Positively Polished - ft. OPI

OPI

SPRING/SUMMER 2014

BRAZIL COLLECTION

Selections

"OPI takes us on a journey of color to Brazil where vivid hues are set against the Sienna shades of beach and earth with a backdrop of rainforest flora. Explore Brazil and discover rich, vibrant shades - a color destination that is sure to stir your soul." - ulta.com

Helloooooo my loves! How is everyone's Summer going so far? I'm getting into my Summer work groove this week, my two week pre-Summer vacation just ended and wheeeeeew, I ended it with a big bang! Hanging out on the beach, sippin' some lemonade? No no. A quick little relaxing trip with the Hubby? Nope......we cleaned the entire house. From top to bottom! It seriously took...haha. Well, let's just say our dinner consisted of us heading on down to Whataburger because it was all that was open at 3am. But oh my GOODNESS, does my house look fabulous! Can I just say, seeing a man using a vacuum cleaner is SO drool-worthy. I die. Especially one with broad shoulders, ridiculously muscular legs, curly waves lightly falling onto his forehead and...oh, I'm sorry, this post is supposed to be about OPI. Whoops! Got off on a very sexy tangent. Back to the subject at hand!

So! This collection is certainly not new news, as this is their Spring/Summer 2014 collection. It popped up all over the internet earlier in February and the reason it's finally popping up on here now is because I have FINALLY had a chance to go through my post vault to see what I've been wanting to post but haven't had a chance to yet! I was reminded of it recently since the World Cup began a few days back! This collection is absolutely GORGEOUS and has to be one of my favorite OPI sets to date. The reason I listed this as being "Selections" is because I do NOT own the full set, I'll only be showing six of the twelve shades, plus all four of the Mini Beach Sandies. Here is what the entire collection consists of:

OPI
BRAZIL COLLECTION

(From left to right, top row then bottom)

• Next Stop...The Bikini Zone - silver-grey/purple duochrome
• Don't Bossa Nova Me Around - pink toned nude creme
• Taupe-less Beach - cool toned taupe creme
• I Sao Paulo Over There - brown taupe creme
• OPI Scores a Goal! - rich raspberry-chocolate creme
• AmazON...AmazOFF - teal green with subtle shimmer
• I Just Can't Cope-acabana - bright yellow creme
• Where Did Suzi's Man-go? - pale mango orange creme
• Toucan Do It If You Try - orange coral creme
• Kiss Me I'm Brazilian - sweet pink creme
• Live.Love.Carnaval - bright coral creme
• Red Hot Rio - bright red hots creme

I'll be showing you Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, OPI Scores a Goal!, AmazON...AmazOFF, Toucan Do It If You Try, Live.Love.Carnaval and Red Hot Rio. Although this collection has been out a few months now, I'm still finding them in my local grocery stores that carry more recent OPI shades, my Ulta and other various stores that I find OPI in. You can also still purchase most of the shades from Ulta.com! 

On to the pretty swatches!...

DON'T BOSSA NOVA ME AROUND

"Nobody can stop me from wearing this creamy nude!" - OPI

It's always been tough to find a nice nude that didn't look absolutely bizarre on my super pale skin that has so much redness. I have always yearned for my super pale skin to REMAIN super pale around my nails, but alas, my fingers love to match my darling cheeks, flushed and obnoxiously unwilling to be anything but. HOWEVER, I am so enamored over this polish! It has a very soft pink tone, so it doesn't completely contrast against my skin tone. I think it's very flattering and looks AMAZING with a bright color used along with it as an accent nail, on the tips, as the half-moon for a half-moon mani, you name it!

The formula was a teensy bit streaky on the first coat, but evened out well on the second. The swatch above is shown with two coats, no top coat. It glides on nicely, with no pooling or running. The finish is nice and glossy. Each coat takes about 15-20 minutes to dry, which is a little bit longer than my favorite OPIs but still a decent drying time. The polish lasted me about four days before it began showing a bit of wear and tear on the tips (used with base and top coat).

TOUCAN DO IT IF YOU TRY

 

"You have talent to achieve anything in this confident orange." - OPI

Now for something a bit more bright! All of the formulas from this collection that I've tried have been absolutely AMAZING. I mean, look at this! Each swatch that I did is two coats, with no top coat and how preeeeeeeetty is this polish? I do believe if I wear this polish, I really will be able to do whatever I want if I try! ::giggles::

The polish goes on super smooth, completely opaque in two coats. The finish is quite glossy! It took about 10 to 15 minutes for each coat to dry. The mani lasted about five to six days before showing some wear and chipping a bit (with base and top coat).

