Lorac Cosmetics new bronzer palette "Take me to TANtego" ::: Review and Swatches!!!

Two summers ago I bought my first ever bronzer – Bare Minerals First Resort Bronzer. I was very apprehensive about bronzers on my tan skin before that, but that product completely changed my view on bronzers! I took it with me the last time I visited my sister and she totally fell in love with it as well. She wanted one for her but unfortunately was a limited-edition palette. Ever since I have looking for a bronzer palette for her; one that has both matte and shimmer shades. When I saw sneak peak of this brand new palette from Lorac Cosmetics I got super excited. I was so happy to see this palette just when I am getting ready for my next trip to India. J However, it was a difficult product to find! My travel date is approaching fast and I wanted to order it ASAP after its release. It actually first got released on Kohl’s, but they only offer free shipping at $75 and my local store did not stock it until recently. Overall, I did not expect that much hassle in order to buy it.

Wow, that was a whole lot of unnecessary rambling :-)

The Take Me to TANtego palette comes with 4 different shades in both matte and shimmer finish with a total of 0.42 oz. of products. It also comes with an angled brush. All these will cost you 30$. Right now it’s available in Ulta, Nordstrom with free shipping and Kohl’s. I absolutely love the packaging. It’s quite a thin and sleek palette. It is a cardboard packaging but I think its sturdy enough. The mirror is also good; I love the fact that the lid can be totally folded backwards which makes the palette to hold while I get ready in those rushed morning. I also love the product name as well the shade names they choose! They are very playful. 

Here are the shades 

TAN Antonio (matte): It’s the lightest of all 4 shades. I think this will easily suit fair skin tones. It’s a little too pale on me, I can still wear it but it’s not my favorite. But I do like to lightly brush it over the periphery of my face and wear one of the shimmer shades on top of that.

TAN Diego (matte): They call this “medium bronze”. This is more suitable on my skin tone and I do not find the need of putting the shimmer shades on top of it.

Cabo TAN Lucas (shimmer): I think this is my favorite shade in the palette. It’s a shimmery shade but it’s a very fine shimmer. I love the shade too; it’s quite a strongly gold bronze and it’s quite flattering on my tan skin tone. It’s just the right amount of shimmer for me :-)

TANta Cruz: Here is unnecessary information for you :-); I have never been to Santa Cruz or Cabo SAN Lucas :-) Anyway this is a shade that intimidates me a little bit. It is shimmery and has some multicolor glitters. What makes it unique is its strong purple undertone. Definitely unique but I am afraid it may appear a bit gray on my face. I have not tried it as a bronzer on the entire face; I just wear a little bit on specific areas. I have also tried it as a lightly applied blush. I still do think that I would have enjoyed it if it were satin not glittery. Quite a unique shade though!

Like all other Lorac products, these are very powdery which essentially means that there will be some kickoff powder while using these. But it’s very, very, very smooth powder. They blend quite nicely. However, they are not strongly pigmented! Which is not necessarily a bad thing for bronzers, but I noticed that I have to apply at least 2 layers to get the warmth I want. I do like the look these shades give me but I am not in love it. For some reason, these do not make me happy. Another major complaint from me is the comparatively weak staying power. On top of foundation it lasts for 5-6 hrs. but if I am wearing on just moisturized skin, it hardly lasts for 3 to 4 hrs. I have quite a few other bronzers that I love wearing on bare skin. The more I wear this product, the more uncomfortable I get. 

I am not quite ready to discard this palette as a bad product but I am not happy with it either. I love the convenience of having just one palette for all my bronzer needs. I love that it comes with a brush and at such a good price! The shades are not my ultimate favorite but I do love Cabo SAN Lucas. I am definitely keeping the one I bought for my sister as I don’t have much time to go and find a better palette, however I might return the one I bought for me.

What’s your thought on this palette?

Love,

~Arrru

Lorac TANtalizer Highlighter & Matte Bronzer Duo ::: Review & Swatches

I started to become a hardcore makeup enthusiast sometime in late 2013. But due to my routine work tours I was never home regularly with my entire makeup collection for more than 3-4 weeks at a stretch. But now, that has changed and I have been in the same location for 2 straight months, well keeping aside a very short trip to Iowa :-) I have been able to arrange my makeup item in a somewhat aesthetically pleasing arrangement and I am finally able to wear different products to incorporate in my routine every day. YAY! Enjoying this superpower (?? J) for last two months, I am almost surprised to realize that there are a few products that I love and use very regularly but I never appreciate!

