Complexion:
Prepare your skin with HD Elixir (a brightening, hydrating serum) followed by HD Microperfecting Primer #0 (neutral; adds natural luminosity).

Apply HD Invisible Cover Foundation (click here for swatches; the model is 110) using the Brush #35N (a nylon-bristled foundation brush not sold on Sephora.com).

Using your fingertips, pat a small amount of HD Microfinish Blush #11 (a warm, ruddy color) a bit lower than the apples of your cheeks. Blend gently from cheekbone to your temple to contour.

Eyes:
Apply your Eye Shadow #126 (a shimmery peach-beige) on the entire eyelid from the lash line to the brow bone.

Starting at the outer corner of the eye, blend your Eye Shadow #123 (a golden, olive green) halfway across the eyelid. Then apply Eye Shadow #84 (a darker, blackened olive green) in the outer-v, and smoke it along the outer third of your top lashline. Finally, blend Eye Shadow #17 (a matte wood brown) into your crease.

Apply Aqua Eyes #0L (black) along the upper and lower lash lines, and line the lower waterline with Aqua Eyes #14L (white) for a brightening effect. Finish with a thick coat of Smoky Lash mascara in black, and add your favorite false eyelashes.

Lips:
Apply Lab Shine #S4 (sheer strawberry pink) for a sleek finish.

I would love-love-love to see someone recreate this look. Does anyone want to take a crack at it? You don’t necessarily have to use all the same products, and (with your permission) I’ll feature your look here on the blog.

Well I’ve finally accepted that my immediate future may not include a weeklong, nonstop swatching vacation to the MUFE boutique in NYC, so I buckled down to swatch what was in my local store. (I’m really glad I did; more on that in a minute.)

Two things worth mentioning: (1) Sephora.com does carry every single shade of Make Up For Ever powder eyeshadow. Mysteriously, four shades (52, 71, 93, and 99) are listed only among the blushes — though, according to MUFE’s website, these are all eyeshadows (and thus, presumably, eye safe). 93 doesn’t even make sense as a blush… unless you’re the Wicked Witch of the West. (2) The eyeshadow/blush duality of these powders seems to be a Sephora invention. Make Up For Ever’s website does not list these as blushes. They list another product, Sculpting Blush, which Sephora does not carry (Sculpting Blushes are also numbered, but the numbers don’t correlate). But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use these “eyeshadows” as blush: many of the shades are matte, and those that have some shimmer are subtle — meaning they’ll work well on the cheek.

Now, back to why I’m so glad I finally swatched these. It seems easy for cosmetics companies to make a shadow that’s super pigmented, creamy, and smooth… if it’s frosty.  Just speaking anecdotally, it seems harder to make a luscious powder shadow that’s matte. Make Up For Ever’s shadows are delightful. As always, I swatched with a sponge-tipped applicator, on a bare arm (no primer), and layered my swatches.

82 is cool, reflective, shimmery grey-silver. 144 is softer, a slightly purply-grey satin. 4 is matte black. 127 is satin rose-taupe. 139 is cool, dark brown satin/matte. 84 is a very dark, slightly olivey blackened green. It’s shimmery and complex and really lovely in person. 35 is a bright matte beige (ever so slightly pink compared to number 3). 129 is a finely shimmery rosewood. 17 is warm, matte, wood brown. 3 is another matte beige, very slightly yellow compared to 35.  I might call it ecru.

I wanted to swatch the browns again without the distracting shades (the new-to-this-photo shades are 126 and 76). Every lover of Stila Kitten: just LOOK at 126. It’s a softly shimmery light peached pink. So sophisticated! 76 is also gorgeous, a matte peach-sand. Love.

And then the arm that everyone expects when I say “Make Up For Ever” — the screaming brights. 2 is a yellow-mustard matte. 5 is day-glo peach matte. 18 is matte orange. 26 is matte, day-glo violet. 75 is matte neon pink. 99 is matte warm red. 9 is matte lavender. 92 is matte royal purple (and the darling of purple eyeshadow lovers everywhere). 81 is a shimmery dark navy/denim blue. 10 is a shimmery dirty yellow. 93 is a matte teal green (that color is so hot right now!). 72 is matte turquoise.

I really do think Make Up For Ever has something for everyone.  Yes, they have some crazy colors, but they also have some really gorgeous nudes and neutrals, and the texture of their powders is delightful. Everything you see here is $19. My sales associate also recommended pressing these shadows in, rather than sweeping them on (particularly for the brights).

My sales associates are really excited about these. They feel that Uplight is lighter and smoother than other brands’ highlighters, that they really blend into the skin without looking chunky or paste-like, and without feeling gritty or grainy.

I have only tried these on my arm (not on my face), but I thought they felt like a fast-collapsing mousse. They’re VERY blendable, and I wondered if my heavier swatches (to better show color) might do a disservice by not accurately portraying their lovely texture and finish.

