Well, after my disappointment on Sunday (target.com said the new Jemma Kidd, etc. lines were available at my local Target and they weren’t), I found a Target in town that has these displays set up.
The Experience
The displays are quite attractive—backlit white translucent panels—and look distinct from the surrounding mass-market beauty lines. My Target had the Jemma Kidd items on the endcap (a good choice, I think), and the Pixi and NP Set items around the corner, in the aisle.
And, as promised, lots of testers. The only items that didn’t have testers available were the palettes in each line. Instead, open palettes were displayed in clear acrylic boxes. So if you were hoping to test any of the palettes, it’s not gonna happen. I think I was probably the first tester on some of the items (I know I broke the seal on the Pixi Eye Color Sealer.) And, boy, did I have fun—the back of my hand is still covered with trails of lipstick and shimmery eyeliner.
The testers really seemed to attract a crowd. At least five other women (and two little girls) stopped to test while I was making my rounds. It’s thoughtful of Target to include an eye-level combo mirror/Kleenex box/trash container with the display, so that one can clean up one’s hands and keep on testing.
What I Thought
Jemma Kidd
The Jemma Kidd eyeshadows were nicely pigmented and felt incredibly creamy for a powder shadow (reminds me of Shu Uemura eyeshadows). I was tempted by the colors Editor and Vintage but passed because I already own similar shades. I only noticed one matte eyeshadow shade; JK is big on shimmers, it seems. If you like Urban Decay’s liquid liner, JK has some great, boldly colored liners to check out. Another interesting product was the Lip ID Color-Adapt Lip Gloss. On the back of my hand, the gloss turned a delicate pink shade: it’s worth another look on my next visit. None of the stain/flush/blush concentrates really suited me, nor did the Sheer Vanity Gloss & Glaze—both seemed too sheer for me.
Pixi
I was more impressed with the Petra Strand’s Pixi line than I thought I would be. Online, the colors and products looked kind of boring, but they were better in person. The Illuminating Tint and Conceal appears to be not a sponge applicator, as I thought before, but a kind of pressed powder in a tube [CORRECTION: Upon a second, closer look, there is a dome of pressed powder on the cap, but when you unscrew the cap, there’s a tinted moisturizer in the tube.] I’m a fan of stains and washes, so I liked the cheek gels (three shades) and water blushes (two shades), and the lip blushes (four shades). Another nice lip choice was the Rose Lip Treat, a cross between a balm and sheer lipstick. Pixi had more palettes than the other lines, mostly of eyeshadows—but don’t overlook the Neutralizing Cover-Up palette (ignore the target.com description; these aren’t just eyeshadows), which is mixed in with the all the shadow sets. At $28, with eight shades of concealer, this seems like a better deal than the NP Set 5-Color Concealer Palette at $25. Unfortunately, I could not try either palette since there are no palette testers. Pixi had several other interesting items (Eye Bright kits, Lid and Line sticks, Brow Lift), and I will definitely be re-visiting this line on my next Target trip.
NP Set
The packaging on Napoleon Perdis’ NP Set line has a sophisticated/clinical look. But nothing in the line really stood out on this initial look-through, other than the dual-ended powder eye shadows. (Even then, I prefer the Jemma Kidd shadows.) The concealer set that originally intrigued me appears to be too red/pink for my complexion, though I was not able to test this palette. I noticed the same phenomenon in the blushes and lip products—they seemed geared toward women with red or pink undertones. But perhaps this was just my perception under the fluorescent lights. I will re-evaluate the NP Set line on my next visit, but my initial impression is indifference. [On a second visit, I determined that the powders and foundations seem appropriate for yellow undertones.]
What I Bought
In an earlier post, I mentioned several items that I thought looked promising, but the only one of those I ended up bringing home today was the Pixi Lip Blush in Purity. Working on a limited budget, I also chose JK Jemma Kid I-Tech Liquid Eyeliner in Abstract. In the discount store environment, surrounded by much cheaper cosmetics, I definitely felt that $18 was a lot to pay for each item. (I believe this was truly a function of the surroundings; I doubt I’d feel as troubled at Sephora.)
JK Liner in Abstract, $18
Pixi Lip Blush in Purity, $18
Look forward to a review of both of these items in the coming week, after I’ve had a chance to give them a good test run.
Beauty Crucible 