LIVE.LOVE.CARNAVAL

"This vibrant and festive coral is the life of the party." - OPI

I can't even BEGIN to tell you how much I absolutely adore this shade. It may be my all time favorite OPI polish EVER. EVER, I say, EVER. Although, it's quite possible that I may say this again the next time I do an OPI collection...ahem. The brightness is just fantastic and richness and vivacity of the coral is stunning.

As I said, all of the polishes I tried from this collection went on very smoothly. This shade was nearly a one-coater, but was perfectly opaque in two. It also had a super glossy finish. It took about 10 minutes for each coat to dry. It lasted me about six to seven days before it began to show some wear and tear on the tips (with base and top coat).

RED HOT RIO

"A ruby red as hot as the most exciting city in Brazil." - OPI

If you're looking for a seriously attention-grabbing red, THIS is the shade for you! It just DEMANDS attention! I think the name suits it perfectly, it looks JUST like Red Hot candies!

The formula is a bit thinner than the other cremes that I've swatched here, but still gorgeous. As you can see if you look closely at this photo, the white tips of my nails are still a bit visible, but not overly so. Three coats would make it completely opaque, definitely (Two coats shown above). It went on so smooth, evens itself out easily and dries fairly quickly, about 10 minutes for each coat. It lasted me nearly four days before chipping.

OPI SCORES A GOAL!

"Make your point in this winning shade of rich chocolate." - OPI

This shade just makes me hungry! It's an absolutely delicious rich raspberry chocolate creme! Mmmmmmmmm. The only dark shade in this Spring/Summer collection, I just HAD to have it because....well, it said chocolate in the description. ::giggles::

The formula is great, a little streaky on the first coat, but evens itself out completely on the second. No pooling or running. It took about 10 to 15 minutes for each coat to dry. The finish is nice and glossy. It lasted about five days before chipping. 

AMAZON...AMAZOFF

"I’m making the switch to this deep jungle green." - OPI

This most definitely has to be my second favorite shade in this collection. Hello! It's a teal shade! Be still my heart! This photo nearly looks fake, doesn't it? The polish is unbelievable!

I thought it was a creme at first, just like all the others, but that gorgeous glossy sheen is from a slight pearlescent shimmer throughout that's nearly invisible unless you look closely. The polish is practically a one-coater, with just the tiniest bit of streakiness that evened out well and is completely opaque with two coats. Each coat took about 15 minutes to dry. The finish is VERY glossy. The photo above is two coats with no top coat. I KNOW RIGHT? To die for. It lasted me about five to six days before showing wear and tear on the tips.

BEACH SANDIES

MINI SET

• Samba-dy Loves Purple - bright fuschia-purple with subtle silver shimmer
• I'm Brazil Nuts Over You - bright coral-pink with purple shimmer
• What's a Little Rain Forest? - bright blue with silvery blue shimmer
• You're So Flippy Floppy - vivid yellow with yellow shimmer

 And here we have the special mini set that is a feature in the Brazil Collection. OPI has been knocking it out of the park with their latest Liquid Sand polishes. These little Beach Sandies Minis are no exception! I'm a bit sad that they're only available in mini-size bottles because they're SO GORGEOUS but it's still fantastic to get all four shades for a lower price!

Shuttup, right? I just want to run off to the beach and I don't even LIKE the beach! Hold me back now! 

Samba-dy Love Purple is the brightest, gorgeous fuchsia-purple that just looks like a Fanta grape exploded on my nail! The silver sparkle is very subtle, but still quite lovely. It was nicely opaque in two coats with a beautiful sandy finish.

I'm Brazil Nuts Over You is STUNNING. I wore it the other day as an accent nail along with Live.Love.Carnaval and I got SO many compliments on the two together! I really love the purple shimmer in it, it reminds me a lot of the same look that Jinx had in OPI's Bond Girl Liquid Sand Collection. It was perfectly opaque with two coats and was the least sandy feeling out of all four shades. 

What's a Little Rain Forest? is probably my favorite out of these four, but really barely by a margin. The blue shade is bright, eye-catching and applies like a dream. It's perfectly opaque in two coats, has an almost frosty finish while still remaining quite bright (similar to the Bond Girl's Tiffany Case liquid sand, but much brighter). I just love the silvery-blue subtle shimmer in it. 

