SkinFood Peach Sake Ice Mist Review

SkinFood has a Peach Sake range that I find appealing because, well, I like the smell of peaches.

The SkinFood Peach Sake Ice Mist is a cooling spray that claims to tighten pores and reduce sebum. The fluid comes out of the container icy cold and fizzy. It should not be applied directly to the face as noted on the container. You're supposed to spray it onto a cotton pad then apply it to the skin. It tightens your pores temporarily upon contact but is very short lived. It doesn't do much for sebum. I like it because I find the cooling effect very soothing. It's especially nice for the warmer months, it helps calm the skin down and reduce redness. The scent is pleasant, almost like a peach cocktail.

You definitely don't need this but it's nice to have. I see it as a treat to myself during the hot Summer months. It's about $20 for 100ml.

XOXO, M

Becca Lip & Cheek Creme Review

This Lip & Cheek creme in Tuberose by Becca was a great introduction for me to the brand. I was instantly impressed by the formula and the color. The pigmentation is just right, not too heavy, not too light. It's smooth and easy to blend with a brush or just your fingers. The blush is long lasting, especially when set with a powder. The shade, a coral-pink, is flattering for a wide range of skin tones as a blusher but is on the lighter side as a lip shade.

You don't get too much product for $29, a mere 0.10oz. I personally like using this on both my cheeks and lips and find myself burning through it. I don't find the packaging aesthetically pleasing but that's just me being a packaging snob.

It's wonderful, based on product alone. I've added it to my makeup bag and use it frequently. You can find Becca products on their website as well as other online and standing retailers listed on their retailers section. I purchased mine from Apothica when they offered the $10 off on your first time purchase.

Here are more product photos, swatches, and face of the day (where I have it on both my cheeks and lips):







XOXO, M

2000 Followers Giveaway Winner

And the winner chosen by random generator is....

#3: Sushi

CONGRATULATIONS! Please send me your shipping details!

Thank you all for entering, I'll have another giveaway shortly.

XOXO, M

OPI Sorbet Finish Polish Review

OPI Sorbet finish polishes are my newest obsession. They're part jelly, part high shine. The finish is beautiful and unique, almost candy like.


OPI Too Hot Pink To Hold'em is a beautiful hot pink. This one is more opaque and only required about 2-3 coats.


OPI Big Hair Big Nails is a interesting shade. Depending on lighting it can either be more reddish pink or be a bright coral. This one is on the sheer side, I applied 4 coats.

OPI released 6 Sorbet finish polishes with their Texas collection. All six shades are punchy and bright. The formula is smooth, non streaky, and applies easily. Because of its sheerness you'll need around 3-4 coats for it to turn out like the shade in the bottle. You can also wear it semi sheer with just two coats. It's not gloopy or thick, not even with 4 coats.

I am absolutely loving these! The two shades I got are good for both manis and pedis. They're also very suitable for the summer months.

I bought these polishes at IBS. You can purchase them from various retailers but I noticed that Nail Beauty 4 U on Amazon carries them at a decent price.

I love them so much that I did a video on them too:


Have you tried the OPI Sorbet finish polishes? What are your thoughts on them?

XOXO, M

Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush Review

Physicians Formula released the Happy Booster line earlier this year. The range includes pressed powders, bronzers, and blushers. My girly girl was instantly drawn to the cute packaging with its hot pink case and heart etchings.

I picked up the blush in Natural which is the lighter of the two shades available. The blush is a sweet almost candy like pink with a pretty sheen. It's build-able in color with good pigmentation. The finish reminds me of MAC's Mineralized Skin Finishes. The blush is housed in a split compartment mirror compact. A brush is included and is hidden beneath the blush.

This blush is supposed to improve your mood, hence the name Happy Booster. It's scented which may or may not bother you. I don't mind the scent but would prefer it without it. The scent doesn't really do anything for my mood but looking at the cute hearts always make me happy.

This a great drugstore blush with a cute shade and lovely finish. I find myself using it frequently as of late and it did make it onto my February 2011 favorites video. It's priced at the higher end for a drugstore product, $11.95 for 0.24 Oz./ 7g. Some of these comes with a instant $3 rebate on the box so you may want to shop around.

More pictures including swatches below:







XOXO, M

Brows Brows Brows

Eyebrows don't take too much time to do yet they really do make a huge difference on your overall look. They frame your face and can change your appearance depending on the way you shape them.

There are a few products out there for the brow but I stick to pencils or fillers and use them interchangeably. Finding the right shade and texture is more important to me than the actual tool. If I really had to pick one I'd say that brow fillers are my favorite. The fillers gives you a more natural look and it's easier to achieve the desired shape with a brush.

