Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, Radiant Light

It took a while for Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powders to arrive in the DC area, and given the range of opinion about them from angry disappointment to rave reviews, I thought I needed to check them out in person.

Only one of the shades worked for me, Radiant Light.  Its golden peach tone warms my face and it gives it a golden luminosity unlike other products that I've tried.  Upon close inspection you can see a fine golden flecks.  Its not sparkly like Chanel's Mouche de Beaute, just warm, bright, and, well, radiant.  It softens my face, as if in a candle-lit restaurant.  I love it.

It's not as translucent as Hourglass claims.  I accidentally applied too much the first time and almost completely covered my blush, so it requires a light hand.   If you apply too much it looks cakey and emphasizes pores. 

The swatch below is heavily applied with a sponge applicator.  The tiny golden particles appear in the photo, but they are barely perceptible on my face.  In fact, I never noticed them until I looked at my face with a magnified mirror.

I bought the small brush Hourglass sells separately to use with the powders though applying with other soft, fluffy brushes works just as well.  I used an Essence foundation brush at first, which I bought at the drugstore, but the Hourglass brush is designed to fit the breadth of the compact, so makes for faster application.  It's about two inches wide, and soft and fluffy, and comes with its own pouch.  I suspect it will make a fine foundation brush as well.

The compact is plastic.  It would have been nice if it came in its own pouch too.

For whom this is important, the Ambient powders are free of parabens, talc, fragrance, nano-particles, and gluten.

I'm going to get a lot of use out this powder, I think.  Pinkish gold products suit my medium skin tone,  and it's very wearable for day since it does not add shine.  You could also use it as a very subtle highlighter.   I bought my compact from Marina at Space NK in Bloomingdales Tyson's Corner, 703-556-4569.  Marina is great with colors and she'll give you honest advice.  Give her a call. 

Le Metier de Beaute Femme Fatale Kaleidoscope

I didn't have to think too long before deciding to buy Le Metier de Beaute's latest kaleidoscope, Femme Fatale.  I thought that I may have some of the colors already, but I am intrigued by blue this season, so I jumped at it.

Oyster is similar to the the two top colors in my favorite kaleidoscope, Le Cirque.  The camera picked up the pink, but doesn't capture the gold and gray shimmer, which make it the perfect base, in my opinion, because it will skew warm or cool, depending upon the other colors you use.   It's one of my favorite Le Metier colors, more complex than the camera can capture and very versatile.  I wish it came in a single.

Sapphire has beautiful copper flecks in it! It is darker than the blue in the Melange set, which looks like the single shadow Midnight Sky.  Sapphire is just dark enough to keep it from looking too '60s, yet light enough to be noticeably blue.  It's the shade I've been looking for.

Autumn Rust is an warmish taupe with a subtle shimmer that when applied next to Oyster, looks very elegant.

Matte Plum is very close to the plum in Le Cirque, just a tad darker.

I have more experimenting to do, but in my favorite look so far I applied Oyster over the entire lid, Sapphire as thick liner to the top and bottom lids, Autumn Rust over the outer two thirds of the top lid,  finishing with Matte Plum in the outer corner.  It's going to be one of my favorite looks.

I'm really pleased with this kaleidoscope.  As I said earlier, Le Cirque is my favorite kaleidoscopes, especially the two top colors.  I've actually hit pan on one of them, so I'm happy to have the semi-dupe in Femme Fatale.  Sapphire is precisely what I've been looking for blue, and I can't have too many purple shadows!  Femme Fatale is limited edition, and only available on Le Metier's new site.