Cirque de Beaute' at Sephora!

Beauty gift sets galore! Whether you're shopping for yourself, or getting an early start on your holiday gift list, you're bound to find beauty sets to please! So head on over to Sephora.com to check out The Greastest Gift Show on Earth! Let's see, I can already think of one friend who'd greatly enjoy the LipFusion Perfect Pout set ($39), and Philosophy's The Holiday House ($35) has already made it onto my Amazon.com Wishlist. Or how aboput Nars Multiple Orgasm ($49)? ; ) Oooh! And how about Stila The Gift of Glaze($28)! I've been wanting to get my hands on one of their Lip Glazes for a while now!



My goodness.... It's too much! Anyway, get your booties over there now to check out all these goodies!

Meltproof Makeup, Pt 2

We've already taken a look at how to prep your skin in order to help your makeup stay put longer. Now let's take a look at the kinds of makeup items themselves that have great staying power.

Eyes

Let's start with the eyes. I find that a cream-to-powder eyeshadow formula tends to have better staying power than regular powder shadows. I don't have particular recommendations for this category, so I invite you to leave yours as comments! I know Revlon also has a line of Colorstay eyeshadows that may be worth a try.

For eyeliners, liquid or gel liners are almost completely budge-proof. I have yet to master the art of liquid liner application, but adore MAC Fluidline ($14.50) and Bobbi Brown Long Wearing Gel Liner ($18). Depending on the kind of brush (and color) you use to apply, you can make the line thick and dramatic, or fine and subtle.

Cheeks

I've heard claims that powder blush stays better than cream, and vice versa, so this is a bit more trial and error (and may have more to do with the texture and oiliness of your skin). But if you really want flushed cheeks that last, your best bet by far is a stain. Benetint($28) by Benefit is amazing. Another good choice that's a bit mor economical is Sonia Kashuk's Lip and Cheek Tint($7.99 at Target stores). Be careful when using either of these, they're called stains for a reason. Also, be sure to start out with just a little bit (a dot or 2 on the apples of the cheeks) and blend quickly. You can always add more color if you want a deeper flush.

Lips

If you want subtle color that lasts, dab a bit of Benetint (or any other stain) onto your lips. This will be more of a rosy look. But if what you crave is true color that stays put all day long, your best bet is a long-wearing lipstick such as Cover Girl Outlast Double LipShine ($8) or American Beauty Super Plus 10-Hour Lipcolor ($16.50, though currently on sale for $13.20). These can be a bit drying on the lips, so keep the accompanying gloss (or your favorite gloss or balm) on hand for touch-ups. It may also help to put on some lip balm about 5-10 minutes before you apply the lip color.

To help your regular lipstick stay on better, find a lipliner that either matches your lipstick or your natural lip color and fill in your lips entirely with it. This will give your lipstick a little something to cling to. Then apply lipstick with a lip brush. Go for thin coatings of lipstick, and more of them, rather than slathering on a thicker coat. I've been impressed by Revlon ColorStay Soft & Smooth Lipcolor (approx $8 or $9 at drugstores) and MAC lipstick($14).

Benetint and BadGal Lash and Dandelion... Oh My!

I was at Sephora yesterday (bad Marcy! You know only bad things, and spending too much money, come of this!) and found this adorable and awesome gift set of The Best of Benefit. You get Dandelion (a "ballerina-pink facial luminizer", $26), Benetint (a rose cheek and lip stain, $28), and BadGal Lash mascara ($19), ALL in an adorable little keepsake box. This is a $73 value, folks, for (wait for it) all of $42!!! (Also available at www.BenefitCosmetics.com)

How was I expected to resist this?? ; )

Ok, so I had already been contemplating buying Dandelion, and I bought Benefit's PocketPal a while back so I know of the wonders of Benetint (and am starting to run out, by the way) so this really was a great value.

