Sample Series #10: Too Faced Born This Way in Light Beige and Burberry's Fresh Glow

Too Faced's Born This Way is billed as a medium to full coverage foundation that is virtually undetectable.  Considering my main gripe about fuller coverage foundations is that they tend to look unnatural and rather mask like, plus the positive reviews for Born This Way I've read online, I was quite happy to try out a sample.

Light Beige seemed like a good match for me, with its "light/medium with neutral to golden undertones".  I'd say it leans more golden than neutral, but it worked.

I applied with my fingers and then used a damp Beauty Blender to blend it out.  Coverage was indeed on the medium to full side, although I wouldn't call it undetectable.  There were a few areas that were hard to blend out for some reason,  and the finish was rather flat, which I associate with a mask like effect. 

I used Burberry's Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base as a spot highlighter on my inner eyes, cheekbones, nose, and cupid's bow to add glow back.   I can't say I really liked it as a spot highlighter, as it seemed to degrade both my eye makeup and foundation after a few hours. 

Next, I decided to mix the Burberry Fresh Glow fluid with the Born This Way foundation, hoping it would provide a bit of radiance without causing issues with the foundation.  The foundation did seem to blend better but I think the Fresh Glow fluid lessened the wear time, as I could see visible breakup of the foundation after 5-6 hours. 

Here is my "going to Target to get my flu shot" look.  I think I've only worn makeup a few times in the last two weeks, pretty much what you see on this page.  I guess my skin is getting a vacation as well :-)

Overall, neither one of these seem to be for me, although I like the foundation better than the Fresh Glow fluid.  That's the beauty of samples though - you get to try before you buy!

NOTD: Today I Accomplished Zero by OPI

 Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

I may be wearing Today I Accomplished Zero by OPI on my nails, but I've been pretty productive on my staycation, which has only 3 days left.  Even more impressive is that these pictures were taken after 7 days of wear - days that included lots of cleaning and yard work.  I do have a small chip on my thumb, hence why I'm hiding it in the pictures.

Today I Accomplished Zero is part of OPI's Coca Cola collection polishes.  It's a lovely black jelly with dark pink glitter, but my eye translates the glitter as red.  Really, a great Halloweenish polish, as it reminds me of vampires :-)

I used 3 coats of polish but I probably could have gotten away with 2, and then topped it with Gelous.  I don't know if Gelous is why I'm getting such good wear time, but it's a great topcoat if you haven't tried it yet.

Have I Finally Found My Perfect Peach Lip Color? Cause I've Been Searching....

I've been searching for the right peach lip color for me, and it's been more miss than hit so far.  But then, I received what may be my favorite peach shade so far September's FabFitFun subscription box:  Manna Kadar's LipLocked Priming Lip Stain in Lucky ($24). 

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much after looking at the ingredient list, most of which I don't recognize, and the one I do (mineral oil), a bit disappointing.  But this baby looks and feels great on! 

Lucky is surprisingly pigmented for such a light color and does not emphasize lip lines.  It's a medium on the stickiness scale with wear time in the 3 hour range and my lips feel moisturized and comfortable the entire time.  Just really nice.

It's opaque enough to wear on it's own, but I also like layering it over the peach lipsticks I've bought but just didn't quite do it for me. Here is Lucky on it's own:

I've had good luck with the Manna Kadar products I've tried in the past, namely her Sheer Glo highlighting lotions.  They are one of my favorite liquid highlighters and see regular use from me.  Looks like Lucky will be as well!

Loving Your Unloved v. 4: MAKE Geisha and Czarina Blushes

Time for volume 4 of my "Loving Your Unloved" series, where I select makeup items that have been neglected and use them for a month.  My selection for September were two blushes from MAKE - Geisha and Czarina.

Geisha, Czarina

I do most of my makeup shopping online, which means I have to rely on the pictures posted by the respective stores.  That must explain why I got the similarly hued Geisha and Czarina, as opposed to two shades that were more varied.  Must be.  They are not exactly the same, as Geisha (left) is softer and less pigmented than the slightly darker and more coral toned Czarina (right).  It took more passes with the brush to get the color for Geisha shown in the swatches below.  Czarina only took 2-3 swipes to build up color, but it did kick up more powder. 

Both are quite lovely and the quality is top notch.  MAKE is one of those brands that flies under the radar, but I've found both the blushes and eyeshadows I've tried to be really nice.  I did find myself reaching for Geisha more than Czarina during the month of concentrated use, but they look so similar on it's really a toss up.

Wearing Geisha

Even with focusing on these for a month, I've barely made a dent in them.  Good thing powder products last such a long time.  So what will I focus on for the next month?  Hmmm.....I need to ponder that for a bit.  Stay tuned.

Empties! Products I Used Up in September

My September empties feature more hair care items than anything else, probably because I do a better job of going through my shampoo/conditioner samples than anything else.  I haven't bought shampoo or conditioner in ages!

The standout hair care items for me in September were the Momo shampoo by davines and the Argan Oil by Morocco shampoo/conditioner samples.  I've liked everything I've tried by davines, all of which I've received via Birchbox.  Maybe that will be my next Birchbox points purchase...

I'm out of my gold standard for cleansing oils, DHC's Deep Cleansing Oil.  I've yet to find another I like as much, although I'm testing a less expensive cleansing oil at the moment.  You rule, DHC.

