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Monday, May 31, 2010

Review: New Maybelline Color Sensational The Pearls Collection

If you are a faithful reader of this blog, you know I went BANANAS when Maybelline released their Color Sensational lipsticks and glosses last year (just search "Color Sensational" for all of my past reviews). And I went bananas again when they released the Shine Sensational lipglosses. And I went bananas yet again when they decided to start releasing limited edition Color Sensational lipsticks and glosses in their LE collections (Poptimistic Pretty from winter 2009, Sweet Thing from spring 2010 and of course Salsa Sun for summer 2010).

So what does Maybelline do to make me go bananas now? They release a new FINISH of Color Sensational lipsticks and glosses, called The Pearls:

Maybelline Color Sensational The Pearls Collection

Several of you have asked me if this is a Limited Edition collection. From what I can tell by looking at the display, I'm going to say NO. I believe The Pearls lipsticks will become part of the core collection, however the lipglosses may be limited edition (I forgot to look at the labels when I was in the store and these pics are pretty blurry but I think they say "Limited Edition").

I'm not going to make the same mistake I made when Maybelline first rolled out the Color Sensational line and tell you that there are 10 lipsticks shades and 5 lipgloss shades in this new collection. I know now that this counter display may not feature the entire The Pearls assortment, so there may indeed be more colors available than what you see in these photos.



It doesn't take a genius to figure out what sets The Pearls apart from the other Color Sensational lip colors. The finish is "pearl".

I took a close look at each and every lipstick shade in this display and one thing they all have in common? They are LIGHT. I'm talking, they look frosty white in the tube. To my eyes, a lot of these colors looked similar, with just very subtle differences between them. If you are a light lipstick shade lover, you're going to be in HEAVEN when you find this display!

Sadly, I'm not a light, frosty shade sort of girl (example: the pretty color Christy Turlington is wearing in this display would look horrid on me), but I was determined to find a shade in this display that might work for me.

Finally, I found Coral Gleam, which is one of only two medium shades in this display (the rest are very light in the tube):

Maybelline Color Sensational The Pearls Lipstick in Coral Gleam (retail: $7.49 at CVS)



I tried very hard to capture the little bits of silver microglitter in this lipstick, but after swatching it a zillion times on my arm, I realized that you really can only see the microglitter when it's on your lips. Here are some swatches in different forms of lighting:





The texture of this lipstick, to me, is very similar to other Color Sensational lipsticks I own. It's got the same fragrance and flavor, and it feels very light and creamy on the lips. However, as you can see in these photos, the finish is sheer and it's got a lot of shimmer and sparkle, that's for sure.

Here's a pic on my (dry, chapped) lips:


It did make my dry lips feel a lot more moisturized, but as you can see, if you have dry lips right now, the shimmer and sparkle can accentuate the problem. :(

Overall, I think this new collection has the same great quality and feel as the other Color Sensational lipsticks I own. But I do think that you've really got to like light, shimmery colors if you want to buy a lipstick from The Pearls collection. This might be a deal-breaker if you've very fair (unless you like to wear pale colors against your fair skin, of course) but if your skin is of a deeper tone, you may absolutely fall in love with this collection. For me, I think Coral Gleam is probably the only shade I'll ever own, because the other colors were either just far too light for me, or were wrong in shade (there is a brown shade in this collection that's even darker than Coral Gleam but I can't pull off brown lippies).

So, do you think you'll be picking up some colors from this collection? Or do you already own some? I'd love to hear from you!
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21 comments

  1. I think they're probably too pale for me

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  2. Phyrra: Since you know I love you in deep, bolder shades, I think I'm going to have to agree with you. It's a skip. :(

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  3. I was at Kroger (grocery store for those without one) last night and saw a Maybelline display with coupons attached -- good for $2 off! Other stores may well have them, too.

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  4. Jules: Was it the Salsa Sun collection? If so, those coupons are only good toward foundations, which is a bummer because when I saw $2 off I thought I was going to have a field day and pick up some new glosses and nail polishes! lol. :)

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  5. even though you don't like it, i think it's lovely on you. i like this kind of lipsticks and i hope we have it here eventually. i don't like strong colours so this is just right.