I used Dandelion today, as part of a neutral and light pink makeup day, and I have to say it is quite nice. Gives a very soft hint of pinkness. On those with medium to darker complexions it might be too light to show up well as a blush, but it might still work well as an all-over face powder, lending that hint of a pink glow that warms up your whole face. I think I'm much more likely to use Dandelion as an all-over face powder (as opposed to Dallas, which I use more strictly as a blush since I don't think the color is that great for a full-on bronzer. BTW check out the incredibly adorable limited-edition Dallas makeup palette! $28).

I must admit, I'm almost a bit scared of trying the BadGal mascara. That wand is huge! lol It's definitely a mascara for big nights out on the town. But my best gal friend and I are going to Vegas for a long weekend in November, so I will definitely be putting it to good use then!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Lots of beauty brands, big and small, have been launching special editions of their products to help fund Breast Cancer research. I was going to put together a post full of such products that I've come accorss, but then found that other blogs have already done so-- and possibly done a much better job than I could! So here are links to some great posts highlighting products that support breast cancer research.

Lipstick, Powder 'N Paint

Beautiful Makeup Search (this looks like it'll be an ongoing series of posts, so be sure to check back over the course of the month)

The Product Girl

If I find others along the way, or if I spot products that aren't already spotlighted in any of the above, I'll be sure to mention them here. Shop to your hearts' contents, gals, it's all for a good cause!

VS Very Sexy Makeup

Victoria's Secret recently launched its own makeup line, Very Sexy. I had a $10 off coupon I recieved for my birthday recently, so I went to my local Victoria's Secret Beauty store and checked some of their new products out.

I have a mosaic eye shadow kit that I bought from VS before they had their own official makeup line, and I adore it. So I was curious about some of their new mosaic compacts-- they have eye shadow, bronzer, and blush (left) powder mosaics, plus mosaic lip palettes ($18 each). If you like playing with blush, you may really like these-- they had a good variety of different shades in their mosaics that looked very fun. I liked the shadows-- they go on surprisingly sheer, and the colors are very pretty.

I also spent a good bit of time looking at their eye shadows ($12), and was very temped to buy Blindfold (a pale lilac) and No Strings (a darker, shimmery purple). They would have gone great worn with their sparkling eyeliner ($10) in lilac flash. I actually was very tempted by these eyeliners, they would be so fun to wear for a night out on the town!

The loose shimmer powder ($18) looked cool, too, but it didn't seem to come with a built-in applicator meaning I'd have to buy a separate brush for it. For $18 I'd rather it be a complete package. I also liked the gel eyeliner duos ($12, right), gel liner is such a great way to achieve a dramatic look that's much easier to use than liquid liner.

As for lips, they had a fun selection of lip gloss($12) and lip lacquer($12, left). I liked the lacquers, particularly Crush and Get Lucky, though these also did not come with any sort of applicator so you'd have to use a separate lip brush or your fingers. There's even a lip plumper (I'd expect no less from VS) for $18. It apparently has "Self-adjusting pigment [that] reacts with skin's pH to enrich natural lip color." Hmm.. asounds interesting. Perhaps I should've tested this one....

In the end I settled for an eye liner ($10) in Exotic Plum. I like that these eyeliners have a built-in smudger at the end.

Benefit Dallas

I've heard so much positive buzz about Benefit's Dallas bronzer/blush powder, that I fanlly gave in and forked over my $26 at Sephora to try it myself.

And now I finally know what all y'all have been talking about. = )

Lately I've seen a lot of beauty articles advising readers how to get that gorgeous "natural glow" by using bronzer on your forehead, cheecks, nose, etc (wherever the sun hits) and then topping it off with a rosy blush on your cheeks. Well, Dallas has done that for you-- it's a perfectly gorgeous shade of bronze and rosy pink mixed together. One step and you're good to go. I haven't tried it as an all-over bronzer yet (I've been using Bare Escentuals Warmth all-over face powder for that lately) but I think Dallas has just become my new favorite blush.

