MAC Bare study dupe found!! Covergirl intense shadow blast review.

I have found a dupe of one of my favorite MAC products ever. Let me first say that I love MAC's bare study paint pot because it is gorgeous and ever so versatile. I use this product pretty much every day. It makes a great eyeshadow base in general and works great as an all over with neutral looks. It just looks good with anything. So, of course, I would recommend the MAC point pot in bare study to anyone....I just love it.
But, for those of you on a budget or those that don't have easy access to a MAC counter/store, I have found a great dupe. Cover girl has a new line of cream shadows called Intense Shadow Blasts. I picked up one in 'beige blaze' (typo: i used the wrong terminology on the swatch pictures - it is beige blaze, not blast) and found that it is pretty spot on for bare study. It applies a little lighter than bare study. I would describe the texture as like that of a mousse. Bare study is more of a sturdy cream. You can see from the swatch below that bare study has a more pink base to it and applies more evenly without blending. Otherwise, it would be extremely hard to tell them apart (especially on the lids). The two swatches below were taken without flash in different lighting (natural vs. artificial).

You can see from the picture below, that the color in the packaging is very similar as well.

Let me talk about some other aspects of the packaging. It uses a doe foot type applicator so it's not as hygienic for multiple uses as the bare study (but, I would guess most people purchasing the covergirl are just using it for themselves only). And, I could foresee a problem getting every last drop of product out of the covergirl as the doe foot will have trouble reaching all areas of the tube.

The CoverGirl states that there is a primer built in and that it won't crease. I can't attest to the strength of the product alone as I always wear a primer under every cream shadow, the MAC paint pot included. However, with my E.L.F. primer, the cover girl did not crease through a whole days wear! And, without saying, neither does the MAC. It applies well, blends easily, and stays on. It also works well under powder shadows - it doesn't make them more difficult to apply or blend as some creams do.

Bottom line: I really enjoy these new cover girl shadows. Make sure you get the new product and not the old smoky shadow blast sticks (as they were pretty terrible) - it would be easy to get confused with the similar names. Look for the packaging pictured above. I like these shadows so much, I already have a total of 3 out of the 6 colors offered. I think they are a great, inexpensive, cream shadow that look great on the lids. I also think this is a good alternative for those that don't have access to MAC and would like to get their hands on Bare Study. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to see more of this line!

MAC Starviolet look

Thought I'd grace you with another look. I'm trying to use different colors to create a variety of looks. So, I dipped into my MAC palette and found some shades I had yet to use. I decided to do something with pink and teal. The camera didn't pick up the teal like I wanted it too but it's there.

How to do it:
1. Eyeshadow/Brows: Urban decay primer potion all over, MAC paint pot in 'fresco rose' to the lid. MAC's 'pink venus' to the inner eye lid and MAC's 'star violet' to the outer lid. MAC's 'plumage' to the crease and blended. Hightlight to the brow bone is MAC's 'lightfall'. Finally, MAC's 'carbon' to the outer 'V'. I also applied a little bit of MAC's 'phloof!' to the tear duct area.
MAC's 'espresso' goes on the brows with a liner brush to define.

2. Eye Liner/Lashes: The top lashline gets a black, gel eyeliner. I don't have MAC's 'blacktrack' so I used maybelline's gel liner in 'blackest black'. I applied MAC's 'carbon' on top of the gel to set it and smoke it out a bit. Physician's formula shimmer strips pencil liner (the purple one) goes on to the waterline and L'oreal's HIP color chome eyeliner in 'black shock' to the actual lashline, again, with carbon applied on top with a liner brush for some smoke and depth. My eyelashes are culed and then I apply both a volumizing and lengthening mascara to the top and the lengthening mascara solo to the bottom.

3. Face: Revlon photoread foundation in 'vanilla', Revlon's photoready concealer in 'fair', and Revlon's photoready translucent powder to finsih.

4. Blush: I used 'giggly' by MAC to the cheeckbones and contoured with Too Faced's 'sunbunny' to the hollows. I blended all this out with a bronzer brush.

5. Lips: MAC 'mile' lipstick + MAC's lip gelee in 'Fashion flower'

I do want to note for anyone interested, that the Fashion Flower colors I used are out with the current collection and are most likely limited editions. Freso Rose paintpot isn't permanent from what I understand but all other shadows I used should be permanent.