Things I'm loving...things I'm not.

I fought the urge to pick up the Too Faced palettes in Nude and Neutral for darn close to a year! But as with all things beauty-related, the battle was futile; a couple of weeks ago I finally relented and got both. I have to say (and I've said this before), I'm an old jaded makeup artist. Over the years, it has become harder for me to get really excited about "the latest product" that everyone is raving about. And although these palettes are quite basic (for me, the Neutral palette, especially, is just a smaller version of Urban Decay's Naked palette) the texture and quality of these shadows is superb. I'm particularly smitten with the Naked palette! I should also mention that these are my very first Too Faced Cosmetics purchases. TF was just not a brand that ever "drew me in" but as far as first impressions go, they hit the ball out of the park with these wonderful little palettes. Kudos to Too Faced!

Moving on to bronzer; unfortunately for my pocket, Guerlain's Terracotta Bronzing Powder in #3 is probably the best bronzer I have ever used. It really does live up to all the hype (and for $50 bucks, we should expect no less). I am a fair-skinned gal (in MAC-lingo, about an NW25 to an NC27) and although I initially worried that the bronzer in shade #3 would be too dark, it wound up being perfect; not too light, nor too dark. It is sun-kissed perfection, sans harmful UV rays!

Korres Lip Butter Glaze in Jasmine is a lovely little glaze in a tube and in my opinion, far exceeds its counterpart in pot form. The tube is just more hygenic not to mention an easier application. I would happily fork over an extra $2 for that! The formula is not sticky, softens lips and this particular shade has CHIC written all over it. For me personally, the only con is that it doesn't last at all. I had to keep reapplying over and over again. I'm not sure how I feel about being totally out of a $14 lip glaze in about 2 to 3 weeks. The jury is still out on whether or not I'll be repurchasing.

Finally, my biggest disappointment came with the purchase (and eventual return) of Illamasqua's blusher in Katie. I so wanted to love this blusher and have it love me in return. But alas, it was not meant to be. Katie is a lovely, milky pink shade that is completely matte and very pigmented. I would say that its lipgloss counterpart is NARS' Turkish Delight. On me, though, Katie did nothing. Perhaps it was because it is such a light shade on my equally light skin, but it just looked like pink chalk sitting upon my cheeks. I think this blusher is far better suited to someone with a fabulous tan (à la Kim Kardashian).

I'll attach a pic of my goodies... what products are you loving/leaving lately? Inquiring minds want to know!
xoxo

...excuses and more excuses...

So, what's it been now? Another three months? Oy vey! Twitter takes up entirely too much of my time. Today's look is simple. I began with moisturizer. Currently I'm using CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion (in the pump bottle). It's an inexpensive drugstore find that actually works beautifully. It balances my skin perfectly and gives the right amount of moisture, which is no easy feat for oily/sensitive skin like mine! Next, I applied a little bit of foundation to even everything out (La Mer The Treatment Fluid foundation with SPF 15). Concealer can be a little tricky for me some times. The one I'm loving lately is MAC's Select Cover-Up. It is both, light in texture and a good cover-up. I dusted on Cargo's Blu-Ray powder to set and followed that up with a nice bronzer (MAC's Smooth Harmony) and illuminated the high plains of my face with MSF in Shimpagne.

Moving on to eyes: MAC's Paint Pot in Layin' Low is hands down the prettiest paint pot EVER! It's a lovely tan color which was released as a limited edition with the Fafi collection. If you can score one from a CCO, jump on it!!! Over top that, I applied NARS eyeshadow duo in Kalahari (bronzey peach). Hourglass' Calligraphy liner helped me created a lovely thick cat-eye and their mascara finished off the eye look! On the lips I kept it simple; Urban Decay's Sellout lipstick topped with MAC's Wildly Lush plushglass!

I've had loads of compliments today, which confirms what I suspected: you have to work twice as hard to create the "minimal makeup-makeup look"... but the results are WAY worth it! xo