This worries me just a little. The already perfect Urban Decay Primer Potion just may have some competition coming its way. Not only is the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer a Sephora exclusive product, but its only available to Beauty Insider members.
This product, which is $20 for .1 oz (UDPP is $17 for .34 oz) claims to help create the perfect canvas for eyeshadow application. The selling point is basically the ingredients:
The exclusive formula contains Phytomoist, a plant-based hyaluronic acid for ultimate moisturization and amino acids for skin-smoothing benefits. Soft focus pearls help diminish the appearance of fine lines on the lids while the patented Qusome® delivery system ensures all ingredients penetrate the skin to deliver effective results.
Sounds impressive, right? I know.. it does. I should give it a try. I don’t really want to be caught cheating on UDPP, but I think the fact that the Photo Finish Lid Primer has fancy Phytomoist and hyaluronic acid, I could be easily swayed by the “soft focus pearls”.
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So, since I am fearful that my “BFF in a tube”, Maybelline Last Stylist could be very well discontinued, I decided to finally try Maybelline Lash Stiletto. See my older post about it here: http://kristadior.kristardesign.com/2009/01/15/maybelline-lash-stylist-discontinued-stiletto-is-replacing-it/
I thought the Stiletto brush was going to be rubberized, or comb-like. I saw that in the photo, the brush was red, so I automatically thought that it was some sort of rubber type brush. Nope. It was a regular bristle brush that tapers down towards the tip of the brush. After applying several coats of Lash Stiletto, I became frustrated.. where were my lashes? They were very thin and wimpy. I started to panic a little, thinking that my lashes had fallen out during the night, but I grabbed my Lash Stylist mascara, quickly swiped a few strokes over the top of Stiletto.. and shazam.. my lashes were back. ::whew::
I am sorry.. I like thick lashes. Thick and long lashes. That is what Lash Stylist gives me that no other mascara has ever given me.
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This looks pretty darn interesting. Supermodels — Backstage Beauty Secrets for Incredible Skin. This product by Nude Skincare , a natural skincare line, offers to give you incredible skin for $75. What is in it?? Well, it’s a kit that includes:
- 1.0 oz Cleansing Facial Oil
- 1.0 oz Moisturising Body Cream
- 0.17 oz Advanced Eye Complex
- 0.17 oz Age Defence Moisturiser
- 0.17 oz Replenishing Night Oil
- 0.17 oz Miracle Mask
The product claims to get rid of dry skin, fine lines, puffiness and dark circles. The products do not contain harmful chemicals whatsoever and is totally environmentally friendly. This sounds too good to be true.. right? Has anyone tried this ?? I want to hear your stories. There are not enough reviews on Sephora to convince me.
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There was a request from a reader named Sexy Sadie, who requested a plum smokey eyes tutorial. I decided to go ahead and do my version of plum / burgundy / purple eyes, a bit on the dramatic side, but hey, that’s what I’m all about.
This is picture heavy, and be patient with me. I spent my entire day doing this for you. =)
I used the Clarins Instant Smooth primer, which helps with minimizing pores, fine lines, you get the picture. I then used Revlon ColorStay (the original formula, which is discontinued) in Tawny using the MAC 180 flat top buffer brush (also discontinued). Some of these disc. items can be found on Ebay or through makeup swap sites like makeupalley.com
I added a thin layer of Diorskin Nude mineral powder with the Bare Escentuals handy buki brush.
I wanted to add a little shimmer /glow to the skin, so I found an eye shadow that comes in a tube and looks white when you look at it in the container, but on the skin, it’s a bluish, iridescent color. It adds a really cool touch around the eyes, which I will show later on.
I added Bare Escentuals, BareMinerals bronzer “Warmth” to the hollows of my cheeks using the handy buki brush.
Using my Anastasia brow stencil, I powdered in the brows with MAC Showstopper powder shadow. I did not use the second half of the brow stencil, I normally fill that part in freehand.
Now for your favorite part.. the eyeshadow. This was a bit tricky working with the pigment, which can be very messy if you are not careful. I had to wipe my under eye area a few times to make sure to get all of the fallen eyeshadow off. I made the mistake of not using a primer on my entire lid area, I guess I forgot. The end result would have been a smoother eye, but I forgot.. forgive me! Anyway, I applied the MAC Fluidline in Macroviolet on the lower lid using a concealer brush.
I then applied Macroviolet to the waterline inner rim of my eye, and a bit on the outside of that where the lashes are. I follow the brush up towards the outer corner of my eye to create a border.
I carefully patted the pigment over the bottom lid, being careful not to get into the crease area. I did not wet this product, it stuck to the lid pretty well all on its own.
These next two brushes are ones I have had for years. I love them. One is the must-have MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush, which is a really soft, blending brush that works great for blending the crease colors. The other brush is a big version of the 224, it’s the 225 brush, which I do not think is sold at MAC anymore.
This next part was scary. I had to wet the 224 brush, dip it into the Lancome Drama Purple shadow and then paint it in the crease. The only reason why I wet the brush was because the color was not showing up due to NO PRIMER..like I said, I totally forgot.
I blended the crease with the big 225 brush, I added just a little more of the Lancome shadow to the crease and a little bit of the MAC Pigment to the outercorner. I then used a regular flat eyeshadow brush and dabbed a bit of the iridescent loose powder shadow to the inner corners of my eyes and up into the inner corners of the crease area.
