Spotlight on Lancome Dual Finish Powder

(as always pics are clickable to view the larger size)

In honor of my newest follower on Twitter - lancomeparis - I decided to do a spotlight blog on one of my HG products. Lancome Dual Finish Versatile Powder Makeup.




I've used this product as a powder since I was in high school. I'm going to be 30 in November, so you do the math! I've always used it simply AS a powder, but it can also be used wet as a foundation. It provides a flawless MATTE finish.

When I was a young buck I only had to use this product on my face. That's how great the coverage is on it. 2 kids later my skin is a mess and I NEED a foundation underneath, but I still use the powder by itself when I need to run out for a minute or when I (rarely) go to the gym.

The mirrored compact comes with a thin powder puff, as well as a round sponge applicator. I personally only use the sponge because it provides more coverage. I only use this product dry, and have never tried it wet. The sponge just suits my needs more.

I recommend you go to Sephora or your local Lancome counter to get color matched on this one. I used Matte Amande II in HS and continued to do so up until about 2 or 3 years ago when I learned it was too dark and was promptly switched to Matte Bisque II by a Lancome MA. Thank goodness for her! There are SO many different shades it's impossible not to find one that will suit you.

I personally love the scent of a new dual finish, but for those of you who are allergic, or get nausous with those rosy smells, this product now also comes in fragrance free form.

This product is 100% worth the money. I use it every single day (only usually having to reapply once) and I only need to buy 2 a year. It LASTS.

This product retails for $35.50 on Sephora.com and lancome-usa.com

**With that said, this will be my last post until August! I'm going to my family reunion at Oglebay and we're leaving tomorrow! Have a great weekend everyone!

Rock & Republic Pressed Blush in SPANK - Swatch Review

(as always pics are clickable to view the larger size)

My good day continued!

Not only did I overhaul the closet (which actually caused a migraine... never try to do this when you have 2 small children) which now has much more room and looks fabulous.... BUT FedEx dropped off my first Rock & Republic makeup item!

Recently RockandRepublic.com had 50% off and 99 cent shipping on their site. I've been lemming a blush for some time now but the $40 price tag is a big put off. HauteLook had a sale with them recently but their shipping was $6.95 and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. When the R&R website had their sale I DOVE right on it.

I've been searching high and low for my perfect pink blush. I'm a mostly coral/nude blush wearer, so it's definately not easy to find that perfect pink. SPANK is seriously the perfect pink. Smooth, buildable, blendable, and chic. I can see WHY they charge what they do for their cosmetics... when you touch this blush it just makes you feel rich inside.



The packaging is to die for. Heavy and durable. You get quite a bit of product for your money.




Everyone needs to own at least one item from Rock & Republic... whether it be a blush, shadow, gloss... I am going to make my wishlist now, maybe Santa will come early ;)

Sephora 500 pt Beauty Perk - Urban Decay Hi-Fi 24/7 Set Swatches & Haul

(as always pics are clickable to view the larger size)

Happy Tuesday!

It's barely 11am and it's already been SUCH a fun day!
My first guest blog EVER was posted at ebates.com (THE place for cash back savings!). You can view my guest blog by clicking here. If you're not already a member at Ebates, please DO sign up! You get cash back (either by check or paypal) 4 times a year and I always get around $60 each time!

Then my Sephora order shows up, just in time for vacation!!!


Too Faced Bronzed & Beautiful Set, Dior Extase mascara (code: EXTASE at checkout), and Urban Decay Hi-Fi 24/7 Set (500 pt perk).

The one item (not pictured) was an item for a friend, but MY main item was the Too Faced The Bronzed & The Beautiful.




I became interested in Too Faced bronzing powder when I received a sample of Too Faced Sun Bunny from my last Sephora order. I'm MAC NW25 and this is the BEST bronzer I've found for my coloring. I've been on the hunt forever, and never even thought to go outside of my brand comfort zone. This bronzer just totally lights up the skin!

I went on to Sephora's website to purchase the Sun Bunny Bronzer when I saw that it also came in a set! The Bronzed & Beautiful set includes Sun Bunny, Snow Bunny, Pink Leopard, AND the Flatbuki brush! All for only $35! I haven't tried the Snow Bunny or the Pink Leopard yet, but once I do I'll be sure to review them. We already know from my past review of Sun Bunny that it's amazing.

Also included in this most recent shipment was Sephora.com's latest 500 point beauty perk - the Urban Decay Hi-Fi 24/7 Set. This product is EXCLUSIVE to Beauty Insiders only and features the shades Zero, Flipside, 1999, Mildew (which is an exclusive shade), as well as Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Distortion (Opalescent Pearl).



