ProductWhores

Bronze Away

It's coming to that time of the year when I have to start using even more bronzer than usual to make my pasty white skin look like it's not, well, pasty white.  Because during the winter, I'm somewhat okay with looking so pale, but come on, I live in Los Angeles.  When the weather gets really hot and most of the rest of the people are walking around with a little tan, I feel the need to as well.  This year, I kinda want to try this new Silk Blush Bronzer Duo from SEPHORA COLLECTION.  It's $22, but I saw it at the store and it's HUGE, so it would last forever.  Plus, the colors seemed really natural and I feel like they'll do a good job of making me look tan instead of just dirty, which is what some bronzers do.  According to some of the reviewers on Sephora's site, it looks a lot like NARS' Orgasm and Laguna Highlighting/Bronzing Blush Duo, which is almost twice the price at $41, so if they're right, that's a big score.  Has anyone tried it yet?  Do I desperately need it or can I muddle through the summer with one of the bronzers I already own?

Chanel Goes to Vegas

Oh, Chanel.  Why must I love you so much when I can afford so little of your products...  I could seriously buy every single thing Chanel ever made if I didn't need to, you know, eat.  The new Las Vegas de Chanel collection contains four fabulous products, all in gorgeous shades of gold.  (The color of the coins I've never won in any of the slot machines there!)  Here are the four pieces you'll be coveting:

Lucky Strips - The Exclusive Creation of the collection concentrates the entire spirit of Las Vegas in its traditional square case. Lined up in rows, four shades of sand and bronze sweep through every variation of a fabulous desert in which gold embraces the sun and shines. On the surface of the colours, an embossed star design seems to extend a warm welcome to the city of dreams. For an illuminating makeover, a beveled brush is ideal for choosing and blending shades, sweeping lightly over the cheekbones, face or eyelids.

Rouge Coco Shine Brilliant - The extremely melt-away texture and playful spirit of the most mischievous CHANEL lipstick get into the game with a total golden look. BRILLANT: faithful to the style of Coco Chanel, its sheer golden shade gives a fun twist to the traditional codes of elegance.

Le Crayon Levres Vegas Gold - It accentuates the centre of the upper lip with a golden line. A makeup tip that adds a touch of light and emphasizes the fullness of a sparkling smile.

Le Vernis Gold Fingers - A semi-sheer golden lacquer glides over nails like a talisman for a Midas touch. 

If I could only buy one thing, it would definitely be the Lucky Strips palette.  I'm seriously swooning over it.  Gorgeous!

The collection is available now on Chanel.com and at the CHANEL Bellagio Hotel and Wynn Hotel boutiques. 

Find Some Pure Radiance

 

 Ooh, this sounds interesting!  NARS is introducing a new product, Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30/PA+++.  I'm a big fan of tinted moisturizers on the weekends or days I just want my skin to breathe a little, and NARS has really been impressing me lately, so this definitely intrigues me.  Plus, I love that is has an SPF 30.  More sun protection is always a good thing.  It's available at Nordstrom right now, but it won't be on NARScosmetics.com until February 15th, so if you're as curious as I am, this is an easy way to justify a field trip to your nearest Nordstrom's.  Keep me posted if you try it!

Stila Rolls Out The Red Carpet

 

I was one of those people who loved Stila's last collaboration with E! and all of their Live From The Red Carpet fun, so I'm excited that they're doing it all over again.  This year, there are four products in the new collection - a Solar Lighted Compact W/All Over Shimmer Duo, a Bring Out Your Glam Eye Shadow Palette, a Smudge Stick Duo + Forever Your Curl Mascara and a Lip Glaze Trio.  They all look really fun, don't they?  I especially think I need the eye palette and the Lip Glaze Trio (because clearly, I need MORE Lip Glazes even though I already have a ridiculous amount of them).  And how cute is the eye palette, with the stars in the middle of the shadows?  E! and Stila have sucked me in once again!

Get Yourself Camera Ready

 

BB Creams are the hot new product in the makeup world, but Smashbox's new Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35 is the first one I've tried.  Basically, they're sort of a hybrid of skin care and foundation, with Smashbox's version promising to "hydrate, prime, perfect, control oil and protect" skin.  What I like about is that it's an all in one formula, perfect for weekends or mornings when you only want to put one thing on your skin instead of going through all the steps of your routine.  I also like it as a primer - it definitely keeps my skin smooth and oil-free all day, which I kind of consider a bonus.  As far as a foundation, it leans more towards being lighter coverage - I would almost compare it to a tinted moisturizer - but it does get a little less sheer the more you put on, so you can build up more coverage.  I also love that it has an SPF 35 in it.  I'm militant about always wearing sunscreen and most makeup has (at best) an SPF of 15 or so in it, so to get one with more protection makes me very happy.  (Especially if I layer it over my actual sunscreen that has an SPF 50 - total overkill, but like I said, militant).  It's also fragrance-free, dermatologist tested and non-acnegenic, so anyone can use it and it's perfect for my sensitive skin.  Overall, I don't know if this'll replace my actual foundation every day, but it's awesome for the weekends and I'll definitely take it when I travel since it'll mean packing one tube instead of at least three or four.  More room for another pair of shoes!  I love beauty innovations!  

