BeautyBloggers.org Charity Auction

BeautyBloggers.org is the collaboration of almost 50 different beauty bloggers and brands. In the spirit of the holidays, we wanted to make a meaningful contribution to charity — knowing that the  most effective donation to any charity is cash.

So we’re putting our makeup on the auction block. Winning bids will be donated directly to Doctors Without Borders.

We’re raising money for Doctors Without Borders because women are always disproportionately affected in any disaster. This organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people in crisis, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. They treat rape victims in Papua New Guinea; they make sure women don’t die in childbirth in Pakistan; they helped flood victims in Mexico and earthquake victims in Haiti. They work in 65 countries around the world, and your donation will make an immediate impact. Click here to learn more about MSF.

So what are you waiting for?  Get out there and bid!  http://www.beautybloggers.org/

Afrobella, A Girl's Gotta Spa!, AlyWalansky.com, Armani Beauty, Bay Area Style File, Beauté Cosmetics, Beauty Alchemist, Beauty Info Zone, The Beauty Look Book, Bobbi Brown, Cafe Makeup, Cargo, China Glaze, EnKore, Estee Lauder, Fashion. Style. Beauty., For the Love of Beauty, From Head to Toe, Givenchy, Gloss Menagerie, Gouldylox Reviews, Grace Gold for AOL StyleList, Illamasqua, JeweledThumb, KarlaSugar, KraseyBeauty, Lancome, Leonor Greyl, The Makeup Girl, Miss Whoever You Are, Musings of a Muse, My Lips But Better, Nadine Jolie, The Non-Blonde, Older Girl Beauty, OPI, Out in a Pout, Pink Sith, Prime Beauty, Product Girl, Pursebuzz, Renee Rouleau, Retrodiva's Beauty, Sasquatch Swatch, Sicka Than Average, Spoiled Pretty, Talika, Three Custom Color Specialists, and Votre Vu

Revlon Perplex Versus Chanel Paradoxal Dupe or No Dupe?

Revlon Perplex Versus Chanel Paradoxal Dupe or No Dupe?

I got my grubby hands on a bottle of Revlon Perplex the other day and decided to do a swatch by swatch comparison against Chanel Paradoxal since Revlon is even touting it as a dupe to "The hottest runway color this season".

Here is what I found when I inspected the bottles.

Chanel Paradoxal was slightly more grey brown than Revlon Perplex and Revlon perplex had a slightly more purple hue. But wait.  Let me look at it from another angle.  Nope. Now it's vice versa

Well shucks.  Thank goodness they are in different bottles because I'm not sure if I could tell them apart.  HA HA not really.

OK. the real test is to do a swatch by swatch comparison on my actual nails.

WARNING: My cuticles look like CRAP. It's winter and I'm testing a new cuticle treatment and the results are less than awesome. So please do not allow small children or those with sensitive stomachs to view these pictures.

OK.  Here is one shot.

See how Chanel Paradoxal looks slightly less purple and darker in this picture?

OK. Here is one without direct sunlight on it.  See how the two different brands look almost identical in indirect light?

Yeah. Almost impossible to tell.

OK. Here is an extreme close up.  You see that the Chanel has a slightly more amount of pink shimmer than the Revlon.  The shimmer is what separates the Chanel from the Revlon. However the shimmer only shows up at certain angles and only in certain lighting situations.

One last look.  OK. I really can't tell a HUGE difference.  Seriously. I loved this nail polish color from Chanel and said it was unique enough to purchase, but since the release of the Revlon Perplex, I say skip the Chanel and get the Revlon. It's loads less expensive, wears longer and looks almost exactly the same.  

Do you NEED this?  YES, but only if you don't have Chanel Paradoxal. Otherwise you can skip it...but next time perhaps wait a while before purchasing the next hottest shade from Chanel to see if someone will dupe it....blasphemy, I know.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish all my readers a Happy Thanksgiving. Even if you don't celebrate the holiday it's a nice day to reflect on what you are thankful for.

I am thankful for all of you that read and comment on the blog. 

I'm thankful for having a partner in crime, Joey, to share the blog with me.

I'm thankful for my Husband, Mr. Sith and my wonderful son, Darthypie.  Both of whom put up with lipstick, eyeshadow and nail polish scattered all over the house.  

I am thankful for having the time, energy and money to put into this blog.  

I'm thankful for taupe eyeshadow and red lipstick and a bevy of far less materialistic things I don't need to go into here.

I'm thankful for everyone that reads this blog for putting up with my incredibly bad grammar and punctuation.

What are you all thankful for today?

SkincareRX.com Friends & Family

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Also, don't forget to check the site for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!

Just Click here on SkinMedica and you will be transported to a wonderland of skincare on the web…OK I may be exaggerating a little but hey, you know I love hyperbole. I have shopped here before and have had great experience. Plus they accept Paypal!

Don’t forget to check out the Apothica and SkinCareRx Facebook pages.  They’ll be giving out tons of prizes.

Happy Shopping!

*Excludes some brands. Expires Dec. 1, 2010.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in Rouge Vermillon

So Umm...yeah. I might have purchased a brand new lipstick this past weekend.  It might have been one from Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) and it might be raspberry colored.  I am weak.

I originally set out to find a new foundation....which I might add, is becoming a Sisyphean task...anyway. after wrangling some samples from Sephora associates who were very helpful, I drifted over to the YSL display.  

You see,  YSL has a new lipstick out. It's called Rouge Pur Coture.  That means Pure Red Coture in English, but The French have a better way of saying things.  So the new YSL lipstick comes in 18 shades (Sephora only carries 10 shades) and is free of Parabens, Sulfates, Petrochemicals, Phthalates, GMOs and Triclosan. ( I don't know exactly what all of that is, but I just haven't googled the terms yet.) Regardless the satiny smooth lipstick is highly pigmented and comes with a SPF of 15!  The formula is touted as being moisturizing and long lasting.

The color I picked up is called Rouge Vermillon. It is described as a raspberry red on the Sephora site and I have to agree that this is definitely a great raspberry red color.  Dare I call it a warm raspberry?  Is that possible?  It certainly does not have as much of a blue undertone as most raspberry colored lipsticks. Maybe it's a neutral raspberry?  I don't know, but I do know that it's a super color and looking at the lip swatch below you can see that it also has a pretty satiny finish. not too matte, not too shiny.

The lighting in my Sephora sucks!  It sucks so bad that the color looked like a warm pinky orange red to me. Not to say I was disappointed when I saw it in daylight...Quite the opposite, but Sephora needs to work on their lighting.  What is crazy is the long lasting formula. I am telling you this lipstick is so pigmented that after swatching on my arm and showering, I still had a faint mark where I swatched the lipstick.  Wearing it all day yesterday I found I only needed a touch up after eating. Drinking my morning tea didn't disturb the color very much at all.  I only needed a few touch ups during the day!  WIN!

Anyway, this creamy lipstick glides on like it is hugging your lips. It feels like the lipstick is melting into your skin. It's not greasy at all. In fact, after using it for an entire day with only 3 touchups, my lipstick didn't look all that used.  The formula is truly lovely and feels very indulgent.  HOWEVER, I did not find this as moisturizing as YSL claims it to be.  I found the moisture level to drop off quickly and my lips started to feel a bit dry after a an hour or so of wear.  My lips dry out quickly so your results may vary.  The lipstick is scented and it has that fruity mango scent that all YSL lip products have, but it isn't as bad as the glosses (which I detest only because of the strong scent) but does not seem to fade as fast as other scented lipsticks.

The case is a hefty metal with brightly polished gold with the YSL accent at the base.  The case is polished so well, in fact, that it can double for a mirror in a pinch.  I like multitasking lipstick cases.  Less things I have to carry in my purse!  (not that I don't carry around about 15 lipsticks or glosses at any one time)..but I'm crazy...remember?

Do you NEED this?  YES. It's a loverly formula, lasts a ridiculously long time, Is super pigmented and looks fabulous. I am definitely picking up at least two more colors from this line. This is exactly what I want in a lipstick!

Liz Earle Gentle Face Exfoliator

image from http://us.lizearle.com

I had the good fortune to try out the Liz Earle Gentle Face Exfoliator for a few weeks and I am here to tell you all about it.  Let's start by saying that I am a recent convert  to the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser.  I adore the results I have seen and yes...It's better than my Clarisonic...is that even possible?  Anyway I was excited to try out the Exfoliator because my skin is plagued with dead skin cell buildup...that is it was plagued with that until I started using the Cleanse & Polish system.  Anyway. I am usually not a fan of Exfoliators because I believe that it's easy to apply too much pressure when scrubbing and by doing that it's easy to create microscopic tears in the skin, which would allow dirt and bacteria to get in and cause acne flare ups.  That's just me.  I know a lot of people that love to use these type of granular exfoliators so I'll try to be as objective as I can.

First off, the Liz Earle Gentle Face Exfoliator is creamy and comes in the same airless pump style as the cleanser.  I like it because it deposits just the right amount for your entire face and neck.  The product itself is very thick and creamy. It has a botanical scent, but I can't describe it...let's just say it's herbal.  Anyway. The thick cream spreads easily over the T-zone of my face and I used the remainder to focus on my jaw line and neck.  The white cream has these small Jojoba beads in it to help exfoliate the skin.  I found that these were the toughest jojoba beads I have ever encountered. If you have tried other exfoliators that have jojoba beads as the exfoliator but found that they melted or broke down quickly with slight pressure, you will like this Gentle Face Exfoliator from Liz Earle because these beads aren't going to go anywhere.  They stayed remarkably well intact throughout the entire process.  One more thing about using beads in an exfoliator, it creates less of a chance to tear the skin because there are no jagged edges (like in seed powders).

OK. So I apply this exfoliator on my forehead, nose, chin and jaw line.  That's where I get the most congestion on my face.  I used very light pressure and massaged in the product in a circular motion.  Then I rinsed it all off with warm water.  I found that the Gentle Face Exfoliator was a little harder to rinse off than most cleansers and I had a very, very slight waxy reside let on my skin after rinsing.  It wasn't any bother after I used my Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic, but it was still something I noticed, none the less.  After using the Gentle Face Exfoliator my skin felt super smooth. Like a baby's butt!  I found that my makeup applied better after using this exfoliator and my skin texture was improved.

HOWEVER. I have sensitive skin and on the Liz Earle Website it says in big bold letters "Not Suitable For Sensitive Skin". Now my skin isn't as sensitive as most people with sensitive skin, but it still reacts by getting very red when I exfoliate or apply certain creams or masks. I did have 2 recent breakouts along the jaw line, but I can't say for certain it was caused by the Liz Earle Gentle Face Exfoliator, because I recently added some dairy back into my diet for a short time and dairy makes me break out, so it's not for certain what caused the recent blemishes.  

So. Do You NEED this?  I say YES if you want a nice effective exfoliator without a lot of nasty chemicals in it.  It certainly did make my skin super duper smooth and while I may have experienced a few problems with the product itself, I think that's more because of my skin type (sensitive) rather than any fault of the product. the 2.3 fl oz pump retails for $24 on the Liz Earle website.

Beauty Blog Link Love

Emma shows the surprising amount of coverage offered by Laura Merciers Tinted Moisturiser over at BirdsDecorateBranches!

Whitney from Whitz World of Beauty tells the adventure of her Spa Day at Alexis K in Solana Beach, California!

Pink Diva's Beauty Spot has been busy trialling and testing new NIVEA skin care. Check out her honest product reviews on the products and share your thoughts on the brand.

Rachel discovers duochrome nails with the new Accessorize range over at at Queen of Turquoise.

Readers at Lipglossiping.com share their tried and tested tips for recreating the ultimate salon blow dry DIY style!

Beautywoome highlights the rebirth of the early '90s cream-mauve-plum nail.

Phyrra's Indie Spotlight for November is one to be thankful for! It's an exclusive interview with Tammy from Meow Cosmetics.

The Gloss Goss found love in the form of Chanel Extrait de Gloss and ended up going back for more.

Retrodiva has five steps for getting glowing skin just in time for the holidays.

