Up & Coming Beauty Bloggers Weekly Report

  

Lola of Lola's Secret Beauty Blog showcases how she stores her lip products in a special by request post.

Rachel from Rachel's Makeup and Skincare tries out La Licious Bath and Body Collection in their new Valentine's Day Scent and finds she is in love!

Olivia of The Unknown Beauty Blog has a fabulous giveaway featuring Luscious Argan Oil products from Eden Allure!

Rola's Fountain of Youth is now on Instagram, go see what she has been loving and doing lately!

Lindsay of The Beauty Think Tank shows off an oldie but a goodie in MAC Illegal Purple nailpolish, perfect vampy tips for Valentine's Day!

If you would like to be featured in a future Up & Coming Beauty Bloggers Weekly Report, please e-mail Lindsay at beautythinktank(at)gmail(dot)com!

NOTD MAC Illegal Purple

From the '08 Cult of Cherry release. An oldie but a goody! 3 coats of color and topped with Seche Vite. Nothing says Valentine's like Vampy nails!

Up & Coming Beauty Bloggers Weekly Report

Lola of Lola's Secret Beauty Blog has a Dupe Alert! for Burberry's Lip Glow in Pink Sweet Pea.

Olivia of The Unknown Beauty Blog has an excellent step by step tutorial for applying eyeshadow with emphasis on contouring!

Elizabeth of Love.Life.Beauty reviews Origins High-Potency Night-a-mins cream.

Harriet at Little Miss Student Beauty tells us her favourite lipsticks for Valentines Day!

 

Rachel from Rachel's Makeup and Skincare has information on Step-Up gifts being offered at next week's Barney's Love Yourself Beauty Bag Event.

Lindsay at The Beauty Think Tank shares her opinion of the Physicians Formula BB 3-in-1 Beauty Balm Concealer.

If you would like to be featured on a future Up & Coming Beauty Bloggers Weekly Report, please contact Lindsay at beautythinktank(at)gmail(dot)com.

The Promised UD Naked Basics FOTD

Two of my lovely, lovely readers wanted to see the look I described in my review of the UD Naked Basics Palette.  So this post is for Brelki and Marilyn! Thanks for commenting and reading the Think Tank ladies!

Here you can see that the lid color is neutralized by Foxy, and that Naked2 and Faint give a subtle shadow to the crease.  Also, Virgin is under the tail end of my brow, hopefully, giving it a smidgen of lift.

In this shot, I used WOS to brighten the inner eye area and make the eye look more awake.  Virgin is in there as well, but I didn't use flash for this shot, was just front lit using Daylight CFL, so you can't really pick it up.  For the most part I use this palette because it's subtle and I can do quick, corrective makeup and just make the eye area look better.

Other Mentionables:
- MAC Dark Devotion Fluidline
- UD Big Fatty Mascara
- PF 3-in-1 Beauty Balm Concealer in Light/ Medium
- L'Oreal Color Caresse Wet Shine Stain in Berry Persistent

Physicians Formual Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Concealer

Anyone catch the redundancy in the title?

Descriptions, straight from the Physicians Formula website:

•  Brush on this miracle cream to instantly diminish the appearance of: Dark Circles, Puffiness, Imperfections, Blemishes, Redness, and Uneven Skin Tone.

• Super BB Concealer is your super tool for targeted application and was designed to perfectly complement the Super BB Cream & Powder.

Sometimes, I'm just a sucker with good intentions looking for a product that delivers in a world full of too good to be true.  It's truly my inclination to want to like things.  I swear.  In fact, I was totally going to buy the new Revlon Nearly Naked Powder, when I saw this Physicians Formula duster in Rite Aid (another place I haunt, much like Sephora), and it had the concealer above.  I was intrigued by the pen style packaging, taken with the holographic details, and sold with the $3 off coupon taped so conveniently to the box (no rebate needed for this one!).  But alas, it was not to be.

For the record, this is with the light-medium concealer on.

I guess, it's sort of unfair to judge a concealer like this, when my dark circle's are truly beasts of savage reknown, but I mean pictures don't lie.  For my under-eye area, it just doesn't work.  Which is a shame, because that is the entire reason I purchased the Super BB Concealer.  It's also sort of flagrantly ignores the claims of the packaging, which says that it conceals Dark Circles and Puffiness.