The Uplight Luminizing Face Gels come in three finishes. Shades 11 and 12 are “dewy,” and they are really beautifully glowy. These two are definitely the subtlest options. Shades 21, 22, and 23 are “pearly” and they are finely shimmery (with tiny, subtle sparkles that shouldn’t stand out in a normal face application). Shades 31, 32, and 33 are “sparkling,” and they have larger, more noticeable glitter.

12 is a pale, glowy lion-gold. 22 is silver beige pink shimmer. 23 is bronzy shimmer. 32 is pink shimmer with larger pieces of gold glitter.

One of the sales associates had bought 31, and she described it as sheer blue-pink with pink glitter.

Sephora’s descriptions are:

11 – dewy pink beige
12 – dewy golden beige
21 – pearly white
22 – pearly pink flesh
23 – pearly golden flesh
31 – sparkling blue pink
32 – sparkling golden pink
33 – sparkling golden copper

Since most of you will probably have to shop from Sephora, you might as well get some freebies with your order (most of these are valid with $25 purchase):
ACAIBALM – Supergoop! SPF 30 lip balm sample
FAUXCILS – free YSL mini mascara
NOURISH – travel size sample of bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer
PORESTRIPS – two Boscia pore strips to try
RENERGIE – Lancome Renergie eye sample
RENMICRO – sample of REN Micro Polish Cleanser
ROUGE – a mini Guerlain Rouge Automatique in 120 Coque d’Or
SHAVE – Art of Shaving cream
SHRINK – Clinique Pore Refining Serum sample
SUNKISS – your choice of mini bronzer (several brands, several forms of bronzer: Clarins Instant Smooth Self Tanner, Dr. Brandt pores no more Hint of Tint, bareMinerals All-Over Face Color Faux Tan, St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Lotion)
SUNSET – mini bottle of Escada Taj Sunset
TOPSCENTS – 7 fragrance samples (little vials)
VINOSORBET – Caudalie Vinosource Quenching Sorbet Creme sample
WAX – 2 Bliss Poetic waxing strips
YOUTH – Lancome anti-aging serum sample

If you want to go practical, they come in black and dark brown… but who wants to be practical when it’s summer and you could be wearing teal or pink eyeliner?

The formula is like magic. While wet, it behaves like a dry erase marker. You know how you can have a whole whiteboard full of dry erase marker, but as you erase it, it collapses down to nothing? A bit of dust on your finger or on the eraser? I am not a liquid-liner expert, so when I lined my eyes with number 12, I made my line a bit too thick on one side. Luckily, I had a dry q-tip handy, so I cleaned up my line. I looked at the q-tip and there was basically nothing on it — a bit of dust, maybe. But that dry q-tip (and acting quickly) was all I needed to fix my application.

Once the formula dries, it’s like thin liquid vinyl (I was especially aware of this with the wide stripes on my arm). As you remove it from your eyes, it will come off in slightly stretchy crumbs (similar to tubing mascaras).

13 is black pleather/black vinyl (not quite so shiny in the thinner line you’d actually wear on your lids). 15 is anthracite (a deep blued charcoal) shimmer. 14 is a soft black (a greyed black) with purple and gold sparkle (SO cool in real life). 6 is a dark navy/denim blue shimmer. 5 is a bright aqua sparkle. 16 is white sparkle (clear with white sparkles, actually). 3 is not-quite-olive, a mossy, yellowed green shimmer. I must have #4. It’s a doppelganger for Lancome’s limited summer Beach Gem; teal green with teal green sparkles. 1 is yellow gold sparkle. 12 is dark, cool brown vinyl (again, not too shiny in real application). 11 is a blackened red plum/burgundy with purple sparkles. 7 is sapphire blue sparkle (it’s a blue that might be thinking about purple, but it’s still blue). 8 is an electric royal purple/blue-purple with blue sparkles. 10 is rich winter red, or blood red (or cranberry red?) with pink/red and gold sparkles. 9 is Barbie-pink vinyl.

Remember how the Aqua Creams were missing a shade? Number 19, released in Europe but not here in the U.S.?  There is no #2 in the Aqua Liners.  If any Europeans have any insight on this, or have seen #2, please speak up.

Also, since Sephora is the only place to buy these, you might as well get some freebies with your purchase. Here are some codes I found (most are valid with $25 purchase):
ACAIBALM – Supergoop! SPF 30 lip balm sample
FACEPOLISH – Laura Mercier Face Polish sample (this would be my pick; I love this stuff)
MINISCENT – mini bottle of fragrance (you have a few choices)
NOURISH – travel size sample of Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals
PORESTRIPS – two Boscia pore strips to try
PRIMED – Too Faced primer sample
RENERGIE – Lancome Renergie eye sample
SHRINK – Clinique Pore Refining Serum sample
TOPSCENTS – 7 fragrance samples (little vials)
VINOSORBET – Caudalie Vinosource Quenching Sorbet Creme sample
YOUTH – Lancome anti-aging serum sample

I believe MUFE’s eyeshadows also do double duty as blushes. Their pressed eyeshadows and blushes are the same size and same price ($19). Looking at Sephora’s eyeshadow offering and blush offering, almost all the blush shades overlap the shadows (and then there are some colors that don’t look like they belong with the blushes… like 93 Irish Green). Anyway, my takeaway is that if a shade appeals to you as a blush color, you should go for it.

