Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Of the products I’ve played with so far from the new limited edition L’Occitane Pivoine Flora collection, my favorite has to be the Lipstick in Fuschia ($15, one of four shades; yes, here Fuschia is spelled with an ‘s’ before the ‘chia’).
It gets the pigment just right, walking that fine line between mediocre pigmentation and high-maintenance, with a finish that still looks natural even with its subtle shine. Perfect for days when I want a casual lip look without the blinding bling of a gloss.
New from Benefit –They’re Real Mascara, $22. Coming soon to Benefit stores, counters and online in July 2011.
From the official PR:
This bodacious breakthrough lengthens, volumizes and curls lashes for a spectacular “out-to-here” look! The long-wearing, jet black formula doesn’t smudge, budge or dry out… so your luscious lashes last all day.
Review coming soon, Benefit babes! 🙂 (UPDATE: Click here for the full review.)
Deborah Lippmann Lara’s Theme ($16), new for spring/summer 2011. Available now at stores and also online.
If you’d asked me 15 years ago (back when I was deep into my brown/pink eyeshadow phase) if I’d wear a yellow shadow like Sun Blonde, I probably would have said, “OH, HELL NAW!”
I was pretty conservative with my makeup back then and almost never ventured out of my comfort zone. That slowly changed over time. Now, when it comes to wearing bold eye makeup, I’m still not a Rainbow Brite girl, but I am more adventurous than I was.
When I find a color I really like, I’ll try to figure out ways to wear it that I know I’ll feel comfortable in — sometimes it’s a bright pop on the lids, a subtle wash in the crease or a sweep along my lower lash lines.
I also like to balance my brights with neutrals, and for my makeup today I played with the yellow and teal shades from MAC Surf Baby, pairing them with browns and beige.
MAC Surf Baby products used for this look, clockwise from the lipgloss in the lower left: Lipglass in Krazy Kahuna, Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Blue Noon, Studio Careblend Pressed in Gold-Go-Lightly, Eyeshadow in Short Shorts, Eyeshadow in Surf USA and Eyeshadow in Sun Blonde
Hibiscus, one of the Surf Baby makeup looks on the MAC website, gave me the overall idea, and using a mix of limited edition Surf Baby products and MAC permanent collection sweets, I ended up with a look featuring teal, yellow, brown, coral and beige.
Three weeks. Probably TMI (so what else is new?), but that’s how long I went without shaving my legs to test the new Bliss Poetic Waxing Wax Strips Body kit ($36). 🙂
I’ve used similar kits from other brands like Sally Hansen before, but the strips included with this one are made of a loosely-woven cotton fabric called muslin, instead of cardboard or plastic. You get 36 pre-waxed strips and the tiniest, Grinch-who-stole-Christmas-sized bottle of soothing azulene oil to condition your skin and remove any remaining wax when you’re done. In addition to the muslin strips, which I find easier to grip than the smooth plastic ones that come with some other kits, the wax Bliss uses also feels slightly thicker than most.
So small!
Having tried so many waxing kits before on so many different parts of my bod, I expected the usual trubs — the strips missing a lot of hair, the wax being too sticky and hard to remove, or the kit not coming with enough strips. Basically, from kits like this one, I came to expect half-@ssed results.
Like intrepid Indiana Jones types, the perfumers who brought Elizabeth Arden’s new Green Tea Camellia Eau de Toilette ($29 for a 1.7-oz. bottle) into the light went all the way to Sri Lanka to find it.
Their goal was to capture the scent of the camellia sasanqua plant in its natural habitat. Using a doo-dad called ScentTrek, which they attached to the plant, they left with a sample of the plant’s actual scent molecules, which then went toward developing one of the scent’s middle notes.
Neat, yeah?
Typically, perfumers distill the oils from a harvested plant to acquire its scent, but, with ScentTrek, they’re able to grab the true essence of a living plant or flower in its natural habitat no matter where it takes them in the world. The technology not only allows perfumers to keep the ecological balance intact, but it also gives them the opportunity to obtain a more complete scent profile that takes into account the atmosphere surrounding the plant.
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Dior Harmonie de Blush in Coral Riviera ($44), available now at Dior counters and also online.
LOVE.
Dior Rouge Dior Lipcolor in Rouge Favori 752 ($30), available now at Dior counters and also online.