Best of Sephora 2006, PLUS Sephora Blog!

I recently went over to the Sephora website to discover their new homepage listing all their Best Products (voted on by 150,000 Sephora shoppers)! Check out results such as Best Cleanser (Philosophy Purity Made Simple), or Best Lipstick (Nars Lipstick in Dolce Vita). And there's much, MUCH more where that came from!

AND get this... Last week Sephora launched its own Beauty BLOG! You bet your booty I'm adding them to my bookmarks list!

Is it silly how excited these 2 findings have made me? I'm positively giddy... lol! I guess that's what a growing addiction to beauty products will do to ya... ; )

The Brush Off

We all know the importance of a good set of makeup brushes. They help make application easier, smoother, more pleasant (hello super soft brushes!). Here's 2 makeup brush kits that are both adorable and good buys, both from Sephora:


My husband got me this Two Tone Portfolio Brush Set ($42) for christmas last year (yay amazon.com wishlists!). It's a great deal when you consider that you're getting 6 quality brushes plus the cute carrying case. The kit includes a blush brush, a powder/bronzer brush, a lip brush, a concealer brush, an eyeshadow brush, and an eye countouring brush. I use these brushes almost exclusively now, abandoning my old drugstore-bought brushes.



This other set (Mini Clear Brush Set, $6) I just found on monday... and immediately bought it. This set includes a mini blush brush, eye shadow brush, eye shadow applicator, eyeliner brush, and lip brush. Ok, so the "blush brush" is probably too small to actually use, but all the others should still work fine even though they're so small. And the case itself is only about 3 inches long, so it's absolutely perfect for stashing in your makeup bag when you're travelling. Plus, it's only $6. You can't beat that.

I have a couple other beauty buys from today, including the Benefit Bright Eye pencil and Maybelline Great Lash mascara that I snagged at Target for under $4. Those reviews will be coming soon. ; )

Introducing: Good Skin Color

Good Skin, a skin-care line created by Estee Lauder and sold exclusively at Kohl's stores, has just launched its beauty line. I'm already a huge fan of Good Skin's Megabalm Ultra Soothing Lip Treatment ($9.50), so I was my curiosity was definitely piqued about what fun and fancy new products they might have. So today I made my way to my neighborhood Kohls... only to be dissappointed by the fact that they didn't have the new make-up section in yet! Not one to easily give up, I decided to drive the 15 minutes to the other Kohls I know of in the area. Voila! They had the new makeup. And how fabulous it all looked!

You can imagine my joy at discovering that their Megabalm, which I love for its beautiful glossiness and its ability to quench and soften my lips like nothing else, now came in tinted forumlas ($9.50) as well!




I immediately fell in love with Bronze Raisin, a sheer and gorgeously shimmery shade (the picture on the website does not do it justice!). I also liked Mocha Pink, but couldn't afford to buy more than 1 tube at a time (...yet) so that one will have to wait. But it looked like a nice neutral shade.



The next product to catch my eye was their Smooth Color Eyeshadow Duo ($14.50). The shades all looked soft, subtly shimmery, and absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately when I tested the shadows on my hand the shimmer didn't show up really well. I know for me with certain colors I need that bit of shimmer, otherwise the color looks odd on me. Again, I definitely suggest going into the stores to check out the color selection b/c the online pictures don't really tell you much. Anyway, I bought a shadow duo in Sweet Sherbet. The colors are very soft and subtle, but sweet and pretty. They also feel silky soft going on the lid.

I looked at some of their blush options, they had a powder blush and a cream blush ($15 each). I tested the cream blush on my hands and noticed that you need to be pretty careful about how much you use-- it felt a bit sticky and went on kind of boldly. Basically, if you want to use that product you just have to make sure to go little bits at a time so you don't end up looking like a clown. I may have to try one of their powder blushes sometime, though. They had a nice range of colors, and many of them also had a bit of that shimmery quality that made them look really pretty.