Madame B Fatale talks about how she likes to get hair free for summer.

Join in the weekly This or That fun over at Audrey Dao - Confessions of a Beautyholic.

The Lip Print go pink crazy with Lush's Snow Fairy Christmas treats!

Blaq Vixen Beauty recently learned that the CoverGirl Queen Collection is getting an upgrade in the lipstick collection come January 2011.

Jellyminx reveals a brief history of her hair through some comical photos!

Krasey Beauty takes a look at some of the newest editions to the Ellis Faas cosmetics range, just in time for the holidays.

Do you love NARS Orgasm but hate the price? Katie at My Lips But Better has the scoop on a dupe!

Makeup Zombie has a Blush Showdown featuring the cult classic NARS "Orgasm" blush!

Sarah at IHeartCosmetics decides once and for all if Cloud Nine hair straighteners are better than GHD ones.

Did you miss Toronto IMATS 2010? Don't worry Jenn from Spiced Beauty has the full event coverage here.

Jeweled Thumb discovers a Chanel Paradoxal dupe that has arrived on American shores!

Amy Antoinette has afternoon tea with Alexa Chung at the Lacoste Touch of Pink perfume launch.

Daily Polish finally conquers an 18 month lemming with Jessica's Birds of Paradise...possibly the most beautiful purple polish in existence? You decide!



***

theNotice gets a new "home" (okay, a new url...) and is celebrating with a flatiron giveaway!

Beauty Crazed not only shows you all of the Givenchy holiday fragrance sets, they are giving one away!

Make a Wish Smashbox's Perfect Pencils set on Prime Beauty--it may come true!

Review by Joeybunny - NYX Casting Call palette

I really have been loving cool, deep smokey gray eyes lately. There’s something terribly sultry about a dark eye, and all of my sootiest colors have been receiving quite a lot of play from me lately. So, when I was given the opportunity to review NYX’s Casting Call from the Runway Collection of 10 Color Eyeshadow palettes, I was thrilled.

I really like NYX eyeshadows. The pigmentation and formula is superb given the ultra affordable price points, and I have and adore one of the original palettes from the Runway Collection, Champagne and Caviar. Elvira actually reviewed it when it came out, but she didn’t quite like it as much as I did. Elvira’s just really fussy, and we can forgive her for that. Given the enormous popularity of the original 10 Color palettes, NYX released four new color stories. Casting Call is one of them, and is chock full of cool smokey grays, taupes, pewters, blacks, and one lonely warm taupe-bronze color.

(with flash)

(without flash)

When I received this palette, I remembered that the darling Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog had reviewed it earlier. Interestingly, she didn’t quite like Casting Call, as she felt that the colors didn’t have enough impact on her skin tone. Now, we’re both about the same skin tone, so I wondered if I’d have the same issue.

Here’s where things get interesting: my swatches, done on bare skin, are completely underwhelming.

(without flash, and super boring!)

Yet, when I actually applied this palette on my primed eyelids, the colors smouldered and seduced (unfortunately I don’t have pictures, but I may update this post later with some EOTDs). So this is a strange conundrum - shadows that swatch terribly but apply beautifully? I wonder why this is. Maybe it’s a textural thing - five of the eyeshadows are matte/near-matte, and mattes are notoriously fussy when it comes to swatching them. The other eyeshadows are very shimmery or glittery (but not upsettingly so).

Anyway, when I realized this I decided to redo my swatches. I used UDPP and UDPP Sin to do my second batch of swatches. The colors came out so much more vibrant!

(redone swatches with flash: UDPP on top half, UDPP Sin on bottom half)

(redone swatches without flash: UDPP on top half, UDPP Sin on bottom half)

So here’s a description of the colors from L to R:

• An icy, shimmery gray-lilac
• A shimmery gray-green-taupe
• A sheeny deep black with hints of silver glitter/shimmer
• A deep matte cool taupe-gray
• A matte black (this is the one very sheer color when swatched, but it does build on the lid - I found that my favorite way to apply shadows with this palette is to use this black as a base for all of the other colors!)
• A warm shimmery taupe-bronze
• A matte dove gray
• A shimmery mid-tone icy gray
• A matte deep gray-green-taupe
• A sheeny gunmetal

So, can I recommend this palette? If you use a good base for your eyeshadows, then I think that $9.75 is a pretty good price for it. The pigmentation could be better on a couple of the eyeshadows, but I’m really enjoying it, and I’m planning on getting the other new palettes as well.

