Nuance Cosmetics by Salma Hayek (pic heavy)

If you don't live near a CVS, I suggest making friends with someone who does, because I just spotted the brand new Nuance Cosmetics collection at one of my local CVS stores and WOW, it's absolutely lovely.

If you missed the initial press info I posted back in May, here's what you need to know:

Actress Salma Hayek is stepping into the mass-market beauty business with a new makeup line exclusively for CVS/pharmacy called Nuance, which is slated to hit store shelves in August, according to published reports.

Hayek reportedly has been conceptualizing the initiative for a decade and took three years off from acting to create the collection, which ranges from makeup to hair care to skin care products. Products in the 100-SKU line are priced between $7.99 and $19.99.

The collection was inspired by Hayek's grandmother, who was a Vichy Lab-trained cosmetologist and incorporated Native American and Mayan ingredients into her beauty treatments.

My initial impressions of the cosmetics collection (note: I have not seen the skin or haircare collections yet):

The packaging looks elegant but not stuffy. I love the botanical artwork on the packaging (each product range has its own plant or flower), and I think there is a nice selection of products that would work with a variety of skintones. There are unexpected touches and unique items throughout this collection that really grab your attention. You'll find no holographic body glitter here; everything is in beautiful earthtones and wearable shades of pink and coral, BUT, I think Ms. Hayek has proved that wearable cosmetics don't have to be boring; I was so excited looking at everything I could hardly contain myself!

So let's start from the very top of this wall display and work our way down, shall we?

Let me first say, THANK YOU SALMA HAYEK for enclosing all of your cosmetics in sealed boxes and/or safety seals. Yes!

So let's start with the Color Vibrance Lipsticks:

As you can see, the tubes in this display have the bottoms facing out. Much like the CoverGirl Lip Perfection lipsticks, there's a plastic version of the shade encased in Lucite at the end of each tube. I couldn't really tell if there were shimmers in this collection--all of these shades look to be cremes but since I couldn't open anything (thankfully!) I really don't know if there are cremes, shimmers, mattes, sheers, etc. in the range.  No out of the ordinary colors here--nudes, soft pinks, corals, reds and browns. Also, I believe these retail for $8.49 each.

 If my memory serves me correctly, the Ultra Shine Lipglosses retail for $7.49. All of the glosses seem to be cremes, but there might be some sheers and shimmers in this range too--I didn't get a really good look, although that beautiful bubblegum pink caught my eye. It looks like it might be a wonderfully pigmented creme gloss.

Next we have the infamous Lip Quads (there's a cool one and warm one). When my pal Amber got a sneak peek at the entire Nuance collection (lucky gal!) she tweeted an awesome pic of these and called them "Optimus Glam", which I LOVE. They're so transformer-ish!

 

Oooh, this Rose Petal Hydrating Balm totally captured my attention! It seems very Smith's Rosebud Salve-esque, don't you think?

Next we have five shades of  Flawless Wear Tinted Moisturizer and one primer:

Smooth Start Skin Primer

Here's the Front & Center Concealer & Brightener, which is dual-ended and comes in four shades, one of which is probably the truest peach concealer I've ever seen at the drugstore! This made me so happy I bought it on the spot (stay tuned for a future review).

Next we have the Flawless Coverage Mineral Foundation, which I am SO excited to try (you know I'm a powder foundation devotee!). I believe this foundation retails for 13.99. It comes in five shades: Light, Light/Medium, Medium, Medium/Deep and Deep.

Next we have four shades of  Flawless Mineral Cheek Trios and two shades of Translucent Finishing Powder (Light/Medium above, and Medium/Deep below).

Here's a close-up of one of the Flawless Mineral Cheek Trios:

These are neat because they each contain a blush, a bronzer and what appears to be a MAC MSF-type of finishing/highlighter powder.

Next we have the Brow Kits, which come in two shades. I believe these retail for $9.99 each.

Moving on to the eye cosmetics, we have two Eye Quads, which have the same packaging as the Lip Quads I showed you earlier. These come in Neutral and Smokey. I actually purchased the Neutral quad, which I will post close-up pics of tomorrow!

 

Here we have the Mineral Eyeshadow Duos. There are some shimmery shades here, but there are also lots of MATTES! Yay! In fact, the first duo on the left above contains two matte shades, and I think the first duo in the pic below contains two mattes as well. I purchased the duo on the far right (above) called Sheer Plum/Putty and the matte taupe shade, Putty, is GORGEOUS. I cannot wait to try it and review it for you! These retail for $9.99 each.

And finally we have three shades of Gel Eyeliner pencils, Lash Serum, Ultra Defining Mascara and Ultra Volumizing Mascara.

But one product I did NOT see in this display is the one featured below, which was in a poster on the side of the display:

I looked all over for this Lights, Camera, Action Eye Trio but I couldn't find it. It looks like there's a creme eyeshadow stick and maybe an eyeshadow primer in this product? I'm not sure but I can't wait to see it in person.

Oh, and they had ingredients lists available, so I thought you might be interested to see (click any image to enlarge):

Looking at the ingredients above, it looks like some of these product are not vegan (I see carmine and lanolin in some of the products) but I also want to note that on all three of the products I purchased, I spotted the little bunny logo, which means they're cruelty-free.

So, what do you think of Nuance so far? Anything jumping out at you? I'm beyond excited to play around with everything I purchased (the concealer, Eye Quad and Eyeshadow Duo) and I'll post pics and swatches tomorrow!