20 Days Of Tinted Moisturizers: Day 2

Aveda Inner Light Tinted Moisturizer

I loved this stuff for quite some time.  In fact, I think I actually went through like 4 tubes!!! For those of you who are "normal", going through 4 of anything is quite a feat to a beauty enthusiast.  I generally like Aveda products.  I have sensitive skin and it tends to have no aversion to what they make.  

This was the first tm I have tried.  It started my love for them.   The consistency is thick and creamy.  Most days I could get away with not putting a regular moisturizer on underneath it.  It also has spf 15 which help me cut out the sunscreen step also.  It comes in a squeeze tube, which I quite liked.   It was nothing pretty by any means but it didn't like cheap or gaudy.  

I used number 2, beechwood.  This color was never a "match" for me per say.  I generally gravitate toward tm's that are a tad darker as I like them to bronze me a bit.  It was muchh to dark in the winter though.  I tend to change color quite a bit between summer and winter.  In summer, it was perfectly fine.  The color range of these is not great but its better than some.  If you are quite pale, good luck finding a match here.  I am about nc20 and the 2nd lightest shade was a bit dark for me...you get the drift.  

The product gives a nice glow, which is all find and dandy when you have no oil production going on in your skin, but it just made me look kind of greasy at times.  Powdering a bit usually solved that issue.  

Overall, I think the only reason I switched was to find a better color and because I found it too thick for my preferences.  It could have also been because I decided that there must be something better out there and it was my job to find it.  

Grade: B+,  great stuff for normal-dry skin who have nc20-probably nc45 skin. 

Disclaimer: This product was bought by me, the reviewer.

20 Days of Tinted Moisturizers: Day 1

This summer, I am bound and determined to find the best tinted moisturizer.  I love tinted moisturizers (TM)  because they are light and impart some color without looking mask-like.  I decided I will try (or maybe sometimes my mom) 20 different ones and review them here as my first little series. 

Day 1 is Dior Hydraction TM which I have already reviewed here.



Pictures: The picture above is from art.com.

My Nail Care Routine

I decided that since I have done so many nail polish posts I should blog about my routine. I am not going to talk about cuticle cream or hand lotion here because I use whatever is laying around for those 2 things.

These are the removers I have been using.  The one on the left is Beauty Secrets and its from Sallys Beauty Supply.  This bottle is originally $1.99.  It works well but I was suspecting that acetone may be making my nails peel so I have been testing the Zoya Remove+ on my hands and reserving this one for my tootsies. The Zoya is on the right and costs $10 for 8fl. oz., significantly more expensive than the Beauty Secrets.  I will do a full review on it once I finish testing it.

These are all the various treatments I use.  From Left to right: Barielle restorative nail serum and nail rebuilding protein, Nail Life nail revitalizer, Orly bonder.
The Barielles I use on my finger nails.  The serum is supposed to help clean the bed so polish sticks better. I like it quite a bit and feel at has helped my peeling some.  I am not super happy with the rebuilding protein.  It is supposed to be specifically for peeling nails and I dont think its helping at all.  It also doesnt hold polish very well. Both of those were purchased at Marshalls.
The nail life revitalizer was bought for my finger nails but didnt work for the peelies.  Now, I use it on my toes.  I got it at Sallys based on good recommendations, so maybe it will work for you even though it didnt work for me.  Bonder is used on my toes over the Nail Life to keep the polish on longer.  I really love this stuff. I used to use it on my fingers until I thought maybe the formaldehyde was causing the peelies.  It really does hold the polish on really long though and I highly recommend it.  I purchased it at Sallys.
 

I use Poshe as my topcoat.  I am so in love with it (and yes, maybe I will marry it).  I have been using Poshe for about 5 years now.   It is a quick dry top coat that dries in about a minute!! which is good for me since thats about the length of time that I am able to sit still.  I bought my current bottle at Sallys but it can also be found at Ulta. 

Well, there you go.  If anyone has any reccs for treatments for the horrible peelies or good hand creams, I am always open to suggestions! Just leave it in the comments. 

