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Cargo Cosmetics Lip Gloss Quad Is Back!

You guys!  You guys!  Cargo Cosmetics has re-released their amazingly wonderful award-winning Lip Gloss Quad in honor of their 20th anniversary.  This quad was my absolute go-to FOREVER (used to buy them by the buckets at Sephora back in the late 90s/early 2000s) so when I saw it was being re-released for a limited time only I about passed out!  It's every bit as wonderful as I remember - shades are all beautiful, formula is super creamy (not at all sticky) and I love the little brush that comes with it.  You can layer the colors or wear on their own.  The only huge disappointment is that they only released one palette (back in the day they had a million - okay may be not a million but a lot - of color options.  I'm hopeful if this quad does well they maybe, just might, consider bringing back some other ones.  Thank you, Cargo, for making my entire year with this re-release.  Costs $20 (worth every single penny) and can be purchased online at Cargo Cosmetics, Ulta and Kohls.

Note:  A sample of this item was sent to me by a PR representative working with Cargo Cosmetics.

I Belong To A Land Down Under...

Ever since Cargo left Sephora, I haven't gotten a chance to play with their products much.  So when I got the change to get my hands on their new Land Down Under Eye Shadow Palette, I jumped at the chance.  The palette has twelve shadows in it and is a great mix of neutrals and pops of color (Manly and Bondi are the two blues you see above and they're to die for) that makes it a perfect palette to travel with.  It was inspired by the sights and beaches in Australia, which I love because it's the top country on my list to travel to. (Someone take me with them!)  It's also evenly divided - six matte and six shimmer shades, so you can create either look, which lets you easily transition from day to night looks.  It also comes with a black liner to complete your looks (but let's be honest, how many of us really use the eyeliners in palettes?  I know I usually don't, at least...)  It had been so long since I'd used a Cargo shadow that I forgot how much I like them, but I really do.  The texture is soft, they blend easily and with a primer, they don't start to fade for my entire work day (about 6-8 hours or so).  The palette's on sale for $27.20 on Cargo's website right now, and for that price, you really can't go wrong.  (Plus, it'll give you a chance to check out more of their new products, like the Chill In The Six Eye Shadow Palette, which I'm highly coveting now after seeing it online).  Come back to Sephora, Cargo!  Come back...

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

 

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

The Essential Eye Palette

I used to be the biggest fan of Cargo Cosmetics - obsessively owning all of those amazing dual lipglosses that came in those tins (remember them??)  - so I was psyched when I was recently re-introduced to the brand!  Their somewhat new (it was released in February) Essential Eye Palette is absolutely to die for!  12 lovely shadows, a silky eye pencil in Black and 1 dual-ended brush make up this fantastic palette that retails for only 34 bucks.  I am so impressed with how smooth the shadows go on and how beautifully they blend together.  The shades are inspired by New York City (neutral tones of beige, brown, grey and black) and are great for a natural-looking daytime eye or a sultry evening one.  My fave color in the palette is a shimmery blue/grey tone Industry which looks especially striking on my blue eyes.  If you haven't seen Cargo Cosmetics for a while, it's time for a revisit as the palette isn't the only worthwhile purchase (their lip colors have such great pigment and range of colors).  Cargo Cosmetics are sold at several online retailers (Ulta.com, Beauty.com, Nordstrom.com) and at Kohl's stores nationwide.   As if I had to try and convince you to do some more online shopping... or make a trip to Kohl's for that matter...

Note:  A sample was sent to me by a PR representative working with Cargo Cosmetics.

