Makeup Monday: Ulta-Exclusive LORAC Multidimensional Beauty Kit

I was so excited to get this when I ordered it, and then things got crazy and I never got to finish my post.... I'm still excited about it, actually, and I've had it for a couple months already.

LORAC Multidimensional Beauty collection. This is an Ulta exclusive and I'm pretty sure it's limited edition. In case you can't tell from this picture, the box is HOLO:

See?! How cool is that?? I know it's just a cardboard box, but it's a hologram cardboard box and you know what a sucker I am for good packaging.

But the outer carton isn't the only thing that's holo-esque... This kit comes with a metal-plated makeup bag that is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. My only complaint is that it's not big enough to carry as a purse. I took a million pictures.

The left hand side of the bag has a rainbow pattern that's always visible, but the right hand side has no stripes.

It changes colors depending on the angle. It's mesmerizing to look at. See down toward the opposite edge of the bag, where it looks like it's lighting up aqua? It looks even better in real life. Holo makeup bag. Gaaaaah so awesome....


Okay, enough about the bag already. Here's what's inside:

Three full sized eyeshadows in 3D-Luxe, 3D-Mension and 3D-Licious plus an Ulta exclusive shade of LORAC 3D Multiplex lipgloss in Ulta Glam.

3D-Luxe is a light ivory with peachy tinted duochrome and subtle iridescent sparkle, 3D-Mension is a plain metallic bronze and 3D-Licious is a MAC Club dupe (red toned brown with green-blue duochrome shimmer).

3D-Luxe is my favorite one... it's so gorgeous, none of my pictures come close to capturing how beautiful it is. It has such delicate iridescent sparkle and just a faint sheen of duochrome across the color...

If you enlarge these, you might be able to pick up a little of the depth of the color. You sorta have to see it in person to fully appreciate it.

The Ulta Glam shade of Multiplex gloss is just as mesmerizing... I think the purchase of the kit was worth it just for this beauty:
Ulta Glam is a copper rose shimmer base, sheer, with strong brassy gold duochrome at one angle and darker pink-rose duochrome at another angle plus lots of iridescent microglitter that also adds to the color-shiftiness. The best part? There's BLUE MICROGLITTER. Blue!!! Glitter!!


Swatched dry over bare skin: 3D-Luxe, 3D-Mension and 3D-Licious shadows and Ulta Glam Multiplex 3D gloss. You can kinda see the blue sparkles in the gloss, right?

This also came with a gift with purchase that I thought was pretty neat:

A sample of LORAC's new Multiplex 3D Lashes mascara that comes on a holo card, in a tube with holo text. Yep, no denying it, I'm easily swayed by how much holo foil comes on the package... The mascara itself it's something I'd normally use. I like the curved plastic pointy bristle brush, but the formula doesn't add any volume. It makes your lashes super long and defined, but doesn't add any thickness. It kinda seems like it makes them curl like those old curling mascaras, but it could just be my imagination....

The formula on the shadows seems consistent with the other LORAC shadows I've tried. Like I've mentioned before, I'm really new to LORAC shadows and I'm still not sure if this is the normal quality and texture or not. The texture is disturbingly soft and loose- I say disturbing because it seems like it loosens so much product every time I touch it with my brush that I could use the entire shadow in a week. Very loosely pressed, soft and powdery. Medium pigmentation and payoff, not super pigmented or opaque. Suitable for wet use to intensify the payoff and color. I'd recommend wet use if you like your colors intense like I do. They don't seem to wear very well due to the super soft light texture; they tend to fade a bit and wear off by the end of the day (I always use primer and it behaves the same over all primers I tried). The colors themselves are pretty and go well together and they look light and luminous on.

The gloss is amazing. I love the Multiplex formula. It's smooth and silky, lasts a reasonable amount of time and tastes/smells amazing. Is it lychee? I have no idea what the scent is, but it's light and fruity and soft and I really really like it. The Ulta Glam shade in this kit does not disappoint. It's super duochrome but also full of microglitter so it's sparkly on top of being duochrome. The only downside is that the glitter is kinda gritty.

I love this kit. I really hope LORAC keeps doing the whole multiplex 3D theme. They enable me in my duochrome addiction... Just wish they'd lower the price on their Multiplex glosses!

This is gone from the Ulta website already, but I've seen plenty of kits still in stock in-store recently, so you should be able to find one if you have an Ulta nearby. The whole kit is only $35 so it's an excellent value- a Multiplex gloss alone is $22 (and no, I won't stop complaining about the price) and a LORAC shadow single is $19.

Bite Vitamin Gel Trio Review

This is a quick review I wanted to post for a friend before the Sephora VIB code expires...

Sorry I didn't take any pictures of my own. But, truthfully, besides the packaging, there's not much to photograph as the glosses are clear.

So. The Bite Beauty Vitamin Gel Trio. I've been curious about these ever since they showed up on Sephora.com and now that I've briefly tried them, here's what I think.

First thing I noticed was the size of the tube. They seem like they'd be bigger based on the picture on the website. They contain .31oz each.

The packaging is nice. The box of the trio contains three boxes inside, each containing a full size Bite Vitamin Gel. The tube is a molded clear plastic with a slant tip applicator and a very lovely grey rubberized cap.

