PUR Cosmetics

Say Cheese! The Pur Love Your Selfie 2 Palette Is Camera Ready

September 12th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

Aw, man! Why doesn’t the Pur Cosmetics Love Your Selfie 2 Palette come with a selfie stick? — a white one covered in silver glitter to match the packaging? That would be CUTE (if not altogether unnecessary), because if there’s anything I learned from watching all 12,543 cycles of America’s Next Top Model (it was a phase), it’s that when you’re taking a selfie, girl, get that camera up as high as possible, find your light source, and work those angles. #themoreyouknow

pur love your selfie 2 packaging — The $42 Pur Love Your Selfie 2 Palette

And should you need to whip out a quick makeup look, you’ll find almost errrthing you’d need in Pur Love Selfie 2 (which is the chapter 2 of the series of Pur palettes that started with the first Pur Love Your Selfie Palette).

It comes with eight eyeshadows, three face powders (a highlighter, a bronzer and a baking powder to set face makeup), a matte lip pencil, gloss and mascara.

Just add cattitude. 🙂

pur love your selfie 2 eyeshadows — First row of eyeshadows…

[Continue reading…]

My Picks for This Year’s Best Spring and Summer Makeup Launches

June 22nd, 2016 by Adia Goss 24 Comments

best spring summer launches — Some of my picks for “The Best Spring and Summer Makeup Launches”

Whew! There has been so much good makeup lately.

I mean, I used to get more excited about moody fall colors, but this year the spring and summer collections have been incredible! Literally, every time I turn around, I’m seeing another gorgeous collection.

If your head has been spinning a little like mine, then I hope you’ll like my picks for some of the best spring/summer makeup launches. I’d also love to hear yours.

I think I’ll start with lips, because I think a new lipstick or gloss is probably the easiest way to update your look.

Lips

First up, the Tarteist Glossy Lip Paint by Tarte, and I have the shade called Double Tap (here are swatches of the full range in this post).

I’m wearing cool-toned nude Double Tap in these pics, but I usually go for warmer-toned peaches and pinks. Thing is, this mauve is just so pretty and different from the rest of my stash. It’s opaque and not sticky at all.

Next, Buxom Wildly Whipped Lightweight Liquid Lipstick, and I just mentioned the shade called Swinger in my roundup of my favorite liquid lipsticks, so I’ll be brief now: the color and formula are AMAZING. This one is perfect for summer.

Of course, I couldn’t talk about this season’s new launches without mentioning beautiful ColourPop Dohee.

Here’s a snap of me wearing it from my Spring Haul video.

[Continue reading…]

How I Strobe With Pur Strobe/Highlight Palettes

June 16th, 2016 by Adia Goss 20 Comments

If you’ve read some of my posts, then you probably know that I LIVE for a good highlight. I am all about that glow! — whether it’s super intense or a bit more subtle.

I’ve been looking forward to trying these two strobe/highlight palettes from PUR Cosmetics since the very first time I heard about them. I’ve been a fan of the brand since I discovered their Hydrafluid Water Serum Foundation.

First up is the Moonlight Glow Strobe Palette, which is the lighter, cooler-toned of the two. From left to right, the colors are Twilight, Lunar and Eclipse.

pur-strobe-palette-moonlight-glow — The PUR Cosmetics Moonlight Glow Strobe Palette

pur-strobe-palette-moonlight-glow-swatches — Swatches of the PUR Moonlight Glow Strobe Palette (L to R): Twilight, Lunar and Eclipse

[Continue reading…]

My Most-Used Makeup Products at the Moment

April 14th, 2016 by Adia Goss 28 Comments

I’m always trying new products, but I thought it would be fun to share what have been my most-used makeup products lately. For me, these are the products that “just work,” and they’re the things I reach for when I want to throw something on my face without having to give it any thought. The colors are just right, and they help me achieve my signature look — glowy skin and pinky/nude lips. 🙂

Foundations

I am a sucker for glowy, lightweight bases, and I’ve been constantly reaching for PUR Minerals HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation in Tan and NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Annapurna, which may be a tad too light for me, but it’s sheer enough that it still works.

The PUR Minerals foundation is amazing, by the way. Here are swatches and a full review. It’s available now at PUR Minerals for $39.

No brand matches my skin as well as NARS, and I love that NARS Pure Radiant has SPF 30. This was one of my first high-end foundations, and I’ve repurchased it time and again and will probably continue to do so because it’s a great everyday foundation. It’s available now at NARS Cosmetics for $44.

