One post…two reviews!
So, I’m going to review the Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes and the Lancôme Doll Lashes. I decided to review these two as they both had similar, unique brushes and I wanted to see if one could be used as a dupe for the other.
First the individual reviews.
In the red corner…Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes (LOL)!!!
Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes
Click here for more of the review!!!
Hey!
So Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, is releasing their Spring/Summer 2012 collection on March 23rd. Closely following the hot trends of bold, saturated colours and colour-blocking, OCC presents The Garden.
From OCC:
Spring has sprung at OCC and hidden among the lilacs and pansies is a different shade of floral. Inspired by psychotropic and poisonous plants, this collection turns traditional spring pastels upside down, injecting them with hallucinatory notes of nearly-neon vibrancy. Mixed in are more subtle neutral lip shades, meant to be paired with a dizzying flash of color on the eyes, in this garden of earthly (and unearthly) delights.
The Garden Collection:
Lip Tar – a mix of brights and neutrals (as seen in the image from L to R)
OCC Lip Tars, image courtesy of PR
When Lori Taylor tweeted last December about some new lipsticks that Smashbox was bringing out, I was intrigued! I was eager to feed my newfound passion for lipsticks. Fast forward to the new year and I couldn’t wait to place my order!
Smashbox’s Be Legendary Lipsticks are new for Spring/Summer 2012.
Smashbox's Be Legendary Lipstick
There are 22 shades, from neutrals to brights to deeps and they also come into a variety of textures from mattes to creams to shimmers. Smashbox also added shea butter and antioxidants Vitamin A and E for the creamy lipsticks. The shea butter adds creaminess and moisturization properties and the essential vitamins act as antioxidants and therefore can protect the lips. The matte shades also contains Vitamins A and E.
So there has always been a desire to have long-wearing makeup and now pretty much every major cosmetic line brings out makeup that promises to last and last. No one wants to work on a look only for it to crease an hour later.
Just in time for this season and NYFW, Maybelline brought out 10 new shades for their new Color Tattoo By EyeStudio 24hr Eye Shadow. These come in glass pots with black screw caps that look very similar to M.A.C.’s Paint Pots. Speaking of Paint Pots, they contain 5 gms of product while the Maybelline product contains 4 gms. The thick-walled glass makes the containers durable and I had no problems with the seal on the cap. I really liked that Maybelline chose to release a good mix of really bright, bold colours, with some neutrals as well as both shimmer and non-shimmer textures. They are described as a cream/gel and again the texture is very similar to the Paint Pots. Very creamy and smooth, although the shimmer shade that I tried was slightly less creamy than the matte shade. They also have really good pigmentation and they can be applied lightly for a sheer wash or more heavily for and opaque finish. Dry time is pretty quick so that you have to work quickly to apply product to the eye. Typically for a creamy product that comes out of a pot, I use a stainless steel palette knife but you could also use a synthetic brush or your fingers to scoop out the product! Maybelline has marketed this new product as just a cream eye shadow, without use a base or in combination of other shadows. I tested this new item on my upper eyelid, without the aid of a primer or setting with a powder eyeshadow. I got about 5 hours of wear before I saw the first signs of creasing and it was minimal. While my eye shadow looked fine for the rest of the day, I don’t think that this will last for 24 hrs. Which is not a bad thing anyway. Who really needs all that?
Now to the colours!
The first is #35 Tough as Taupe.
Maybelline's Tough as Taupe
Click for more photos and swatches!!
Image courtesy of Urban Decay
Sale alert!!
Urban Decay is having their Friends & Family Sale!!!
I was really excited to go to this event, created and hosted by beauty and lifestyle blogger Lianne Farbes of The Makeup Girl. Cocktails & Couture brings together some amazing bloggers, fashionistas, PR gurus, photographers and brands. Some of these brands include Lierac, Proactiv, Aveeno, Clairsonic, tarte cosmetics, Hpnotiq, Atopalm and PopChips. I loved the idea that this event was held at the Caravan Stylist Studio in Midtown Manhattan. The place was packed, vibes were flowing and I was able to meet some amazing people!
Including Ms. Lianne Farbes…
Me, with Ms. Lianne Farbes
Day 2, actually night 2, found me attending Blogger’s Night Out at The Caulfield. Blogger’s Night Out was created by bloggers for bloggers and it’s a great way to meet and network with other fashion/beauty bloggers from all over the country. People came dressed to the nines and de place was jam packed!! I definitely picked up some new style ideas! The event also featured booths hosted by various sponsors showing the latest trends for spring and summer.
This booth was hosted by Plastics Make It Possible
Colour of the year, Tangerine
Hey!!
So New York is in the throws of New York Fashion Week – Autumn/Winter’12. There are models, designers, makeup artists, bloggers, photographers running all over the city!
So last Thursday, Mattie from Mattielogie hosted a mixer for fashion bloggers of colour. I loved the idea of meeting other bloggers of colour especially in an industry like fashion. Since fashion and beauty go hand in hand, I found myself at Pranna. Pranna is a SouthEast Asian restaurant that is beautiful and huge! I definitely need to return for full dinner.
Pranna
Click here for more the mixer!
What’s going on???
One of the things that I love doing on the weekends (besides eating) is using an all-over body scrub. My skin gets super dry, itchy and flaky especially during the colder months. The wintery air and the dry heat of the radiator leaves my scaly. I sometimes even get dry patches that makes it look like I am moulting! So once a week, I exfoliate using a body scrub.
Exfoliation is vital to any skincare routine. The body generates new skin cells in the dermis (the innermost layer of skin) roughly every 28 days. As these new skin cells get older, they get pushed to the outermost surface of the skin (the epidermis), eventually die and gets filled with keratin (a protein). This keratin helps protect the skin from outside world. The epidermis then naturally gets eroded (or falls off) and so the cycle continues. As we get older, this constant process becomes less efficient and that leads to patches of flaky, dead skin cells that makes the skin less smooth. Also, when you apply moisturizers, serums, treatments etc., this flaky skin prevents these nutrients from getting to the deeper layers of skin. This is where exfoliation is important. When you remove this outer layer, you reveal fresher, healthier, younger looking skin and all your treatments are more effective. You want glowy skin? Start with exfoliation!
Recently I have been using the SheaMoisture Organic Argan Oil & Raw Shea Body Scrub with Frankincense & Myrrh.
SheaMoisture Organic Shea & Argan Oil Body Scrub
Hi,
So the Iris Apfel for M.A.C. collection came out a few weeks ago and this was a bright collection in the middle of winter doldrums. This collection was inspired by rare and exotic birds, and is just in line with fashion and beauty trends for 2012. Here are the details.
Image courtesy of M.A.C.
Anyway, here is a quick swatch of 4 of the lipsticks.
