The Life of A Ladybug

Bronze and Red

Last night's skincare:

• Cetaphil Daily Cleanser for Normal to Oily Skin
• Neutrogena Alcohol-Free Toner
• Berwick Beauty Coming Up Roses Night Cream (under eyes)
• Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Treatment
• Avon Anew Ultimage Age Repair Night Cream

This morning's skincare:

• Cetaphil Daily Cleanser for Normal to Oily Skin
• i.d. bareEscentuals skin rev-er upper
• Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Treatment
• Berwick Beauty Coming Up Roses Day Cream (around nose)
• MAC Moisturelush Eye Cream

Today's makeup:

• Bobbi Brown Luminous Foundation in Golden (applied with Beautyblender Sponge)
• Bobbi Brown Corrector in Dark Bisque (MAC 242SE brush)
• Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit in Golden (MAC 242 SE brush, MAC 224 SE brush for powder)
• tarte emphasEyes in Black (to line inner lower rim of lashes)
• Bourjois Metallic Eyeliner in Brun Inoxydable (lining upper and lower lashes)
• L'Oreal Voluminous Naturale in Blackest Black (two coats on upper lashes)
• Smashbox Fusion Eye & Cheek Color in Heatwave (as shadow and over blush)
• Sally Hansen (with Carmindy) Natural Beauty Bronzer in Summer (used darker end as contour color, lighter end as highlighter on cheekbones and under brow)
• NARS blush in Exhibit A (on apples of cheeks)
• Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15
• pop beauty lip smoothie in Salmon

Today's fragrance:

Philosophy Falling in Love

Today's outfit:

• red and white printed long-sleeve top from New York & Company
• brown double button pants from New York & Company
• gold printed leather pumps by BCBGirls
• gold hammered hoops from Claire's
• wedding set
• gold and pearl ring I bought on a cruise
• stretch bracelet with cowry shell and seashell dangles (a Mother's Day gift from Sarai)
• camel purse from Baghaus.com

CARGO blu ray highlighter/blush

Another product in CARGO's blu ray collection is the blu ray highlighter/blush.  Like the lip glosses quad, I find the highlighter/blush to be a very standard product.  The pale pink shade is probably too light to be used as a blush on anything but the fairest skintones, but as a highlighter, it works nicely to accentuate the tops of the cheekbones or under brows.  Still, you could achieve the same effect with any number of other products, so, while I like it, I don't love it.  Sorry, CARGO - you're still one of my favorite brands!

You can buy the CARGO blu ray collection in Sephora stores or on Sephora online.

Fresh Here Comes the Sun palette

Thanks to the lovely Suzanna, I decided to buy Fresh's Here Comes the Sun palette.  Blushes and bronzers are starting to become as much of a problem for me as lip glosses are, LOL! 

I like this palette, but I don't love it.  The highlighting and bronzing powders work nicely - they are actually light and dark enough, respectively, to function as they should.  Unfortunately, the soft pink of the blush isn't enough to show up on my skin without my having to layer it several times.  Even then, it only achieves a very natural blush - it doesn't offer any drag queen blush levels at all.  Which is fine, if you want to look polished and professional.  Also, the powders are very, very dry and powdery, meaning that, as soon as you touch your brush to it, it'll start flaking and blowing all over everywhere, so watch out for that.

You can get the Fresh Here Comes the Sun palette from Sephora.com.

Avon/mark. review

I am so incredibly fortunate that my lovely friend, Yalonda, is an Avon/mark. representative!  As a younger girl, I became enamored with Avon because my grandmother would order from their catalogs - all the products seemed so glamorous to me back then.  Now, I'm falling in love with this company all over again - they're coming up with such fun, innovative products, at such fabulous price points.

The mark caribbean shine lip gloss is really cute and fun!  Look at it - it's like fabulous little tubes of sand art!  I got the peach shade "Soak in the Sun" and the bronzy shade "Walk in the Sand."  I expected that these would go on sheer, but it's not so.  They aren't slap in the face with the color by any means, but the gloss is very creamy on the lips.  I love them both, but particularly "Soak in the Sun."  At $6 a pop, you can afford to get all three, if you want!

It's rare that I'm disappointed by Avon or mark, but in this case, I'm a bit disappointed.  The mark kiss therapy lip balm looks like it would be a good alternative to Rosebud Salve and its cohorts, but frankly, this balm pales by comparison.  It comes in great colors which actually add tint to the lips.  Unfortunately, it's sticky as all get out, which I can't stand and it really doesn't feel like balm on the lips at all.  I found that it doesn't relieve dryness much - it's like applying a thick, sticky gloss without moisturizing your lips first.  Not awesome.

