Smashbox Holiday Launch - WONDERVISION

Smashbox has launched its 2013 WONDERVISION 2013 Holiday products! Including an eye set, brush set and lip gloss set. These lip glosses look really pretty and very wearable. I might have to treat myself to an early Christmas!

Tarte Coupon Code - 15 % off

Use promo code SAVINGS today for 15%. Expires Sept 30 2013

Zoya Promo- Get the Color Lock System FREE with purchase

Check it out. Zoya is giving away their Color Lock System set for free when you buy 3 of their Fall or Pixie Dust Collection colors. I've got my eye on Sailor and Livingston.  And Chyna and Chita will be perfect for those holiday festivities that are fast approaching!

The more I look, the more difficult it is to choose. Ahhhh!

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse

LOVE IT!

First off, This isn't a mousse. It's a cream. A creamy cream, but a cream nonetheless.
Anyway, I like cream foundations  and I love Maybelline's Dream Smooth Mousse.  It gives me almost full coverage without looking like I'm wearing a ton of foundation. You can easily sheer it out by dampening your applicator of choice for a more natural, fresh skin look. But Beware! A little bit goes a long way, so start out light, blend it out and then add more if you must. It will look cakey if you smother your skin with it. Applied correctly and it gives me a VERY natural, yet flawless look. I didn't even know that was possible! This stuff seriously looks like my skin.

It comes in six shades, which means you might not be able to find one that matches you perfectly. I got Porcelain Ivory, the lightest shade, and it's a tad too dark and beige/pink to really match seamlessly in winter, but it warms up my super pale winter skin so I wear it anyway. You can see the product through the clear bottom of the package in the picture (yeah I hit pan a LONG time ago)

The packaging is a bit clunky but there's not a lot of product in this so don't be fooled. They gave a lot of real estate to the lid and chamber place that keeps the sponge. This doesn't bother me at all, just giving you a heads up.

It blends easily with a sponge or brush.I don't have to set this with anything, but if you've got oily skin you will probably need to.  It stays put all day. I imagine for those with really oily skin it might slip a bit but I'm not sure.

It's comfortable on my skin. It didn't give me a dewy finish but it wasn't matte either. Just even and natural. I will keep buying this until ..... forever!

Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask

Okay, so I get black heads. I get them on my nose mostly, but I get a few on my cheeks. And just like everyone else I HATE them. I've been using Neutrogena's Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask for longer than I can remember at this point and I've been taking it for granted! Recently I left it at home when I went on an extended vacation thinking "Oh, my skin looks great and I need to cut down what I take with me, so I'll leave this one behind"  Such a mistake! The black heads came back and I had nothing to combat them! Until I got home, of course,  and after using this just once I noticed an improvement. (for the record I WAS washing my face! The philosophy cleanser I was using just wasn't doing anything for my blackheads)

The active ingredient is benzoyl peroxide (3.5%) You can use it ever day as a cleanser or once a week as a mask. Isn't that awesome! If you've got really sensitive skin the mask might not be for you. At least you won't want to leave it on for the full 5 minutes that recommended. I usually only keep it on for about 2-4 minutes and my face is bright RED when I get out of the shower. I don't mind though, because it clears my skin right up. I use this 2-3 times a week and that's enough for me to keep those nasty suckers at bay.

It's only about $7 for 4.2 fl oz and you can get it anywhere.

L'Occitane En Provence Cuticle & Nail Cream

I get dry cuticles and hangnails year around. My hands can look smooth and moisturised and STILL the area around my nails look crusty and gross. So, I picked up a tube of L'Occitane's Cuticle & Nail Cream  (0.5oz for $18) to try it out. I was getting a little tired of all the lemon cuticle butters out there. A lot of them work well, but I would rather my hands not smell of Lemon Pledge.

This comes in an easy to squeeze tube (I can tell I'll be able to get every last bit of product out without resorting to cutting the packaging apart) with a tiny opening for the product to come out of so it's super easy to control how much you get out. The cream itself is not greasy at all and has a beautiful soft scent. It's similar to baby powder without actually smelling like baby powder. It definitely smells grown up.

It absorbs pretty quickly so you can apply it before going out or going to bed without worried about smudging it all over everything you touch. Most importantly, it works almost immediately. My cuticles look better right after application and they're basically perfect after 2-
3 days of use. It's supposed to make nails stronger and less brittle, but my nails aren't usually brittle to begin with so I can't say if it works on that front. It definitely does its job on those cuticles though.

It contains shea butter, honey, apricot oil, sunflower seed oil, rosemary leaf extract, myrrh oil and bunch of other stuff.