Also, if you can’t find a particular shade in their regular eyeshadows, check their Diamond shadows (these sparkly/shimmery shades — presumably containing MUFE’s Diamond Powder — are listed separately). Oh how I prefer names to numbers.

The Diamond Collection glosses are surprisingly sheer for a Make Up For Ever product. The Star Collection shades are generally semi-sheer with lots of sparkle. The Metal Collection offer more coverage, with a pearly-frosty-shimmery finish.

The gloss smells like very sweet peach tea… or maybe apricot preserves, and the formula has a thick, cushiony feel. Lab Shines have a brush applicator (halleluia!) and are $18 each.

D0 is clear with a few silver sparkles. D12 is a very sheer milky pink with a few blue/pink/gold sparkles. D10 is a very sheer warm pink with a few pink and silver sparkles. D22 is a sheer warm strawberry with a few pink sparkles. D20 is a sheer orange with a few gold sparkles. D8 is a sheer lilac with pink and purple sparkles. D6 is sheer fuchsia with a few pink sparkles. D4 is sheer raspberry jelly with a few silver sparkles. D2 is a sheer orchid (purple-pink). D14 is a sheer warm, muted pink with gold sparkles. D16 is a sheer warm beige pink with gold sparkles. D18 is dense copper sparkles.

S0 is a milky beige-pink with lots of warm white, gold sparkles. S2 is a whitened peach with lots of small gold sparkles. S4 is a warm candy-strawberry pink with tiny, blue-green-multicolored sparkles. S18 is a terracotta rose with tons of pink and blue sparkles. S10 is a terracotta clay with gold sparkle. S12 is a warm, sparkly cocoa red-brown. S14 is sparkly sheer plum. S6 is soft coral. S24 is soft, warm pink. S8 is sheer red. S16 is electric srawberry-rose, a vibrant pink. S22 is a sheer bubblegum. S20 is sheer, whitened cool pink. S26 is sheer hot pink.

M2 is bright white. M16 is a pale warm pink with gold shimmer. M14 is a warm, bright watermelon pink. M12 is a slightly violet rose-red. M10 is more violet, the color of plush velvet seats in a theatre. M8 is a warm chocolate with a touch of red-purple. M6 is tawny brown. M4 is blonder, sandier. M0 is black — not sheer black like some other black lipglosses we’ve seen.

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But MAC’s 2010 holiday collection (Tartan Tale) offered a lip set with a new lipliner shade — Draw Me Close — and I just fell in love with it. It’s a peachy beigey pink (when so many lipliners are mauvey). The pencil was only a mini, not available in full size, and it seemed silly to buy the $36 set just for the pencil. So I started wondering if I could match that shade in another brand.

Naturally, my thoughts turned to Make Up For Ever. I find their Aqua Eyes pencils to be creamy, soft, and wonderfully long-lasting — and the brand has a reputation for making every color under the sun. Time to swatch their permanent line of Aqua Lip pencils!

My Sephora had the display arranged in color (rather than numerical) order, and it made sense to swatch them that way.

1C is a rosy, brownish natural (I don’t think it’s a perfect match, but this one seems to be the closest to Draw Me Close). 3C is a little more brown. 2C is more pink, and it’s the only shade that has a bit of shimmer. 4C is an orangey, rosy, “redwood” brown. 5C is more tan. 7C is deeper, a reddish chestnut. 17C is emergency orange. 18C is a bright coral pink. 14C is mauve. 15C is medium pink. 16C is hot pink.

I really wanted to fit all of these on one arm, but I didn’t want to make the swatches so narrow that you couldn’t see the colors.

8C is cherry red. 9C is deeper, bricky red-brown. 11C is still deeper, and more berry. 10C is a red-purple. 13C is deeper, more blackened. 12C is a very black red-plum. 6C is wood brown.

These went on smoothly and easily, but the most remarkable thing to me is that after I’d taken my picture, I rubbed my finger over my swatches — not gently, either — and nothing moved.

Generally, I wear a lipliner only with a bold lipstick (red). I apply the lipstick first, then clean up the ragged edge by lightly drawing over it with the pencil.

I’m seriously wondering if I could wear these all over my lips — and if they’d still stay put when I chapsticked over them. I have very high hopes.

Make Up For Ever says their Aqua Lip Lipliner pencils are waterproof, smudgeproof, and fade-proof (and so far, I believe every word). They’re $17 each, available at Sephora and Sephora.com.

Adele says her arm is approximately NW5, and her face is NW10. She says when you blend 36, it’s not as pink as it looks in the heavy swatch, and that 38 — which is what she wears — blends into her face (and whiter hand) without looking yellow. Overall she loves how skin-like this foundation looks.

Thank you, Adele!