Guerlain Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Liner 06 Mirage

Price: $35 for 1g (.03oz)

What they say:
"An exceptionally elegant eye makeup innovation, this ultra fine, loose powder, with a touch of iridescence, can be applied as an eyeliner using the wand applicator or applied as an eyeshadow using the brush."


What I say:
I have reviewed these kohls before, but this is the new limited edition shade, so I thought I should post a separate review for those interested before it sells out. 

This shade is Brun, but without the sparkle.  I did have a swatch of the two together, but it didn't turn out that good, unfortunately.  There is no slight variation of the shades, there's no background color difference, Mirage is Brun without the shimmer, period.

Brun happened to be my favorite of the kohls, so this wasn't a bad thing for me, since I don't always like shimmer, but really, the difference when worn was minimal, at best.  They wore for the same amount of time (not surprising), and if anything could be said, I would say the shimmer of Brun makes it look maybe the slightest bit lighter in bright lighting, if that.

If you have Brun, you probably don't need Mirage.  If you have neither, you might want to pick up the LE Mirage first, since you can always find Brun later if you like the color.

Overall 4/5
This color, since it really isn't that special 3/5

Guerlain Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Liner

Price: $34 for 1g, .03oz

What they say:
"An exceptionally elegant eye makeup innovation, this ultra fine, loose powder, with a touch of iridescence, can be applied as an eyeliner using the wand applicator or applied as an eyeshadow using the brush. "

What I say:
After that review I did on their blush, I thought I would review something from Guerlain that I did not think totally sucked.  Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Liner (henceforth known as "kohl") is a decent product, but one that is not an immediate success, unless you know what you are doing.

First, the video link: how to apply kohl the Eastern way.

As you can see from that video, the way that this shines is the fact that you can put it on your waterline very quickly, without any tools but the one that came with it, and basically without a mirror (if you get good enough at it).  Yes, it does look a bit scary, but after having done this a number of times myself, I can attest to the fact that it is in fact not painful at all, and actually really simple to do.  If you can put on contacts, you are more than capable of doing this maneuver.  Hell, contacts are scarier, since you aren't watching this with the eye you are doing it with.

This power does not hurt at all when it gets in your eyes.  I have gotten it in my eyes a lot, and never felt a thing.  The powder does end up in your inner corners of your eyes, but you can just take that out when it gets there.

Lasting power: it's good.  I do notice a little migration if I don't prep properly beforehand, but that's my own fault, and the fault of my slightly oily, watery eyes.  This stuff, when it finally migrates to my lash area (which it does, but seriously, it looks like you meant it to be there, and just makes your lashes pop), does not want to leave.  Oil cleanser can take care of it, and it is easier to get off than mascara, but sheesh, it can be a bastard.

Colors are limited, but the ones that I have tried are nice (brown and black).  I want to get my hands on 00 Glow and 04 Oriental Metal.

Price is ludicrous, until you think of how little you are using each time.  You're supposed to tap off the excess back into the jar, so really, all you are using is what little powder sticks to the plastic stick, which is basically nothing.  Yes, it's only 1g, but it lasts a really long time.

Which actually leads me to my next point.  Sanitizing.  You sanitize a eyeliner pencil by sharpening.  You sanitize eyeliner pressed powder by spray and wiping off the outer layer.  How do you sanitize this?  The key is the stylus.  It is hard plastic, which is incredibly easy to sanitize.  Just wipe it off/sanitize it after each eye, and before putting it back in the product.  Since it is hard plastic, unlike a brush, it dried pretty much immediately.  If you are uncomfortable doing that, using a toothpick that you rounded the edge off is something that I have read online, though I have not tried that myself, so don't quote me on that.

So, overall, do I feel it's worth it for the price?  Well, yes, and no.  Kohl that is safe, and lead free, is actually harder to locate than you might think.  Colors are nearly impossible to find.  While this stuff is quite expensive, I look at it in more than one part:
1) It come with its own applicator, which is convenient.
2) It comes with its own nice looking container, which is nearly unheard of.
3) It is safe for your eyes, unlike many kohls and kajals on the market (that are easily accessible).
4) A little does last a really long time.
5) It does not contain lead.

So yes, I do think it's worth it, at least as a gift.

4/5  (-1 for price being so high)

Guerlain 'Cherry Blossom Blush Éclat' Compact

Price: $49

What they say:
"The freshness of a morning stroll in a garden still damp with dew. The first sunbeams caress her blushing cheekbones. Her complexion is luminous and radiant. This is the 'healthy' promise of Cherry Blossom, a pink and peach blush with shades reminiscent of Japanese cherry trees in bloom. Ultra-lightweight and transparent, they revive cheeks left pale by the winter. These extremely soft colors will boost a natural glow in one stroke!"

