Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

#beauty #cosmetics #makeup #skincare #fashion An eclectic collection of #music posted on #Mondays

Twi-hard with a vengeance

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I started reading Harry Potter to understand what the phenomenon was all about. I also had the incentive that my nephew was reading the books, which would give me something to talk about with him on our overseas calls. After reading Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, however, I decided that I had enough and didn’t follow up on reading the other six books in the series.

Similarly, I began reading Twilight to understand what the phenomenon was all about. This time, however, I got sucked in (ouch!), and while I didn’t become a vampire, I certainly became a Twi-hard. Perhaps the appeal of Twilight was romance and courtliness. I took every coupon I had through Borders Rewards to buy the next installment.

What if you’ve read the entire Twilight Saga and want more?

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (The Twilight Saga)

Stephenie Meyer has collaborated with Korean illustrator Young Kim on Twilight The Graphic Novel. Twilight The Graphic Novel presents some of the highlights of Twilight in Manga style. As you can see, Bella has been portrayed as a waif, in true Manga style. I was enchanted by the interplay between pen and ink, airbrush-like shading, color (particularly when Edward shows Bella how walking in the sunlight affects him), and even photography for surreal effect.

By now, people know that Stephenie Meyer will release The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella, a spinoff about one of Victoria’s newborns, on June 5. If Stephenie Meyer were to write another book, I would have thought that it would have been about a new love triangle between Reneesme, Jacob, and Nahuel or the budding relationship (or so it’s hinted) between Sue Clearwater and Charlie.

Enter to win a Beautyblender gift set #in

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Over time, I’ve raved about Beautyblender.  I use the rounded bottom to blend liquid foundation and the pointed end for detail work like blending concealer around the eye. Koren Zander of EnKore makeup even demonstrated how to apply loose powder mineral makeup with Beautyblender.  I’ve tried cheaper knockoffs from Sonia Kashuk and Sephora, but they can’t compare to Beautyblender, especially for detail work.

I balked at buying Beautyblender for the longest time: $20.00 for a makeup sponge??? Curiosity, however, got the better of me, and I plunked down $20.00 to buy Beautyblender.  It’s since become one of my favorite tools in my makeup closet.

The prize: One Beautyblender gift set

Have you also balked at buying Beautyblender?   Here’s your opportunity to win a set containing not one, but two, Beautyblenders and 10 sachets containing its plant-based cleanser:

http://contestmachine.com/embed/survey_js/YL14A6H5TU

Acqua di Parma Bergamotto di Calabria

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Bergamot is best known for giving Earl Grey tea its fragrance. It is actually a citrus fruit.

Bergamot from Franz Eugen Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen via Wikipedia

Bergamot is the fragrance that characterizes Bergamotto di Calabria, one of the fragrances in Acqua di Parma’s Blu Mediterraneo collection. Bergamotto di Calabria uses two varieties of bergamot, one from Calabria’s Ionian coast and the other from Reggio Calabria. The quality of the bergamot used in Bergamotto di Calabria is guaranteed by a Protected Denomination of Origin.

Bergamotto di Calabria from Acqua di Parma’s Blu Meditarraneo

Olfactory notes for Bergamotto di Calabria:

Top notes: bergamot and citrus
Heart notes: bergamot, cedar wood, and red ginger
Base notes: vetiver, Benzoin, and musk

Cedar wood, vetiver, Benzoin, and musk give Bergamotto di Calabria warmth and depth that one might not expect in a citrusy fragrance.

Other fragrances in Acqua di Parma’s Blu Mediterraneo collection are:

Mandorlo di Sicilia
Cipresso di Toscana
Arancia di Capri
Mirto di Panarea
Fico di Amalfi

You may find Acqua di Parma and its Blu Mediterraneo collection at Saks, Neiman Marcus, Barneys NY, and Nordstrom stores. Online, you may find Acqua di Parma at Saks.com, Neimanmarcus.com, and Sephora.com. 

Curiously, Sephora.com doesn’t carry Acqua di Parma Bergamotto di Calabria, but it does carry the other fragrances in Acqua di Parma’s Blu Mediterraneo collection.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Gloss

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Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Lip Gloss
Rimmel London Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Gloss is long-lasting lip color that comes in a dual-end tube. One end contains lip color with a self-contained sponge wand applicator, while the other end contains lip gloss with a self-contained brush applicator.

The lip color works similarly to L’Oreal Paris Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour. You apply the color and wait two minutes for the color to dry down and set. I noticed a numbing sensation once the color had set.

After the lip color has set, you may apply the lip gloss. The lip gloss is a tinted crystal lip gloss that is sticky and very thick in consistency.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Gloss performs as well as L’Oreal Paris Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour, but I like L’Oreal Paris’s product better for its standout packaging and untinted lip balm.

