MAC Coco Pigment and Urban Decay Eyeshadow: Dupes or Not?

If you love makeup as much as I do, you will probably have heard of the legendary MAC Coco pigment. It was released once as a limited edition shade in May 2005 (that's five whopping years ago!), promptly sold out, and was never released again. Right now, if you can find any, it goes for handsome amounts on Ebay and other scalper sites. It was hailed as the perfect complex taupey neutral, that looks good on almost every skintone. And it's runaway popularity and success was all the more impressive because it happened in the days when beauty blogging was still wearing pampers, so there weren't any bloggers to toot its horn and post photos (there were online forums, though).

Anyway, awhile back, I managed to get my hands on a small sample of the notorious Coco pigment. And while I cradled my precious in my hands, I couldn't help buy notice one thing: beautiful as it was (hello complex taupe!), it looked familiar. Eerily familiar. Like, don't-I-already-have-a-similar-colour-in-my-stash familiar.

Excited at this awesome possibility that Coco pigment might have a dupe, I went to my stash to dig out all my eyeshadows, and found the potential dupe - the humble and totally underrated Urban Decay eyeshadow in YDK.

Here they are in their containers. Similar, no?



L-R: Mac Coco Pigment (in sample jar), Urban Decay YDK

But of course, the million-dollar question is, how are they swatched? So here you go:



L-R: Urban Decay YDK, Mac Coco

There you go! I do think they are dupes, or at least on my skin they are. I think one might be a tad browner than the other, but I honestly think that if you already have YDK, and you pay insane amounts for MAC's Coco, you're going to be disappointed that you paid for something you already have a dupe for.

On me, they're virtually identical. It may vary on other people, as to some extent what passes for a dupe is partly dependent on your skintone. Not so much for nail polish, but more so for makeup products. Still, I think UD's (Urban Decay) YDK is going to satisfy a lot of lemmings for MAC's Coco.

Which might make some of us wonder - if MAC's Coco pigment was all that and a bag of chips, why isn't UD's YDK taking over the world and being sold out at Sephoras and other makeup stores all across the world? It could be that MAC has that hardcore fanatic fanbase that makes every LE item a must-have while UD doesn't, or it could be that Coco was such a long time ago that people forget they ever wanted it and have moved on to other things. I guess this just shows that some makeup products are just totally underrated. And UD YDK is one of them.

Anyway, to sum up my post - both colours are TEH AWESOMEZ, like SRSLY. LOL. No seriously - it's hard to fine such a complex taupe. It's taupe, sure but they have hints of other colours - bronze, plum, champagne, purple, brown - that make it so unique, and so universally flattering. And also, that if you missed the boat on Coco pigment, you can still catch the YDK one.

NOTD: Barry M Mushroom: I haz it!

Today's NOTD is Barry M Mushroom, and I have it thanks to Jellyminx, who writes the blog Jellyminx Thinks. Remember how a few posts back HERE I was whining about how I couldn't find it? Jellyminx had one, and she offered to send it to me! She's like the nicest person ever!

So anyway, here is Barry M Mushroom. I know some people will be wondering if this is a dupe for Chanel Particuliere. Unfortunately I don't have any comparison swatches, but by sheer fortune I was able to compare to my friend, who was wearing Particuliere on the exact same day I was wearing Mushroom. By comparing our fingers, we were able to do a quick visual comparison, and while I don't have photos, I can say that it isn't a dupe, although it is a similar shade. Mushroom is a tad darker than Particuliere, but otherwise they're both close, being brown-grey based shades with comparatively little purple (as compared to other mushroom shades).

Anyway, here is the NOTD:



And here's another picture of my crabby-looking hands with the bottle:



Gorgeous isn't it? How do you guys like this taupe trend? Still hot, or dying out?

Haul Post: Illamasqua Beg, Models Own and Why I Didn't Buy Chanel Particuliere

I know we're in the middle of swatching our Barry M Dazzle Dusts, but I just had to take out a bit of time to show off my haul - we'll be back to the Dazzle Dusts in my next post, promise!

ASOS had a sale and I bought makeup and nail polish, and only makeup and nail polish. I don't know why I have that problem. I never buy clothes, rarely buy shoes, occasionally buy bags (my other weakness), but give me a sale and throw in some makeup and I'll be all over it.