I felt as if I needed to work on the bottom portion of my eyes. I lined the inner rim waterline again with black gel eyeliner by Bobbi Brown. I thought it needed to be darker in that area. With the MAC 219 pencil brush, I used the Lancome Drama eyeshadow over the top of the MAC Fluidline that I put on earlier to give it that smokey look. I lined the top lid.
Maybelline Lash Stylist, baby!!!
After applying one coat of mascara to top and bottom lashes, I applied one of my favorite blushes of all time. Discontinued .. of course.. it was from a Benefit cosmetics limited edition line in about 2003 or 2004, called Shangri-la Sheers. This blush is really hard to find, but I’ve seen it on ebay. It’s also a hard color to find. It’s a really light lavendar, medium pigmented, not heavy.
I wanted to plump my lips for fun.. I haven’t used this in a while, but I busted out my LORAC Lip Addiction in Super Hot and let the burning begin.
My lips were burning, but it was pretty much worth it. The pictures don’t do it justice, and I couldn’t freaking focus the camera with one hand to get a good pic. The plumpng action lasts for about 15 minutes, good for pictures and stuff, but it’s not really going to do much as far as the entire day goes.
I applied MAC lipstick in Up the Amp over the top of the LORAC lip plumper, so it came out a lot more sheer than it would if I used it alone.
My purchase from drugstore.com arrived and I was very happy to see that my CoverGirl lipstains were in the box safe and sound, along with my Ojon haircare set ( I have yet to try Ojon, but I hear good things).
If you saw the post about my CoverGirl Outlast Lipstains, then you will know what I am talking about. See here: CG Lipstain Post
Here are the real pictures that I took after applying the stains:
The above photo is of the lipstain called Cinnamon Smile 445. It was a lot darker than I expected. These lipstains are quite pigmented and are not at all sheer. There is a slightly sweet taste to the stain, not one that I would particularly say was yummy, but it wasn’t terrible, either. I didn’t put a gloss over the top because I wanted to see how long the stain would last without it. I kept licking my lips over and over because my lips felt dry, so I ended up eating the stain off. I def. recommend using this with a chapstick or gloss so that you won’t end up chowing down on the stain like I did.
The above photo is of the “Plum” lipstain.. which turned out really brick red at first. I didn’t really see anything “plum” about it. I expected it to have a little more of a purple tint to it.
Is it worth it? Hmmm.. I have mixed feelings for these. They are not as long-lasting as the discontinued Eyeko cosmetics versions of the lip pens. There is a strange taste to the CoverGirl version and for some reason, I kept licking my lips. I noticed that in the middle of the day, my lipstain had faded, even with a clear gloss over the top, but it faded to a really nice sheer color. I applied the gloss at 8 am and it is now 3 pm, and I already ate, and the stain is still there, although it is not as intense as it was this morning, I was still glad to see something left there. I think the performance of this product will vary from person to person, and I would NOT recommend for people with dry lips as the stain will stick to the dry parts of the lips and look blotchy.
For those who are ready to move on beyond the Hello Kitty launch and onto something a little sweeter, take a look at this new collection from MAC called SugarSweet.
I think the most intriguing items from the limited line include the TriColour Lipglasses, which are three stacked gloss colors within one tube of gloss. With each application of the gloss, the colors will mix more and more. I also like the white lipstick called “Bubbles” which is a shimmery warm white, perfect for that 1960′s mod look.
To see the entire collection, check out the Official MAC Cosmetics website: maccosmetics.com SugarSweet
This has to be the funniest cosmetic product I’ve ever freaking seen. Wow.. the marketing department must have been rolling laughing while putting this one together. Not only is the gloss phallic shaped, but there is a holographic image of your “boyfriend” where the lid is.
You have to check out all of the “boyfriends” on the market at Sephora.com. My favorite is Julio.. he’s somebody’s baby-daddy!
Get a FREE 5 piece brush set with any $25 purchase. Use coupon code FREEBRUSH. Ends 6/01/09!!
There is so much to blog about this week.. but before I blow all my info out in one day (I will try to stretch it all through the week just to keep you coming back!!) I am going to blog about something that I am surprisingly excited about: Lindsay Lohan’s Self Tanner called Sevin Nyne.
Lohan and co-creator, Lorit Simon, developed an easy spray tan that is foolproof and actually looks like a real tan. No orange pumpkin face?? Well, that will have to be determined by me, a very pale skinned person who has had bad luck with most at-home self tanners. Sevin Nyne took a year and a half to develop and perfect, so although I am skeptical, I am still purchasing. The mist will be available at Sephora on May 1st. Mark your calendars, it’s time to tan!
NOTE.. I just heard that Lindsay just went back to rehab for the 4th time. Poor thing.. hope she recovers soon and for good this time around. ANOTHER NOTE: False alarm.. she was just taking a DUI class.
If you thought that Urban Decay’s Primer Potion lasted long enough, then wait til you see this!!! Urban Decay decided to super size their already perfect eyeshadow primer into a 60% larger product! This is an Ulta cosmetics store exclusive item, so you can only get it here: Ulta.com : UDPP XL : $22.00
I have a tip for everyone that still has a tube of the regular size of UDPP. Remove the inner core and you will get 6 more months of product. No joke!!! I pull out the core, starting where the top rim is of the product, and pull out a long plastic core, using pliers. The wand will then be able to reach more product. I don’t know about you guys, but my UDPP lasts about a year. I wonder how long the XL version will last!!!?
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