Makeup

The beauty world’s buzzing about new fall makeup collections, but we can’t forget about summer. Please pass the iced tea, and let’s see what Clarins has been up to.

The Clarins Summer Fever line continues to impress me. Sun Blush ($27.50), a shimmery loose powder, perfectly complements the vibrant teal, purple, pink and orange eye and lip product colors from their Waterproof Eye Pencils, Wonder Mint Mascara and Sun Lip Balms.

Sun Blush is a warm, terra cotta brown with lots of bronzy shimmer. It has a fine, loose powder texture that reminds me of wonderful Shu Uemura blushes like M Brown 73 (a warm, peachy brown matte) and P Gold 93 D (a shimmery golden pearl).

Applying it to my cheeks for the first time was, um, interesting. The product comes packaged in a cute travel pot that includes a mirror and puff. The puff is great in theory but takes a little practice to use correctly. It tends to pick up and deposit too much product unless you tap away some of the loose powder onto a tissue or the back of your hand. I forgot to do that when I first went to use the puff and wound up looking like one of those crazy ladies who can’t lay off the rouge. As a matter of fact, I would probably skip the puff entirely and, whenever I have one handy, apply Sun Blush with a blush brush like the MAC 116.
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Bobbi Brown’s makeup doesn’t always do it for me. My homegirl once described the brand as “colors for people who are afraid of color,” and I think there’s some truth to that. A lot of Bobbi’s makeup has that jury duty feel to it, ya know? — the kind of makeup you’d wear to court.

But Bobbi threw me a curve ball with the lip colors in the Mauve Collection, her new fall makeup line.

I’d been searching high and low for edgy yet wearable lipsticks and glosses in shades of purple, and these colors are, dare I say, edgy yet wearable. They’re eye-catching without going over the top, and within the colors there’s enough variety to allow you to create lots of different looks. Go on with your bad self, Ms. Brown!

Lip Color

At first I thought Pale Mauve ($22) was going to be too light for my skin tone, but once I got it on I actually really liked this light blue-purple shade. It’s light with a 60’s feel. I plan to pair it with light cheeks and a cat eye with a thick black liquid liner on my upper lash line (and a mini-dress and go-go boots, ha!).

Bobbi’s Lip Color lipsticks have a semi-matte formula that goes on a little thick, but at least it doesn’t peel away after a few hours. I don’t mind the light licorice fragrance, but I’m glad it has no taste/flavor. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Heather Mauve ($22) is a dark red-mauve, making it a great candidate for my easy-to-wear work lipstick stash. I like the texture and the color itself, but it closely matches my natural lip color, which sort of defeats the purpose of wearing lipstick. I guess it’d be useful as a base color layered beneath one of the other shades listed below. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Lip Color swatches: Heather Mauve (top), Pale Mauve (bottom)

Lip Glosses

Dig out your Cure mp3’s and your smudgy eyeliner! Bobbi’s Mauve Collection Lip Glosses ($19) look demure in their petite little tubes, but these colors are equal parts edgy and sophisticated — think goth chick in stunning black suit.
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Hi, ladies! I’m mo-blogging from the Pure Beauty store in my hood and just spied these lip glosses by Fresh called Gloss Absolute. Aren’t they cute?

The glosses come in four shades: Desire (cherry red), Bellini (peach), Rose Parfait (light pink) and Dahlia (wine).

The only thing holding me back is the price — each costs $24.50, about the same price as a Chanel Glossimer. Have you used Gloss Absolute before? What did you think? Is it worth the price?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen