Face

The Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo Complete Care Lipshines for Smooth, Plump Lips and Brilliant Shine

March 16th, 2016 by Jessica Revitte 22 Comments

Smooth, creamy, glossy. When I think of what I look for in a lip product, these are the first three adjectives that come to mind. And oh, my gosh, you guys, that is exactly what the new Chanel Rouge Coco Stylos for Spring 2016 deliver.

I have always loved Chanel makeup, and the thrill of pulling out a product in that sleek black packaging with that eponymous double-C logo embossed in shiny crisp white never loses its appeal. That’s why I’m so excited that these easy to use and sleek little tubes of Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo Complete Care Lip Shine ($37 each) feel so good on my dry lips.

Chanel describes these lippies as having “the intensity of a lipstick, the shine of a lipgloss and the comfort of a lip balm,” and there truly has never been a more accurate product description. For a lip care formula, these Rouge Coco Stylos are incredibly pigmented and offer a pop of pigmentation perfect for spring.

On the other hand, they’re especially creamy and shiny — not unlike the brand’s much loved Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss formula — giving lips a plump appearance that I’m head over heels for.

”The intensity of a lipstick, the shine of a lipgloss and the comfort of a lip balm — all in one creamy yet lightweight formula. This innovative formula is enriched with nourishing Apple Seed Extract and hydrating Jojoba Oil and Coconut Oil. Silk Powder, Beeswax and special ingredients help visibly smooth, plump and add brilliant 3D shine to the lips. A spectrum of eight irresistible shades features pinks, reds, nudes and corals. In a convenient, twist-up ‘stylo’ form to write your colour signature.”

–chanel.com

An added plus? Fellow Francophones will note that Chanel has hidden a clever play on words in the product names. The line is called “Rouge Coco Stylo,” with “stylo” being the French word for “pen,” and each different shade is named after a type of writing — Conte (tale), Histoire (story), Recit (narration) and Script (script).

I love the little play on words. It’s sweet and oh, so Chanel.

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Feelin’ Fly With the MAC Future Forward Collection

March 15th, 2016 by Jessica Revitte 21 Comments

What do you get when you mix exciting, emerging female musicians, a whole lot of creativity and makeup?

Here’s what: you get the MAC Future Forward collection (coming as a series of mini collections starting March 17th, exclusively online)!

Four future forward musicians partnered with the eponymous brand to release a unique collection that will launch in four parts and, you guys, it’s really great! (MAC has been bringing it!)

While all part of one cohesive collection, each of the musician sub-collections will launch as standalone capsules on separate dates.

This is important to note: if one of these unique products appeals to you (or if you’re a huge fan of the recording artist), then be sure to mark your calendar to snag your prize, because these pieces will not be launching simultaneously like in a traditional MAC collection.

R&B and Pop artist Tinashe will release Eyeshadow x 9 Tinashe ($38 each) on March 17th.
Pop musician Halsey brings us a lipstick in Halsey ($17 each) on March 31st.
Rapper extraordinaire Dej Loaf will release Dej Loaf Lipglass ($15 each) on April 14th.
And last, but certainly not least, modern funk artist Lion Babe will release Liquidlast Liner in Lion Babe ($21 each) on April 28th.

I love that each product brings the spirit of its associated artist, while all of the items come together and look quite “spring” while doing so. (At least spring where I live in Wisconsin, which is often grey and punctuated with rich pops of beautifully unexpected color.)

And while some may not seem approachable for day-to-day wear (I’m lookin’ at you, Halsey lipstick), I’ve been loving just how versatile a non-neutral shadow palette and a gold liner can be.

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Conceal, Cover and Correct With Becca’s New Concealers and Correctors

March 14th, 2016 by Jessica Revitte 18 Comments

Becca Color Correctors and Ultimate Coverage Concealing Cream — Becca Targeted Color Correctors and Ultimate Coverage Concealing Cream

What is it about winter that makes you look in the rearview mirror of your car and think, “Were those dark circles always that dark, or did I just skip my triple grande this morning?”

I don’t know about you, but where I live, it’s cold and dark — even in March, when spring should be on the way — and to top it off, I get very little adequate sleep as a working mom. Needless to say, makeup application in the morning is all about concealing and brightening!

Building upon the success of their much beloved Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector, a product I’ve used and loved for quite some time, Becca has released four Backlight Targeted Color Correctors for Spring 2016 to be used in tandem with their Ultimate Coverage Concealing Cream.

