Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compact 13 Milky Strawberry review/ swatch

Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compacts in shade #13 Milky Strawberry was released late 2011 or early 2012.

It is a blush quad with 4 different shades. You also get a silver retractable blush brush attached to the compact (it has a clasp closure so you can take it out completely).

I think this is also the image from the collection showing model wearing the blush (correct me if I'm wrong though!).

Comes in beautiful silver compact with lace design.

Inside: there's a plastic sheet separator which I have not shown.

This is what the embossed design look like after use, the entire print probably wears out after 10 uses (I've been using this blush almost exclusively for the entire month so it's reasonably used).

Here's swatch below, the left grey grid shows blush swatch according to same formation, on the right is what it looks like when all 4 shades are mixed together.

The top two shades are really hard to photo using flash photography, picture below shows the shimmer factor better: 

Basically top left corner is the largest shimmer in a pale pale pink, almost silvery, on top right it's a very soft subtle pink , it looks mauve pale pink in the pan but there really isn't much color, it's really there to sheer out the shade when you mix the bottom two vibrant colors together.

Bottom left is the nicest color, it's a bright pop of pink, without looking garish, it's extremely finely milled and a bit satin finish so it blends right into the skin and looks like such a pretty glow on the face. 

Bottom right shade looks coral/ peach in the pan but it's still rather pink when applied, at most a peach pink. it's not as pigmented as the bottom left corner color.

These are not too loosely or firmly pressed, I have great success using whatever blush brush I have.  They are a bit hard to swatch with fingers but with brush the color comes right out naturally.

The overall finish on me is a very pretty pink glow, on the vibrant side (but still looks really natural), mostly due to the bottom left hand corner pink shade which is so pretty. It reminds me of Bobbi Brown's pale pink blush (in powder form), but it's more wearable and not as fuschia, and has a nicer finish in terms of texture.

It's not quite like the model's picture when applied, hers look less pink and more subtle, this shade can really build up to a more vibrant pink as needed. I find the top left hand shade a bit useless though, it's a bit "chunky" shimmer compared to highlighters I prefer normally. I love this as an everyday shade, it makes me look awake , the pink is not overly cute and the shade is office appropriate.

5/5, I'd better start using my other mix blush compact (have several unopened ones in various shades), otherwise I'm so tempted to see if I should find a backup of this.

Jill Stuart Petit Nail Lacquer 110 Captive of Love valentines day 2011 polish review/ swatch

There were a few petit nail lacquers from Jill Stuart sold in valentines day in 2011. The petit nail lacquers are 8ml while full size ones are 10ml so they aren't exactly that 'petit' in content (does look small when compared to OPI though).

They feature the most gorgeous bottle design with like a jewel cut bottle surface and silver handle and even the limited edition pink heart shaped crystal studded on the handle!

I'm reviewing shade code #110, the color name is "Captive of Love". In the bottle it looks like a jelly medium pink fuchsia, not garishly fuchsia or neon but it's a brightened shade of pinky glazed medium raspberry color.

The petit nail lacquers do not come boxed, instead there's a small elastic double heart cardboard and silver elastic tie around the cap (shows ingredient and product names).

Close up: you can see the shade has no shimmers or iridescence, it's a true jelly translucent creme.

This is the limited edition heart shaped pink crystal design on the cap- different to normal full sized polishes.

Here are the swatches with 2 coats on the name. Base coat is Paul & Joe base coat and top coat is seche vite which is causing the polish to shrink a bit on the edges unfortunately (if only I can figure out where I can buy my next bottle of seche vite for less than $18AUD including shipping! I think I paid $6 for my first bottle shipped from US back when transdesign and other websites were more accessible for international shipping, so I really don't want to pay retail here lol).

All that aside, the Jill Stuart polish glides on super smoothly, one coat is uneven due to the inherent texture being of a jelly creme finish, but two coats is a lush glossy color. In real life it's a bit darker than my photos. Due to the color of this polish my photos are just a bit paler than the real color should be.

Well as you can see on the nails it goes true color to the bottle- a glossy medium fuchsia pink raspberry. It's not quite in the pink family anymore but almost closer to red. If you have OPI Chapel of Love the shade is different to this one, Chapel of love is possibly a bit lighter shade and just look different to this one altogether.

Here's an indoor photo without flash on so you can see realistically the darkness of the pink- no matter how many photos I took under the sunlight the photo usually always seem lighter than in real life.