I finally used 2 of the 3 masks from Julep that I received a while back in a mystery box, and I liked them!  I had no idea they had expiration dates on them (I need to pay more attention to stuff like that), so I'm glad I remembered to use them.  There was plenty of essence in both and the 10 little nail tip masks were kind of fun to put on and wear.  The foot masks were sturdy with sticky tabs around the ankle to keep them on securely, and both feet felt super hydrated and soft afterwards.  I no longer see these on Julep's site, which is a shame, as I would get some more!

Another standout last month was a facial scrub called NIA24.  I must have received this as a GWP, and it features something called Pro-Niasomes, which are spherical Jojoba beeds infused with Pro-Niacin.  The beads help wash away skin's dead skin, increase circulation, and prepare skin for the Pro-Niacin. At least one study has shown that niacinamide provided reductions in fine lines/wrinkles, hyerpigmented spots, red blotchiness, skin yellowing and elasticity.  I'll take that.  A tube is $38 (although I saw it as cheap as $$27 online), and I would consider purchasing.

I seem to fall back in love with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's perfume oils every autumn, usually prompted by my selection and purchase of several of their Halloween blends (hopefully in the mail soon).  So, I've been going through some of the many imps I have, both for my home fragrance burner and mixed with Jojoba oil as a body moisturizer.

The one dud for me in September that got tossed almost full was the Rita Hazan Root Concealer in Dark Blonde.  It was too dark for me, although I understand there is one for golden blondes that might be a better match.  Honestly, regular old dry shampoo with it's white case works just fine for me. 

NARS Cruella and Rikugien Lip Pencils

I think Sephora's 2015 birthday gift of NARS lip pencils will actually get some some use by me as opposed to languishing in neglected makeup land.  These are niiiiice.  Let's take a look.

Cruella is a classic vampy matte red with pigment that goes on for years.  It was also surprisingly comfortable for a matte and did not make my lips feel parched or uncomfortable.  I usually apply a smidgeon of lip balm underneath to help combat dryness, but I probably could have foregone that and still have been okay.

I wore Cruella on my birthday and was surprised at how light it felt for such an intense color.  I had no migration issues and it wore well.  Bonus:  it does stain so my lips had color even a lunch of Thai salad/soup/chicken pad thai.  Yum.

Rikugien is the satin version lip pencil and its a soft rose pink shimmer.  I wore this to an official function at the university I work at.  Typically, I try to wear understated makeup for such occasions, and Rikugien was a perfect complement for the outdoor event.

Rikugien's shimmer is not enough to look frosty, just enough to keep it from looking flat and give a bit of oomph to the lips.

Rikugien was not as long lasting as Cruella, but it did wear comfortably and my lips were not screaming for more moisture.  I can see this becoming a work staple for when I want quick color without having to worry about precision application.

I'm on week two of my vacation/staycation and this week involves no work related responsibilities, so it really feels like vacation now.  That should mean more regular posting to the blog and catching up on house/yard related things. Exciting, I know :-)

Sephora Mini Haul for my Birthday

I'm back from my unplanned hiatus from blogging - sorry about that.  Work was out of hand and I've discovered that blogging is similar to exercise:  once you stop it's hard to get started again.  However, I'm on vacation and today's my birthday, so might as well get back on that horse!

I'm also discovering that my desire to acquire beauty items is abating, no doubt due to having more than I'll ever be able to use in my lifetime as it is. I did want to get Sephora's birthday present for Beauty Insiders, the NARS lip pencils in Cruella and Rikugien, so a small purchase in the form of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC)  lip tar in Kimberly was in order. OCC is leaving Sephora and all the lip tars are on sale for $9, and Kimberly has been calling me for a while.

Throw in samples of Too Faced's new foundation Born This Way and I'm a happy camper. It' looks like Light Beige will be a good match for me, and with the good reviews I've been reading I'm looking forward to trying it out.  SuperGoop's CC Cream has held my interest all summer and my be my foundation holy grail, but we shall see.

I'm happy that Sephora is now carrying Burberry, as there are a few items I would like to try. Belif's The True Cream = Aqua Bomb is a tried and true favorite and it's nice that Sephora has started carrying more Korean brands.

I'll leave you with a picture of this sweet bunny, which my Border Collie mix brought me a few weeks back. It was late at night and I was getting ready for bed when Maggie jumped up and ran outside. About 10 minutes later she came back with something white hanging from her mouth. I thought it was a t-shirt until she dropped it and it started jumping. The bunny appeared uninjured and I was able to catch it and put it out my front door.

The next day I'm walking the dogs and see the bunny sitting in the middle of someone's yard, sunning itself. This is no wild bunny, I said to myself, and it won't survive if I don't catch it again. So, a few hours and several carrots later, Chance the bunny was safely housed and I already had someone in mind as a potential home. A colleague of mine has several bunnies and sure enough, she and her husband graciously agreed to give Chance a home. The vet says Chance is a healthy girl bunny about 10-12 weeks old, and her new mom says she is sweet as can be. How she ended up in my backyard is anyone's guess, which is why I named her Chance. How sweet was Maggie to catch her without doing any damage and bring her to me?  An early birthday present!