However, I think this product does have it's merits, and I think it could work as a concealer/ under eye brightener for those whose dark circles are less tragic than my own.  The actual concealer delivery system is a brush tipped pen, that is great for getting into the inner corner and under eye areas.  Additionally, the texture of the product is like a thickened MAC Face & Body foundation, so it does have some coverage.  Overall, I think the pigmentation could be better, but the color match for the light/medium pen was really good.  It's just not enough to be a true concealer.  On the face it's ok for covering small blemishes, but it wears off rather quickly.  It has all the makings of greatness, I guess it just needs to mature a bit, or maybe to truly make it work I need to use it with the other two products in the range.  But that seems sort of a pain in the ass, because I already have products I like much better - I'm just lacking a concealer.

This is available wherever Physician's Formula is sold.  At Rite Aid the boxes have a $3 manufacturer's coupon taped to the box, which is redeemable at the register.  Rite Aid is also offering a $5 Plus Up reward on your wellness card with any cumulative purchase(s) of Physicians Formula totaling $15.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

The best of the whole Naked franchise, IMO.

It's February, and I want to talk about Naked things.  Anyone surprised? No.  Good.  On with the review!

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT IT

- Foxy.
- It's mostly matte.
- It has a combo of yellow, pink and cool toned shades.
- Foxy.
- Venus > Virgin > Booty Call.
- Compact, intelligent, travel friendly packaging.
- Foxy.
- Limited color range - makes it easier to use this palette as a functional item.
- Did I mention... Foxy?

Nude.

WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT IT

- Crave is a weird texture.  It's matte and pigmented and a nice deep color.  But it's sorta hard, stuck together and a bit awkward to blend.

- Faint should have been less cool toned.

Nood.

Out of all of the Naked palettes, Basics is my favorite.  I sometimes find using the Naked and Naked 2 palettes a bit daunting because there SO many choices, and I am naturally drawn to certain colors.  This makes me feel like I really only utilize half the palette(s), and then I feel myself trying to find looks to use the other colors and I dislike that even more because I can't use all of the colors seamlessly in my routine.  With Basics, the only color I don't use on the regular is Crave.  Mainly because I just don't wear dark eye makeup all the time, and to be honest, I still use NYX Black all the time when I want a dark and smoky look.

I also like the price point of this palette. At $27 it's accessible, even to those on a tight budget.  It's refreshing, and for $27 you can't beat the quality of the shadows or the packaging.  Speaking of packaging.  Thank God for this! Something that is slim.  Travel sized. Not embossed velvet, or encased in metal.  Or huge in general.  Urban Decay finally got it right (although - the only truly failtastic packaging occurred with the original Naked, because that velvet just get's jacked up after a while, and then what are you gonna do?). 

HOW I USE IT

1) Take W.O.S and use it as an inner eyelid brightener, perker upper.  It's pink toned, so it should work for you that way.

2) Take Foxy (my forever love and main reason I purchased Basics because I had hit pan on the one in Naked 2), and use it on the lid and lower lashline to color correct the lid and combat the redness on the lashline.

3) Mix Naked2 and Faint buff into outer corner and sweep into outer crease, not carrying it over to the inner corner.  The entire idea of this look is to keep the eye open and bright.

4) Intensify outercorner with more Faint if needed.

5) Liquid liner.  Winged or unwinged as you prefer.

6) Highlight with Virgin under the arch of the brow and in the inner corner.  Pack a bit more in on the bottom lashline in the inner corner area.

7) Mascara! 

This should take you five minutes or less, and leave you looking bright eyed and bushy tailed with no obvious make-up other than the liner.  It give the impression you are just naturally that fabulous.

The Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette is available from UrbanDecay.com and Sephora for $27 USD.

Insta-Lemming: NARS And God Created The Woman Palette

WANT.  That is all.

Contains: Alhambra, Bellisima, Kalahari, Galapagos, Coconut Grove, Night Clubbing.  $59 at Sephora.

Up & Coming Beauty Bloggers Weekly Report

Lola of Lola's Secret Beauty Blog reviews Alba Botanical's Natural Very Emollient Body Lotion.

Jeneille of Beauti by Jinjer swatches all of her extensive Nude lipstick collection.

Harriet at Little Miss Student Beauty shares her tips on how she thickened her fine hair!

Rachel from Rachel's Makeup and Skincare compares Burberry's Velvet and Luminous foundation. Which did she like best?

Olivia of The Unknown Beauty Blog wants us to sweeten our cheeks with Manna Kadar Sweet Cheeks!