And, just to make sure my face is seriously glowy, I also like to use Pixi by Petra Glow Mist. It adds glow and helps my makeup last a bit longer. It’s definitely one of my favorite facial mists, and it’s available now at Target for $15.

most used makeup — L to R: Swatches of PUR Minerals HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation in Tan and NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Annapurna

[Continue reading…]

A Tarte-Ful Tuesday Face of the Day With the New Tarte Double Duty Beauty Collection, Makeup Revolution, Dior and More…

April 5th, 2016 by Nicole Fraser-Herron 18 Comments

Today was one of those days when I sat down to get ready, and I wanted to switch things up but still keep it casual.

Enter: navy blue.

I’ve got a red-orange earthy palette happening naturally, and I really like how navy blue brings out the brightness in my eyes.

Maybe my jumper inspired it; maybe I just like to be two-toned. We may never know! 🙂

So right now we need to talk about the new foundations in the Tarte Double Duty Beauty collection at Ulta. I recently tried the Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation ($39), a medium-to-full coverage foundation that promises to smooth, plump, blur, and moisturize for up to 12 hours. Recommended application is with this Double Duty Beauty Foundation Brush & Spatula ($30).

Tarte Double Duty Beauty Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation (available in 10 shades) with the Double Duty Beauty Foundation Brush & Spatula

[Continue reading…]

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.
[Continue reading…]

PUR Eye Polish Cream Shadow: A Fast Formula for Lustrous Lids

October 28th, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

Despite the probably Horror movie-influenced fact that the “Eye Polish” in PUR Eye Polish cream shadow makes me think of somebody spit-shining my eyeballs, these $26 cream shadows aren’t sinister at all.

They’re actually pretty darned rad!

I mentioned one of of the shades, shimmery, smoky golden olive Caviar in my gold and olive Fall-Tastic Face of the Day last week. Caviar is one of the six shades, all of which work great as bases, as primers for powder shadows or all by their lonesome as traditional cream shadows.

They vary in terms of shimmer, with some being more pearlescent and less metallic than others. Caviar clocks in at “glittery to the extreme.”

Among the other shades are bronzed opalescent Suede; shimmery, plummy fuchsia Velvet; shimmery champagne apricot Silk; pearlescent pale pink Satin and pearlescent champagne Cashmere.

Now, just because these come in little pots doesn’t mean they’re as dense as MAC Paint Pots or as spongy as the Chanel Illusion D’Ombres. They have an usual formula the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. It’s thinner than usual…almost like a liquid shadow, but not quite.

Picture a very thin, runny mousse.

And, yes, I suggest keeping yo’ digits on hand (HAHAHA, LAME PUN ALERT!), because the silicone applicator they come with? — almost useless. The few times I used it, the product went on patchy and uneven.

[Continue reading…]

A Fall-Tastic Face of the Day With Gold, Olive, Burgundy and “JSS”

October 20th, 2015 by Karen 36 Comments

Random zombie-related transition…

I don’t know if you watch The Walking Dead, but oh, boy! — I hope you do, because it’s one of the best shows on television.

I think so. I mean…yeah, there’s zombies. But depending on how you feel about that. 🙂

It’s not just about the zombies, though. It’s also about people trying to survive after an apocalypse…but yeah, it’s definitely not a bright and polite British cooking show.

But it is great sci-fi/horror, and I like that. As well as British cooking shows. And Instagram cat videos.

The characters in The Walking Dead are faced with much more than zombies (like desperate, and very bad people). The zombies are just the backdrop to the struggle to survive after we’ve lost our modern conveniences. We watch them struggle with questions of morality and humanity, and I think it’s fascinating and frightening at the same time.

Anywho! The new season just started, along with a new season of The Talking Dead, which is the after show. They bring on actors who star in the show, people who work behind the scenes and celebrity super-fans who all just chat and wax philosophic about the last episode.

It’s a lot of fun! The last The Talking Dead episode starred TWD newcomer Katelyn Nacon, who plays Enid, a young teenage survivor, and Katelyn’s makeup on the after show was on friggin’ point!

She looked absolutely beautiful and very fall. I couldn’t stop staring at her eyes and lips the whole time! She was wearing a gorgeous warm brown matte color in her crease with golds and khakis on her lids and a glossy burgundy lip.

I couldn’t find a good picture of it online, but I still felt inspired to wear something similar today.

I turned to a few old-school faves like MAC Soft Brown and MAC Texture, which I used in the crease, then used MAC Shroom to highlight my brow bone and the inner corners, along with the ever-reliable MAC Powersurge along my lower lash line.

I also incorporated a couple of newer products, like the naughty-sounding BECCA Afterglow holiday palette ($39.50), which has three powder highlighters and Wild Honey and Flowerchild, two of my favorite BECCA blushes.

So I’m wearing Afterglow products on my cheeks and to highlight my skin.

[Continue reading…]