I've always noticed the new upper end make-up displays at target, but never spared the time to check them out. Finally last weekend, leaving the boyfriend at the video game display to play madden or whatever, I was able to really examine what the lines had going on. I ended picking up the Pixi Lumi Lux eyeshadow pallete, NP Set Lip Stain and Plumper, Pixi Eye Zone Brightener, and NP Set Eyeliner in 'Mexico City'. I also grabbed Sonia Kashuk's loose powder, but I'll get to that later. As far as Napoleon Perdis and Pixi are concerned, the most interesting thing to me is the prices actually attracted me to the products rather than turning me off of them. I guess I'm just a sucker. It hit me later that for those prices, I could be in Sephora. To clarify, these are not chemist brands that make drugstore quality make-up, there are real faces behind the labels... but in my opinion, most of the items do not compare to higher end make-up. I ended up keeping none but the eyeshadow pallete, which I think has some potential. So I apologize for the lack of actual pictures of the products,except for the eyeshadows ;), but I don't think they're really even worth it, because they didn't work out well for me.
NP SET LIP STAIN & PLUMP
I wanted to like this so bad, I really did. It comes in two colors: 'Star', a sheer peachy coral color, and 'Moon', a cool light pink. I got Moon. According to the website, these contain Flax Seed Oil, a moisturizer, along with Acai and Pomengranite extract, which are antioxidants. To plump the lips, these use Capsicum, which is actually what peppers contain in them that makes them spicy. Also, these don't have any parabens. As far as a lip stain, it did leave a pink-ish flush on my lips after the glossiness faded, but it was not that much more pigmented than my regular lip color. The stain completely faded after about 2 hours. As far as plumping, it did plump up the area around my cupids bow a bit (the curve in the middle of your upper lip), but when I asked the people who knew me well, they said they didn't notice a difference. The burning sensation was more noticable than with the Sally Hansen lip plumpers, but nowhere near Too Faced Lip injection glosses. I liked these overall, I thought they made my lips look good. Subtly plumped, with a pretty light pink sheen. But for $15, which these babies retail for... they just didn't deliver enough to justify the price.
PIXI EYE ZONE BRIGHTENER
The funny thing with this is I actually bought it by mistake, thinking it was $14 because of where it was placed...come to find out it was actually $24. Now, this product seems to be marketed as a treatment AND cosmetic. I bought it hoping it would work well under concealer and brighten up the under eye area, but when I actually read the instructions it said it could be used after moisturizer... like a treatment. It seemed to be more targeted at women with mature skin, so I can't actually speak for its properties in this area. But as an under eye brightener, it didn't do anything at all, as concealer totally covered it up. The only thing I could really imagine doing with it is using it as a highlighter, but it seems the skin soaks it up, so its effects this way would be short lived.
NP SET EYELINER
The last of my rejects pile, this liner was a last minute buy. These come in 5 colors, of which I grabbed 'Mexico City', a dark, neutral (in my opinon) brown. According to their site, these have Jojoba Oil, which we all know is extremely moisturizing as it mimics the skin's natural sebum. This was not a terrible eyeliner. It was definitely creamy, and didn't drag. It was packaged well, like a high end pencil, not a yellow #2 from grade school. It stood up well to its competitors in high end stores. The only problem I really had with it was staying power on the water line, but I have this problem with every single eyeliner. The real issue I had was, once again, the fact that I could buy something for around the same price from Sephora. I mean, these go for $19! That's two dollars more than UD's 24/7 pencils! Not only that, but the 2 have the exact same amount of product: 1.2 grams. I'm not a brand snob by any means, and I know Napoleon Perdis is a high end make-up line, but this is my thinking: are you really going to pass up on a tried and true to pay more for the unknown? I guess it come's down to convenience. If you live by a Target, and Sephora or ordering online is out of your way, I believe you could make do with this liner. It is a good quality liner, but 24/7's are better in my opinion, not to mention cheaper.
PIXI LUMI LUX EYESHADOW PALETTE
(Note: Swatches will be up soon.)
There seems to be some confusion about this palette, so to make it clear, mine is labeled No.1, although I didn't see a second version on display. I've heard some complaints about pigmentation on this palette. Are you serious?! Yes, there are a few shadows in the clutch that are on the sheer side, but most of the colors are spectacular. That being said, the product info on the box actually states these are meant to be sheer, as the artist's friend inspired her to create a set of sheer, wearable shadows...something along the lines of that. There are 20 colors in all, the lighter pastel colors on one side, and darker on the opposite. They come packaged in a golden, magnetic, flip-open clutch-type palette. I really don't like that the colors don't have any dividers or pans, which makes me paranoid they are going to get all muddy over time, but this hasn't been a problem yet. Also, when closed, the shadows rest one on top of the other, so I'm definitely keeping the plastic sheet that divides them instead of tossing it like I always do. Like I said, I have no problem with pigmentation and I really think all the colors are unique and beautiful. My only issue with the actual shadows is that there is no variation in finish. They all have a sort of satin/frost finish. This is what makes the lighter pastel colors so beautiful and buttery. But using shadows from the palette alone in a look could end up looking kind of cheap, as I think happens when you use only one finish, any finish, for all the shadows in your look. But this holds true for these especially, as those cheapie million-color palette's have the same type of finish as this palette, though not as pigmented nor smooth. The colors in this are still so beautiful, its worth keeping to use with other shadows you have. I'll definitely put up some looks I do with this.
