Product Reviews

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Shiseido Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 20

February 1st, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

Why isn’t this foundation a cult classic yet? It’s a total ? gem.

Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation ($45) is a medium-coverage marvel of oil-free liquid foundation fabulousness for all skin types, and its thin consistency reminds me of more satiny Dior Diorskin Nude Air, which I was totally obsessed with a few years ago and still ? (pretty pricey though).

Because Synchro Skin has a livelier, less matte finish than Diorskin Nude Air, I think it looks even more natural, and I also think even better at mellowing out my pores and fine lines. So, if you’re a lady who has lived through countless quests and adventures and has the experience lines to prove it, this could totally work for you (although peeps of all ages can wear it).

It sits closely to the skin, too. Sometimes I forget I’m wearing it. And even though the coverage is medium, it’s robust enough to disguise a lot.

In this pic below, I’m wearing the foundation without powder or concealer…

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Wearing Shiseido Synchro Skin Lasting Liquid Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 20 in Golden 5 by itself (no setting powder). The lipstick is Urban Decay Spellbound.

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5 Things to Know About OUAI Anti-Frizz Hair Sheets (Starting With How to Pronounce “OUAI”)

January 31st, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

ouai anti frizz sheets — Perfect for wallets and pockets

Did you ever think you’d get this close to my roots…?

I kid, I kid! 🙂 No, you really don’t need to be all up in my cowlick, and you REALLY don’t need to be all up in it now that my roots are starting to peek through, OMG. When the heck is my next hair appointment!?

Anyway, there’s an unruly grotto of hair at my hairline with strands that jut and shoot out at weird angles, and I usually have to coax them into place with a dab of flexible hair paste and hairspray.

That usually does the trick, but when it doesn’t… Say hello to these OUAI Anti-Frizz Hair Sheets.

(Hello!)

1. It’s pronounced “way.”

2. These smell like Pottery Barn.

SERIOUSLY. You know that smell that immediately invades your space when you walk into a Pottery Barn store? Well, these sheets smell exactly like that — like expensive white pillar candles with notes of magnolia, wax and overstuffed, over-sized down chairs.

Mind you, I like it. It’s just very strong, and it lingers a while.

3. Tear, tame, then toss.

These individually packaged sheets, which come 15 to a box for $18, are soaked with hair-smoothing oil. You just tear one open to get to the sheet, which feels like an oil-coated piece of wax paper, then smooth the sheet on your hair wherever you need to de-frizz.

Ingredients:

Isopropyl Isostearate, Polysorbate 20, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Oil, Fragrance (Parfum), Steardimonium Hydroxypropyl Panthenyl PEG-7 Dimethicone Phosphate Chloride, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal

4. They’re better for touch-ups than they are for primary frizz control.

As you can probably see from my cowlick pics, one sheet corrals most of the renegade hairs, but a few stragglers get away. It doesn’t catch every fly-away, and a few fly-aways are fine with me, but I still wouldn’t 100% rely on these sheets for intense de-frizzing.

I think these are great as convenient once-in-a-while things, but they’re $1.20 each. That seems kind of expensive for a single use, doesn’t it? Like, sure, I’ll put one in my makeup bag for when I have an important meeting ~~at HomeGoods~~, and I want a last-minute tszuj to look my best, but if all I’m doing is heading to baby story time, I don’t think I’d use one of these.

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5 Things to Know About Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation

January 30th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

physicians formula the healthy foundation swatches mn4 dn3 dw2 — MN4, DN3 and DW2 — three shades in the Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation line

“Zee Helsee Foundation.”

You don’t have to say it like that, but I think it’s more fun. 🙂 And I’m a certified expert in ridiculous product pronunciations (an ERPP).

The Healthy Foundation is available in 20 shades at drugstores right meow. You can find it at CVS, Rite Aid, Target and Ulta, as well as the Physicians Formula website, and it’s pretty good for medium coverage.

1. The coverage is smack-dab in the middle on the foundation spectrum.

On one end, there are the full-on cake face foundations (been there, done that). On the other end, the lightly tinted moisturizers and BB and CC creams. This falls right around the middle.

When I dab, dab, dab a few dots on my face (it has a doe-foot applicator), it hides all of the freckle action on my cheeks and the red areas around my nose and mouth. Everything looks even. I also think my pores look a little less obvs.

Plus, it’s one of those liquid foundations that looks just as good in the evening after work as it looks first thing in the morning, so it wears well, too.

2. It’s strongly scented.

It’s supposed to be fragrance-free, but it isn’t. I detect strong notes of sugary butter and sunscreen.

physicians formula the healthy foundation mn4 dw2 — I’m wearing DW2 mixed with MN4 (it took me three tries to get a fairly close color match).