Everyday Minerals Multi-tasking Concealer

image from Everydaymineral.com

Multi-tasking is describes as the perfect color for fair to light complexions which means that this will most likely be too light for me in the very near future.  I tend to morph more into my italian self during the summer where as I am more of my eastern european self during the winter.  

Let me just start out saying that I love this concealer.  At the moment, it matches me very well.  I only use it on blemishes and redness as its a little too dry for my under eye area.  I pat it on with my bare escentuals medium concealer brush.  I actually really like powder concealers.  I find them to be the least cakey.  I usually just apply my powder foundation with the BE concealer brush but this works awesome too.  It lasts decently long as I tend to sweat like a pig.  Well actually, not like a pig since technically pigs don't sweat, but anyways...  

Overall: I would highly recommend this.  It's pretty cheap too!  It costs only $8 for the big size.  

Rating: A-

Disclaimer: I got this product as a free sample from a program that everyday minerals no longer has.  I paid the shipping for the samples.

Clinique Youth Surge SPF 15

I love mini sized things.  I decided that it was too much of a pain to lug all my beautifying products over to my boyfriends everytime I stay there, so I just test out all the minis there.  I received a mini size of Cliniques Youth Surge Spf 15 as an extra in a swap with a lover MUAer.  It is the dry combo formula, and of course, it has taken up residence at the boyfriends.

Image from Clinique.com

I use this morning and night when I am there.  Yes, I am aware that I am not supposed to use spf at night, but my skin doesn't seem to mind.  I am only 20, so I cannot comment on the anti aging power of this product. I liked the texture.  It was quite light and soaked in pretty quickly which I find to be rare in products with spf.  It keeps my normal skin adequately hydrated without breaking me out.  I expected that since it is for anti aging that it would turn me into a greaseball, but that was not the case. 

Verdict:  Nice moisturizer for those with normal skin.  I speculate that it may be too heavy for combo skinned folks. 

Disclaimer: I received this product as a sample in a swap

Everyday Minerals

My camera is still home. I promise lots and lots of pretty pictures once I finally get it back.  It is getting nice here, so I can take some pretty spring pictures.  Yay! 

Quite some time ago I got the set of free foundation samples from Everyday Minerals.  It included 3 foundation samples, a concealer sample, and a blush sample.  I understand that they no longer have this available, but the samples are still pretty cheap.  I have only gotten around to testing one of the foundations and the concealer.  I am just really not a big fan of loose powder products.  I am far to klutzy for these to ever really work for me.  The EDM samples are mini sifter jars which helps to minimize the mess. 
The shade I have been testing is Multi-tasking Neutral.  The color is an absolute perfect match for me, probably another reason I havent tested any of the other colors.  It blends in well.  The texture is fine and my sensitive skin didn't react to it at all.  My only qualms with this is that there appeared to be no coverage.  I tried layering and still nothing.  I thought foundation was supposed to at least give some coverage.  Good thing the concealer was awesome and helped it out, but seriously, why would I buy a foundation that doesn't even even out my skin? For reference, I used this with the bare minerals face brush. 

Verdict: I guess this foundation would be good if you wanted something that doesn't offer any coverage...


Concealer review to come.

Disclaimer: I got these as a free sample from the company.  I paid the shipping.

Bored Poll

Sorry I have been away so long.  I decided that I would just wait until I go back home in a week and a half to get my camera instead of making my parents ship it.  I just prefer to do post with my own pictures because, frankly, I prefer to read blogs who use their own pictures.

This is the Hotel Del Coronado.  I haven't been out to Coronado in forever, and now that the weather is getting nicer I really want to take a trip out there.  The beach is just gorgeous and downtown is really fun for just strolling around. 

On to the poll.

1. Lippie of the day: clinique black honey.  I really like this color with my skintone, but sadly, it is just a little too drying for my liking.  I am trying to use it up and am currently looking for a color replacement.

2. Skincare item you are currently loving: I am in love with with cetaphil moisturizing lotion.  I made the switch from the cream recently since my skin doesn't need as much moisture at this time of year.  My skin tends to be pretty sensitive and this doesn't bother it at all.

3. Favorite TV show:  Mine is definitely the original NCIS.  I love all the characters and how they interact.  I watched the NCIS:LA version once and it was just far inferior to the original.  I thought the characters were too similar to each other.  I couldn't connect with any of them at all. I have actually spent most of today watching an NCIS marathon and doing homework. 

