Urban Decay dupes from Aldi (UK)!

Get The Gloss is a women’s lifestyle website from the UK. It recently published an article about dupes of Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes from Lacura, Aldi’s skin care and cosmetics line (yes, Aldi).

Here’s Aldi’s dupe of the Urban Decay Naked Heat eyeshadow palette:

lacura-naturals-eye-shadow-palette-intense.jpg

The Lacura eyeshadow palettes don’t compare to Urban Decay’s palettes in quality. Each Lacura eyeshadow palette costs £5.99 or US $7.63, while Urban Decay’s palettes costs £39.50 or US $50.00.

I searched Aldi’s U.S. site, but I couldn’t find Lacura makeup there.

Sources:

ALDI. (n.d.). ALDI US – Homepage. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from https://www.aldi.us/en/

Johnson, J. (2018, December 6). Aldi launches new Naked Heat and Naked Smoky palette dupes. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from https://www.getthegloss.com/news/aldi-launches-new-naked-heat-and-naked-smoky-palette-dupes

Launching this week: Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes

The Style Page had the privilege of interviewing Ellis Faas back in August 2009.  Since then, her cosmetics line has been picked up in the U.S. by Bergdorf Goodman and she’s greatly expanded her cosmetics line.   Launching this week are seven new shades of her Creamy Eyes eye shadow in her signature pens:

Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes

The seven new shades (shown above) are Navy Blue, Bordeaux Red, Purple, Lilac, Mint Green, Light Blue and Yellow Ochre.

Laura Mercier Eye Basics

Laura Mercier is my favorite luxe cosmetics brand.

Laura Mercier Eye Basics

I reach for Laura Mercier Eye Basics everyday.

Eye Basics in Flax is a perfect match for my light skin tone. It covers discoloration on my lids, thereby providing a canvas to apply eye shadow. The product has some pearlescence, but otherwise, eye shadow stays true and lasts all day.  I prefer applying a thin layer on my fingers, and applying it with my fingers rather than using the doe foot applicator.  Eye Basics sets quickly.

Laura Mercier Eye Basics also comes in Buff (medium pink beige), Cotton (light yellow), Eyebright (pale brightening blue), Linen (light ivory), Peach (sheer orange peach), and Wheat (light medium beige).

Now Laura Mercier has come out with Eye Canvas.  Still waiting to learn via the lauramercier.com web site how Eye Canvas differs from Eye Basics …

You may shop Laura Mercier Cosmetics at high-end department stores (Neiman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s), Sephora stores, lauramercier.com, and Sephora.com.

IsaDora Eye Shadow Quartet

A glowing review of IsaDora Eye Shadow Quartet from Paula Begoun:

IsaDora Eye Shadow Quartet is a find! Although each set of four colors has at least one shiny shade, the texture is magnificent: a creamy-feeling powder that is not the least bit dry, dusty, or flaky. It glides over lids and allows precise blending. The pigment level is higher than usual, so you get stronger color and more coverage than you do from most powder eyeshadows, not to mention long wear. For a professional makeup design, these work great and the price is more than fair. The best combinations (which include a dark color for use as eyeliner) are Pearls, Classic Brown, Crystal Mauve, Pearly Minerals, Silvery Gray, Antique Gold, and Chocolate Brown.

I can certainly vouch for the Eye Shadow Quartet in Antique Gold. Bronzing Plums have deep shades that are great for the outer corner. You may shop Isadora at CosmeticMall.com or Apothica.  Unfortunately, there are itty-bitty thumbnails (no enlargement or swatches) so you can’t get a good sense of the shades.

NARS Eye Shadow

The NARS Spring 2012 collection drops tomorrow, Friday, January 13 at narscometics.com:

NARS Spring 2012 Collection

Here’s the product from the NARS Spring 2012 Collection that I covet (from group shot, above, lower right):

NARS Single Eyeshadow in Lhasa

NARS Single Eyeshadow in Lhasa is described as a “shimmery lavender-gray.”  NARS often names its shades after exotic locales, and Lhasa is particularly evocative for me, as I’ve had the distinct privilege of visiting Tibet.

Shades of purple are more sensuous than grays or browns.  See my eye shadow picks from NARS’s “permanent” collection:

NARS matte eye shadow in New York is a plum brown.

NARS eye shadow in Ashes to Ashes is a “Shimmery violet based brown”

Review of Too Faced Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection

Too Faced is too gimmicky and glitzy for this blogger’s rather conservative tastes. I’m making an exception, however, for the Too Faced Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection.

Too Face Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection 

The kit consists of Day (matte), Classic (shimmer), and Fashion (even more shimmer, almost frosted) eye shadows.

Too Faced couldn’t avoid clever, even salacious, names for its shadows:

Day
Heaven (matte ivory)
Velvet Revolver (matte taupe)
Sexspresso (matte deep brown)

Classic
Silk Teddy (peach champagne shimmer)
Push-Up (light bronze shimmer)
Erotica (soft charcoal shimmer)

Fashion
Nude Beach (champagne shimmer with gold glitter)
Honey Pot (gold shimmer)
Cocoa Puff (warm chocolate brown shimmer)

The kit comes in a cardboard box with a magnetic snap closure. It also features a pull-out compartment for a dual-ended brush/sponge wand. Three “how-to” cards provide instructions on creating the looks.

My advice:

– Heaven may be used to create a “canvas” for applying subsequent eye shadows.

– Don’t feel confined to using only the eye shadows for a particular look (Day, Classic, or Fashion). Mix it up! After I discovered how highlighters, as applied to the lid, can brighten the eyes, I use Silk Teddy on my lid.

– Can “women of a certain age” wear shimmer? It has less to do with your age, and more to do with the smoothness of your eyelid. I avoid highlighting shimmer on the inner third of the eyelid, because of the creases, and confine it to the middle third. I use a darker shimmer on the outer corner. Applying shimmer with your ring finger provides for a light touch.

There is also the Too Faced Smoky Eye Palette. The smoky eye is a perennial, but this season, I’m seeing even more attention paid to it.

You may shop Too Faced at its website, Beauty.com, Sephora stores, Sephora.com.

How to wear bright eyeshadow

Who doesn’t like makeovers and before and afters? Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to wear bright eyeshadow:

TotalBeauty.com
Real-Woman Tutorial: How to Wear Bright Eyeshadow

Yes, you can wear teal shadow without looking garish — just follow these steps

Real-Woman Tutorial: How to Wear Bright Eyeshadow

This tutorial is designed to show you step-by-step how to wear bright colored eyeshadow (which is doable even if you have small or Asian eyes). Brightly colored eyes can dress up a look when paired with a neutral or nude face, or accessorize an entire outfit. Just make sure you know how to wear it before rocking it in the office.

See how-to

For my part, I think that Asians and women with deeper skintones wear bright eyeshadows better than their lighter complexioned sisters.

Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow


Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow

Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow includes both eyeshadow base and pigment in a single product. The base works fine, but I don’t care for the sparkle in the eyeshadow: Bedroom Eyes (medium brown), for example, has bits of copper glitter.

Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow comes in six shades, each with a salacious name:

* Bedroom Eyes (medium brown)
* Bondage (light brown)
* Dramarama (dark brown)
* I’m Guilty (aqua blue)
* Jailbait (light pink)
* Prisoner of Love (pink)

You may find Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow in Sephora stores and at Sephora.com.