3. It’s tricky to find/create an exact color match.

There are 20 shades in cool, warm and neutral undertones, which is a decent selection, but it hasn’t been easy to find or make something that works for me. I’m an NC42 in MAC and have warm skin with strong yellow tones, and I tried three colors in the warm and neutral families in Medium and Dark, but nothing looked right straight out of the bottle. Every shade also darkens once it’s on my skin, and it happens within a couple of minutes, so I end up having to go a shade lighter and doing a lot of mixing. And the first few times I tried it, I actually ended up removing the foundation completely and starting all over again because my mixes were off.

Active Ingredients

Octinoxate 3% Inactive Ingredients: Water/Eau, Cyclopentasiloxane, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Isododecane, Butylene Glycol, Acrylates/Polytrimethylsiloxymethacrylate Copolymer, Propanediol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Magnesium Sulfate, Schinziophyton Rautanenii (Mongongo) Kernel Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylene Brassylate, Dimethicone/Bis-Isobutyl PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Silica, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Evodia Rutaecarpa (Wu-Zhu-Yu) Fruit Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Cellulose Gum, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Aluminum Hydroxide, Retinyl Palmitate, Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, BHT, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

So it isn’t an “easy” foundation.

To go with that, even the warm and neutral shades contain a lot of peach and pink in them, so if I don’t get the mix exactly right, my skin looks a little off…and a little too pink.

physicians formula the healthy foundation mn4 dn3 — I mixed MN3 and DN3 here, and my skin looks pinker than usual. I tried to make it look more natural by adding some bronzer, but I don’t think it worked in the end…

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3 Things to Know About Physicians Formula Spotlight Illuminating Primer

January 30th, 2018 by Karen 7 Comments

Physicians Formula Spotlight Illuminating Primer ($14.95 and available at Rite Aid, CVS, Target and Ulta) is A-OK if you’re going for an extra dewy look…

1. Because I think it looks beautiful blended into foundation.

That’s when I really like this glittery champagne-colored liquid primer. Mixing it with foundation tones down the sparkle. A lot. Making it a little more wearable, and when I’m going for extra dewy, illuminated skin, like on rainy days when the muted light outside is more forgiving than it is on sunny days, it’s fun.

physicians formula spotlight closeup unblended — Unblended, it glistens in a borderline frosty way.

2. It is NOT a dupe for BECCA Backlight (sadly).

I hoped it would be. A drugstore version of $38 BECCA Backlight would have rocked, but Spotlight’s shimmer is bolder. Light softly beams off of my skin when I wear Backlight, but Spotlight has noticeably bigger glitter flecks and a harder, frostier pore-highlighting reflection, ESPECIALLY in full sunlight.

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Awesome for $8: Physicians Formula The Healthy Lip Velvet Liquid Lipstick

January 26th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

physicians formula bare with me — Bare With Me

Yeah, I’m still in my pajamas, but I’m in the comfort of my home, which leads me to two recent revelations…

1. Pajamas in public

It’s been ages since I’ve seen anyone, adult or teen, wearing pajamas in public, and to this I say HALLELUJAH.

2. I found a really lovely drugstore matte liquid lipstick

It’s an $8 one (technically, $7.95) by Physicians Formula called The Healthy Lip, and it’s… Honestly, I think it could rival the NARS liquid lipstick I love, love, LOVE to pieces.

physicians formula healthy lip — Bare With Me, Dose of Rose, Berry Health, Mangentle Formula, Tu-lip Treatment, Vitamin Beet

I mean, it isn’t an *exact* dupe, so don’t grab your car keys and run to the door yet. 🙂 But it’s very similar. The NARS one is, like, probably the smoothest, most comfortable liquid lipstick I’ve ever tried, and if you have vertical lip lines like I do, it’s also one of those rare liquid lipsticks that hugs your lips and just looks very, very smooth. Plus, it’s completely opaque. One layer does the trick, and it also doesn’t suck the moisture from your lips.

The Healthy Lip is all of that and more because it’s eight bucks!

physicians formula healthy lip dose of rose — Dose of Rose

physicians formula healthy lip vitamin beet — Vitamin Beet

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Origins Original Skin Pore Perfecting Cooling Primer Has Plenty of Chill

January 25th, 2018 by Karen 3 Comments

origins original skin primer — Origins Original Skin Pore Perfecting Cooling Primer ($32 for a 1.8-oz. can)

Could someone please explain why all of these chill-inducing skin care products are launching in the middle of winter? First Kate Somerville’s Cryogenic thingamabob, and now this — Origins Original Skin Pore-Prefecting Cooling Primer With Willowherb? Both of them feel freezing when you put them on your face, and that’s the last thing I need help with right now. Mother nature is taking care of that all by herself, thank you very much. (Side note: I’m wearing the thickest, most unsexy socks right now…but they’re so warm!)

