This morning I opened my door and found this lil’ guy sunning himself on the welcome mat.
An Unexpected Visitor
A Quick Peek at the Givenchy Ete A Fleur de Peau Collection for Summer 2012
Oui, ma chère, Givenchy would like to meet you at Sephora this June. Feast your lovely eyes on the new Givenchy A Fleur de Peau Collection for Summer 2012.
Just like summer itself, the release is limited edition. 🙂 Six pieces for eyes, lips and nails, and the theme? — an airy look with sun-kissed skin and barely-there eyes and lips.
Think draped dresses, the light caress of a cool sea breeze, and the first rays of sunlight at dawn.
Here are pics and swatches of four of the six pieces from the release…
Ombre A Fleur de Peau Luminescent Cream Eyeshadows, $34 each
Ombre A Fleur de Peau Luminescent Cream Eyeshadow in Pearly Nude
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A Friday Face of the Day With the New Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadows
Dang, it’s hot 
out here in Nor Cal today! It must be in the low 80s. That, or I’m just not at all used to the warmer weather yet.
To hurry up and get into the spirit of swimming pools and water parks, I thought I’d bust out a few of the new waterproof Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadows ($20 each) for my makeup today.
The Aqua Shadows, which are available now at Sephora, are a new line of long-lasting waterproof eyeshadow crayons. They come in 12 smudge-resistant shades designed to resist fading and creasing just as much as they resist water (more on that in a minute).
Apply, count to five (or 10, to be safe), and then bring on the water!
A few things about the Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadows…
- Easy does it with these. My lids turn into cake central when I over-apply.
- From my experience, they live up to the “Aqua” in their name, resisting water like our resident tabby cat. They also last all day long for me, but I do get some creasing when I wear them without an eye primer.
- They feel drier and thicker than some of the other shadow pencils I’ve tried, like Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eyeshadow Pencils and the NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencils, and take a little more time and effort to blend.
For this look, I also used a few other Make Up For Ever favorites that I recently noticed at Sephora — the Compact Shine On Powder highlighter ($30; comes in two shades), Sculpting Blush ($25; available in four shades) and Mat Bronze bronzing powder ($32; available in two shades).
Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadows from the left: 30E (a pearly pink beige), 26E (a pearly peach) and 4E (a matte taupe gray), $20 each
Make Up For Ever Sculpting Blush in 10, $25
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Mother’s Day Gorgeous Gift Ideas: The Clarisonic Mia2 Sonic Skin Cleansing Acne Clarifying Collection
Mark your calendars! Here in the States, May 13 is Mother’s Day (click here to find out when it falls in your country). Want to get Mom something special this year? Looking for gift ideas? Check back over the next few days for a different Mother’s Day gorgeous gift idea (a new special something with which to spoil Mom). 🙂
For Mother’s Day a couple years ago I got my mom a Clarisonic Mia, and she loves it! Nothing says “Thanks for sharing your body with me for nine months, Mom!” like a gentle, yet industrial strength, facial cleansing.
Okay, well, you know what I mean… 🙂
And this is good timing, too, as Clarisonic recently released a new kit (priced at $169) called the Acne Clarifying Collection, and it’s pretty darn snazzy.
It comes with a dual-speed Clarisonic Mia2, a bottle of Clarisonic Acne Daily Clarifying Cleanser (which contains a solution of 2 percent salicylic acid) and an Acne Cleansing Brush Head gentle enough for blemish-prone skin.
Oh, and since the Mia2 brush in this kit is white, it’ll look great with all kinds of bathroom décor (a small but important detail).
China Glaze Glam-More
China Glaze Crackle Glaze Nail Lacquer in Glam-More, $9.
Grapes, Cheese, Bread and Salad
It’s what I’ve been craving lately.
How about you?
Is That a Shimmery Plum Mirage? Or Is It the NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Calabria?
Wearing NARS Calabria Soft Touch Shadow Pencil softly smudged along the lower lash line
The day I married El Hub was a pretty great day, but the day I try a new NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencil ($24) and can say, “Wow! NARS finally made one of these that lasts all day without fading or creasing!” will rank pretty high up there, too.
These multitasking morsels are creamy makeup triple threats! — rock star chic shadows, primers and eyeliners rolled into one — and NARS likes releasing them in gorgeously luscious shades with a glossy, shiny finish.