Your So Flippy Floppy is a MUST HAVE for Summer days! It's just a ka-pow! In your face yellow! It's definitely the least opaque out of all the Sandies, even here with two coats, you can see that it's still quite see-through. I'd say you'd need three to four coats to make it completely opaque, but honestly this two coat finish still looks awesome to me! Because it's a bit thinner, it appears a bit rougher in texture compared to the others. 

All four shades dry super fast, needing barely ten minutes between coats, and they each last about four to five days before chipping (without top coat, for that sandy textured finish) and up to about seven to eight days with the top coat. 

PURCHASE

As I said, you can still find these shades available at your local stores that carry OPI. Each polish is typically sold at $9 each, while the Beach Sandies Mini Set is $12.95. Here are the links for these polishes on Ulta's website:

ULTA WEBSITE - Brazil Collection

ULTA WEBSITE - Brazil Mini Beach Sandies

You can also purchase these four shades in mini-sizes in OPI's CopacaBabies Set - Next Stop...The Bikini Zone, Kiss Me I'm Brazilian, AmazON...AmazOFF, Where Did Suzi's Man-go? for $12.95.

ULTA WEBSITE - Brazil CopacaBabies Mini Set

FINALE

I just had to throw in another close-up of these bright Sandies, they are just so glorious to look at! Haha! Well, thank you for being patient with me at getting this post out to you. At the moment I only have one Muppets Most Wanted Collection polish and zero from the Spotlight on Glitter and Neon Nail Collections. Nothing has really grabbed my attention, but if there's something you'd really like to see me swatch or any collection in particular you'd like me to write about, please leave a comment below and let me know! 

All in all, I really just adore this Brazil Collection! I'll probably eventually get around to getting the remaining shades - Next Stop...The Bikini Zone, Taupe-less Beach, I Sao Paulo Over There, I Just Can't Cope-acabana, Where Did Suzi's Man-go?, and Kiss Me I'm Brazilian. The Taupe shades, for some reason, have really been calling my name lately! 

I HIGHLY recommend trying out this collection or any of these individual shades INCLUDING the amazing Beach Sandies. Once again, I wish the Sandies came in individual full-size bottles, but you can't argue with a good price for all four shades, even though they're minis. The great thing about Sandies/Liquid Sands is I've found that they last a bit longer since you don't need super thick coats to make them opaque. If you do decide to choose a color from the full-size Brazil shades, I really hope you pick these minis as well, they're just too much fun to not get!

Hope you enjoyed this quick review!  

Happy Polishing!

 

   

Beauty Spotlight - ft. Real Techniques Modern Natural & Night Owl Makeupkits

REAL TECHNIQUES

MAKEUPKITS

MODERN NATURAL & NIGHT OWL

"Real Techniques’ formulations are optimized for outstanding performance. Each powder combines rich color pigmentation with a uniquely lightweight, blendable finish that looks and feels luminous. As you apply, the product glides onto your skin for smooth application, long-wearing coverage, and glowing results." - realtechniques.com

Have I got some pretties to share with you today! I am a HUGE fan of Real Techniques and their designers, the amazing makeup artists, Sam and Nic Chapman. I watch their YouTube Channel, Pixiwoo, religiously. They are phenomenal! Not only are they positively gorgeous, have beautiful British accents, but they are so very sweet and probably two of my favorite pro makeup artists on YouTube. 

If you haven't heard of Real Techniques before, they specialize in making a large range of makeup brushes. The brush bristles are synthetic, 100% cruelty-free and super plush. Not only that, but they're very affordable compared to high-range lines and really, in my opinion, superior in quality to several expensive brands. They have three different sets that are color coded for easy selection for application.
    

• Gold - flawless base (expert face brush, powder, foundation, etc.)
• Purple - enhanced eyes (lash-brow groomer, base shadow, crease, fine liner, etc.)
• Pink - perfect finish (blush brush, stippling, setting, etc.)

    
They also have a white set that's duo-fiber, a mini travel set, retractable brushes and a Miracle Complexion Sponge that I've heard from many sources is an amazing and less expensive dupe for the Beautyblender.  

When I heard they were coming out with limited release makeupkits I nearly exploded with excitement! Not only am I a sucker for palettes, but if it has Sam and Nic's Real Techniques stamped on it, um...hello...yes please!

