Category: cosmetics

Beauty from Aldi

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You have got to be joking! Aldi – the warehouse grocery store often situated in lower middle class neighborhoods where you bag your own? Believe it.

Aldi has exported Lacura Beauty from Germany to its U.S. stores (Aldi itself is headquartered in Germany). Lacura features a wide range of products, including foundation, compact powder, blush, lipstick, lip gloss, nail polish, and eye shadow duos: all at less than four dollars apiece. The products are contained in unpacked crates, so it can be difficult to find the shades you want.

I sampled Lacura lipsticks. These are emollient lipsticks: the principal ingredients are castor oil, candelila wax, and jojoba.

I love nude lips, but Cool Sand, a beige with shimmer, drained color from my lips and face. If you’ve dreaded red lipstick, then try Lacura lipstick in Red Velvet as your initial foray into red. A pricier option is Besame Cosmetics Enchanting lipstick in Merlot. Lacura also carries a lipstick in Deep Red, which I didn’t try.

Altogether, you can’t beat the price of Lacura, and there are some worthwhile options to look into.

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.

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.

Best #Beauty Tools

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Missing are favorites such as Beautyblender and the sensuously soft Make Up For Ever HD Kabuki Brush, which I use to apply MUFE HD Microfinish Powder.

See which brushes, tweezers and eyelash curlers Total Beauty Readers love

The 13 Best Makeup Tools
Even if you use your fingers to apply most things, all of us have a few tools in our makeup arsenal that we wouldn’t want to live without. TotalBeauty.com readers shared their favorite makeup tools, maybe it’s time to add a few to your stash?
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9.1

No. 13: Shiseido Eyelash Curler, $19
Readers call this “the most perfectly designed eyelash curler …”
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9.3

No. 12: Too Faced Kabuki Brush, $30
It “provides fuller coverage than the usual brushes that eat up your powder …”
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9.3

No. 11: Bare Escentuals Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush, $20
It is best when you want “skin tone perfection,” as it allows …

JK Jemma Kidd giveaway #in #beauty

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I had planned to participate in a webinar featuring makeup artist Jemma Kidd on Wednesday, December 2. The webinar began at 2 PM Eastern Time. At 1 PM, we lost power. What should have been an enjoyable afternoon became a nightmare, as I scrambled to get power restored. I was disappointed (to put it mildly) that I couldn’t participate in the webinar and share this story with you.

My loss is your gain! While I couldn’t provide you breaking news from the webinar, I can still host the giveaway that I planned to accompany the story. This time, the prize comprises two JK Jemma Kidd palettes: the JK fashion junkie lip palette and the JK fashion junkie eye palette.

http://contestmachine.com/embed/survey_js/LSPZTEE3KA

This contest runs two weeks, so that I can ship the prize out on Saturday, December 19 and get it to you by Christmas!

The webinar is archived at http://www.lsfiles.com/Distrib/JK_Webinar. It is a .wmv file running about 30 minutes. You won’t find action video, but slides presented by Jemma Kidd and her lead makeup artist. I thought that the webinar was well managed and paced.

The fine print: these items were provided by representatives for JK Jemma Kidd.

The Cosmetics Story of 2009

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It’s official. I have reviewed the articles published on More Than a Pretty Face this year and selected The Cosmetics Story of 2009.

Ellis Faas is THE cosmetics story of 2009. Hers is the most exciting and original cosmetics story this year. Her Human Colours concept is based on colors based in the human body, a concept that evolved from her experience in doing special effects makeup (simulating wounds, bruises, and blood) for PSAs. Somehow it doesn’t fit to call the sleek space age pens that she uses for her products as unique, distinctive, standout, etc., as these words have become so overused that they have lost meaning. Her packaging is truly one of a kind.

Since I published my interview with Ellis Faas back in August, she’s launched Ellis Skin (foundation, blusher, concealer, and powder) and Ellis Eyes (eye shadow, mascara, and eyeliner), all packaged in the same sleek space age pens used for Ellis Lips.

Now Ellis Faas has launched Ellis Holder to hold her products. It’s a cylinder that can hold up to eight of her products. The skin veil pen fits in the center slot, while other products can be put in the six surrounding slots. Compact powder may be placed in the lid.


Ellis Holder – image from www.ellisfaas.com

Here is Ellis Faas demonstrating how to use Ellis Holder:

Video from www.ellisfaas.com

Not sure about the music with the overdub, though. It sounds like background for soft-core porn! Madonna’s Justify My Love comes to mind.

And here is a video of her showing how not to use Ellis Holder:

Video from Ellis Faas’s YouTube channel

The Dutch love strong coffee! I traveled across Canada with several folks from The Netherlands, and we were dumbstruck as they added teaspoon after teaspoon of instant coffee and teaspoon after teaspoon of sugar to approximate what they drank back home. It was more like slurry than coffee.

Erno Laszlo TranspHuse Lip pHixative

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Erno Lazslo TranspHuse Lip pHixative is a colorless lip plumper designed to be worn under lip color.

The tube features a roller ball for smooth application. Silicone ingredients help. When I tested it, it didn’t burn or sting on contact like the lip plumping Lip Butter from Fruits and Passion. Once the lip plumper dries, a numbing sensation kicks in. The numbing sensation and lip plumping last a couple of days.

