So last night, I had the E! channel on from 2am - 5:15am, thanks to Baby Will who thought it would be fun to stay up and party during this time. :)
E! somehow caught up with Kim Kardashian promoting her new scent at Sephora! Kim randomly took the E! person around the store to show off her favorite products! Her favorite blush is NARS ORGASM. OMG!!! I thought that was pretty rockin' since hello, Kim a) is beautiful and always fabulously made-up and b) could have literally any and all makeup in the entire world.
And how hilarious is it that the color looks perfect on Kim K. and also on me. We couldn't be more opposite in coloring!
Once again, if you don't have, please buy.
She also mentioned her fave lipstick is NARS Belle du Jour so I'm going to check that out now. :D
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Little Much? Little Much, NARS. Ew.
I've blogged about a Best of Sephora and cult favorite, NARS Orgasm $26. And don't get me wrong, I'm down with s-ually suggestive names and all...I mean, whatever. Affair in Red Square, I'm Not Really a Waitress, etc...(Those were OPI colors, as most know). But seriously, this same NARS product has other colors such as Sin, Torrid, Desire. Fine, whatever. It also has "Deep Throat!!" I mean, COME ON NOW. How are you gonna go from Sin to Deep Throat. Even Orgasm isn't as bad as Deep Throat. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!! I do think the color is pretty rockin', however. But no, I don't have it (yet. lol). And, for the record, I know I've said it before but Orgasm is a freakin' GREAT color!
I read on another beauty blog about a blush/luminizer from Benefit called Dandelion $28. It is apparently a cult-fave and was sold out for a long time. Sephora emailed me when it came in, so I immediately threw it into the shopping cart (online, of course) and hit "Check Out!" It really is a perfect color, especially if you have fair skin. It definitely helps you look awake and non-dead. All good things. The brush is horrid-looking. I didn't even waste my time with it. I use the Laura Mercier blush brush most of the time so I went straight to that one. I'm also a big fan of my Chanel blush brush.
Remember my whole "know your assets and liabilities" schpiel? Well, one of my major liabilities is lack of cheekbones. To compensate, I usually get too heavy-handed with the ol' "rouge" as my beloved Grandma would call it (RIP). The Benefit Dandelion is GREAT because it's not heavy like a true blush so it's realllllly hard to over-apply. I think I could definitely benefit from having this around (no pun intended. har har). No, seriously, I could use some toning down with the blush every once in awhile (I only have this over-blushing problem when I do makeup on myself). I think it will be perfect for Spring and Summer when I'm trying to rock the more "au naturale" look (in which I use almost as much makeup just lighter colors - lol) OR when I'm trying to roll some HOT PINK lipstick!! Supposedly, HOT PINK lipstick is in. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I'm so excited about this! Yay!
Love,
Ann
I read on another beauty blog about a blush/luminizer from Benefit called Dandelion $28. It is apparently a cult-fave and was sold out for a long time. Sephora emailed me when it came in, so I immediately threw it into the shopping cart (online, of course) and hit "Check Out!" It really is a perfect color, especially if you have fair skin. It definitely helps you look awake and non-dead. All good things. The brush is horrid-looking. I didn't even waste my time with it. I use the Laura Mercier blush brush most of the time so I went straight to that one. I'm also a big fan of my Chanel blush brush.
Remember my whole "know your assets and liabilities" schpiel? Well, one of my major liabilities is lack of cheekbones. To compensate, I usually get too heavy-handed with the ol' "rouge" as my beloved Grandma would call it (RIP). The Benefit Dandelion is GREAT because it's not heavy like a true blush so it's realllllly hard to over-apply. I think I could definitely benefit from having this around (no pun intended. har har). No, seriously, I could use some toning down with the blush every once in awhile (I only have this over-blushing problem when I do makeup on myself). I think it will be perfect for Spring and Summer when I'm trying to rock the more "au naturale" look (in which I use almost as much makeup just lighter colors - lol) OR when I'm trying to roll some HOT PINK lipstick!! Supposedly, HOT PINK lipstick is in. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I'm so excited about this! Yay!
Love,
Ann
Monday, February 8, 2010
BIG FAT BENEFIT POST #1 (Eyes)
As promised, my big fat Benefit post!!! *Party favors, kazoos, etc* ...*crickets*
Yes, MY BIG FAT BENEFIT POST! HURRAY! I am sooo excited that my friend Kate K. read the blog and bought some Benefit Hello Flawless! and loves it! Yay!
K, again, I can't take credit for discovering this brand. In general, if someone tells you THEY LOVE A MAKEUP BRAND, seriously try it. Chances are it doesn't suck at minimum. Furthermore, if they love makeup in general or seem to be huge product wh*res such as myself, chances are it's awesome. Such is the case with Benefit!
