A Dog Eat Dog Eyeshadow: Buxom Stay-There

Buxom (a Bare Escentuals derivative turned full cosmetics line) recently launched a new eyeshadow.  I'm not easily tempted by new eyeshadows since I'm very picky about texture, have pretty much every color I need, and I know the brands I like (MAC, Stila, and NARS).  However, this one promised something new, something different: an eyeshadow that actually stays put all day through sweat, tears, and rain.  And at the same time, an eyeshadow that is not quite a powder but not quite a cream.

Well, I took a chance and bought one of the eyeshadows (all named after dog breeds).  I tried Mutt, which is a lovely medium taupe shade with a bronze micro-shimmer (NOT glitter, which I hate since I am neither 14 nor Lady Gaga).  This shade is THE perfect shimmery taupe and it would easily suit any skintone.  I still can't figure out exactly what this shadow is, and the Buxom and Sephora web sites offer no clues except that it's formulated with Vitamin E.  It has a creamy/gel-like texture, but it is infinitely lighter and dryer than any cream eyeshadow I have ever tried.  Moreover, Buxom specifically says you can use it like a powder shadow with a dry brush.  Intriguing.  I'm determined to figure out what this stuff is.  But more important than what it is, is how well it works.  It goes on light and smooth and delivers a high payoff of color.  And unlike most cream shadows I've tried that promise not to crease and end up looking caked or greasy, it looks and feels light and airy on my skin, and it actually does stay all day.  I tested it out in New York humidity, and it survived a full day of heat, sweat, and even 20 minutes of waiting in a subway tunnel.  My eyeshadow was still in place at the end of the day. I only wish they had a greater color selection, but hey, it's new.

And for all you do-gooders out there, Buxom is making charitable contributions to Canine Companions with every purchase.

Sadly, ShopSense does not have a link to Buxom Stay-There to connect you directly to the shopping, so the picture above is not a link.  But you can find it exclusively at Sephora and www.sephora.com.

Style Icons: Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot was not only a fabulous French actress but also a fabulous style icon with enduring appeal.  This season, there have been countless fashion editorials paying homage to Bardot's elegant style, but her sultry makeup look is also imitable.

To create Bardot's look, start with flawlessly matte skin.  A good makeup primer that both smooths and mattifies like L'Oreal's Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base.  I like a matte finish foundation like a mineral powder or a liquid foundation with a matte finish.  If your foundation tends to be more dewy, just make sure to sweep some pressed powder across the face to get that matte finish.  Then sweep a soft layer of a sheer brighter tone blush across the apples of the cheeks.  I love a fabulous sheer fuchsia blush like NARS Mata Hari or a bright but sheer coral rose shade like NARS Taos. 

Next, groom the brows.  Bardot had that stronger full brow that is hot this season.  If your brows are sparse, use an angled brush with some powder brow filler like Anastasia's Brow Powder Duo.  The powder brow fillers are much softer and natural-looking than pencils.  Then apply a good eyeshadow primer to the entire lid and brow bone.  I like Benefit's Stay Don't Stray because it has more of a neutral cast and a nice liquid texture that doesn't feel too heavy or cakey.  Kat Von D also makes a good one, which has a slightly warmer cast.

Next use a big fluffy shadow brush to apply a matte light beige eyeshadow about one shade darker than your natural skintone.  For fair to medium complexions, Stila Dune is perfect.  Apply and blend the shadow from the lashline to the brow.  Next, you need another matte beige/taupe eyeshadow about another shade darker than your base for your contrast shade.  The key here is to keep the overall look very light.  Stila Puppy is a good one.  Then use a small stiff angled lining brush to line beneath the eye 3/4 around (just at the end of the iris is perfect) with a dark matte brown shade.  I suggest something in a warmer brown with some reddish undertones like NARS New York if you happen to have it, but sadly they don't make it anymore.  Illamasqua's Jules eyeshadow is very similar, and it has a rich velvety texture similar to NARS eyeshadows.  Use your brush to blend your line slightly to make it soft and smoky.

Next use a very thin and small liquid liner brush like MAC's #210 Precise Eye Liner Brush to apply a this black line of a gel eyeliner like Stila's Smudge Pot or MAC's Fluidline.  If you're squeamish about using black, then charcoal is a nice softer choice.  Using the small brush and pot of gel liner will be much easier to control than a traditional liquid liner, especially because you have control of how much product you put on the brush at once.  I suggest using a very tiny bit of gel at a time and connect the dots along the lash line instead of trying to create one straight line, which is almost impossible.  Bardot typically wore eyeliner in medium thickness with a slight curved wing at the corner.  The trick to doing the wing and making it look flawless and modern is to start with you brush slightly extended out and upward form the corner of the eye and draw the brush inward rather than outward.  It's much easier.  Also, if you can anchor your elbow against the mirror while you're applying liner, you'll have a steadier hand.  Finish with a good volumizing mascara.  Fusion Beauty's LashFusion XL is a good volumizing mascara that won't clump.