Thursday Poll

Oh man. Thanksgiving is next week here in the US and to be quite honest I am not looking forward to it. It's not that I don't like the food. I LOVE the food, I just don't look forward to the day AFTER Thanksgiving.  Someone a long time ago got the bright idea that the day after Thanksgiving would be when all the Christmas sales would start.  Dubbed "Black Friday" because all the sales from that day put companies that were in the "Red" (deficit) before Friday, are now in the "Black" and showing a profit.  Don't get me wrong. I like a good sale. But the absolute frenzy that these Black Friday Sales start are insane.  I actually avoid the mall/shopping until after Christmas.  I just don't think it is worth it to mingle with the unwashed masses at three am to get a DVD player for cheap.  I don't need to fight with some crazed house frau over the last pair of merino wool gloves.  I detest the thought of battling Bob the builder for the last Makita drill set.  Nope. That is not my cuppa.  I know some of my readers do participate in Black Friday sales. And all the luck to you for doing so. I admire your ability to overlook the stress and madness.  It's just not for me.  However, I would LOVE to hear some of your favorite stories from such adventures. What was the best deal you ever got?  What was the most insane thing you saw people do to get a deal? Stuff like that.  This year, like most years I do all my holiday shopping on line.  It's  so easy to be done in a couple of clicks, but I understand why people love the thrill of the hunt.  Perhaps if I was buying makeup and perfume for everyone on my holiday list I might brave the stores.  Oh can you imagine having a 70% off sale in the cosmetics department at Saks?  Now THAT is something I would wake up at 2AM for!

On To The Poll!

1.  Blush Of The Day? - None. I'm home sick. But yesterday I wore Chanel JC in Pink Explosion!

2.  Do you participate in Black Friday Sales? (If you live outside of the US and don't have the pleasure of this madness, is there an equivalent sale that happens during the year?) - No. I don't participate...but I suspect that Americans are the only ones that do this sort of thing.  I can't imagine Germans or Japanese waiting in line at 2AM to buy discounted stuff.  Prove me wrong!

3.  Do you have any makeup items you like to collect? - I love to collect Chanel JC Blushes. I used to collect Guerlain LE eyeshadow quads but I couldn't bring myself to use them and figured it was a waste. At least I wear the Chanel JCs.

4.  What was the best deal you ever got on a beauty product? - When a store called Woodies was closing here they started to sell all remaining cosmetics and perfumes at a deep discount.  I snatched up a bottle of Coco Chanel Perfume (not EDT or EDP) pure perfume for 70% off. I was gleeful! The SA included a bunch of testers and samples as extras too!

5.  Latest beauty acquisition? - Murad Oil-Control Mattifier. It does not work for me. Which makes me sad sad sad.

Revlon Fire and Ice Lipstick

 Today I bring you part two of my review of the Revlon Fire & Ice™ collection.  Yesterday I talked about the nail polish and today I'm talking about the lipstick.

Remember my PR quote from yesterday?

"In 1952, Revlon launched its iconic color collection Fire & Ice™, with matching lips and fingertips in a bold, fiery red. This fall, Revlon brings back its Fire & Ice™ collection for today’s woman – who is as bold, confident, and glamorous as ever."

I believe that the lipstick may NOT be the best part of the collection.

Blasphemy?

Yes.

Red lipstick is one of my favorite things in the whole world (next to taupe eyeshadow) but this red. This Revlon Fire & Ice lipstick is a bit tooooooo red, even for my taste.

Let's first examine the press for the Revlon Fire & Ice™ collection shall we?

First off Revlon Chose Jessica Biel for their "Iconic" model.  In 1952 Revlon used the beautiful model Dorian Leigh.

