Lippie Love: Estée Lauder Pure Color Sensuous Rouge Orchid Surrender

I think Estée Lauder should be better known for their lipsticks. I swear they are amazing.

The Pure Color Sensuous Rouge line is very hydrating. I almost hesitate to call it a lipstick. It's more of a balm with the coverage of a lipstick. It applies beautifully, lasts 4-6 hours (depends on how much coffee I'm drinking, truthfully), and the color is amazing.

Love. It.

Estée Lauder

Success! Heat Free Curls Despite Long Layers

Success!

So, apparently the 3rd 4th try post makes the charm. If you've been following along for the last few weeks, I've been attempting to curl my hair at night. I did not want to use curlers, even little foam ones. I feared ridicule from my hubby (he is a nice guy, but he would laugh since he finds my beauty antics amusing) and strange looks from a half asleep 8 month old at 3 am who may (or may not) recognize mommy.

(If you haven't been following along, first I was excited about sockbun curls, which kept falling out at night. I tried curling my hair with a head band, which worked but some areas were flat (too much hair, not enough band...) So I tried 2 headbands. In a nutshell, all of these attempts were foiled by my crazy thick hair (I have a ton of hair, enough for about 3 people), the length of my hair (it is past my shoulders but somehow too short for the sock bun to work well), or the long layers that I have (the shorter layers love to fall out and refuse to be in a sock bun).

So, via another video, I finally succumbed to using something more like a curler. Well. A rag curler.

Lippie Love: Clinique Black Honey

Last year I was really excited to find Clinique Black Honey Lipgloss. It then lived in my pocket or purse for a good 3 months.

This fall, Clinique has released a little collection inspired by this iconic shade. I was sent a fun sample of the dual ended lippie. This is perfect, now I can carry around both the Almost Lipstick and lipgloss together! I'm wearing them layered in this pic. I haven't headed out to my local Clinique counter yet, but I'm hoping to get there soon to check out the blush and eye shadow quad.

Clinique's Black Honey Collection

Dr. Jart+ BB Creams: The Craze is Crossing the Pacific, Will You Buy into the Hype?

Sooooo... BB Creams. Not well known in the US by any stretch of the imagination. Some of the more makeup savvy might know what they are, but really I only heard the name BB Cream about 6 weeks ago. In truth, these are amped up tinted moisturizers.

Basically, think of this as an all inclusive skincare/makeup product. It is meant to take the place of your moisturizer, skin care treatment products (they often include ingredients that are anti-aging and acne fighting), sunscreen, primer, foundation and concealer. All there. In one big time saving step. You'd think with a blog called "15 Minute Beauty Fanatic" that I'd be all over that like white on rice. Right?

Well.... there are some problems with the BB Cream craze. Really, they all center around the one size fits all aspect of these products. Personally, my skin changes quite a bit as the seasons change. My combinations skin is more oily in the summer and dry in the winter. While I've largely embraced the pale and wear a ton of sunscreen, even my skin does change a little bit in color during the summer. And since they typically only come in one or two shades, which are usually a bland beige, the chances of it flattering your skin... yeah, a bit slim to none. So, I tend to not pay a lot of attention to these products.

But, as they cross the Pacific, BB Creams seem to be changing their tune a little bit, attempting to make themselves more appealing for the US market.

Read on to hear more about Dr. Jart+ BB Creams, which have found their way into your local Sephora.

OPI Road House Blues

When I received the OPI Touring America collection in the mail, I brought it in to work to share with my friends. (I swear these ladies were just as obsessed with nail polish and makeup as me before I got my hands on them. Now we all just feed into our obsessions together.)

They were all really excited to see the OPI fall collection about 10 days before release. What I found amusing was that all but 1 of them chose to do a manicure in this shade. This was the closest color pic I could take, it isn't *quite* this dark. In real life, the blue is slightly bluer, maybe 1/2 shade lighter than in this picture. Even this non-blue nail polish girl loves it!

OPI

Trish McEvoy Sexy 9 Blackberry & Vanilla Musk

Sitting on my vanity counter you'll find about 20 bottles of perfume. Some were purchased. Some were gifts. Some were provided as samples for me to review on this blog. Sitting smack dab front and center is my bottle of Trish McEvoy's No. 9, a gift from my hubby. It is easily the scent I reach for most often. Despite all of the fragrance testing I do (most of which doesn't even make it to this site), I've managed to use up about 50-60% of the bottle over the last 3 1/2 years. I love the blackberry and vanilla! It's so delicious, fresh and just different than so many other scents.

