Walgreens, you have redeemed yourself thanks to a lovely rep

For those who didn't know...Pharmacists intentionally make you wait 15 minutes to fill a prescription so you can justify some "in-the-moment" shopping ;)

The loot from tonight's visit includes 2 John Frieda products for temporary straight-styling, a Revlon nail polish in "Provence", and restocking my beloved "Fiji" by Essie.

What made this visit so memorable was the gal who checked me out in the cosmetics department. A blog reader herself, she recognized me and threw in some generous samples.

**Ummmm… yeah.. I just said SAMPLES from Walgreens… I know I know, it's UNHEARD of!
That was super nice of her, Thank You! (You know who you are, and you have redeemed me to come back and shop at Walgreens again. Thx again!)

On to the goodies…
I scored 2 Garnier products, a face mask and a set of general hair care. Look out for a review soon!

I wish more drugstores would take care of customers like this. While I realize I'm giving them the go ahead to take advantage of my addiction, I'd LOVE it!

Makeup Forever - Duo Mat Powder Foundation

Price: $34

What you get: 10g, black compact with a sponge

Color Range: Not quite sure why Makeup Forever numbers their colors randomly in the hundreds, but they do. Moving on… Color matching with MUFE is never a problem. Their selection is HUGE. They’re not as extensive as NARS per se with their undertone selections, you pretty much are left with the option of either pink or yellow tones, but with that, they truly do capture every shade and every shade in between.

Coverage: The powder provides medium to full coverage, depending on how it is applied (sponge or brush).

Consistency: The consistency of this powder is a dream. I ran into this powder at a point when I was simply sick of hunting for a good powder foundation. Everything was starting to look thick and heavy, even the mineral stuff. This powder, I find, is very finely milled and has a silicone feel to the touch.

Finish: MUFE claims a matte finish on their website, I beg to differ. Most powders will help mattify the face. It’s part of a “powder’s” nature – kinda like their DNA makeup, if you will. But for a powder to leave a matte finish, I expect no shine, no glow, absolute live sucked off of the face. This is not the case with this powder. Even with medium-full coverage, the powder leaves a semi-matte finish, a soft satin look. Used over foundation it creates a beautiful sealed look. Used on its own, it evens out color differences leaving some skin still peering through. *Good Stuff*

 Endurance: The powder will last you a good 3 hours. After that, it starts fading like any other powder, regardless if you’ve used a primer/liquid foundation underneath or not.

The Verdict:  The product leaves me amazed every time I use it. It’s not chalky not heavy, and it leaves a velvety finish. I don’t need it to do much more than set a liquid foundation or bring down the shine on my nose, and it tends to be able to do just that.

*Aaahhh!! Receiving exactly what you ask me, it’s a good feeling*
It comes with price tag however. $34 might seem reasonable to someone like myself who was sick of being disappointed by powders, and was willing to pay for something to just deliver the basic functions of a powder. On the other hand, if you’re not as picky with your finishes, you might be able to be just as satisfied with something a lot cheaper, and might find $34 ridiculous. Apart from finish and consistency, there is nothing outstanding about this product. This product is a convenient answer with color and texture for those looking for a decent-performing powder.

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

Price: $42

What you get: 1 Fl. Oz., square glass bottle, no pump

Color Range: Their colors are labeled with cities across the world – a different take with nothing to lose, A+ for grabbing my attention. *Moving on* They host a wide variety of undertones: pink, yellow, golden, peachy, olive, brown, red, caramel.) In theory, the plan seems fool proof. With so many different undertones to choose from and given a few selections between light, medium, dark, everyone should find something for themselves… Right? :-/ Unfortunately, that’s not quite how things panned out to be. While NARS has done a fine job of equally representing different undertones, the range of each undertone is quite limited. For example: If you have skin with pink undertones, and are looking for a medium shade, the closest you’ll get to is… Santa Fe – a medium with peachy undertones, as their website describes it. Most of their pink undertones are found in their lighter palette.

Coverage: M-E-D-I-U-M. Period. Ignore what their website says.

Consistency: The consistency of this foundation is a dream, a prayer answered, just absolutely beautiful. It’s thin and drippy, so a little covers a lot of surface area, and the bottles lasts you forever! YAY!

Finish: The title claims a “glowy” finish. Their website claims a “satin” finish. Experience with this foundation says, it leaves you with a semi-matte finish. Now, if your skin tends to lean towards the oily side, you might see that “lit-from-within-glow.” If your skin tends to lean towards the dryer side, you might see more of that satin to matte finish. But generally speaking, but prepared for a semi-matte finish.

