OCC Stained Gloss Lip Trio: Dekadent, Androgyne, New Wave

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

I've been wanting one of the Stained Gloss finish lip tars from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics since they came out, so when this set went on sale at Sephora I snapped one up.  I know they've gotten mixed reviews, but I really like them!

Full disclosure:  I'm a lip tar fan and have now collected 28 of them, not counting this set.  Granted, I go through phases in wearing them, but I remain enthusiastic about the color selection and endless mixing opportunities.  The Stained Glass finish lip tars are quite different than the original matte colors, however, which has its pluses and minuses.  Oh who am I kidding?  There were no minuses for me :-)

Dekadent, Androgyne, New Wave

These are much more sheer and go on with a glossy finish, hence the "stained glass (gloss" effect.  The glossy shine does eventually temper down to a sheen, but the color remains true throughout wear, which is a good 3-4 hours on me.  You also need a larger amount of these to cover the lips.  If the dots above were the original matte lip tars, you'd have too much.  I probably use twice that amount of the Stained Glosses.

The finish, however, is lovely, with smooth glossy color that wears comfortably.  I was surprised at how sheer Dekadent is compared to the neon pink New Wave and bright orange Androgyne.  I've mainly been mixing them together, however, so the sheerness doesn't bother me.

New Wave + Androgyne blend

The Stained Gloss lip trio set is currently on sale at Sephora for $25, and I couldn't be happier with it!

New Wave + Dekadent blend

NOTD: Little Peanuts by OPI

I found Little Peanuts, the mini set from OPI's Halloween collection, impossible to resist.  It wasn't because it has a black or a taxi-cab yellow polish in it, although I'm not opposed to them.  It was the glitters!  Oh, and the Peanut's themed nail decals!

Realistically, nothing about this set screams "Halloween" to me.  That's okay, as it actually reminds me a bit of another OPI Halloween mini set that I really enjoyed, 2012's So So Skullicious.   A disappointing difference turned out to be the decals in the Peanuts set, as they are not water decals but peel off stickers.  I found that out after I let them sit in water for 10 minutes.  Yep, I'm quick like that.  Now I'm wondering how different the yellows in the two sets are.  Hmmm.

Snoopy smelling the flowers

But's it's the Peanuts gang!  So of course I couldn't resist.  WHO ARE YOU CALLING BOSSY?!? is a very nice black, and two coats provide glossy color.  The yellow Good Grief! was a bit problematic, and I needed 3 coats to get smooth color.  Like the color though!

Love the glitters and don't have anything like them, so they are really the stars of the collection IMO.  I used a dabbing method to place To Be or Not to Beagle on my ring finger. 

I don't remember the cartoons as particularly violent, but maybe memory is failing me.  Pow!  Bonk!  Oof!  Linking up with The Nail Files hosted by Jennie Shaw:

Graphic Expression Face and Blush Powder Palette by Clarins

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.  Links provided for convenience only.

When form and function come together, it's a beautiful thing.  I've admired Clarins' lovely face powders in the past for this esthetic appeal, what with the lovely designs and colors.  So, when Clarins recently enticed me with a $20 off purchase coupon (with no minimum price purchase, even), I decided it was time to pick up Graphic Expressions.

 

First impressions are important, and Clarin's brings it with the ruby red coverlet over the shiny gold compact.  Lots of visual appeal here, both inside and out.

The gold overspray brushes off with easily and you are left with a demi-matte combo of apricot/rose/tan that blends together for a warm flush.  Of all the face powders currently on Clarins, this one looked versatile enough to work as both a blush and face powder, and it does. 

Swirling all the colors together produces more color than you would assume give the predominance of beiges and tans in the palette.  However, there is enough width of the tan colors to use those as a soft contour or all over face powder.  I love that the finish is not flat at all.

Graphic Expressions, part of the limited edition 2013 Fall collection, is currently on sale for $24.50 at Clarin's.   With my coupon I paid $4.50 plus shipping, so the bargain shopper in me is very satisfied, Even better, however, is that I will use this a lot!

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation Serum

I received the Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation Serum in light to medium as a deluxe sample in a recent Sephora purchase.  I'd heard good things about the No Blush Blush version of this, but was a blank slate regarding the No Foundation serum. 

I'm always excited by products that have the potential to improve your skin, and the No Foundation Foundation is an antiaging treatment featuring neuropeptides as well as a foundation.  The self-adjusting formula is on the thinner side, hence the glass dropper bottle.

I place 8-10 drops in a mixing tray and apply with a brush.  My skin is far from flawless, but I find the coverage of this is buildable and does a nice job of evening out my skintone and covering imperfections without looking heavy or mask-like. 

The semi-matte finish works well with my oily skin and I've had no issues with breakouts or irritation.  The full sized 1 oz. version is $55, and while that's a bit steep for foundation, given the potential skincare benefits, I'd definitely considering purchasing.  Overall, I really like this! 

Angel's Touch Lip & Blush Gel Stain by Vincent Longo

Angel's Touch ($24) is probably the most vivid of the six Vincent Longo Lip/Cheek Gel Stains that I have.  A deep rosy pink, it's makes for a lovely lip stain.  I'm not sure I can carry it off as a cheek stain, as it may a bit too much for my lighter complexion.  I imagine it would work quite nicely for those with darker skin.