At this time there are only two Makeupkits available for purchase on realtechniques.com and they are the Modern Natural Makeupkit and the Night Owl. Obviously, one being more of a natural daytime set and the other for a richer, nighttime look. Each makeup kit comes with:

• 3 long-lasting shimmer eye shadows
• 1 velvety-smooth matte eye shadow
• 1 soft eyeliner
• 1 perfect-finish, buildable blush
• 1 glowing cream highlighter
• 2 sheer lip glosses

So that's pretty much an entire look minus your base! The only thing with these kits is that they DO NOT come with brushes IN the kit for application (except the lip glosses, they are in a tube with an applicator wand). HOWEVER, each kit does come with a bonus gift with purchase that was an absolutely pleasant surprise to receieve!...

BONUS!

POINTED LINER BRUSHES

"Receive a new and exclusive pointed liner brush free with the purchase of a makeupkit - you can't get this brush anywhere else!" - realtechniques.com

Yes! THANK YOU Real Techniques! I actually didn't even notice on their website that these come with purchase of the Makeupkits! It even says it right under the list of what's in the kit AND the text is red...way to pay attention, Cookie ::thpppt::.

What I thought was particularly awesome was that even though I purchased both kits at the same time, Real Techniques included TWO brushes, one for each kit, instead of shorting me and only giving me one since I bought both palettes together. Very classy, Real Techniques, very classy! I think the little clear cards that say: "We hope you enjoy this special gift!" are just adorable. ::hugs Real Techniques::

And now, on to the Makeupkits themselves!....

      

MODERN NATURAL
MAKEUPKIT

"This collection of stunning neutral shades is just what you need to create the perfect look. Enhance your natural beauty, accentuate the features you love, or turn up the heat with a sultry smokey eye. The buildable, long-lasting color + smooth application give you the flexibility to transform your look for any occasion." - realtechniques.com

I really love the simple, modern and chic look to the packaging. The kits came in this simple box that has the Real Techniques logo placed elegantly on the side, the name of the kit listed in a modern font on the front and a reminder to go online to Real Techniques website to see one of the Chapman sister's videos showing how to use the whole kit for a look.

Tada! Here is what the kit actually looks like! It's made from a cardboard-style material, completely matte black except for a slightly glossy design scrolled across with the Real Techniques name over and over, but it's not at all loud or distracting from the actual products inside. The top is a clear plastic of sorts, and I will say, that's one thing that I'm not entire happy with. The plastic window is just a bit too flimsy for my liking. If you have something with a bit of weight on top of this palette, it could easily press down INTO the pans of product and potentially ruin, crack or smear them. If they do come out with more kits in the future, I'd like for them to put a harder plastic material in the lid, one that doesn't flex quite as much. I DO love the overall design and style, though!

The size of the kit is pretty standard for a palette, maybe just a teensy bit bulkier feeling in regards to it's thickness, but the main reason they needed to make it a bit thicker is to accommodate the size of the gloss tubes. It also comes with a simple plastic sleeve to cover and protect the product pans. Most people toss the plastic sleeves after opening, but I might recommend keeping this one as it will provide a bit more protection since the lid is a bit flimsy. The lid has a simple magnetic closing, and although I usually prefer palettes that clasp close, I feel confident in these magnets well enough. I held the palette upside down and shook it quite hard to see how well the lid would hold and it didn't budge! 

One thing I would have liked to have seen on this palette, though, is a mirror! How fabulous would it have been if they had included a slide out mirror on the side or front that comes out from inside the palette and is removable? There's plenty of room it would seem! A little pull tab that pulls it right out completely out of the palette! I would love it.

As stated above, each palette comes with four eye shadows (3 shimmer, 1 matte), a blush and highlighter and two lip glosses. A little concern for some beauty lovers is that the cream and powder products are not separated from each other and the cream products may be ruined to an extent by loose powder falling into them. I do wish they had set them farther a part a bit, but so far I haven't had any problems, especially since there is a bit of spacing between them, so no complaints here! 

It wasn't until AFTER I had been using the products for a while that I realized from looking at Real Technique's website that each product has an actual shade name! I had NO idea, because the kit doesn't say the names anywhere! Not on the box, not on the packaging, not on the plastic sleeve...no where. Hmmmm...very odd. I do wish they had put them somewhere, because deep deep down inside my makeup loving heart, I am PRAYING that they actually come out with a makeup line of sorts and I would LOVE to be able to purchase these shades individually as I'm sure others would as well! (Do you hear that, Real Techniques? Hmmmm? ::nudgenudgewinkwink::). 