4. Favorite nail polish color for spring:  I am wearing China Glaze For Audrey and I am really liking it.  The China Glaze formula is just excellent and this robins egg blue cream is just the perfect spring pastel.

5. Favorite drink:  I have been all about green tea lately.  I am trying to drink some variety of it everyday since it is so good for me.  Teavana has some awesome green teas and it is just a really fun place to check out. 

Fill it out this poll in the comments section if you would like.  I would love to hear everyone elses answers.

Camera O Camera Where Art Thou??

I am back from spring break, all unpacked and...I forgot my camera at my parents.  Now, I will have to call and beg for them to send it to me...ugh.  I will try and post using pictures from websites or my phone until I get it. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Lemmings Lemmings Everywhere

Here are some stuff that I am lemming(wanting/needing):

1. Clarisonic.  I have been really into skincare lately. I decided makeup looks much nicer on clear, beautiful skin.

2. D&G 3 L'Imperatrice Perfume.  These D&G perfumes are made to be layered and this one is a really nice citrusy scent.

3. Guerlain 'Meteorites Voyage' Compact. So pretty, no?

What are you lemming?

My Mall Musings

The other day I met my friend at the mall for lunch.  I highly recommend the mixed berries and chicken salad from Nordstrom Cafe, sooooo good!  I pretty much ate the whole thing and I've never really been much of a salad person.  After my friend left, I decided to go snooping around all the makeup counters and such. 

This is not the only swatching I did.  This hand was makeup removed probably three times.  That outrageous pink on the bottom is Dior's lip glow.  It is a chapstick type thing that adjusts its pink color as it reacts with your skin.  Now, I had heard from some others that it turned quite a bright pink, so of course, I had to try it out for myself.  Holy guacamole!! This picture doesn't even show how bright it really was because I took it with my cell phone.  The texture was really nice and the finish was really shiny, so although I do not think that it is necessarily for me, I do think it is something to try out. 

The swatches above lip glow are me trying to color match Clinique's black honey lipstick.  I quite like the color, but I find the formula pretty drying.  The top right is Laura Mercier's Cranberry stickgloss.  This one was really pretty but too bright and red.  The bottom right is Laura Merier's Black orchid stickgloss.  This one was really nice but too purple.  The swatch on the left is black honey.  As you can see, it is brownish red.  Neither color matched it very well at all.  If you want a nice review of the stickglosses, here is one from strawberry mochi http://www.strawberrymochi.com/2010/03/10/product-focus-laura-mercier-stickgloss/

My Moms Eyeliner Collection

Continuing on with my mother's makeup collection, here are her eyeliners. My mom loves eyeliners.  She has tons and tons, all pencil. 

Here they are in sunlight:

L-R: Vinvent Longo duo eye pencil in aqua teal and cobalt(first 2 swatches), Tony and Tina herbal glitter pencil in blue/silver, Avon glimmersticks in blackest black, NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencil in gold, Prestige waterproof in payday, Bodyography supernaturals in plumnoir, Mary Kay signature in violet, Mary Kay eye coloring crayon in charming, Wet N Wild kohl in black,Vincent Longo duo eye pencil in Sabine and mystic, Almay eyeliner in purple amethyst, Avon glimmersticks in starry night blue, Prestige eyeliner in denim, Avon glimmersticks in dark brown, Mary kay signature in indigo

For the sake of not repeating, we'll go R-L here and stop where the other picture left off: Tony and Tina herbal glitter pencil in black/silver, Make Up Forever in 3L, NYC waterproof in dark brown. (the rest goes to the bodyography pencil.

Here are the liners in shade

This one starts at the beginning and ends at the Prestige in denim

This one starts at Prestige in payday and ends with Tony and Tina in black/silver

Disclaimer: These are all owned by my mother.  I'm pretty sure she either bought or received them all as gifts.