I love the look of the Avon Smoldering Pastels Blush Duo.  It's quite a fab little blush.  The idea is that you use the darker outer circle as your blush color and use the light inner shade as a highlight.  That would be a good idea except that the bullseye formation of the blush makes it almost impossible to separate the two colors, at least if you're using the right size blush brush.  I tried to use them separately, but wound up mixing the colors inadvertently.  That wasn't too bad, though, since the resultant color was quite nice - bright enough to be seen on my brown skin, with a touch of glowiness from the highlight color.  Good job, Avon!  This blush is just $6.99 and it comes in the Coral Dream shade (which I got) and a more mauvey color.

You can purchase Avon/mark products on the Avon website or from your local Avon/mark representative.

Peachy browns and greens

Today's makeup:

• MAC Moisturelush Eye Cream
• YSL Touche Eclat in 3 (under eyes and under brows)
• Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder in 2 (under eyes)
• MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood (applied with my finger, all over my eye lid)
• Guerlain Ombré Eclat 4 Shades Eye Palette in Bronze Doré (light peachy nude as highlighter under brows, bronzy shade on lid, light celadon green on inner lid, dark green in crease and on outer v)
• Tarte EmphasEyes in Black (tightline)
• Bourjois Metallic Eyeliner in Brun inoxydable (to line upper and lower lashes)
• L'Oreal HIP Mascara in Ultimate Black (two coats on top lashes only)
• MAC Sculpt and Shape in Warm Light/Definitive
• mark. kiss theraphy lip balm in Shimmering Coral
• MAC lipliner in Cork
• Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Crystal Shine in BG 941S
• Dior Creme de Gloss in Beige Elixir

Today's fragrance:

Fresh Sugar Lychee

Today's outfit:

• brown s/s tee with bronze sequin placket on the neckline from Old Navy
• brown tweed cropped pants from New York and Company
• brown mock croc pointy-toed high-heeled mary janes from Isaac Mizrahi for Target
• bronze chandelier earrings (I don't remember where I got these)
• wedding set

Dude - I'm wearing more makeup than I am clothes!  HA!

Vincent Longo Water Canvas Blush

Vincent Longo Water Canvas Blush is an intriguing product.  It has a texture that I never have experienced before.  It feels very cool and spongy to the touch, almost like a stamp pad.  When I touched it, I couldn't imagine how it would deposit the color to my fingers, but it did.  When I pressed my finger against the product, I could see that a small amount of color did show up - I dotted it onto the apples of my cheeks and blended.  It blended quite easily with my fingers and did build up to a quite natural, but noticeable flush.  However, it did take three or four layers before I was able to achieve the look I wanted.  If you're as intrigued as I am by this product, go ahead and try it out, but be advised, if you're a brown gal, it'll take some doing to achieve the depth of color you need.

By the way, did I mention that it's hella expensive???  Yeah, it costs $42.50.  But if you're ballin' like that - pick it up!

100% Pure Cosmetics

As y'all know, QVC's Saturday Night Beauty holds a prominent place on my TiVo's Season Pass list.  Almost every week, I find a new line or product that I want to try.  I strongly suggest that, if you're as in love with beauty as I am, you watch SNB - it's a great way to find out about new or seldom-known beauty brands.

Week before last, the interesting products were from 100% Pure Cosmetics.  I found myself intrigued by the draw of using fruit pigments to color the products.  I just knew they would smell yummy and I had to have them!  I ordered two lipgloss duos, a lip & cheek stain trio and the mascara in Black Tea and Blackberry.  I'm not an all natural kind of girl, but putting soothing, natural products on my face sounded appealing.

Now I see why I'm not an all natural girl.  I mean, okay, these products don't royally suck or anything, but truthfully, they're just not that interesting.  The Lip & Cheek Stain is an okay product - the texture is quite lovely in its creaminess, but the tint is very faint and it takes me several applications before I feel that it's really showing up.  Not to mention that, halfway through the day, I looked in the mirror an noticed that it had gone a bit blotchy on me.  However, I didn't find that it faded quickly, so that's good.

The lipglosses come in very pretty, natural colors (duh!)   I expected them to glide on smoothly when - shock and awe - I found that they feel kind of gritty on my lips.  I don't know if it's the fruit pigments that do that, but whatever it is, I didn't find it to be a very pleasing experience.  Not to mention that I like my lipglosses to have a shiny finish and this doesn't.  It's decidedly creamy, almost like a liquid lipstick, but with not enough coverage to qualify.

