Becca's Beach Tint Blush

Greetings Reader!
Little Background:
I've tried several different kinds of liquid blushes over the years, and I can't say that I've ever really liked them. Essentially, liquid blushes are cheek stains which if applied correctly look fantastic, but when applied incorrectly, looks like a child took a marker to your face. And they are long lasting products that soaks into your skin, so you either have to wait for it to wear off your skin or wash your face and start all over.

Becca's Beach Tint Blush:
I first saw this product in magazines and I thought it looked wonderful, but when I noticed it was a liquid blush I was pretty hesitant to purchase it. A few months after I started seeing this product in magazines, I noticed a video blog post on Lisa Eldridge's website where she sampled this product and demonstrated how to use it. Because of that post, I decided I'd give it a try.

This has to be the easiest and most natural looking liquid blush I've ever used. It's actually more of a cream than a liquid, which might be why it's so easy to apply. It's buildable which I love because sometimes I just want a hint of color to my cheeks and other times I want something more dramatic. Ultimately though, it looks very natural once applied because of it's texture. And if you apply too much of the product, it doesn't soak into your skin immediately so you can wipe the extra product off your face and you don't to have to worry about taking your other make-up off with it either. Which is a huge plus for me! It has a dewy appearance - so this isn't a matte product if you're looking for a matte blush. The product also has a slight scent to it to match whichever color you chose. So, I purchased watermelon and it has a perfumey watermelon scent (not like real fresh watermelon scent). I'm not a big fan of scents in my beauty products, but the scent dissipates fairly quickly on your skin.

Last thing I'm going to say is their customer service is fantastic! Over the summer, this product was not available in my area. Even Sephora's website wasn't carrying the product yet (they have since picked up the line). So I went on their website and looked through their 10 or 12 different shades of beach tint and couldn't figure out which one was best for my skintone. So, I emailed the website and described my general complexion, and I got a call back from one of their consultants with "This is what you should try first. I know you're going to love it. And in the winter months these shades would probably work best for your skin tone. Oh, and we have an amazing return policy so if you feel that this doesn't work or you don't like it - don't hesitate to return it!" Fantastic! And the shade she said I would like the most for summer months (watermelon) was my favorite blush to wear during the summer months. 

Bottom Line:
This is a great product and well worth the money. It's $25 for 7ml which seems expensive, but you only need a couple drops on either cheek for full coverage that lasts 6 or 7 hours. I've been using mine since about July almost every day, and it looks like it's hardly been used.

I hope this helps. :)

Benefit's They're Real! Mascara

Greetings Reader!

Little Background:

As stated before, I like natural looking mascara for daily wear and I cannot wear false lashes. It's a shame I can't wear false lashes without looking like a clown because there have been so many times where I'll go out in the evening and I'd really like something more dramatic on my eyes. But who wants to go out looking like a fool?

Benefit's They're Real! Mascara:

One day during one of my Sephora runs, I noticed that they had a deluxe sample of Benefit's They're Real! Mascara for 100 points. I'd seen the mascara online for a little while, but hadn't really wanted to spend then money to get it. And I can honestly say now that not getting this mascara sooner was a huge mistake!

This mascara is fantastic! The application wand is amazing. It lifts, separates, and curls. The mascara also adds extra volume while lengthening. The only downside is that it does clump a little bit. But the way I see it is that it's designed to be a dramatic mascara which in order to make your lashes look voluminousness can cause a little clumping. It's not a lot of clumping and a quick brush with a lash brush takes care of anything extra hanging on the ends.

Bottom Line:

It's definitely worth the money. It's $23 for 0.3 oz or you can buy the sample size (which I didn't know about before receiving the deluxe sample) for $10. Or you can probably just wait for it to come back to Sephora's deluxe sample giveaways and pick it up then.

I hope this helps. :)

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Fleur de Lotus

Greetings Reader!

Little Background:

I don't own many Chanel products. Why? Because of the cost. It's truly the only reason. Just like Dior, Chanel creates fantastic beauty products, but if I only bought Chanel or Dior - I'd live in a cardboard box.  And probably not even a nice cardboard box because of how expensive their products can be. Having said that, sometimes I save up and avoid lesser expensive products for something really nice.

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush:

Case in point. I've seen this blush in magazines for a while. I love Kiera Knightley's make-up since she became the spokeswoman for Chanel. Lisa Eldridge, who is an amazing make-up artist, recently did her make-up for the world premier of Anna Karenina. Absolutely stunning! And it was because of this particular post on her website where she used the Chanel Joues Contraste powder blush in Rose Initiale (72) on Kiera Knightley that I decided it was time to try out Chanel's blush.