These products may look like tools only a professional should be applying, but Becca has made it easy and approachable to color-correct on a daily basis, and this busy lady says THANK YOU.

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Minimal Modern Sculpting With the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Collection

March 10th, 2016 by Jessica Revitte 16 Comments

Call me crazy, but for some reason contouring makes me think of classical sculpture.

Trust me, I know I’m a little weird, but there’s something oddly sculptural about watching makeup artists apply deep shades in the hollows of the face and brightening hues on the high points to blend and create a contoured face. And honestly, although I love watching how everything comes together extensive contouring just isn’t for me on a day-to-day basis.

Make Up For Ever has created a range of products ideal for the expert and the contour novice alike: the Pro Sculpting Collection. Each easy-to-blend, easy-to-use product has been made with convenience in mind to subtly accentuate without overdoing it.

The stars of the collection are the Pro Sculpting Face Palettes ($45 each) available in four color combos fully thought out in terms of depth for varying skin tones.

From left to right, each palette offers a matte highlighting shade, a matte contouring shade, an iridescent highlighting shade and a pop of color for the apples of the cheeks. Rather than opting for a challenging powdery formula, each of Make Up For Ever’s four shades are creamy and buildable, meaning that the user is able to control their own destiny. The contour shade buffs to add natural shadows, while the others are equally subtle on the skin. Ideal for fresh-faced fans of light contouring, the Pro Sculpting Palettes give you everything you need in one place.

Make Up For Ever has also included rather untraditional sculpting products in the collection to offer subtle shaping for both lips and brows.

The Pro Sculpting Lip pencils ($27 each) are one part satiny lipstick, one part pearly cream-to-powder highlighter, and are meant to add volume to specific areas of your lips.

Although the combination may seem like a one-trick pony, the highlighter can be applied either over, or under, the lipstick, which creates a different effect, and allows for buildable intensity based on your own preference. And more on that later.

Make Up For Ever has also cleverly paired a brow pencil with a similarly light highlighting powder (and a spoolie!) to create sculpted brows in one three-in-one tool. As far as I’m concerned, the Pro Sculpting Brow pencils ($27 each) are incredibly travel and on-the-go friendly, as everything you need to create the perfect arch is at your fingertips in a single compact tube.

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Can Physicians Formula Really Make You #InstaReady?

March 8th, 2016 by Jen Clark 25 Comments

When I first saw Physicians Formula’s new line, #InstaReady, I thought, “Genius marketing! But there’s no way makeup can really make you more Instagram ready.” After I tried the products, I realized that InstaReady doesn’t really mean anything, aside from having a really good makeup day, and that’s exactly what happened when I tried it.

There’s plenty behind these products that I think deserves mentioning, like how almost all of them contain SPF 30. They also have InstaFilter Technology, which is basically a clever way of saying that they’ll mattify your skin while leaving behind lots of valuable moisture. The InstaFilter Technology also uses high-tech, light-reflecting polymers to blur imperfections and re-texturize the skin.

Now, these are HUGE claims for a product to make, and while I did have a great skin day while using #InstaReady, I didn’t look like I had an Instagram filter over my face… Obviously. But let’s talk a little more about a few of my favorite products from the line, shall we?

To start, I applied the Super BB #InstaReady Beauty Balm BB Cream. Most of the BB creams I’ve used have been light to medium coverage and applied almost like tinted moisturizers, but not this one. This bad boy is full coverage.

In the pro column, and this one’s big, I didn’t need to use any concealer on my blemishes, because they were already covered so well! This has a beautiful semi-matte finish and lasts throughout the day; however, it’s not without a few cons. Like, it’s extremely thick and feels uncomfortable on my skin. You can definitely feel that it’s there, and while the uncomfortable, constricted feeling fades the longer I wear it, I wouldn’t wear this again unless I were wearing full-on makeup that day. It can also look a little cakey, so this isn’t something I’d want to wear if I were going for a no-makeup makeup look.

Overall, though, I really like it, and I’ll wear it the next time I want a flawless complexion! You can see the coverage is bomb here in these before and after pics…

The next stand-out InstaReady product for me is the Super BB #InstaReady Contour Trio BB Stick in Bronze Trio. This little deodorant stick o’ bronzer is truly a dream. Literally, I’ve dreamed of a product that could make contouring a breeze, and here it is in my hot little hand! This guy is definitely going in my everyday makeup drawer and will live there until I die.