Rola from Rola's Fountain of Youth had Random Sightings of Spring 2013 Makeup Displays and the colors are gorgeous!

C.Jazmyne reviews both Loose and Pressed NARS Light Reflecting Loose Powders.

Lindsay at The Beauty Think Tank talks about finally purchasing YSL Rouge Pur Couturs Vernis a Levres Glossy Stain in Pourpre Preview.

If you would like to be featured in a future Up & Coming Beauty Bloggers Weekly Report, contact Lindsay at beautythinktank(at)gmail(dot)com.

Holiday Hangover: NARS 47th Street Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner

It's the last day in January, and this will be the last holiday hangover post this year. Mainly because February is knocking on the door, but mostly because I've run out of products that I purchased during the holidays.

Anyone shocked that I am reviewing yet another NARS + Andy Warhol collection product?  No? Good.

Another crisp shot eeked out of my iPhone.

I have mixed feelings about Larger Than Life Eyeliners, mainly because I find them a bit dry and when on the waterline it sort of crusts up and makes it a bit uncomfortable to wear.  Clearly, you're thinking I picked the wrong eyeliner because 47th street is a black eyeliner with silvered microglitter in it, it's totally bound to be mega uncomfortable and make your contacts hate you.  And. You'd be wrong.  I was surprised with how comfortable this is to wear on the waterline.  But mainly, I like to line my upper lashline and quickly smudge it so that I get a softly smoky eye with shimmery, sparkly, glimmers.  And this is sparkly.  Think of a matte black base and defined pieces of glitter.  No shimmer to obscure the reflection of the glitter.  The effect is very night sky/ star like.  Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this eyeliner.

I like that the base is black enough to be defining, but not black enough to obscure the glitter.

 As you can see, it's a softer black.  Which makes it excellent for smudging and adding a soft edge to everyday makeup.  The glitter in this is marketed as being silver, but it flashes blue and purple as well.

At little unfocused to pick up the glitter shifting colors.

I have no complaints about this eyeliner.  I wear it quite often, as it's a great way to inject some fun and fancy glitter into your day without it being overpowering or looking over done.  For quick, easy makeup you have to smudge and smudge this quickly.  I tend to dot it on, then grab my pencil brush and work it back and forth to thicken and diffuse the line.  Then I layer on tons of mascara (because I love thick mascara-y lashes), a bit of highlighter and I'm done.  Boom.

Love this product. NARS Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliners are $26USD and available at Sephora and NARScosmetics.com.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis a Levres Glossy Stain - Pourpre Preview

No I'm not going to sing you Led Zeppelin.  I am however going to suggest you listen to Metallica's Ecstasy of Gold while you read this.  So be a good sport, scroll to the bottom and hit 'Play'.

Finally! It is mine! I've lusted after this stain for the better part of two years, I've swatched this multiple times, coveted a variety of colors.  Finally, I just jumped in and bought shade 16 aka Pourpre Preview.  A shade that brings back happy recollections of MAC's Up the Amp lipstick.

I've always thought that YSL packaging toed the line between gaudy and luxe with remarkable aplomb.

I like that the packaging for the Glossy Stains has a bit of a heft to it.  Makes me unafraid to tuck into my makeup bag and stick it in my purse.  I also like that the swatch window showcases the color perfectly, because it's a little peek into the product.

Except for they keep it classy and make the applicator not look like a ladypart.

The applicator is pretty sweet and perfect for applying this product.  The point makes it great for getting into the corners of the mouth and precisely smoothing it onto your cupids bow.  The doefoot helps the stain smooth on easily and leave behind a glossy shine.

Glossy Swatch

Stain Swatch

I apply a thin layer first to get the stain going, just to get a base down so that the stain is even throughout the day.  Then, after about 5 minutes or so, I smooth the top layer into the lips and apply a second coat for a glossy shine.  What I get is lovely medium purple lips, with a touch of pink.  And because the texture is so nice it doesn't appear fake or garish looking as these more unusual shades can, it just melds in and mimics the basic texture of the lip with some lovely shine.

I seriously love this.  I can't wax poetic about this enough.  It's available at Sephora for $32 USD.

Skip to minute 1:15 for the start of Ecstasy of Gold and then just sit back, relax and appreciate how lovely and symphonic it is.  The music has scope and then it transitions into Call of the Ktulu, which Metallica comes out and jams with the Orchestra.  This was from the S&M show (SF Orchestra & Metallica).  But it's amazingly awesome.