The Life of A Ladybug

Guest blogger Dori offers several product reviews!

My girl, Dori - a dance friend and one of the sweetest people I know has done me the favor of testing several products for me and writing up some reviews for you all.  Enjoy!

Vitamin C Power Brightening Cream SPF 25 WITH VITAMINS E & B5 $32.50

Claims: hydrating cream brightens skin and helps reduce discolorations and uneven skin tone while protecting skin from the sun’s harmful rays, environmental aggressors and damaging pollution, with a triple vitamin cocktail and SPF 25. 

 

I Say:  I’ve been using this cream for 2 weeks each night before bed and I LOVE this stuff.  My skin is clearer, looks fresher and I’ve been getting compliments on how young I look and how clear and bright my face it.  Because it’s a thick, hydrating cream, it has replaced my night cream.  This will indefinitely be a part of my skin care regimen!

 

 

 

 

 

Chanel powder blush $42.00

Claims: Unique powder blusher imparts a flattering radiance to cheeks. Remarkably silky texture for easy application and subtle shading.

  I Say: I have both Enchanteresse and Rose Petale.

  Rose Petale provides a soft blush for day and I use Enchanteresse

  For shows and for night.  They both have a shimmer finish and go on

  very silky.  The colors are controllable and do not overwhelm when applied properly.

  The best blush I’ve ever tried.

 

Mally Beauty Cancellation Concealer Duo

The Mally Beauty Cancellation Concealer Duo is another Saturday Night Beauty find.  I love Mally's appearances on SNB.  She's always great fun.

I ordered the duo in the "Rich" shade and it works quite well for my MAC NC45 skintone.  I do think Mally would do well to include at least one deeper shade duo.  Mally promised that the powder included in the kit would lock in the creamy concealer, keeping it from budging or creasing throughout the day, as well as serve to brighten the under eye area.  Let's test those assertions, shall we?

Free concealer samples from Three Custom Color Specialists!

  Three Custom Color Specialists is offering free concealer samples with any online order (no minimum purchase) through April 23rd.

Use it full coverage to conceal redness or dark circles, apply with a wet sponge to use as a foundation or blend with your favorite face cream to create the perfect tinted moisturizer.  Three Custom Color Specialists feels so strongly about their Creme Concealer/Foundation that they invite you to request samples of up to three different shades with any online order.  Just indicate which shades you would like to try in Customer Notes during checkout and get flawless!

Prescriptives All Skins

 

News from Prescriptives!

Prescriptives has over 170 shades and nine formulas of foundation from which to choose!  They also have the Colorprint SM service where they can determine your skin's undertones and find your exact-match foundation or Custom Blend a foundation for you!  (I have had Custom Blending in powder and foundation forms and was extremely pleased with the result.  Which reminds me that I need to go back to Prescriptives for another Custom Blended foundation.)

With Custom Blend Makeup, a blender indentifies your skin's undertone and creates shdeas and formulas that are perfect for you by allowing you to personalize everything from the shade to the amount of coverage.  You can even add anti-aging or brightening ingredients!

I highly recommend Prescriptives foundations, particularly their Color Matched foundations, for women of all colors!  And for us Women of Color, who have such a hard time finding our match in the department store beauty lines, this is a Godsend!

Favorite Things 2008!

 

It's that time of year again!  I've been invited, once again, to share with you all my Favorite Things from the past year.  Now, not all of these products were released in 2008, however, 2008 is the year I became aware of them and fell in love with them.  I'll be adding a link to my previous review of each pick, so you can see my initial thoughts.

1. MAC See-Thru Colour in Not So Shy.  2008 was the Year of the Lip Stain for me, so you will see several of them on this favorites list.  This particular one is a bright fuschia gel and it is love.

2. MAC Cream Colour Base in Crushed Bougainvillea.  Okay, I just lied.  2008 was the Year of the Lip and Cheek Stain.  This past year, my normally uber-oily skin started having patches of dryness and I've had a great time finding more moisturizing products.  Cheek stains are awesome.  This one matches the above-mentioned See-Thru Colour and I almost always wear them together.

Cover Girl Natural Hue Minerals Pressed Powder and Bronzer

"Every woman is a queen!"  The slogan alone is enough to make me love the Cover Girl Queen collection.  Thankfully, the products are good, too!

Cover Girl Queen has introduced their new Natural Hue Minerals collection.  It's great that bargain brands are also getting into the mineral craze, as many beauty lovers want to be able to buy mineral products, but might not be able to afford the products put out by pricier brands.  I got a chance to try both the Natural Hue Minerals Pressed Powder and the Natural Hue Minerals Bronzer.

In the Natural Hue Minerals Pressed Powder, I received Light Bronze 1, which I was skeptical about.  After looking at the website, I thought the shade would be too light for my skin.  I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the shade worked very well.  Like the Cover Girl TruBlend makeup, I think the Natural Hue Pressed Powder is formulated to work well with a large range of skintones.  I tried applying the powder two ways: with the included sponge and with a kabuki brush designed for mineral powder application.  When using the included sponge, I found that the Pressed Powder went on quite powdery, however, it soon melded with my skin and looked more natural.  When using a kabuki brush, the powder looked much more natural immediately and seemed to sink into my skin.  I think I will continue using the kabuki brush for application.  I found that the powder worked pretty well at oil absorption - I didn't notice much breakthrough shine until the end of the day and, even then, it wasn't so bad that I felt the need to blot or re-powder.