We don't have my personal holy land, Sephora, in this crappy town but we do have internet thank God. I guess it's good-ish we don't have a Sephora store here. I'd have to ban myself like people ban themselves from the casino boats. Sign a waiver to charge me with trespass when I enter and whatnot.
Alright, down to biznazz. I've blogged about Benefit before, including the Hello Flawless! post (a.k.a. OMFG BUY THIS). No, seriously, buy it. I decided to scope out some more Benefit stuff for my pre-baby mass Sephora order. As a side note, something SUPER HELPFUL is to READ THE REVIEWS on Sephora when you're thinking of ordering stuff. I do this all the time. My take is 90% of the reviewers are die-hard makeup people, so I like to read their opinions on stuff.
I've said it once and I'll say it again: I HATE MINERAL MAKEUP. Specifically, eye shadow. I've blogged before about my wedding day trauma. Ugh. Why did I not just do my own makeup for that? Anyway! I like to stick to what I know when it comes to eye shadow formulas...a.k.a. I like the dry, non-powdery stuff. I have no clue what possessed me to look into ordering the cream shadow line from Benefit ($19 each):
Basically, on Sephora, I went to the Benefit page and saw it under Best Sellers and read the awesome comments. I loved the colors and thought I'd give them a whirl. After much deliberation, I'll admit to ordering ALL OF THE COLORS but one (which I've subsequently ordered, received and loved).
They rock it hardcore. Since I have all of them, I work with different color combinations every day. It's crazy that just as the reviews say, you can make all of the colors lighter and darker by applying more or less or smoothing them out more or less, etc. They blend really well together and I'm LOVIN' 'EM INSANE AMOUNTS! I can't wait to use them on my future sister-in-law Andrea, my friend Joy and my friend Monica for their weddings. :)
Disclaimer: you absolutely cannot use these shadows without The Benefit Talent Brush $18. Not a bad price for a brush and if you invest in some cream shadows, by all means buy the brush to use the stuff! :)
As with regular shadows, you gotta use an eyeshadow base. If you don't use a base with ANY eyeshadows, even Chanel, they don't last, don't blend right and the color isn't true (i.e. it won't work or look like it's supposed to). I wish I had known this earlier in my life! Anyhow,when I first got the Benefit shadows, I tried my favorite eye shadow bases with them including Two Faced Shadow Insurance and Laura Mercier shadow primer. None were working. Too thickish for cream shadow (made the shadow look scaly-ew) although I love both for regular shadow. Anyway, so with Sephora order #2, I ordered the Benefit Lemon Aid Concealer/Shadow Primer ($20). It works fabulous with the cream shadows. Do read about it and check out the reviews. People use it for all different things. Other than primer, chicas use it as under eye concealer, use it alone as a shadow for a fresh natural look, use it in the inner and outer eye corners as a brightener, etc. I can attest to it being good to use as a quick shadow for a natural look if you didn't feel like putting on makeup. I haven't specifically used it for this but I'm considering it :) It's really thin and has a great light color to it. It works perfect with the cream shadows! I use the Benefit Concealer Brush ($20) to put on the Lemon Aid but the Talent Brush would work fine as well.
OK, back to the shadows. Click on THIS LINK! Scroll down the colors. Notice the top three have a picture of one girl, the middle three a different girl, and the last three a different girl. This makes it confusing to know what to order (assuming you aren't insane and going to order all of them). The top three are light colors, the middle three are medium colors and the bottom three are dark colors.
Yes, MY BIG FAT BENEFIT POST! HURRAY! I am sooo excited that my friend Kate K. read the blog and bought some Benefit Hello Flawless! and loves it! Yay!
K, again, I can't take credit for discovering this brand. In general, if someone tells you THEY LOVE A MAKEUP BRAND, seriously try it. Chances are it doesn't suck at minimum. Furthermore, if they love makeup in general or seem to be huge product wh*res such as myself, chances are it's awesome. Such is the case with Benefit!
We don't have my personal holy land, Sephora, in this crappy town but we do have internet thank God. I guess it's good-ish we don't have a Sephora store here. I'd have to ban myself like people ban themselves from the casino boats. Sign a waiver to charge me with trespass when I enter and whatnot.
Alright, down to biznazz. I've blogged about Benefit before, including the Hello Flawless! post (a.k.a. OMFG BUY THIS). No, seriously, buy it. I decided to scope out some more Benefit stuff for my pre-baby mass Sephora order. As a side note, something SUPER HELPFUL is to READ THE REVIEWS on Sephora when you're thinking of ordering stuff. I do this all the time. My take is 90% of the reviewers are die-hard makeup people, so I like to read their opinions on stuff.
