Estee Lauder Modern Mercury Powder Gelee

 Blush, Highlighter  23 Responses »
Aug 082011
 

One of the most dramatic offerings from Fall 2011 is Estee Lauder’s Modern Mercury Collection, particularly the Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Modern Mercury ($40).  The texture is a very soft powder with pigment that seems to absolutely leap onto your applicator.  The shimmer is a strong pearl tone that has an unbelievable dimension and shine.

At first I assumed that this multidimensional wave of shimmer was an overspray. I think I’m wrong. We’ve dug down pretty far and that’s the color still.  It’s shockingly pretty if you love pearly shimmer.

Although the word “Gelee” is used in the product name, the powder block is firm and has not “gel bouncy give” of the Chanel Illusion D’Ombre gel eyeshadows released this Fall.  Rather, the powder pan bears a closer resemblance to Chanel’s Ombres Perlees eyeshadows released for Spring 2011.

Estee Lauder’s Modern Mercury Illuminating Powder Gelee is more than a highlighter.  Rather, it deposits a layer of soft peach color.  In fact, Estee Lauder’s Modern Mercury adds enough opaque color to the cheeks with the lightest of brushstrokes to act as a subtle blush on pale skin tones.  Today, I wore it as a soft blush/highlighter alone on my NC15/20 Chanel Cameo skintone.  Why did I think this was a highlighter?

Here are comparisons with Estee Lauder’s Modern Mercury Illuminating Powder Gelee with a few highlighters in my collection.  First, Modern Mercury is much more opaque than the very sheer fairy-dust Estee Lauder Pure Color Night that was a very limited release last year.   I played with swatches from the two lightest shades from Chanel’s Ombres Perlees palette (the white and the peach/pink as marked, below).  Of all of my powders, I found that Modern Mercury bore the closest resemblance to the Chanel Ombres Perlees.  In addition, I’ve swatched Nars Albatross, which is not as shimmery or pearly as Modern Mercury.  Finally, I’ve added Chanel’s Pearl Glow from the recent Le Blanc release.  I found that Chanel’s Pearl Glow as more transparent, more gold pearly and had a harder pan texture compared to Modern Mercury.

Because comparisons for highlighters are hard to capture, I did several different swatches under different lighting conditions. Here, in sun:

Indoors with flash:

Another:

It takes almost no effort to build up the peach color that you see in these swatches.  Indeed, that color is what you get with the lightest touch of this very soft, high shimmer pigment.

On the left, Liz is wearing Burberry Tangerine alone on her cheeks and no eyeshadow (complete breakdown is here).  On the right, she added Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Modern Mercury to her upper cheeks and her eyelids.  You can see how much more color is on her cheeks and her upper lids:

You can see the added color:

Yes, Liz also changed her lip color (more on that in another post).

Overall, I have to love Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee, properly applied.  It’s a very pretty, light-reflective highlighter/blush on my fair skin tone.  It gives a very beautiful glow.  In addition, Modern Mercury does a lovely job of building up without being frosty. As with anything this pearly, too many layers will give a metallic effect so proceed with a single layer at a time.

The texture is a bit miraculous. Modern Mercury’s texture is extremely finely milled.  Extremely.  The pigment virtually leaps onto your brush or finger effortlessly.  As I mentioned above, the experience is a bit like the texture of the Chanel Ombres Perlees.

As with any highlighter, those with larger pores will wish to proceed with some caution.  Unlike some other highlighters, Modern Mercury is not sheer but rather gives a warm peachy glow. Adjust your blush accordingly.

Bottom line:  Pumped up gorgeous.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Tranquility

 Highlighter  11 Responses »
Jun 012011
 

Previously, I introduced the Rouge Bunny Rouge brand (see here) and today I’m looking at the line’s Seas of Illumination Highlighting Liquid in Sea of Tranquility (approximately $70 for 1 ounce, available for shipping to the U.S. from Zuneta.com).  This liquid highlighter is a refined version that gives a smooth glow without any sparkle or heavy metallics.

Sea of Tranquility has a decided pink cast, which shows up with a fair amount of drama on my pale warm skintone.  Those will cooler skin tones will love this color–the pink is believable, healthy and beautiful.  If you like Benefit Highbeam or Nars Liquid Illuminator in Copacabana (reviewed here), you will find that Sea of Tranquility is a slightly pinker, more refined version of either.  The texture of Rouge Bunny Rouge’s offering is more natural and less thick compared to High Beam.  Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Sea of Tranquility is less sparkly compared with Nars Copacabana.  One might expect this from the different price points–Benefit’s High Beam is $24 for .45 ounces, and Nars Copacabana is $29 for 1.2 ounces.

Comparisons:

The Black Panties makeup blog has done this comparison between Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Tranquility and Giorgio Armani’s Fluid Sheer #7.