The flavors/scents are:
Pink Grapefruit: This is what drew me in. Pink/red grapefruit are one of my favorite things ever. The scent and flavor of this one is a very light grapefruit. Much weaker than I was hoping for,

Blood Orange: I like blood oranges, too, but this doesn't smell or taste like one. It starts off smelling just like Orange Pop LipSmacker, but after a second that scent fades and it becomes pure bergamot scent and flavor. That's okay because it reminds me of Earl Grey tea, but not what I expected.

Mint: Just a light, sweet mint. Reminds me of something else... C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine? Very similar.

The texture is thick, oily/waxy and smooth. It's not so much a gel as it is a balm. It actually reminds me of the texture of Rosebud Salve, just not as slippery once it melts. It's more waxy, but it becomes melty and slick on the lips with a little thickness left over. It stays on for a while, but it doesn't feel particularly moisturizing or soothing. I actually find it a little bit irritating, but I've only worn it for a day, so this may change.

The color? There's no color. From the description online I thought there would be some tint, and there is a visible tint in the tube, but it is invisible on the lips.

These retail for $18 EACH. Seriously. $18 for an average lip balm, just because it contains Resveratrol. Thanks a lot, Dr. Oz. But, the set is only $28, $24-ish after the discount, so that's not so bad. But still, I would never pay $18 for one of these. They're quite ordinary.

Final verdict: Absolutely nothing special about these. I'm going to return mine because I don't feel that they're worth the $24 I paid for the set. I'd rather have some amazing Jack Black lip balm (if you haven't tried Jack Black lip balm, what are you waiting for?! You need to. I mean it.)

Weak scents, unimpressive formula. Pretty packaging, but that's just not enough for me to justify the price tag on these. If they were in the $7-$10 price range individually I might consider keeping them, but not at this price point.

EDIT: I used them a few more times just to be sure I was giving them a fair review. During this time, I discovered a few more things that I didn't notice the first time:

-The caps are loose. Once you unscrew them a few times, they become loose and spin too much, they never align properly or feel secure again.

-They last a really long time on my lips and look really nice, not too much shine. Good texture but still not very moisturizing.

-They sorta irritate my lips a little... A slight itching/tingling/raw sensation. Hm.

-Scents are still way too weak.

Makeup Monday: Cargo Voyages Gloss Collection Spring 2011: Voyages Gloss Set

While I was flipping through the new Ulta sale flier this week, I noticed that there was a new Cargo Voyages kit for summer in there. It's almost time for the summer collection and I still haven't finished posting the spring collection that I have to review! Eep! Well, there's still time.. here it is!

The Cargo Voyages Gloss Collection is a set of five travel-sized glosses in cute travel-themed packaging.


The five shades are:

Serengeti, which was in the Safari kit as well. It's a sheer peachy shade with microglitter.


Tokyo, which is a sheer shimmer-free warm rosy pink.

Las Vegas, which is a sheer champagne shimmer with golden microglitter.


Morocco, which is a sheer plum mauve with microglitter.



Paris, a sheer rose mauve with frosty shimmer.

Swatched:


Paris, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Morocco and Serengeti. You may need to enlarge these to see the pretty microglitter. Las Vegas and Morocco are especially sparkly.

The formula on these is smooth and thin. It's slick feeling and the glitter shades are a touch gritty. It's not large, chunky glitter, it's very very tiny, but you can still feel it if you rub your lips together. Due to the thinness of the formula, it's not a very long-lasting gloss.

There's no particular strong or detectable taste or scent. Once they're on your lips, there's practically no scent at all and only a light unflavored gloss base taste.

While the gloss formula is nice and the colors are pretty, there are a few downsides for me.

The most noticeable flaw is the size of the gloss. They're tiny. There's an optical illusion created by the thickness of the plastic tube that makes them appear larger and fuller. However, when the wand is removed, you can see that the tube is barely half full of gloss. These each contain 0.45g / 0.015oz.

On one hand, this is a flaw if you are expecting something bigger. On the other hand, this is convenient if you bought these for travel. They're small enough to take on a plane, they're tiny enough to fit in a pocket, and you could conceivably finish them during the trip and not have to take them back with you.

The other downside, for me at least, is that the colors are very sheer. They add sparkle and shine, but not much color. Only a sheer tint.

And, lastly, again, this is my personal preference, but... They're not scented! Plain, unscented gloss is boring for me, I'm a little disappointed that they're so plain.

This set is priced at a very affordable $22 for the five. But, I must mention... that's $22 for only 2.25g / 0.075oz of product. For comparison, a single MAC Lipglass is 4.8g / .17oz and costs $14.50. Basically, you get half the amount of product as one MAC Lipglass for $7.50 more. I think what you're paying for here is the travel-sized convenience.

So, to recap: Cute package that looks like a postcard, tiny travel sized sheer gloss, good texture but not long lasting, no scent.

This set is cute and the colors are nice, but it's not as good of a deal as that awesome Safari kit from this spring Voyages collection. I'd recommend that kit just for the gorgeous Coral Beach Beach Blush alone. Either way, both the kits are still available from CargoCosmetics.com.

(This was sent to me for review.)