Well let's take a closer look at the shades, the products and I'll list their names for you!...
   

EYE SHADOWS & EYELINER
  
Shadows

• Quicksand - pale champagne gold satin-shimmer
• Gold Metal - bronze-gold slightly metallic shimmer
• Caramel Mocha - warm matte mocha
• Nightshade - shimmery mink with lavender frosty tones and subtle silver microglitter

Each pan contains 1.0 grams (0.03oz) of product. 
 


Eyeliner

• Dark Chocolate - warm chocolate brown creamy gel

        This pan contains 0.70 grams (0.02 oz) of product. 
         

 

Application & Swatches

   
All of these swatches are done WITHOUT primer. As you can see, they are quite nicely pigmented for not having a primer of any sort underneath! Each swatch is about 3 swipes each. All of the shades are soft, velvety feeling and Quicksand and Gold Metal especially look very rich. Caramel Mocha, although it's a matte, is still very easy to work with, although it can look just the teensiest bit dry without a primer, but it doesn't feel dry at all. Because the shades are so soft, the matte does blend very well and can be built up for more pigmentation if wanted. Nightshade is probably the trickiest to use, but it's still quite beautiful and workable. The pigmentation isn't the strongest out of the four, but it's not at all patchy and can be built up very easily for a stronger color. I really love the soft, subtle lavender tones in it and the light shimmer from the silver microglitter. It is absolutely ridiculous how well these shadows blend with each other, they're really quite seamless. The blend and fade out nicely, or can be layered up a bit to get a richer, deeper color.

The Dark Chocolate gel eyeliner is absolutely beautiful. I did find that it doesn't apply very easily with a pointed liner brush, however with a small angled brush, it applies very, very well. It's a pretty soft formula, although not particularly heavily pigmented. I do actually like the texture quite a bit, though, as it can be blended well, smudged or built up for a deeper color. It doesn't completely set for an all day finish, but it does to an extent so there's not a huge amount of smudging. It's easy to apply for a liner on the lid, worked into the lashes, below the lash line, but I wouldn't recommend using it to tight-line or apply on the waterline, the formula is too soft.

  

    

Longevity & Wear

 Given the softness of shadows, the pigmentation and finish I was SO very pleased with how well these products lasted during wear! I had no problems with creasing, fall-out or major fading. I had full pigmentation with the shadows for about six to seven hours after application, and still had a nice color for the remainder of the day, it never really faded to the point where it seemed like I barely had any eye shadow on. 

The gel liner doesn't set quite as much as other gels liners I've used, but as I said, I do like that for the fact that I can blend it out well. Used with a primer and setting spray it stayed set with no smudging for about four to five hours. However, I always have problems with smudging and smearing on my bottom lashes since my eyes water quite a bit, so it had smeared a teensy after about five hours and had almost completely wiped off by the seven hour mark. On my top lashes, it had barely faded by the eight hour mark, though!

BLUSH & HIGHLIGHTER

• Coral Sunset - soft peachy coral satin blush
• Champagne - creamy pale pink-champagne highlight

    

The blush size is 2.20 grams (0.07 oz) and the highlighter is 1.50 grams (0.05 oz).

Application & Swatches
    

    
I really just adore the blushes and highlight from these palettes. Coral Sunset is soft, very fresh looking and can be worn sheer or built up to a gorgeous flush. It doesn't get too terrible bright and pigmented, but I think it fits well with the daytime feel for this kit. The swatch above has about four to five swipes blending out a bit.

The Champagne highlighter is very, very creamy and compared to most highlighters that I use, can be built up quite a bit for a very pigmented glow. The swatch above is about three to four applications blended on with my finger. I've had so many highlighters that are so very subtle to the point that you can hardly tell you have any highlighter on at all, but this formula I just love. You can blend it out well so it's just barely a soft glow, or buff more in for a brighter finish. It has the most gorgeous super pale rose gold tones in it that I just adore.

  

Longevity & Wear
  
The blush and highlighter had excellent wear time! The blush, used along with a primer and setting spray, stayed almost completely pigmented for the entire length of the day! It just baaaaaarely faded, but it still has a gorgeous natural flush appearance. This highlighter probably has the best longevity of any highlighter I've ever used. Usually by the end of the day I can't see that I have any highlighter on at all, but with this, I could still see a glow-y sheen where I had applied it! 