Erno Laszlo Giveaway on Me and Bella Blog

Me and Bella blog are teaming up with ernolaszlo.com for an awesome giveaway!  There are tons of way to enter so head on over and check it out.

http://meandbella.blogspot.com/2010/02/erno-laszlo-firmarine-treatment-bar.html 

My Moms Lipstick and Gloss Stash

Since I am home this week with absolutely nothing to do, I decided to swatch my mother's makeup stash for you guys.  I am amazed at the amount of makeup she owns considering she only wears makeup on average about 2 times per week. Well, enough of my chatting, on to the swatches.

Lipsticks first.

 

L-R: Mary Kay Sunburst, Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds Plum Sparkle, Loreal Shine Delice Cherry Cola, Revlon Cherries in the Snow, Mary Kay Sunset

And on to the Lipglosses.

L-R: Patricia Wexler Advanced No-Injection Lip Plumper in Coral, Wet N Wild mega plump 586, Sally Hansen Lip Inflation in Sheer Pink, Covergirl Wetslicks in firefly, Mary Kay in pink allure, NYX Goddess of the Night in: Lollipop Net, French Kiss, Iced Latte, Revlon Super Lustruous in Spiced Blush

L-R: Revlon Super Lustruous in Spiced Blush, Smashbox Fame, Clinique Color Surge Impossibly Glossy in Pink Champagne, Bare Escentuals Buxon Lips in Sugar, Awake Volumizing lip gloss in Ruby Red, Awake Stardom in Berry Glow, Vincent Longo Diamond Gloss in Traviata Pink, Vincent Longo Perfect Shine Gloss in Verosa, Vincent Longo Gloss in Rede, Vincent Longo Virgin-Lux Gloss in Touch Down

These pictures are in the shade.  Here are some in the sunlight. The order is the same.

Top to Bottom here.  It ends at Clinique.

This one goes from NYX Iced Latte to Vincent Longo Touch down

Disclaimer: These are my mothers. She either bought or received all of them as gifts

Sales Sales Everywhere!

I get all kinds of emails about sales and such, so I decided that it might be nice of me to share them with you.  These sales I found out about from the daily candy. 

30% off of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare.  You may or may not know him for his best seller, alpha beta face peel.  The code for 30% off is candy.

25% off Tarte cosmetics.  They are most famous for their cheek stains which I actually like.  Flush gives a very nice just in from the cold color. The code for this sale is DCTARTE.

Neither of these sale codes say when they end, so I guess you'll just have to try them and see if they work for you. 

Monday Mornings

As you may or may not know, I am currently in the Bay Area because I am on spring break.  It is nice to be on break.  I just wish the weather here was a little more springy.  Its all overcast and cold and windy as is characteristic of the Bay Area.  And now you know why I went to school in San Diego. 

I am having quite a nice time hanging out with my parents and my doggies.  Well, I like the doggies except when they are waking me up at 8am.  Hey, this is supposed to be when I sleep in.  O well, I just take naps. 

I want to do a shout out to Amy over at Cafemakeup.com.  She has reviewed and is now giving away a Hana professional straightening iron.  Make sure to head on over to her blog and enter!

Is anyone else on vacation?  If not, where would you rather be right now?

YSL Rouge Volupte

I own 2 rouge voluptes: 26 Tender Peach and 12 Forbidden Burgundy. Of course, as I have said already. I am a sucker for packaging and this one has beautiful packaging.

 

this one is Tender Peach and the band in the middle shows the color of the lipstick.

 

This one is Forbidden Burgundy.

The formula is nice. Not as moisturizing as I was hoping but not bad.  I prefer to apply with a lip brush because I think the look is unnatural otherwise.  Both are very pigmented. 

 

  

This is only one swipe of Forbidden Burgundy.  I couldnt get a good lip swatch as I couldnt get it to show the purpleyness.

 

  

  

The lipswatch is one swipe and the arm swatch is 2 swipes.  I love how light and springy this color is. 

Disclaimer: Both of these lipsticks were purchased by me.

Jane Iredale Catherine Lipstick

I have never tried anything Jane Iredale until this lipstick.  Being that the brand is not readily available, I have just never had much exposure to it.  When I got this lipstick in my most recent beauty test tube, I was very excited to try it out.  The packaging is not super exciting but also not boring or ugly, a plain shiny yellow gold tube embossed with Jane Iredale's name. 