Anyway, this means I get to show off my haul, and because I love you guys (aww!), I included a couple of bottle comparison pictures. I know they're bottle comparison pictures and not swatches, but I promise I'll get around to the swatching soon!

But first, the haul.

I got my first Illamasqua blush ever, and it's in the colour Beg. It's a pretty, slightly deep dusty rose colour, that is more neutral than anything else. At some point in the future I will do swatches and possibly an FOTD and a full review, but you'll have to go on this for now:



I know, it's a beautiful thing right?!

Then, because it was also really cheap, I bought a duo set of nail polishes, consisting of two Asos by Ciate colours. This particular set has Sienna, a purply-taupe-grey-brown creme which is the type of nail colour that is right up my alley, and Alexa, a navy blue creme. Obviously you can tell I bought the set just for Sienna:



And I also bought a Models Own It set, because it was just 2.50GBP. How could I resist? It had a nail buffer (which I doubt I'll use), a lipgloss and a nail polish:



Ok, Ok, so on to the comparison pics. I do intend to swatch and review these and make them more extensive, but here is why I didn't buy Chanel Particuliere, although purply-brown-grey nail colours are just my thing. *clears throat* I already have too many taupey-purply-brown-grey nail colours. I know Particuliere may not be a dupe for any of them, but I feel like I may have too many shades in the same colour family, as it is.



L-R: Essie Mink Muffs, ASOS by Ciate Sienna, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Rimmel Steel Grey

I know, that's not a lot by nail fanatic standards, but by civilian standards, that's way too many! :X And what's more, these are just the ones I have here. There are a couple that I don't have on me right now, like $OPI Metro Chic.

To make the comparisons easier to see, I've turned the bottles on their sides as well, so you can look at them:



L-R: Essie Mink Muffs, ASOS by Ciate Sienna, Nails Inc Jermyn Street, Rimmel Steel Grey

See, I tell you, I can own all of them because they're NOT identical, not even in the bottle, even if they're all close. Honestly, this makes me vacilliate a lot on Chanel Particuliere, because chances are, I know Particuliere won't be an exact dupe for any of these, but it'll probably be pretty close. And while I abide by the if-it-isn't-an-exact-dupe-it's-a-justified-buy rule of nail fanatics, I also know that 99.99% of people aren't going to be able to tell the difference. Add that to the fact that Chanels here retail for 16GBP (and yes, I do know they're more expensive elsewhere), and you get a very indecisive girl.

That said, I am happy with what I have, and here's how they're different. ASOS by Ciate Sienna is the most purple, while Essie Mink Muffs is the most brown, and Rimmel Steel Grey has strong hints of purple and grey, while Nails Inc Jermyn Street is an equal mix of all three. If you're just going for one, I guess which colour you'd be picking is a matter of preference, and skin undertone. I think they're all neutral enough to be worn by most people, but if you really want to split hairs, in general, some purples and greys can look a little odd on girls who are really warmtoned, so if you're really warm, you might want to try Essie Mink Muffs and Nails Inc Jermyn Street, which are more brown. If you're cooltoned and you love your purples, Asos by Ciate Sienna is a good pick, while if you want something a tad more grey, Rimmel Steel Grey (which is only partly grey) is perhaps best.

Alright, showing-off time over! We'll be back to the Barry M Dazzle Dusts in my next post. Thanks for humouring me guys!

L'oreal Hip Electrified Duo vs Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve: Dupes or Not?

I never need more taupe eyeshadow. But I can't help it, I'm just drawn to taupes..Everytime I see one, I just HAVE to have it. So of course, I end up with dupes, or near-dupes of my various taupes. The good thing, of course, is that dupes save you money! And as is the case for today's post, the cheaper dupe is actually superior to the more expensive pretender! That happens, but not that often, so everytime it happens, it's a huge WOW for me.