Although Erno Lazslo TranspHuse Lip pHixative contains emollient ingredients, lip plumpers should be used judiciously during cold winter months. You need all the lubrication you can get.

NOTE This product was provided to me by Erno Laszlo.

Salvaging pulverized eye shadow

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In my previous post, I mentioned that my NYX eye shadow in Golden Bronze was completely pulverized. I then transferred the eye shadow to an empty sifter jar.

Bella Mineral Shimmer Powder Nine Stack from BellaPierre
$90 list price for this set! Read what I wrote in my article on BellaPierre about bogus pricing.

Here’s where the fun began: I decided to mix my own color. I added a little gold powder (second row, right – the image does not accurately represent the shade) from the Bella stack of shimmer colors by BellaPierre to the pulverized NYX eye shadow. I then added a touch of black (bottom row, center) to the mix. The result? A shadow worthy of the unrefined rocks and crystals that were the inspiration of Dick Page’s Rich Rocks holiday 2009 collection for Shiseido.

Unfortunately, I forgot my own advice to place a sheet of wax paper underneath the loose powder: it spilled onto the countertop and even onto the carpet.

Today’s makeup #Beauty

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Today I went to the office. I want to save my vacation for Christmas.

Because there were so few people in the office, I decided to dress down. I’m wearing the same brass studded jeans as I did on Tuesday, and topped it off with a cotton jersey knit pullover of substantial weight. The pullover is overdyed (olive over orange) and features a patchwork front. My husband says that it looks “peasantish,” although he picked it out.

My makeup today is similar to what is was on Tuesday. Today, however, all my eye shadows come from NYX. I used Nude from the Nude-Taupe-Dark Brown eye shadow trio and Taupe from the same palette for contouring. This is one of the few palettes that I’ve used to the bottom of the pan!

I used a fluffy eye shadow brush with a domed head for applying shadow to the crease. A makeup artist at the Trish McEvoy counter at Nordstrom told me to sweep the brush back and forth across the crease, like a windshield wiper. I find that application with this brush is not as precise as I would like it: the contour eye shadow extended beyond the outer corner of my eye.

For the outer corner, I used NYX single eyeshadow in golden bronze: alas, I found it pulverized. Time to get a sifter jar to salvage the eyeshadow! I used Sue Devitt Beauty Eye Intensifier Pencil in Pointe-Noire for the eyeliner.

Ellis Red liquid lipcolor

I used the same foundation and cheek color as I did on Tuesday. Today, I’m wearing Ellis Faas liquid lip color in her signature Ellis Red, but only as a light stain. The saturated blood-red color shown above is NSFW (not safe for work)!

You may shop NYX, Sue Devitt Beauty, and Ellis Faas through their web sites. Be advised that Ellis Faas ships from The Netherlands. Sue Devitt Beauty may also be found at Ulta.com.

The fine print: Representatives for Sue Devitt Beauty provided me the Eye Intensifier Pencil. I paid for all other items out of my pocket.

Today’s makeup look – romantic #Beauty

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On Thanksgiving, I was grateful for a day off. I had proven to myself and others that I can make Thanksgiving dinner, and since that Thanksgiving, I haven’t felt the need to prove my abilities again. I would have been happy to cook something simple at home or eat out at an Indian restaurant, but my husband suggested that we go to the Thanksgiving buffet at a nearby hotel.

Sometimes I think that I’m one of the few people who still makes a production of going out. I chose a 3/4-length sleeve pullover sweater in cream (pure white is not my best shade) and a flippy skirt with a mesh floral print overlay. To adorn the outfit, I chose the Victorian-inspired Anna Sheffield for Target Filigree Charm Necklace that hangs from a delicate rose gold tone chain.

Anna Sheffield for Target Filigree Charm Necklace

I then complemented my outfit with a romantic makeup look:

I first used Paula Begoun’s Skin Balancing Super Antioxidant Mattifying Concentrate as a primer, which left a soft-focus finish. Once again, I used Daniel Chinchilla Flawless Finish Liquid Foundation. I pressed facial tissue on my face to remove excess makeup. I then pressed loose powder on my face with a cotton round to set the makeup, and buffed the powder with a face powder brush. I skipped blush, as I had plenty of color on my cheeks.

For my eyes, I used Pantina trio eye palette in Chichi Merlot, applying Veil (dusty mauve) on the lid, Spicy Currant in the crease and outer corner, and Black Currant cream eyeliner. Rite-Aid sometimes features tabletop displays of Pantina cosmetics.

You needn’t use a mascara with a round spiky brush head such as Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes and the copycat from L’Oreal Paris to coat every last lash. You can get the same effect by holding the wand at right angles to your eyes and applying mascara using the tip of the wand – just remove any gunk on the tip first.

I applied Color Comfort lipstick in Golden Berry from Sally Hansen Natural Beauty inspired by Carmindy on my lips with a Q-Tip to create a stain. Carmindy’s lipsticks have good color payoff and a smooth finish, as the name implies. To add a little shimmer to my pout, I applied a touch of loose gold mineral powder from the stack I bought from the mall kiosk for BellaPierre.