the sickly, pastel pale pink I envision. This shade is actually quite bright, and can be blended in for that barely-there flush, or used more intensely for a brighter effect. I'd call it a sheer pop of bright pink. I really like it. Very Spring/Summer.

And lastly, we have Erase Paste, one of Benefit's better-selling items.



Unfortunately, No. 2 Medium isn't quite my shade (I'm NC20 in MAC). This shade is a fair bit darker and pinker. I'd guesstimate the shade to be around NW25 or NW30-ish. The coverage is definitely impressive, which is why it sells so well, but the texture is that of a thick, tacky paste, which could be either good or bad, depending on user preferences. Personally, I do feel like it's a bit too tacky for my liking, but this product gets fantastic reviews everywhere, so it could just be me.

So, would I recommend this set? Well, assuming the Erase Paste shade is a decent match for your skin, why not? You do get a good range of products, and all of them are worth trying. In particular, if you love highlighters and brightening products, or products for the face and cheeks, this set will really appeal to you. And lastly, it's also a pretty good set to give away, because it just looks so cute.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Glowy FOTD and Reveiw: Eyeko Extra Glow Cream

Eyeko has just released a limited edition highlighter cream, called the Extra Glow Cream. This is distinct from their current cream highlighter (called Eyeko Cream) because it is a light pink cream with silver shimmer (instead of gold like most highighting creams), so it works better for cool-toned ladies.



The cream comes in a cute little pink plastic pot and it has a white lid (not shown in the photo below) inside the pot to prevent the product from leaking. It's a pretty huge pot, like around the size of a face cream, so you know you'll be getting your money's worth!

The cream itself has a slightly harder consistency, it's not runny or liquid, but more of a solid, along the lines of a cream blush as opposed to a face cream. I actually like the more solid consistency, it make it easier to pick up the right amount with a stippling brush.



The colour itself is a very light beige-pink with fine silver shimmer in the pot, but when applied, the colour doesn't show very much, and just becomes an off-white silver shimmer. Unless you use copious amounts of this, the base colour isn't going to show up on you. And although Eyeko has marketed this to the cool-toned girls, I feel because the colour just ends up being off-white shimmer, I think warm-toned girls can wear this too, because you can't really tell the colour of the shimmer once it's applied. It just looks like a sheen on.

The swatch below shows the cream used in natural light, both blended out, and unblended:



I actually quite like this cream. I tried it in outdoors light and in indoors light, and although I thought the shimmer particles were larger than I'd like, it actually wore very well, even indoors. You can see the shimmer indoors, but it's not too much. I think given the inexpensive price, this is actually worth the money - you won't get huge disco-ball glitter chunks on your cheeks, the shimmer is much finer than that. It's still not as fine as the really top-end brands (Becca and Smashbox come to mind for awesome shimmer products), but it works pretty well and is a LOT cheaper.

Here's an FOTD I did using the cream on my cheeks. I dedicded to pair it with Illamasqua's Sin blush (another one of those colours that looks scary in the pan but beautiful on), because it's a matte colour, and I thought it would showcase the blush colour and the highlighting effect of the shimmer nicely. It's taken in natural light, and like I said, it looked a lot more natural and subtle than I thought it would be.



Here's a break down for the FOTD:

Eyes:
LORAC Persuasion
Covergirl Lashblast mascara
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Metallic Brass (outer lower lashline)

Face:
MAC Studio Finish Concealer NC20 (undereye area only)
MAC Select Cover Up Concealer NC20 (spot application on face)
Agnes B Radiant Loose Face Powder Lumiere D'aurore mixed with some CS Silica Powder
Illamasqua Sin
Eyeko Extra Glow Cream (on cheeks, applied over Sin)

Lips:
Lancome Juicy Tubes in Beach Plum

I've said before that I don't use foundation, just concealer and loose powder to set. I know a lot of girls don't feel confident wearing cream products over powder, but as this FOTD shows, it's perfectly possible (I'm wearing the Eyeko Cream over Illamasqua Sin, which is a powder blush, and my Agnes B face powder). The trick is to use a stippling brush, like the MAC 187 or 188. Here I'm using my Flirt Feather Dust-Her! brush. Using the brush, lightly stipple the cream product onto your face with light tapping or bouncing motions, and don't rub or drag the brush too much. With this technique, you don't disturb the layers of powder underneath (well, you do disturb them, but minimally). Hopefully this helps someone out there! :)

(This product was sent to me for review. I am not compensated by or affiliated with the company. This review represents my complete and honest opinion.)

Collection 2000 Shimmer and Shade Powder Swatches!

Collection 2000 is probably the cheapest brand of makeup you'll probably be able to buy in the UK, and it's akin to Wet n Wild in the US. However unlike Wet n Wild, which has a user base appreciative of its products, Collection 2000 doesn't seem to generate the same amount of interest. My personal hypothesis is that this is due to the fact that it is overshadowed by other UK drugstore brands (ahem, Sleek and Barry M), but also due to the fact that the quality of Collection 2000 items tend to be a little bit spotty. If you remember my previous Collection 2000 swatches, there were some items (the eyeshadow palettes, swatched HERE) that were just OK, and some items (the metallic liners, swatched HERE) that looked more promising, and some items that are just disappointing - today's swatches being a case in point.

Maybe disappointing was a strong word. I guess that in the age of NARS, Cargo, Illamasqua, and other fiendish brands that produce blushes that have wow-pow-wham-bam pigmentation, I've come to expect that my blushes and highlighters should have more pigment rather than less. I'm sure not everyone agrees with me on this though, since blush intensity is really more a matter of preference and the look you're going for than anything else. Which is why though I don't love these, some other people definitely will.

The Collection 2000 Shimmer and Shade Powders are touted as being a highlighter, bronzer, and blush all in one. Each Shimmer and Shade Powder has three colours, which you can blend together or use separately. The packaging is actually quite attractive too - they have these cute little flowers on the surface:


(Picture taken from Collection 2000 website)

Anyway, despite the adorable packaging, the pigmentation on these was pretty sheer, with some colours verging on being chalky. You'll see what I mean with the swatches.

First is Pink Me Up, Shade 1:



The swatch on the extreme right shows all 3 colours blended together, while the first 3 swatches from the left show the individual colours in the palette.

I think this one is alright. It's a bit chalky, and a bit weak in pigmentation, but the pink colour isn't too bad.

Next we have Golden and Gorgeous, Shade 2:



This one is a pretty peachy golden shade, which would work better on warmer-toned girls than cooler-toned ones.

Lastly, we have Just Peachy! which is Shade 3:



I know this is supposed to be peach, but on me it just turned out to be varying shades of off-white. And it was sheer. And chalky. This one probably the least impressive of the lot. It's probably best used as a highlighter for fairer girls since the colour doesn't really show up too well.

The last time I swatched Collection 2000's blushes (HERE) I said that I felt that while the quality of most of their products was not too shabby, the powder products aren't their strength, and I think this agrees with my assessment of today's swatches. They do have some pretty good stuff though - which I'll be swatching soon enough! :)