So, you can imagine that trying out the Sexy 9 by Trish McEvoy would be right up my alley.

This really is a sexed up, glamified version of the original No. 9. It's like the original was a slightly geeky college girl, think jeans, sweatshirt, glasses and even a frumpy scrunchy. Then her friends make her over for the big party. She's got contacts, a LBD and amazing heels.

Notes: Blackberries, Vanilla, Amazon Lillies, Patchouli, Amber

Quite a few people complain on-line that Sexy No. 9 is the same as Thierry Mugler's Angel. The notes of Angel (per Frangrantica's website) are: Top notes are melon, coconut, mandarin orange, cassia, jasmine, bergamot and cotton candy; middle notes are honey, apricot, blackberry, plum, orchid, peach, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, red berries and rose; base notes are tonka bean, amber, patchouli, musk, vanilla, dark chocolate and caramel.

Perhaps with some people's body chemistry things could smell similar (a sweet fruity scent with some vanilla?), but on me I still get a somewhat strong and very definitively blackberry note. The blackberry is made a bit sweeter by the vanilla, but the whole thing is tempered by the lillies and the amber (I don't get any patchouli). Overall, this is very much like my beloved No. 9, but more grown up and yes, a tad sexy.

I'll be wearing this scent everywhere. To work, out with my hubby (as much as the parents of a baby go out) and even to the grocery store.

Update 10/4
I have been emailing with Trish McEvoy PR and they sent me a more complete list of notes! I haven't been able to find this info on-line, so I was really excited about this!

Notes:
Top Notes: Blackberry buds, mandarin
Middle Notes: Tiare flower, osmanthus
Base Notes: Cashmere woods, velvet musk, sandalwood, liquid amber

Trish McEvoy Sexy 9 Blackberry & Vanilla Musk

Are You Ready? Bare Minerals New Ready Eye Shadows

I know a lot of people that love, love mineral makeup. They use it for everything from foundation to their eye shadow. The benefits can be great, but I think the loose powder shadows can be hard to work with. I always end up with way too much on my brush, so my application is uneven and I basically create a mess on my lid, cheek and countertop.

Well, Bare Minerals is going to change all that in just a few days. In October they are releasing a new line of eye shadows. While they look like just a regular pressed eye shadow, the company says that isn't the case. They've used a unique cold-pressed method to create these shadows, allowing them to skip the usual fillers and binding agents. The formula looks like a powder, but apparently feels like a cream. They even included their proprietary SeaNutritive Mineral Complex, which contains anti-oxidants as well as added caffeine for a bit of tightening.

The best part of the upcoming line really is the colors. The shadows will be available in duos ($20) and quads ($30). Read on to see pics of every shade!

Lippie Love: MAC Soft Sell

MAC describes this shade as a "light yellow-pink" and the image they show on-line fits that description, though I found this lippie to be quite different in person. I think it is more of a mid-tone mauve-berry tone.

This formula is creamy though somewhat matte. It lasts about 6-8 hours easily without rubbing off onto anything.

MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme

Kiehl's Photo-Age High Potency Spot Treatment: Melasma Eraser for the Win!

Just read this product description from Kiehls.com:

Our Photo-Age High-Potency Spot Treatment powerfully reverses UV Damage three ways: provides instant luminosity & radiance, reverses visible damage on skin surface, and inhibits invisible damage from rising to the surface.

Doesn't that sound great? Who doesn't want improved luminosity and radiance??

But, the real reason that I was excited about this product is on the box.

This intensive, targeted treatment is formulated with brightening actives to reduce irregularities such as brown age spots which can be caused by sun damage and darkness from scarring.

You had me at brightening.

Lippie Love: L'Oreal Infallible Always Apricot

Another day, another lippie!

This one isn't really suited to my cool skin tone. It would be beautiful on someone with warmer toned skin. Which isn't me. In person, this is too harsh and brings out the red in my skin.

Check out my L'Oreal Infallible Lipstick review.

L'Oreal Paris

Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara

My friend Amanda works at Sephora, and she recommended this mascara to me. I should state that she has amazing lashes and everything works well on them. Mine are good, her's are ahhh-mazing. (Quick aside to say hi to Amanda!) Apparently the Smashbox rep came in to Sephora, swiped a little of this across Amanda's lashes and she was in love. I bought some within 24 hours!

