Face

The bareMinerals Clean Glow Collection: Swatches and First Impressions

April 26th, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

bareminerals clean glow collection summer 2019 1 — New highlighters, bronzers, brushes and a setting spay from bareMinerals

It’s been a minute since I’ve “bareMineralled it up,” but, lest my eyes deceive me, they took a beachy BECCA-esque approach to their summer makeup this year, and I’m all for it. Their new Clean Glow Collection is out now with brand new bronzers, highlighters (powder and liquid) and a dewy makeup setting mist (YASSS!).

bareminerals glow collection swatches — From the left: BarePro Glow Bronzers (Warmth, Faux Tan), Endless Summer Bronzers (Warmth, Faux Tan), Endless Glow Highlighters (Zen, Whimsy, Joy, Free and Fierce)

The Endless Summer Bronzer is a pressed powder bronzer with a matte finish. bareMinerals recommends sun-kissed bronze Faux Tan for medium-toned mavens and terracotta Warmth for medium-to-deep skin. Both are $29 each.

If you love your multitasking products (and who doesn’t?), the BAREPRO GLOW Bronzer is a liquid bronzer that you can wear by itself, or mixed with foundation, tinted moisturizer or even your daily moisturizer. It’s also available in Faux Tan (for medium skin) and Warmth (medium-to-deep skin) for $29 each.

The Endless Glow Highlighter is a luminous, non-glittery powder highlighter with pore-blurring powers. Available in Free (a champagne), Fierce (a bronzed gold), Joy (a peachy pink) and Whimsy (a holographic shade that shifts from pink to purple) for $29 each.

There’s also a liquid version… BAREPRO GLOW Highlighter is a multitasking opalescent liquid highlighter that doesn’t contain any glitter and also comes in Free, Fierce, Joy and Whimsy, also for $29.

And then to set your bronzed, dewy glow, there’s the new moisturizing $28 Dew Mist Setting Spray.

More deets…

Cruelty-free
No Parabens, Phthalates, Formaldehyde, Chemical Sunscreens, Triclosan, Triclocarban, Propylene Glycol, Mineral Oil, Coal Tar and Microbeads
Available now at Ulta, Sephora, Macy’s, Nordstrom, QVC and bareminerals.com

“Get glowing—fast. Customize your levels of color and illumination in three simple steps using the NEW Clean Glow Collection from bareMinerals. Bronze, highlight and set with clean formulas that build a lasting, good-for-skin glow. bareMinerals Global Makeup Artist, Nikki DeRoest, uses this collection to impart her signature lit-from-within look on clients. “Together, these products blur the look of pores and give the most beautiful luminosity to the skin,” says DeRoest. “I love how fresh and glowy skin looks after application.” Made for all skin tones and types, these formulas are non-comedogenic, non-acnegenic and dermatologist-tested.”

— bareMinerals PR

bareminerals clean glow collection summer 2019 2 — For your summery, bronzed glow…

Have you used bareMinerals before? What’s your overall favorite beachy vibe makeup brand?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Tea, gee, eye, eff.

Product Spotlight: Estée Lauder Double Wear Instant Fix Concealer 24H Concealer + Hydra Prep

April 22nd, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

estee lauder double wear instant fix concealer — Hydration and coverage from Estée Lauder

As you know, I am solidly, steadfastly Estée Lauder #teamdoublewear (their Double Wear Light and O.G, Double Wear Foundation are iconic!), and this latest addition to the Double Wear fam has been one of my go-to under-eye concealers as of late.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Instant Fix Concealer 24H Concealer + Hydra Prep ($28, available in 22 shades) is a dual-ended situation with a brush-on moisturizer on one end and a medium-coverage liquid concealer on the other, and it’s made for dry skin with fine lines… HELLO, YOU TALKING TO ME?! LOL.

I like it because the moisturizer smooths everything out and plumps the skin. It’s kinda slippery and silicone-y feeling, and similar to MAC Fast Response Eye Cream, which is famous for under-eye concealer prep.

The concealer chills on top where it hides shadows and dark areas, and it does this without looking leathery after a few hours (again, very similar to another MAC Product — their old-school Select Moisturecover Concealer).

No likey ‘ze crepe-y concealer? This concealer combo is your dawg.

estee lauder double wear instant fix concealer before after — I’m wearing Medium Deep (Warm) in the after pic.

I do feel like the 24HR claim is a stretch, because it fades a little by the end of the day, but eh — I’d rather have a little bit of fading than a little caking and heavy concealer all up in my experience lines.

I think this product is best for peeps who like sheerer concealer coverage and have dry skin and fine lines. If you prefer Tarte Shape Tape levels of concealment, however, then something like Maybelline’s concealer would be a better fit (it hides everything!).

