My favorite foundation?

And my genuine knee-jerk response would be, “NO Foundation at All!”

Yeah, I would prefer the look and feel of 100% natural skin as opposed to makeup any day.  I never routinely wore foundations until my mid-30’s and started noticing some uneveness of my skin.  And although becoming a lot wiser with the passing years, my skin has continued to be blotchy in places around my cheeks, chin, and forehead. Finding a foundation that can provide natural light to medium coverage, without looking cakey, too matte, or shiny, blends perfectly with my skin tone, and most importantly, does not make me break out is a very difficult one! (more…)

Aromaleigh is closing up shop.
Scared ya, didn’t I? Don’t worry, it isn’t forever. Kristen and Steve are FINALLY headed out for their honeymoon and to celebrate we’re being treated to a special coupon code. You (and me and anyone else you tell about this) can save 20% off your order at Aromaleigh.com through 11:59 pm Eastern on March 6th just by entering the code HONEY20 at checkout. Of course you can only use one code at a time, so the current items that are on sale with the 25% code will be discounted less or you can just place a separate order for those items.

But wait, there’s more…… (more…)

Each one of us has our own version of expensive, a sort of conscious or unconscious stopping point we won’t pass when purchasing a particular product. Sometimes I will walk into the cosmetics department with a set budget and mix my product choices from there until I meet my limit. Most often I simply walk in craving something new and play with everything in sight until I discover what I’m in “need” of. And I had a definite list of needs when I walked into the mini Sephora inside JCPenney: EVERYTHING. (more…)

A few weeks ago I posted about my new Chanel polish and Kellie commented that she’d seen a Sally Hansen polish in what she believed was almost an exact dupe. Of course I immediately headed out to hunt down this fabulous find. After a bit of searching I managed to locate where it USED to be on an end cap at WalMart. The display was for the new Complete Salon Manicure line from Sally Hansen, and most of the colors had already sold out, including Commander in Chic, which was the color Kellie recommended. Instead I picked up a pale buttercream yellow called “Yellow Kitty”.

Normally this pale yellow wouldn’t be my type of color, but I have enough reds, pinks, and purples to last me a lifetime, so I thought I’d change it up a bit. The polish claims to be a Base Coat, Strengthener, Growth Treatment, Color, and Top Coat all in one bottle. The brush is flat and has a curved tip that I initially thought was kind of gimmicky. Turns out that the shape of the brush is actually pretty handy in covering the curve of your nail without globbing over onto your cuticles, and I really like it. The light color is more apt to streak than a darker one, but after 2 carefully applied coats I had great, even coverage. I didn’t apply a top coat before letting it dry thoroughly, and the next morning it was ready for a real challenge: My Job. (more…)

Okay, we all know about cotton swabs and their many magical cosmetics uses. Wet, dry, straight, angled…there are about a million ways you can use those little babies. I love that such a simple, inexpensive item you have hanging around your house can be so useful and versatile, so I thought I would share with you my second favorite household beauty tool, a plain old 3×5 card. (more…)

I was in the mood for a real treat when I headed out the other day. I recently scored some Revlon and Almay goodies on sale for less than 2 bucks apiece and I was bound and determined to use the savings to buy something outrageous and wonderful. In addition, I just aced some really important testing at work and I totally deserve something special for all my hard work, right?

I started out looking at eye shadows, but once I thought about the 200+ colors I had at home, I realized I probably didn’t need yet another one. In the end I settled on buying a new nail polish and after perusing the counters for a while I decided that I was going to pony up the coin for Chanel’s nail colour in “Particuliere”.   Now, this bottle of polish set me back more than my lunch did that day($23), but, oh, *swoon* it was worth every penny!

Normally I wouldn’t spend $23 on a nail polish, much less a taupe polish, but the sales associate really hooked me when she said that the gray tone of this taupe would be especially flattering on my fair skin. Hey, you make it sound like being pale is to my advantage and I’ll bite almost every time. I’ve always been pleased with the performance of Chanel’s polish in the past and I didn’t see anything I wanted more, so I snatched up my expensive little bag and headed home.

Oh my wow. Seriously, there is a reason this is THE color to love this season. Just look:

First off, this is one coat, ONE. The color is so rich and creamy that you can hardly tell it’s not fully opaque without a second coat. Totally passable with a single coat in a pinch, and it dries quickly. It’s so smooth and shiny and it wears really, really well. Those nails took a beating when I cleaned my kitchen floor and came out of it looking like a dream, a little worn on the tips, but no chips at all.
The color is simple and classic with enough of a twist that there’s just nothing else out there to match it. Over at All Lacquered Up there’s another great review with swatches and comparisons and Michelle seemed to like it too, so that makes it two thumbs up.
Ultimately, $23 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a nail polish if you plan on purchasing it on a regular basis, BUT, I think this color and it’s longevity make it more than worth a special occasion splurge. I never thought I’d be so happy to have anything taupe, much less taupe that I’d pay that kind of coin for. Go to the nearest Chanel counter and slide some of that delicious gorgeousness across your fingernail and then see if YOU can say no!