So what mystery product is this? And what is it a dupe for? I'm talking about the L'oreal Hip Metallic Shadow Duo in Electrified. I bought it all the way back in June last year, when I was still in the US. I saw it at Walgreens, and my first reaction was, "OMG TAUPE TAUPE TAUPE TAUPE!" And then my next reaction was, "But I have a gazillion taupes!" So "TAUPE TAUPE TAUPE" and "But I have a gazillion" battled in my head for a grand total of 15mins (it doesn't sound like a lot, but if you actually stood in front of a display looking deep in thought for 15 mins, you're going to look like a weirdo!), and in the end "I have a gazillion" won, so I went home empty handed.

And then, as I always do, I went on MUA. And lo and behold, EVERYONE was talking about Electrified. And how it was gorgeous. Beautifully pigmented. Awesome in colour. And then my brain started screaming "TAUPE TAUPE TAUPE" again, and I headed back to Walgreens to get it.

I know. I'm such a loser with no taupe self-control.

Anyway, did the L'oreal Hip Electrified duo really live up to it's reputation? You bet it did. The duo itself is a pairing of two colours, a shimmery metallic light-to-medium taupe colour (TAUPE TAUPE TAUPE) and a more boring deep matte purple-brown. The metallic taupe in particular is beautiful, and a cut above other taupes. It's taupe, sure, but it's a complex taupe. It has hints of brown, tan, silver (thanks to the frost) but at the same time it has just the slightest bit of purple. And it's a straight up neutral, neither too warm or too cool - well, maybe leaning just ever so slightly to the cool side, but this looks neutral enough to me, as far as taupes go. And it has this lovely metallic finish, almost frosty, that makes it look silvery in some lights, and gold in others. I think this is because the 'base' color for the taupe in Electrified is brownish, but the frost gives it a slivery tone, thus producing a color that transcends the cool-warm divide. (Am I getting off my rockers here?) The brown side is a lovely brown with purple thrown into the mix, and is a good cool-leaning-neutral basic type of color. Nothing too exciting, but certainly a basic well done, and a great complement to the taupe shade, bringing out it's complexity with the purple tinge of the brown.

I wore the duo out for one entire day, and I found both colours to be awesomely pigmented, have no creasing problems, and stay vibrant all day. No fallout from both shade either, so the texture is divine. The only thing is that my eyes got a little irritated by the dark purply-brown colour...At the end of the day, the skin on my eyes started itching where I had put the dark purple-brown colour. Although in all fairness it could have been a mix of my own pesperation that interacted with the colour and caused this reaction, because it was a really hot and sweaty day. (And yes, I have uber sensitive skin.) But other people seem to have used the duo with no problems whatsoever, so it could just be me. Strangely enough though, the beautiful metallic taupe didn't have any reaction on my eyelids.

But because this is a dupe post, and not a full-out review post, I will now tell you what the beauteous metallic taupe is a near-dupe for. And I know you're not going to believe me, so I have pictures! It's a dupe for Bobbi Brown's Heather Mauve eyeshadow!

I have a small tiny version of Heather Mauve (awww, it's a baby!) that came as a sample for spending too much money on Bobbi Brown stuff, so here is a photo of both them in their pans:



Okay, they look similar enough. Now for swatches. These are indoors, in natural light, as always.



Bobbi Brown Heather Mauve is on top, while the L'Oreal Electrified HIP Duo taupe is on the bottom.

Now it's evident the colours are really very similar, but they're not 100% dupes. Of course not. L'Oreal Electrified has just totally kicked Bobbi Brown's little rear! Sorry Bobbi, but I really do prefer Electrified to Heather Mauve. First of all, the taupe from Electrified is so much more pigmented - it took a few swipes to get the taupe from Electrified to show up, but as you can see, even with extensive built-up swatching over and over, Heather Mauve still looks kind of sheer and wimpy in the swatches. Secondly, the L'oreal taupe is a lot more frosty than the Bobbi Brown version. I know some girls will prefer the Bobbi Brown version because of that, and if you're a sheer eyeshadow girl who hates frost, you might just like Heather Mauve better, but I really like Electrified better. I also think that the taupe in L'oreal Electrified just looks more frosty simply because it's better pigmented, so the frost and the colour show up more.

