Product Alert/Mini Review -- Maybelline Dare to Go Nude Spring 2014 Collection

Note -- I have to apologize yet again for the recent lack of posts. These days, I'm having photo issues. I usually take my photos outside because the lighting in my house is atrocious for photography (if anyone is into photography and can recommend some good lights or light bulbs for pictures, I am all ears!). But our backyard and deck is still covered with some snow, so that's not an option right now. 

The areas inside the house that seem to get good light are all areas where a certain naughty puppy can get to easily and Charlie has run off with a tube or two of lipstick the past couple of days when I tried to take some photos. (Fortunately, no lipsticks were harmed.) I was able to take some pictures today while the little guy was in the yard -- I must apologize, though, because they're probably not the best quality. I still wanted to get this post up while the products mentioned are still in stores so hopefully they'll suffice. 

Hopefully, we've seen the last of snow around these parts, so I should be back to my usual photo set-up shortly. 

Oh, and I haven't forgotten about the two year anniversary giveaway that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I'm waiting for an item to come in the mail, but I think it should be here sometime next week, which means the giveaway post could be up as soon as then.  Keep an eye out!

 

I’ve really started to hate the limited edition collections and products that so many makeup companies put out these days.

Because there just seem to be so many of them, one released right after another, so it’s really just nothing but a way to sucker people into buying items that they might not necessarily purchase just because you’re telling them that they can only get it for a limited time.

It’s good marketing, I guess, but seriously manipulative.

Now, I say all this and I’m pretty much the biggest sucker going because I always seem to fall for it.

Which is why I’ve been stalking drugstores in my area for the new Maybelline Dare to Go Nude Limited Edition Spring 2014 collection.

I finally found it in a CVS here on Long Island, and I purchased quite a few products.

I still have some dignity, though, because I didn’t grab one of everything just because of the limited edition sticker. That shows some restraint, right?

The collection contains six Color Tattoo Eyeshadows, four new The Buff Color Sensational Lipsticks, two Master Glaze Blush Sticks, a Maybelline Master Hi-Light Blush and Bronzer, four Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quads, and several Color Show Nail Polishes.

As you might imagine from the Dare to Go Nude name, all of the products are natural, nude shades, which is probably up plenty of people’s alleys – mine included.

This isn’t going to be a full review because I know that some of these products are probably going to be difficult to track down, but I’ll give some quick thoughts on the items I did pick up.

The Color Tattoos were the products that I was most interested in, and I wound up buying three of the shades: Nude Compliment, a grayish brown taupe; Sleek & Spice, a bronze-y taupe (very similar to permanent shade Bad to the Bronze); and Caramel Cool, a coppery shade.

From l. to r.: Nude Compliment, Sleek & Spice, Caramel Cool (No flash)

From l. to r.: Nude Compliment, Sleek & Spice, Caramel Cool (Flash

From l. to r.: Nude Compliment, Sleek & Spice, Caramel Cool (Flash)

From l. to r.: Nude Compliment, Sleek & Spice, Caramel Cool (No flash)

 All of these Color Tattoos have a metallic finish, but no noticeable glitter or shimmer.

Nude Compliment and Sleek & Spice are both lovely shades that would work as everyday shadows or bases for most skin tones, I think. I don’t know that you necessarily have to have both, however – because they’re similar shades, though Sleek & Spice is definitely warmer than Nude Compliment. If you like Sleek & Spice and can’t track it down, it is also pretty similar to Bad to the Bronze from the permanent Color Tattoo line, just a bit lighter, so you might pick that up instead. 

I picked up both of the Master Glaze Blush Sticks from the collection. I won’t go into detail about the formula because I’ll do a full review for the shade that I picked up from the permanent line, but both of the shades, Barely Pink and Nude Rebellion, were too pretty for me to pass up.

From l. to r.: Barely Pink and Nude Rebellion

From l. to r.: Barely Pink and Nude Rebellion

Barely Pink is a shimmery peachy pink, and Nude Rebellion is a shimmery tawny peach.

While I love both shades, I’m not sure how well they would show up on darker skin tones because they’re both fairly light. They might be able to work as highlighters, though.  

I also picked up two of the Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quads, Taupe Tease and Nude Romance.  I know this quad formula has been out for a while, but I only recently picked up my first from the permanent line (which I’ll review in the future). 

Taupe Tease features a shimmery white, a shimmery cream, a shimmery taupe, and a matte black

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quad in Taupe Tease

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quad in Taupe Tease

 Nude Romance features a matte beige, a matte warm brown, a matte dark brown, and a satin-y black brown.

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quad in Nude Romance

(I especially apologize for the photo of the Nude Romance swatches; I accidentally deleted the one that I took earlier today so I had to scramble and take this one just before the post went up in my terrible bedroom lighting. The colors read pretty true, but for some reason, the shadows seem to look shimmery when really only the far one on the right is.)

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow Quad in Nude Romance

 I prefer Taupe Tease, mainly because I prefer a shimmery finish in my shadows, but they’re both nice quads.

I picked up one of the Color Sensational Lipsticks (I would have picked up more but my CVS was out of the other shades that I was interested in) in Barely Bronze, which is a light rosy bronze.

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Barely Bronze

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Barely Bronze

Personally, I love this shade, but it’s definitely frosty so if you’re not a fan of frost lipsticks, you’ll want to pass on this one.

If you're looking for the collection, any retailer that usually sells Maybelline should get it at some point or another.

All in all, I think that this is probably a collection that has at least one item that will appeal to everyone. But I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to hunt it down (I say that after doing just that, though, so…), and I certainly wouldn’t pay the exorbitant prices that I’ve seen for these items on eBay. 

Because at the end of the day, the shades aren’t exactly unique. 

But Maybelline has a lot of nice formulas here, and the prices are reasonable so I would definitely suggest checking out the items if you happen upon them in your area. 

Have you picked up anything from Maybelline's Dare to Go Nude collection? What's your favorite item?