I may also have to try their mascara ($12.50) sometime in the future. It's a two-sided version, with a fortifying serum on one end to nourish and strengthen lashes, and black or brown mascara on the other to lengthen.

I had fun today checking out the different products. I left a few products out of this post, so if you want to check them out you can go to Kohls online or to one of their stores (check website for locations). I wonder if this will be the entire line, or if they've got some new things up their sleeve that they will unveil later on down the line...


*Note: I will be out of town tuesday and wednesday and will be unable to post. I'll be back on thursday.*

Sonia Kashuk Lip and Cheek Tint

Not too long ago I invested in the Benetint Pocket Pal, which contains Benefit's imfamous cheek stain. As stated in my review, I've been pretty happy with this product. However it is pricey ($18 for the Pocket Pal, $28 for a bottle of the cheek stain alone). So when I heard that Sonia Kashuk had come out with her own lip and cheek tint for Target, I was more than a bit interested.

Well, I finally made it out to the store to get some yesterday. At $7.99 a pop, this product is much easier on the pocket book. At home and anxious to give it a try, I unscrewed the top and was pleasded to see the little roller ball applicator! Benetint Pocket Pal (not sure about the stand-along version) has an applicator that's a little brush, sort of like a nail polish applicator. This always made me a bit nervous when putting it on, since the liquid is a stain meaning I definitely didn't want it to spill, and after applying a few strokes of the brush on my cheeks I was always rushed to screw the cap back on (to avoid spills) and free my hand again to spread the product before it "stained" as a couple small streaks. It always worked out fine, but there was a bit of a nervous factor there.

The Sonia Kashuk stain, however, has the roller ball applicator, which means chances of spilling the liquid and staining everything in sight are practically nil. And I can simply roll a few strokes onto my cheeks and smudge immediately, recapping afterwards. These may seem like little things, but they are significant to me. ; )

The color of the Sonia Kashuk stain is nice, a deep rosy color that gave me a near perfect match of the flushed look I always seek. I also used it on my lips and was pleased-- the color was nice and pinkish, as opposed to Benetint's which could seem almost a hint of orange-y when I used it on my lips.

Bottom line: In this day and age where stains are all the rage but only available at high prices from Sephora, this lower-priced but still high-quality product is very much welcome and worth a try! I apologize for not having a picture-- I could not find one anywhere online, and my own attempts to take a picture with my digital camera failed miserably. You should be able to find it easily enough at Target. The bottle looks like Sonia Kashuk's lip glosses, in a rectangular shaped tube with a white cap.

Summer Lovin'

I've grown quite fond of make-up pallettes. They seem cute, convenient, and compact. They're nice to throw in your make-up bag for a trip without having the bulk of separate eyeshadows, lipglosses, blush, etc.

Recently I got the Too Faced Mini Quickie Chronicle The Summer Lover pallette. ($15, Sephora) I like the lighter eyeshadow shade, it's nice and sparkly but still subtle enough for summer make-up. The darker shade can be used for contouring if you wish. The blush is a nice color that's inbetween a brownish peachy tan and a pinky blush. I also love the nude colored lipgloss (the pink shade, not quite as much). And the kit is so small and compact, it's pretty perfect for travel. It's one of those little things that just makes me happy. =)

Made You Blush

Blush is one of those make-up items that I've always viewed as pretty essential. If I only have time to put on a few key make-up items, it'll usually be a spot of eyeliner, some blush, and lipgloss. Blush, to me, should achieve the look of naturally flushed cheeks, as if you'd just ran a few blocks or just came in from the cold. I love the rosy look.


Photo courtesy of Revlon.com

I went through a phase for a while where I got tired of powder blish and began experimenting with cream formulations. My favorite for a while was Revlon's Skinlights Color Lighting Blush (in Rosy, $7.99 at drugstores). It was my go-to blush for a good year or so, but eventually I started to dislike the shinyness of it (the "dewey look" it tried to achieve). So, several months ago while on a trip to Vegas, I decided to splurge and try out the Benetint Pocket Pal ($18, available at Sephora), which I'd had my eye on for a while.