Also, if your under-eye area is oily, again, probably not the best fit.
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Makeup Lovers…We’re All Artists! (And a Peek at the MAC eL Seed Collection in Action)

April 3rd, 2019 by Karen 10 Comments

I’ve had painting on the brain lately for two reasons — one, because I’ve been spending practically every free moment at Home Depot because we’re planning some much-needed repairs and updates to the house this summer, including painting the place from top to bottom, because when El Hub and I purchased our place and moved in about a decade ago, we had no idea what we were doing. We were first-time homeowners, and the whole process was (and still is kinda) a mystery. We painted the interior with a flat finish, but flat finish is not your friend when you live with a toddler and/or a perpetually ravenous tabby who eats with reckless abandon and gets gravy splashes on the walls. Go with eggshell, homie. Eggshell is the way! It’s so much easier to clean.

The second reason I’ve had painting on the brain lately is because of the new MAC eL Seed collection, which is coming out in a few days. It’s one of those LE releases that just feels so artsy to me, which I guess makes sense since it’s a collaboration with an artist. eL Seed is a Tunisian graffiti artist who was raised in Paris, and he’s famous for combining Arabic script with graffiti.

It gave me the urge to paint! — and not just because of the gorgeous eye and face palette…

mac el seed cicero full face kit — The Cicero Full Face Kit, which is mostly eyeshadows and two blushes (the pink shades)

It’s the brushes.

Ooh, the brushes… They’re unusually long for makeup brushes.

They look like legit painter’s brushes to me.

I was doing makeup with them the other day and got to thinking about how I forget all the time that makeup really *is* painting. When you think about it, it’s so much like what painters do when they put brush to canvas. You’ve got your pigments and paint, and when you sit down to buff and blend everything on the blank canvas that is your face, you paint a temporary work of art. It’s so cool!

Funny thing is, I never really thought of myself as an “art person.” When I was in high school, I was in band and played every instrument under the sun, so I was a total music nerd, and I was also on the newspaper, but the last true art class I took was in eighth grade (which I got a B+ in, by the way!). That’s the extend of my art training.

mac el seed swatches final — Swatches of the Cicero Full Face Kit (the two pink shades are blushes) and three of the Lipsticks — Declaring Love (pink), Maya La Belle (red) and Une Caresse (plummy brown)

So I don’t think of myself as an artist, but makeup is art! For a few minutes (almost) every day, as I’m painting my lids and my lips and everything else, I get to be in touch with my inner eighth-grade artist, or rather, ahr-teest.

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10-Minute Makeup Must-Haves: Clinique Blushing Blush Powder Blush

April 2nd, 2019 by Karen 13 Comments

clinique blushing blush powder blush cupid — Love this blush for fast, fresh makeup! The lipstick is MAC Velvet Teddy, and the eyeshadow is Clinique Lots o’ Latte, by the way.

The 10-Minute Makeup Must-Haves series shows off some of *the best* makeup for speedy (but sensational!) skin, eyes, cheeks and lips.

Five minute, 10 minute… Heck — three-minute makeup! You can do it *all* with Clinique Blushing Blush Powder Blush ($24 each). These totally goof-proof powder blushes are fantastic for those out-the-door days, which I’ve come to love and appreciate lately.

You may have noticed that I’ve been wearing shade Sunset Glow a lot lately (like, all last week!). It’s a beautiful golden coral with a satin finish, and the magic behind this (and all of the blushes in this family) is that it’s semi-transparent, meaning that you can take your blush brush, dip it into the pan, do a swish or two on your cheek, a quick blend at the edges, and be totally and completely done. You won’t be stuck erasing a hard line of demarcation at the edges of your cheeks. Instead, you’ll find a soft, subtle gradient, and it almost just happens naturally if you load a brush with this blush and gently tap-tap-tap it a few times on your cheek. It’s like powder blush for dummies!

clinique blushing blush powder blush sunset glow cupid swatches — Built these up so you could see what they look like when they’re layered heavily. I’m an NC42 in MAC, but I think both of these blushes will look lovely on most skin tones.

And HELLO, flexibility. If I’m ever in the mood for more color on my cheeks, all I have to do is pop another layer or two on, because these blushes also build up beautifully.
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10-Minute Makeup Must-Haves: Kosas Tinted Face Oil

March 27th, 2019 by Karen 21 Comments

The 10-Minute Makeup Must-Haves series shows off some of *the best* makeup for speedy (but sensational!) skin, eyes, cheeks and lips.

Shake, shake, shake! Dot, dot, dot! Blend, blend, blend!

No, these are not the steps to the latest dance craze 💃 all the kids are doing. They’re what I do whenever I use Kosas Tinted Face Oil ($42 for a 1-oz. bottle).

I’m into speedy makeup at the moment, and this tinted face oil, which has a thin, somewhat runny consistency, is a minimalist’s dream come true.

Have you ever used MAC Face & Body? It feels just like that. Sorta slippery, sorta “melty.”

kosas tinted face oil before after — Left: no foundation. Middle: Wearing the shade Tone 06. Right: With all the other bells and whistles.

I dab a few drops on my face, blend it with fingers, and 30 seconds later — BOOP! — my skin’s fresh and dewy-looking, my pores look smoother, and the pigmented patches on my cheeks, along with the red areas around my nose, have disappeared. My skin looks naturally even and juuust disguised enough — no fake-looking mannequin skin. If you’re into “skin that looks like skin,” you’ll be into it.
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