Review: Anastasia See and Be Seen Kit

Guys, I am all of the busy.  I have finals for the next 2-3 weeks :(  But on the other hand, I have a pretty beauty kit to review for you guys!


So the kit comes in this cute little box, packed with tissue paper, and four products inside it.  The four products in the kit are the Brow Gel in Caramel, two Hydrafull Lip Glosses in Heiress and Plastic, and an Illumin8 Eyeshadow Duo in On Set.  It's coming out early this summer, and I don't know how much it's retailing for, but you get $86 worth of product (everything in it is full size! Yay!) and I assume it'll retail for less than that.

So from the left we have the Heiress lip gloss, then the lip gloss in Plastic, then the brow gel, then the shadow duo.  The shadow duo has a shimmery champagne shadow and a coppery gold shadow, and comes in a metal-looking plastic case that's extremely reflective (which acts as a mirror on the inside).  The duo comes with a little shadow applicator too, which is nice as far as these kinds of applicators go, but not something I'd ever use.  I'd prefer a mini-eyeliner, but that's just me.

The lip gloss has a very interesting applicator--it's like a flat plastic paddle.  I have mixed feelings.  On the one hand, I see how it could be useful in not using too much product.  On the other hand, I have a really hard time applying the lip gloss with it.  I have to be right in front of a mirror watching it or there's uneven lip gloss everywhere.  Here are the swatches: from the top, the shadow duo, the brow gel, Plastic lip gloss, and Heiress lip gloss.

 Okay!  The products:


Eyeshadow: I really love this.  The packaging is decent, it looks very polished but doesn't feel that luxurious given that it's plastic.  But the eye shadows are lovely!  They are soft, go on like butter and very opaquely, have great lasting power, no fallout and are easy to blend.  Both colors have a fine shimmer that really brightens the eye.  I really, really like them!  The champagne makes a nice inner-eye highlight color, and the copper-gold is a very pretty lid color that reminds me of MAC's Amber Lights a bit.  It does pull a bit orange on me, and makes me look a little ill without being anchored by some black liner, but it's lovely against green or blue eyes.  It's just bright enough to pop without being so bright that it looks garish or unflattering.  The shadows have a Youthful Synergy Complex that claims to hydrate and firm the skin, which sounds lovely, but I'd have to use it for a few weeks straight to see if it works or not.


Lip gloss: Heiress is a medium coral-pink and Plastic is a straight-up Barbie pink.  In terms of opacity, both of these glosses are very opaque--surprisingly so, really.  They smell lightly like vanilla, but don't have a discernible taste.  The formula is glossy, and has a nice, moisturizing feel on the lips without being heavy or greasy feeling.  The lasting power is really impressive--my gloss lasted through dinner and then some, which is pretty good for me.  My two qualms would be that it's a little on the sticky side, and that I don't like the applicator.  Given that the gloss is so opaque, I can't casually apply it on the go because the applicator is a bit unwieldy for me, and I get really uneven application without a mirror.  However, I really like the color of Heiress--applied thinly, it amps up my natural lip color nicely, and applied thickly, it's dramatic and lovely.  Plastic just doesn't work for my skin tone, but it's a cute color.  Apparently the gloss is packed full of moisturizing plant extracts that will make your lips look better, but I can't speak for that yet.  The tubes themselves are above average quality, but you don't get that much product for $21 a pop--but given how pigmented they are, they probably last a while.

Brow gel: I really like the packaging on this.  It's cute, but not too cutesy.  The applicator is a spooly-brush (similar to a mascara brush) which makes it easy to comb through my brows.  It goes on nicely, and looks very natural on my brows, adding a bit of color and a nice amount of hold, which definitely lasts all day.   The isn't the color I would choose for myself, but Caramel is a medium golden brown with a hint of golden shimmer (which I didn't notice on my brows at all).  I could see this being a really nice product if you have naturally shaped brows that don't need much filling in but maybe need a little control.  My brows are lighter than my hair and full of scars and such, so I need a bit more of a heavy-duty product to fill them in, but I like the idea of this for a natural look.  It also claims to plump hair follicles with botanical extracts, but I have thick brows already, so I can't judge that either.  It retails individually for about $21.

Awkward Chic rating: Would I buy this?  Probably not, just because the brow gel and one of the lip glosses don't work for my coloring.  But would I buy the Heiress gloss and the shadow duo separately?  Yes!  Especially the shadow duo.  I'd buy other Anastasia shadow duos in fact.

Disclaimer: this product was provided to me for review, but all my opinions are my own, and I am not paid to review products.

Review: NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc

Blogger fail.  100% fail.  Someone come and take all my midterms and go to all my meetings for me, okay?  Blargh.