I use the Anastasia brow fill but you can easily substitute it with a neutral eyeshadow that you already own (I sometimes use MAC's Copperplate eyeshadow). I also use the Canmake brow pencil and the Dior Brow Styler. I like the shade of the Canmake brow pencil and the small size makes it really purse/travel friendly. The thick applicator bothers me a little, it's hard to get that precise fill. I love the Dior Brow Styler, it's dual ended with a brow wand on one side and a precision tip on the other. There's only one shade available but it works and is build-able. I tend to burn through the pencil since I need a lot of filling which can get costly at its $28 price point. 
 
I received a few requests on how I do my brows so I did a video on it:

 

What do you use for your brows?

XOXO, M

Specific Beauty Twitter Giveaway

Specific Beauty is sponsoring a twitter giveaway for my followers (follow me here). They will be selecting a winner at random. To enter, tweet the following:

#Skincare #Giveaway! Follow @SpecificBeauty + RT 1 person will get Daily Gentle Cleanser + $25 giftcard http://on.fb.me/SpecificBeauty

Contest runs through Friday, March 18, 2011.

Good Luck!

xoxo, M

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil Review, Swatches

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil is exactly what the name suggests, a gloss packaged in pencil form. The gloss pencil is available in six shades and contains moisturizing vitamins for your lips.

New Lover is a berry pink shade with specks of gold shimmer. It swatches beautifully but doesn't transfer so well on my pigmented lips. I have to run it over my lips several times for it to show properly. I highly recommend you swatching these on your lips before purchasing it if you can. How it swatches on the hand is very different than how it appears on the lips. The pencil is soft and applies nicely, the pencil shape allows for a more precise application. The finish is more like a semi gloss finish than a true gloss finish.

The Velvet Gloss Pencil is priced at $24 and does not come with a sharpener. I tried sharpening it in my Sephora sharpener and it was no easy task. The gloss is decent but not something incredibly special or different. The shades available aren't that unique either.

More pictures and swatches below:


Swatched left to right: New Lover, New Lover with a layer of NARS Striptease, NARS Striptease




Here's a swatch on my lips with a light coat of NARS Striptease to make it more gloss like

I purchased this directly from the NARS website since they offered a 17% discount at the time. They also offer free shipping for orders over $25 via Fedex Smartpost which takes centuries to deliver, you've been warned.

XOXO, M

Current Light Foundation Routine For Spring

This is my current foundation routine. It's airy and light-weight, perfect for the Spring season. It doesn't feel or look like you have much on but it does offer decent coverage and evens out your skin tone. I'm using the Eve Pearl HD Dual Pressed Powder in light and Laura Mercier Secret Concealer.

Hope you're all off a wonderful weekend!

XOXO, M

IBS NY Haul 2011: Moroccanoil, OPI, China Glaze

It goes without saying that I hauled at the International Beauty Show. Lots and lots of polish! But, we'll start off with the non polish item...


Moroccanoil (Light formula), I actually tried this the day after and found it pretty damn amazing. I'm going to use it a few more times before writing a full review on it.



From OPI (left to right): Big Hair Big Nail, Too Hot Pink To Hold'em, Totally Fort Worth It, Breathe Life, Teenage Dream, Happy Anniversary, Significant Other Color


From China Glaze (left to right): Crackle polish in Cracked Concrete, Crackle polish in Fault Line, Sea Spray, Pelican Gray, Sunset Sail, Ahoy


China Glaze spring mini set


Top row (left to right): Something Sweet, Ligh As Air, Refresh Mint
Bottom row (left to right): Peachy Keen, Lemon Fizz, Bahamian Escape


I'm so glad to have gone with my friend. We did a little shopping and a lot of eating afterwards :)


And here's the video

XOXO, M

International Beauty Show IBS NY 2011 Recap

Trade show season is upon us! I attended the International Beauty Show (IBS) NY this past weekend. The show is a 3-day event that started on Sunday and ends today. IBS is geared towards business owners and professionals within the beauty industry. A big chunk of the show is focused on hair and spa, you'll find the newest technology, tools and equipment related to those two industries. There's also a good amount of beauty supplies including fake lashes, brushes, nail polish, makeup and skincare.


The event takes place at the Javitz Convention Center, a massive space at the far west side of Manhattan. This is just a small section of the convention to give you an idea of how big the space is.


