Stila Smudge Pot

One of My HG Liners

I love (adore/am passionate about/kvell over) this liner...and found it after almost giving up the ghost in the quest for the Perfect Liner. Smashbox has some amazing colors, but theirs really ARE too dry; I've found that the Stila one stays nice and creamy---provided you (and I think that this is the key) put the lid back on the MOMENT you are finished applying each eye... ...and because it IS so creamy and does smudge so readily, I've found that the Sephora house-brand angled brush (oh baby!!!) makes it easy-peasy to apply a thin (or thick) straight line (which you can then smudge...or not). Although Stila doesn't claim that the liner is waterproof, per se, I've found that once it dries, it really does stay put through an amazing amount of torturous circumstances under which a lot of so-called "waterproof" liners poop out. The only reason I don't give it the absolute highest rating is that the color selection is so limited, so...shout out to Jeanine: you do colors so gawgeous, doll, wontcha do some more in the smudgies??

July 17, 2008

Stila All Over Glow

Meh

Wasn't crazy about this...gave it as high a rating as I did because the packaging is just tooo great and very clever...but the peach perky-pow is only so-so as is the glow pow...and I ended up returning it.

March 22, 2008

Stila Shadow Pots

Pretty Pretty

I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, and this pot is sweet and petite---and the contents and divine. The honey color is a perfect everyday color for me by itself---and lasts all day and into the night when I use a base (I like Urban Decay), and is a super base color for when I'm feeling adventurous and wanting to go a bit wild. Application can get a bit messy if it's humid out---I like to normally use my finger---so I just use a brush then. Easy peasey. Good stuff.

March 22, 2008

Cover FX Tools #160 Cream Foundation Brush

Wow

Great brush. A makeup artist friend of mine has been urging me to use a brush to put on foundation now for a while and I've been resisting...and then I got this brush in the CoverFX combo/intro kit and all I can say is "Wow!". The brush is amazing, and it does make a tremendous difference in the application of the makeup; being the somewhat, um, anal type---can I say that here?---I proceded to compare the brush-applied version to a finger-applied version. The former was completely natural looking, not to mention speedier; the latter was sloppy. I'm a convert!

March 22, 2008

Cover FX Cover FX Total Coverage Cream Foundation SPF 30

"Sheer" Perfection---that Covers!

Finally!! a foundation that a) perfectly matches my hard-to-match skintone (which has both red AND yellow undertones), b) conceals my recently-acquired red splotches and medication-related acne without looking "spackled", c) doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing a mask, d) makes my skin actually feel BETTER at the end of the day rather than worse and e) all the while makes me look like I just have the perfect complexion I used to have in my 20's (and, stupidly, took completely for granted!). I am in awe of the creators and bow at their feet.

March 22, 2008

Skyn Iceland the Antidote Quenching Daily Lotion

Finally: a perfect moisturizer!

I can't be the only woman on the planet who has combination skin---especially in these dark and harsh days when we are subjected to so many chemical and environmental stressors that breakouts and itchies are just lurking everywhere! That said, I'd just about despaired on finding a moisturizer that wasn't either too drying or too emollient.. ...yet somehow this one seems to have a "brain" and just know what my skin needs. It calms down the anxious spots and actually reverses the areas "on the verge of a nervous breakdown"---without causing those awful flake-y dry patches---and gives me enough moisture that the rest of my skin just glows. And GLOWS. And my whole face feels absolutely fabulous after I've used it: all tingle-y and happy, as if it's saying "About time, girl!!"

March 22, 2008

Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash with Biospheric Complex

Great Product

I love Skyn Iceland (do they spell "skin" with a "y" in Icelandic?? just wondering...): they really seem to think outside the box, skincare-wise. Their Face Wash is no exception. It manages to cleanse in a thorough way without stripping---a seemingly simple feat that most facial cleansers claim to do but few actually accomplish---and does so in a way that I'm ready to do the treatment/moisturizer/makeup thing and skip the toning step. I'd give them a 10 if it weren't for the annoying pump, which would invariably splutter and die about halfway through the bottle---but I think they've solved that problem with the new packaging... ...and I've found that it's actually an amazing bargain, bang-for-buck, even compared to drugstore brands, as you use soooo little of the product that one bottle can last up to a year! You go, Skyn Iceland. Maybe Bjork will even write a song about you!!

March 22, 2008