What I say:
Did not like this at all, and actually returned it.


I bought this blush, after countless reviews read, and swatches looked at, thinking that maybe I could get it to work.  The blush is a light pink down the middle, with peach on the outsides, and a darker pink over spray to get the blossoms to appear.  The spray itself does not last long, but I expected that, hearing that the blush underneath was a peach-pink, mattish, nice shade.


I believed them.  That is, I believed them, until I got the blush.


Now, let's start with the packaging.  The packaging is quite lovely, and if the blush wasn't rubbish, I might have kept it for this alone.  It's sturdy like a solid wood desk; large, beautiful, understated, and can take a thrashing.  It clicks shut nicely, and has a certain weight to it that makes you feel like you could lob it at someone, and it would be fine.  In fact, this turned out to be a good thing, because it came almost damaged.  I say "almost" because if it had not been for the packaging, it would have been damaged.  The outer container that housed this was trashed, ripped, and in an overall mess.  The shipping box was too large, and the padding was not nearly enough.  I'll hand it to Nordstrom, they didn't care when I brought it in in person to show them, and refunded it no problem.


The blush looked rather small, but some math (which I deleted, sorry) showed me that it was because the opening to the blush was rather small, but the blush should, if I was correct, be deeper than the blushes that I was used to.  It was still not the best deal per ounce, but I was paying for the quality, and for the fact that I was also getting a new brand.  So size wise, it could be worse.


The blush itself, texture wise, was okay.  It's not the smoothest, it's not the least chalky, and it's not the most pigmented.  It's nice in all three of those, but not really that great.  I think it is safe to say, that at least in the blush department, you are paying for packaging and name more than you are paying for the actual product.


Now the kicker, the color.  Too light.  In MAC terms, the universal language, almost, of color, I am a NW20 in the summer.  I'm near that in winter, as well, since I don't like to go out in the sun, but I'm still never darker than NW20.  This was too light for me.  It might have been a nice highlighter, but I have those, and really did not need another light pink, sheer, and especially, extremely expensive, highlighter.  I was paying for a blush.   I am still in awe of how light this product was.  If you want to see a great swatch of it, look at Karla's post, which also shows the rest of the collection.  I swear it was lighter than that in person, but that's probably a difference in the lighting.



So, sadly, or not so sadly, I returned this blush, and used the money that I got back to get myself a concealer, which I am still testing out before I review.


Overall, I have not turned my back on this brand, yet.  After feeling the packaging, I really want to try something else from this brand, but this time, I want to get something that I know will work (I actually thought the blush would, so this is going to be hard).  It's too bad the nearest place that carries them is over 2 hours away from me, but at the same time, this is not a brand to just buy willy nilly.  It is expensive, and I, at least, will only purchase from them when I have a special reason to.


2/5

Guerlain Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Liner

image from Sephora.com

So I had been lemming this for quite a while, and finally decided to get it (it helped that I had a 10% off coupon, of course). I picked up both the Black 1 (deep charcoal black) and Brun 2 (golden brown).

What they say:
"An exceptionally elegant eye makeup innovation, this ultra fine, loose powder, with a touch of iridescence, can be applied as an eyeliner using the wand applicator or applied as an eyeshadow using the brush."

What I say:
Well, Brun had iridescence, but I really didn't notice it in the Black shade. The black applies more like a dark charcoal gray, and I had to reapply just to get it to really show up. On the other hand, Brun was stunning. While I also had to reapply, it came out much nicer, and looked great against my blue-green eyes. The powder was definitely finely milled, and even when I got it in my eyes, a couple blinks later, and it was gone.

Now, there are two ways to apply this, and since I have other pencils and the like to apply Western style, I stuck with the more traditional method (read: stick it in your eye, and pull). There are a lot of tutorials on youtube about how to apply, and I whole-heartedly think you should look them up if you are thinking of purchasing this product. Keep in mind, while the whole idea of sticking something in your eye might seem, well... wrong, it really feels not that different from applying pencil to your waterline, and is a whole lot faster. It seriously took me just a couple tries to get this right, and it never once hurt (even when I poked myself (cause I'm an idiot)). I do suggest that you give this a few tries before your big dinner date (or going out in general) so you know it looks good.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this product. Right now I'm debating between returning my black one in exchange for a backup of Brun, or buying the entire color range that I can get my hands on... too bad there's something called "needing food" and "not /needing/ makeup."

4/5