NARS BLUSH - AMOUR

NARS Blushes are pure LOVE!! The way these melt into the skin is just Phenomenal. I would call them MAGIC in Sleek Pots.

NARS has some amazing shades of Blushes in their permanent line. From super Pigmented Exhibit A and Taj Mahal to ultra Subtle Madly and Penny Lane. Be it cream or Powder, they excel in their job of providing the needed life on your face.

Many Brands are matching upto the quality of NARS these days. Illamasqua is a close cousin when it comes to crazy pigmented colors out there. I love MAC and CARGO Blushes too.



I have many NARS Blushes, but very few of them are Matte. Most of the Blushes I own have their generous dose of Shimmers. The only Matte Blushes I have tried so far are Desire and Dolce Vita. I was very keen to try AMOUR and GILDA, but Sephora does not carries Gilda or Gina (both matte shades).

Amour is described as Peachy Pink. I may sound like a broken record saying the same thing, but its so difficult to describe a shade of Blush!! We are talking about minute details here. Peachy Pink, Pinky Peach, Coral Peach, Pinky Coral, Peachy Coral, Pinky Coral....by the time this ends, I am seriously in need of basic colors...Red, Blue, Yellow...Life can get simple...and I Ramble!!!!

Jokes apart, the shade captured by my lens is pretty true to color (I think). Computer Screens may alter the shades. These pics are taken near a window, with filtered light and Flash on.

The color has obvious Red/Coral undertones to it. I use a MAC 188 Stippling blush which is sparse and picks just the needed amount of color. On my NC40/42 Skintone, just a dab and good blend is all that is needed. Its very easy to over do, if I am not careful. It has the potential to make the cheeks ruddy.



I had similar problem with Dolce Vita. The RED undertones were not helping. I do love Dolce Vita, but these kind of colors really need some work to get it right on the cheeks. Also, such heavily pigmented blushes are not useful when it comes to touch ups. Blending is the key.



The staying power is super Awesome. Its not a difficult to blend and the texture is buttery smooth. Not powdery. Right Brush is a MUST!



Comparisons:

When I bought this home, it reminded me of Illamasqua Hussy. On comparison, I found Hussy was more 'Tame' in terms of undertones. The Warm Pink undertone was more flattering on my skintone than the Coral Red of Amour.

Some people say NARS Amour is a matte version of NARS Torrid. I politely disagree. On comparing the two, Amour clearly appears to be more pink and Torrid true Coral, with no Pink and more of Orange'y' tones to it (here we go again!!!!)



If I have to choose between Illamasqua Hussy and NARS Amour, I would prefer Hussy, SIMPLY because Hussy has the needed Pink tones that look good on me. Its all about the perfect color. Both Hussy and Amour Blushes do not lack in quality. They are Amazing!!!

Disclosure: All items are personal purchases.

Super Rabbit vs. Super Squirt

Some of the most appealing funny-animal superhero comics you’ll ever see… Super Rabbit versus Super Squirt! From Comedy Comics #27, Spring 1945

Ah, yes…the good ol’ flop-take. There’s no better way to end a story. is there?
Wanna see more Super Rabbit?
There’s another great story here:

Click on page above for another Super Rabbit story!

Beauty Buys: Clarisonic, NARS, Benefit, UD

'BEAUTY BUYS' is another term coined for the infamous 'HAUL'. Its just the list of things I buy and the ones you will hear me 'yak', 'blab', 'review 'about in next few posts!!! Call this a 'Preview'...

I had accumulated some Sephora GCs and the 15% off sale really helped me to buy something new and stock up on few things old.

Goodies I picked:

Clarisonic Skin care System: I really wanted this since very long time, but was not sure if its worth investing so much. I was not sure if I would religiously use it or if it would break me out etc. A little trial test using OLAY Pro-X system made me sure that I wanted to introduce this as a part of my daily skincare routine. A detailed review to follow in next month after a good use.

NARS Blush in AMOUR: A lovely color in pot. I have tried many NARS Blushes in the past, though most of the ones I own have a dose of shimmer. Apart from Desire, Dolce Vita everything else I have has some amount of shimmer. Amour is a good matte and I am excited to try it.