I truly cannot find fault with the Vincent Longo gel stains, as they work equally well as a lip or cheek stain.  While a few of the shades are a bit too dark or dusky for me as cheek stains (Angel's Touch and Sweet Apollonia, in particular), they all work as lip tints. 

Long wearing, non-drying, easy to apply, free of oil, gluten, and paraben, hypoallergenic and cruelty-free, what's not to love?

Fujimoto:: Le Métier de Beauté August Exclusive Eye Kaleidoscope

Another gorgeous eye kaleidoscope has joined my growing collection, this time courtesy of Le Métier de Beauté's summer kaleidoscope 3 month subscription program.  Inspired by the themes of famed Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, the four shades are:

• Top pan - burnished fawn

• 2nd pan - opalescent violet

• 3rd pan - deep chromatic brown

• 4th pan - bronzen aubergine

The formula on all four of these is spot on!  They are smooth with great pigmentation and blend together seamlessly.  Truly spectacular.

While each Le Métier de Beauté shadow can be used on it's own, they really shine when layered over each other.  This 'couches de couleur' technique allows for greater color complexity without any resulting muddiness.  If you having doubts, just click on the below picture:

Pans 1, 2, and 3 blended together

It also means that one kaleidoscope can result in a greater variety of color combinations than you would first assume, making their $95 price tag a bit easier to digest.

I've got to say, Fujimoto is my favorite eye kaleidoscope to date.  I would not have intuitively put together the fawn and violet colors, but somehow it works. 

For this look, I focused more on the brown shades and also incorporated the LMdB shadow Goldstone, which I received in May's LMdB VIP box.

Sadly, since this was exclusive to the summer kaleidoscope program, it's not available for general purchase.  It may show up on ebay at some point if someone decides they don't want theirs, but I'm not seeing it online as of yet. 

NOTD: Sweet Tooth Bronze Beam Jelly Sandwich

I decided a more conservative nail look was appropriate this week due to some work commitments, so I veered towards Clinique's pale pink Sweet Tooth.  However, I didn't want just a clear polish look, so I did a jelly sandwich with Maybelline's LE glitter Bronze Beam from "The Nudes" collection.

Jelly sandwich manicures are probably one of my favorites, even with the 7 coats of polish I use, counting base and top coats.  You are looking at 3 coats of Clinique's Sweet Tooth, and it takes that many if you want the pale pink color to show up.  The formula was spot on, however, and drying time was relatively quick given all the polish layers used.

Bronze Beam is a multi-sized glitter that leans more of a rose gold color to my eyes, but either way it's quite pretty.  I love the tiny little glitter bits in the mix and think they really do add to the overall effect.

Linking up with The Nail Files hosted by JennieShaw!

Barney's Love Yourself Event Purchases & Gift Bag

The gift bag from Barney's Love Yourself event did it's siren song thing on me this year.  Last year it was Space NK with it's mother of all gift bags, but since many of their items this year were the same, I spread my wings and entered Barney's territory instead.   I received (in no particular order):

1. Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask 10ml = $27
2. Atkinsons 24 Old Bond Street Eau de Cologne 2ml = $3.60
3. Maiyet perfume 2ml = $3.90
4. MAKE Santa Fe eyeshadow = $25
5. Koh Gen Do Cleansing Water Cloth 30 ct = $39
6. Kevin Aucoin The Eye Pencil Primatif Basic Black = $26
7. Tizianna Terenzi Almond Vanilla single wick candle = $75
8. Ritual T’ai Chi White Lotus & Green Tea Foaming Shower Gel 200 ml = $15
9. 111 Skin Nocturnal Eclipse Recovery Cream NAC Y2 15ml =  $84
   
10. Malin + Goetz Grapefruit Face Cleanser 29ml = $3.69
11. By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder 1.3 g = $7.80
12. Hourglass Femme Rouge  Velvet Crème Lipstick in Grace 1g =  $8.57
13. Deborah Lippmann Virtual Insanity = $18
14. La Mer The Treatment Lotion 5 ml = $4.42
15. Revive Intense Moisture Serum 6ml = $73
16. Givency Le Rouge Lipstick in Rose Dressing = $15.88
17. Tatcha Luminous Deep Hydration Revitalizing Eye Mask = $9.50
18. Sunday Riley Artemis Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil 5ml = $21.12
19. Radical Skincare Multi Brightening Serum 8ml = $40
20. Chantecaille Faux Cils Mascara 4g = $18.52
21. Kai by Gaye Straza = $48
22. 3Lab WW Cream = $63.50

If my calculations are correct, that comes to $641.50 worth of product.  Quite the value, even if you do have to spend $200 minimum to get it! 

So what did I buy to meet the GWP requirement?  Well, more than a few Armani Beauty items, with some Hourglass and MAKE Cosmetics thrown in for good measure.

• Eye & Brow Maestro in ambre #4
• Eye & Brow Maestro in gold #9
• Eyes to Kill in Khaki Pulse
• Maestro Fusion Blush in 500

• Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure
• MAKE Super Matte Lip Pencil

All I can say is, go big or go home, I guess:-)