Wearing Milani Haute Flash Full Coverage Shimmer Lipgloss in In a Flash on my lips

A hella pigmented, high-shine glittery gloss for less than eight bucks? Hook it up, Milani!

The new Haute Flash Full Coverage Shimmer Lipglosses cost a mere $7.49 each, and yet they deliver flashy, full-coverage color the likes of pricier department store fare (I’m talkin’ to you, MAC, YSL and Chanel).

Like distant, disco-crazed cousins of the MAC Kissable Lipcolours ($19), these six Haute shades are loaded with pigment, so a little of each goes a long way, and have super skinny tubes and sponge tip applicators, but unlike their Kissable kin, they also glisten with glitter.

Both the Haute Flashes and Kissables start off feeling slick and smooth on my lips, but the Haute shades aren’t content with that. They seem to thicken and get much stickier after the first 15 minutes or so, and just generally, I think they like being babied.

Because they tend to catch on dry flakes and settle into every lip line, if my lips are anything less than perfectly smooth and moisturized, the Haute Flashes can look pretty janky. Exfoliating and prepping my lips with a lip balm beforehand definitely helps them look their best.

And have I mentioned how pigmented these are? I only need to use a minuscule amount, which is neat. Of course, if I happen to apply a tad too much, the Haute Flashes make me pay for it by looking thick and messy.

From the left: Quick Flash, Star Flash, Golden Flash, Flashy, Hot Flash and In A Flash

Quick Flash

Flashy

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NOVATO, CA — MAC Restores Dazzle! More at 11…

LOL! I’m lovin’ that exclamation mark at the end of this plummy Cremeblend blush’s name. It’s just so forceful and emphatic! — but it also sets some pretty high expectations.

In its pan, like sangria; on my skin, a sheer plum. MAC Cremeblend Blush in Restores Dazzle! ($20) applies surprisingly sheer.

More importantly, does it dazzle?

I think it does. A few pats here, a little blending there, and I swear I look a little brighter, even after a bout of insomnia.

A few other things that restore dazzle…

• A cute new pair of shoes I can actually walk in
• Fresh roots and highlights after a visit to the salon
• An afternoon of cheesecake, The Golden Girls re-runs and some time alone with my dog-eared copy of Twilight

One of three limited edition Cremeblend blushes from the Shop MAC collection, Restores Dazzle! looks right at home with the purple eyeshadows and lip colors I’ve been loving lately (like MAC Shop & Drop and YSL Pourpre Preview).

Wearing Cremeblend Blush in Restore Dazzle! on my cheeks and the colors from the MAC Eye Shadow X4 quad in Shop & Drop on my eyes

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I’ve been belting tunes and chair dancing to a lot of old-school Whitney lately (RIP, Whit), and I’ve also been thinking back to when I Wanna Dance With Somebody took the pop music world by storm. Do you remember that? Whenever my friends and I would hear those first few notes start playing on MTV, we’d all drop whatever we were doing and tear into the living room, turn up the volume and start dancing.

Those were good times…

This was back before I was allowed to wear makeup, but it didn’t stop me from admiring Whitney’s bold ’80s eye looks.

I bet the new MAC Eye Shadow X 4 quad in Shop & Drop ($38), one of three quads in the new Shop MAC collection, would have been a big hit back then with its smokey purples, pinks and grays.

The first time I saw these four eyeshadows in Sugar Snack (a light pink matte), Hypnotizing (a frosty grayish mauve), Power Boosted (a pearly violet) and Shop & Drop (a deep blue satin), I thought, “Better for cool-toned babes,” but after getting to know ‘em better, I think they’re also neutral enough for gals with warmer skin tones like mine.

Swatches from the left: Sugar Snack, Hypnotizing, Power Boosted and Shop & Drop

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Wearing Chanel Roses Ultimes de Chanel Glossimer in Jalousie on my lips

Quick! — what’s the first flower that comes to mind when you think of Coco Chanel? If you said “camellias,” there’s a good reason for that. They were her signature bloom. Now, whenever I see one I think, “How very Chanel!”

This time, however, for Chanel’s latest makeup collection, camellias take a bow, and roses take center stage.

Glossimers and nail colors are blooming in the 10-piece, limited edition Roses Ultimes de Chanel, available now at Chanel counters and online. It features six thick, sticky Glossimers ($29.50 each) and four Les Vernis Nail Colors ($26 each) in springy shades of pink, peach and coral.

For the record, I have a thing for Glossimers. I’ve fallen for many of them before, and like those, these have that same thick, sticky consistency and unscented, unflavored formula that lasts from 3-4 hours.

Lately, I’ve been supervising visits between my lips and four of the six Glossimers from Roses Ultimes de Chanel, and so far everyone’s really getting along.

These vary in coverage, but I like how springy they feel without going down the typical spring pastel route.

For daytime errands, I’ve been grabbing the two lighter shades, creamy, peachy pink Plaisir and creamy coral Voluptè. Both are semi-sheer and oh, so easy to wear.

If you prefer more dramatic Glossimers and don’t mind having to do some light maintenance (may need to use a lip liner and do frequent check-ups), look for shimmery pink Dèsir (has the most prominent glitter of these four, and I can just barely feel it on my lips) and the potently pigmented fuchsia Jalousie. Both seem to take a little more babying than Plaisir and Voluptè, but WOW! — what an impact.

Glossimers from the left: Plaisir, Voluptè, Dèsir and Jalousie

Swatches form the left: Glossimers from the left: Plaisir, Voluptè, Dèsir and Jalousie

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Guilty pleasure No. 437: Butter sugar sandwiches

A layer of butter topped with sugar and sandwiched between two slices of soft, melt-in-your-mouth fresh Wonder Bread.

Oh, whatever! You know you loved those, too.

Loaded with fat, sugar and other carbs, they’re the perfect junk food trifecta (although not exactly the healthiest snack in town). Buttery manna from heaven.

When I was a kid, every afternoon when I got home from school, my babysitter would make one for me, and I’d eat it while watching Scooby Doo.

Ah, memories…

Gosh, I just got so hungry all of a sudden. Why don’t I fix us both a butter sugar sandwich (they really are quite good), and then we’ll play with the buttery yellow eyeshadow in the new MAC Eye Shadow X 4 quad in Colour Added ($38).

It’s the yellow pan in the picture below, and the color shares the same name as the quad.

I think it’s my favorite of these four shadows…

Doesn’t it remind you of a golden pat of butter with grains of sugar melting on top? Or is that just me?

Wait until you see it on skin! It does this shifty thing in the light, one minute going from a satiny, light yellow butter color, to a richer yellow gold, to a golden beige. It’s kinda neat, and I don’t think I have anything quite like it in my eyeshadow collection.

Believe it or not, it’s even pretty wearable, too, just like the rest of the colors in this limited edition eyeshadow quad (one of three in the new Shop MAC collection).

In the quad, light yellow Colour Added is joined by a satiny neutral called Laundry Daze (essentially a beige), a slate gray called Self-Serve and a shimmery turquoise called Pre-Packaged.

The turquoise and yellow shades are generous with pigment but don’t throw their weight around, and I really like the effect.

By putting together two neutrals with two user-friendly brights, MAC’s created a quad for makeup lovers who crave a little color, but don’t necessarily want to wear LOUD NEON BRIGHTS!

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