Black Shadow Showdown Redux

You might remember my disappointment that Sugarpill's Bulletproof didn't live up to the hype or Urban Decay's Blackout. A generous friend sent me Makeup Geek's Corrupt because she was pretty sure it could slay the competition.

Of course, between now and then, I've managed to obtain a few other black shadows. Who doesn't need more black shadow? Before I move on to the swatches, I wanted to say that I bought two pans of MAC's Carbon, certain that I had a defective one. Both pans swatch exactly the same and the MAC counter rep I spoke to told me that "you don't actually want a shadow that black, because it wouldn't blend well!" I disagree, clearly, and so do many other cosmetics companies, apparently.

On to the main event:

My ten black shadows, in natural light

1. Sephora Collection No 54 Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer from Sinner 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave from Naked Basics 10. NARS Pandora II

Do you see the lengths we have to go to in Washington state to get 'natural light' photos? I'm hanging my shadow-covered arm out of my kitchen window for this. I think the MAC shadows are the most disappointing here - Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) are practically the same color and neither are what I would call black - they're clearly gray shadows.  I was a little surprised by (3) Smashbox M7 from the Full Exposure palette. That palette has taken a beating on a lot of reviews I've seen as being poorly pigmented. I'm going to do a review for that palette next week but spoiler alert: buy it for the mattes.

The MakeupGeek Corrupt (7) and Blackout (8) seem to be going head-to-head. Blackout is smoother in texture and Corrupt seems to have a little glitter in it but they're both very dark, deep black shadows.

Let's look at these shadows inside, shall we?

1. Sephora Collection Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave 10. NARS Pandora II

I feel like you can see which shadows lean brown or gray with indoor lighting a little better. I also think the difference between Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) is more clear here but I'm still not impressed.

If you're looking for a velvety-smooth true-matte black shadow, I still think Urban Decay's Blackout ($18 alone or available in the Naked 2 palette) is the best you can get - but at one-third the price, Makeup Geek's Corrupt ($6 in a naked pan, $8 in a single compact) is a serious contender, even with a little bit of shimmer.

Rumored Sales

So, I don't have confirmation for either of these but I thought I'd mention that I've heard that Sephora's Chic Week this year will be March 31st to April 11th (two weeks, I know. I'm thinking VIB access on the first week, general Beauty Insider access the second week.) I've also heard rumor that Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty will start March 16th - I haven't heard anything about what exactly will be on sale.

There are a few upcoming collections I'm excited about.

First up, the one I have the least color information on, MAC's Maleficent collection, due to hit counters on May 15th.

I'm really hoping to see some vampy red lipsticks and maybe some contouring products. I'd also like to see some specialty packaging - MAC's been doing pretty well with that lately. I haven't seen any kind of color story for this yet but I'm kind of hoping for something close, but not the same as, 2013's Punk Couture collection.

Second, I'm excited to give Urban Decay's Naked Flushed a try again. I have some swatches up from the original palette but it's too dark and too orange for me but I liked the formula and the packaging. There's no release date for these but I'm really hoping that Native works out for me.

Of course, Urban Decay's Electric looks interesting but I'm a little leery of pressed pigments in general. I'm reserving judgment until I can see them in person but I was certainly more excited about them when I thought they were going to be eyeshadows. I've also seen a few possible photos of the palette on forums and I'm not impressed with the potential packaging - who really needs another bulky palette to try and store?

If you're on a budget or a no-buy, hopefully some upcoming sales and releases will help you hold strong - there's great stuff in the future!

MAC VIVA Glam RiRi

MAC's VIVA Glam line has long been a favorite of mine. VIVA Glam was my first MAC lipstick purchase in the '90s, when it was the only shade and didn't carry a "I" to indicate which one. I tend to wind up buying anything from the line that remotely appeals. Then I heard that they'd be doing a frosted blue-red and knew I was in for it. (I don't know that I've mentioned this before but you're probably the only person who reads this blog, dear stranger, so I buy everything that appears here. :) )

First of all, the packaging on this one is gorgeous. I want a million lipsticks in this packaging:

Then you roll up the color and oooooooooh:

Unlike RiRi Woo, the product itself doesn't have Rihanna's signature molded in, the signature is on the interior portion of the tube. Honestly, the branding doesn't appeal or detract for me, this is a gorgeous package and a stunning lipstick.

Here it is on me - reminder if you haven't read my pale foundation posts, I'm very pale. I have a lot of trouble with red lipsticks either looking brown or orange or pink instead of red.