Lorac’s TANtalizer Highlighter & Matte Bronzer Duo is one such product. You can see in the picture that I have used up a lot of the bronzer! And yet, I have never expressed my love for it in my blog, or even in my Instagram I have never raved about it. But I use it regularly; more so when I am in a hurry and I just want something tried and tested. I also take it with me whenever I am travelling.

Anyway, I have the travel size which is retailed at a price of $12 for 0.02 oz. You can find Lorac in Ulta, Kohl’s and on Lorac website too. The regular size costs $33 for 0.4 oz. I really like the travel size because it is easier to store and very very comfortable to travel with. Also, just look at the packaging. It comes in a simple rose-gold elegant compact with a decent size mirror. The clasp is very well made too. Like I said, I have travelled a lot with it and often times I just throw it in my carry-on! It has certainly survived my abuse till now! :-)

I have warm undertone, and on my warm medium tan skin tone I just LOVE this bronzer! It’s COMPLETELY matte, very brown and very very warm! Very pigmented too, just a tiny swipe can bronze up your whole face! But it’s very forgiving; very easy to blend so even though it’s pigmented it is easy to wear. I love how you can see the warmth in just one light application. This is definitely for someone who likes noticeable bronzing. I personally will never dare to contour with a bronzing product! I do know that a lot of us love to contour with bronzers! The perfect matte formula in the TANtalizer would have been awesome for contouring but the shade is too warm; I anyway don’t really care about contouring with it! But I have been thoroughly enjoying it as a bronzer. I also very much enjoy the fact that it works really well with all different kind of bases! I have worn it on bare, just-moisturized skin, mineral powder foundation, full coverage liquid foundation and on BB Creams. Typically it gives me around 4-5 hrs. of wear leaving behind a nice warmth to the face. But with full coverage foundation with staying power is slightly longer.

Even though the bronzer has become quite a staple product in my makeup routine, I don’t have a lot to say about the highlighter. I am not a hardcore fan of highlighter yet (well, that might change now because I have started to use Becca highlighters :-)!) May be that is why I don’t use the highlighter that often. The shade is very beautiful though – it’s a pale pinky champagne color with micro mini speckle of glitters and sometimes on the face the glitters shows a little too obvious for my taste. It is easy to blend though!  I don’t use it when I am home and have access to other highlighters but I do use it when I am travelling. It’s an OK product for personally; I am not overly impressed, nor do I have any complaints!

I got this sometime last summer and it took me about a year to compile this review! So you know, this is one product that I have loved for this long! I hope you like the review :-) It looks like I am going to hit pan soon and I am pretty excited in anticipation of that :-) What bronzers have you been using this summer? Anything that I should try? :-)

Love,

~Arrru

P.S.: You can check my thoughts on Bare Minerals First Resort Bronzing Kit here which is another bronzer that I have been utterly loving for more than a year now! :-)   

bareMinerals: THE FIRST RESORT Bronzing Kit

Summer is finally, finally here and everybody is busy getting their tan on!! Time to bring out all of your favorite bronzers to work and also to discover new ones!

bareMinerals is one of the brands that has really impressed me with their products. I have not tried a whole lot of their products but I am happy with the few that I have tried. They are widely known for their proprietary mineral based makeup (I guess it is quite obvious from the name, ha ha!) They are dedicated to create makeup products that are also good for your skin. If you are interested in learning more about why and how "minerals" have inspired their products, click here!

I am from India and in India, "Getting tanned" is not something that is generally appreciated and adored. It is, in fact, just the opposite! The general population has a rather unhealthy obsession with "fair" skin. The cosmetics market is flooded with "Fair & Lovely" creams that claim to lighten the typical "dusky" Indian skin tone. I never have or never will use one of those creams! But I will admit, there have been few moments in my childhood when I wished I was a tad fairer in color!! Anyway, what I am trying to say here is that I was unbelievably scared of bronzers. I simply assumed that I cannot use bronzer since I already have tanned skin. I was wrong. Beautylish members encouraged me again; few dark-skinned beauties shared some of their very beautiful "bronzed" look! That inspired me, and I finally decided to try bronzer. This set was released earlier this year. When I saw it at Ulta store in April I simply fell for the packaging. And I am using this ever since. I do enjoy my Lorac Tantilizer from time to time but I am definitely giving this way more love!!