Here are the UD swatches, taken with the help of my little guy's arm ;)

Zero, 1999. Flipside, Mildew, Distortion

UD 24/7 liners are extremely smooth and easy to apply. They are waterproof, and I've never had an issue with them migrating onto my face.

Sephora has seriously been stepping it up with the 500 point perks, lately I haven't been able to pass them by! This is bad news for my wallet!

China Glaze Vintage Vixen Haul +1

WOW 3 blog posts in one day. Must be that kind of Monday!! The kids are behaving... what can I say?

The mail has arrived and my head2toebeauty.com order was at my feet. I don't want to do nail swatches just yet, because I'm leaving for vacation on Thursday and want my mani and pedi to be fresh and ready to go, so swatches more than likely won't be coming at you until Wednesday.

I ordered (all from China Glaze) Emerald Fitzgerald (love that nameeee), Foxy, Hey Doll, Ingrid, and Afterglow. Pics are posted below with some swatches on paper. PS ~ Packing peanuts... what a painnnnnnnn <3





Did you get anything yet from China Glaze Vintage Vixen? What are you lemming? DO TELL!

Stereo Rose 2005 vs Stereo Rose 2010

FINALLY my backorder of MAC Stereo Rose arrived on Friday. I almost tripped over it walking out the door because I was not expecting it to arrive that day, or really ever.

The day it launched I placed my order through at 8:59am when By Candlelight was already sold out and Stereo Rose was listed as still available. The dreaded backorder notice arrive in my inbox a day or so later. After a week I'd given up. So what a pleasant surprise!

I'd like to compare the Stereo Rose of the past to the Stereo Rose of now. There seems to be some difference of opinions concerning if they are the same. Some peoples are... some peoples aren't. I don't know that I think the formula has been messed with, but the veining in your particular SR would probably have something to do with it.

Here is a shot of my two Stereo Rose side by side:
2005 on the left, 2010 on the right


This is a finger swatch of Stereo Rose 2005


This is a finger swatch of Stereo Rose 2010


And this is a finger swatch of them side by side


I did take these pictures with the flash, and they do seem a shade off of each other. But really they're exactly the same. I can safely say to you, that SR05 and SR10 are 99.9% similar. At least mine are. When I test swatched in Nordies I could have sworn theres was WAY lighter and peachier than mine, which always seemed coral to me.

It'll be nice to be able to use my 2005 SR without a fear of running out. What would be even nicer is if MAC just released the MSF's permenantly or at least once a year. People would be pretty excited to get a Stereo Rose and a Pleasureflush for retail. Plus, it would kill the evil-bay hounds who are asking $100+ for these MSF's, which MAC frowns upon anyway. Just a thought.

Does anyone else have both Stereo Rose releases? Are yours the same? How do they differ?

Wedding Weekend

Hey everyone!!! Hope you all had a fab weekend! I sure did =)

We went to a family wedding, where my mom was the Maid of Honor!!!

She looks GORGEOUS... obviously ;)

Here is a pic of the beautiful bride and groom:


I've seriously NEVER seen a more happy bride! She was literally glowing, and not just from the 100 degree heat. Debbie beamed from ear to ear throughout the entire ceremony. It's so refreshing to see people in love, getting married, and they are 100% SURE that this is what they want. Magic!

The wedding took place at the Atrium... which was SO beautiful. The setting was so romantic and the food was wonderful!


This is one of my favorite pics of the evening. It's the most angellic beautiful pic of the flower girl, Debbie's daughter Kassy.
I put it on photobucket and played around with it. Blurred the edges and cropped it a bit...


What would the evening be without a pic of the GORGEOUS wedding cake:


I also decided to post a pic of Jeff and I at the wedding, we rarely can get shots of us together than we like lol:


To cap off the night we have a pic of Uncle Greg making a fast getaway!
For this I used the cartoon feature on photobucket... cause it's fun.


Share your weekend stories!!!

NOTD ~ China Glaze Ginger

Today I did a mini China Glaze haul off of Head2ToeBeauty.com. I purchased (From ChG Vintage Vixen) Hey Doll, Ingrid, Foxy, Emerald Fitzgerald, and also Afterglow, which I've been lemming for the past few weeks.

In honor of China Glaze's new beautiful shades, and my mini haul, I decided to do a NOTD post of China Glaze Ginger. This was from the 2009 Specialty Collection. There are MANY more than I need from that collection, but funds are low so we gotta start small ;)



Ginger is a coppery color with silver glitter and a bigger multi-colored hologram sparkle. It's absolutely gorgeous and can't believe that it's sat in my untrieds for as long as it has!!

I have 3 coats on my nails of ChG Ginger as well as Orly Top2Bottom as a base and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. The first pic is without flash, the second pic is with flash.

Review Post ~ Make Up For Ever Fascinating Lip Gloss & Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Strawberry Cream and Shy Blush

First up for review is the Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Fascinating Lipgloss in Pearly Indian Ink 4.