Do you ever have those moments when you just have to go buy something new? I have those moments every now and then, especially when it comes to my cosmetics collection. However, I’m also fairly frugal, so I generally try to fill this craving by hitting up my local Walgreens or Target rather than heading to someplace more expensive. This has a few benefits in addition to the reduced stress on my pocketbook. For one you aren’t getting pressure from a commissioned salesperson and, second, you can often find products that are similar to what you’d find at the bigger cosmetics counters. Plus, if you buy something and hate it, you haven’t spend and arm and a leg on it just to toss it in your drawer.

My latest beauty department foray had me searching for a new lip color, something to pep up the dreary rainy days we’ve been having around here lately. In recent months I’ve been  collecting pink/peachy colors, so I was in the mood for something with a little more depth. I found almost exactly what I was looking for on an endcap with the word “NEW” splashed all over it. (more…)

Everyone is doing a top 10 list this time of year, so I’m bucking the trend and sharing my 5 favorite, can’t live without, must have items from the last year. These are the things I decided I will continue to buy as long as they’re available because I love them so much that they’ve become an instinctive part of my routine. Here they are, in no particular order of preference:

1)Aquolina Pink Sugar fragrance. This stuff makes me feel so happy and cozy that I rarely start a day without it, whether I’m going to work, headed out running errands, or just staying in and cleaning house. My kids are always telling me I smell delicious and my significant other tends to agree. Another perk about this fragrance is that it is available just about anywhere I go, from Sephora to Ulta to Nordstrom. I think the simple fragrances of caramel and cotton candy capture our inner child, while the more complex bergamot, musk, and fig leaves entice our mature palates. Ive always enjoyed oriental fragrances, and I think this is oriental with a dash of fun. (more…)

Hi there, it’s your friendly primer & foundation fanatic friend Jen!  This summer I took a very quick trip to Las Vegas and made sure to stop over at the Sephora store on the strip.  While going through the store, I came across the Hourglass Cosmetics display and sampled their primer.  The product itself seemed very compelling to buy, but the price tag ($52) kept me from doing so.

A few months later I was given to review (big woot!) and was overjoyed to try out the Hourglass Veil fluid makeup foundation and Veil Mineral Primer for Mythbuster Beauty.

The Veil Mineral Primer differs from many primers because it does not have the heavy dimethicone feel, and being oil-free does seem to mattify and even out the look of the skin.  I am not sure (more…)

So I told you I’d try to get my hands on some of Aromaleigh’s new Hi-Fi Mattes and take some pictures for you. And then Kristen, THE Kristen, sent a package of pretty little things straight to my ugly little mailbox! To say I was overjoyed would be quite the understatement. Even though it wasn’t yet noon, I washed my face and started all over again with my makeup for the day. I had to play immediately!
It has been a long long time since I found myself purposefully wearing a matte eyeshadow. They tend to be browns and plums and occasionally blues or grays, but they just don’t have that extra something I look for in my eye color. I have a reputation to uphold at work ya know, I need some oomph! Not only that, but matte colors have never seemed to give me the heavy pigmentation I like, they fall a little flat in the color saturation department.  Somehow, knowing all of this, Kristen set to work to create a matte collection just for me! Oh, what’s that? She didn’t create it just for me? I was the furthest thing from her mind when inspiration hit? Hey, it’s MY story and I’ll tell it how I want okay!
Seriously though, this is mattes like you’ve never seen mattes. The colors are deliciously bold and there is no clumping or chalky texture to be found. No streaking at all, the colors are well blended and apply beautifully. Boy do they POP, there is some serious color action going on there. Applied over a primer(I use Too Faced Shadow Insurance religiously) the staying power is quite commendable. I go to work at 4 am, and after work, a nap, and a full day of running after kiddos I still have decent eye makeup at bedtime, 16 hours later!

And now, the thing you’ve been waiting for….pictures!
Colors featured:
1)Cool It, Radioactive
2)Kookie, Got Dibs, What’s Shakin’?
3)Real Gone, Spaz
4)Cool It, Daddy-O. Yes, I chose those just so I could say “Cool it Daddy-O”
5&6) Fake Out, In Orbit
7&8) Real Gone, Blue Orchid. Blue Orchid is from the Rocks! Collection. It’s actually more purple than it shows in these pictures. These are perfect University of Washington colors and I wore them to work on the day of the Apple Cup, a Washington college football tradition. The Huskies won 30-0 so obviously I have to do this every year now!
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