Well, on a less fail-tastic note, I have a foundation review for y'all!  Before I get to the review, let me give you some background on my skin and foundation routine.

My skin is combination, meaning that it's dry on the cheeks but oily on the t-zone.  I have the occasional breakout, redness, and acne scarring that I want covered up.  I used to use MAC's Face & Body foundation, which is a water-based, very sheer foundation.  I really like how it sits on my skin and doesn't break me out, but Face & Body comes in a limited shade range (and was always too dark for me), and since it's so sheer, I have to use a LOT of product to get the coverage I want.  On top of that, it oxidizes throughout the day and doesn't have the best lasting power.  So I wanted a foundation that would match my NW-15/20 skin, not break me out, last through the whole day, and cover all my blemishes.  I also like a dewy finish, and not a very matte finish, because I feel like it makes me skin look fresher and more radiant.

I decided to pick up NARS Sheer Glow because I'd seen it in action on Pixi2Woo's YouTube channel (look her up, she is fab), and it looked so natural but had such nice coverage.  So I ran to Sephora with my Christmas money, did some arm swatches, and picked up a bottle of Siberia.  The Nars Sheer Glow foundations are named after locations--so Siberia is snow-white.  Which made me cry a little instead about how pale that I am.  Siberia is the lightest Nars shade with both pink and yellow undertones. 

Well, Siberia worked on my face in the store, but when I tried it in my bathroom the next morning, it was "Hello there, Casper!"  I looked dead.  So I ran back to Sephora and exchanged Siberia for Mont Blanc, which Sephora calls "fair with slight pink undertones."  Mont Blanc is a much better match for my NW-15/20 skin, but I love that NARS has a good amount of options for us crazy-fair people.

Here's the 1 oz. bottle, and a swatch on my hand--it's blended out a little to the left.

And here's a less than adorable picture of me so that y'all can see what it looks like on my skin.

Let's break it down.

Application: I uncap it (sadly there's no included pump, but you can buy one from NARS), put my finger on the opening of the bottle, and flip it over so that I get a little product on my finger.  Then I rub it into my skin with my fingers in a circular motion.  I really like how this applies with my fingers, but I've never been a foundation brush kind of gal.  I use about one finger dab on each cheek and one on my forehead, and then I go back for more if I need more coverage.  Then I put on concealer and set it with powder.

Formula/lasting power: Sheer Glow is a relatively thick liquid foundation, but I find that it goes on easily and blends nicely without looking heavy or cakey.  What I find really interesting about this foundation is that it's called Sheer Glow, and there is a Sheer Matte version, so this one is supposed to be dewy.  But when I put it on, it somehow manages to cut down on the oiliness on my t-zone while making the drier parts of my face look dewier and more radiant.  It certainly doesn't make me look oilier, which was what I expected from a 'glow' foundation.  The one problem I have with the formula is that it emphasizes any dry flakes that I have, and makes them look much worse.  So if you have really dry since, it's not for you.  In terms of lasting power, I can actually get from 9AM to midnight or later with only minimal touch-ups and no oxidation.  It really hangs on!  It definitely fades faster on the oilier parts of my face, but even that is barely noticeable.

Coverage: My skin has gotten better, but I do have occasional breakouts, redness, and scarring, so I want at least a medium coverage foundation.  This is called Sheer Glow, but I find even with one layer I get medium coverage.  With two thin layers I get almost flawless looking skin that doesn't look too heavy, which is lovely.

Color: I am very pale, with lots of pink undertones to my skin.  Mont Blanc is a perfect match in terms of how pink my skin is, but it is the tiniest bit dark for me.  Given that Siberia is way too light, Mont Blanc works fine, but I do have to be careful with blending at my hairline.  I think that if you're a MAC NW-15/20, Mont Blanc would be a great match for you.

Packaging: I love the heavy glass bottle.  It feels very luxurious.  The packaging is standard NARS, with the pretty black lid that collects fingerprints and dust like no other.  I also don't love that this has no pump--much less hygienic.

Awkward Chic rating: A.  I don't love that it has no pump and that it's $42 for a 1 oz. bottle.  But I think I can get 4-6 months out of each bottle, so it's expensive, but doable.  In terms of the physical foundation, I love it.  The shade range is great, and it works so well for combination skin, has lovely coverage, and a really natural-looking finish.  I'm calling this Holy Grail for me (as of right now.  Don't hold me to that).

In other news, Anastasia Beverly Hills sent me these adorable brow guides.  They're breakdowns of how to get different brow styles, as seen on some of your favorite past and present Hollywood Starlets, and product suggestions.  Personally, I love that Bombshell Brow.