I purchased the kit in Ulta during their "21 Days of Beauty" event. I paid full price which is $35, but I did score a free mini moxie lip gloss with the purchase :-) The bronzer weighs 14 g (0.49 oz) and the gloss weighs 4.5 ml (0.15 fl oz). The brush is nicely tapered with a perfectly long handle. In short, you are getting 3 wonderful products at a very affordable price! 

The outer box is of cardboard in a nice maroon-gold color. There is a tiny paper-note with more details about the products. The best award for packaging in the whole set definitely goes to the bronzer. It's a beautiful coppery-bronze colored metallic rectangular case; VERY elegant-looking and equally sturdy! The lid has a nice big mirror and opens up to 60 degrees! The lip gloss tube is of glass and also has the same copper-bronze lid. However I doubt how well-built these are! It was loose at the top and the gloss was leaking a bit when it arrived. You can see in the pictures how I tried to salvage it using some good old "duct tape", but I am not sure how long it will hold; it's disappointing :-( !! However, Ulta did give me an eGift card (not to the amount of the full price of the gloss), but I really appreciate how promptly they responded and helped me with my "broken" gloss situation!

The set comes with 3 FULL SIZE products

• bareMinerals Ready Color Boost in the shade "The Beach is waiting".
• Marvellous Moxie Lip gloss in the shade "Party Starter".
• Light Stroke Fan Brush.

THE BEACH IS WAITING: If it is not already obvious, I would say again- "I love this bronzer". There are 3 shades. As mentioned in the packaging they included two of their popular colors of bronzer & luminizer and a brand new bronzer. The luminizer is called "The Long Weekend" and the bronzers are called "The High Dive" and "The Big Splash"; I have no idea which one is which! If you do, please share! The texture of all the shades are very smooth, easy to blend and long-lasting. The first bronzing shade is a warm-toned medium brown, looks matte on the pan at first but has a extremely subtle sheen! Then you have the golden-beige colored luminizer that acts as a perfect highlighter for my skin tone. My most favorite among these are the last golden shimmery shade. I love it! I am scared of putting anything on my face that looks that shiny on the pan (eyes are exceptions!). But when applied it gives me this BEAUTIFUL healthy-glow; the shimmer does not even show up that much; just the perfect sheen. I apply it in the shape of number 3 on both side of my face and very lightly dust on my nose as well as forehead. I love the results. You can also mix the shades to get a very pretty effect, but I particularly don't enjoy the after effect of the swirling action on the pan. The packaging tells that you can contour with it; but I am not big on contouring; specially with a bronzer!

PARTY STARTER: I love their Marvelous Moxie lip glosses! Perfect consistency; not too thick or thin. It's a tad sticky but nothing goopy like the Lorac lip glosses (reviewed here) ! It feels very even and smooth once it settles down. It is also very long wearing. It does have a minty tingling feel which I personally enjoy. This is a bright coral shade; ideal for summer and will look flattering on everybody.

Light Stroke FAN BRUSH: I did not have any fan brushes before, so I am enjoying it. Very useful when I want to wear a soft contour. I love using it to apply my highlighter as well! But I do prefer using a fluffy round brush to apply my bronzer over this. 

Pros: 

• Very good value for your money.
• Easy to use, blendable, natural looking bronzer.
• Lip gloss is very suitable with bronzed look.

Cons:

• Depending on your personal choice you may not like the minty tingly feel of the gloss.
• The packaging of the gloss seems doubtful (I might have received a bad tube)!

The kit is no more available in Ulta or Sephora; it may resurface in future though. But it's still available in bareminerals website. You can also find it in Macy's and Dilliards. 

The bronzer looks so pretty in my vanity :-) I am glad that I fell for the packaging; its a great product and I am really enjoying it! Hope it was helpful.

Love

~Arrru