On one of my very frequent drugstore runs last Friday, I stumbled upon Revlon's Fall 2012 limited collection, aptly named "the Shanghai" for Gucci Westman's love of Chinese grace, Asian lacquer and the soft, romantic & very classic, smoky eye. With a neat little release featuring three Super Lustrous lipsticks, four nail enamels, cute floral nail stencils and a to-die-for eye palette I couldn't help but make note that most stores appear to only carry two of each item. On an impulse buy, I snagged myself one lipstick, #029, Red Lacquer, and of course, the palette (which for $8.99 at CVS was nearly a steal ♡).
The limited, cream eye shadow palette, "Midnight Express," consists of six feminine, smoky cream colours ranging from a twinkly bronze and a classic black to a rich, smoky plum. I will give fair warning to those who are terrified of sparkles: slam those breaks ladies, thar be fairy dust ahead.
Packaged in a tiddy slim case with a convenient mirror (albiet small), the shades look relatively unassuming in the pan, however when applied, they transform into something entirely.. different.
From (L) to (R): white, green, pastel blue, black, bronze, plum. As clearly pictured, there's no lack of shimmer in these shades. When applied, they do
not dry to a powder and actually remain a glossy cream which for obvious reasons can be a bit cumbersome to handle especially for chica of the oily lid persuasion. After trial and error, I've managed to make this work by simply swiping a little translucent powder (I like Tarte's) over my lids before and after applying. Wear time appears to run 4-5 hours with a good powder, longer if using a primer as well. The plum is definitely my favourite of the palette with the bronzed and black trailing behind. Unfortunately the lighter three don't really work for me: glitter, glitter everywhere (even in my hair). No thanks.
The lipstick I snagged, "Red Lacquer," is far less red and so much more coral than the name implies. It applies sheer, nearly like a balm and fades into a gorgeous, flushed stain with considerable wear time. ♥ A full day at the office? No prob for this jewel: apply once midday, and I'm all set. I'm pretty much smitten.
While the cream shadows seem to be a hit or miss, the lip colours are all but a must-have. I definitely plan on picking up the other two if they're nearly as lovely as this one. If anything, toning down the shimmer would have made the eye palette considerably more wearable but as is with a little experimentation, I've managed to put it to good use. I'd definitely recommend checking the collection out at your local drugstore or Ulta.
Labels: cosmetics, drugstore, eyeshadow, lipstick, makeup, review, revlon
