Fall 2008 Makeup: Golden Glam

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 | Trend Watch | 1 Comment

This fall, among your usual rose, berry, or earthtone makeup shades, gold makeup is IN and looking more alluring than ever. I am loving it, considering that I’m currently into highlighters to make my skin glow when I go out at night and gold highlighters happen to make my skin glow better than anything else.

These are some of my favorite *new* or ongoing gold makeup products:

Mineral Essence Shimmer in 24K, $16

For a “24 karat gold” eye look, use your finger to pat this mineral eyeshadow onto your lids. It also contains green tea extract, alpha lipoic acid, and vitamin A! Do something good for your eyelids (and look glam while doing so).

Lancome Color Design Lipstick in Gold Strike, $22

This lip color is my go-to gold shade. I line my lips with Estee Lauder’s Chocolate Writer lip pencil then dab on Lancome’s Gold Strike lippie. Loves it.

Revlon High Dimension Eyeliner in Gold Flash, $7.49

I love to use this metallic gold eyeliner to line the bottom inner edge of my eyes to make them *pop*. Following that I line the rest of my lid with brown-black or black eyeliner. Revlon’s Gold Flash liner really adds a striking touch.

Clinique Glow Crazy Powder Highlighter in Gold Dust

I’m in love with this highlighter right now. I’m not crazy about the packaging, but beyond that, I use a flat-topped makeup brush to add this highlighting powder to my cheekbones after I’ve contoured my cheeks. It gives you a “high-maintenance” looking glow that really only took two seconds to achieve. Fantastic.

Unfortunately, this shade has been discontinued. Unless you can find it on eBay, next best thing is new Chanel Facettes D’or Limited Edition Highlighter in Gold Fever, which is pressed an therefore easier to apply.

Rembrandt Whitening Toothpaste Intense Stain, Mint

Monday, August 11th, 2008 | Product Reviews | 6 Comments

I have always said that one cosmetic procedure I would readily consent to is professional teeth whitening, if not a full set of veneers. I don’t have any major issues with my teeth, just sometimes I wish they were straighter and a bit whiter, since coffee-drinking has tinged them over time.

Well, I have been using a new toothpaste for the past three weeks — Rembrandt Intense Stain Whitening Toothpaste with mint flavor — and now I am a real believer in painless, successful at-home whitening solutions! *Other* brands, I noted, did remove stain-causing build-up for the day but did nothing to remove pre-existing stains from teeth. Whitening strips I have tried in the past took me a week to see any kind of result, and wearing them on my teeth meant an icky taste in my mouth for the entire 15 minutes.

Rembrandt’s Intense Stain Whitening Mint *Toothpaste* tastes great and lightened my teeth at least one shade in just a week. Three weeks later I’ve forgotten I had any staining in the first place. My teeth are about three shades whiter and I tell you, I am thrilled about it. I can’t wait to try (and review) Rembrandt teeth whitening strips and touch-up pen next!

Rembrandt Intense Stain Whitening Mint Toothpaste, $7.49, available here.

Sephora “Visual Effects” How-To Makeup Guides

Saturday, August 9th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

One of my StumbleUpon girlfriends sent me this link: Sephora Visual Effects

It starts with a colorful flashy intro then allows you to pick a how-to video makeup guide to view, including a wild faux lash look, a vivid purple eyeshadow look, a natural eye look, cheetah print eyes, and more! It’s neat, check it out…

Clinique Modern Matte - Fall 2008

Saturday, August 9th, 2008 | Trend Watch | No Comments

Clinique has debuted their new color story for fall 2008: Modern Matte. I think that it is brilliant. There aren’t many collections I’ve come across personally, if any at all, that promise a completely matte look. This has always been a concern for women that I’ve worked with — to find products and shades that don’t add any shimmer or shine to the face — and Clinique has delivered!

Modern Matte features four new Clinique products including High Impact Lip Color with SPF 15, Blushwear Cream Stick blush, Defining Liner for lips, and Colour Surge Stay Matte eyeshadow.

The price point for the entire collection is less than $20, which is why Clinique will continue to be a favorite of mine.

Elizabeth Grant Caviar Rejuvenating Eye Pads

Thursday, August 7th, 2008 | Product Reviews | No Comments

If you’re like me, when you think of “caviar eye pads,” you think of something that sounds a bit icky… but you have a certain curiosity to try it anyway. An eye treatment containing caviar in any way must have some kind of stellar anti-aging, tightening, or brightening effect. It sounds too cool not to. I’m talking about Elizabeth Grant Skincare Caviar Rejuvenating Eye Pads.

These wet, thin pads do feel a bit weird when applying them under your eyes. Then, after a moment, you’re alright with them being there. After 15 minutes you slide them off, discard, then lightly pat “the remaining emulsion” around your eye area until it’s completely absorbed.

My eyes did look a lot brighter and felt nice and tight. I was complimented on how radiant I looked the first morning I tried them. I’m only upset that I have yet to purchase more of these caviar eye masks to see the long-term effects as well.

Elizabeth Grant Caviar Eye Pads, $69.99 for six pair, available here.

My Kabuki Beats Your Kabuki with… a swoosh of foundation

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 | Product Reviews | No Comments

I own two kakubi makeup brushes. One is by Lancôme, and to be honest, I didn’t use it often. It didn’t do much to replace my coveted flat-head stippling brush (used with liquid and cream foundations), which I will review later.

The other — or main, because I use it often — kabuki brush I own, which I LOVE, is by Mineral Essence. It has a short kabuki brush handle and is made of the softest goat hair. My mineral makeup powder doesn’t go near my face without it. After a few swirls of mineral powder around my face with this brush, the coverage is even, my imperfections are masked, yet it feels like I’m wearing nothing at all. The softness of this kabuki brush from Mineral Essence really makes for flawless mineral makeup application. Of course, it helps when you are using a good mineral makeup to begin with.

Kabuki Brush by Mineral Essence, $28, available here.

Allure.com Free Stuff Mega Month! August 5

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 | Sales & Specials | No Comments

Enter to win any of these fabulous items!

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5

1. RoC Multi-Correxion Eye Treatment (retail value: $24.99) The first 500 Allure readers to sign up at 12 P.M. EDT will get one free. rocskincare.com
2. Victoria’s Secret Beauty Very Sexy Metallic Eye Liner in Hot Bronze (retail value: $10) The first 500 Allure readers to sign up at 1 P.M. EDT will get one free. victoriassecret.com
3. Club Monaco cashmere scarf (retail value: $99) Log on at 2 P.M. EDT for your chance to win one of five scarves. clubmonaco.com
4. Biolage Freeze Fix Hair Spray (retail value: $15) The first 250 Allure readers to sign up at 3 P.M. EDT will get one free. matrixbeautiful.com
5. Wren viscose polyamide coat and metallic tweed skirt (retail value: coat, $665; skirt $355) Log on at 4 P.M. EDT for your chance to win this suit. wren-clothing.com
6. L’Oréal Professionnel Texture Expert Élasticité Curl Corseting Crème-Gel (retail value: $24) The first 300 Allure readers to sign up at 5 P.M. EDT will get one free. lorealprofessionnel.com