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  6. jojoba: Thank you, honey! I actually really like this lip color because it's not super light. :) And I'm excited for you to see these in person since they seem perfect for you!

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  7. I have number 842 Rosewood pearl and it is gorgeous! xx

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  8. I bought several of the lipsticks and glosses (I noticed on the glosses it does say Limited Edition. For my darker skin some of them were quite frosty, but love them under and over other glosses or lipsticks. I also have the coral one and love it.

    I think the Salsa Sun lipsticks and glosses were alot better!

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  9. I noticed the same thing and don't know why they were made so light. White, nudes, and pale golds. I think I saw one plum...

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  10. I saw them on display and have decided to pass them by. I like frost, but not this pale. None of the shades impressed me. I have enough lippies to last forever anyways!!!! Oh, well.Maybe next collection for fall?

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  11. lucie: Ooooh, I can't remember what shade that is, but I'll definitely have to look at it the next time I'm at CVS again. :)

    I Bleed Pink: Thanks for confirming that the glosses are LE! I thought so, but I wasn't sure. I like your idea of layering these over darker shades! :)

    Rebecca: Yeah, it's sort of strange that SO many of them are white or close to white, but I guess maybe it's because there aren't that many super light shades in the core collection? Who knows! :)

    Lysses: I agree--it was hard for me to find one that was dark enough for my liking, that's for sure! What do you think of the Salsa Sun shades? They're mostly bright reds. And yes, I hope they come out with some more versatile shades for fall. Fingers crossed! :)

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  12. I can't do sheer lipsticks, with my pigmented lips they would just look frosted. I much prefer matte shades that have the opacity to cover up my pigmentation, especially if I am wearing a lighter shade. I'm glad you found a color that worked for you! And your lips don't look chapped at all!

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  13. i went to the store this am to see if these are here (though i had the feeling they are not.) i saw some different lipstick but i think also called sansational. (gosh i checked out too many things and now i am confused...) the packaging looks a bit similar but the tubes are a lot darker. and there are pink, red, nude and (i think) browns. many many colours. do you recall such products?

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  14. I love shimmery pales with smokey eyes so these lipsticks are perfect for me.I bought pink pearl and twinkle.They are lovely.I want to get coral and rose glimmer next.

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  15. I got one of these on Friday, it's Lilac something, even though it doesn't look lilac at all, it's more of a beige. I only got this because the CVS slot machine spit out a coupon for it, I think it was $2 off. I can't pull off super pale lippies either, despite my efforts. This will probably become a layering lippie.

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  16. jojoba: OK, let me try and explain (I hope this makes sense but if you're still confused after you read this, just let me know!). What you saw at your store IS the Maybelline Color Sensational core collection. Each color family has its own color tube. The collection in this post (The Pearls) is the newest addition to the core collection that you just saw at your local store. Does that make sense? So yes, you saw the core collection! Now hopefully you will get the newest texture, "The Pearls", soon! Here are some pics of the core collection if you're interested:

    http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-maybelline-color-sensational.html

    http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-products-by-maybelline-and-sinful.html

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  17. Verna: Oooh, it sounds like this new collection was MADE for you! I'm so happy that you love it! :)

    chickadee1066: Yep, I got the same coupon on my receipt and I also had a manufacturer's coupon (did I mention this in my review? Sorry if I'm repeating myself! lol) so I got $3 off. Yay for us! :D And I agree--the lighter shades would never work on me unless I layered them over darker colors. :(

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  18. thanks for showing me the links! I got it now. I think I'd wait then. I hope we have pearl collection as I like my lipsticks sheer.

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  19. jojoba: I am so happy to have helped! And I really, really hope that The Pearls make it your way soon. I can't wait to see what you think of them once you get to try one. :)

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  20. These new colors are wayyyy too light;I adore light nude colors.
    I swatched these,only one that looked good on me is the bronze.

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  21. I'm hoping the Sparkling Sand color will replace their very popular GOLDLIGHTS that they discontinued over a year ago. I use it to lighten my base lipstick as I'm pale and just can't go too dark. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping!

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