Other than the big differences in pigmentation and frostiness, I do believe that the colours are very, very similar, if not near-identical. For one, the base colours are the same. They both have a taupey-brown base, silver shimmer, and a hint of purple. But I somehow feel that L'Oreal Electrified is a little more complex, because it als has hints of gold from certain angles, which you don't get with Heather Mauve - I feel like Heather Mauve is a little more 'flat' and not as multi-dimensional as Electrified.

So which one should you get? Well, Bobbi Brown's Heather Mauve is more than double the price of L'Oreal's HIP Electrified duo. If you're cheap like me, it's enough to make up your mind. But if you really want a sheer eyeshadow with no frost, you might try Heather Mauve over Electrified. I do believe there are girls out there who would prefer Heather Mauve. But for the rest of us, and for girls who want a more complex colour with better pigmentation, I think the L'Oreal Electrified duo is a better choice.

KOTD: Sephora OPI Metro Chic, Konad Special Polish White

Today's KOTD is $OPI's Metro Chic, and I used Konad's Special Polish in White for the design.

$OPI Metro Chic has been all over the blogosphere and back. It's a much overexposed, much over-reviewed little thing, but I do like it very much. I love these purply-grey-brown, mushroomy colours. They're probably my favourite colours for nails. Anyway, this isn't really good OPI - but then I've been told via hearsay that $OPI polishes are not actually made the same as OPI polishes, they just have the OPI label slapped on them. No idea if that is true or not though. This was 2 coats, although 3 would have been optimal. It's a litle sheer and streaky, although 2 - 3 coats covers nicely.

This was plate M36, I believe. Once again, sorry for the lousy lack of skills, as well as the raggedy cuticles - I'm very much a noob in the nail department, and I swear, I'm chronically plagued by terribe cuticles.

Taupe of the Day: Bourjois Ombre Stretch Brun Nylon Swatch

As you know, from my stash pics here in this post, I have more taupes than I could ever use up. In fact, I suspect that there will be enough for me, my children, and my grandchildren - future generations will always have enough taupe!

So today I wil show you a taupe from my collection, but wasn't in my stash pics (horror!) - Bourjois Ombre Stretch Eyeshadow in Brun Nylon. Now I'm not that huge a fan of Bourjois - I mean, I don't hate the brand, but it's just never been one of those that caught my eye, although I've heard people rave about their blushes. But I think this shadow isn't shabby at all - in fact, I quite like it. As usual, feel free to click on all the pics for the full-sized picture.



That's the outside packaging. Please ignore that purple residue from the huge tag Superdrug likes to put on all its products.



And that's a closeup of the baby.



Oh yes. Hey there, gorgeous.
And of course, no review is complete without a swatch!



That swatch is in shaded natural light (in other words, me pressing my arm against my basement bedroom window, hoping enough light flows in to take a picture...) so there shouldn't be too much color distortion.

Anyway, here it is. It might surprise some people, since this isn't your expected 'taupe', like Satin Taupe or ME850, but it's a good bit lighter, and a tad browner. I kind of like it this way though, it's actually pretty unique in my stash, and that's saying something :P It's not a dark taupey, purply taupe, like MAC's Satin Taupe, but it's a good medium-to-light taupey color, with a good shot of silver, beige-ish-ness (I think that's what makes it medium-to-light, instead of a dark plummy taupe), and just a hint of purple. But it's still taupe. It reminds me of a more purple, less beige and brown Stila Wheat, since it's of a similar color depth. It's a little on the frosty side, but not so frosty that it's unwearable. Because of the mix of beige and purple in the color, I'd say this color is pretty neutral, maybe leaning a tad to the cool side. I think for most people, this would work as a lid color for most people, and would probably have to be paired with a darker colour for the crease - for my NC20 self, this shows up well enough on my skin. I personally really love this color, because for me a lot of the cult taupes out there tend to be on the dark side, and it's hard finding a nice light taupe. This for me is perfect - not too dark and not too light.

Pigmentation starts off sheer at first, but color is very buildable. I think that's what the 'Ombre Stretch' selling point means - the idea is that they have these nylon micro-spheres that allow the shadows to be 'stretched' out - i.e. stretched out sheer, or packed on opaque. I don't believe nylon particles are going to make an eyeshadow fantastic, but at least they got the description right on this one - it is buildable, and very nicely buildable, even if it starts off sheer. Just the whole thing about nylon-microspheres is such a terrible way to put it across to the consumer - I'm not sure if the average consumer is going to understand the mix of nylon and eyeshadow. Bu at least there's no false advertising here - it does start off sheer, and builds nicely. The texture of Brun Nylon is also pretty smooth, which is good, and it applies well.