Is she not beautiful?  I love her eyebrows.  And while the photo quality isn't as crisp I think she looks completely glamorous.

Now let's turn to Miss Biel.  It's not her fault that they photoshopped her to death. I'm sure she is quite beautiful despite the dead behind the eyes look that they shopped onto her face.  But glamarous?  No. She's "Girl Next Door" pretty. She's not glamorous.  Glamorous is Dita Von Teese. Glamorous is Iman, Glamorous is...heck...even Kate Hudson...when Rachael Zoe dresses her.   But this ad? It actually scares me.  It's her eyes and unholy perfection to her skin and lips.  It's the strange Tron like blue background it's...well...a hot mess.

OK. On to the lipstick itself.

Revlon Fire & Ice lipstick is RED

OMG could my inner arm be WHITER? Jeesh I need some sun!

Fire Engine red is prettier than this color.

This is almost neon red.

Sorry for the messy application.

It's not tomato because it doesn't have orange, but it also does not have blue...although the picture of the lip swatch looks a tad blue on me.  It's pure red.

It's not a red for everyone. Trust me.  There are probably only a few that can pull off this color without looking like a 1980's prostitute. I am NOT one of those women.

The formula is creamy and the wear time is decent although I must say I only wore this around the house because I really didn't think it was fitting to go grocery shopping...perhaps I was wrong...but I'll take that risk.

Do you NEED this?  Um...it's very very red...and as much as I love red lipstick. and I really do, I cannot recommend THIS Revlon red.  Oh and Revlon? If you are reading this? Ease up on the Photoshop. I hardly recognize Jessica Biel or Halle Berry any more.

Revlon All Fired Up Nail Polish

"In 1952, Revlon launched its iconic color collection Fire & Ice™, with matching lips and fingertips in a bold, fiery red. This fall, Revlon brings back its Fire & Ice™ collection for today’s woman – who is as bold, confident, and glamorous as ever."

Everything old is new again!  That's right. Revlon has re-released it's iconic color collection (It's iconic because Revlon told me so!) Fire & Ice™.  I'll bring you more on the red lipstick tomorrow. Today I'm going to focus on the matching red tips in the Fire & Ice™ collection.  The nail polish is called All Fired Up.  This is a brilliant and bright red creme polish.

The formula is smooth and applies like a dream.  In the picture I have three coats but honestly I could have gotten away with two.  The formula is big three free and this does not smell as bad as Revlon nail polish used to smell.  Back in the 1970's the polish had such a wretched yet distinctive smell I can almost recall it as I type about it.  I shudder to think what the original 1952 polish smelled like!

The thing about red nail polish is...well. Honestly, as comfortable as I am wearing red lipstick I shy away from red creme polish on my fingernails.  I'm not sure what it is.  If my nails are super long I feel like I look slutty with long red nails, but even when my nails are short, I feel like the red is too conspicuous at the same time.  Your cuticles have to be perfect and the application flawless.  As you can see in the picture below....that is not the case.

Sure it looks pretty. It's a neutral red, meaning I don't feel that it pulls blue or orange, but it is bright. I mean IN YOUR FACE, "I'm Wearing RED NAIL POLISH!" bright

 

Do you NEED this?  I think it's a great red creme, but there are probably other red cremes out there that are just as good.  Is it a unique color?  I'm not sure. I don't have enough red cremes to say.  Will I wear it again?  Yes. It will end up as a pedi color for sure...maybe I'll layer it with a gold shimmer for the holidays, but honestly I'm not sure if I'm ready for in your face red juuuuust yet.

Review by Joeybunny - 17 Mirror Shine On Lipstick in Peace

17 is a number I love. I was born on the 17th day of June back in 1987 (yes, I’m a baby!), so when Grace London of London Makeup Girl sent me a 17 lipstick, I was intrigued!

(the best part of this picture is my huge ass tub of coconut oil for my hair and my bar of soap)

17 is a makeup line carried by Boots in the UK. Boots is a fabulous drugstore sort of place that I wish existed in the US. You damned Brits! You get Boots AND Superdrug (Superdrug is what I imagine my heaven looks like). I am so jealous!

