Makeupwithmona

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a lovely Rodin Olio Lusso event at the beautiful Veronica Beard boutique in NYC. At the event we got a sneak peek of their latest Luxury Mermaid Collection. Also, at the event, we met Donald Robertson, a very talented and hilarious guy who worked on all the beautiful illustrations on the packaging and products. He helped brought this collection to life, learn more about Mr. Robertson here.  

I came home with a bag full of goodies! All the bags were hand painted by Donald Robertson I picked out the one with a mermaid in the blue ocean. It's such a cute little bag my daughter loves mermaids and blue is her favorite color at the moment, so she was pleased to hear that the bag was for her.

The Mermaid Collection includes:

Mermaid Collection Luxury Illuminating Powder $50 A silky smooth gel powder illuminator and it's housed in a sturdy clear compact. The clear acrylic compact allows you to see the beautiful mermaid embossing. I had to pause for a moment when I saw the gorgeous illuminating powder I had a hard time touching it cause I didn't want to ruin such a stunning piece of art. At last, I did play with the powder I couldn't resist the urge to run my finger through the powder. 

Available in one perfect, ethereal shade- Siren, it's a swirl of champagne and icy lavender shade. On my tan complexion, it comes off a cool tone nude pink shade. The talc-free formula delivers seamless translucence and blends effortlessly into the skin. It contains exquisite micro-pigments that will capture and diffuse light. This powder is finely milled it feels very soft and smooth it's also highly pigmented it has a sheer, yet buildable texture. It has a metallic finish minus the chunky glitters you can either go for a light-hand application for a subtle glow or layer it for an high-wattage glow! This powder does not come with a brush, but you can buy the Kabuki brush from the collection. Although I don't prefer a kabuki brush when it comes to applying highlighters, I instead use a fan or small brush that way I have more control with the application. 

Mermaid Collection Luxury Kabuki Brush $25 A luxurious white cashmere synthetic brush it's housed in a sleek high gloss bright white base. This brush was designed to apply the Illuminating Powder. Like I mentioned before I usually don't prefer such a big brush for highlighters, but I think this brush would be great for powder foundations. It's very soft, compact and fluffy, so it does a great job at buffing out products. I've been using this for touch ups I keep mine in a small pouch. I wish it came with a bag/pouch or a top so the bristles would stay nice and clean. 

Mermaid Collection Luxury Lip Oil $30 A luxurious, lightweight lip oil in a universally flattering shade. The lip oil has a serum-like non-sticky consistency. It's very nourishing, and it has a high gloss finish. This lip oil can be worn on its own or over a lipstick. I like to pair this lip oil with lipliners since most of the lip liners have a matte finish so this oil keeps my lips hydrated and glossy. I think the lip oil will flatter all complexion it's a nude shade with gold shimmers and it has a hint of a warm undertone. This lip oil is formulated with vitamin E, sunflower oil, olive fruit oil, safflower seed oil and jojoba seed oil. 

Mermaid Collection Luxury Body Oil $90 This is probably my second favorite product from the Mermaid collection. The body oil comes in a beautiful bottle adorned with seahorse, seashells, and sea kelp prints. It's one remarkable tri-phase body oil formula gold, clear, and aqua that nourishes and moisturizes skin while leaving it silky. A blend of sunflower, sweet almond, olive and sea buckthorn oils contribute to the skin-softening, rejuvenating benefits of this formula, in addition to Omegas 3, 6, 7, and 9. Hyaluronic acid and glycerin attract hydration to moisturize skin, and a blend of two-lightweight, glide-enhancing ingredients leave skin feeling silky smooth. The sea kelp and Sambac body oil smell of intoxicating jasmine flowers. You can also mix the liquid illuminator with the body oil it looks incredible on the skin. 

All the products in this collection are very rich in pigmentation, and the consistency is silky smooth. I went a little heavy on the swatches so you can get an idea, but the illuminators can be sheer or layered to build up the coverage depending on the application. 

I have very few cool tone highlighters in my collections, but I still wanted to compare the Rodin Illuminating Powder to a few highlighters from my collection. Laura Mercier Devotion looks quite similar compared to the mermaid illuminator, but it doesn't have the hint of champagne undertone like Siren.

I also wanted to compare the Liquid Illuminator to a few of my favorite illuminators- Marc Jacobs Dew You (review here) and Algenist Champagne Luminizing Drops. The Rodin liquid illuminator is unique regarding both the shade and texture. 

Final Verdict:

This collection screams summer I love that it's a small collection seems like it was carefully curated. The beautiful underwater-themed illustrations and embossing on the products and boxes are so pretty it's making it very hard to toss out the boxes. My top picks from the collection are the Illuminating Powder, Liquid Illuminator, and the Luxury Body Oil. 

Rodin Mermaid Collection is exquisite, and if you can splurge on one thing from the collection, I would highly recommend it. This collection is now available at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Saks. 

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Since I love the original Dew Drops, I decided to purchase the new Coconut Gel Highlighter in Fantasy, ($44 for 0.8oz) and today I'm going to review both of the gel highlighters. 

Marc Jacobs Beauty Dew Drops is a lightweight, coconut-infused gel highlighter that can be applied to the skin directly or added to foundation or primer for a universally flattering glow. A little goes a long way: This gel highlighter builds for the ultimate sheen, and the sensual, golden-peach hue flatters all skin tones with warm radiance. It’s formulated with five forms of coconut and provitamin B5 to help hydrate and nourish skin. 

Marc Jacobs Dew Drops Coconut Gel Highlighters are housed in a thick, frosted glass bottle with a white cap and a pump dispenser. I like the packaging, the pump is very easy to control you can dispense just the right amount of product. However, I did notice the products seem to dry up at the nozzle so I like to wipe that way before pumping out more product.

The highlighter has a gel-like consistency, it's very creamy, and it glides on the skin easily, but it sets very quickly, so you have to work a little faster. These are highly pigmented, and it has the most beautiful micro shimmers so you can mix the highlighters with your foundation for a luminous glow. My skin is pretty normal these days with some dry patches, and even though the highlighters can cling to the dry spots it doesn't emphasize on fine lines or large pores. If you have oily skin you can use this only on the cheekbones or any other areas you'd like to focus on instead of mixing it with your foundation. If you have dry skin prep with a hydrating primer, and a foundation that has a dewy finish since, the gel highlighters are a bit drying. Dew Drops highlighters have a blendable formula, I like to use my fingers to apply the product, but you can also use a beauty blender or brush to buff out the product. Dew Drops is a great base for powder highlighters, but I don't like to layer highlighters cause I don't find it flattering on my textured skin. If you're a fan of intense highlighter you can definitely pair it a powder highlighter. Once this highlighter sets it will stay put all day long, and it's also transfer proof. 

Marc Jacobs Dew You Dew Drops Coconut Gel Highlighter $44- this is described as golden peach, but on my complexion, it pulls more champagne gold than peachy gold. I love this shade, and I think this will look great on fair to tan skin tone. I prefer using this highlighter with my foundation I use a small pump and mix the products really well. It gives me the ultimate sun-kissed glow! I also like to use this on the inner corner of my eyes, and browbone.