This is described on Sephora.com as red with gold glitter. It's obviously pink and looks nothing like the swatch on the website. In person, it looks more like the color above Pearly Pink 3. Sephora rarely seems to get the color right swatch wise, but luckily that has no bearing on the product itself!

MUFE Fascinating glosses are GORGEOUS. You really need to check them out in person. They are much prettier than MAC Dazzleglass and are absolutely not at all sticky or gritty. The pigment is great, not too sheer, but not too bold. I have every single one of these on my wishlist. These retail for $18 each on Sephora.com.

Next we have Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Strawberry Cream and Shy Blush.




In the pic the top color is Strawberry Cream and the bottom color is Shy Blush. Strawberry Cream is a beautiful pink color with a hint of gold. Shy Blush is such a gorgeous peachy shade, also with gold.

Out of the two, Shy Blush is my fav. I always lean more towards the peachy or coral shades... but this one is also a bit more pigmented. Normally I have issues with getting any sort of mineralized product to stay nicely on my skin, but these have good staying power.

These shades retail for $10 each on marykay.com.

Review Post ~ L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base & Too Faced Bronzing Powder in Sun Bunny

First up for review is the *NEW* L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base. Whew... that is a MOUTHFUL.



I got the chance to try this when I noticed a coupon and sample in the latest edition of Allure magazine. My makeup stayed on ALL day. I didn't even need to touch up my powder! I have combination skin, with my oily areas being my T-Zone. I applied the L'Oreal product first, and then did the rest of my makeup as usual. Perfection. All day.
Was this a fluke? Maybe I didn't do enough moving and shaking that day?

Heck, I have a coupon, let's go try it out. If it really does stink Rite Aid has an excellent return policy. I picked up this base last night to use today, and am happy to report the outcome is the same! I was even outside today in the HUMID gross air sweating like crazy and I'm not shiny!

Retail on this is about $12.95 - but you can always watch out for drugstore buy one get one half off and/or coupons. Don't be discouraged by the size of the pot. It's NOT big and is a little off-putting. Really, you DON'T need much of this, so it should last awhile.

I will post a review update on this once I've used it for awhile. That way I can inform you if it made me break out, rash out, and how long it lasted.

Today I also wore Too Faced "Carribean In A Compact" Bronzing Powder in Sun Bunny.



This powder also has the staying power of super glue. Many a day has been spent looking for the perfect bronzer for my NW25 skin. I got this sample of Too Faced Sun Bunny with my most recent Sephora.com order (and it's still available now!) and (I'm not kidding) almost fell over when I saw how great it looked. OMG that sounds so narcissistic... I'm really not a tool. Once you try this product you'll see what I mean! It retails for $27 at Sephora.

Two products in one day that just last and last and last!! What are the odds?!

FOTD ~ Urban Decay Naked Palette & MAC Happy Together

Heya!

Believe.The.Hype.
You need the Urban Decay Naked Palette. It's SO easy to use and you have countless looks right at your fingertips.

Originally, I wanted to go for an extremely neutral look. Since all the looks I've seen (so far) of this palette have been smokey or dramatic I thought we needed to see something a little different. However, after seeing it in person, I just HAD to try Darkhorse eye shadow. It's just absolutely gorgeous and I can see it being the first to acquire a major dip.

For this look I used:
~ MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer NW25
~ MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation NW25
~ Lancome Dual Finish Powder Matte Bisque II
~ MAC Taupe Brow Pencil
~ MAC Brow Set - Clear
~ Urban Decay Eyeliner in Zero
~ MAC Plushlash Mascara in Black
~ Urban Decay Naked Palette Eye Shadows in Dark Horse (crease & outer V), Toasted (middle of the lid), Sin (inner corners), and Virgin (highlight)
~ MAC Happy Together Mineralized Blush
~ Bare Escentuals Buxom Gloss in Amber
~ Brushes - MAC 168, MAC 219, MAC 227, MAC 239 (2), Mary Kay Mini mascara wand (to brush up the brows)


I was REALLY impressed with the UD Naked Palette. The colors are AMAZING and there are so many possibilities! The shades are blendable and have a large range so you can go neutral all the way up to dramatic and everywhere in between. This is their best palette yet.

Between that and the AWESOMENESS of the Alice In Wonderland palette... I just may be turning into a HUGE Urban Decay junkie!!! Can't wait for their next F&F. I'm more than likely going to go a little wild!





Disclaimer - yes, to me, this eye is dramatic! I'm a normally neutral stay at home mommy ;) But we need to be beautiful too!

Review Post - Urban Decay Pocket Rocket Lip Gloss, Bare Escentuals Buxom Gloss, MAC Happy Together Mineralized Blush

Good morning & Happy Tuesday!