Anyway, Grace had kindly CPed the newest Sleek eyeshadow palettes to me (to be reviewed here at a later time!), and included 17’s Mirror Shine On Lipstick in Peace as a present to me. And what a lovely prezzie it was!

(more of my bar of soap! and that's my Conair lighted makeup mirror too!)

The Mirror Shine On Lipsticks retail for £4.49 (or approximately $7.25 in USD), and I would have to say this is quite a bargain! The formula and feel of this lipstick is lovely. It feels balmy and moist, and the longer I keep it on my lips the better my lips feel. The lipstick just glides onto my pout.

(swatch!)

Peace is a bright and punchy peachy-pink color. It doesn’t exactly scream “Autumn” to me, but I love it nonetheless as it flatters my deep olive complexion quite wonderfully. Also, the color is sheer and glossy, so it gives me the illusion of fullness that I am often looking for in my lipsticks or lip glosses. In terms of lasting power, I got a good couple of hours out of this, which is impressive. Sheer glossy lipsticks usually don’t last at all on me!

(FYI the bad part about constantly smiling is developing fine lines under your eyes at 23. hooray! LOL)

Basically, this is a high-end lipstick hiding in a drugstore body. What a shame this isn’t so readily available to us US gals! Grace, if you’re reading this, I might have to ask you to send me a couple more of these. For everyone else, I highly recommend you make a friend in the UK!

Thursday Poll

On the first of November, my local shopping center, mall and pretty much everywhere else I went, had Christmas decorations up and music blaring.  What happened to Thanksgiving?  Have we skipped that holiday because we only buy food and no one really profits but the turkey and canned yam industry?  Why does Christmas come so early every year?  I know I'm not the only one that complains about this. I know there are others that wish the trees and ribbons and lights were put up the day AFTER Thanksgiving, but retailers continue to push it.  I'm not being a Scrooge. I promise, but I kinda like Autumn and Thanksgiving is the last big holiday in Autumn and one of the few holiday's in America that you don't really have to buy gifts.  Sure Turkey and Marshmallows and pumpkin puree are on the shopping list, but things like Diamond rings and Video Games and Leather Gloves are not. And I'm Thankful for that.  It seems like no sooner than the 26th of December we are bombarded with Valentine's day decorations, and on February 15th Easter decorations start multiplying like bunnies (pun intended).  Oh and then there is Black Friday.  The Friday after Thanksgiving where stores open at ridiculous hours to allow shoppers to buy one or two items that are priced so low it creates a frenzy and the next thing you know, you have people waiting in line at 8PM the day before to be one of the first in the store to buy a DVD player for $10.  Really? I like a good deal as much as the next person but it is worth sleeping outside on cold concrete?  Please educate me if you have done this? I'm not casting scorn, (OK maybe a little) but if you have done this in the past, was it worth it?  Maybe I'm bitter because I hate crowds and basically have to avoid the mall the entire weekend after Thanksgiving and through January 2nd. Thank goodness for the interwebz and on line shopping!  Perhaps my misanthropic tendencies come out more this time of year, or perhaps I'm just fed up with it all and will be visited by three ghosts one night.  I hope one of them is Carol Kane as she was in the movie Scrooged.  She's so full of awesome!

On To The Poll!

1.  Lip Of The Day? - Dior Sérum De Rouge Luminous Color Lip Treatment #760 (Raspberry Serum). I think my initial review of this was too harsh.  I have "re-discovered" this lipstick and quite enjoy wearing it.  Now that Dior has added new colors I might even pick up another one. We will see.

2.  For those in North America: Do you feel that the holiday decorations are put up too early?  For those not in North America, do you see a similar phenomenon in your country surrounding Christmas or another gift giving holiday? - I'm curious to see when other countries put up holiday decorations. I always grew up with the rule of the day after Thanksgiving or at least December 1st was when the holiday decorations went up. As you can see from my post above I think they go up too early.

3.  Confession Time! How many mascaras do you have open right now? - I am sad to say that I went on a mascara binge a few months ago and I now have 6 full size and 3 trial size mascaras open right now. I need to throw them all out and settle on just one. I can't decide tho!

