FACE Stockholm Bold Beauty Look review

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An old school muse inspires a uniquely modern look

photos: we heart this

FACE Stockholm has been around for twenty-five years, a Swedish company as synonymous with contemporary cosmetics and fashion as is its countryman brethren, furniture giant IKEA. It should then come as no surprise that Gun Nowak, owner of FACE Stockholm, started as the owner of hip Swedish fashion boutiques in the seventies and had a love of interior design and color.

Swedes have a reputation for face, fashion and décor that is spare, clean and, above all, trend-forward. FACE Stockholm embraces that ideal with its Bold Beauty Look for Fall 2011.

Inspired by silent film legends like Louise Brooks, FACE Stockholm has chosen some of its best neutrals -and one inspired bright – to reflect the uninhibited prohibition-era rebels and the intellectual attitude alluded to in the women-in-men’s-clothing on today’s runway.

The Bold Beauty assortment of colors, recently added to the permanent line and received by wht consists of:

Brow Shadow ($24) in Myrrah, a blendable shading powder in soft brown for a natural look brow.

Matte Eyeshadows ($20) in three new hues Nude (a sheer pinky nude), Christo (a vivid orange) and Chiffon (a light peachy pink), smooth and heavily pigmented shadows.

Volumizing Mascara ($24) in Black, with a rich formula to thicken, lengthen and fortify.

Lipliner ($17) in Kattis (a truly orange, yet flattering hue) in a super smooth, rich liner.

Eye Pencil ($17) in Morkbrun (a dark brown), like the lipliner, smooth and rich.

Vitamin C Lip Treatment ($22) a clear balm that smooths lines and protects from environmental damage.

I tried two of the new shades of Matte Eyeshadows in Christo and Chiffon. Both are velvety smooth and finely milled. Plus theese shadows are longwearing and the pans contain a lot of product.

that’s the utterly fab Christo…

Chiffon is a peachy/pink beige—very light and excellent as a highlighter. It could easily be added to almost any make up collection and used frequently.

Christo, on the other hand, is a bright, fiery orange, perhaps better named “Mephisto.” When I pulled Christo out of my bag I hadn’t a clue how I’d pull it off. As it turns out, it’s the cure for ho-hum in a neutral palette. A bare face with a little Christo on the inside of your lid is like bringing the runway home with you in a wearable sort of way.

Nude e/s, Kattis l/l, Chiffon e/s, Morkbrun e/l, Christo e/s

I also got to sample the eye pencil in Morkbrun, a very basic brown. What can I say? The formula is smooth and rich as advertised, and it also wears long. Every woman needs a brown liner in her bag and I’d just as soon have this one since FACE Stockholm uses only the highest quality and mostly natural ingredients.

They also use minimal and recycled packaging for those of us who are eco-conscious (isn’t everyone these days?) Not to mention, FACE Stockholm has a stunning palette of over 150 eye shadows and 200 lip colors. If they don’t have your color, that color probably doesn’t exist.

For this moment in time, I’m quite happy to put on my liberated, flapper face and its modern, rebellious slash of orange. That’s a fine homage to Miss Brooks, FACE Stockholm. And Miss Brooks, welcome to Technicolor.

Testers, what did you think of your Face Stockholm Bold Beauty selection?

Disclosure: This review includes products that were provided by the manufacturer/PR firm for our consideration. For more info, or any questions, please see our disclosure policy.

Author

  • sherrishera

    Sherri is a writer, dog lover, old movie fanatic, history detective, political junkie, fashion pundit and social media consumer advocate. “A fancy dinner and expensive champagne are better than writing a rent check any day of the week.” skin tone: NC 25 skin type: oily/sensitive favorite beauty product: anti-aging anything

14 Comments

  1. Great review @Sherrishera! What an interesting but very cool color palette. I’m drawn to the eyeliner and the vitamin c lip treatment sounds like something I’d like :) Can’t wait to hear more about that one.