Thing is, all of the ones I’ve tried before haven’t lasted long on my lids. They’ll look great for about 20 minutes but then start to crease and fade. It’s a bummer, because I love the colors so much that I keep anticipating every new one in the hopes that one of them, one of these days, will last longer.
Will it be Calabria, the new shimmery plum shade released with the Summer 2012 collection? Will it be THE ONE to finally last all day long on my lids? Ah, the places we’d go together… Trader Joe’s, the movies, Petco — you know, all of the glam spots up here in Novato, LOL!
Let’s find out. 🙂
Never Say Never Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($24), Calabria Soft Touch Shadow Pencil ($24) and Buenos Aires Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil ($24)
Additional makeup worn in this look: CK One Color Cream + Powder Blush Duo in Happiness and NARS Laguna Bronzer on my cheeks, Becca Anniversary Palette in Dusty Rose on my lips and MAC Zoom Fast Black Lash on my lashes
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Celebrating 10 Years of Makeup With the Multi-Use Becca Anniversary Palettes
Wearing the Becca Anniversary Palette in Vintage Jewel on my cheeks and lips
Oh, Starbucks Soy Chai Latte… You’ve powered me through countless first drafts. But sometimes you can be sooo demanding! Sorry, but isn’t it better to hear bad news from a friend?
It might not always be obvious, but when we meet at Starbucks in the mornings, I’m usually…asleep. Or very nearly. It’s often terribly early, but I look forward to our visits, and so I’ve made some time-saving adjustments to my regular makeup routine in order to make our appointments.
I know you’ve wondered about my cheeks…and how they can look so fresh and flushed, and how my lips can look so glossy, so early in the morning.
You see, I have a secret, and I’m about to share it with you (because that’s what BFFs do). The credit goes to Becca’s new Anniversary Palettes.
Becca recently released two $36 limited edition palettes to commemorate their 10-year anniversary (makeup-versary?), and they’re both really great for creating quick makeup looks without a lot fuss.
Both Dusty Rose and Vintage Jewel come with four cream products each (a Lip & Cheek Crème, a Crème Blush, a Lip Gloss and a Crème Highlighter) in a mix of new and old shades, which I usually use my fingers to apply (because I lack the coordination for brush work so soon after dawn). The palettes are about the size of a regular powder compact, and they come with what looks like a makeup Snuggie — a cute chocolate brown zippered pouch.
Vintage Jewel includes 1) Lip & Cheek Crème in Snapdragon (a bright orange pink, new), 2) Crème Blush in Hyacinth (a bright watermelon pink, repromote), 3) Lip Gloss in Cosmopolitan (a deep berry shimmer, new) and 4) Crème Highlighter in Beechnut (a golden bronze, new)
One thing I admire about Becca is how well they seem to understand girls on the go, because the last thing I have time for when I’m rushing out the door at 6:30 in the morning is a smokey eye and a layered lip look with liner, lipstick and gloss. And maybe I don’t want to spend 15 or more minutes on my makeup. With the Anniversary Palettes, I can look refreshed and put-together in less than 5.
Say it’s the crack of dawn… I splash some water on my face, apply sunscreen, fill in my brows, swipe a little concealer under my eyes, and curl my lashes. Then, I grab one of the Becca Anniversary Palettes, blend a bit of Crème Blush and Crème Highlighter on my cheeks, and pat either the Lip & Cheek Crème or the Lip Gloss on my lips.
The blushes and highlighters last a good 6-8 hours on me, and the lip products, about 2 (I also have to reapply them after meals).
Dusty Rose includes 1) Lip & Cheek Crème in Tuberose (a coral pink, repromote), 2) Crème Blush in Turkish Rose (a rosy nude, repromote), 3) Lip Gloss in Cassini (a pink, new) and 4) Crème Highlighter in Narcissus (an opalescent peach, repromote)
Swatches from the left: Vintage Jewel Palette with 1) Lip & Cheek Crème in Snapdragon, 2) Crème Blush in Hyacinth, 3) Lip Gloss in Cosmopolitan and 4) Crème Highlighter in Beechnut; Dusty Rose Palette with 5) Lip & Cheek Crème in Tuberose, 6) Crème Blush in Turkish Rose, 7) Lip Gloss in Cassini and 8 ) Crème Highlighter in Narcissus
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