Photo courtesy of Sephora.com

I immediately loved the stain-- it was just enough to give a subtle flush, but could also give you a bolder look if you applied more of it. I found out quickly that it's best to layer it if you're trying to go for more color, as the liquid dried quickly and can be harder to blend in well if you apply too much at once. You also have to be pretty careful when using it-- it's called a "stain" for a reason. I'm not real crazy about the color it gives me when I use the stain on my lips-- it looks a bit too bright and even slightly orange-y on me for some reason. But I love the color it gives my cheeks!

Unfortunately, the gloss end kind of... sucks. The gloss is frankly kind of hard to apply, it doesn't feel good on the lisp, and doesn't seem to last very long. I was quite dissappointed, especially since I'm a bit of a lipgloss fiend. It's not very cool to pay $18 for a product and have half of it be useless. I'm still quite happy with the stain (as a blush) and will get my use out of it. Though I doubt I will buy it again when it's all used up.

Flirt!

I remember when I first heard about this new line of make-up, which was to be sold exclusively at Kohl's stores. One of 3 new beauty-product lines being launched (American Beauty and Good Skin being the other 2, later joined by Grassroots as well), Flirt! products claimed to have a variety of hot new make-up buys, in wide, youthful and hip color ranges.

When a Kohl's opened up just a few blocks away, I just had to check them out. =P

Now, I've always been a drugstore make-up gal, a big fan of L'Oreal and Revlon. Flirt! products (at about $10 a pop) are still a *bit* higher on my normal price scale for mek-up items. However, living now in California where even a tube of Revlon lipgloss costs me $7-$8, paying $10 for a products that looks cuter, has different colors, and that I can actually try out before buying isn't that big of a jump.

So, let's move on to my favorite Flirt! products.....

Look of Love Eye Pencil


I adore this stuff. The eyeliner glides on smoothly and easily, and is perfectly smudgeable. I've been wearing their Purple Rain color (more like a raisin or dark burgundy color than bright purple) every day for the past, um, ever. I actually just the other day had to buy a new pencil b/c my old one was getting too short to sharpen anymore. I'm sort of make-up ADD so the fact that I used a make-up item long enough to run out and need to buy a replacement says a LOT! I also have it in Licorice Delight for a darker evening look, and Ice Pixie.

Dreamy Eyes Eyeshadow


All of Flirt!'s eyeshadow colors seem to have a nice shimmery quality, without being obnoxiously so. They also seem to have pretty good staying power. My favorite so far is Honey Lemonade, a cheery yet subdued yellow shade that's perfect for spring and summer. My only complaint about this eyeshadow is the packaging, which doesn't allow you to see which compact is which color very easily, though things like that can be worked around.

Squeeze Me Super Shiny Lipgloss



I am a lipgloss fiend. I am addicted to lipgloss. I've always preferred to use a bit of lip liner + lipgloss over wearing lipstick when possible. The first item in Flirt!'s line that got me was their lipgloss. I LOVE this stuff. It's perfectly shiny, it comes in all sorts of super-fun colors, and each has a nice, fun scent that's just subtle enough. Their Zippy Ginger shade was my signature lipgloss for several months. I also love some of their brighter shades, like Fruitalicious. Even the bright shades are sheer enough to be totally wearable.

Rollerblush Portable Blush Paper


Now, this last one, I will admit, is one of those products that grabs me more than anything b/c of its packaging. I mean, LOOK at it! How cool is that?!? In practice it's not the most practical of products, I guess..... it can be a bit awkward figuring out how to hold the paper so as to apply it to your cheeks the best way. But then again it's small, it's portable, and it works well enough.... =P I have it in Peach Glimmer and when I feel like switching over from my usual rosy-pink blush I'll use it to give me an oh-so-slightly shimmery peach glow.