 

LIP GLOSSES
   

  

• Nectar - sheer peachy-pink with pink & silver microglitter
• Copperhead - sheer gold with bronze-gold shimmer

Each lip gloss contains 1.25 grams (0.04 oz) of product.



Application & Swatches

     

    

The packaging is a standard lip gloss tube with a twist top and doe foot applicator wand. They're so teensy and adorable! I don't know if I particularly like having two small sheer glosses instead of one larger full-size gloss. I like have variety but since these are so sheer, it really doesn't seem like variety as much as two glosses that pretty much give me the same finish on my lips. When swatched you really cannot see any of the pink and silver microsparkle in the Nectar shade, it just comes across as a super sheer pink. The Copperhead shade has a bit more shimmer that's easy to see.

   
On the Lips

Nectar

My lips are already fairly pink so the sheer Nectar just enhanced the pinkness a bit. The formula is very comfortable on my lips, it doesn't feel super sticky or heavy. Out of all four glosses from both kits, Nectar is the glossiest. I really love using it over a pink lipstick!



Copperhead

Copperhead essentially tones down the pinkness to my lips but just BARELY and add some subtle golden shimmer. I think it's lovely, but I probably would have liked a bit more color, maybe a bit more of a nude-ish pigmentation. Still a wonderful consistency and feel on the lips, though, although not quite as glossy as nectar.

    

Longevity & Wear

Unfortunately because the colors aren't very pigmented, they really don't last very long on the lips. With Nectar, I only had a soft tint of pink for about an hour, then it faded softly to a slight sheen, then it just disappeared completely! With Copperhead, it lasted even less, maybe only 45 minutes before the glossiness had disappeared, however the shimmer stayed on my lips for several hours after! I really like that effect when I'm keeping the lips more natural. It's a great Summery effect if you prefer keeping shimmer very low-key. 
    

NIGHT OWL
MAKEUPKIT

"From nude, to gold, to plum brown, these stunning neutral shades are just what you need to create the perfect look." - realtechniques.com

The Night Owl kit design is exactly like the Modern Natural, the only difference being the shades themselves. 

   

I actually took this palette with me on my recent trip to Chicago (if you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen a sneak peek photo of it from my hotel!) and I LOVED that I didn't have to pull out multiple products to do a quick face. I pulled out my Real Techniques brush kit that I modified to hold the brushes I wanted to carry, applied my foundation, concealer and primer, then used this palette for my eye shadow, eyeliner, blush and highlight! A little mascara, contour and a quick swipe of the lip gloss and I was good to go! Woohoo!

  

  

The good thing about this palette being a cardboard-type material is that if you are big on de-potting, it should be super easy to remove the pans from this palette and stick them in a Zpalette or whatever brand you use. The lip glosses probably won't fit, but then you'd be able to separate the creamy products from the powder.

  

I love the Modern Natural palette, but oooooooh my goodness, this palette is just GORGEOUS. ::giggles:: I think I may have bugged all of my friends on Facebook by sending them photos of this palette. Haha, I'm always fawning over palettes and kits and sharing the love (aka enabling) with my making loving friends! If I had to pick between the two kits, I would have definitely gone with this one, the colors just look elegant, romantic and divine.

EYE SHADOWS & EYELINERS

Shadows

• Quicksand - pale champagne gold satin-shimmer
• Royal Orchid - deep plum orchid matte-satin
• Midnight Sapphire - deep midnight blue matte-satin
• Galaxy - dark charcoal satin with navy blue tones and silver glitter

Each pan contains 1.0 grams (0.03 oz) of product

Eyeliner

    

• Ink - black creamy gel

This pan contains 0.70 grams (0.02 oz) of product.



      

Application & Swatches

   

Quicksand is a repeat from the Modern Natural palette, but that's perfectly fine with me, as I think it's a fantastic highlighting shade. Royal Orchid and Midnight Sapphire appear, to me, to have the exact same finish, which is strange because the website promotes the kit as having three satins and one matte. They appear to be more like a matte-satin finish, or at least that's what I'm seeing. They are very richly pigmented though for a more matte finish shadow. Once again, all of the swatches here are done without primer and are about three to four swipes each. Galaxy is so beautiful and in the photos I absolute obsess over right next to Midnight Sapphire. The glitter is much more apparent compared to Modern Natural's Nightshade but it's not overly packed to where there's not enough actual pigment shadow showing up as well. 