Per the Smashbox website:

Inspired by the on-set technique of layering a lengthening fiber mascara over a volumizing formula, our new studio-tested mascara exposes your longest, fullest lashes. No clumps, no flakes. Just maximum-impact, scene-stealing lashes.
• 104% increase in lash volume
• 32% increase in lash length
• 34-degree increase in lash curl

After all of those impressive looking numbers describing the effects of this mascara, a pic seems a tad anti-climatic. Really, I do think that the mascara looks good.

A few words of caution: The mascara tends to be goopy and can turn your lashes into spidery yucky lashes pretty easily. The mascara gets thick and sticks to the wand in big clumps. Easily avoided by wiping the wand with a kleenex. I know this is true of mascara, but it seems to be even extra true of this mascara. A small "nothing" clump that another mascara would laugh at becomes a much bigger issue with this mascara. Wipe the wand!

The brush really needs to be pushed on to the lashes to actually apply it. Once it is on there though... wow. This mascara does do a great job of adding length and volume. It can pick up every little lash and make it look huge.

At the end of the day my lashes barely deflated. No flakes or smudging in sight.

Smashbox

Zoya Shay

I only needed 2 coats to reach opaque with this polish. It applies like a dream, I swear it evened itself out and fixed all of my mistakes. It can be really hard to find the perfect nude, though this one works great on me!

Zoya

Johnson's Baby Products: They Work For My Daughter, What About Me?

So, I totally messed up some dates on scheduled posts. This was meant to go up on Saturday morning, the mineral oil info afterwards... oops! I bet people were wondering why I was talking about Mineral Oil all of a sudden.

So, here's the reason. Johnson's asked me to try out some of their baby products for myself. Blog about how my skin did (or didn't) like it. They sent me a selection of products, and a gift card to go buy more if I needed it (I did, I needed body wash. A girl can only use so much baby powder!). So, why am I doing it? Really, I already have a bunch of this stuff in my house. I have an 8 month old. I'd already been wondering about this. Then someone offered to let me do it for free. Of course I said yes!

So, what exactly am I using?

Read on to find out.

Liv Tyler at the 2011 New York City Ballet Fall Gala

Matin Maulawizada, Global Artistry Director and Brand Ambassador for Laura Mercier created an amazing look for Liv Tyler at the 2011 New York City Ballet Fall Gala and I had to share!

Face
Liv's skin was prepped with Foundation Primer, and then Creme Smooth Foundation in Warm Ivory was used to even out her skin tone.


Eyes
First, Liv's eyes were enhanced with Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Rose Gold, a shimmery rose-gold. He then lined with Eye Kohl in Black Gold, a more subtle choice with her pale complexion. (In the pic it is gold, but according to the LM website this is really a black with gold pearl.)

Lips
Dollface Gel Lip Colour, sheer bright blue based pink completed the look.

Mineral Oil: Why is it in Your Moisturizer, and Is It Bad For You?

Since I'm beginning my Johnson's skin care challenge, I knew that this topic would be brought up in comments. It has come up many times in the past, and honestly the people that usually bring it up are so rude to me about it that I don't publish their comments. So, if you've been wondering about this, here's the answer. And, if you have strong opinions about mineral oil, and were thinking of writing a not so nice comment about it, here's why you should stop for a moment first.

Mineral oil has a bad rap in cosmetics for the wrong reasons. There are many people that now believe anything that is not 100% natural is bad for you, and that something labelled "natural" is good. That thinking is incorrect, there are lots of things that are "natural" that aren't any good. And lots of things that are synthetic that are just fine.

Mineral oil is derived from the distillation of petroleum in the production of gasoline. True. There are many grades of mineral oil. Most people get confused by this and rather than considering only cosmetic grade mineral oil, they generalize the effects of all mineral oils (including industrial grade, which is extremely different from cosmetic grade).

Industrial grade is the big baddie here. With protracted exposure (via the skin or inhalation), industrial grade mineral oil has been found to be associated with increased risk of several types of cancer (reference). Industrial grade mineral oil has also been found to be comedogenic, meaning it can clog your pores.

Cosmetic grade mineral oil is a very different story. It has been used in cosmetics for over 100 years, and is still one of the most popular ingredients in items like body wash, moisturizer and sunscreen. It has been found to be just as safe and effective as extra virgin coconut oil to treat dry skin. It has never been linked to cancer. And it isn't even comedogenic!

Since I'll be posting about quite a few products that contain mineral oil as their #1 or 2 ingredient over the next few weeks, I'll be referring back to this post quite a bit. The moral of the story is to remember that there are different grades of mineral oil. And there is a reason we don't use the industrial stuff in our moisturizers or ingest it as a laxative.