Powder Perfection

After I put on my foundation in the morning, I always like to finish it off with a dusting of powder because it just tops off the look and prevents my skin from getting shiny, at least for a little while (nothing was stopping it this past week with temperatures over one hundred!)  For a long time, I used bronzer to give my pasty white self some color, but about a month ago, I realized that it just wasn't looking as natural as I wanted (it was less "I just got back from a tropical vacation" and more... Snooki) so I basically just stopped cold turkey. Sorry, dozen bronzers just waiting to be used in my stash, I think you're gonna have to wait awhile before you step up to the plate.  So I was on the hunt for a new translucent powder that would control shine with a sheer color.  Enter CARGO's CARGO_HD Picture Perfect Translucent Powder.  The powder itself comes in a pot that you just sort of shake to get product out of.  It's only available in one shade that self-adjusts to every skin tone, so that makes shopping for it easy.  No more accidentally buying the wrong shade!  It contains a high-resolution technology that helps to diffuse lines, pores and any other imperfections that you want to conceal.  (Uh, all of them?)  I love it because it doesn't settle into skin and make it look dry, it just sort of weighlessly covers my skin and makes it look much more flawless than it really is.  CARGO calls it "a photo filter for the complexion" and I like that description - it's especially perfect for days when you know you'll be photographed a lot because it blends in seamlessly in pictures. You definitely won't have the dreaded makeup line along your jawline with this product!  I thought I'd miss my bronzer a little bit, but I really don't.  Translucent powder, for the win!       

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

CARGO Sale!

So apparently, CARGO is no longer going to be carried at Sephora, which makes me really sad because I'm a big fan of their products.  I hope this doesn't mean the brand is going out of business or won't be around much longer.  The only bright side is that it means that Sephora is having a huge sale on all the CARGO products they still have in stock.  Score!  I was able to get The Eastern Eye Pencil Collection for only $9 and I was hoping that my Sephora would have The Runway Palette too, but I was far too late for that.  (The CARGO section seriously looked like kids on a sugar high had gone through, grabbing everything they could get their grubby little hands on.  There was practically nothing left.  It was very depressing.  You know how sad empty houses look when all the furniture is taken out and the new owners haven't moved in yet?  That's what it reminded me of).  It seems like Sephora.com still has some things left, but not a lot, so you better move super quickly if you want to get in on this great deal.  Don't even finish reading the rest of this sentence.  Go now!

Liquid Gold

Every once in awhile, a product comes along that's so genius, you wonder why no one invented it before and why it took you so long to buy it in the first place.  It happens rarely, but when it does, I can't stop talking about the product that's gotten me so excited (sad, I know).  And right now, I'm obsessing over Cargo's Liquid Powder.  It's technically not a new product since it's been out for awhile, but that just makes me look stupid for walking by such a great product so many times, so let's just gloss right over that fact.  It's just a great idea - it's a liquid that comes in a tube, but when you smooth it on your face, it dries to a matte powder finish, making your skin look (dare I say it?) flawless.  You can use it over your foundation, by itself, or even as a makeup primer, so it's really versatile.  Best of all, if you like to touch up your face during the day (like me), but hate how gross the powder puff in your compact can get (they're like little germ factories!), this is the perfect product for you since you can just throw the container in your bag and not worry about an applicator.  I especially like the way it feels on my skin compared to the powder I had been using - it takes away the midday shine I can sometimes get, but doesn't look heavy at all.  (I have a secret fear of turning into one of those old ladies who looks like she put on her makeup with a spackle).  Seriously, if someone can make a powder this magical, can a fat free double chocolate chip brownie be far behind?

Photo courtesy of Cargo

Cruel Summer

Even though it's a hundred degrees in Los Angeles (which, sadly, is still about twenty degrees less than it has been lately), all of the stores are putting out their long-sleeved clothes and my local drugstore already has a Halloween display up. Halloween! Which can only mean one thing - fall weather is right around the corner. Thank God, because I could seriously have bought myself and all of my friends iPhones with the money I've spent to air condition my apartment these past few months. And yet, as happy as me (and my allergies) will be to see the summer go, there's still a small part of me that feels a little sad. So to alleviate that sadness, I did what any woman would do - I went shopping for summer stuff on sale, which inevitably led me to Sephora, which in turn led me to Cargo's Bronzing Kit. It's a great value, for only $35, you get a bronzer (with a big, fluffy brush), a PurseGloss in a bronzy shimmer called Baja (I am sad to say that Baja will always and forever remind me of 90210 and Dylan McKay), and an EyeBronzer. Although the Sephora website did make me laugh when it said that the products all come in a reusable gift tin - Okay, is there anyone on the planet who ever reuses tins like these? What would they even be reusable for? I guess you could store paper clips or something in them, but note to Sephora, that is not a selling point you should be using. Still, $35 seems like a small price to pay to hold on to that last fading bit of summer. And unlike putting on your bathing suit one final time, you don't even have to suck in your stomach to do it. Sign me up!