    1. That orange isn’t as unwearable as you may think! A neutral face is a perfect canvas for an unexpected color pop like this. I’m sure you could runway-this-up but it still looks good on the way to work. I mean, we don’t think anything of putting blue or green on our lids, but orange? Why not? I’m sure Pantone would approve! Tangerine dreams, everyone.

  2. I only just discovered this brand, and I love it! So simple and cool, and the products I tried out were all high quality and great pigments – I reviewed the new mascaras they’ve just released on my blog last month.

  3. I need to mention that of the products I tried, all are five star. From the generously sized, high performing eye shadow pans to the long-wearing, smooth-applying eye pencil these are quality products. The fact that they have a sea of colors to choose from as well as an on- trend-yet-simple look (orange is everywhere) makes FACE cutting edge.

  4. I got to try the brow shadow in Myrrah, and while I’m not a brow shadow afficionado, I thought it seemed to be an excellent product! The shadow is soft and smooth, but leaves no fall-out. The color is a pretty, soft and blendable chocolate brown. It’s dark, but not so dark that it looked unnatural on my dark brown brows. It made my brows look just a little more defined and rich – very nice overall. The pan is a generous size and there’s a nice mirror inside that spans the entire lid. I would say this is probably a 5 star product for what it did and how nicely it applied and stayed put, but since I completely ignore my brows except for their bimonthly waxing, I can’t properly judge it. I passed it along to a friend though, who does love a good brow shadow, so a great product didn’t go to waste on me!

  5. I love FACE Stockholm shadows, and although I really doubt I could pull off Christo, you make it sound possible, @sherrishera . And the neutrals look beautiful!

  6. How is it that I am such a neutral girl, yet so attracted to the bold colors..I have color envy, but will buy the gorgeous nudes! Great post!

  7. I tested out the Matte Eye Shadow in Nude. It’s pretty much invisible on me. Sometimes if I don’t wear primer I dust my lids with a little pressed powder to help my shadows go on smoother and this shadow pretty much replaces pressed powder. It’s only a slightly different tone than my pressed powder and looks like I’m wearing nothing at all, so there is no wearing this on its own (I only bother with shadows that can be worn on their own, so I don’t really understand the use for this in my arsenal.) I guess it preps the lid for other shadows, like the more dramatic Christo? I can’t say as I’ve been chomping at the bit for what is essentially pressed powder for my eye lids. I’m all for neutrals, but this was just a little pointless to me because you can’t even remotely tell that I’m wearing it. I’ve got to say 4 stars because this wasn’t just low impact on me, it was no impact on me.

  8. Yay, I was that friend who Mel passed the brow shadow along to try and it is a great product. I use Clinique’s brow powder, have for years, and this one was very close to the color and consistency. You also get a lot, it’s a nice size!

  9. Ooh, that orange shade is right on with the aforementioned Pantone color of the year, tangerine tango! I love a good orange lip, but I need to do some serious teeth whitening before I attempt that one.

  10. I love FACE Stockholm. I got to try out the Vitamin C lip treatment which I’m in love with. It’s a bit pricey at $22, but it definitely “feels” like a $22 product. Goes on beautifully and so smoothly. It doesn’t leave any residue or film, either. Personally, I’ll totally but this after I run out. 5 stars from me!

  11. P.S. I also love the orange shades going around, but I’m kind of interested/intrigued as to how orange would look on me! Hmm. Time to take a beauty leap of faith, I think.

  12. I got to try Kattis, that beauty of an orange lip pencil. I’d describe it as a dusty orange. It doesn’t have the brightness of the Christo e/s, but that’s a good thing. I love an orange lip, but it’s really a statement, nothing subtle about it usually! But Kattis gives you the unexpected color, but in a more muted way. Like, orange for work. I love the color.

    I applied it all over my lips, and it’s a tad dry. So I wish there was a matching lipstick. But it’s worth a bit of dryness for the color. 4 stars from me.

    And can I just say @sherrishera – you better guard that Christo. I want it!

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