The Life of A Ladybug

Ladybug Loves, 07/03/09

 

Urban Decay Get Baked Eyeshadow Palette

Bobbi Brown Golden Orange Pressed Powder

CoverGirl Lash Exact and Volume Exact mascaras

Bobbi Brown blush in Brown Berry

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!

MAC Naked Honey

 

MAC's Naked Honey collection has me salivating and I've only tried one of the products!  My loves/lemmings in bold.

MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder

 

The folks at MAC never cease to amaze me.  They have now created the most fabulous powder ever to touch God's green earth.  Okay, Toya ... quit it with the hyperbole.  It's no miracle worker or anything, but it is my new favorite powder.  Allow me to introduce you to MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder.  The MAC Prep + Prime powder is white, like a traditional translucent powder, but thankfully, unlike traditional translucent powder, it does not leave a gray, ashy cast to the skin.  It feels like a whisper when you dust it on and it sets makeup in place and reduces shine without making your skin look dry.  In fact, it adds a soft radiance, which is awesome.  When the Pretty Committee had our latest get-together, I wore it and was told that my skin looked "flawless."  What better compliment can you get?

The MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder is on counters now and is also available online and in MAC stores.  Get it!

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:

 

Smashbox HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder

  Like many of my beauty purchases, I decided to buy Smashbox's HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder after watching Saturday Night Beauty on QVC.  Come on, if you're a beauty lover, that should be part of your regular weekly viewing. 

I was intrigued by the idea of a hydrating powder.  Supposedly, the powder has encapsulated water in it, which made me think of Prescriptives' Magic Liquid Powder, which I used for a while and loved.  Also, the Smashbox HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder contains Goji berry, a powerful antioxidant and antiaging agent.  Big plus for many consumers!

My initial reaction to the Smashbox HALO powder is that I really like the packaging - it has a nice weightiness to it and I love that it has an included mirror in the compact.  Also, including a little kabuki brush is really helpful for application - the smaller brush makes it much more convenient for touch-ups during the day.  The feel of the powder on the skin is quite refreshing - it did feel cool on the skin, though it doesn't feel quite as "wet" as Prescriptives Magic Liquid Powder. 

I like the idea of being able to shave a small portion of the powder to give the softness of a loose powder with the convenience of carrying a pressed powder.  In theory, it's great.  In practice, however, it can be pretty messy just like carrying any other loose powder - I think it takes some practice to figure out exactly how much powder you need to achieve your purposes.  Otherwise, you still have some loose powder in the top of the compact.  However, since the powder is light, you can just layer on whatever extra powder you have left - it won't look caked on.

All in all, I'm really a fan of the product.  I wouldn't give it a 5 necessarily, but it's a solid 4.5.  I enjoy the finish it gave to my skin - light, dewy coverage, which one wouldn't expect from a powder.  As it's now the colder months, the dewiness is really appreciated - it doesn't add to any dryness or flakiness.  It isn't a full or even medium coverage foundation, but if you're looking for a finishing powder to use over your liquid foundation or if you like light coverage, this product is for you!

Bobbi Brown Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick

I have long been in love with the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick.  At one point or another I have owned, used and loved the Shimmer Brick in Bronze, Brownie, Peony, Apricot and Gold.  And now I've gotten the chance to try the newest shade - Copper Diamond.  I like it as much as I've liked the others, actually, however, I have to say that I'm not sure it's a beauty necessity.

The Copper Diamond Shimmer Brick comes in a beautiful faux leather case, that will look exquisitely frou-frou in your makeup bag and when you whip it out to look into the mirror to reapply your lipgloss.  If you're a sucker for beautiful packaging, this version of the Shimmer Brick will appeal to you more than others.  But, if you're like me and you've tried the Shimmer Brick in quite a few different shades, then I have to tell you that I find Copper Diamond to be redundant.  If you're a fairer-skinned lady and you already own the Beige Shimmer Brick, then Copper Diamond isn't necessary.  If you're a darker-skinned lady and you own the Gold Shimmer Brick, then Copper Diamond isn't necessary.  Copper Diamond is right in between Gold and Beige, in my opinion. 

I'm not sure if Bobbi's run out of ideas for the Shimmer Brick product.  Honestly, I guess there's only so many shades in which you can make shimmery metallic powders that will be flattering on both eyes and cheeks - I think the only thing that's left is probably silver.  Anyway, if you're new to the Shimmer Brick product, Copper Diamond is a good place to start.  But if you're a dedicated Shimmer Brick collector, unless money is no object, save your cash and use the ones you already have.

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

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.

Bare Escentuals Feather Light Mineral Veil

For those of you who are interested in mineral makeup and finishing powders, but who have drier skin, the Bare Escentuals Feather Light Mineral Veil may be for you!  The finish is quite different from BE's traditional Mineral Veil, in that, instead of giving your skin a matte look, it leaves your skin looking decidedly luminous.  As an oily-skinned gal who's looking to diminish oil and its effects, this isn't always the look I'm going for, but it can work if you need a touch of added luminosity to your skin.  It also works quite well as a highlighting powder.

You can find this product whereever Bare Escentuals is sold, i.e, the counter at your nearest Nordstrom, Sephora, Sephora online, www.bareescentuals.com, your TV at 3 AM ...

Mistura

Several weeks ago, I was reading Bhuz, a message board devoted to bellydance and bellydance enthusiasts from around the globe.  I read Bhuz at least a couple of times every day because there aren't many other places that I can talk to so many people who care about the dance as much as I can.

One of my favorite parts of the boards to visit is the section all about Fitness, Beauty & Costuming.  On one of the threads, a post-er brought up Mistura, a powder that supposedly fits all skin types, somehow conforming to one's skin no matter the complexion.  Mistura was torn apart on that thread - everyone chimed in with her ideas of what a powder like that would be able to do.  I have to admit that I was one of the people on that thread.  I was very skeptical that such a product could work for women of color and I said as much, even saying that I was sure that any brown-skinned woman would look ashy if she wore the powder.  Well, imagine my surprise when the owner of Mistura Beauty actually came onto the thread and posted her own thoughts!  She told us that she was shocked and even a bit hurt that we were all giving our opinions on her product without having tried it.  After thinking about it, I knew that she was right - her product hadn't been given a fair shot.  There was no way I could call myself a beauty lover and say such callous things without trying the product out.  I e-mailed her and told her that, if she was willing to send me a sample of the product, I was willing to try it out and give her a completely honest review of the product.  Well, she kept up her end of the bargain and I'm keeping mine!

I am so happy to say ... I was wrong!!!!  Mistura is what it claims.  I don't know how it does it, but the product does work on me.  It's a really nice-looking bronze in the compact and goes on quite smoothly, leaving a finished look with some glow.  If you're not into a glowy effect, Mistura might not be for you, but if you do like that look, give it a try.  Supposedly, Mistura functions as an eyeshadow and lip color, as well.  As a shadow, I found it to be quite natural looking, but I have to admit that I don't really like Mistura as a lip color.  The lip balm used to convert it into lip color is quite soothing and nice, but, when used on my lips, the Mistura color did take on a bit of an ... ashy ... look.  Sorry!

However, as a powder, it rocks.  This isn't for when you need full coverage, though I think you can probably dust it on top of your foundation as a finishing powder, if you'd like to use it that way.  But if you're just doing your day-to-day makeup, I think Mistura works quite well.  So, with no further ado, check out the photographic evidence below!  I think it looks good!