Finish your look with a matte honey/caramel lipstick.  First, line the lips with a nude lipliner like Hourglass Trace Lip Liner in Bare.  For warmer skintones like Bardot's, a medium caramel like MAKE UP FOR EVER's Rouge Artist Intense lipstick in #25 (satin caramel)  is perfect.  For cooler skintones, a more pinkish medium honey shade like NARS Blonde Venus is lovely.  And voila! 

Eyeliner by Stila

Scent of a Woman's Products

I love trying new products.  And one of the biggest factors for me in deciding whether to buy a product is its scent.  Of course, I care about whether the product does what it says it will, but when something is on your face that close to the nostrils, certainly product aromas matter.  Here are some of the best and worst smelling products I've run across as well as reviews of their other vices and virtues.

The Worst

Perricone MD Cold Plasma Eye Cream
I was so excited to try this eye cream, which was praised by all the magazines as the ultimate eye cream for hydration, smoothness, and combating dark circles, puffiness, and fine lines: a true multi-tasker.  Since this miracle in a jar doesn't come cheap, I sought out a sample from the friendly staff at Sephora.  I eagerly cracked open my sample jar when I got home and applied.  The first thing I noticed was a slightly medicinal and marine smell, but as it dried the "marine" scent went from slightly sea-air to all out dead fish.  I thought that it would fade as it dried, but instead, it just got worse and more potent.  I could still smell it several hours later.  The final straw was that my fiance noticed it when he kissed me and commented on how bad my face smelled.  At that point, I gave up and washed it off.  But in fairness to the product, before I washed my face, I have to admit that my eye area looked noticeably smoother and brighter, and it felt soft and hydrated to the touch.  So the eye cream does work.  I went to sephora.com to read other user reviews to see if people encountered the same problem, and it was a mixed bag.  About half complained about the scent and the other half seemed to think it wasn't that bad.  Even though the eye cream gave great results, I'm not willing to suffer through smelling like day-old sushi.  I normally love Dr. Perricone products, but this one is definitely in my no-fly zone.

Pangea Organics Japanese Matcha Tea with Acai & Goji Berry Facial Mask
Besides being a mouthful, this mask is formulated with the hottest superberry: acai.  I guess it was only a matter of time before this antioxidant-laden berry made its way from our smoothies to our skincare products.  I'm a big fan of Pangea, a brand whose products boast "free of" lists that are longer than the ingredients lists, a sure sign of a true organic skincare line.  Their moisturizers, balancing oil, and eye cream are all fabulous organic products.  But this mask was a big disappointment.  Aside from the unattractive shade of brownish green, which is difficult to pinpoint without making a direct references to diapers, the first thing that I noticed about this mask was its potent smell.  Again, difficult to pinpoint, but it's something of a combination of rotting wood and wet dog.  And the scent is potent too, I tried to be a good sport and leave the sample on my face for the full 20 minutes, but I just couldn't take it.  Rinsing it off was something of an experience too, since it clung to my skin and would not come off with water and my fingertips, so I had to spoil my white washcloth with that horrid shade of acid green/brown.  I can only hope it will come out it the laundry.  This mask was very exfoliating, and my skin did feel smooth afterward, although I think I had a reaction to something in it since I woke up with several irritated-skin bumps the next morning.  Needless to say, I won't be trying this product again, and it gets the award for the most disgusting-smelling thing I have ever put on my face.  Consider yourself warned.

Shiseido Bio-Performance Advanced Super Revitalizer Cream
This moisturizer is lightweight, hydrating, and rich with antioxidants and other good-for-the-skin ingredients.  So what could be so bad?  Well, this one make the list not because it's unbearable like the previous two, but simply because it has that "old lady strong perfume" smell that all cosmetics used to have, and frankly, went out with the 80's.  In this time when there are so many ingredients (including and especially natural ingredients) that cosmetics companies can use to make products smell good or at least smell neutral, there is really no excuse for this heavy perfumey scent is so strong and unnatural that I can only assume that it was deliberately added to the product.  Why, I can't begin to fathom.

The Best

Super by Perricone Hyper Hydrator with Coconut Water
Perricone both made by top and worst list.  Super is a new line by Perricone that is marketed toward a younger, hipper, and more eco-friendly consumer.  But its products are simple and great for men and women of all ages.  I should note that even though this line is loaded with superfoods (hence, the name) and is formulated without a lot of the ingredients that natural-cosmetics connoisseurs avoid (phthalates, sulfates, parabens, etc.), it is not a truly natural line.  It is however cruelty-free (no animal testing and no animal byproducts) and the packaging is made with recycled and recyclable products at a low-carbon footprint factory.  With all that said, the Hyper Hydrator is a good and very hydrating moisturizer.  It leaves the skin feeling soft and moisturized yet non-greasy, and it has the light refreshing but very soft scent of genuine coconut water.  My soon-to-be sister-in-law recently introduced Josh and I to coconut water when we visited her in New York, just like coconut water works quickly and effectively to quench your thirst, this moisturizer makes my skin feel instantly hydrated without leaving it greasy as many moisturizers do.  And the scent is both light and delightful.  At $40, it's a reasonably-priced moisturizer too.


