Milani Makeup Review

I’ve had my eye on Milani Cosmetics for a while now and I found the perfect opportunity to try out some new products.  My local CVS had a 75% off sale which I assume means they are discontinuing certain products, either way, I’m still game.  I’ve owned two products (an eye shadow and a blush) from Milani that I purchased once and a nude gloss that I buy over and over and those three products happen to be some of my go-to products.  Both the blush and the eye shadow that I own are super pigmented and in my opinion, great quality.  My Mango Tango powder blush is in a million pieces but it looks so vibrant on my skin.  The purple eye shadow in Shock (15) has just the right amount of shimmer, almost borderline iridescent.  They’re both a good time.  But the gloss is my favorite – Milani Crystal Gloss in Secret.  It’s small so it fits in my purse and so affordable.  It’s also the perfect nude for my brown skin color.

But it’s a new year so out with the old and in with the new.  Let’s talk about new Milani products.  These are the products I picked up:

·Cream-To-Powder Makeup in Medium Beige (07)

·Multi-Tasker Face Powder in Light Tan (04)

·Lip Flash Shimmer Gloss in Star Flash, Hot Flash, and News Flash

·HD Advanced Lip Color in Raspberry Blush, Rich Caramel, & Lovely Rouge

·Color Perfect Lipstick in: Pink Passion, South Beach, Barely There, & Red Label

As I said, I purchased my Milani products at CVS but they can also be purchased at www.cherryculture.com.

I’ll start with the Cream-To-Makeup Powder.  I like the way it transforms from cream to powder.  This is not new to the makeup industry but it’s still appreciated.  It reminds me of my Benefit Some Kind-a Gorgeous Foundation Faker.  Milani being the more affordable at $7.99 and the Beneift was part of my Cabana Glama kit which I paid $19 for.  So I can’t tell how much the mini version would cost  (.06 oz. vs. .34 oz) but the regular size will run you $30.  For my money, I’d go with Milani.  I literally did half of my face with each product and I couldn’t tell the difference.  Let’s move on.

Cream to Powder

With such a profound title like multi-tasker, I’m going to expect a product to do more than one thing.  That was not the case with my face powder.  I can’t figure out what the multiple tasks are that it’s supposed to do, but I did discover one of them: create a dirty-looking canvas for my blush.  Needless to say, I was unimpressed and I would like my money back.  But I only return makeup if it’s the wrong color and that’s not really a return, it’s an exchange.  So that was $8.99 that I’ll have to write off to my entertainment expense account.

Face Powder

Now onto the Lip Flash Shimmer Glosses.  I thought these were a good buy, especially at $1.89 after the 75% off discount.  I’ve got an Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss which has the same texture.  Both are very creamy and offer great color.  My only problem is the shimmer.  And it’s not really a problem; I would have just liked to have seen some colors in non-shimmer.  I wanted more options but I was still very happy with the colors.  As far as staying power, I think it did pretty well.  Overall, I’d give it a 4/5 stars.

Lip Flash

Today I purchased three HD Advanced Lip Colors and I also got them at the splendid price of $1.99 (75% off retail price).  I should also note that my purchase today was discounted by an additional $5 due to my beauty rewards club membership.  For every $50 I spend at CVS, I get $5 off.  This makes me very happy.  But let’s get back to the Lip Colors.  Let me point out these are not lipsticks, they’re more of a tinted balm.  And I like them.  I’m not a frequent purchaser of tinted balms but I’m glad I made this purchase.  It opened my eyes to the world of tints.  But I think I’m going to stay in the slow lane on this one.  Although I’m happy with the product, it’s not very exciting.  I need a little more pep to my lip products.  Let me put it this way, when I discovered the Lip Tar in Pretty Boy by OCC, my life was complete.

Rich Caramel, Raspberry Blush, Lovely Rouge

And last but not least, the Color Perfect Lipstick.  I was really happy about finding a gem in this Milani clearance haul – Barely There (53), again at $1.89 ea.  These lipsticks are moisturizing and the pigment was wearable.  I only chose colors that were on sale but I would wear all four of them.  I also really love the smell of these too.  It’s nostalgic for me; it reminds me of my mother’s lipstick that I wore as a kid.  One particular color, Pink Passion, would be perfect for the office for me.  I always want to wear a bold, bright color but I have to remember that my coworkers don’t wear sunglasses in the office.  So this would be a good choice.

Color Perfect Lipstick: South Beach, Pink Passion, Red Label, Barely Nude

All in all, I'm very excited to start using all of my Milani products and anxious to try more.  So if you have any experiences with Milani products, I'd be happy to hear about them.  And as always, keep...

Staying Beautiful,

Makeup Maverick