The Natural Hue Minerals Bronzer is nice, but not fabulous.  I think the shade that I received, Brown Bronze, is comparable to the CARGO bronzer in Medium, and the shine is about the same, as well.  If you've been interested in trying the CARGO bronzer, but it was too expensive, the Natural Hue Minerals Bronzer will be a good purchase for you.  I was a bit disappointed because I thought Brown Bronze would be the right shade for me, but it didn't give me the bronzy effect I was looking for.  Next time, I will try the Ebony Bronze.  Still, it's a good product, if you can find the shade you need.

You can buy the Cover Girl Queen Natural Hue Minerals Pressed Powder and Bronzer wherever Cover Girl products are sold.

Old Favorites Challenge #2

So, here's today's face - old favorites in bold!

• bareEscentuals Mineral Foundation in Tan
• bareEscentuals Tinted Mineral Veil
• YSL Touche Eclat in 3
• MAC Brows Pencil in Spiked
• Anastasia Brow Gel
• Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Beach Honey, Burnished.  I don't know why I haven't been using these more often.  They are luscious.
• Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Chocolate Shimmer Ink.  I really should wear this one and the Black Plum Ink one more often.  They go on so silky smooth and look great with just the tiniest hint of a wing at the end.
• L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara.
• MAC Bronzing Powder in Refined Deeper Bronze
• NARS Blush in Exhibit A
• Smith's Brambleberry Rose Lip Balm
• MAC Lip Liner in Cork
• MAC Lustre Lipstick in 1N.  One of my favorite lipsticks ever and I need to rock it more often!
• MAC Lipglass in Illicit

So, how 'bout you?  What old faves did you rock today?

Old Favorites Challenge #1

Yesterday, as I was going through my makeup, I realized that I have so many old favorites that I neglect, either because I'm testing lots of products or because I've found new things that I love, so they're in heavy rotation.  So, this week, instead of constantly reaching for the newest thing, I'm committing myself to trying to use some of my old favorites in new and interesting ways.  So, here's today's makeup, with my old favorites in bold and how I've used the makeup to create my look.  I decided to go for cool smoky eyes with very neutral warm colors on the rest of the face.

On eyes:

• MAC Eye Kohl in Violet Underground.  I used it to draw on a very thick line on the top lashline and to smudge into my bottom lashes.  I also used it for tightline.  I smoked out the pencil on the lid with my Sephora smudge brush.
• Bobbi Brown Shimmering Nudes palette.  Espresso on the lid, mixed with the Violet Underground; above that, Mica Shimmer Wash shadow, then Nude Mist, followed by Nude Beach to highlight.
• L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara.  Three coats on my top lashes and one on the bottom.  I'd forgotten just how inky black and luscious my lashes look with this stuff - love, love, love!!!

On face:

• bareMinerals Foundation in Tan.  I've been loving Warm Tan, but for fall and winter, Tan suits my skin better.  I used this as concealer and foundation.
• bareMinerals Tinted Mineral Veil.
• YSL Touche Eclat in 3.  Used to lighten dark circles under my eyes.
• Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder in Deep.  This stuff is so awesome!  Great as contour on my hairline, under jawline, and as a matte bronzer on my cheekbones.
• MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Feeling.  A great neutral blush.

On lips:

• Smith's Brambleberry Rose Salve.  One of my all-time faves.  All the Smith's lip balms are in heavy rotation.
• MAC Lip Liner Pencil in Cork.
• Mally Beauty Lip Gloss in B Sexy.  Why, oh why, do I not use this little gem more often?  Completely non-sticky and high gloss and a fab nude color, to boot!  Adore!

So, what are you rocking today?  Tell me in the comments!  And join the challenge!  Every day I'll be posting about what old faves I've worked back into my makeup wardrobe - tell me what you're gonna try!

MAC Mineralize Loose Powder Foundation

I am of two minds on the MAC Mineralize Loose Powder Foundation.  On the one hand, I think it works great as a loose finishing powder - it goes on smoothly and adds a wonderful polished look to the face.  But, as foundation?  Nah.  The formulation is way too sheer to count as any kind of substantial foundation; the powder puff thingie included with it doesn't work well for blending or applying; it's ridiculously messy in the container because the top doesn't lock on well.  The MAC site says that it can be built up to medium coverage, but I disagree.  If you're looking for a mineral foundation from MAC, I recommend that you choose the much better Mineralize Skinfinish Natural.  If you're looking for a loose finishing powder, MAC also has a better option in their Select Sheer Loose Powder, which comes in larger, less messy packaging.

You can get the MAC Mineralize Loose Powder Foundation at your local MAC store or counter, or on www.maccosmetics.com.

Proud member of Total Beauty, The Beauty Blog Network, and Glam.

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer

 

If you've been a regular reader of mine for awhile, you'll know how much I revere the genius that was Kevyn Aucoin.  (And if you're a new reader, now you know.)  Sadly, I will never know Kevyn in this life but he left behind great examples for me to follow as a burgeoning makeup artist and he left behind some great products.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase a pot of Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer.

At $45, Sensual Skin Enhancer can be a hit to the pocketbook, particularly when you realize just how tiny the pot is.  However, for such a multi-use product, it's a steal, especially when you consider that a pin-sized amount is enough to hide a myriad of sins.  I have been using this little pot of miracle for several days and it has functioned primarily as spot treatment.  I have used it under my eyes to hide dark circles, around my nose to counter redness and on dark spots left behind by previous pimples.  And it rocks.  That's all I can tell you.  It's creamy and moisturizing, but not too much so and it blends in perfectly with my skin.

You need this stuff in your life.  Trust me on this.  Ding!  Pick it up!

You can find Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer at Sephora or on Kevyn's website.

Proud member of Total Beauty, Glam, and The Beauty Blog Network.