I will say, though… This primer is kinda cool, both literally and figuratively. It’s a tinted, airy, mousse-y foam makeup primer, and like the Jelly Cleanser it just launched with, it has willowherb extract to help with hyper-pigmentation.

It does feel cool to the touch when it first comes out of the can — not painfully freezing cold or tingly or anything, but it is chilly enough to get your attention. I find it refreshing, like holding a chilled washcloth to your face, and the effect wears off in about 10-15 seconds.

You work a little on bare skin after washing your face and applying your skin care for the day, but before applying your makeup, and it helps everything you apply afterward (foundation, concealer, powder, etc.) look smoother and last longer.

On my 40-something combo skin, it works as a moderately potent smoothing primer (I can definitely see a difference in pore size when I use it), similar to BECCA Backlight (but without the shimmer), Hourglass Veil or MAC Prep+Prime Natural Radiance, but not as intensely smoothing as a silicone-heavy primer like Make Up For Ever Smoothing Primer or Urban Decay Urban Defense, both of which fill pores like painter’s putty for your skin.

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The MAC Lunar New Year Collection for 2018: 5 Things You Need to Know

January 24th, 2018 by Karen 22 Comments

1. You’re gonna have to hunt for it

The collection just launched a few days ago, buuut it’s already sold out online (it’s only seven pieces total). If you see something you gotta have, well…I’m sorry, babe. Maybe call your friendly neighborhood MAC sales associate, and keep your fingers and toes crossed. They might still have something hidden behind the counter.

(Note: At last check, the five Lipsticks ($17.50 each), and the Luck and Fortune Eye Shadow Palette ($32) and Powder Blush Duo ($29) are all sold out online.)

2. Sadly (because they’re so hard to find), the lipsticks are a peach and/or pink lip lover’s dream come true

SO MUCH PEACH AND PINK! I spend 99% of my lipstick life wearing those colors (sorry, no corpse-y gray for this girl), so these are lipstick nirvana for me.

The two Satins — My favorite shades are muted peachy pink Good Health and soft peach Peachy New Year, which has golden pearl. Both of them are pigmented, apply smoothly, don’t dry out my lips and last a decently long amount of time (’bout four hours). I also ? them as cream blush.
The two Mattes — Dusty rose To Luck! is opaque and doesn’t catch my lip flakes, but it’s a little drying…and I think bright pinkish coral Prosperity is pretty, but it isn’t as intensely pigmented as To Luck! And it also latches onto every minuscule micro flake on my lips.
The Cremesheen — If you like pale blueish pinks, you might like creamy light pink Pure Happiness. It’s semi-sheer, which I’m fine with, but I’m not crazy about this one on me… I’m a MAC NC42, and I think it looks a little weird on me for some reason.

mac lunar new year 2018 swatches lipstick — Lipsticks ($17.50 each) in Good Health, Peachy New Year, To Luck!, Prosperity, Pure Happiness

3. Props to the Powder Blush Duo

I only need one light layer of warm pink Love Token for naturally flushed cheeks, and light pale peach Long Life & Happiness is also surprisingly pigmented. Both shades are a cinch to blend, too. They skate across skin and feather out almost as well as Melba, my favorite MAC matte blush of all time.

I really like this duo because most of the time I just want a little color on my cheeks, which is exactly what this duo delivers. That exact look.

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Origins Original Skin Cleansing Makeup Removing Jelly With Willowherb

January 22nd, 2018 by Karen 5 Comments

origins original skin cleansing jelly — Origins Original Skin Cleansing Makeup Removing Jelly With Willowherb ($23 for a 3.4-oz bottle)

Good luck trying to resist singing Bootylicious while you’re taking off your makeup with this.

Because…

I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly.
I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly.
I don’t think you’re ready for this…
‘Cause my body too bootylicious for ya, babe.

I’m probably the only person on earth who hoped Origins Original Skin Cleansing Makeup Removing Jelly With Willowherb would smell like popcorn jelly beans, which are my favorite flavor, a fact that my brother, the family’s resident jelly bean enthusiast, thinks is totally cray (he also assures me that disliking popcorn jelly beans is a thing), but alas…it’s unscented.

The “jelly” in the name refers to the texture, because this stuff looks and feels like a hair gel, but not a sticky one like the Depp you used for that extra crispy crunch in your spiral perm back in the day. 🙂

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