The NYX booth was pretty cramped, I couldn't really make it to the front section to look at the products but they brought in everything. It was really neat to see all their goods in one space.


The hair brands did live demos and outlandish displays. The model is for Enzo Milano hair tools.


The Eve Pearl booth this year was double the size of last year. They were doing makeovers and live demos as well.


Eve Pearl!


Eye Kandy Cosmetics brought out their blingy shadows. They're just as glittery on your eyes as they are in the pot.


Isn't it pretty?


China Glaze, the first booth I attacked upon arrival. They were all sold out of their Chrome and newly released Crackle collections by the early afternoon.


Essie had a decent crowd around their booth.


OPI was intense, look at all these people! It took some time just to get to the polishes. As expected, they were all sold out of the highly sought after Black Shatter by noon.


The Moroccanoil booth was another mob scene. I finally got a bottle to try!


My friend took a picture of me at the Dinair booth! I had my hair blinged out at there thanks to fellow blogger/youtuber HellooCathee.

The show was really fun and interesting. It's neat that you get to meet and chat with industry experts to see what they're using and loving. I love the fact that they had live demos for you to see exactly what's going on and learn new techniques. I had a great time and hope to return next year!

XOXO, M

Free Target Beauty Bag

If you haven't done so already, sign up here for a free Target Beauty Bag that includes samples and savings.

XOXO, M

Sinful Colors Mint Apple and Revlon Perplex

These are the two polishes I mentioned in my February Favorites video...


Sinful Colors in Mint Apple is a great shade for the Spring and Summer months. It's soft enough for the Spring and beachy enough for the Summer. It's not a creme, instead, it applies with a beautiful shimmer. I have on Essie's Mint Apply Candy on my index finger for comparison. The formula is good for a drugstore brand, a little watery but not much to complain about for $1.99.


Revlon Perplex ($4.99) is a limited edition polish that's known to be a dupe for Chanel Paradoxial. I'm late to the party but I'm glad I finally got this polish. It's a dusty grey purple with a hidden shimmer. The color changes depending on the lighting.


The formula is a little thick but the shade makes up for it.

I hope you're all off to a good weekend. I'll be at the International Beauty Show at the Javitz Center this weekend. Anyone else attending?

XOXO, M

Wet 'n Wild Color Icon Silent Treatment Trio Review

Silent Treatment is one of the six trios that Wet 'n Wild released for 2011. The new trios are additions to their existing collection and is part of their permanent line. Pricing is the same at $2.99 a palette.

Silent Treatment comes with neutrals good for everyday use. The stand out shade in this palette is the taupe, a cool toned grey brown with a beautiful sheen. It's different from their single shadow in "Nutty" (reviewed here), which is more on the warm/browner side. The brow shade in this palette is the least pigmented, it looks matte in the pan but actually has slight sheen to it. The dark crease shade is very pigmented with speckles of gold that doesn't really translate when applied.

The one downside to these Wet 'n Wild shadows is that they're very delicate. They crack and crumble easily making it hard to bring around. I did crack the middle shade by dropping it from my desk.

I like these shadows enough that I can overlook the delicacy issue. It's affordable enough where you can replace it without doing too much damage to your wallet. I particularly like this palette for the taupe and the wearable shades.

Here are more pictures and swatches:









Sadly, I cracked my palette already as mentioned earlier. Luckily, I only really use that middle shade as a liner. Even at half the pan it's more than enough.

Do you own some of the new Wet 'n Wild trios? What do you think of them?

XOXO, M

February Favorite 2011

My February Favorites in video format :) I haven't done one of these in ages!

XOXO, M

Theory Mondrian Coat

I mentioned my hunt for a new coat in a previous post. It took some time to find the the right style and fit. I finally picked out a coat at the Theory sale where sale items were discounted at 50%.


The Theory Mondrian retails for $645, making it $322.50 + sales tax with the 50% discount. I got it in size petite and it fits surprisingly well. I tried the coat in small and extra small first, but both fitted loose around the shoulder area and ran a little long. Size petite is perfect around the shoulder and hits me right above mid thigh, a good length for my 5'2" frame. It doesn't look fitted on the hanger or in the picture on their website, but it is fitted when worn. It's soft, smooth, and keeps me warm. I do layer a vest underneath for days that dip below 35 degrees (Fahrenheit). Materials are as following for those interested: 71% virginwool, 20% polyamide, 5% cashmere, 4% elastane


Coat comes with its own hanger and fold-able garment bag.

I'm very happy with this purchase :) This coat should last me some time.

Did anyone else make a purchase at the theory sale?

XOXO, M