Whish Shave Crave: A Cream to Save Your Skin?

First, I have to fully admit that I've used this product many times in the past, but not written about it. I have gotten samples at blogging events over the years and I think I've had samples sent to me to review a few times as well. It hasn't appeared on the blog previously because I really wasn't sure how I felt about it. You'll see why in a bit.

Whish's shave cream looks more like a moisturizer than a shaving product when you look at the ingredient list. You'll see ingredients like squalene, shea butter and even raspberry butter. The product is the consistency of a thick body lotion and it feels just like one as well. It doesn't really whip itself up or foam or do any of the typical things that us lather obsessed consumers are used to and expect from a shave product. Instead, it just looks and feels like a body lotion that is sitting on top of the skin.

Using this product is definitely hydrating. It feels much better post-shave than many other shaving products in terms of hydration. Love this part, especially during the winter when I'm scrambling to keep every bit of moisture in my skin that I can.

Here is the part that I'm not really sure about. All of that added moisture comes at a bit of a price. All the hydrating ingredients do make it easy for this product to get gunked up in my razor. I'm not such a big fan of that. I like being able to just shave both legs and then worrying about rinsing out my razor. With Whish I rinse after each swipe and still have a few issues. By the end of the shave I can barely see the razor's blades they are so gunked up with shave cream and hair. I do wonder if part of the issue is my shower head- I have one of those really big "rain" style shower heads, so I don't have very high pressure to rinse everything out of the blades. I don't have a problem with any other shave product, only Whish. It also seems to be unrelated to new or old razor blades, length of time since last shave, etc.

The end result of using Whish is a clean shave with well hydrated skin. So, the result is great. I just am not quite sure about the razor clogging.





Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream

Naturally Curly: My No-Poo Starting Point

I'm sure if you've spent much time (or really any time) reading about beauty or hair on-line, you've heard about "no-poo" or seen people asking about sulfates or 'cones in a hair product. Why do they care? What is this no-poo business? Are these people really not using shampoo on their hair?? Have they become oily, dirty smelly people and why would they do that to themselves on purpose?

I admit to wondering about this technique for years. My hair was super straight growing up. I remember nights spent on foam rollers, only to have curls that would last about 6 hours. Curling irons.... not so much help. About 5 or 6 years ago I noticed something. My hair suddenly had a bit of wave when it was wet. It was amazing! The curls I had always coveted growing up were coming to life on my head!


Well, maybe not so much. My hair is much wavier now, this is what it looks like when I've used a little gel, scrunched my hair and then allowed it to air dry. Actually, this is a tad straighter than my "wavy" hair, I took these pics at the end of a long day with a baby pulling on it.

About 2 weeks ago, I purchased Curly Girl: The Handbook for a whopping $8.01 from Amazon. It even comes with a DVD! The book is easy to read with helpful pics. Everything you need to know about caring for curly hair. From info on the no-poo routine to explicit directions on how to cut your own hair and then style it for special occasions. Seriously, it is all there.

So, my plan is to try this out for myself. I've heard to expect results in any where from 3 weeks to 3 months. Consider this my starting point, I'll update you over the next bit. In addition, I'll share some info about the curly girl method and what I've learned about it. If you're interested in following this yourself, I strongly recommend buying the book.

Miracle Skin Conceal and Treat

The Miracle Skin line is meant to include your moisturizer, treatment skin care and (some) of your makeup all together in one easy to use product. I haven't tried their moisturizer/foundation/more coverage than a typical tinted moisturizer yet, but I did get to try out the concealer.

In addition to the normal concealer ingredients this product does contain Vitamin K, which will help long term with those under eye circles. As well, White Rose and Chamomille flower are anti-oxidants.

One major thing to note about this concealer: I tried Light-Medium and it was somewhat orange tinted, which makes it great for concealing dark undereye circles as a corrector. But, not so great as the concealer on it's own. I didn't really like the tint.


Really, this concealer should be a 3.5 on the coverage sale.

Consistency: This is a thick and creamy concealer, but has a bit of a mousse-like consistency
Blendability: Easily blended
Buildable coverage: Somewhat
Feeling on skin: Not really lightweight, but I wouldn't call it heavy either
Wear: 10-12 hours
Problems with wear: Caking with a thick single layer or more than one. Use a light hand
Shades Available: Light, Light-Medium and Medium. I tried Light-Medium and it was a bit too dark for me. I'm typically a light girl, so this wasn't too surprising.








Miracle Skin Transformer Conceal and Treat