Last one (again, flash and lighter than true color)

Overall 5/5 for wear and finish. I generally love Jill Stuart nail polishes as the pinks and neutrals are really lovely and office appropriate while the pinks and reds are always so brightening and never looks cheap or garish. This particular shade just looks so wonderful for late summer weather here in Sydney. It's not super special enough to be tracked down but not a bad one to have if you can find it for decent prices.

Jill Stuart Jelly Lip Gloss 21 Dreamy Paradise review/ swatch

Jill Stuart jelly lipgloss in number 21, Dreamy Paradise was limited edition for 2011 collection.

As usual, Jill Stuart really only makes things in the pretty pink/peach/apricot/strawberry pink sort of category, which means when it comes to sheerer lipglosses, once on the lips many of the colors will look so similar.

21 Dreamy Paradise is a shimmery apricot peach with some pink, but more apricot/peach. The shimmers infused are not very dense (but still visible), they are also very fine which means they look natural on the lips. The shimmers flash a bit pink but generally blends into the base color of the lipgloss.

The Jelly Lipglosses all come with the slant tube applicator (like Lancome juicy tubes, but with way prettier packaging).

Here's the swatch- exactly like in the tube.

However, you can see once blended out, the color is very very sheer. It will not cover those with more red lips, but will just tone it down slightly. This makes those no-brain slap on lipglosses when you are in a hurry though.

As with most Jill Stuart items, they come with the signature scent which is a bit sweet and fruity.

The lipglosses are medium tackyness, they don't seem to migrate out of the liplines a whole lot so they stay relatively put.

Overall rating is 3/5.

21 Dreamy Paradise, while looks so pretty and babypeach like in the tube, it could do with a bit more color payoff. It's not completely clear, but for those with even medium rosy lips this will probably just blend in and disappear.

Jill Stuart Summer 2011 Blush Blossom #07 Charming Lily swatch/ review

Part of the Jill Stuart 2011 Summer limited edition collection is the #07 Charming lily Blush blossom, which is basically a loose powder blush in compact form.

 Again, housed in a gorgeous silvery compact with double deck. The top deck is not for storing anything, but rather it's a separator for the bottom deck which houses the loose powder blush.

The blush is housed under a mesh with a little bit bounce, you do not remove the mesh or the plastic separator, Instead you just dip your blush brush on either side and apply as needed.

Here it is swatched under different lights etc, on left is the highlighter side, middle is the blush on its own, on right is when mixed together:

The highlighter side is a finely milled champagne, it's got a pretty delicate gorgeous sheen, not massive shimmers or sparkles, but a nice sheen. 

The blush side is a brightened pink, it's not neon or anything, but just a pop of pink. It's a bit of those 'baby doll' pink face blush. It has a similar sheen to the highlighter shade, it's not just a matte finish.

When mixed together you will get a softer pink sheen which is toned down a fair bit more than using the blush side alone.

Now here's #07 Charming Lily on the left, and #06 Little Anemone on the right (from Spring 2011).

There is a pretty subtle difference only, #07's highlighting shade is a champagne nude while the #06 highlighter side is more like a soft pink tint.

The blush side of #07 is a brightened pink, slightly more pop of pink than #06's blush side which has a softer pink tone to it. While there is a difference, I don't really think you need more than a few shades out of the blush blossom as once you mix the shades together, more or less they are going to be similar.

Overall 4/5. They are still a bit inconvenient to use due to the loose powder consistency. You have to becareful when you open it to make sure you don't accidentally tip this over or anything. It retails around 50-55USD in Japan, (however consider you do get a quality retractable brush with this). That being said, these are the most gorgeous loose powder blush I've used for sure. They are super finely milled, has a soft sheen to it rather than massive shimmers or sparkles, which makes both shades very wearable.

Jill Stuart Summer 2011 Jelly Eye Color N #14 Dazzling Tear #16 Romantic Cat swatch/ review

Jill Stuart Jelly Eye Color N #14 Dazzling Star and #16 Romantic cat are from the summer 2011 limited edition collection.

Jill Stuart Summer 2011 limited edition collection comes in an array of small items, from the gel eyeliner and new brushes, to the 2 new shades of Jelly Eye Color N (might be 3- there's a #15 inbetween 14 and 16 but I didn't see it ), plus the new blush duo in #07 charming lily and lipgloss in #21 dreamy paradise.

Here's #14 dazzling star. Comes in a gorgeous little glass pot. I know I've reviewed a few cream eyeshadows just this month, but these are nothing like the Chanel illusion ombre eyeshadow or the Armani eyes to kill intesnse eyeshadows, which are mainly metallic and high shimmers with ultra pigmentation.