Nivea Daily Essentials Rich Regenerating Night Cream

I get dry skin in the winter making my face look terribly blah and wearing any makeup on my face difficult. Hello dry patches!!! I've tried so many different moisturizers and a lot of them made my skin feel pretty good, but none of them were this luxurious and just .... PERFECT!

I picked up some of Niveas's Daily Essentials Rich Regenerating Night Cream for £2 at ASDA when I was in the UK. I got it because it was cheap and I wasn't really hunting for the perfect moisturizer - just one that would work enough until I could afford something great. Little did I know this would end up being my favorite moisturiser EVAH! And not only because it was so inexpensive, although that doesn't hurt. A little bit goes a long way, and when I wake up in the morning my skin looks well taken care of and feels divine! Seriously, it feels super smooth, firm and soft. I've tried other night creams that claim to do just that but none have ever delivered quite like this.
This is an essential part of my skin prep, especially if I'm going to wear foundation. Without this foundation ends up accentuating dry, flaky skin that I didn't even know was there!

You get 50ml in a sturdy jar. It's a really thick cream with that familiar Nivea scent.
Unfortunately I don't know if this is available in the U.S. Nivea has HUGE range of skin care products in other countries, but not so much in America.

I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with dry skin.

Coastal Scents Smacks Lip Gloss - Near Peach

Coastal Scents has 21 shades in their Smacks Lip Gloss line. I ordered Near Peach.

It's a nicely pigmented gloss with the perfect amount of shine (glossy but not distractingly so)  It's not sticky and will look good on most skin tones. It prodives a decent amount of moisture and doesn't cling to chappiness too much. (it does a tiny bit though)

Near Peach is a creamy shade. The website shows that it is more pink than it actually is. It's more on the orangey side (the picture isn't quite picking that up though)  and I had a moment of "Can I really wear this?" when I first opened my shipment, but I've come to like the shade.

At $3.95 it's a great value.  I'll definitely get more shades when I place my next order with Coastal Scents. They've got a lot of pinks and O'Scarlett looks AMAZING!




More Coastal Scents Reviews
Warm 88 Palette
Mineral Makeup Foundation

Coastal Scents Mineral Makeup Foundation

Ivory

Coastal Scents' Minderal Makeup Powder Foundation is not a new product, but it IS a good one. It's super finely milled,  easy to apply and feels velvety soft on the skin. If applied correctly (no need to go overboad, ladies!) I'm left with a nice, even and natural finish, without looking cakey or dry. I love that I can quickly sweep this on before heading out the door and know that my skin looks fresh and that all the slight redness I sometimes get is no more!

I would say this is a light coverage foundation. I suppose you could build it to medium, but I don't recommend powdering with a heavy hand. It goes well over concealer so if you have a few minor things that need covering, just apply your concealer first for a seamless look.

If you're in for a looooong day, you may need to touch up after several hours, espcially if you've got super oily skin. That's the case with all powders though, isn't it?

Coastal Scents offers 20 shades and you can order samples for $0.49 each, so you can find the right shade before purchasing the full sized product. I'm currently wearing Ivory, which is a great light shade, with neutral undertones.  I ordered samples of the 4 lightest shades, and they all have subtle difference.



More Coastal Scents Reviews
Warm 88 Palette
Lip Smacks

E.L.F. HD Mattifying Cream Foundation

I am partial to cream foundations. I think they give a more skin-light finish and you can usually adjust their coverage from light to full by tweeking your method of application. So, I was VERY interested in what E.L.F. had come up with with their HD Mattifying Cream Foundation.

I got the lightest (Porcelain) of the six shades they offer. Here are ELF's official shade swatches from their instragram.

 

 

So I'll just get right down to it. I'm pretty impressed. This foundation is really easy to apply and blend. I usually sheer it out a bit with a dampened brush to get a more natural look for every day wear, but it looks good straight up too. I HIGHLY recommend setting it with a translucent powder. This will help prevent slippage and creasing.  I tried ELF's HD powder, Rimmel's Stay Matte Pressed Powder, and the Sephora Collection Smoothing Setting Powder.  It looked great every time. Just be sure not to go overboard with the powder ladies. It's better to have to touch up a bit later on than to cake that stuff on and look a powdery mess!

 

This does begin to fade after several hours of wear. It faded evenly on me though, not all splotchy.

 

If you've got oily skin I suggest you use an oil control primer with this as well as a setting powder. Most oily skinned girls I know stay away from cream foundations all together though.

 

The packaging on this one is nice too. Well done ELF! It's black, sleak and comes with a nice mirror.

 

Hmm.... anything else? It's $6, but you probably already knew that.

That about covers it. Have you tried it out yet? What do you think?