Endurance: The foundation will last you a good 5 hours. After that, it starts fading, regardless if you’ve used a primer or set the foundation with powder.

Overall: The product initially might catch you off guard as you go to pour out some to start application. The stuff is pretty watery for a medium coverage foundation. You probably with need half the amount you use with any other foundation. A little goes a lonnggg way. The product is easy to apply, easy to blend, and easy to set.  However, when it dries, it dries a little darker and settles into dry patches on the face.

The Verdict:  My experience with this foundation hasn’t always been great. I started using this foundation during the winter time, getting over a cold, so I hated how it settled on my dry skin. I was almost convinced it was a matte finish foundation. Then, for the longest time I couldn’t use it because there wasn’t a shade that matched my skin. When I finally got dark enough to bridge over to the next relatively close shade, I started loving this baby. If you can find your shade & maintain the health of your skin, it’s a great weekend/going out/half day foundation. The product has not broken me out, nor irritated existing acne.

Correcting Not Renovating

Some thoughts on contouring and highlighting...
Contouring and highlighting are techniques that require tact and a practiced eye. While there are general guidelines one can use like demonstrated on the chart by Kevyn Aucoin, when transforming and/or correcting a client’s features/or your own, preferences play a huge part in the decision-making. BEFORE placing dark and lighter patches across the face, ask yourself if this gives or takes from the natural features. The purpose of contouring and highlighting is to enhance one’s existing look, not creating a new one. It’s very similar to the idea of home improvement. A designer will help adjust and update the look of a place, while a remodeler will leave you with a completely different look. When correcting, identify which features need most work and which need least.

Begin by working on the features that need least amount of work and climb your way up to the features that need the most. One of the hardest techniques to master is learning when to stop. This process will help you maintain the client’s overall original appearance (with a few tweaks), and help you assess when you need to stop. It’ll be easier for your eye to determine when you are steering too far away from your starting point. Working the other way around, your eye adjusts to a major change too soon, and pulls away that bar of restraint…





…Leaving you with a picture that’s not so pretty.

Friday Facts

 

-OOTD (Outfit of the day) Navy, white, gold and hmmm... Hot pink anyone? (nails count right?)

-4/5 on my to-do list is an A+

-Trying to finish up my Lancome mascara wouldn't be so dreadful if I still liked it -.- Btw, I'm talking about the Hypnose Star

-Drinking the 8oz of water, 8 times a day that you're suppose to is hard work... Did I mention hard work?

-Bright lips will only brighten up your day IF your cracks are moisturized (haha)

-I'm having a secret love affair with Chanel's Vita Lumiere Aqua, aren't you?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday and is gearing up for the 4th of July!

MAC Face & Body

Normally, for reviews, I like to get through the WHAT part of the product first, but for this one I think it helps to know my verdict first.

It takes a while to see why many makeup artists consider this as a staple in their collection. It doesn't impress at a swatch. The coverage is nothing to write home about, and at a glance it just seems like watery substance they're calling foundation, selling it in a squirt bottle.

But give it a sec...

The heart and soul of this product lies in the sheer application of this product. Feather it into your skin and let it cook (sit for 5-10 minutes). It is just simply undetectable on the face. It looks like skin, it feels like skin. It builds a waterproof barrier as well, to prevent transfer. So what's so great about that? How does it differ than a tinted moisturizer/BB cream? While it does leave a dewy finish, it doesn't transfer like a tinted moisturizer/BB cream. It wears like a foundation, and helps achieve that Parisian effortless face without making you greasy and wanting to wipe it off on a sunny day. It's truly your skin, but better.


So now on to the scoop...

Color Range: Named differently than their NC & NW range. Cool tones stop @ C5, where as the warm tones run into N9. Not fantastic, but not bad either.

Coverage: Sheer to light. And that's pretty much it. Technically speaking, you CAN work it up to full coverage (as the Pixiwoo sisters on Youtube love to do) but I feel it leaves more texture on the face before you see coverage.

Finish: Water resistant yet dewy. (Trust me, it makes sense when it's on your face)

Size: For $27 you get 1.7oz of product, or if you're smart you'll pick up for $33, 4oz. AN ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUSLY HUGE AMOUNT for the price.

Monday Night Inspiration

Okay so this isn't much of a post, but maybe I just want another place to stare at this pic... *realizes how wrong that sounds*

Kate Winslet, on the cover of Harper's Bazaar April, looked absolutely breathtaking. Thanks to Lisa Eldridge (the mua for the shoot), I'm ready to bring back the 50's eyeliner with a bang this spring.