This is poised to become a favorite spring and summer color for me, which means I should probably back this up while it's available. (This is limited, like the previous Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Cyndi Lauper, and so on VIVA Glam lipsticks. Folks at my MAC store say it should be available for six months to a year. It also comes in lipglass but I don't wear lipgloss - swatches show the colors to be very close.)

I know I promised Punk Couture lipstick swatches and photos next but I had to interrupt due to my excitement about this color (and it's still available!) I might also make a post about the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Ebony, which I'm wearing in this photo - it's amazing and easy to use.

Chantecaille Future Skin - Full Face Test (and what KVD looks like)

I'm losing hope, my pale foundation watchers. Here's the results of the full day skin test with Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain:

Day 1

Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain
MAC lipstick in Studded Kiss

Day 2

Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain

MAC Huggables lipstick in Rusty (lightly applied)

Pink, pink, pink and more pink. This oxidization appeared about an hour and a half after application, and to the credit of Chantecaille, stayed steady at this level for the rest of the day. I'm disappointed but it's closer than the Koh Gen Do. Unfortunately, I think it broke my face out - I had to go two days without foundation of any kind to clear up the bumpiness (I usually get rashes, so this was a new one for me.)

Here, let me show you what it's up against, since I'm being so picky. Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation in Light 42:

Bright Outdoor Light:

KVD Light 42
MAC Punk Couture and Violetta (layered)

More indirect outdoor light:

(same as above)

Indoor lighting:

Kat Von D Light 42
MAC Punk Couture lipstick (heavy application)

That's after all day of wearing on that last photo. The other two were after several hours. No pink, no orange, perfect match to my neck and chest. Why, oh why, didn't I back up a few bottles of this?

Upcoming: Punk Couture Lipsticks general swatching and round up. I also caved and bought the RiRi VIVA Glam, so expect swatches and photos when that arrives - I'm hoping for a replacement for KVD's Adora lipstick, love the color, hate the formula. 

Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation Face Test

So, after going through all of those swatches, I came down to a small list of winners. I decided to try the Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation in 001 first, as it was nice to apply but I had worries about further oxidization. This foundation did something I wasn't expecting - it got more pink as I wore it. I've never seen a foundation oxidize in quite this way and I'd love it if someone could explain it to me. They usually go orange or dark or brown, at least in my experience.

This foundation applies and blends amazingly well and has decent coverage. It does live up to the name - two days of wear and my skin seemed to be a little less dry even in the middle of typically very dry winter skin conditions.

After day one at about eight hours of wear:

Koh Gen Doh Maifanshi Moisture Foundation in 001 at eight hours

Photo taken in natural light, no flash

As you can see, my face is having a bit of doesn't match body issue. It didn't go orange but it certainly did get pinker.

I tried it on a second day and took a photo in the only reasonable amount of natural light I could find - my car. Sorry. This went just as pink as day one, but here you can see it at about three hours of wear, not nearly as pink and much more neutral. Everything about the application was the same, the only thing different, down to the eyeshadow palette I used is day two's MAC Instigator lipstick.

Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation at 3 hours wear

photo in (car, sorry) natural light

Depending on how the others from the short list perform, this one may be further down the list than I anticipated. The application is great, it's nice to my skin, but the continual slide into pink is a little disappointing.

Next up: Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain two-day test.

MAC Hautecore - Quick Black Lipstick Update

Long time, no post, right?

Well, with MAC's new Hautecore (from Black Friday 2013 and the upcoming Punk Couture collection on December 26th,) I'm sure you're all curious how it stacks up to the black lipsticks I posted earlier. I didn't do full-face looks for these because I recently had a jawbone/dental/sinus disaster repaired and am waiting for the swelling and bruising to go down but I wanted to get a swatch up for comparison for the curious. 

Here we have, top to bottom:
Make-Up-For-Ever Rouge Artist Intense in #50 Black Satin (1 pass)
Portland Black Lipstick Company in Black (1 pass)
MAC Hautecore (2 passes)
MAC Hautecore (1 pass)

As you can see, Portland Black Lipstick Company is still the clear winner - mint-scent and all. (I prefer the vanilla of MAC's lipsticks.)

Hautecore is pretty similar in pigmentation to MUFE's #50 but Hautecore is a little more matte and stays a little better with wear. It also has the bonus of not having MUFE's floral scent.

Just a quick post - sorry for the lack of detail.
What I'm hoping to post up next: pale foundation swatches from Sephora, Kat Von D, Urban Decay, and Jane Iredale - what's a pale girl to do when MAC no longer makes anything lighter than NC15?! (I mourn the loss of 5 and 10 shades.)