All four of these shades are highly pigmented and easily blendable. The only problem I've had with these shades is that they may blend together a little TOO well. If you don't keeps these shades more separated and start blending them into together or too near each other while sheering them out, they almost become one color. As in, you can't quite tell that that's a plum shade and that's a dark navy, if you know what I mean. If you blend the Galaxy over them, the color just deepens what your wearing underneath a teensy bit and it looks like you just added some glitter over the top of what you already had. So, if you DO want the shades to all blend together, this quad of shades will certainly do that, however, if you want to keep the richness of the plum and the deepness of the midnight blue, be very careful with how you layer them. If you wear the plum by itself or the midnight blue by itself, though, the colors are just as rich as you see them here (if not more so with primer!). 

The Ink gel liner is a very nice, very smooth and easy to work with liner but I do wish it had been a bit deeper and darker in color. I would have loved a completely blacker than black shade. Although this black can be built on a bit for a richer pigmentation, it never becomes as dark as I'd like it to be. As with the Dark Chocolate liner in the Modern Natural, it's very easy to blend out and I much prefer using an angled brush than a pointed liner brush for application.

  

Longevity & Wear

As far as longevity, I did have good wear with these shades, although I also did have a bit of a problem with it creasing on my lid a teensy bit, especially with Midnight Sapphire. I used them over a couple of different primers, and when they're blended out a bit, they don't crease quite as much, but if I'm wearing them rich and layered, they do a bit over hours of wear. I did have no problems at all with fallout, though, and even though the shades did smudge a bit under my bottom lash line, they didn't fade too much after several hours of wear. I even wore a darker look outside for several hours, with quite a bit of walking and although I had some smudging, the color still hadn't faded off too much and still looked rich and saturated. 

BLUSH & HIGHLIGHTER

• Flushed - deep rose with rose gold satin sheen blush
• Champagne - creamy pale pink-champagne highlight

The blush size is 2.20 grams (0.07 oz) and the highlighter is 1.50 grams (0.05 oz). 

Application & Swatches

The blush in this palette differs a bit from the blush in the Modern Natural by having a slight sheen to it. Flushed is a gorgeous deep rose but it definitely has some rose gold shine reflecting off of it a bit. It's nicely pigmented, but again, same as Coral Sunset, it starts a bit sheer, but can be built up easily for a deeper...well...flush! Haha! I think it's a very sweet shade, very romantic and looks gorgeous paired next to the Champagne highlight, which coincidentally, is also a repeat from the Modern Natural palette.

     

Longevity & Wear

The wear of the highlight, as you can imagine, is precisely the same as it was from the Modern Natural palette, haha! The blush is definitely a new favorite of mine. It's very soft, can be blended out really well and stays nicely pigmented for almost the entire length of wear. I had no problems at all with this blush fading completely away or becoming dry and patchy looking. 

  

LIP GLOSSES

• Nude Rose - sheer nude with golden subtle shimmer
• Cabernet - deep cranberry red gloss

Each lip gloss contains 1.25 grams (0.04 oz) of product. 

    

Application & Swatches

The Nude Rose shade is very similar to Copperhead from the Modern Natural, however, Nude Rose has more of a rose gold tone and Copperhead is more golden-bronze. They're both nude, sheer and have some shimmer, but Copperhead definitely has more shimmer that shows up on the lips.

Cabernet is the most pigmented of ALL four lip glosses that Real Techniques came out with in these kits and I really wish ALL the glosses were like this one. It's just lovely! The color is a rich cranberry red with no shimmer. It's not terribly glossy but still with a slight glossy shine.

On the Lips

Nude Rose

I think this gloss is darling! It isn't quite as glossy looking as Copperhead, in fact it sets a bit more on the lips, but it has a romantic rose gold tone that looks gorgeous. It probably looks a bit more rosy-gold on my lips since there's already so much pink underneath, but you could easily apply a soft pink lipstick underneath to achieve a similar tone. 



Cabernet
  

The most fabulous of all of the glosses, I mean LOOK AT IT! GORGEOUS. Now WHY couldn't the others be this pigmented?! Amazing. It's glossy, but not as much as the others, it's more of a creamy gloss on the lips. It's very comfortable and looks great both worn full color (as above) or blended on and blotted.