I wore Brun Nylon for one entire day to try out how it wore as the day went on, and I'm pleased to say this is decent. It doesn't fade, but it does crease a little by the end of the day, but I wasn't wearing any primer or base (I don't have major eyeshadow issues so I've never found it necessary), so I think with a little primer this will be much better.

If you don't mind frosty eyeshadows, or the fact that you have to build up the pigment, and if you've been wanting a light taupe, not a deep, dark, taupe, this is worth a shot. It's harder to find a light taupe than a dark taupe, and good ones are hard to come by, so if you feel that alot of the taupey colors out there are too dark for you, this is worth a try. Brun Nylon isn't a flashy colour, and it isn't going to start any periods of obssessing on MUA, nor is it going to garner a whole host of cult followers, but it's a good workhorse basic.

Yay, a new blog! And NOTD: Nails Inc Jermyn Street

Ok, so right now I'm busy with work and all, but holidays are coming up soon, and soon I will have time to post. For now this is going to be limited to makeup posts (no FOTDs, sorry), and NOTD posts, because I'm a huge slacker, and there are plenty of blogs doing the let's-swatch-every-new-collection-that-comes-out thing. This is going to be my online reference place - for things I like or hate - basically things I have something to say about.

I'll probably start with some NOTD posts, because that's what I'm into right now. With any luck I'll document my swatches (dupes, personal stash) at some point. I could post everything on MUA, and I will, but it's just nice to have my own personal space for reference, where everything I have is in one place.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my first constructive post ever: an NOTD from awhile back - Nails Inc Jermyn Street, which I bought sometime in the not-too-distant past, when I went on a total Nails Inc haulage! (Yes this is the disclosure bit - I bought this myself! Not paid to write this or affiliated to any company blah blah blah...Dude, duh. My blog, just born, is not famous enough to get freebies. And with how slack I am it's never going to reach the pinnacle of blog famedom.)Of course, I just HAD to get this, it's one of the standouts of their line, and purply-taupey-brown? Mmmmmm...that's my favourite eyeshadow color, and it would make a good nail colour too!

I really love Nails Inc polishes, every single one I've used has had the bestest application ever - smooth, even, just the right balance between thin and thick, and some of the colours (especially the darker ones in my experience) are so awesomely pigmented that you could probably Konad with them. Now I'm a nail noob, and I'm nowhere near the gods of the nail board on MUA, but I've spent enough of my dough on nail polishes to know an awesome one when I see it. And this, ladies and gents, is totally AWESOME.



Click to see full-sized pic.

This is 2 coats, no topcoat, under crappy lamplight. And yes, it's a crappy pre-clean-up pic, so sorry about the frazzles et al. The colour is pretty close, though, despite the lamplight, if I do say so myself. It's even got a hint of purple too, a slight one.

Applying it was effortless, although I do have one teensy gripe - the CAP!! Why does such a beautifully formulated nail polish have to have a sucky cap? The cap is big, so maneuvering it requires a bit of work - I don't know why, but somehow having to handle a cap this bag kind of reduces my dexterity, so I get more polish on my cuticles etc than I normally would. Well I did say I was a nail noob! Otherwise, Nails Inc is awesome, and I totally want to buy more of these to add to my already-growing stash of them.

And the color? I really love this one - it's in the same color family as OPI's YDJK, and $OPI's Metro Chic. It's more brown than Metro Chic though, and much lighter, browner, and less grey than YDJK. It's yet another addition to my taupey-mushroomey-brown-with-a-hint-of-purple color family, and I'm loving it to bits. It's a gorgeous creme finish, smooth and opaque in 2 coats, and basically just 10ml of creme awesomeness. It takes 2 coats to be totally opaque though, so I'm not sure if I'd want to Konad with this. Maaayyyybe one day I might try. But for now I can say that my eyeshadow matches my nail color! Haw haw!