 

The formula is pretty good, not really drying but not moisturizing.  I would have to say that it is not much better than most drugstore lipsticks that I have tried.  That is, except for the fact that it is quite pigmented.  Catherine is a nice brown, red.  Brick would be an appropriate name for it.  In full opacity, it is probably more appropriate for night on my NC20ish skin, but it can be sheered out quite easily.  I am willing to postulate that it would look amazing on olivey skinned people. 

 

  

This swatch is just one swipe.  Look at all that color! Here is a lip picture of it kind of sheered out using my finger. 

 

There is no shimmer.  The shimmer that you see is left over from my lip swatch of the clinique lipstick. 

Have you tried anything Jane Iredale?  If so, what is your favorite product and why? 

Disclaimer: I got this in my beauty test tube which I purchased.

Clinique Baby Baby Buttershine

I will start this off by saying that I'm usually not a big clinique person.  Most of the eyeshadows are not pigmented enough for me and their skincare irritates my skin.  Also, packaging is a big attractant for me, and I generally do not find Clinique's packaging to be very attractive.  If you are from clinique and you are reading this, SPICE THINGS UP MAN!  Well, I actually really like the packaging of the buttershine lipsticks. 

 

Sorry that it's kind of a blurry picture.  But back on topic, I love that its shiney and silver and I love the unique shape.  It kind of looks like a bamboo stock, no?  And on to the product. 

 

This lipstick is so moisturizing and slippy that I would venture to call it a lipgloss in stick form.  I don't find it to be like butter because when I think of butter I think greasy and this is in no way greasy.  Just shiney and slippy.  The color is a nice medium warmish pink with gold shimmer. 

 

This is a pretty heavy swatch, so I would have to say that this thing is not super pigmented.  I like it as a my lips but better shade.  

 

Disclaimer:  I got this lipstick in a swap from a lovely muaer 

LOTD

Here is my lip of the day for today. I used Tarte 24/7 natural lip sheer in champagne brunch and Tarte double-ended lipgloss in Moondoggie/Gidget(the moondoggie side).

 

It was a really nice shimmery nude look.  

At night I changed it to YSL rouge volupte in forbidden burgundy topped with the same gloss but I couldn't get a decent picture of that. 

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me.

Josie Maran Argan Oil Stick

 

This thing is freakin fabulous.  It claims to be and all around moisturizer and it is!  It also comes in a cute little rose gold stick that can easily be thrown in your purse, although she does have a smaller size specifically for travel.  I use this on my psoriasis plaques(kind of analagous to really really really dry skin), my lips, my cuticles, my elbows, basically anywhere that needs to be moisturized.  And it really is moisturizing.  These are the ingredients according to Sephora.com:

"Natural Prunus Armenica (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Organic Argania Spinosa (Argan) Kernel Oil, Natural Beeswax, Natural Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Natural Copernica Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Natural Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Natural Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Natural Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Butter, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Natural Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ OIl, Natural Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Natural Leptospermum Petersonii, Natural (Lemon Tea Tree) Oil, Menthol, Tocopherol, Ethylhexlylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol (and) Phenoxyethanol (and) Hexylene Glycol."

I really love that this product is free of "all the bad stuff too"!  It is $22 for the full size but its well worth it in my opinion.

Disclaimer: My mother bought this for me as a gift.

Nordstrom.com Welcomes Chantecaille!

I do not know whether to do a happy dance to hide my wallet because Nordstrom.com has officially added Chantecaille to the list of brands that it carries.  I do not know yet when it will be available in the stores or which stores it will appear in, but this is awesome news for beauty junkies everywhere!!!
Here are some items that I found intriguing while browsing:

 

image from Nordstrom.com

This is the palette d'olivia.  It contains 7 eye shades(Perle, Granite, Quartz, Obsidian, Tanzanite, Peony, and Zinc) and one cheek shade(Joy) and retails for $135.  Holy moly.  Looks like I will not be indulging in this one anytime soon.  Too bad since I really like the looks of it. 

 

image from Nordstrom.com

This is the Les Sorbets lip gloss palette.  It contains 5 lipglosses (Nectar, Guava, Amaretto, Mandarine and Bellini).  This looks like it would be an awesome palette for summer and retails at $69.  Thankfully, I'm not really a fan of lip palettes so I'm not tempted by it. 