Jill Stuart Jelly Eye Color has been around for a few years, they are basically a cooling jelly consistency light whipped cream eyeshadow with a certain translucency, and more dense sparkles/ shimmers (than high metallics or refined high pigments like Chanel or Armani).


These can be applied sheerly or layered for more color intensity and high shimmer/ sparkly finish. Typical Jill Stuart's favorite finishes.

#16 ROMANTIC CAT is on the right. It looks scarily red-pink in the pot but in real life it's more a brightened pink.

Swatch shades below:
Surprisingly these photograph best without flash photography. With flash it is impossible to pick up the base color as the sparkles and shimmers reflect too much.

Each color is swiped twice, once sheerly and once layered. You can see #14 Dazzling Star is the 2 swatches on the left, it is honestly so pretty. The base is a nudish champagne with a high reflective sheen once layered, and a lot of little sparkles of silver. I find it really difficult to describe the color and finish. It's just got that shiny wet sheen to it because of the unique jelly consistency. Definitely not like anything I own currently.  Applied sheerly it's a sheerer sparkle of champagnes. Dazzling Star is a very fitting name.

Romantic Cat #16 is on the right, it applies sheerly as a romantic pink. I can wear a very sheer layer on my lid without looking like I got pink eyes. This shade is pigmented and can layer to a medium bright pink shimmer very easily. I thought this would not be very wearable at all, but to my surprise it is wearable and looks so feminine layered with Dazzling Star as an overall wash and Romantic Cat just in the crease.

Overall I do like these two shades and I find they wear fine on my lids without much crease. Just need to watch out not to rub my eyes because there are silvery particles that could fall out.
 
Overall rating 4/5. These are limited editions for summer 2011.

Jill Stuart Nail Lacquer N #44 Sweet Venus swatch/ review

Jill Stuart Nail Lacquer N comes in a pink crystal studded cap bottle, with beautical carvings along the bottle and a silver cap. It's typical Jill Stuart ultra romantic packaging.

As with most Jill Stuart shades, almost all the nail polishes are predmoniantly variations of pinks, beiges, nudes and occassional shimmers or bronzes.

I'm reviewing color #44 , "Sweet Venus" which is from 2010 series I think. In the bottle it looks like a shimmery white with a pink flash.

It's very difficult to photograph this shade, from a distance it's a shimmery white, but if you look closely in real life the white base is almost clouded by a slightlyy yellow tinged white shimmer together with loads more shimmers that flashes pink. The shimmer is fairly dense, 1 coat you can get a decent opacity and the color to show up.

While indoors, the pink flash is fairly strong, it's not just a faint pink flash.

This is outdoor, sunglight flash. You can see it looks a bit whiter under the sun.


Overall it looks fantastic in photos, like such a pretty moonlight shimmer with pink flashes. However I do think in real life because of the complexity of the flash and base color and the shimmers embodied, it can look slightly too busy on the nails, as in the undertone just looks a tad yellowy-white which is not too flattering.

This is probably one shade I would recommend trying at the stores before purchasing (which is difficult as Jill Stuart is mostly sold in Asia currently..)

Overall 4/5 for wear and application. It applies relatively smooth, I did feel this shade was slightly thicker.

3/5 for the color, just not too fond of it on myself.

Jill Stuart 2011 Fall- Lip Jewel gloss #14 Glowing Citrine swatch/ review

Jill Stuart 2011 Fall collection includes around 3-4 lipglosses (lip jewel or jelly lipglosses), 2 jelly eye color N, 2 blushes and maybe an eyeshadow?

Here's the Lip Jewel Gloss #14 Glowing Citrine:

Housed in the signature princessy lipgloss tube with gorgeous carvings.

The shade is like an apricot base with loads of apricot-champagne shimmers. It's not gold, it's not pink, but honestly just a peachy chamagne shade with similar colored shimmers.

Swatch on skin: you can see it's not too pigmented, applies almost like a gel

Lip swatch- this does not cover any uneven liptone. If you have rosy lips, this probably will sit on top as a semi transparent shimmer and add/alter very little color.

The shimmer shows up in flash photography better, but you can see it really doesn't translate to that apricot champagne color in the tube:

Comes in a gorgeous pink crystal studded cap:

 Jill Stuart cosmetics are mostly scented with their signature scent, a bit of a sweet scent. I don't mind it that much but typically would prefer my lipglosses unscented.

The texture is more on the "thin" gloss side once on the lips, it's sort of hard to layer up for more colors. Those with rosy lips should probably try a deeper shade, or layering this with a lipstick.

Overall 3.5/5. I would probably really need to top this over other lipsticks for any color payoff!.