Nars Orgasm/Laguna mini palette

If you've read my blog before you probably know I'm REALLY slow on the uptake of any hype products. So yes, I have done it again... I have JUST begun using the infamous Nars Orgasm/Laguna  combo.  These have been swatched and compared bajillions of times before on other blogs so I won't contribute photos to that, but will add my two cents (just cuz I can...).

 

I probably don't have to say this, but just in case you're unfamiliar, Orgasm is a peachy-pink shade with fine shimmer/glow. Laguna is a warm mildly-shimmery bronzer (less shimmery/glowy that Orgasm).  This has been noted to be the perfect blush/contour combo by many others.

 

So I have been trying this out for the last few days, my take... I actually find Orgasm a bit too shimmery for me. I still prefer my matte blushes, and would rather than add shimmer highlighter to where I like to put it (in a "C" shape from just above my eyebrows to top of my cheekbones), rather than mix it with the blush. 

As for Laguna, it's a great bronzer! Adds a nice warm glow with just the right hint of shimmer. Note I do NOT use this as a contour. Contour/shading should be done with a shade that mimics a shadow on your face to get a realistic effect. Laguna is not the color of a shadow for my skintone, and I'm going to guess it's not going to be a good shadow shade for a lot of lighter skinned people, it's much too warm. Grey-tones usually perform better for this.

For me, I like to use bronzer where the sun would hit to mimic a glowy tan (what a bronzer is meant to do), which means top of my forehead and on TOP of my cheekbones (not under), and some on my chin and jawline.  Refer to this excellent video by Jordan Liberty to see the effect of bronzer inappropriately used as contour. That said, some people can use certain bronzers as contour, but again only if the bronzer shade happens to mimic how shadows look on one's face. 

Personally, I don't like to contour as my face is already quite angular. I much prefer highlighting to get a more youthful appearance.

Do you have this infamous combo? What were your thoughts? How about your thoughts on contouring? Please feel free to disagree with me and share your experience with bronzers/contouring, I'm always open to learning what others are doing!

Hello Kitty Bronzer Review

Oh Hello Kitty...the whole Sephora thing didn't work out, and I had bought this bronzer on sale on Sephora.com when it seemed like Sephora was trying to get rid of their stock. I'm not a bronzer fanatic and thus don't have much experience with bronzers, so please take what I say about this product with a grain of salt.

The product itself is quite big (see comparison with my hand, and I have very big hands for a girl!).
It's cardboard material packaging, but is quite cute and classic Hello Kitty.

The bronzer itself is a shimmery one, though not the most shimmery of bronzers I've come across. For this reason I don't recommend you contour with it, as shimmer tends to highlight rather than recede. Actually most MUAs will say don't contour at all with bronzer, rather use an actual contour product that has more grey tones in it that mimick real shadows. I know a lot of people do use bronzers to contour though, so it's not a big deal (is there any real rules in makeup really...), just avoid the shimmer.

So this product I'd recommend you use on the high points of the face where the sun would hit to mimick that nice golden tan. 

As an asian lady, who generally wants to look more pale than tanned, bronzers in general aren't on my HG list. However I have been using this in the winter when I felt I needed a bit more warmth to my face. I use a light hand though, and it does nicely at that without adding any orangey-fake-tan look.

You can still get this on Amazon or Ebay though it's not available on Sephora anymore last time I checked. I think it was around $20 or less.

If you have this let me know what you thought of it!