I've said it once and I'll say it again: I HATE MINERAL MAKEUP. Specifically, eye shadow. I've blogged before about my wedding day trauma. Ugh. Why did I not just do my own makeup for that? Anyway! I like to stick to what I know when it comes to eye shadow formulas...a.k.a. I like the dry, non-powdery stuff. I have no clue what possessed me to look into ordering the cream shadow line from Benefit ($19 each):
Basically, on Sephora, I went to the Benefit page and saw it under Best Sellers and read the awesome comments. I loved the colors and thought I'd give them a whirl. After much deliberation, I'll admit to ordering ALL OF THE COLORS but one (which I've subsequently ordered, received and loved).
They rock it hardcore. Since I have all of them, I work with different color combinations every day. It's crazy that just as the reviews say, you can make all of the colors lighter and darker by applying more or less or smoothing them out more or less, etc. They blend really well together and I'm LOVIN' 'EM INSANE AMOUNTS! I can't wait to use them on my future sister-in-law Andrea, my friend Joy and my friend Monica for their weddings. :)
Disclaimer: you absolutely cannot use these shadows without The Benefit Talent Brush $18. Not a bad price for a brush and if you invest in some cream shadows, by all means buy the brush to use the stuff! :)
As with regular shadows, you gotta use an eyeshadow base. If you don't use a base with ANY eyeshadows, even Chanel, they don't last, don't blend right and the color isn't true (i.e. it won't work or look like it's supposed to). I wish I had known this earlier in my life! Anyhow,when I first got the Benefit shadows, I tried my favorite eye shadow bases with them including Two Faced Shadow Insurance and Laura Mercier shadow primer. None were working. Too thickish for cream shadow (made the shadow look scaly-ew) although I love both for regular shadow. Anyway, so with Sephora order #2, I ordered the Benefit Lemon Aid Concealer/Shadow Primer ($20). It works fabulous with the cream shadows. Do read about it and check out the reviews. People use it for all different things. Other than primer, chicas use it as under eye concealer, use it alone as a shadow for a fresh natural look, use it in the inner and outer eye corners as a brightener, etc. I can attest to it being good to use as a quick shadow for a natural look if you didn't feel like putting on makeup. I haven't specifically used it for this but I'm considering it :) It's really thin and has a great light color to it. It works perfect with the cream shadows! I use the Benefit Concealer Brush ($20) to put on the Lemon Aid but the Talent Brush would work fine as well.
OK, back to the shadows. Click on THIS LINK! Scroll down the colors. Notice the top three have a picture of one girl, the middle three a different girl, and the last three a different girl. This makes it confusing to know what to order (assuming you aren't insane and going to order all of them). The top three are light colors, the middle three are medium colors and the bottom three are dark colors.
Tattle Tale is my least favorite color. I think anyone can live without this unless you are a die hard like myself. Both RSVP and Birthday Suit go with almost all the other colors and would look great on anyone! If I could only have three, it would be Birthday Suit, Skinny Jeans and Strut. Otherwise, it would be RSVP, Get Figgy and Stiletto.
Here's an example of what I've been doing using Birthday Suit and Skinny Jeans:
Use the Birthday Suit on your entire lid. Then put a layer of Skinny Jeans on the lower lid up into the crease and a little above the crease. Lightly blend the colors together with the talent brush. You may want to stop there and go on to the liner. This is a great look for every day. For a smokier or going out look, add Strut to the crease and blend with the talent brush. Then use thick gray liner. =Love!
RSVP, Get Figgy and Stiletto also look great together using the same process as above. Use either brown or gray liner. =Love!
If you have all six colors, the options are endless. RSVP and Birthday Suit look great with all of the medium colors. You can even use RSVP and Birthday Suit with just the darker colors in the crease.
Moving on to liner...with the Benefit shadows, I've been using another new purchase. I have no clue why I procrastinated buying the Stila Smudge Pots ($20) for so long. I knew I'd love them and I so do. How did I live without them? Previously, I've also used some type of liquid eyeliner and then smudged over it with a wet liner brush dipped in eyeshadow to get the smokey look. Smudge Pots work so much better! I have the Brown and Gray and love both. They work awesome with these cream shadows so I highly recommend. And by all means, please buy the Stila Smudge Pot Brush ($32)! I can't imagine any brush I have doing as good of a job as the smudge brush. It's short-bristled but really stiff, unlike my other short-bristled liner brushes. Just dip the brush in the pot, make a pretty thick line above your upper lashes and use what's leftover on the brush to make a lighter and thinner line below your lower lashes. On the bottom, ideally you want the shadow to get thinner as it goes in toward your nose. I usually put it about 3/4 of the way in. A lot of times I use a q-tip to make my liner more smokey looking and not so harsh.
