The Life of A Ladybug

MAC Colour Craft collection

Oooh, y'all!  The MAC Colour Craft collection will be on counters and in stores on July 9th and I WANT!  Looka here, looka here!  (My lemmings in bold!)

Lipstick

Madly Creative: pink neutral with white pearl

Ever Embellish: plum brown with red pearl

Made With Love: bright coral pink

Colour Crafted: milky pink

Trimming Talk: bright fuschia

Most Popular: purple with yellow undertone

Lipglass (three shades swirled together to create a one-of-a-kind marble finish

Pretty Pattern: warm dirty beige

Crazy Haute: blue pink

Nice Mix Up: burnt ginger

Funky Fusion: pink coral

Eclectic Edge: cool violet

Miss Marble: muted pink

More on Mineralize Shadows, Blushes, and Skinfinishes after the cut!

Ladybug Loves ...

• BareEscentuals Foundation in Warm Tan
• Pacifica solid perfumes
• tarte eyeliner in ballet dancers
• Too Faced "The Bronzed & The Beautiful" Bronzing Powder Collection

BareEscentuals Purist Collection

 

Okay, so by now, y'all know about my obsession with QVC's Saturday Night Beauty and how I get sucked in almost every week.  Well, it's not just SNB that gets me.  I also pay attention to when my favorite beauty brands will be doing their own show.  A couple weeks ago (or was it last week ... they all run together) it was BareEscentuals' anniversary on QVC.  I spent way too much time that day watching Leslie Blodgett and Lisa go into raptures over BE.  As a BE user myself, I was quite taken with all the pretties and could not keep myself from purchasing the new Purist kit.

Bronzers for Brown Girls: LORAC TANtalizer Baked Matte Satin Bronzer SPF 15

 As you all know from my "Bronzers for Brown Girls" series, I constantly am on the lookout for a bronzer which actually meets my needs and the needs of bajillions of other brown-skinned beauties.  We want to be able to achieve bronzed bombshell look, too!  Sadly, many bronzers aren't deep enough in color to work for us.  I get it - the beauty industry assumed that, as brown folks, we wouldn't need a bronzer.  Well, WRONG!

So, allow me to extend a hearty "Good on ya!" to LORAC for creating the LORAC TANTalizer Baked Matte Satin Bronzer SPF 15.  This product is great for many reasons.

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.

 

Freeze 24-7 Minerals

 

In the last few weeks, I have had the chance to try out Freeze 24-7's new Mineral Collection.  According to the brand, the collection is a "fusion of ground-breaking skincare and pure color makeup, powered with revolutionary Vita-Nutriplex Technology to provide a 96% reduction in the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, pore size, discoloration and sun spots."  Well, I can't attest to most of those claims.  The only issue I have is large pores on the area near my nose.  In that regard, yes, this product does work.  When brushed on, the appearance of the pores are reduced - they're almost unnoticeable.  If I didn't know to look there, I wouldn't notice it.  So, yay!

The included face brush is kind of scratchy and doesn't offer the fuller coverage of, say, BareMinerals' brushes.  However, the two included shades of foundation (I have the Medium/Tan collection) work well for my skin.  If you don't need much coverage and you're a medium brown complexion, I think this set is good.  You are instructed to use the lighter of the two foundation shades as a concealer for undereye darkness and any redness.  It does not work well at lightening dark undereye circles, but it does do well at covering redness.  I would suggest that you stick with whatever concealer you're already using for your undereye region.  You can use the two foundation shades to mix and match a shade that would work best for you.  You also could use the included Bronze-to-Glow as a way of darkening the shade a bit, if necessary.  The Bronze-to-Glow is a great bronzer/cheek color that looks wonderful alone or layered under your chosen blush shade.  I like it much better than BE's Warmth.  Also included in the collection is a Cheeky Highlighter, but I was underwhelmed.  It didn't add much light to my face, at all.  It could have been left out, in my opinion.

I'm quite pleased with this collection overall and will continue to use it regularly.  Still, at $85, I find it a bit pricey.

Katrina's Bellydance Beauty Bag!

Katrina is from The Dalles, OR and is a student dancer, primarily studying American Tribal Style, with a few Middle Eastern Dance classes thrown in for good measure.  Katrina says that her personal dance style is still evolving, but she finds herself trending toward "tribaret" (also known as "glamour tribal").

Let's watch Katrina go from cute, ordinary girl to glammed up tribaret dancer!

Here's what she used:

loreal infallible foundation
loreal HIP loose pigment  : exciting
loreal HIP bright shadow duo  : riotous
maybelline shine-free loose powder
mybelline great lash mascara  : black
revlon bare it all lustrous powder  : buff love
revlon golden affair sculpting blush  : rose rapture
revlon creme gloss : wine anytime
mac glitter eyeliner : blitzed
mac fluidline  : blacktrack
mac paint pot  : bare study
lash grip eyelash adhesive

Here's Katrina before:

 

MAC Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Collection

MAC's newest collection, "Blonde, Brunette, Redhead" is available on counters and online today!  I've already made my purchases and, if you know what's up, you'll Tonto jump on it (I got that phrase from  my friend, Shanna)!  This is a heavily anticipated collection and from the sneak peeks I've gotten the anticipation is warranted.  If you only have a bit of money, just go out and buy the Mineralize Skinfinishes - they are delectable.

Here's the scoop on the collection (the stuff I bought is bolded):

Redhead:

LIPSTICK
MARQUISE D’ SANDY CREAM PEACH
BLOW DRY PINK CORAL

LIPGLASS
LIVE AND DYE COOL PINK
RED DEVIL CORAL ORANGE

EYE SHADOW
FLIP BRONZE GOLD
FRENCH CUFF BURGUNDY PURPLE
100 STROKES ICE PINK

EYE KOHL
TEDDY DARK-EYED BRONZE

BROW SET
GIRL BOY FAWNED-OVER BLONDETTE

MINERALIZE SKINFINISH REDHEAD GOLD TO SALMON PINK DEGRADE

BRUSHES
165 TAPERED CHEEK/HIGHLIGHT

214 SHORT SHADER

226 SMALL TAPERED BLENDING

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?