February Favorites

Now that it is March, I decided to do my February favorites.  They are just items that got alot of love this month. I have a new add from January, I took a picture of all the items! So, hopefully this one will be more exciting :)

1. Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion- Mine says dry, sensitive skin treatment.  I do not know for sure if all of them are this way as I took this one from my moms house, well, she gave it to me.  Its a really nice medium weight lotion.  It is fragrance-free and non-comedogenic, so I use it for both my face and my body.  I like it mostly for my face as I have psoriasis which makes my skin really dry.  This lotion is great for morning and night, though i would recommend using a sunscreen also during the day.

 

2. Idole d'Armani- I included this one in January's favorites so I wont bore you with any more words on it.  I did acquire a lovely roller ball size now from my friend Maegan! 

 

3. Guerlain Kiss Kiss lipstick in Reve D'or- I got this lipstick in a swap with a lovely Muaer.  Before any of my non muaer readers get grossed out, lipstick is really easy to sanitize.  You simply cut off the top and/or dip it in rubbing alcohol.  The case is so beautiful, a lovely shiny gold with a block-like shape.  It does have great staying power, so I dont have to reapply too often.  Even if I did, I would mind since its so lovely.  I'm such a sucker for pretty makeup packaging.  It is not the most moisturizing formula I own, but it isn't drying either.  The color is peachy-red with gold shimmer. As most guerlain products i've tried to date, this one has the signature lavendary scent.  I'm not really a fan as it reminds me of really old powder, but its gone within 15 minutes.  

 

 

4. Laura Mercier Eye Kohl in Brown Copper- This is another one that was in January, so here are the pictures. 

 

 

5. Becca Doeskin eye shadow-  This was from my softsurroundings.com haul that I posted about earlier.  It is such a great neutral light brown with just a hint of shimmer.  I intern at a hospital, so I find myself using this almost every time I go in.  I usually pair it with the laura mercier eye kohl from above.  The formula is really silky and goes on smooth.  It is quite soft though, so there is kind of alot of powder loss with each application.  

 

6. Guerlain meteorites in Beige chic-  I got these in a swap also.  They are the mini size which I figured was fine because it seems like they take forever to use up.  The container is plastic and it contains little powder balls in tones of peach, brown, beige, gold and white.  They blend to be the perfect color for me and impart just a little glow.  These, again, have the signature Guerlain scent.  I find the coverage to be fairly sheer and the finish to be not at all powdery.  

 

  

7. Too Faced bronzer in Snow Bunny-  I got this in a palette from sephora.  I decided the palette was a hastle, so I depotted it which left it a little cracked.  As you will see from the picture, this thing is well loved.  I use it if I want just a little bronze and shimmer on my cheeks.  Its too light to be an actual brozer for me, but I could see it working really well for fairer people(I'm about NC20 in mac for reference).  

 

8. Lavender Nail polish- I have 2: OPI done out in deco and Orly cashmere cardigan.  Both are creme meaning they contain no shimmer.  I prefer the formula of the OPI to the formula of the Orly(I described my qualms with Orly in an earlier post), but I have the OPI in a mini bottle making it a little harder to apply than it would be if it were full sized.  Cashmere cardigan is darker and more blue than Done out in deco which is dustier.  Both are really pretty and perfect for spring. (I bought the Orly and swapped for the OPI)

 

9. Crystal Nail File-  These things are the greatest nail files out there.  They file really well and don't tear up your nails like the old brown ones.  Some claim they stop nails from peeling, but my nails are genetically awful making it hard for me to speak to that. I got this one at the street fair in Palm desert, but Essie has one that people seem to like alot. 

 

10. Estee Lauder Sumptuous Mascara-  I like this stuff almost as much as I like Armani's eyes to kill.  It lengthens well and thickens nicely but can be a teensy bit clumpy.  I have only ever used the trial size.  I bought several off ebay for rather cheap.  At about $10 less than the Armani, I would recommend this as a cheaper alternative.  

In case anyone is wondering, I am wearing Color Club Wild Child nail polish in the pictures where I have polish on.