Bottom line: You don’t need all three, but if I had to choose one I’d go with Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Sea of Tranquility because the texture is the most refined.  I find that wearing a color that stands out on my skin tone is really apparent, and softer textures look more natural.  (Thanks to Liz for letting me borrow her Benefit High Beam and Nars Copacabana for the comparison.)

Giorgio Armani Gold Rush Platinum Palette

 Giorgio Armani, Highlighter  3 Responses »
Dec 102010
 

Holiday 2010 has been all about metal textures, shimmer and shine.  To this season, Giorgio Armani adds the Gold Rush collection, which includes the Platinum Palette Sheer Shimmer Powder ($55).  Although the name infers cool toned silver tones, in fact the palette imparts a soft candle lit glow.

The round, sturdy sleek palette uses the same design which draws me to reach for Giorgio Armani when I need an elegant product that fits into virtually anything and holds up through the roughest handling.  Inside:

A close-up shows the beautiful texture of this palette:

The palette is roughly the same circumference as the Armani eyeshadow palettes, but is a solid pan of highlighting powder.  In direct flash:

It’s safe to let the pictures do the talking to demonstrate how beautiful this palette is.  The effect of this is subtle– here I’ve swatched it quite heavily over a base to bring out the color and shine:

Another, also applied heavily over a base to show the candlelight soft shimmer color:

Here’s a comparison between Giorgio Armani’s Gold Rush Platinum and Yves Saint Laurent’s Colorama Highlighter:

Do you need them both?  No, unless you like the versatility of the different color choices.  Both a beautiful, excellent quality palettes that give a soft, beautiful glow.  Gorgeous.

Here is the ingredient list for the Giorgio Armani Platinum highlighter (click to enlarge):

NARS Sweet Disposition

 Blush, Bronzers, Highlighter, NARS  6 Responses »
Oct 252010
 

NARS Sweet Disposition ($40/Nordstrom) is a set of three mini-multiples for eyes, lips and cheeks:  Malibu, Orgasm and Luxor.  At .14 ounces each, these mini’s make an adorable, gift-able way to play.  I was so excited when these arrived that I couldn’t wait to open the box.  First, they are mini’s and therefore automatically adorable beyond belief.  Second, these are products that I’ve always wanted to play with, but could never commit to just one.  Sweet Disposition gives me three options–a deep shade (Malibu), a medium shade (Orgasm) and a light shade (Luxor).  How could I not love this set?

I assume that this set is limited edition for Holiday 2010. If you prefer, each of these colors is available in a full sized version (.50 oz.) for $38 each.  One thing that I love about NARS is that their use of limited editions are very restrained. There is no tricky hook shade in this collection that is only in this set and then it is gone forever, leaving you with a lingering feeling that you needed to buy the whole set or be forever haunted that you didn’t.  Instead, NARS played it straight and thereby earns my undying loyalty (once again!).

The above picture shows the difference in size between the three mini’s in Sweet Disposition compared to the larger Cadaques Multiple Tint reviewed here.  The mini’s are packaged in similar matte black packaging as their larger sisters, although the smaller ones do not have the same rubberized cushiony feel.

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Chanel Spring 2010: Empriente de Chanel Radiant Glow Highlighting Powder (Poudre Eclat Illuminatrice)

 Chanel, Highlighter  2 Responses »
Dec 212009
 

It may be difficult to imagine, during this week of snow and cloud cover, the warm spring days that lie ahead–when we’ll be wearing both bronzer and sunscreen and may want to add some glow to the face.  As always, the beauty industry runs a season ahead and I can imagine that Chanel had these days in mind when it designed the Emprient de Chanel (Chanel Imprint) Poudre Eclat Illuminating Powder (Radiant Glow Highlighting Powder) ($65).

As the name implies, the surface has an imprint of the iconic Chanel logo in gold, surrounded by a multicolored circles which are packed with shimmer.  Aside from a light surface overspray, which quickly wears away, the bulk of the product applies as a warm, peachy-gold shimmer.  Despite the name, the product does deposit some visible color to the cheek.  For all but the palest skin tones, this amount of color will not be sufficient to substitute as a blush.

There is a small brush included, about half of the size of Chanel’s typical powder brushes that come with bronzers or the like.  It is sufficient for travel, and was probably included to assist with precise placement.  You may prefer to use a larger brush, depending on the area you wish to cover.

Below, I’ve swatched this next to Chanel’s Les Tissages Lames de Chanel highlighter released for this holiday (two slightly different swatches).  Here are some differences that were apparent to me:

  • The Empriente de Chanel’s large double CC’s give the impression that the palette is primarily gold, however the background textured area is a warm golden peach with a barest hint of pink
  • The Empriente de Chanel is not as gold as Les Tissages
  • Les Tissages has more — and slightly larger– glitter bits, where the Empriente de Chanel has a multidimensional smooth sheen

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