It contains the same InstaFilter Technology as the BB cream, so again it’s going to help blur and perfect the skin. It’s also made to be super blendable, which I can attest to. It has a deep contouring shade on the far end, a slightly shimmery bronzing shade in the middle, and a nice highlight on top. All you need to do is paint a cute tiger stripe on each cheek with the deepest shade in the hollow of your cheek, then tap away with your fingers or Beauty Blender. My contour was blended and looking fly in 0.73 seconds.

I recommend it for anyone who loves a good contour, and it would also be stellar for anyone just starting out in the world of faking perfect bone structure, because it’s so fast and easy to use.

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New & Pretty PUR HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation | Review & Swatches

March 7th, 2016 by Adia Goss 21 Comments

PUR Hydra Fluid Water Serum Tan — Wearing PUR HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation in Tan

I think I’m going to call 2016 “The Year of Foundations.” There have been so many new foundations coming out, like PUR HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation, which is new for spring 2016.

It promises an “instant youthful complexion,” which sounds pretty perfect to me, and it’s supposed to do it by adding moisture and radiance. At first glance, I love the packaging (I like serum foundations but don’t usually like the droppers they come with). When I saw that there were only five shades, I got a little nervous, but the light-to-medium coverage means that the finish is sheer enough that I don’t need an exact match. I swatched the colors and happily discovered that Tan is a great match for me (insert sigh of relief).

Here’s a look at the packaging and the shades:

At first, I thought I’d use Dark (I’m a MAC NC45 for reference), but it turns out that Tan is a much better match for me. I do get darker in the summer, though, so I could see myself using Dark then.

The formula feels super light, but it’s still moisturizing, which I love. I have combination skin, so I’m always skeptical about “moisturizing” foundations, because sometimes they feel too heavy and make my T-zone outrageously shiny; however, the first time I tested this, I didn’t use a primer or setting powder, and it lasted quite well. At the end of the day, there was a little bit of shine on my nose, but not enough to bother me at all. It didn’t break up across my cheeks or settle into my smile lines, either, which is another huge plus.

I’d call this light-to-medium coverage with a natural satin finish. The package describes the finish as “dewy,” but I’d say it’s on the subtle side of dewy, if that makes sense. When I applied a dime-sized amount using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush, it did a good job of evening out my skin tone.

I have an acne scar on my forehead, and it still shows through, but I think I could layer a bit more to get more coverage.
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Yeah, It’s Time to Highlight These Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders

January 22nd, 2016 by Karen 19 Comments

Whenever I think of Hourglass makeup, I think of elegance…refinement…and makeup that’s friggin’ beautiful, and their four new $38 Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders evoke the living daylights out of all three of those things (I also talk about them briefly in this 5 Things I’m Loving Lately video).

To me, this is highlighting done so incredibly right.

hourglass ambient strobe lighting powder 2 — The four new Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders

hourglass ambient strobe lighting powder brilliant — Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder in Brilliant Strobe Light

I admit it: I get persnickety sometimes about my powder highlighters because, ya know, when you’re a woman of a certain age, the metallic ones? — even though they’re lovely, dramatic and ever-so eye-catching, they can also be a bear to work with when the frosty flecks go snorkeling in your pores and fine lines, and they end up highlighting all the stuff that you actually didn’t want to highlight at all…

hourglass ambient strobe lighting powder euphoric — Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder in Euphoric Strobe Light

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Dew You Want Glowing Skin? If You Dew, Try New BECCA Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation

January 18th, 2016 by Karen 18 Comments

Do we like new BECCA Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation? Yes, yes we dew-y. Because — oh, my goodness! — the finish is so dewy and so glowing that I’m crediting it for almost singlehandedly lifting me out of my mid-winter funk and propelling me toward summer.

Aqua Luminous is the latest foundation in BECCA’s permanent line and, as you can probably tell from its name, it’s one of those thin, serum-like foundations with a watery consistency that have been muy popular at the moment.

Typical of foundations with this kind of formula, it comes in a glass bottle with a dropper, but BECCA tweaked that idea a little by giving this one a special cap. When you twist it, a button pops up in the middle, and pressing it dispenses the product from the dropper.

Ooh! Fancy!

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