NARS Multiple in MAUI: A color that always attracted me whenever I passed the NARS section at Sephora. I tried this one the day I purchased it and the texture is very different from the other Multiples I have. I am liking the color, but not very sure of the texture. My thoughts might change by the time I fully review this beauty.

Back ups:

Benefit Girl Meets Pearl, Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner Pencils in STASH and ROCKSTAR and a Sephora Nail Polish in Gray color made their way in my basket.

I enjoyed this fun Haul and I really hope everything works well without me having to return any of these. Its just so annoying to return stuff!!!

What did you all buy from the Sale??

Henry Boltinoff – Peg & Varsity Vic Half-Pagers and Two-Page Comics

MAC - PLUSH LASH MASCARA

Plumps, curls and volumizes. Builds thickness smoothly and evenly, delivering a full fan of lashes. Rich, hydrating formula. No smudging or clumping. A patented brush wraps lashes one luxurious layer at a time for immediate, intense drama

I have tried only 2 Mascaras from MAC. Plush Lash and Zoom Lash. Out of these two, I do like the Plush Lash better. In fact, I totally dislike Zoom Lash.

With Mascaras, its a hit or miss. Also, Mascara is a make up product for eye lashes, which is hair. So obviously, its going to be pretty subjective. I mean like Hair Care Products.

This review is my personal experience with the product.

Applicator: A sturdy, strong wand which is not too long and wiggly. Its Medium sized, easy to hold. The size gives a good control.

Brush: Brush head is thick, dense and pretty large. It needs a bit practice to work with it, without poking or staining the other areas around the eye.

Color: The color is rich Black.

Clump Factor: No clumping for the initial two coats. From third coat onwards, it did clump a bit. I used my MAC 205 Fan Brush for separating. The clumps were not too difficult to get rid of.

The Effects:

Length: It did give good length to the lashes. They appeared long, but not spidery.

Curl: It didn't curl much, neither did it helped in holding the curl that I achieved using my eye lash curler.

Volume: It did give a good Volume.

Thickening: Plush lash gave good thickening effect. This coated the lashed very well.

The lasting power: It lasted pretty well. Did not smudge for me, but then I never wore it near water or cried. It did not smudge on its own though. Also it didn't dry or crack up (if thats how you describe).

Removing the Mascara: It is easily removed by eye make up remover. Does not leaves much work behind.

Verdict: Its an OK Mascara. I think Drugstores have better Mascaras. They would perform like Plush Lash or maybe even better. It would not cost as much as MAC. Only good thing with MAC Mascaras is you can B2M the empties to get some freebie.

MAC - GREEN EYE SHADOWS

MAC Green Eye shadows

A bunch of Green Eye shadows that I have and love.

Mink and Sable (Limited Edition): This is a STARFLASH finish eye shadow. Super soft and smooth. This has a great color pay off and is pretty easy to work with. I won't be talking much about this, as it was a Limited Edition color. The closest color to this one is Sumptuous Olive, which is a Permanent Color. I find this has more Mossy Green to it than Sumptuous Olive.

A good Green to have.

Scarrab: (Limited Edition): This again was in a Quad that was Limited Edition. This is a lovely Green color, with a subtle sheen to it. Another color, which has a great buttery texture and is easy to work with. Its a shame that MAC didn't repeat this color ever. The same Quad had another of my favorite 'Rye' in it.

MAC Sharp Eye Shadow from Tempting Quad (Amazing quad in 2008)

Henna: (Limited Edition): I really hate to include another color, which is Limited Edition. MAC had some of its best Greens for Limited Time. This is a complex blend of Gold and Henna. A very unusual color. I don't follow very many brands for eye shadows, but all I remember is this is different and unique. It is a Veluxe Pearl finish and true to its nature, smooth finish and great pay off. If you ever get this in a swap, do go for it.

MAC Humid vs Urban Decay Mildew

Humid: This is permanent MAC Green. Its a nice, intense green, with good color pay off. It has a good sheen to it, but is not at all sparkly or glittery. No fallouts at all. I like how all the greens I have are easy to work with. The finish is Frost, but the color is not overly frosty.

