A few days late, but I never do anything on time. Enjoy!
Colour Couture Sunless Tanning Products
As a fair-skinned girl who the sun does not agree with, I am always on the hunt for amazing tanning products. Sunless tanning is generally hit or miss, but so worth it when you find a good’n like these Colour Couture products! The Red Carpet Ready spray applies evenly (very important in a spray!) and darkens slightly over a few hours. It dries quickly and lasts quite a long time… about a week… before you need to re-spray yourself. The Shimmer in the Spotlight lotion is a tan extender meant to use on the days in between your spray sessions, and it works great at maintaining your color. It is also really moisturizing, smells heavenly, and gradually builds color even if you aren’t using the Red Carpet Ready spray. I highly recommend these products and hope I never run out! I love my current glow!
Spray - $34
Lotion - $28
You can find them at Colour-Couture.com!
Laura Geller The Real Deal Concealer
I got a teensy-tiny sample of this with a gift set I purchased off of Hautelook a few weeks ago… initially I was really disappointed in the size of it, but when I started to use it I realized that the small, thumb-sized tube would last me a very long time! The brand advertises this as “serious coverage”, and they aren’t lying… the tiniest drop is more than enough for my entire face, literally. I often squeeze too much out of the tube than what I’m looking for. Even though the coverage is extreme, this concealer doesn’t look cakey, and it doesn’t accentuate wrinkles or blemishes - it is very creamy, blendable, and provides a velvet-matte finish that looks natural on your skin. I’ve been using it on dark circles and over blemishes and have absolutely no complaints… in fact, I’d say that my complexion is looking better than ever! Even though it’s pricey, I highly recommend it if you’re on the hunt for a full coverage concealer.
$22 for full size tube
You can find this at Ulta!
Hard Candy Show Girl’s Secret Glitter Glue
I don’t know why it took me so long to purchase this… and I’m so glad I did! Although this is called a “glitter glue”, it serves so many more purposes. It is an excellent mixing medium - mix a drop or two of this with your loose pigments and the color will apply smoothly, looking opaque and lasting all day, no matter the quality of the pigment you’re using. The consistency is thin like water, but really locks eyeshadow in place! I’ve used this as a primer, applying eyeshadow over it… as a mixing medium with all sorts of loose shadows… and as a glitter adhesive. It comes with a small fine tipped brush, perfect for applying the glue in precise lines. I highly recommend this, for Show Girls and for the rest of you who are looking for a product that will take your eye makeup to the next level!
$5 at Walmart or online, exclusively
NYX Slim Eye Pencils
Do I talk about these enough? I really don’t think I do! If you’re a color junkie, you really need to browse through the selection of these pencils. They literally have every color under the sun! They glide onto your skin smoothly and have great color payoff. I’ve even used them as a base for eyeshadow! (I used NYX Slim Pencil in Yellow in this look) They’re very inexpensive so you can stock up on all of your favorite shades.
$3.50 each
You can find them at Ulta!
Jordana Powder Blush
I owned this blush in Tawny Beige for over a year before I actually used it, and now it’s one of my everyday staples! I had always underestimated this brand because it was so inexpensive, but these blushes are actually really superb. The colors are gorgeous and really flattering. They blend easily onto your skin and never look garish or too sheer. They aren’t sparkly or shimmery but provide just the right amount of flattering sheen that makes your complexion look totally natural. I definitely recommend these cheapies for everyone… beginners and pros alike!
$4 each
You can find these at Walgreens!
——————————————————————————————
——————————————————————————————
——————————————————————————————
Urban Decay Naked Basics Eyeshadow Palette
A part of my soul is saying, “No! Don’t put this in the ‘Miss’ section!” I love UD eyeshadows, and yes - these are great quality. But this palette, as a whole, is disappointing. It is Urban Decay’s first all-matte palette, which I should be screaming over, but these colors are really boring. Yes, this is a “basic” palette, and it does provide six very important colors that everyone should have in their shadow arsenal. But for the price ($27) it’s just too lack-luster for me. Some of you may disagree, but my pockets are just too tight for this palette!
$27 for 6 shades
You can find this at Ulta!
L’Oreal True Match Lumi Liquid Foundation
When this first came out, I was very excited to try it. I am a big fan of the original True Match, and I was glad to see that this line uses the same shade guidelines (sorted by undertone). I was also hooked at the phrase “Healthy Luminous Makeup” - advertisements claim that this makes your skin clearer and more radiant. It supposedly contains Vitamins C and E as well as antioxidants, but this alone isn’t going to create even-toned skin. This foundation provides light coverage, and although the website claims that it is buildable, I found that the more I layered the sheerer the foundation actually became. This is not a product ideal for oily or combination skin; it is not long lasting, and it is meant to look “dewy”, meaning if your face is already shiny, you’re going to have a mirror for a face. It is not sparkly, like Revlon PhotoReady can be, but it is still too lush looking for oily complexions. It does provide SPF 30, and the packaging is a convenient pump (why aren’t more foundations in pumps?), which I appreciate. If you have clear, normal skin, this could definitely work for you - but if you’re trying to cover blemishes or other marks, or if you need something that is going to last all day on oily skin, this is not your product.
$12 in drugstores or Ulta
Rimmel London Clean Finish Liquid Foundation
I purchased this a while back with the intention of using it in a $20 Makeup Challenge - it sounds nice (who doesn’t want a clean finish?) but I was really disgusted by this foundation. It does NOTHING that it claims… zip, zero, nadda. It is not “poreless” at all, even though the consistency is that of a whipped foundation (strange!). It does not blend nicely onto the skin… it clings to every enlarged pore, fine line, hair, dry skin patch, you name it… and looks really terrible. I used it with a primer, a moisturizer, a powder, a setting spray, in layers, buffed onto the skin, applied with fingers, used lightly… and nothing worked. It does not feel clean at all… it is actually very heavy and feels greasy on your face. And to top it all off, the packaging is so strange! Because it is so thick, it doesn’t pour out of the bottle like most foundations do… so they attatched a small spatula to the cap and intend for you to scoop the product out of the bottle! Terrible, terrible, terrible.
$4 at drugstores or Ulta!
OPI “Moonraker” Nail Lacquer
This is part of the brand-spankin’-new Skyfall collection (inspired by James Bond). I was looking for a nice silver polish, since my nail polish hoard is lacking in that area, and thought that this looked like a great metallic option. I’ve been hearing great things about the Skyfall collection and picked this up hoping that it would work for me… but it’s terrible! Turns out I selected the worst shade in the series; it is streaky, very sensitive to each brush stroke, watery, and overall difficult to work with. It also chipped off significantly within a day of applying it… boo! Not worth it. Stick to some of the better shades in the Skyfall collection!
$8 each
You can find this at Ulta!