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Smashbox 

Wake Up Your Eyes

Concealer is one of my most hated makeup items to buy because a, it's kind of boring and b, I hate spending money on it.  It's just not a fun purchase for me.  But it's a totally necessary one because I never get enough sleep so I always have dark circles under my eyes.  Pixi's new Wakeup Concealer comes in a tube with a brush on the end, so it's easy to pack (I kind of hate taking pot concealers with me when I travel because they inevitably spill somehow).  I tried the lightest shade, No. 1 Cream, and it blended in well on my skin, but I'm very fair, so if you're at all darker skinned, you'll definitely want to get one of the two darker shades.  (There are only three shades available - Cream, Nude and Warm - so if you're in between shades, this might not be your perfect concealer).  The formula itself is nice - it's buildable so you can cover tiny imperfections as well as bigger ones - and it has calming and anti-inflammatory ingredients in it to treat your skin well.  At $18, it's not the cheapest conceler you can find on a Target run, but it does a good job and it's about the price of most of the ones at Sephora.  (Plus, you can buy T.G.I.F's frozen potato skins at Target and who doesn't love those?)  I sense a Target run coming in my near future...

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Pixi

Pocket Palette

I was at Sephora this weekend (big shocker there) and while I was standing in line drooling over all those little bins of goodness, I came across a new Sephora palette I hadn't seen before.  This adorable little guy is small enough to fit in a clutch, perfect for travel and is only $15.00.  The Color Flip comes with 8 shadows, 8 glosses, 1 blush and 1 highlighter and everything in the palette is definitely wearable.  I especially love the turquoise shadow and the glittery golden highlighter.  Also, if you haven't tried Sephora glosses before, this is the perfect chance to do so - their formula is really hydrating and the shades in this collection are beautiful.  I actually bought three of the Color Flips because, well, two of my friends will love them and I had to have one myself (really, it's only fair). 

Rock On With Napoleon Perdis

I don't think I'd ever tried any Napoleon Perdis face products before this one (or if I have, I'm somehow blocking it out) but now they've definitely sold me.  I've been pairing the Mattifying Mineral Primer with the Advanced Mineral Makeup SPF 15 during the day and it gives me nice, light coverage for the summer months.  

The Mattifying Mineral Primer is very cool because unlike any other primer I've ever tried before, it's a powder, not a liquid.  And the packaging has this little opening in it that works great to give you just the amount you need, so you're not using a quarter of the jar every morning.  (I hate products that make it impossible for you to ration out the right amount.  Why must they torment me that way?)  I just use a blush brush I already had in my arsenal of brushes to buff the primer all over my face, which takes all of fifteen seconds and is super easy.  I think I might almost like it better than liquid primers, to be honest.  It feels less heavy on my skin and more healthy.  The powder's translucent, so it doesn't leave behind any color on your face to interfere with your makeup, and it has a ton of antioxidants in it, like Grape Seed Extract and White Tea Extract, so it's actually good for your skin. 

  
I've been following it with Napoleon's Advanced Mineral Makeup, which is a liquid foundation that's also full of antioxidants and minerals.  I really like the way they make my skin look together.  I would say that the mineral makeup has light to medium coverage, so if you're the kind of person who likes full coverage, this might not be for you (although I do find that the coverage is buildable).  But if you're someone who likes foundation that lasts all day, helps control shine (along with the primer) and smooths out your skin, this one's definitely worth giving a shot.  The only drawback is that it's kind of pricey at $59, but it's great for people with sensitive skin since it won't irritate it at all, so the extra money might be worth ponying up in that case.  Matte away!

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Napoleon Perdis

A Super Hero To The Rescue!

I admit it - when I first heard the name "Super Spot Remover," it kind of reminded me of something I would use to get a stain out of my carpet.  (Being that I am a total klutz and spill something on it pretty much every week, I'm very familiar with these products.  I should really buy stock in Resolve because I get a new can of it almost every time I'm at CVS.  There are seriously four year-olds who don't spill as much as me!)  Then I tried it and all my giggles about the name ended pretty much immediately because this stuff really, really works.   

The Super Spot Remover is an acne treatment gel that you apply to your face when you're having a breakout.  Normally my skin is pretty clear, but about a month after I got a sample of it, I somehow manged to acquire a huge pimple on my chin.  Like, the gargantuan kind where when you talk to people, you can't even focus on what they're saying because you just know they're looking at you and thinking, "My God, that thing's taking over her face!"  My main complaint about gels like this in the past has been that when I've used them, they've inevitably sucked all the moisture out of where I applied them, leaving that skin red and flaky and making the zit even more noticeable.  Not so with the Super Spot Remover.  It managed to clear up my pimple in a matter of days while not at all making my skin peel off.  (A few days might sound like a long time, but seriously, this thing was huge.  There's no way it was taking less time than that.  I actually figured I'd still be covering it up in holiday pictures, that's how epic it was).  The gel contains salicylic acid for the treatment, but it also has caffeine and red algae to help with redness, so once you've applied it, you can just put on concealer and go.  I also love its vaguely medicinal scent - it's sort of clean and refreshing (which is a weird description) but for some reason, the scent just makes me feel like it's working.

The best part about it?  The bottle only costs $13.50, and while it's definitely a small size (.3 ounces) a little goes a long way, so it should last the average person with occasional breakouts a decent amount of time.  (Also, the size is perfect for travel or taking it with you during the day, which is what I did during The Week of the Monster Zit so I could reapply it at lunchtime).  I really hope my skin never does that to me again, but if it does, at least I'll be armed and ready to fight! 

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Origins

Primed & Poreless

Too Faced's Primed & Poreless Skin Smoothing Face Primer is such a fantastic change from the usual clear primers I've used.  This one has a slight tint to it, which fades right into skin and because of the slight color really wakes up the complexion.  I love the way feels (so smooth) and am especially impressed with how it makes my foundation work (completely hid all those nasty blackheads on my nose).  I also love that I can use it alone and still have a bit of coverage (really not much color when used alone, but definitely woke up my skin).  A great product and one that's always been under my radar for far too long.  On the pricey side at $30.00 but worth it!  Seriously, I've dropped $30.00 quickly in a lot of unnecessary ways, so at least this one makes my face look great.