Longevity & Wear

These glosses did last a bit longer than the Modern Natural palette's glosses. I think probably because the Nude Rose sets a bit more and because Cabernet is more pigmented. Nude Rose doesn't last much longer than Nectar and Copperhead did, maybe an hour and a half before it faded away, but I prefer wearing it over a lipstick anyhow. Cabernet's full color lasted about two hours, then it stayed a gorgeous tint till the four hour mark!

PURCHASE

Both of these kits can be purchased from the Real Techniques website. At this time, I believe they are only being sold ON the website and are limited release, so get them while they're hot! They retail at $25 (US) each and don't forget, they also come with the gift with purchase pointed liner brush!

http://realtechniques.com/shop-collection/color-palette/modern-natural

http://realtechniques.com/shop-collection/color-palette/night-owl

    

FINALE

Of course I had to do two finales for you! One for the Modern Natural and one for the Night Owl! I hope you enjoy. Let me know which look and palette YOU like best...

Modern Natural

I didn't want to go for something too natural and simple-daytime as I wanted you to see how gorgeous the colors are from this kit. Instead I went for a warm somewhat toned-town bronze goddess look.

I started with a light BB cream as my foundation, then applied concealer where needed. Then I very lightly contoured my face and darkened my brows with a brow powder.

For the eyes I started with Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Original, then NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk all over the lid. I then took the Quicksand shade from the kit and blended it on my brow bone and in the inner corners of my eyes. I used Gold Metal on my lid, from the sides of my nose (above the inner corner) and about half way across my lid. I then patted a bit more on just the lid area to make the gold sheen stand out more. I then blended Caramel Mocha on the outer 1/2 of my lid and in the outer crease a bit, pulling it lightly up towards the edge of my eyebrow, as well as very lightly below the outer half of my bottom lash line. I then gently blended Nightshade just on the center of my lid between Caramel Mocha and Gold Metal to tone down a bit of the warmth of the gold and soften the effect.

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I then used an angled liner brush to apply the Dark Chocolate gel in a winged shape as well as under the outer 1/2 of my bottom lash line and connecting it together to the top on the outer corner.

I finished the look by applying mascara, then lightly tapping on the Champagne highlight on the top of my nose, above my cheekbones, and on my cupid's bow on my mouth. I used a blush brush to apply Coral Sunset, well blended softly over my entire cheek area to bring a warm glow to the face, then I used the Nectar lip gloss to finish!

Night Owl

So this was the look that I wore around Chicago for a day! Yes, yes, I wore it during the day as well, haha, but eventually it was nighttime! So I went for something that I felt okay with transitioning from day to night and that had a slightly sexy and romantic grungy feel.  

(Note - please excuse the slightly strange lighting, I took these photos in my hotel room and the sun was not being very friendly through the drapes they had there, but without the drapes, I was pretty much blinded! (Hehe, get it? Blinded? Ok...moving on now.)

 I began with my foundation, then concealer where needed. Then I used a setting powder over it and darkened my eyebrows with a setting powder.

I applied Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Original, then NYX's Jumbo Pencil in Milk as my primers, then I blended Royal Orchid in my crease area, softly pulling it up towards my eyebrow. I then blended on Midnight Sapphire over my entire lid as well as lightly underneath the outer 1/2 of my bottom lash line. I very lightly patted on Galaxy on the outer 1/2 of my lid just to deepen the shade a bit, but not to add too much sparkle. I then blended in Quicksand on my brow bone and inner corners of my eyes.

I applied the Ink eyeliner over my top lashes with my angled liner brush, then smudged it out a bit with my smudge brush. I then pulled the end of it up into a wing shape, but again, smudged it a bit just to keep the look softer and more of a romantic grunge effect. I then smudged it below the outer 1/2 of my bottom lash line as well. 

I finished the look by applying mascara, the Champagne highlighter on my nose and cupid's bow as well as above my cheekbones, just using my finger to apply. I buffed on the Flushed blush on the apples of my cheeks, then applied the Cabernet lip gloss on my lips, blotting it to remove most of the brightness, then used Nude Rose over it to soften the shade to a berry tint.

So that's it for my review of the Real Technique's Modern Natural and Night Owl Makeupkits! I hope you enjoyed it. I really loved my purchase, I think they're fantastic for traveling or if you have to get ready quickly, OR just to have, because frankly, they're so lovely! 

Let me know what you think! Which palette would you choose and are you planning to purchase one of your own before they're gone?

Happy Makeuping!