Ole Henriksen Truth Revealed Super Creme SPF 15
This is a fantastic day moisturizer, formulated with repairing ingredients like Omega 3 and other antioxidants, makes my skin glow while protecting it from sun damage.   Although it does feel a bit sticky at first, once it dried, my skin feels silky-soft and amazing.  Best of all, it smells like a 50/50 bar, a light creamy orange scent.  It doesn't get much better than this for yummy-smelling and feeling skin.  The anti-aging benefits are just a bonus.



Korres Raspberry Antioxidant Liquid Lipstick
So so many of the Korres homeopathic products smell heavenly that it's hard to pick just one for my list.  It's my favorite of the "active-naturals" cosmetics lines.  The products are great quality and they simply do what they say.  I've never met a Korres product I didn't like.  That said, their antioxidant liquid lipstick is AMAZING.  I can't say enough good things about it.  It has the color potency and coverage of a lipstick but it feels like a gloss and moisturizers my lips like a balm.  I only wish they made more colors.  But it's new, so I have high hopes.  It also smooths the lines on your lips, making them look younger and fuller, and it gives a nice cooling sensation.  I only have the Berry shade so far, but I'm thinking of getting the Natural, which is a gorgeous nude-pink.  As a bonus, it smells absolutely edible, like berry-vanilla ice cream.  Incidentally, it tastes like that too, which is nice because even though I hate to think about, the average woman consumes about 6 pounds of lipstick in her lifetime.  Disturbing, yes, but we may as well consume pleasant smelling/tasting lipstick. 

Skin Care by Ole Henriksen
Face Care by N.V. Perricone

Trend Alert: Who's the Fairest?

The hotly-anticipated Venomous Villains line is coming to a MAC counter near you very soon, September 30 to be exact.  This is the fabulous Fall collection inspired by Disney's greatest (and most fabulously made up) villains.  I have it on good authority that MAC will be taking presales this coming week, so get there early because the good stuff (especially the two pigments) will go fast. 

The line up of fabulous villainesses includes Maleficent, the unnamed but well-groomed Evil Queen from "Snow White," and Cruella De Vil.  Noticeably absent is Ursula from "The Little Mermaid."  As I recall, she rocked a killer magenta-red lipstick. These evil divas may have been deranged, but they were also quite the fashionistas, which probably explains the immense popularity and interest surrounding this MAC collection.  So get to your local MAC counter soon to secure your presale.  It's wicked hot.

Back to School: A B Vitamin C's of Skincare

After an extended hiatus from blogging (summer vacay, catching up on work before and after vacay, and birthdays), I'm back!  And in spirit of the back to school season, I thought it would be fitting to do a little educational post on the skincare benefits of Vitamin C.  But first, here's a little guide to some of the skincare products I've been trying and trying to find lately, all of which I'll be blogging about as I try products.

I'm on the lookout for the best of the best products to update my skincare regimen.  Here's what I'm trying to find.  And if you readers out there have any favorites to suggest that I try, please let me know.

• A creamy eye cream for day that combats dark circles and works under my eye makeup and undereye concealer (many eye creams make the undereye concealer run or crepe)

• A Vitamin C serum for day that does not feel sticky and works underneath makeup 

• A lightweight day moisturizer with a high SPF (30 or better)

• An eye cream for night that combats fine lines and firms the eye area

• A hydrating serum for night that firms skin and combats lines and hyper-pigmentation

• A hydrating night moisturizer with anti-aging benefits

• A spot treatment for hyper-pigmentation (sun spots)

• A spot treatment for occasional breakouts that works quickly and effectively  

• A weekly glycolic peel

• A weekly moisturizing mask

First up for discussion: Vitamin C serums.  Until very recently, Vitamin C molecules were too large and unstable to be applied directly to the skin and would not penetrate the skin deeply enough to make any visible difference.  Now, thanks to skincare research geniuses, "they" have devised a way to break down the Vitamin C molecules and transport it deep below the skin's surface.  The result is serums that brighten the skin, combat sun spots, prevent sun damage, firm and boost collagen production, and increase cell renewal.  The increased cell turnover makes your skin more radiant, reduces pore size, and both prevents and corrects wrinkles.  If it sounds like a miracle serum, that's because it is.

