The Power of Color Collection by Elizabeth Arden

For the second year in a row, Elizabeth Arden (EA) has enticed me to buy with an Upgrade with Order offer, this time called the Power of Color.  My experience with EA's makeup in the past has been less than stellar, but I must have been in a buying mood, because I bought a LOT.  So let's take a look at the Power of Color collection.

The set is $29.50 ($134 value) with any purchase, and you receive:

• Beautiful Color Moisturizing lipsticks in Dessert Rose and Rosy Shimmer (full size):  these new long wearing lip colors (12 hours) claim to keep your lips moisturized all day long via the trademarked system Volulip. 

Desert Rose

Rosy Shimmer

• Beautiful Color Luminous Lipgloss in Sunset (deluxe mini):  Infused with mango and shea butters to condition and help lock in moisture, and Maxi-Lip™ to plump the appearance of lips. 

Desert Rose, Rosy Shimmer, Sunset

• Beautiful Color Lash Enhancing Mascara in black (deluxe mini):  a new formula that contains peptides to enhance the look of lash length, density and curl with continued use.  I haven't tried this yet, but it looks a bit dry to me.  We shall see.

• Cermide Premiere Intense Moisture and Renewal Activation Cream SPF30 (deluxe sample):  contains skin-replenishing lipids called Ceramides and high-performance retinols to help support  skin's natural collagen.  A full size jar will set you back $94, so I'm interested to see what this is all about.

• Eyeshadow and blush palette:  the shadows apply smoothly and have nice pigmentation.  I was a bit disappointed that the darker colors lost some of the vibrancy when applied - they tend to look darker on then the pan color would indicate.  The blush gives more shimmer than color, so I used it as a highlighter.

Romance, Mystic Violet, Tempting Taupe, Misty Teal, Sunset, Classic Khaki

Romantic Rose blush

• Orange tote:  love the look and color and would use as a purse, but the straps are rather thin and would probably tear within a few uses with as much as I pile in my bag.  I'll use it for storage of beauty items not currently in use.

I'm still playing with everything and forming opinions, but overall I'm pleased with the Power of Color set.  More to come later, but I wanted to get swatches up in case anyone else was contemplating purchase :-)