beautyADDICTS offers 4 different eyeshadow palettes to choose from: GlowEYES, ExpressEYES, MotivateEYES and SeduceEYES. Each is a mix of matte and shimmer to accentuate and highlight your eyes. And for only $35, it won’t break the bank to help someone look absolutely stunning for the Holidays and beyond.

Where to get it: www.beautyaddicts.com

Photo Credit: beautyADDICTS

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This limited edition set, exclusive to Sephora, contains a Plum Lip Butter, Plum Cherry Lip Gloss and Plum Sunflower & Evening Primrose Shimmering Eyeshadow (which is my favorite of the 3).

You’ll start seeing a lot more Holiday-inspired products here on Makeup Minute over the next few weeks. While the economy may have you down, there is nothing better than window shopping and dreaming of these great Holiday-themed sets.

Korres Sugar Plums is available for $29.50 at Sephora.

*Photo Credit: Sephora

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Unfortunately, I most likely forgot about these eye powders because I was not all that impressed. The eye shadow applicator is similar to a lip gloss one. It makes it somewhat difficult to apply the eye powder without it being a bit messy. Your wand is already dipped into the powder, which you pull out vs. swiping a brush across a pressed shadow. Or if you use minerals, swirling and tapping the excess.

Now we all want well pigmented eye shadow, but to the Shimmer Smudger’s downfall the pigment is really rich making these colors very dark upon application. I tried blending it out, which really took some work. In the end, I ended up looking like I had been punched in the eye (or put my makeup on in the dark).

The Shimmer Smudger’s are offered in 3 colors:

Slate Green: A mossy green with iridescent green glitter.
Burnished Metal: An earthy, coal gray with iridescent multi-color glitter.
Etched Brown: A rusty bronze shade with iridescent pink glitter.

So sadly, I am not a fan. Have you used them? Do you agree or disagree?

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According to their site, the roller ball glides easily over your eyelid dispersing the right amount of color. It’s also good for layering colors as well.

Makeup that blends and doesn’t make a mess? Sounds perfect to me. Have you used it?

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I received the Best Sellers Variety pack which comes with 10 pairs of eye shadow applicators, setting powder and double ended brush/eye shadow wand.

In the kit, some colors look great, while others I was nervous because they appeared very dark–such as ELLE or bright such as Sunset Beach. I first decided to give Laguna a try, which is beige and violet. The eye shadow is wet on the cotton strip, so be careful when handling it. You then place the wet part against your skin and smooth your finger over the side facing out to adhere the color to your skin. I found that I could get 2-3 uses out of one cotton strip if I placed it back under the plastic protective strip.

My first 3 times of trying, I had a hard time blending the color. It was less beige and more violet and very very bright. Since the cotton strips seem to have so much eye shadow on them, I decided on my 4th attempt to not “smooth” my finger, but to gently “pat” it across my eye instead. This seemed to do the trick, making blending much easier and the color looking more natural.

Once I dusted the setting powder over the eyeshadow, it was no longer wet on my eyes and played down the color a little more. ColorOn says that the eye shadow doesn’t crease, but I did find that it creased within 5 hours of wear.

Surprisingly, the color I thought I was going to like least–Sunset Beach–is the color I loved the most. Sunset Beach is a mix of beige and coral.

Now, would I normally want to work this hard to apply eyeshadow? Not really. However, I can see where ColorOn would come in handy. For example taking it with you when you are traveling. Definitely a space saver, and once I got down how to use it–it could potentially be a time saver as well. Besides, they have some pretty cool and funky color combinations that could only be achieved by a makeup artist, so why not skip the high price of hiring someone and just tackle it yourself?

Have you used this product? Please share your experience in the comments.

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Of the Royal Assets eye shadow palettes, 6 Warm Eyes is my favorite and the picture of this palette doesn’t do the colors justice. The color palette includes: Sunday Best, an ivory with frost (frost); Star Violet, a eath-touched pinky-brown plum fusion (veluxe pearl); Retrospeck, a beached blonde (lustre); Club, a muted reddish brown duochrome with freen opalescent shimmer (satin); Showstopper, a neutral dark brown and Nobility, a light pink taupe (satin). I cannot tell you how gorgeous these colors will look on you–because they sure looked gorgeous on me!

The lip palettes are amazing, although the 3 Red Lips didn’t really look good on my super pale skin. I often wish I could pull off red lipstick like Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera.