There were a lot of other things that seemed promising, that I even tried out. NP Set's powder foundation seems great, as well as a handful of the line's lipsticks that were creamy and true to color. I was salivating over Pixi's 'Vitamin Lip Silk' glosses. The name really says it all, when I tried the 'Flora' shade on, (I lucked out.. I got to the brand new sampling tubes first) I almost cried having to choose between the gloss and the eyeliner. I ended up choosing the liner 'cause I have so many lipglosses! But the formula was to die for. It left my lips soo smooth. I can't even say anything about lasting power, because all the way home I couldn't stop smacking my lips together. I know that wont have been the last time you'll catch me perusing those displays!
(All images courtesy of Google)
NP SET LIP STAIN & PLUMP
I wanted to like this so bad, I really did. It comes in two colors: 'Star', a sheer peachy coral color, and 'Moon', a cool light pink. I got Moon. According to the website, these contain Flax Seed Oil, a moisturizer, along with Acai and Pomengranite extract, which are antioxidants. To plump the lips, these use Capsicum, which is actually what peppers contain in them that makes them spicy. Also, these don't have any parabens. As far as a lip stain, it did leave a pink-ish flush on my lips after the glossiness faded, but it was not that much more pigmented than my regular lip color. The stain completely faded after about 2 hours. As far as plumping, it did plump up the area around my cupids bow a bit (the curve in the middle of your upper lip), but when I asked the people who knew me well, they said they didn't notice a difference. The burning sensation was more noticable than with the Sally Hansen lip plumpers, but nowhere near Too Faced Lip injection glosses. I liked these overall, I thought they made my lips look good. Subtly plumped, with a pretty light pink sheen. But for $15, which these babies retail for... they just didn't deliver enough to justify the price.
PIXI EYE ZONE BRIGHTENER
The funny thing with this is I actually bought it by mistake, thinking it was $14 because of where it was placed...come to find out it was actually $24. Now, this product seems to be marketed as a treatment AND cosmetic. I bought it hoping it would work well under concealer and brighten up the under eye area, but when I actually read the instructions it said it could be used after moisturizer... like a treatment. It seemed to be more targeted at women with mature skin, so I can't actually speak for its properties in this area. But as an under eye brightener, it didn't do anything at all, as concealer totally covered it up. The only thing I could really imagine doing with it is using it as a highlighter, but it seems the skin soaks it up, so its effects this way would be short lived.
NP SET EYELINER
The last of my rejects pile, this liner was a last minute buy. These come in 5 colors, of which I grabbed 'Mexico City', a dark, neutral (in my opinon) brown. According to their site, these have Jojoba Oil, which we all know is extremely moisturizing as it mimics the skin's natural sebum. This was not a terrible eyeliner. It was definitely creamy, and didn't drag. It was packaged well, like a high end pencil, not a yellow #2 from grade school. It stood up well to its competitors in high end stores. The only problem I really had with it was staying power on the water line, but I have this problem with every single eyeliner. The real issue I had was, once again, the fact that I could buy something for around the same price from Sephora. I mean, these go for $19! That's two dollars more than UD's 24/7 pencils! Not only that, but the 2 have the exact same amount of product: 1.2 grams. I'm not a brand snob by any means, and I know Napoleon Perdis is a high end make-up line, but this is my thinking: are you really going to pass up on a tried and true to pay more for the unknown? I guess it come's down to convenience. If you live by a Target, and Sephora or ordering online is out of your way, I believe you could make do with this liner. It is a good quality liner, but 24/7's are better in my opinion, not to mention cheaper.PIXI LUMI LUX EYESHADOW PALETTE
(Note: Swatches will be up soon.)
There seems to be some confusion about this palette, so to make it clear, mine is labeled No.1, although I didn't see a second version on display. I've heard some complaints about pigmentation on this palette. Are you serious?! Yes, there are a few shadows in the clutch that are on the sheer side, but most of the colors are spectacular. That being said, the product info on the box actually states these are meant to be sheer, as the artist's friend inspired her to create a set of sheer, wearable shadows...something along the lines of that. There are 20 colors in all, the lighter pastel colors on one side, and darker on the opposite. They come packaged in a golden, magnetic, flip-open clutch-type palette. I really don't like that the colors don't have any dividers or pans, which makes me paranoid they are going to get all muddy over time, but this hasn't been a problem yet. Also, when closed, the shadows rest one on top of the other, so I'm definitely keeping the plastic sheet that divides them instead of tossing it like I always do. Like I said, I have no problem with pigmentation and I really think all the colors are unique and beautiful. My only issue with the actual shadows is that there is no variation in finish. They all have a sort of satin/frost finish. This is what makes the lighter pastel colors so beautiful and buttery. But using shadows from the palette alone in a look could end up looking kind of cheap, as I think happens when you use only one finish, any finish, for all the shadows in your look. But this holds true for these especially, as those cheapie million-color palette's have the same type of finish as this palette, though not as pigmented nor smooth. The colors in this are still so beautiful, its worth keeping to use with other shadows you have. I'll definitely put up some looks I do with this.
There were a lot of other things that seemed promising, that I even tried out. NP Set's powder foundation seems great, as well as a handful of the line's lipsticks that were creamy and true to color. I was salivating over Pixi's 'Vitamin Lip Silk' glosses. The name really says it all, when I tried the 'Flora' shade on, (I lucked out.. I got to the brand new sampling tubes first) I almost cried having to choose between the gloss and the eyeliner. I ended up choosing the liner 'cause I have so many lipglosses! But the formula was to die for. It left my lips soo smooth. I can't even say anything about lasting power, because all the way home I couldn't stop smacking my lips together. I know that wont have been the last time you'll catch me perusing those displays!
(All images courtesy of Google)
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