To get the the maximum benefit, you want to use it just once a day during the a.m. only.  And you MUST use it with sunscreen of at least SPF 30 if you're just driving and outside for a few minutes here and there, and a higher SPF if you're in the sun for any extended period of time.  The SPF is essential because while the Vitamin C helps prevent and treat hyper-pigmentation, it also makes your skin more vulnerable to sun damage if you don't wear an SPF because of the increased cell turnover.  With that caveat out of the way, I give you the three Vitamin C serums I've tried to date and my thoughts:

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum
Ole Henriksen is one of the latest and greatest active naturals skincare lines.  It combines science with homeopathy for a truly great skincare line, free of harmful ingredients like parabens, phthalates, and sulfates.  This particular serum features 10% Vitamin C for the anti-aging benefits together with Vitamin E for hydration and other active naturals like green tea and grapefruit extracts.  The result is a serum that smells great, smooths the skin, and gives the complexion a radiant glow.  Overall, my skin looked healthier after about a week of consistent use.  On the downside, it's a little sticky, which does not work well underneath makeup.  I like the results of this serum, but I really want to find a Vitamin C serum that wears well underneath makeup since it's a daytime serum.


Murad Active Radiance Serum
This serum contains Vitamin C, AHA, and Myrtle extract to help improve the skin's texture and radiance, as well as to treat and prevent sun spots.  This serum is supposed to boost collagen production and guard the skin against damage from free radicals.  My skin definitely felt smoother to the touch and looked more radiant immediately after using the serum.  After a few days of consistent daily use (remember, use Vitamin C serums just once a day, a.m. only), my skin's texture and skin tone were noticeably improved.  This serum is not as sticky as the Truth Serum, but it's still a bit on the sticky side.  Not so much that I would be dissuaded if it was a serum that I could use at night, but since I wear makeup regularly, and the stickiness doesn't disappear even after 15 minutes or so, it's not the best choice for me.  I did try it once on a non-makeup day and after I let it dry for a good 20 minutes and then applied moisturizer and let that dry, my skin felt soft and non-sticky to the touch after another hour or so.  I did not attempt to apply makeup over it, but I think that if I had, it would have been alright. It's just quite a long wait before my skin is makeup-safe and not getting tacky clumps of makeup on my face (not a good look).  Overall, I like this serum and its effects very well.  I am just determined that there is another makeup-friendly Vitamin C serum out there.


SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic
This Vitamin C serum came highly recommended from my aestheticism, who offered me a sample.  I later learned that it's a three-time Allure Magazine best serum winner.  It's easy to see why.  This serum combines a very potent formulation of Vitamin C in the form of 15% pure L-ascorbic acid with the hydrating and reparative benefits of Vitamin E.  It has all the same antioxidant benefits as the other Vitamin C serums, but in a more aggressive dosage of Vitamin C, and with ferulic acid and Vitamin E for extra antioxidant power.  This serum feels like it's quenching the skin's thirst while leaving it soft and bright, not at all greasy and thankfully, not sticky.  Makeup goes on smoothly.  I suppose it was inevitable that the best Vitamin C serum I've tried to date would be about twice the price of the other two.  And yes, you get what you pay for in SkinCeuticals products, their quality is unrivaled.  However, as $141, it's still far more expensive than any other skincare product I've ever purchased.

I'm still milking my deluxe sample for now and using very sparingly.  I'm hoping to find another serum that works as well, but if I can't, here is my plan and some tips for you readers who might consider this purchase: you can get SkinCeuticals products on www.spalook.com, which is always on ebates (usually around 5-10% cash back -- check out ebates for Sephora and ULTA cash back as well -- http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=zblRc6RSUiGkpTMojoGM1g%3D%3D). Additionally, Spalook virtually always has coupon codes going to get $25 off of a $100 purchase or $50 off of $200 or 20% off or something like that.  Look for them in a general google search, although the codes are often on the main page of Spalook itself.  Further, SkinCeuticals does sell this serum in discounted kits with other full-sized serums, saving you some money collectively.  Finally, Spalook often has gifts with purchase for SkinCeuticals.

So, yes, I am considering making this obscene purchase given the aforementioned discounts and promos.  Vitamin C serums are the holy grail of anti-aging serums right now.  And the beauty of them is that they are ideal for women in my age group (20 and 30-somethings) looking to correct some early sun damage and prevent any further damage.  And the SkinCeuticals has been praised as the best of the best, so it is probably worth the investment.  Being the bargain huntress that I am, I am still going to hunt down samples and trial sizes of other Vitamin C serums and see if I can't find a better deal.  But at the end of the day, this is probably the single most important category of skincare product that I can buy for my skin, so I may just have to cut cost-corners elsewhere.  I will keep you posted on any other worthwhile Vitamin C serums I find.

Face Anti-Aging by Ole Henriksen