This collection is only available now through December, so if you see a palette you fall in love with, I’d advise scooping it up before it’s too late. www.maccosmetics.com

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Matte2:

I abolutely love matte eyeshadows and definitely prefer them over anything shimmery. However, I have to say that I really wasn’t impressed by this collection at all. The powder itself was really silky smooth, but it went on very light in color and that color didn’t seem to have staying power. I also found that it creased after a few hours. I found myself reverting back to using their Painterly Collection of paint pots, which I absolutely adore.

Mattene:

LOVED this lipstick! Loved it! This lipstick is so long lasting, has a creamy yet velvet look to it and just looks so perfect when applied. The only downside is that the color ranges don’t give many “realistic” colors to choose from. Ie. oranges and bright pinks. I’ve fallen for Flattering and Cafe Matte–both are very neutral with a beige base.

Plush Lash:

I feel totally mixed about this mascara. The wand is a special “v-shaped” wand with short bristles on one end and longer ones on the other. I found it a little awkward feeling when applying this mascara and even got myself in the eye a few times. However, what I liked about it was how much it volumized my lashes and made them curl. My lashes definitely looked thicker and “va-voom.”

Have you tried anything from these collections? What did you think?

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What they say:

This longwearing cream eye shadow stays color-true all day long without creasing. The unique formula of Colorscope Creamy Eye Color allows easy blending, application and customization. Wear it alone for a soft sheen or layer under Colorscope Eye Color for multi-effects. Close lid tightly after use to keep product from drying out.

Key Benefits:

-Long-wearing -Stays color-true without creasing for up to 8 hours

-Easy to blend

-Water-resistant

-Comfortable application leaves a soft cream-to-luminous finish

What I thought:

First of all–fabulous color. The Creamy Eye Color is like a balm in a jar. Simply rub your finger over it and apply. It definitely lives up to the product claims as it never creased and was water resistant. I also love how totally mess-free this eye color is. I took it, along with other powder shadows, on a trip by plane a few weekends ago. The TSA went through my bags (unbeknownest to me until I went to put on my makeup) and left my mineral makeup jar lids loose, spilling powder everywhere. However, although they left the Prescriptives Creamy Eye Color lid loose, nothing happened to the product because it remained intact. So its definitely something worth looking into purchasing if you know you are going to be traveling by plane.

Do you own this product; what do you think?

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Smoke Signals comes with plenty of colors to play with to create just the right look to suit you.

Gentle Fume Eyes Eyeshadow X 4: A monochromatic quad of four modern cool-toned Eye Shadows in the sultry spirit of Smoke Signals. Features three limited edition shades: Waft, Gentle Fume and Rondelle.

Smoking Eyes: Eyeshadow X 4: A smoking quad of four warmed-over neutrals that at its deepest starts with a rich, dark black. Features three limited edition shades: Next to Nothing, Smoking, and Showstopper, complemented by Satin Taupe. (favorite!)

The lipsticks in this collection are very “peachy-nude” with the exception of Burnin’, which is a deep mauve color. My favorite is Barely Lit.

The tinted lipglass have a nice sheen to them. You can wear them alone or over the lipsticks for more depth.

I can’t even tell you how much I love the kohl powder eye pencils. I’m even using them with other MAC collections. Orpheus is my fav fav fav. It is brown with specs of gold. It is gor-ge-ous!

The powder blush is very matte without any hint of irridesence. Which is the way you want it with this collection, so that the focus is on the eyes.

Silver Fog in the pigments is just like those found in Rush Metal’s. Smoke Signal and Dark Soul are matte. I did find that they creased, unlike their Rush Metal’s counterpart which did not.

MAC has a page set up where you can recreate looks with the colors found in this collection.

Do you have any products from this collection? Which are your favorites?

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This is the 3rd collection by MAC that I have been able to review and by far my favorite. The formula for the paint pots is incredible. They are creamy to apply and blend easily (I didn’t use a brush, only my finger) and they dry looking like a highly intense pigmented powder. What I loved is that my color looked as great at the end of the day as it did when I first applied it. Also? They didn’t crease (and it was 90 degrees out!)

Due to their high pigment quality, you only need small dabs of color to spread them out. The jar is generous in the amount of paint, making for a very long life span.

The paint pots look shimmery in their jars, yet when they dry, they are very matte. So the colors are wearable no matter where you are going (vs. Rush Metal pigments may not be appropriate for the office).

No doubt this collection is an absolute must-have! What’s best is that this collection is going to remain a permanent part of MAC’s line of products. Fabulous!

Compare prices on other products by MAC Cosmetics.

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