Urban Decay has this green color in Mildew and if I have to choose between Mildew and Humid, Mildew would win any day. I like the depth and darkness of Mildew more than Humid. Its a color with good pay off and intensity. Works well with my eye colors and skin tone.

Gorgeous Gold: This is a color, which technically is a Gold color. Its more like a Duo chrome and has strong hints of Yellow Green. A complex color (Gold/Yellow/Green) and personally not my favorite, because I don't have very many combinations in my head to rock this. It reminds me of straw color liquid in a test tube, I once made in my chemistry class. The finish is Veluxe Pearl and true to its nature, lovely sheen, soft and buttery color.

Sharp: (Limited Edition): This was in my Tempting Quad. The quad was released in 2008 Fall and as far as I remember, that Fall release by the name Cult of Cherry was one of the best releases by MAC. The promo pics had the model wearing this color as her eye make up teamed with Rich, Bold Lips....Beautifully Stunning!!

The color is very similar to Bitter by MAC, which is a permanent color. Sharp has excellent pay off and is easy to work. Rated 'R' was similar color like this one, but with sheen. It was better than Sharp, but I ended up swapping it.

I would strongly recommend owning any or all of the three quads from the Cult of Cherry Collection.

Swatches of MAC Green Eye shadows

These are all the greens I have. MAC does has many more greens in their permanent collection. They are different from whatever I own. It would be great to see some of the above Limited Edition Greens to be re-released by MAC in future.

p.s: I missed adding 'Wondergrass' and 'One-off' eye shadow to the above list, but they were also Limited Edition, so forget it.

You can see some more Greens in this POST

Dan Gordon and his great COOKIE Comics

Cookie Comics #1 was published in 1946 by Michel Publications
of St. Louis, Missouri. 48 pages plus covers for only a dime.



Instead of putting up little thumbnails of the pages,
I picked out some of the best panels from the story
to show you up close. There's a link at the bottom of this post
which you can click to download all the pages in one file.

Meanwhile...here's a sample of what you'll find inside Cookie #1--



Contrast in character design
________

Check out the shadow under the old guy's beard.
Really makes it pop! His head is as wrinkly as his suit!




Foreground + Middle ground + Background = DEPTH of staging
He does this in almost every panel.



Silly situations, funny drawings and painful violence. That's a cartoon!

Dan Gordon poses = mayhem

So much action and movement!
In the panel above, notice how the colorist
pushed Angelpuss back into the background
by coloring her in monotone.

...and these detail shots
are from a Jitterbuck solo story:

(check out the SOLID construction and anatomy on that dog!)

I love that shadow against the fence as the dog is climbing up!

Dan gordon puts in a lot of blacks like that in his inking

which really gives his drawings a super-solid feel.

The shadows also let us know that the dog's right leg is toughing the fence,

but his left leg is still trailing behind in mid-air.

You don't notice these details while reading the story because they go by so quickly, but if you stop and admire any of these pages in detail, you can really see what a master craftman and master cartoonist Dan Gordon was!

See that big black shadow on Jitterbuck's leg? You can just feel the weight of that dog against Jitt's body! Even the cans are rendered differently. And the light source is consistent and well-planned to give everything weight. But it's still so cartoony!

Dan Gordon excels at drawing the backs of characters' heads.

If you like these samples from the comic, you can download all these stories at once below. I've been experimenting with different methods of posting these comics, so I'd appreciate it if you'll leave some comments to let me know what you think is easiest. I just don't want to make people have to click and save thirty different images, because it really bugs me when I have to do that.

Click on the COOKIE #1 COVER below
to DOWNLOAD all of these stories
in one convenient 67Mb PDF file

Or click HERE to download the all the stories
in a .ZIP file which contains all the pages as separate jpegs.

...and remember...

If you missed the previous post where I shared
Cookie #20, you can find it HERE.



ACG Comics images © Roger Broughton 2009
For ALL the Dan Gordon posts, click HERE!