I went to my local Chanel counter and was pleasantly overwhelmed by all of the beautiful shades of blush they had on display. The Chanel associate came over and started telling me about how fantastic this product was (like I needed her telling me.) I mentioned the Rose Initiale color and she put it on my skin and it was beautiful, but she said, "you know what? That's a really pretty color on you, but we have a new limited edition color, Fleur de Lotus (69), that will suit you much better." So, I took off the Rose Initiale and put on the Fleur de Lotus - and damn it if she wasn't right!  

Pros:

~ Long lasting. I've worn it for 10 hours and the color remains just as beautiful as when I first put it on.

~ Beautiful pinky coral color.

~ Very pigmented. A little goes a long way.

~ It's buildable.

~ No shimmer or glitter.

~ Silky application and finish.

~ Natural looking. Kind of like it's enhancing the glow within your skin.

~ Soft and feminine.

~ Fantastic packaging.

Cons:

~ It has a scent. It smells like roses, but it's not subtle. It's more of a very perfume-type rose scent. I'm not a fan, but luckily the scent on your skin disappears after a few minutes. 

~ Expensive. It's $43 for 0.14 oz.

Note Bene: 

The term "joues contraste" translates to "cheeks contrast" - which we call blush. 

I hope this helps. :)

Shu Uemura Ultimate Natural Mascara

Greetings Reader:

Little Background:

I have to confess that I'm a little blessed with relatively thick black eye lashes. One of these days, I'm going to have to thank my dad for them. But as with most blessings there can be a down side too -  my eye lashes are stick straight (not so thankful for that, dad). And as an additional fyi, I can't wear false eye lashes because of how straight my eye lashes are. The few times I've attempted to wear false eye lashes for dramatic effect have ended in disaster. Each time I tried it (no matter how much I curled them) I couldn't keep my eye lashes curled to match the false lashes and it looks stupid because it obviously looks like I have two rows of lashes, and not in the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor way - in the very very stupid looking way. Oh, and I should probably add that I haven't tried false lashes since purchasing the Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler which does an amazing job curling my lashes daily and they keep their curl for a long time.

But I digress - for the majority of my life I didn't feel the need to wear mascara because I didn't think I needed to darken my lashes or make them more defined. But around 22 or so, I decided I'd give mascara a try. What an overwhelming experience! There are a ton of different kinds of mascaras from different companies that all do very different things. And what I was searching for was a natural looking mascara for a mascara newbie - and thus my research began!

I know you're expecting me to say that I found the Shu Uemura Ultimate Natural Mascara and fell in love, but that's not how it went. My first great mascara love was MAC's Lash X Mascara. This was a fantastic mascara for someone (like me) that just wanted my natural lashes to look a little better. I loved it so much that that was my go-to daily mascara for over 5 years. But like most things in the beauty world - this product was not meant to last forever, and was (I believe) discontinued about a year ago.

Shu Uemura Ultimate Natural Mascara:

Thus started my new quest to find another natural looking mascara that I could use on a daily basis, and that's when I stumbled onto the Shu Uemura Ultimate Natural Mascara. As I mentioned yesterday, I researched the Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler for a while, and when I went on their website I looked through their mascara section and noticed this particular mascara. I read the reviews on this product during that week that I was deciding whether or not I'd purchase the eye lash curler, and figured - "what the hell? It say 'natural' in the product's name."So I bought it. 

I have to say that this is a nice natural looking mascara. I don't think it is as fantastic as everyone claims it is, but it's a nice product. 

The two problems I've had with it are:

1) For the first week or two when I first opened the tube, the mascara is a little watery. Watery mascara leads to eyelash clumping (which I never think looks natural or good) and it takes forever to dry. So, you have to be extra careful and wait for it dry so that you don't smudge the mascara onto your skin and you have to wait for it to dry so you can run a lash comb through it to separate the lashes.

2) After about 3 months maybe even closer to 4, I started to notice little clumps of mascara at the end of my lashes. It's not a lot and a quick brush of the lashes with a lash brush takes care of it, but it's an added step that I wouldn't have expected for this product at such a young age. And maybe I kind of got spoiled with the MAC Lash X Mascara since a tube lasted about 6-to-9 months without any of these issues. The MAC mascara also had a rose smelled to it that would fade over time and help you know when it was time to replenish. 