In this post I'd like to review of few of my samples that I received from my most recent Sephora order as well as MAC Happy Together Mineralized Blush.

Urban Decay Pocket Rocket Lipgloss in Doug


I assume this is Doug (described as a sheer medium pink w/ irridescent sparkle, which, btw, is spot on). I had to look it up on the site because I couldn't find it on the packaging, but it IS early, so I may just be missing it lol
This lipgloss was pretty sticky (which also seems to be the biggest gripe on Sephora.com's reviews), and I didn't really like the way it felt on my fingers or lips while applying. Once it was on, however, I was definately in like. The gloss has a nice tint to it and smalls & tastes DIVINE.
The full size packaging is probably what would keep me, personally, from buying this gloss. I'm going to be 30 years old in November and I have 2 small children. I wouldn't be able to justify purchasing this because I seriously feel like I'm about 15 years too old for it. I think it was a good move for the brand to reach out to a younger consumer though. What might keep a younger consumer away is the $19 price tag.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Gloss in Amber


BE and I have never meshed. I tried to buy in on the Mineral Powder and eye shadow and the stuff just never worked on my skin. These glosses have always intrigued me, but I never wanted to try them because of my experience with the Mineral makeup. This sample was the perfect opportunity to give the Buxom Gloss a whirl!

Amber, described as a soft shimmering peach, is really neutral and really pretty. I'm actually wearing it in the FOTD that I'll be posting today. It's a tad sticky but has a really awesome cooling effect on the lips that is still there even now, an hour later! It's not an offensive or painful feeling, it just feels GOOD. Almost relaxing. I love the packaging and the price isn't TOO bad at $18 a tube. They also have cute little sets of these, which is what I think I'd go for.

MAC Happy Together Mineralized Blush


90% of my collection is MAC. I'm a MAC girl. I just can't help it. Even though they sometimes release 3-4 collections a month! I still keep coming back for more pretties.
Happy Together Mineralized Blush (In The Groove, $23) was something I originally passed on. Usually these blushes are shimmer bombs and make me feel ridiculous when I wear them. In fact, the ONLY one that I loved before this one was Nuance and it's definately an HG. I loved the swatches of Happy Together, but passed because of my usual experience of Mineralized Blushes. Why waste the time buying and either having to swap or return it if I don't like it? My lemming got the best of me a week later and I ordered it off of the website.
So glad I did! It's MUCH more pigmented than the swatch I provided shows (which is both colors swirled together). It actually seems like it showed up a bit peachy on me. (I used this blush in the FOTD I'll be posting today). It goes on smoothly and I think it would compliment most skin tones.
I definately would repurchase this one and would recommend you pick one up STAT!

Sephora & MAC Haulage!

Good day! Two in a row! On a roll now!

What happened with the UPS you ask? My mailman called me around 3:30pm EST to tell me he saw my packages sitting on the street over. Same house number, wrong street! UPS always misdelivers! Anyway, legally he couldn't take them to me, but he said I could come get them. I can't leave the kids or take them out so I sent my father in law on a search and rescue mission. Recovery has been completed and I'm so excited I immediately took pics and ran for the computer!

Today my UPS haul consisted of The Urban Decay Naked Palette (which has sold out online THREE times now!), my HG Lancome Dual Finish Powder and MAC Happy Together Mineralized Blush from In The Groove, Brush Cleanser, and Plushlash Mascara (when did they change the Plushlash packaging?! lol).





The Urban Decay Naked Palette is actually more gorgeous in person than it is in everyone's blogs. Yes, it's possible. It is said to NOT be limited edition, but they just cannot keep it in stock. It's that amazing? We shall see!








My Sephora shipment was also stuffed with goodies! RARELY do I ever indulge in the 500 point beauty perk. TBH they are usually extremely lame. This time there was a nice little goodie bag from Benefit. A company I've been most curious about for the past month or so. (I've done some in store swatching at Sephora and Macy's but haven't taken the plunge yet).



The Benefit Makeup Your Mind 500 Point Perk includes Deluxe Samples of:
- BADgal Mascara Duo in black and plum
- Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in R.S.V.P. (sparkling champagne)
- Posietint
- Lipstick in Lady's Choice (naturally nude)
- Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer

I also got the Juicy Couture "Couture" Rollerball Mini for my 100 point perk and my 3 free samples are Too Faced Bronzing Powder in Sun Bunny, Urban Decay Pocket Rocket Lipgloss in Doug, and BE Buxom Lipgloss Samples in Amber and Dolly.

I've only tried the Couture rollerball, and I must say... LOVELY. I'll wear this a lot! It doesn't give me a headache AND it stays on!

Tomorrow there WILL be a FOTD with the Naked Palette! WOO HOO!