Beauty Product Reviews

So much better then the Matte formula!!

As a mature woman, in my mid fifties, using matte formulas tend to make my lips look very wrinkled and almost puckered and I really dislike that. This new gel formula is very pigmented, applies easily without having to use much pressure like we had to with the matte formula and has a beautiful semi glossy finish. It's slightly more then a sheen, but not full on GLOSS, if you know what I mean. Just lovely. I would love to see Natasha come out with more. Maybe a 6 or 7 shade range of nudes, that would work for light, medium and then deep skin tones. I would like a sightly less tacky/sticky formula though. I find my hair will instantly adhere to my lips if the wing blows in the wrong direction, If Natasha could tackle that issue, this would be the perfect lip formula for me. The matching liner, on the other hand, needs a little work.

Worst "Surprise" I've ever had!!

I am fair to light skinned with neutral undertones and medium/dark ash-blonde hair. I ordered the light bag/box and was SO excited to see the amount of products in the box!! Then I started to open everything and things took a terrible turn. I received 3 lipliners, all almost the same shade, Light Nude, Vintage Pink and Natural Berry. The difference is minute at best in the shade range between the 3 and on the lips, with a lipstick or even on their own, with a gloss, you would barely be able to tell the difference. The lightest 2 lip liners would wash out my lips totally and I'd have that 60's/70's "pale lips lighter then your facial skin" look. Just NOT flattering at all in 2022! Speaking of the 2 glosses I received, they were BOTH shimmers, one in shade Chrysanthemum- golden bronze with gold shimmer. Like...what?? On light skin?? 100% wrong shade for me- it would look nice on a medium to tan skin tone, but not light, not even in summer. Even the stock pic posted to show the shade, you can plainly see it is not for light skin tones. The other lip gloss was shade was Hibiscus, a cool rose gold (again gold) with (again) shimmer. I might have, probably would have liked it or at the very least, be able to make it work, if it were not a shimmer. I'm in my 50's and a previous smoker for 35 of those years, shimmers are not for these lips. I think it would have been an easier pill to swallow if at least one of the glosses were a normal gloss and not shimmer. The lipsticks I received are shades Magnolia, a VERY light pink, which is fine, if you can pull off such a light pink, but I gravitate toward more neutral taupe leaning rose shades, definitely not pinks and not super light pinks. The other shade was Carnation which Wayne describes as a "deep, balanced mauve." I did not find the stock picture on the Beautylish website to be mauve at all, but a deeper "Barbie Doll" pink, if you know what I mean. I didn't even bother trying it. I also got the Weightless Veil Blush Palette in Vivid Azalea-a super, super pigmented and BRIGHT hot pinky/magenta.... I cannot even begin to describe my shock when I opened this blush/highlighter palette. I would have to have such a light hand, like a whisper of a touch. I would never be able to make it work. I just know I'd totally ruin my makeup by applying that little bit too much. The highlighter is fine, an icy white, nothing special, but user friendly for light skin tones. The blush however, I still don't have words. I'll leave it there. Moving on... the Radiance Boosting Face Palette is nice, the shades are user friendly and workable for fair to light skin tones. The contour shade is a little taupey for my preference, but still, I'm not mad at it. The bronzer shade is a nice golden tone, not too deep and not orange leaning, so that is a plus in my book. I don't think I'd use this as an everyday bronzer as there is a time and place to be glowy and radiant. But a light hand could make it work nicely for the office or workplace. The eyeliner shades were Obsidian, a normal matte black, nothing special, but totally wearable. The other shade is Deep Amythest, a nice deep smokey eggplant, but not compatible with the eyeshadow shades I received. The last item and what should be the best item turned out to be the "coup de grace"(death blow or final shot to kill a wounded animal or person) was the Imperial Topaz Eyeshadow palette. It is a plain Jane neutrals palette, nothing more, nothing less. (I'm sure MANY people got this one) and seriously underwhelming. It's a basic neutrals palette and with my hazel-green eyes, not flattering at all. Pink leaning neutrals are what make my eyes pop. Honestly, I did not even swatch it, why bother?? While I do understand we take a chance when we purchase these 'Mystery/Surprise Boxes/Bags, I really do not think Beautylish did Wayne Goss ANY favors putting these together. I am sure his formulas are good, but I cannot comment or give an opinion toward that (as I am sure you have noticed) because, quite frankly, why bother? The shades in two of the three palettes are just a NO and the lipsticks are light pink and darker pink, the lip liners are more pink, just super light pink and a slightly brownish pink. Sigh..... I 100% do not blame Wayne Goss for this fiasco. I am sure his makeup formulas are very good, for the most part. I've heard very good things about his lipsticks and glosses and same with the eyeshadow palettes. I should have known better then to waste my money on a box of unknowns, so that's on me. But equally, Beautylish really should have paid a little better attention to what they were putting in the boxes and tried to offer a bit of variety in each. I am sure MANY people of light skin tones got these terrible lip liner, lipstick and gloss shades. The blush palette is still a mystery. I quite frankly do not know what Wayne was thinking when he picked that blush shade. I'm pretty sure it was one of the shades sold the least. The eyeshadow palette is a neutral palette, not my neutrals, so again it's on me for getting a Mystery box. That is the chance you take when it comes to the shades. I honestly think by Beautylish putting this box together and me being naive enough to believe it'd be worth it, that I would get my money's worth, even if "some" things were not going to be to my liking, they have done my a favor. I will not be purchasing another "Mystery/Surprise Box/Bag" no matter what brand it is, from Beautylish. I think they just took all the products and shades that did not sell well and threw them into these boxes. Lesson learned, $233.47 CAD down the drain. The worst thing about this is that in my initial excitement at seeing all the products in the box before I actually opened anything, I told my friend it looked like a great box and she wasted her money too. She ended up with an almost identical box of shades. I do not blame Wayne Goss for this mess, but will I purchase any of his makeup again? I'm eyeing the Tourmaline Eyeshadow palette right now......