I've been using this product for as long as I've been using the eye lash curler. And as I said before, the eye lash curler is fantastic and I would strongly recommend anyone reading this blog that is interested in buying the eye lash curler to give it a try. But the mascara is a different story. I think that I have to buy the mascara more often and that I have a shorter prime-use period to use this product. During the months in between the water stage and the dry clump stage, this is a wonderful product and I don't have any issues with it. Which is why I've repurchased it so many times while I test other products for a replacement.  But I can't discount the draw backs either, and since it's $28 for a tube - I expect a little more for my money and that means I want more than 2 months of good mascara use for $28.

I'd be very interested to see if anyone else has had this issue with this product because I haven't read any reviews like this from anyone else. I'd also love to hear anyone's recommendations for natural looking mascaras on the market right now. I am currently testing Lancome's Définicils High Definition Mascara with Lancome's Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Base. This mascara has a little bit more definition than I would like on a daily basis, but it's not too bad. I've only been using it for a few days though. Also, I have to admit that I tried Lancome's Définicils High Definition Mascara a few years ago, and it was so watery that I threw it out after a month. I think I may have gotten a bad batch or something or maybe you have to use a base with this mascara. I don't know the answer honestly. But I'm retrying it right now and I'll probably post my opinion in a month.

I hope this helps. :) 

NARS Blush in Super Orgasm

Greetings Reader!
Little Background:
I'm sure most of the people who read this blog have heard of Nars blush in Orgasm. That shade has a cult following all it's own. Now I personally do not own Nars blush in Orgasm because every time I've gone into a store to sample the shade, it always ends up being during summer. As with most people, I'm a little bit tanner in the summer and since I have pink and yellow undertones to my skin - the shade just didn't work for me. I kept reapplying and finally gave up at 3 applications. Since it's December now, I'll probably give it a try later this week when I'm at the mall to finally figure out whether I like it or not, but its definitely not an all-year-round blush for me.

Nars Blush in Super Orgasm:
So, while I was already at the store sampling the Nars blush in Orgasm, I noticed the newer shade, Super Orgasm, and decided that I'd give it a try. Maybe the sample in the store had less glitter because it had been sampled so many times before, but I absolutely loved this color. Stila used to have a shade in their magnetic pots line that was similar, but this was even prettier. So I bought it and this is what I think. 

Pros:
~ Beautiful pink color with a touch of peach. The regular Orgasm shade is the opposite. It's predominately a peach color with a hint of pink.
~ Velvet-like appearance. 
~ Long lasting.

Cons: 
~ Enough glitter to make whore blush! And they are large glitter flecks. The regular Orgasm shade is more of a shimmer which is manageable for regular use.

Bottom Line:
I'm not going to repurchase this when I run out. It was $28, and it's probably going to dry out before I ever get close to finishing it. I don't know how long that will be as it's a premium blush, but still - it's not worth repurchasing for myself because (with all of it's glitter) it only has a very special purpose for me and that is going out in the evening. Christmas is coming, so perhaps this is something that I'd wear to a holiday party, but I like to wear make-up that doesn't distract people or draw attention to one area. Plus, when I wore it to work a few times, my co-workers pointed it out. They asked me why I had glitter on my face at 7 am. If you don't mind glitter on your face, you'll love the color! It's just not my thing.

I think I may have set a record for how many times someone could say "orgasm" on a beauty blog. Win!

I hope this helps. :)

Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler

Greetings Reader!
Little Background:
There is a reason why this eye lash curler has a cult following! And that reason is that it's amazing! I first heard about this product 7 or 8 years ago (probably while watching E!). But at that time (college student) I wasn't that into make-up, and the idea of spending $20 on an eye lash curler (gasp!) was unfathomable in my mind. I didn't even wear mascara back in my early twenties.

Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler:
About 2 years ago I was using Tweezerman's and Sephora's eye lash curlers, and after a few months of using them I noticed I was starting to get "bent" eye lashes when I curled my eye lashes. These two product (both under $15) were basically new and they were already starting to show signs of wear after only a couple months.

So finally I broke down and started researching the Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler. It became apparent really quickly that I couldn't test the product first (as they didn't have any retail locations for me to test). I know I've mentioned on my other blog before that I do not buy products that I cannot test first. It's just kind of my own policy. I know Sephora has a really great return policy, but I'm very conscious of the fact that if I buy a lipstick or make-up brush, try it, don't like it and return it - that product becomes void. They can't then turn around and sell it someone else given the intimate nature of a product you put on your face.

