Reader Request: Nars Orgasm v Milani Luminous

NARS is a brand that beauty afficinados are drawn to for their beautiful formulas, silky smooth textures and amazingly rich pigmenations as well as a bold range of shades.

The most famous of NARS products has got to be their best selling blushes and the most renown is the headline grabbing Orgasm - a peachy pink shade with a golden sheen that gives you a glow as if you have achieved the big "O".

Many have tried to locate a duplicate for Organism as is often the case with great products, the price puts it out of reach for anyone who is on a tight budget but still want to look their best. You will read in many forums and blogs that many claim Milani's Luminous blush is a very close dupe for Orgasm.

In my mind, to be is considered a dupe - it has to be 95-100% the same in shade, texture and finish. Otherwise it is just a close match so when I was asked by a reader to swatch these two, it was a great opportunity to see if it would meet my criteria of a dupe.

Both shades are classed as peachy pinks mixed and has the same finely milled golden shimmer that produces that glowing effect on skin.

Orgasm is more a vibrant peach than Luminous. In the pan, Lumionous is a lighter pink base so goes on lighter on skin and there is just slightly more gold shimmer in Orgasm than Luminous. Both colours work universally well on all complexions but I think Luminous is just slightly more flattering on cooler skintones.

In natural light

Luminous feels more powdery than Orgasm in comparison (you can see this in the swatches) but this is not a criticism as it stands well on its own.

lasting power wise - both performed quite similar and I still had a slight pink in my cheeks and the glow was still every much evident at the end of the day.

side-by-side comparison (natural light)

Both are very pretty shades of the same peach family but in no way would I call them dupes. They are at best a 70% match so those who are still seeking for an O-ternative will have to keep looking but I would say nothing beats the original O.

What have you tried that you think are dupes of higher-end shades and products?

NARS blushes A$49 is available in Mecca and Mecca Maxima stores.
Milani blushes US$6.49 is available online at Cherry Culture.

Look of the Day: Cabaret Girl

Over the weekend, I attended a costume party for a girlfriend's 30th birthday and went as a Cabaret Girl for the evening. The costume itself took relatively little time to put together as I was lucky enough to have various pieces of clothing that went together to give the sexy show girl look (thank you Celina for the satin gloves) and all I had to do on the evening was concentrate on my hair and makeup.

The Hair 
For the hair I decided on soft curls. My straight hair was prepped with heat protectant Moroccan Oil's latest Curl Control Cream to give it a bit more texture and so that the curls would last when used with VS Sasson's Magic Curl styling wand.

Hair was sectioned in 6 parts - bottom, mid and top layers and left and right of each layer. I then put the VS Magic curl stying wand to work at the highest temperature setting for maximum hold and created medium size ringlets by twirling the hair around the wand.

Working from my way up from the bottom layers, I proceeded to curl the hair below the ear length to ensure they didn't become too puffy at the top. When all the hair is curled and brushed into place, copious amounts of hair spray was used to keep the fly aways and curls in check for the night.

Hair Products Used
Frizz-Ease Heat Defeat Protective Styling Spray
Moroccan Oil Curl Control Cream*
Schwarzkopf Strong Styling Hairspray

Moroccan Oil curl control cream is designed to give defined curls for those with curly and wavy hair, add shine, volume and control. It did an amazing job with helping to hold the curls in my normally (permanently) straightened hair throughout the night and the whole of next day, it even survived being slept on - now that's impressive!

The Makeup
I went for a heavier coverage base for a flawless look to allow me to emphasise the eyes and lips. Thick false lashes and firey red lips helped to sex up look whilst keep keeping the rest of my face fairly simple and neutral.

Face 
Dermablends Cover Creme in Chroma 2.13 Natural Beige
Bobbi Brown Concealer in Warm Beige
Milani Minerals Blush #203 Mai-Tai
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose
MAC wedge eye shadow as contour powder
Kryolan Anti-Shine powder
NYX loose powder #07 transparent medium

Eyes 
Face of Australia Oppulent Eyes in Endless Nights*
3 trees false lashes #6 design 
ColourSoft eye lash glue
Kiss Me Heroine Smooth Liquid eye liner

Lips 
Illamasqua Box *(layered underneath)
Rimmel London 230 Red Fever applied with a lip liner for precise definitions.

• Moroccan Oil Curl Control cream A$44.50 is available at all good hair salons
• Dermablend Cover Creme A$49.95 is high pigment waterproof makeup and is available at selected Priceline and Pharmacies.
• Kiss Me Heroine Smooth liquid liner is an amazing Japanese smudgeproof eye liner that can be purchased from Sasa.com
• Milani is a US drugstore brand and can be purchased from CherryCulture.com

Products marked * were provided for consideration