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.

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.

YSL Touche Eclat

YSL Touche Eclat is one of those products that has achieved cult status.  People rhapsodize over it as if is the best thing since sliced bread.  When I saw on the 2nd Anniversary of QVC Saturday Night Beauty that they were selling Touche Eclat, I decided that I had to go ahead and order one and try it out.  According to the QVC website, the 4 shade should be best for Black women, but it looked too dark to me, so I ordered 3 (light peach).

I expected Touche Eclat to be a holy grail product.  Not exactly.  I don't dislike it - don't get me wrong.  I think Touche Eclat is a good product.  It does do what it says it does - it lightens and brightens dark, recessed areas, including under eye circles.  But I don't think it does so all that much better than similar, cheaper products available on the market.  If you're looking for a brightener (this is not a concealer) and you have the funds, check it out.

It's not easy being green ... but it sure is pretty!

ETA: I'm adding a couple pics that I managed to get on my cell phone.  Admittedly, they're not the greatest, but I guess they're better than nothing!

This morning's skincare:

• Clean & Clear Foaming Face Wash for Sensitive Skin
• Clean & Clear Acne Advantage Treatment
• MAC Moisturelush Cream
• Elizabeth Arden Intervene Cream

Today's make-up:

• Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit in Golden
• Jane Iredale PurePressed Base in Butternut, applied with the BE Handy Buki brush
• MAC Paint Pot in Cash Flow, as eyeshadow base
• MAC Eyeshadow in Bitter, over whole lid and up past the crease
• MAC Eyeshadow in Swimming, on outer half of the lid and blended up into the crease
• MAC Eyeshadow in Mulch, blended into the crease
• MAC Eyeshadow in All That Glitters, above the crease
• Bourjois Duochrome Liner in Noir Emeraude, used to line top and bottom third of lash line
• Tarte EmphasEyes, used on waterline
• Prescriptives False Lashes mascara, two coats on top lashes
• Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in Waikiki Strip, used to highlight brow bones and cheekbones
• CARGO blush in Rome, on apples of cheeks
• Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15
• NYX Round Lipstick in Galaxy
• Bobbi Brown Glitter Lip Gloss in Buff

Today's fragrance: Fresh Hesperides eau de parfum

Today's outfit:

• black, white, gray and yellow-green printed top by Mossimo for Target
• black double-button pants from New York & Company
• black mock croc pointy-toed mary janes by Isaac Mizrahi for Target
• silver cuffs bought from a fellow tribal bellydancer
• silver bamboo earrings from The Icing
• camel "leather" tote from www.baghaus.com

Jane Iredale In Touch Cream Blush (Featured Brand of the Week)

Jane Iredale's In Touch Cream Blush is a great product.  It's quite similar to NARS' Multiples or any other creamy stick product.  It is meant to be used as a cream blush - you can either dot it on your cheeks and rub it in with brush or fingers or apply it by swiping a sponge or brush over the stick and then putting the color onto your face.  I like the method of dotting it on the apples of my cheeks and blending upward and outward with my fingers.  My favorite shade is Charisma, which is shown in the picture to the left - it is a wonderful wine color.  I also dab a bit of it onto my lips and then apply a gloss on top, for lovely matching lips and cheeks.  You can apply the color under your foundation powder for a muted shade or on top of your powder for a brighter look.

The In Touch Cream Blush can be purchased at www.janeiredaledirect.com for $26.

Jane Iredale Sunbeam Bronzer

This week's Featured Brand is Jane Iredale.  I fell in love with Jane Iredale's PurePressed Base a while ago and continue to use it regularly - I wore it today, in fact.  I am impressed with Jane Iredale's fabulously wide range of colors and was looking forward to trying other products from the line.

Jane Iredale's Sunbeam Bronzer is wondermous, y'all.  I love the four large triangles of color - they are all kind of in the pink family - a true pink, a really light white-pink, a medium pinky-bronze and a dark brown with kind of a rosy undertone.  Each shade can be used as an eyeshadow, cheek color, highlighter, or even under a lip gloss to make a lip color.  If swirled all together, they make a wonderful bronzer, as well.  It's kind of expensive, if you ask me, but at least it's a large pot and it's a multi-purpose product, so it's worth it.

You can buy the Sunbeam Bronzer at www.janeiredaledirect.com for $46.

3 CC Ski Bunny Cheek/Lip Stain

Three Custom Color's Ski Bunny Cheek/Lip Stain is, by far, the best stain I've had the pleasure of trying.  I have tried others: Benetint, Bobbi Brown, Becca - and, I have to say, though I have liked them all, I have found 3 CC's stain to be the most truly versatile.  It gives a beautiful flush of color to both my lips and cheeks and, even better, I don't find that the stain adds any oiliness to my cheeks at all.  Even after hours, the flush of color is still vibrant.  I love that it does give my lips that "I just ate a popsicle" effect without making them feel dry and chapped.  I applied a touch of lip balm first and then the stain - hours later, I still had cherry-colored lips, with no flakes.  Nice!

Vic and I leave for a weekend trip to Charlotte tomorrow and this is going in my make-up bag.  It's the perfect "no make-up" make-up.  I will rub a dab into my cheeks, smudge some on my lips, add a bit of mascara to my lashes and go.

You can purchase the Ski Bunny Cheek/Lip Stain on www.threecustom.com for $20.50.

Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Pink Mosaic

I think it was on Specktra that I saw a woman of color recommend that all us brown girls should own a Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Pink Mosaic.  I resisted, thinking that I have quite enough products devoted to shimmer/highlighting/bronzing.  I do, but I'm so glad I bought this.  It is fab!

The Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc is in the same vein as Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Bricks in that it has several shades that can be used for cheek color, highlighting, bronzing or as eye shades.  What makes this different is that I like it a lot better than the BB Shimmer Brick in Pink Quartz, which is saying a lot.  I like Pink Quartz, but it only works as highlight color on me since it is rather light and frosty.  The Shimmer Bloc is pigmented enough that it can function as cheek color, without adding another product.  And I love that the triangles are large enough to be used separately as eyeshadows or cheek colors - the Shimmer Brick, while it can serve the same function, is made up of really thin stripes of product which makes it a bit hard not to muddle the colors up when you're trying to apply them separately.

I join my sister on Specktra by recommending that all brown beauties should pick this up!

You can buy the Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc for $38 in Nordstrom stores or at Nordstrom Online.