I kicked around buying this eye lash curler for about a week even though everyone raves about how fantastic it is. When I did buy it, I also bought it with their Ultimate Natural Mascara (that I'll write about later this week). And I must admit that I haven't regretted buying it once!

The difference between this eye lash curler and the other eye lash curlers on the market is that it has a rounded silicone base. You may be able to see it from the photo, but the silicone pad (black part of the eye lash curler) is rounded - like your lashes should be. So, when you curl your lashes you don't get "bent lashes" that are pointing up, you get a curled lash. I know - it sounds really basic, but I haven't found another eye lash curler on the market (in the US) that has this design. Even their hinge is patented. I don't really understand why the hinge is patented and what makes it so important, but it's an interesting fact about the product. If anyone knows why the hinge is so important, please write me a comment below.

Where to buy this?
I typically won't include this section in here, but the Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler retails for $20 only on their website. Regrettably, Shu Uemura pulled their free standing kiosks in Nordstrom's and Lord and Taylor a few years ago to "guarantee the quality service that all customers were receiving." I personally think that's bull. I think it's more apt that it was a business strategy. It costs more money to have a counter at a retail store - between the products and the staff, that to have a website and one location for the product. But for whatever reason, you can now only purchase this on their website. Sephora and other beauty stores do not carry it in the United States.

I promise if you try this eye lash curler, you won't regret it. Right now their website is having (in the US) a promotion that if you spend $45 or more, you'll get a free mini-eye lash curler (CURLERSEM). I don't know how much smaller this one is from a normal eye lash curler they sell, but I'm considering stocking up on my mascara just to get the little one. Oh, and you can get free shipping if you spend $50 or more. 

I hope this helps. :)

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Versus Clinique Airbrush Concealer

                

 

Greeting Reader!
Little Background:
I researched these two products for over a year before I actually tried them at Sephora. I didn't know if I really needed a highlighter. I already had plenty of concealers, so the idea of a highlighter was a very foreign concept for me. For those that don't know what a highlighter is used for, it is essentially a product designed to brighten your skin in certain areas. IE. If you have dark circles under your eyes or redness around your nose - you would use this product in lieu of a traditional concealer (this is a type of concealer). Also, if you have acne (scars or active), this is a great product to just brighten your skin and to take the focus away from those blemishes.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat:
This is the one I ended up buying. Why? It came down to the rosewater that is added to the YSL product that is not in the Clinique product. 

I primarily was interested in brightening the circles under my eyes. I don't have really dark circles (which is why I'm not using a stronger concealer), but I do get moderate circles under my eyes from time-to-time. When I applied this product to my eyes, I didn't notice any creasing from it. Which is a big deal for me. Because while I don't have wrinkles yet, when I applied (and I'll go into greater detail below) the Clinique product I noticed creasing around the upper parts of my eyes which looked like I had wrinkles. I think the difference between the two products and why the YSL product provides a smoother finish is because of the rosewater. If anyone knows if that's the truth, please leave me a comment below. 

Clinique Airbrush Concealer:
This was also a great product, but not for what I needed. I applied this product to my right eye, and the YSL product to my left. I found, while chatting and laughing with the Sephora associate, when I smiled after applying the product, the Clinique bunched into my smile-lines around my eyes leaving the appearance of wrinkles.

At first I thought I had applied too much (and I had used my finger to blot the two products into place), but after removing the Clinique product and reapplying it with the Sephora Collection Pro Flawless Air Brush #56 - I had the same problem. At that point I started looking at the ingredients to figure out why this was happening (because after a year of researching these products, I didn't recall anyone mentioning this) and it seemed that the rosewater was the likely reason for this. 

Again, the rosewater is just a guess. If you know why the YSL Touche Eclat has a better finish than the Clinique Airbrush Concealer - I would love to hear about it!

Bottom Line:
The YSL Touche Eclat is pretty expensive - $40 for one pen. The Clinique Airbrush Concealer is far more affordable at $19.50 for one pen. 

So, my advice to whoever read this is if you are looking for a highlighter for non-creasing type areas (the area around your nose, acne coverage, etc) then the Clinique Airbrush Concealer is a great product. You won't regret buying it. 

But if you are interested (like I was) in primarily highlighting the area under your eyes, then the YSL Touche Eclat is the product you should try. It may be more expensive, but you will look flawless. I purchased this product a shade lighter than I would a traditional concealer. The color's shade is "luminous radiance."

I hope this helps. :)