Charmed

Over a month of using Bobbi Brown's infamous chocolate palette has taught me three things:
1. I really like the almost neutral look for eyes. Most of the time.
2. If you start wearing the new fall look in July, you'll be tired of it come September.
3. Brown is nice and all, but a night out on the town requires a bit more than that.

Which means that I was more than ready for something new. Enter Sephora (or rather- enter me entering Sephora). At first I was about to buy Smashbox' Electric eye shadow quad that I've been eyeing for some time. I'm still coveting a teal shadow, but the gold and the bronze were just a bit off. The gold had too much yellow in it, and the bronze a bit too light and too similar to other things I already have.

Instead, I found Lorac's Snake Charmer face palette. When I saw it online (the picture I'm using here) I wasn't impressed, but I can tell you that the colors in this photo are a bit off. In reality they are deeper and browner, the gold has no greenish undertones and the other colors aren't pinkish. I even liked the blush. It is peachy, but for once not too coraly to make me look like a tropical fruit (I'm not a fan of Nars' Orgasm). It actually looks fresh and flattering.

The shadows have a lot of shimmer without tackiness, the light colors are, indeed, highlighting (my brow bone rejoices) and the royal brown is a perfect evening shadow. It's dark, deep and shimmery and looks absolutely gorgeous. It gave me exactly the look I wanted.

I also have to add that the compact itself is adorable. The snakeskin and little red jewel are cute and different. Much better than the usual black plastic cases you see everywhere.

So there I was, with an almost done face: subtle but festive eyes (I added liquid black liner- my trusted Lancome Artliner), fresh faced, but what about the lips? I needed something different there.


My choice was another Lorac (I was at their stand, after all), Lip Intensity gloss in Daring. It was, indeed, a very daring color. In this case, the sample picture is really true to life. It's a deep wine color that looks bold and intense as promised and is not for the faint of heart or the pale of skin. The texture of this gloss is more like a liquid lipstick. It's thick (needs a bit of practice to get it right), opaque and covers well. I absolutely love it.

Both the gloss and the palette are exceptional in quality. Highly pigmented, applies well and stays put for hours. I'm pretty sure that it's the first time I bought anything Lorac, but it looks like I'll be coming back for more. They have an extensive selection of lip colors and several interesting eye shadows. Sadly, none of them was teal.