Smoking Hot

I don't technically own this Cargo Smoky Eye Kit yet, but I had to write about it since I just saw it online and will be going to Sephora to purchase it as soon as possible. I've been lusting after the Smoky Eye combos and the adorable brush that goes with them since they came out, but even though I've played with them more times at the store than I can count, I always forced myself to walk away since the eyeliner duos are $28 and the brush is $32. That's $60, which is kind of pricey. But I didn't want to buy one without the other because, well, it just seems wrong. (I have the same issue with magazines - there are just certain ones that go together and they can't be bought separately. Yes, I know I'm weird). It's things like this that make me love it when companies put together sets because they're almost always a fantastic deal. For only $39, you get the Eyeliner duo in Budapest (a grey color), the brush and a mascara. It's almost like getting the eyeliner and mascara for free! I love free! Plus, the grey duo is the one I wanted to buy anyway, so it's not like they're doing what some companies try to get away with and putting the really ugly colors that no one wants in the cute set. I know I'll actually use all three things in the Smoky Eye Kit and how often can you say that? Hhm, now I'm all excited - Why can't Sephora be open 24 hours so I could run over and get it right now? Hey, that would be a fantastic idea - an all night beauty store! A drive-thru all night beauty store! How come no one's opened one of those before? Actually, I'll bet one is coming soon. If Taco Bell and Home Depot can do it, how can Sephora be far behind?

Gloss Made Specifically For My Purse

Cargo has made a fantastic move - they have put some of their best-selling glosses that usually come in the annoying tins into tiny little squeeze tubes!  I am so happy that I finally don't have to dip my finger into any more of their tins.  Instead, I can squeeze their amazing gloss onto my lips while I'm walking to my car in the morning, if I want to.  Nothing better than multi-tasking, I always say.  I suppose one drawback would be the size of the tube (tiny) and the chance that too much gloss can be applied, wasting the precious stuff.  However, I will happily take those drawbacks over the giant tin that was always hard to fit into my purse and the fact that I always suffered the sticky finger.  The Purse Glosses come in 9 shades - some shimmering, some sheer, all are fabulous.

Who Doesn't Love Plants?

Man, actresses get all the perks. Free clothes, cool party invitations, kissing scenes with gorgeous men... And now they get to design their own lipstick colors too? Un. Fair. If I didn't like the new CARGO PlantLove Botanical Lipsticks so much, I'd be really bitter. This new line of colors comes in recyclable, environmentally friendly tubes made entirely out of corn. Seriously, that's genius. I need to buy them all because that way if I get trapped in my car when the next big earthquake hits, I'll be able to survive for days off just the different shades in my purse. And the cute outer carton with the colored design on it is made out of flower paper with real flower seeds in it, so you can actually plant it and end up with a bouquet of real flowers. How cool is that? If I didn't have a black thumb and kill all plants, I would be all over that. The lipsticks come in twelve shades, but my favorite is Mariska, the one designed by Mariska Hargitay. It's a sheer brown that looked great on - colorful, but matte and natural all at the same time. Who knew Detective Olivia Benson could make such a damn fine lipstick? She's wasting her time chasing perps when she should be designing for Clinique. The colors aren't cheap at $20, but $2 from every sale goes to the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, so that alone makes it worth it. I mean, really, between the recycling, planting and donations, you'll probably feel worse about yourself if you don't buy at least one of these. At least that's what I'm telling myself...