Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow Quad in Blue Breeze, $30. Available now at Elizabeth Arden counters and also online.
Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow Quad: Blue Breeze
Archives for May 2011
Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow Quad: Golden Lilac
Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow Quad in Golden Lilac, $30. Available now at Elizabeth Arden counters and also online.
Flowerchild, You’ll Look Like a Fly Damsel in the New Becca Halcyon Days Mineral Blush
The more time I spend with the Becca Halcyon Days collection, the more I fall in 
love. It’s fast becoming one of my favorite summer releases so far and OOH! — do you hear that? It sings sonnets — no, more like an epic volumes! — to my peach/coral/pink/gold-lovin’ heart.
If your skin turns a toasty brown over summer, or you’re just fond of the way you look in warm pinks, peaches and corals, don’t be surprised if you catch yourself making grabby motions in the air the first time you see the Halcyon Days Mineral Blushes ($32 each) up close, or when you open the sturdy compacts, with, what is that on the outside? A rubberized texture? How cool is that!? It keeps them from slipping out of my grubby little hands.
Flowerchild (a golden peachy pink) and Damselfly (a golden coral) deliver serious, hard-to-ignore pigmentation. One swirl around the pan from my powder blush brush grabs just enough color for one cheek — no layering necessary, unless I want a brighter look.
And talk about flawless application! The powder grains are so tiny that they even make grains of sand seem huge. They might even be finer than the powders at T. LeClerc, an uber-luxury line that some consider one of the best in the beauty biz.
The finely milled powder might be the reason why it spreads like sunlight with nary a streak. And blending? Forget about it. I barely have to flick a wrist to smooth out the edges, which are hardly even there.
The resulting luminous, flushed cheek look is pure Becca all the way — fresh-faced, beachy, feminine, effortless and true to the line.
I’m thinking it would also make a fantastic starter blush for beginners, too, because of how easy it is to use and how natural it looks. If you’re curious about blush but worried about looking like a circus clown, I think either of these would be a great place to start.
Damselfly
Flowerchild
Swatches of Damselfly (left) and Flowerchild (right)
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Radiant Summer Skin for Just $12.99: Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15
Sonia Kashuk just reminded me why I have to get my air conditioner fixed. You see, with the mercury rising indoors and out, her Radiant Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 ($12.99) means I won’t have to wear a heavy mask of makeup in the heat. 🙂
I never thought I’d see the day when anything would come between me and my trusty tube of Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer, especially a drugstore product, but here we are. For years, Laura’s sheer-to-medium coverage has evened out my skin tone and kept my combination dry/oil skin happily hydrated and (nearly) breakout-free, but in hot and/or humid weather, it has at times looked and felt heavy on my skin.
With summer quickly approaching, I decided to keep my options open. Last week I started testing Sonia’s Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, and so far, so good.
It’s not the first drugstore tinted moisturizer I’ve tried over the years, but it is the first, in my opinion, able to hold its own against Laura’s in more ways than one. Like Laura’s entry, buildable, pigmented Radiant Tinted in Tan covers up red patches and pimples, evens out my skin tone, and helps to hide any scratches left by Edward Scissorpaws, who, by the way, is still on my sh*t list (NOTE TO SELF: work on forgiving and forgetting). And this it does with a single layer that feels lighter and more comfy than Laura’s to me.
I swear it looks like real skin, too, and isn’t heavy, thick or fake-looking at all. A touch of barely-there shimmer gives it dimension and further helps diffuse my fine lines and wrinkles.
If you have very oily skin, you could probably wear it all by itself, but if you have shiny patches on your forehead or cheeks (like I do), you might set it with a blotting powder (I like MAC Blot). That’ll take care of those oily areas. Or, for even more/better coverage, you could use a sheer powder like the MAC Studio Careblends, which I’m using in these pics.
Kerastase Chroma Sensitive Cleansing Balm 3-Month Followup: Color-Treated Gals, This One’s a Keeper
If I freak out a little when I realize I’m almost out of a product, it’s usually a pretty good indicator of how I feel about it. Yesterday in the shower when I reached for my hot pink bottle o’ Kerastase Chroma Sensitive Cleansing Balm ($42 for a 6.8-oz. bottle) and noticed how light the bottle felt, I let out a sad little mewl. “Noooo.”
It was almost gone. 🙁
I started using the stuff, a silicone-free, low-foam and low-friction cleanser for color-treated hair, back in March. Unlike regular shampoos designed for color-treated hair, it adds special deep conditioners to the mix of mild cleansing agents. The blend is 1/4 cleansing agent, 3/4 deep conditioner, and Kerastase claims the brew gently washes hair while preventing pigments from escaping, thereby keeping your color intact.
After three months with it, I’m sold. I’m convinced it’s helped my hair color last longer. I went lighter a couple months ago with caramel highlights, and I think they still look bright, where with other products they probably would have looked a little brassy by now, and my darker base color still looks rich enough for me.
Lancome Color Design Kissed By Gold
Lancome Color Design Kissed By Gold, $48. Available now at Lancome counters, stores and also online.
Lancome Star Bronzer
Lancome Star Bronzer Natural Matte in 03 Sunbath, $35. Available now at Lancome counters, stores and online.
The New Becca Halcyon Days Nail Colours Are On Like Donkey Kong, Quick Like Mario Kart
Ten weeks. I’ve been salivating over the thought of the Becca Halcyon Days Nail Colours ($15 each) for roughly ten weeks.
From those first PR pics back in March — the warm, summery pink, peach and coral — I couldn’t wait to get these on my claws, and I’ve been drooling like Pavlov’s dog ever since.
As far as I know, this is Becca’s first foray into nails, but it seems like everything the boutique-y Aussie brand does is pretty much on like Donkey Kong, and, in this case, fast!
Manis and pedis with the three creamy shades take almost no time (well, very little) because the polishes apply and dry wicked fast. Not as fast as it takes to get my attention with shirtless pictures of Channing Tatum, but still. Fast. 🙂
The brush is one of the reasons for the speed. It’s wide and covers a large portion of the nail, so it only takes two swipes to thoroughly coat the nail in color; on top of that, each coat dries in a little over two minutes.
The little touches take these up a notch for me. One of them, the square shape and rubbery matte texture of the brush handle, makes the bottles super easy to open. My mom would probably kill me if she know how many times I opened smooth nail polish bottles with my teeth. “Do you know how much I paid for that smile?” she’d surely rail. “Braces aren’t cheap, young lady!” Well, it looks like I won’t ever have to go there with these.
From left to right: Dancing Barefoot, Summerdaze and Tangerine Dream
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