And the mascaras.  Okay, they're not awful.  But they're not great.  They will add some length, but it requires several coats.  In the mornings, I just don't have time for all that.  The mascaras also didn't leave my lashes looking particularly dark or thick.  Thumbs down.  Just a very basic mascara.

ETA: I had my dance mentor, Lotus Niraja, try out the mascaras, as well.  While she likes the color of the Blackberry shade (a dark purple), the texture and overall effect of the mascara did nothing for her lashes.  She found the consistency to be almost oily and was surprised at how stringy her lashes looked after application.  She was pleased to announce, though, that she found they work well for grooming the brows, if you wipe a bit of product off the brush first.

So, to summarize - if you must try this line, go for the Lip & Cheek Stain.

You can buy 100% Pure Cosmetics on www.qvc.com.

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder

After having seen Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder touted all over the place, I decided to try it for myself.  I got it in shade 2, which is supposedly best for medium to dark skintones.  It still looks like an almost white translucent powder to me, which has a bit of luminescence to it.  I applied my normal concealer first, then dusted a tiny bit of Secret Brightening Powder over it.  Well, it works.  It definitely brightens the look of dark undereye circle.  This isn't really a concealer - it's just used to add some luminescence, which makes the skin appear lighter.

I also have applied this over YSL Touche Eclat and it works wonders on a casual day, when I don't want to wear concealer or heavy foundation.  Remember to be very light on your application - if you apply too much, you'll wind up with the reverse-raccoon look!

You can buy Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder on www.sephora.com or in Sephora stores.

Elizabeth Arden Colour Intrigue Bronzing Powder Duo in Bronze Beauty

I received the Elizabeth Adren Colour Intrigue Bronzing Powder Duo a couple months ago, but am just getting around to trying it out today and I am so upset with myself for just getting to it!  Not only does this duo offer a great bronzing effect without making your face overly shiny or full of glitter, but also it works so well as a contour/highlight duo!  In fact, truth be told, I like this better than I like MAC's Sculpt and Shape Duo.  The shades available in the Bronze Beauty compact work so much better for my skin - the shades aren't as dusty as the MAC ones and they are closer to the actual colors present on my face.

I used the darker shade in the hollows of my cheeks and around my hairline and used the lighter shade on my cheekbones and down the bridge of my nose.  Perfection, y'all.  A whole work day later - no added shine and the colors haven't turned orange on my skin.  Yes, indeed!

You can get the Elizabeth Arden Colour Intrigue Bronzing Powder Duo for $32 on www.elizabetharden.com or at any Elizabeth Arden counter.

Passionate about purple and Paint Pots

Seriously ... have I told y'all how much I love MAC Paint Pots?  Have I???  Because I do.  I love 'em, y'all.  They are the best.  Swipe it on with your finger, add liner and mascara and go.  A polished, slightly shimmery eye in seconds.  Yummylicious!

Today's skincare:

• Clean & Clear Foaming Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin
• Paula's Choice Blemish Control Liquid (or whatever it's called)
• MAC Moisturelush Eye Cream
• Elizabeth Ardene Intervene Moisturizer

Today's makeup:

• YSL Touche Eclat in 3 (under brows and under eyes)
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Deep (all over with BE Handy Buki brush and used as concealer with BE Max Coverage Concealer brush)
• MAC Paint Pot in Nice Vice (applied over lid and into crease with finger)
• tarte emphasEyes in Black (used to line upper and lower inner eye)
• MAC Dual-Edge Eye Pencil in Fab Orchid (upper lashline)/Dash Lily (lower lashline)
• Cover Girl Lash Blast in Very Black (two coats on top lashes)
• tarte cheekstain in blushing bride (applied to apples of my cheeks and blended with fingers)
• Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF15
• NYX Round Lipstick in B52
• MAC Lipgelée in Mega

Today's outfit:

• purple drape cowl neck top from Torrid
• brown tweed pants from New York & Company
• cream lace kitten-heels pumps by Isaac Mizrahi for Target
• silver dramatic crescent/rhinestone earrings from New York & Company
• wedding set
• camel large tote from baghaus.com

Today's fragrance: Fresh Sugar Lychee eau de parfum

Today's hair: sprayed with my homemade leave-in (water, leave-in conditioner, pomegranate seed oil, olive oil) and pulled up in a Tomoka's Twist with silver beads