4.  What are some of your favorite traditional foods from any of the holidays you celebrate? - I LOVE matzo ball soup, Turkey and Gravy and Stuffing, Panettone Bread (but only if my Brother makes it), and pretty much anything with Marzipan and Dark Chocolate! Oh and Egg Nog. I loves me some egg nog!

5.  Current Lemmings? - A new mascara! I want one the thickens, holds a curl and lasts all day without flaking. Oh and I want a new foundation.

Eyeko Cream with Extra Glow

image from eyeko.com

You know we strive to bring your interesting and entertaining things to read here on the Pink Sith Blog. But today...well.. today I'm not sure if we can deliver.  Sure I'm talking about a highlighter, which always makes me excited. I like highlighters for the face, they always give that great glow that only photo shop can achieve. But this?  

This is Eyeko Cream with Extra Glow. 

It is allegedly a three in one product.  It claims to be a highlighter, moisturizer and eye cream.  After using this product several times I can tell you that this is a highlighter and nothing more.  I can't even imagine using it allover as a moisturizer...not because the pigment would leave you looking like a Twilight vampire / Frosty corpse, but because I don't find this cream to be very moisturizing at all.  In fact, I found when applied to bare skin it actually felt dry and tight in the areas where this was applied.  I know that can't be right...so I'm assuming that my experience was unique and that should you choose to purchase this, you may have better results than I did.  It also claims to be an eye cream.  I honestly would not put this on my eye as my sole source of moisture, but I'm old....Methuselah old, and perhaps in my once forgotten, wasted youth I could have gotten away with using this on my eyes, but the fact is I'm not a spring chicken any more and I need more help in the eye area.  Again. Perhaps it is just me, perhaps if you choose to buy this it will be the eye cream that works for you.

Then there is the highlighting part.  Well here we go. this is what works with this cream.  It actually highlights!  Yep. Ta da! As you can see in the swatch below the cream highlighter can be sheered out to a loverly glow.  Trust me it looks even better on top of your cheek bones and in the inner corners of your eyes.  Heck, you can use it as a brow bone highlight if you are so inclined. At your temples?  Sure The bridge of your nose?  Um OK..Sure! The bow in your Cupid's bow lip? Sure!  Your collar bone?  Why not. Sure! Basically, wherever you want a little glow, you can use the Eyeko Cream with Extra Glow to achieve it.

The cream itself is unscented as far as I can tell...but I have had a cold for the last month so I could be wrong. It is very thick. a little goes a long way in the highlighting department....however in the moisturizing department you will need to use more and honestly that isn't a good idea...remember, sparkly vampires.  The cream is tinted a very, very light shade of pink but once applied to the skin it just shows up as a frosty silver.  The color reminds me of Benefit Highbeam liquid highlighter, but this does not spread as easily over foundation as the Benefit product does.  In fact. I found it kind of a pain to blend.  I had to build up really sheer layers to get the blending to look right because if I applied a regular amount and tried to blend it out it tugged at my skin and just looked blotchy.  Plus I wonder if darker skin tones will have an issue with the cool silver frosty color.  It might look ashy on you if you don't take the trouble to apply and blend correctly.

The Packaging is cute enough. I mean I like pink and the tub holds an ample one ounce of product, but honestly for cream products I like them in a pump or squeeze tube because I worry about the rick of contamination form using my fingers.  Now I use a Q-tip to get the product out but a squeeze tube would be better. 

Apparently this product is limited edition, but it's still found for sale on eyeko.com for $14 USD so if you were so inclined to buy it you could...It's your money. 

Do you NEED this?  NO. This cream is a highlighter not a miracle three in one product. As a highlighter it's not all that great to begin with.  Sure it is less expensive than some other cream highlighters on the market, but in this case you get what you pay for...not much.

Ingredients: Deionised Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cyclomethicone, Jojoba Esters, Dimethicone, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Octyl Methoxycinnamate, Magnesium Aluminum Silica, Triethanolamine, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Butylated Hydroxyanisole.  May Contain: CI 77019 (Mica), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491 (Iron Oxide Red), CI 75470 (Carmine)