A representative for Rimmel London sent me Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Gloss for review. Rimmel London Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Gloss comes in 12 shades: I received Enduring Love, a shade of rose.

Asian Beauty

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

From Sandra Oh to Lucy Liu, these celebrities know how to play up their Asian beauty
One thing all Asian women do have in common? The ability to look absolutely stunning. These stars show off their radiant skin, pouty lips, flirty lashes and smoldering eyes, and here we’ll give you the scoop on the makeup techniques they use.

The Most God-Awful product that I’ve tried

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Bye Bye Pores HD Silk Micro-Powder by It Cosmetics has got to be the most god-awful product I’ve tried. This powder is so opaque that I felt that I was wearing a mask. Although it contains ingredients beneficial for the skin, I found it drying.

Bye Bye Pores HD Silk Micro-Powder

Talc gets a bad rap, but talc-based finishing powders work better than Bye Bye Pores and don’t obscure my complexion.  If you want to use a talc-free HD powder, I recommend Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder. Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder is a favorite of beauty editors and makeup enthusiasts and justifiably merits its hype.

Who wins our giveaways?

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Our winners come from across the U.S. and Canada!

Our latest winner is Lisa from Missouri, who won the JK Jemma Kidd fashion junkie eye palette and lip palette.

Ann from California won the Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation.

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation

Zara from North Carolina won the L’Oreal Paris Big Blowout Giveaway.

Ashley from New York won the beautiful Areaware Desk Accessory Set made from naturally harvested mahogany and sonokeling wood.

Caramel Diva from Florida won the Beauty Strokes Mineral Optics brush collection. See pictures of her Beauty Strokes Mineral Optics brush collection and read her comments!

Christie from Ohio won the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar collection.

We had two winners for Delirium & Co scented candles: Rachel from Minnesota and Robyn from Indiana.

We had three winners for Three Custom Color Specialists Mood Lighting Shimmer Cremes: Irene from Canada; Margaret, also from Canada; and Tammi from Ohio

Becky from Illinois won the 12-piece brush collection from Beauty Strokes.

The fine print: Thanks to all company representatives who donated products for our giveaways!

Best drugstore mascaras

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We had the best mascaras at all price points, now we have the best drugstore mascaras. It makes sense when mascara needs to be replaced frequently.

These products feel like splurging — minus the high price tag
11 Best Drugstore Mascaras
Are you a mascara fanatic? We are too. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll drop lots of cash on high-end mascaras (well, OK, it does, but we don’t JUST do that). Especially when there are these cheap-but-awesome ones out there. Check them out, and say good-bye to your $20-a-tube days.

Sam Fine recommends L’Oreal Voluminous Mascaraicon as an inexpensive option.

P&G is ceasing to distribute Max Factor in the U.S., but you can find its top-rated Stretch & Separate Waterproof Mascaraicon and Volume Couture Mascaraicon at drugstore.com.

More winter skin care advice – face

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This article is a follow-on to recent articles on caring for the lips and overall skin care in winter.

Experts often recommend a richer moisturizer in winter time, but you might want to use it on dry patches only. Hydrocortisone cream can minimize redness and relieve dry patches, but be sparing: repeated use over time will thin the skin.

I use The Solution by Envision Beauty as an overnight moisturizer. I reviewed this light weight lotion back in April 2009, and my appreciation of this product has only grown since I posted my review. This is one of the few product samples I’ve received that I have used to the bottom of the bottle and went out to purchase afterwards!

I appreciate that Kimberly Snyder revealed that many cosmetics companies spread skin care ingredients among several products, such as moisturizers and serums. The Solution is designed to be a 4-in-1 product: still, the $75 price tag per bottle is too steep for my budget. I took advantage of a recent BOGO promotion to replenish my supply.

While the bottle recommends 2-3 pumps, I find that a single pump works well, even for my dry skin. This also helps to conserve precious product.

Aside from product, I also run a vaporizer in my room, particularly during the night. You might also hang damp clothes taken from the washing machine or lay damp sweaters on a sweater dryer to humidify the air.

In a subsequent post, I’ll provide tips about body care and hand care during winter.

Best and worst magazine covers of 2009

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These images certainly caught our eyes at the grocery store, how about you?
This year gave us some really amazing magazine covers — and a few that left us scratching our heads in confusion. Check out our picks for the best and worst magazine covers of 2009 — did your faves make the list?

Guess which was among the worst magazine covers?

While not necessarily bad-bad, the February 2009 issue of Allure came in for criticism on account of Stephane Marais’s applying a fake bake tan to fair-complected redhead Isla Fisher.