I also love Chanel eye liner and use a q-tip to blend it. The only liner I haven't tried but really want to is Bobbi Brown Gel Liner. However, Sephora doesn't sell it so I haven't ordered it yet. :) Maybe it will be a birthday present to myself. :)
Okay, fine, I'll admit I also ordered the Stila Smudge Pot gift set ($32) that includes black, blue, purple and Kitten. I like all of these colors but have rarely used them since I always use the gray or brown. I think the blue and purple will be fun for summer, the black great for going out and the Kitten is a really good color for eyeshadow but not sure about it as liner.
OMG, this post is HUGE! I'm going to post it now! :) And I'll post about my other Benefit purchases and a few others soon! Promise!
Mucho love!
Ann
New Stash
Yah, I admit Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes looks scary to use. I also admit to giving props to tons of mascaras on this blog and later hating on them. I'm always looking for the bigger, better mascara (a.k.a. Crazy Mascara Lady). This one rocks it HARDCORE but it should for $28.00, don't ya think?? Think again - good mascara don't come cheap, ppl. I think Chanel mascara is even more expensive. I love Chanel but I swear it doesn't look as good after the first week of using it so I am over it. ANYWAY! So I finally overcame my fears of using a spikey ball thing so close to my eye and ordered the Phenomen'Eyes. It arrived today! IT IS SOOO BUENO. I looooooovvvvvvvvve the ball. It lets you get all the side lashes and coat all your lashes individually as opposed to using the normal big wand. It's AWESOMELY AWESOME. And actually very easy to use.
So, you may know I'm on maternity leave. I still do my makeup every day. Why? A) So I don't feel so ew and B) because I have all of my new Sephora lootage!!!! The baby is a month old and today my husband came home and asked why I'm wearing makeup. *raised eyebrow* Hello, I wear it every day. The fact he just noticed today leads me to believe it's because today is the first day I wore my Phenomen'Eyes. Holla!
I also take back what I said before about Buxom Lash ruling the universe. Sephora had sent me a sample of it and I wanted to MARRY IT. I used it forever. Then I ordered the full-size and have since decided it is "okay." It's my second favorite mascara, second only to Lancome Hypnose. I keep going back to Hypnose. This has been going on for years. I have taken a vow to quit screwing Hypnose over and just use it exclusively from now on, IF my relationship with Phenomen'Eyes doesn't work out.
I told you I take this sh!t seriously. Here is why: I truly believe you need to evaluate your face and figure out your assets and liabilities (I'm an accountant). For you non-accountants, assets = GOOD. Liabilities = BAD. Play up your assets (regardless of time, effort or cost lol) and EITHER down play the bad or purchase product to make them more asset-ish. My assets are my eyes, eyelashes, lips and teeth. My liabilities are my cheekbones (or lack thereof), chin (don't love it but not a big deal) and my eyebrows (just plain BAD). That being said, I can't live without mascara and lip gloss. It's soooooo easy to take your goods and make them greats by using awesome products. Like Phenomen'Eyes.
Moving on!
Right after Xmas, I randomly ordered a Sephora suggestion of a plumping lip gloss. Lip Fusion, baby!!! 
It was an introductory limited edition color called Sun. It's similar to Bare in the current collection, fyi. Like a peachy nude color. GOES AWESOME WITH NARS ORGASM BLUSH. Anyway, it came up as a suggestion for the $10.00 limited edition price. I clicked "Add to Basket" without knowing (or caring) the normal price, assuming I would maybe kind of like this gloss and probably not order again. OMG, it's UNBELIEVABLE. It seriously works, people. However, it's $38.00 so I'll just stop talking about it now because I'm guessing there are few people who would pay $38.00 for one gloss. Hell, I won't (normally) pay this much for a gloss and I'm obsessed (Chanel excluded from conversation). This totally gives you a poutified pout and isn't sticky, icky or gooey. *Swoon* I'll once again mention Sephora is run by a boatload of geniuses. They offer a lip gloss for $10.00, everyone orders it and is subsequently hooked on $38.00 lip glosses. lol. Genius, I tell you, genius. I'll be ordering another color SOON, I am just not sure which color yet. I'm thinking maybe Blush or Flirt??
Coming soon is what I call THE BIG FAT BENEFIT post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to the fab CeeCee (see her blog here - MUCH funnier/more interesting than my blogs), I have become a Benefit Cosmetics addict. It's an illness, yes, but I am feeling mucho cuter because of this addiction. I ordered a bunch o' Benefit right before I had the little bambino and some more just arrived today. I need to post on this. Pronto.
Until next time, "Well, I've never been to England but I kinda like the Beatles..."
Mucho love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ann
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)