Cult Of Cherry Tempting Quad

Sharp is the bright chartreuse shade from this palette. This is more yellow based than MAC's Eyepopping shadow. The pigment power is very light. You have to use it wet to get accurate color pay off.

Next to Nothing is an accurate description. It is a slight pink nude shade. Hard to detect on the skin.

Dark Edge looks like a dirty chocolate but on the skin it looks slightly taupe-like but without the standard sheen of gray or silver. This is the sleeper hit of the palette.

Tempting is a dull slightly dirty penny. Not brassy or new but more like a coin that has been in circulation for ten years. It is nothing like any of the bronzes or brassy browns in my small collection.

The other palettes are Spiced Chocolate and Shadowy Lady. They retail for $36 and are currently at your local MAC counter.

Visit Judica at her blog Girly Show(and her youtube video!) to see how to carry off the Cult Of Cherry look. It is stunning!

http://www.girly-show.com/2008/08/cult-of-cherry-to-third-power.html

Credits: Blogdorf Goodman,Youtube and Style.com

Disclaimer: A press sample of this product was provided by MAC.

40 Days and 40 Nights of Beauty Cult Classics
Day 6, L'Oreal Showstopping Taupes by Patti (Cavewoman)

Let me tell you about a little drugstore item, so nondescript and ordinary that it wouldn't even have you looking twice. Among all the makeup launch displays at the local drugstores, products come and go so quickly, and then next week there's a new display with more new things. Items get lost in the shuffle, overlooked, ignored, and end up in sale baskets at the end of some lonesome counter or rack. Most of these drugstore launch displays have just a few of each item, and then they are gone, until the next new thing appears.

But back to my item. Who would think that a little lucite container, holding four neutral-color eyeshadows by L'Oreal, would cause such fever! Such clamoring and hoarding! Such searching and hunting! And isn't that what a cult beauty product is all about? "Let me see if my drugstore has any left and I'll pick them up for you!" "Is anyone finding the L'Oreal quad in their area, could I beg someone to buy them for me?" "I went to ten stores in my area and NO ONE has them!" These are posts that I've seen over and over on the makeup board at MakeUpAlley ever since L'Oreal launched their Golden Globes collection in December. The quad in question, the object of so much desire and praise, is the Showstopping Taupes. These palettes of four square shimmery shadows have taken on cult status faster than any other drugstore item I've ever heard of. People are buying for others, hoarding unheard-of quantities, offering to do "custom purchases" and consoling those who haven't been able to obtain the elusive quads.
I've even read of a person who claims to have ninteen of them for herself! Nineteen quads!

I saw this quad shortly after the launch of the Golden Globes collection, on a rack at the grocery store where my Mom and I do our weekly shopping. I was impressed with the four colors, all cool-based neutrals, and thought to myself that I would actually be able to use and wear all four of the shades. For me this rarely happens. I see pretty pre-made quads and palettes at all the makeup counters and drugstores and most of the time I pass on them, because there is always a color or two that I know I won't wear. And then it seems a waste to me to buy them just for the few colors I would use. So, into the cart it went.

Showstopping Taupes came home with me amidst the bananas and Diet Cokes and paper towels that day. I didn't even open it for a few days. And then I started to notice the talk -- a little here and there -- on the makeup board at MakeUpAlley. Someone posted a photo of her quad, and that was all it took -- like a shotgun at the beginning of a marathon! Everyone was loving, searching, wanting!

Inside the beautiful lucite square case are four pretty shades that I am now using every day. Neutral but not nude, definitely cool-toned (so rare with neutrals!) and with slight shimmer that is not over-the-top or theatrical for daywear, the colors are a pale beige, a slighly mauvey shade , a pink-peach color, and the prettiest taupe since Chanel Safari. The quality of these shadows is absolutely top-notch. They smooth on easily and evenly, without gripping or skipping, they blend out softly, and they look great together or alone. I'm using one or two of the lighter ones as a wash, and I put the taupe above the crease when I want a bit more "eye look" for special occasions. Oh, and did I mention that they last all day on me? The back of the quad shows "Wear Infinite" -- L'Oreal's long-lasting formula name.

Since discovering this beautiful quad, I'm paying lots more attention to the displays at the drugstore for new items from L'Oreal. And to be sure, new things are now arriving and are pretty to look at and full of promise. But I doubt if there will be anything in the near future to match the frenzy and fervor for which Showstopping Taupes has been received. It is truly deserving of its instant cult status!

Credit: Patti/Cavewoman
Graphic: Melanie Parker
Disclosure: This product was purchased and reviewed by Cavewoman

Elizabeth Arden Limited Edition Shadow palettes

I learned about the special edition Elizabeth Arden eyeshadow quads from dear Cavewoman. She had received it as a birthday gift from a person with great style and taste. She raved about the quality of the eyeshadows and the stunning case. I was excited because I am a sucker for a stunning compact. However I was unprepared for just how STUNNING these really were.

First off lets talk about the shadows. These are very wearable. They deliver on their promise of crease resistant color that lasts throughout the day. The colors are rich but not highly pigmented. It gives a subtle wash to the eye. The colors range from lovely muted plums to rich brown suedes that make you regret that you bought the Bobbi Brown chocolate palette.

The quad compact designs were reproduced from a 14 panel mural that was commissioned by Miss Arden in 1935. It was created by the artist Clara Fargo Thomas. The panels celebrated the beauty of women throughout the ages. Each compact shows "a vignette from the mural and features a woman who represented the ultimate beauty of her time". The sueded brown compact features Queen Nefertiti of Egypt. The velvet plumtones compact features MumTaz Mahal who was the inpsiration of the Taj Mahal. The neutal cashmere compact honors the twentieth century woman. This is composite of a woman from the 1930's. Very old movie star glamour. The compact is worthy of being owned by Joan Crawford herself!

These compacts are priced at $30 at your local Elizabeth Arden counter. They are limited editions....which is code for run and grab these before they are sold out.
photos: my own,icfw.org and gettyimages.






Disclosure: A press sample of this product was provided by Elizabeth Arden